Routine

 This past week, we got back into the routine of labs/treatment/recovery.

I would imagine that, when I see my doctor the next time, we will schedule my next CT and cardiac ultrasound.

Hopefully, the next time won't be as fraught with anxiety and tenuous results.

This past week was pretty easy, to be honest, despite the reality of  having to sit in a chemo chair, having poison pumped directly into my heart through a permanent port installed in my chest!

My reaction to the steroid was one cold sweat, but an entire night of sleeplessness.  That made working on Friday somewhat difficult, but then, our supervisor let us clock out early for the holiday weekend, so that helped.

I ordered the groceries, and then took a nap before the news came on, and felt better.

Yesterday, after the groceries came, and I got them loaded into the house, and put away.....I went and got 3 loads of laundry from Lori, who lives 3 blocks away.  

I find myself helping her out again, and it makes me mindful of the fact that, USUALLY, I am the friend who helps.  I am not the friend who NEEDS help.

Ten years ago, at the beginning of chemo, etc, I needed help.... but in the ensuing years, I have become the helper.

Fortunately, when I needed help, the dance community came through.  They helped me raise money to pay my first round of exorbitant bills, and one of them cooked several meals for us.

The individual who brought the meals eventually became one of our best friends, before relocating.

Anyway, these are just random thoughts.  

It's not like I am keeping score, I am just grateful that I have the strength and fortitude to do for myself, when it would seem to others that I might not, or maybe should not, be capable.

Anyway, other than 3 loads of laundry for someone else, I got all of my chores and laundry done, and then we went out to an antique mall to look for a better canister for coffee.

We'd been using a large mason jar, but the opening proved problematic, as it just isn't large enough for us to get our hand inside when the jar is almost empty.

This endeavor was met with success, and we found a circa 1940s coffee canister - for a mere $5.00 - that is perfect for our old house.

While we were at the antique mall, I spotted two really cool, 1960s vintage glasses that are the same pattern, but a different size, as some that are in my collection.  

They are bright red paisley, with real 22k gold leaf accents.  They are, in a way, hideously ugly, but I ADORE THEM!

(If you're curious, the maker was Culver, and I think the pattern was just called "red paisley.")

I told Dave I could recycle, or donate, a couple of the meaningless glasses that we have, and all he said was that I have "a problem." Yes, he was kidding.

SO, I left them at the mall...but regretted it the moment we got home! 

Then, last night we decided we would go back today to see if they're still there, and if they are, I am buying them!!  Yay! 

After we got back yesterday, we watched the Cubs game, and then I made dinner.

Today should be a bit easier of a day, with no chores to do, save the usual load of towels that I wash on Sundays.

It's supposed to be rainy, but, so far, all of the rain has missed us since the wee hours of Friday night.

I am off to make pancakes and slice strawberries.  Have a lovely week!

Fresh

 The air this morning is incredibly fresh, after two thunderstorms, and lots of rain, in the past 24 hours.

Yesterday, before the rain came, I finally got the herb garden completely weeded, and spread a bag of fresh garden soil over it, so the rain came at a perfect time.

We're hoping to go to a locally-owned garden center today, so that I can get the herb plants I want.  If we make it, I would need to get them planted today, too.

There's more rain, and possibly severe storms, in the forecast, though, so that may waylay my plans for yet another week.

The past week was uneventful, for the most part.

Dave ran to the pet store, midweek, and brought home some new things for Pete, to try to stimulate his appetite.

He loved all of them, including a different wet food.  As it turned out, it's the same wet food that I used to feed to Jack.

They now have a grain-free version, and Dave bought enough for all of the cats to try, and they ALL loved it, actually!

SO... once we finish the case of the other stuff that they are eating, but not with gusto, we will switch them all over to the new one.

In the meantime, we got enough so that we can give one to Pete at mid day, hoping that he will start to gain his weight back.  

He's not throwing up stomach juices anymore, and just needs to start thriving again--and the goal is that he does this WITHOUT having another injection from the vet.

Dave got the front yard mowed yesterday, and it looks like my peonies and irises are all done blooming, so maybe I will go out and dead head them today, too.

This coming week, I'll get my labs drawn on Tuesday after work, go to the office Wednesday, and have chemo on Thursday.

It's been so nice to have NO APPOINTMENTS for the past couple of weeks, after that period of what felt like constant appointments!

Have a good week!

SO pretty

 The weather this past week has been a mixture of more rain, and absolutely spectacular perfection!

This weekend has been stunning.

We are headed out for a morning woods walk, and then hoping to hit our favorite breakfast spot, if it's not overly crowded for mother's day.

It's been a slow news week, outside of that.  No appointments.

Today is my last day on the prednisone, thank the Gods!  

Dave got started on mowing the back yard yesterday.  He just set the mower up high.  We still need someone to come and cut down the baby trees, and to do the other, heavy clean up that needs to be done, but at least he got the mowing underway.

We might work out there a bit today, given the perfect weather.

Have a good week!

New venue

 Our short trip to Robbers Cave State Park was lovely!

It's heavily forested, with huge boulders and, obviously, a cave or two, in the Kiamichi Mountains.

The cabin area is really nice.  The park itself, and the cabin they let us look at, are beautifully maintained, and the cabins have full size kitchen appliances.

We think it's still being managed by the state, unlike the cabin area at Greenleaf, because the difference is so obvious.

The only thing is that they converted the indoor fireplaces to electric in the cabins.

Sigh.

BUT, I have switched our next Thanksgiving retreat to one of the cabins there, anyway, and we won't be going back to Greenleaf.

There are outdoor firepits at each cabin, so, weather permitting, I can still have my fires. Just not in the preferred fireplace.

Maybe next year, we will look at a different park, where they still have real fireplaces.

Anyway, we got rained out, and didn't get to go exploring the park except by car, so that kind of stunk, but it was still a worthwhile trip.

It was wonderful to have a four day weekend, and then to have appointments on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.  

I know it sounds odd, but only having to work for about 2 full days was needed.

Next week, with no appointments, and 40 hours of work to deal with.... not so much, HAHA!!

In other news, our finances are flowing nicely, so far, and I have been able to use a full pay check of mine to pay off (or lower) some small credit card balances.

We will continue to do this for a few more months, and then we will know for sure if I can retire early.

There was also some money that came in the mail from our auto accident last year.  

It was reimbursement for our deductible on the car repair....so HOPEFULLY, the full settlement will be reached soon, and we can put this behind us.

If the settlement is a decent amount, we want to buy a bigger car that is more visible on the road, and more suitable for things like our cabin camping trip, and road trips.

I'd love a Mazda CX-5.

I am still in the process of tapering off of the prednisone.  My doctor had me just not take it on chemo day, and then resume the next day.

She also had me shorten the gradual step down days to four from five, so I will be off of it sooner, since it apparently was not necessary.

Today, I reduce it to 10 mg.  Then, in four days, to 5 mg, then stop.

My face is all swollen, and I have gained almost 10 pounds.  I hope that dissipates quickly!

I hate being able to see my own cheeks, HAHA.

It's been a spectacular weather weekend, here, after record-breaking rain in April.  We are grateful for the rain, but the flooding has been deadly in some areas.

Dave is hoping to get the front yard mowed tomorrow, before the rain starts again, but we will now have to pay someone to do the back.

It's a completely different kind of grass back there, with lots of pollinator friendly weeds, and it's totally over grown.  Our electric mower can't handle it.

Dave also never did the clean up he promised to do, and now that still needs to be done, so we may end up spending way more money on help than I would like.

Grumble.  

Speaking of fire pits, I hope to put mine to use today, as this is one of the Pagan holidays.  

Yesterday, Dave did manage to get out the weed whacker, and clear a path to the firepit, and to the shed where the wood is.

I got myself a birthday gift of a standing grill rack to put over the fire. 

This will be an alternate to the crossbar for hanging pots, or the hanging grill, which turned out to be a bit difficult to cook with, because it swings!

I can still hang pots if I want to, but it will be nice to have a stable standing grill for using a skillet, or a flat bottomed dutch oven, if I can find a decent one somewhere.

SO, if I am up for it later, I will be having my Bealtaine fire, and then will cook a steak over it! 

Can't decide if I will bake a potato in the coals, or if I will grill some sweet corn, which I also have on hand.

We shall see.

Finally got my new lap top all set up yesterday.  It's a VAST improvement over the old one.  

We still are figuring out the smart TV, though, and have not been able to add the MLB.TV app to it yet. We still have to watch baseball by connecting a cable to a lap top and to the tv.

So far, this season, the Cubs are winning a lot of games, so we will watch that this afternoon, and will enjoy having the windows open before the weather starts to get too hot.

Have a great week!