November 2022

The month started with Roger having outpatient surgery at UC Davis Surgery Center in Sacramento. After years of constant pain in his toe due to arthritis, Dr. Giza did a cheilectomy on the large joint on the right foot. After about 4 hours he was discharged wearing a heel boot and using crutches. The crutches lasted about two days and after 2 weeks he was in physical therapy. A week later he was out of the boot and soon after he took off the bandages. By the end of the month he is driving and is just about ready to get it wet in the shower. Already it hurts less than it did before surgery so he is hopeful that it was all worth it. The surgery has limited his martial arts though. He has passed the duties of dojo manager off to two other dojo members. He expects to be unable to practice for about four months.

Max was invited to join all scouts who recently became Eagle Scouts to be honored by the Rocklin City Council. He has also organized an adventure patrol with an Eagle friend and is planning some extended hiking and backpacking trips.

We had a special day with Karissa. We had lunch at Skipolini’s then headed over to Harris Center to see a production of The Christmas Carol. We finished it up with a milkshake at Taylor’s in Loomis.

Karissa joined the soccer team at WSCA. She has quite a rooting section with her parents, brother, uncle and aunt and us. She has never played soccer before so there is a steep learning curve. Uncle Ryan has spent a couple of days with her one on one and she is improving rapidly.

We had a fun dinner with cards at the Nordstroms and, later, a lunch at Zaucha’s. Kartissa came over Thanksgiving morning to watch the parade and to help us set up. The family joined us at about 3pm for Thanksgiving dinner. The kids helped clean up which was a HUGE help.

The next day we all headed up to Tahoe Donner for a couple of nights. Weather was perfect. About a foot of snow on the ground, clear roads and even a light snowfall early Saturday morning. The grandkids took hikes, and had a huge snowball fight. Ryan and Beth took us all out for pizza Friday night and on Saturday the Blooms made chili and cornbread. We played a number of games together in the evening and laughed until it hurt. On Sunday we were home by 10 am so I spent the rest of the day decorating the house for Chrfistmas.