Catching up

 Our drive times, both going up and coming back, were just fine, and blissfully un-eventful.

It was interesting to see where the gas prices were most outrageous! We are SO glad that we bought a hybrid vehicle last year!

When we got to my sister and brother in law's house on Thursday the 14th, their son Dan, and their grand daughter/my great niece were there to greet us.

Happily. the little one is no longer afraid of us, and gave us welcoming hugs, and the gift of a quarter each!  SO cute.

She has grown up SO MUCH since we were there in September. She has all of her words, now, and speaks in comprehensible sentences, and remembers EVERYTHING!  She's a spark plug! 

The next day, Dave and Jim went to a barber, and got hot towel/straight razor shaves, while Elsa and I walked over to Walgreens for a couple of items I needed.  

After the guys got back, I lamented that there isn't anywhere that shaves women's legs in such a luxurious way! HAHA!

We got all dressed up, their daughter Colleen and her partner Jo arrived, and we took a Lyft ride share to the Rookery Building in downtown Chicago for my other nephew, John's, wedding.  It was rush hour traffic, so it took nearly 2 hours to get there, but we made it in the nick of time!

The venue was spectacular, as expected, and I took a lot of pictures.  
The wedding was lovely, as all fancy, formal weddings are, and the food was spectacular.

The photographer did not take any posed family pictures, though, so I hope she managed to capture us old folks when we weren't chewing food, or whatever! 

We had to wrangle the groom to get a couple of pictures with him, and didn't manage to get any with him and his bride, Erin.  John did manage to seek me out a couple of times in the busy-ness of the evening, and showed me that he was wearing my great grandfather's pocket watch.  Very cool. 

Our Lyft drive back to Naperville was a bit scary, as the driver was clearly tired, and kept drifting into the next lane.  We made it back without incident, but it was nerve wracking!

My brother, Cole, was too ill to attend his son's wedding, which was very sad, but we went and visited him at the family home on Saturday afternoon.

He has become very thin and frail since we were there in September.  After his heart attack and bypass surgery two years ago, he never quit smoking, or completed cardiac rehab, and has not been feeding himself well, or respecting his diabetes.

The house was an utter catastrophe of a mess, but my nephew goes as often as he can to do whatever he can to help out.

It was nice to see the yard in full spring splendor, though.  My dad's blue spruce still stands, at 105 years old.

The story is, though that the city wants to put in a sidewalk along the front of the property, which could mean that the tree will be cut down.  My brother is fighting that as best he can.

Saturday night, Colleen and Jo came over, and we hung out for a while, and watched the Cubs game together.  I am glad we got to see them again, and get to know Jo a little better.

Sunday, we headed up to Michigan for a short stay with my friend Margaret and her large dog.  The traffic was HORRENDOUS going up, and it took us 2 hours longer than it should have to get there.  

We had not anticipated another long day in the car!

Had a lovely time, though, despite the dog barking randomly in the middle of both nights, and Margaret made sure I had some Michigan goodies to bring back.

I got to put my feet in Lake Michigan for a good long time, and we wandered around Saugatuck a bit.

The trip back to Illinois on Tuesday was smooth sailing, and only took the usual 3 and a half hours.

Tuesday afternoon and evening were our quiet time, as my sister and brother in law went downtown to a concert, and then spent the night down there.  They left just as we were arriving back at their house.

I availed myself of their washer and dryer, and got all of our laundry done.  We went to the grocery store and replaced some of their food and drink that we had consumed, as well as picked ourselves up a simple supper for our quiet night at home.

It was much needed, as that was my last day of the chemo cycle, and my fatigue level was pretty high.

I slept for nearly 12 hours that night! 

Wednesday, we had a long, quiet morning at the house by ourselves, listening to the birds and relaxing.

That afternoon, Elsa and Jim got back from the city, and then Dan, his partner Elizabeth, and little Zoey came over, and took Dave and me to the Morton Arboretum.

It was chilly and breezy, but I was feeling better, and it was a lovely chance to go wander around in the woods a bit, and to visit the spot where we got married.

It was also good to have a little more time with that branch of the family, too!  Zoey brings me so much joy, just by her very existence. 

That night, we went to the home of friends Felicia and Mark, and friends Priscilla and Jim came over, too.  We had pizza and beer, and played Cards Against Humanity.

Unfortunately, our time up north was at an end, and we headed back to OK on Thursday morning.

Got home Friday evening, exhausted, but happy to have been able to go.  

Seeing my brother in such bad shape was very troubling, but the rest of the visit was good, and it was a privilege to be able to be at that wedding in that place, to be sure!

We got to enjoy all of the food we usually get while back home, except for the Greek restaurant experience.  

I had asked Felicia specifically to host us for a pizza night, rather than our usual tradition of getting together at a noisy, crowded restaurant so that I could get some real Greek food, because I knew I would be very worn out by Wednesday night.  

We will go to the Greek restaurant next time, provided my fatigue level allows it.  Maybe I won't be on this chemo the next time we go up.

Yesterday, we went grocery shopping (OH MY GOD, we needed everything, and it was the most I have ever spent on groceries, even at the holidays), and I got laundry done, and vacuumed. 

Dave finished unloading the car, and cleaned up all of the spots of cat puke on the floor that our house sitter missed (it's hard to see when it's just "spit up," and has dried, but we know all of their favorite places to puke, LOL!)

Today, I will work on the next lesson in my course, will clean the bathroom, and wash a load of towels and a load of bed sheets.

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, not that every day isn't a holiday when one is retired, HAHA!

I got us some hot dogs for the occasion.  We usually have hot dogs at the 4th of July, too, but that's it.

We brought back some yummy treats from our trip, including Turano bread sandwich rolls, giardinera, Jay's potato chips, Fannie May and Pease's (from Springfield IL, my grandma's favorites) chocolates, Oke-e-Doke popcorn, beer and wine, and cherry jam. 

I gained a solid three pounds during the trip, so will get back on track with my exercise regime this coming week.

Wishing you, gentle readers, a pleasant holiday, if you celebrate, and a good week ahead. 

Maybe no entry next week

 My bone treatment this past week was a rough one.  For some reason, after 3 years of going to this clinic, and having VERY few issues with nurses not being able to access my port, this time was - torture.

I am still bruised.  It was absolutely awful.  Two nurses, two tries each.... UGH.

But at least it's over with, and I don't have to go back until July 1st.  Wonder what my blood pressure will be next time!  I will be anxious for sure, I can tell you that.

We are getting more rain this weekend, which is a welcome blessing!  The tiny sprouts in my garden boxes have grown visibly just from the natural "sky water" that fell Friday evening.  We've gotten a lot more since then, which is very nice.  

Unfortunately, there are no nasturtium sprouts, no green pepper,  only two of the herbs I planted have sprouted, no more flowers on the strawberry plant (I think I got ripped off).  No carrots are coming up, just beets and radish sprouts so far, and they had not shown signs of thriving until the rain, despite my watering them every evening.

It's disappointing, but I can always go buy herb plants, and try to keep them alive in this climate.  I will wait until we get back from Chicago, though.

On Thursday, we went and got Dave a suit for the wedding at the nearest men's wear store.  

It turned out to be a place where dandy gentlemen get their Sunday suits for church... so much flamboyant, sparkly stuff!  Some of it was Hollywood worthy.

The staff looked at us oddly when we first walked in....as two older, white folks, we were clearly not their usual clientele ... but the guy who helped us was great, after he got over his shock.

They did indeed have plain white dress shirts, and lots of boring business suits, too.  We spent less than $200,  and were very happy to support a local, black-owned business! 

The pants are at our tailor, and will be ready on Tuesday, just in the nick of time.  As usual, Dave put it off until the last possible moment.

He already had a Jerry Garcia-designed tie that a friend sent to us when her husband passed away, so we made sure the tie and suit were compatible colors.

The dress I got is teal with a floral pattern.  I got some espadrilles that I have lined with moleskin so that my feet don't bleed.  I hate having to wear dressy shoes, and they inevitably cause blisters and broken skin.

Hopefully, we won't have to walk very far.  The shoes would be fine, if I could wear socks, HAHA.  There is no way I am buying a pair of nylons.... do they even sell them anymore?  No one wears them anymore....

I DO have a pair of quite casual sandals that I will be taking along, and might decide to wear instead. No one is going to be looking at us old folks, anyway, HAHA, but we do have to comply with the "cocktail attire" dress code.

Dave went and got his beard and hair trimmed on Friday, so he's good to go.

Our house sitters will come by tomorrow to get a refresher on pet care, etc. 

Anyway, we leave on Wednesday, and will be going to Michigan on the Sunday after the wedding, so there may not be a usual Sunday post from me here.

Please do not panic if you don't find your usual updates here, HAHA.

In the meantime, have a great week!

From happiness to saying "BOOOO!"

 The cabins at Osage Hills State Park are PERFECT!  They even have ALL DISHES, UTNESILS, POTS AND PANS!!!! A BATH TUB, and NO TV!! 

We REALLY enjoyed the cabin, with the real fireplace, and an actual kitchen.  The firewood is only $5 a bundle, and it's PERFECTLY dry and seasoned (not wet, and half rotted, like the stuff we got at Greenleaf the last time).

We looked around the cabin area, and determined that we would try to rent cabin #1 for Thanksgiving, but.... the moment I tried to book ANY of their cabins, all dates for Thanksgiving were booked already.  

BOOOO!

So, we will go back to Robbers Cave again this year, and we got the cabin (which, coincidentally, is their cabin #1) that we WANTED for last year, but had to settle for something else.  

It's NOT been "updated" inside, so it's still got the warm wood paneling, installed by the CCC, and actual cabinets in the kitchen.  

While they did close all of the real fireplaces, at least this cabin is not all white, lacking character, and sterile inside, like the one we had last year. It's also at the end of the road, so there should not be cars coming and going at all hours.

Weirdly, it costs more because they call it a "specialty cabin" due to it NOT being renovated.  What the hell ever.

It's booked for us.

Maybe I can get on the website for Osage Hills early enough to get a cabin there for 2027.  Unfortunately, with OK state parks, you can't reserve until 11 months ahead of time, so we will wait for December to check.

A friend suggested we go on a different weekend, but that sort of defeats the purpose of escaping the "black Friday" frenzy in the media.  

We go away to a place where we aren't tempted to turn on a tv, or to scroll the internet, and be inundated with hundreds of "BUY THIS NOW" ads, etc. 

In other news, we got our covid boosters on Friday, and mine hurt REALLY intensely when she gave the injection.  

I felt a weird "thump" or dull "pop," like the needle poked into something other than the muscle.  It left a bruise, and my shoulder started to really hurt within an hour of getting the shot.

I tried ice, and ibuprofen.  The ice helped while it was on the spot, but as soon as I put the ice back in the freezer, the pain was back.  The ibuprofen only took the edge off.

Anyway, that was the only side effect, and, though it hurt quite badly yesterday, it feels better today.  

I was able to sleep last night.  Though it still hurts to touch, and to lie on, it's not as intense.

Dave had no issues other than a slightly sore arm.

Our Covid immunity will be boosted by the time we go to Chicagoland.

Some little green things are popping up in the gardening boxes!  Beets and radishes are sprouting, and one of the herbs (I don't remember where I put which herb seeds, so I am not sure which herb is sprouting).

The little tomato plant is twice the size it was when I put it in the soil, so it's happy.

We are back in an extreme drought.  The rain we got for a couple of weekends is long soaked down and dried up, with none in the forecast.

This is supposed to be the rainy season down here, and this does not bode well.

It's reminding me of the year (2015) our water supply lake went virtually dry, and the water came out of the faucets stinking of algae.

Next week, I will get my labs drawn on Tuesday, and have my bi-monthly bone treatment on Thursday.

Scans, and doctor, are scheduled for June.

I've been markedly less active since finishing the wellness study, and have already gained 2 pounds back so, this coming week, I hope to get us out walking in the mornings, and get back on the pedal machine at little, too.

I HAVE done some yoga and strength training, but not as much, and certainly not the level of cardio I was doing during the study...and I do not like seeing these pounds returning!

I will get a head start on that by mowing the back yard today, before it gets too hot out.   I'll do some strength training after that.

Have a great week! 

The birthday looms....

I've been singing "When I'm 64" in my head a lot, HAHA!  It's almost here!

Next week, for my birthday, we will be visiting a different state park with cabins.  The cabins have full size kitchen appliances, and actual fireplaces, so we shall see if it's a viable option for our future Thanksgiving retreats.

We haven't got a place reserved for this Thanksgiving yet, but it worked out okay last year, when we did the same thing:  went to Robbers Cave for my birthday, and were still able to book a cabin for that year's Thanksgiving.

This past week, we had many many predictions of rain and storms, but nothing came our way at all, other than some drizzle yesterday.

Unfortunately, though, there was a major tornado out break in the northern part of the state on Thursday night, with lots of serious damage.  Thankfully, no one was killed.

It's been humid, and warm (but not hot), and cloudy for the past couple of days.

We DID get the gardening boxes set up at last, and the seeds are planted.  Now, we wait to see what grows, and what doesn't.

I got a healthy-looking strawberry plant, a tarragon plant (FINALLY), and an heirloom yellow grape tomato plant.  

One box will be the herbs and, hopefully, strawberries, and the other box will be the tomato plant, a red pepper plant, and root veggies to start with.  Once we see if these root veggies grow, I will harvest them and plant again, or maybe try something else.

We can also put scallion and celery roots in between the plants and regrow them to save money at the grocery store!

Dave had a couple of appointments last week, and also got his second shingles vaccination.  His only side effect from the shingles shots has been a sore arm, which is good, because many others have complained of it making them feel miserable.

No appointments for me, but I finished reading "Hamnet," and actually took a few naps during the afternoons, which was nice. 

This past week, and for part of the previous week, I have been having some pretty severe left-hip pain, which felt to me like tendinitis.  My best guess is that I "overtrained" some of my hip flexor muscles, because I found some knots where I never had knots before, HAHA! 

I self treated with rest, myofascial release, yoga/stretching, and heat, and am doing SO much better.  It did, however, throw me off of my routine that was established with the wellness study.

Hopefully, this coming week, I will get back into doing some strength training every other day, without over-working my hips and thighs!!  When I DO work those areas, it will be in different directions.

Thankfully, two full rest days did not diminish the amount of muscle tone I have built up and hope to maintain!

The only thing I will need to do next week is go get my every-three-weeks labs drawn.  We might also go get Covid boosters ahead of going to Chicago for the wedding next month.

Today, I will be making chicken enchiladas with the meat from last weekend's roast chicken, will be doing a bit of tidying and (maybe) dusting, and will work on the next lesson in my spiritual course.

A friend has said she might come by with a birthday gift for me, but I have learned never to rely on her to follow through, HAHA.

Oh well...that's okay, she is who she is, which is completely opposite of me in certain ways.

May you, gentle readers, enjoy a peaceful Sunday, and a lovely week ahead! 

Remembering

 Our dearest friend, Cathy (who died last year of pancreatic cancer) has been on our minds a lot this week.

This week has seen the anniversary of my mastectomy surgery, for which she presented herself as companion, and aid.

She came all the way from Washington state to offer moral support, errands, meal preparation,  cleaning, helping me with my drains, helping me with getting my first shower, etc.

There have been some funny memories, and some poignant ones.  

It's been good to remember her in this way.

We got a little more rain this past week (but no heavy storms), and suddenly, the yard was a jungle, so when the crew came to cut down the dried bamboo (we have that done every few years), we also bade them mow.....it cost more, of course, but now it's done, and we can keep up with it ourselves until it gets too hot out.

My visit with my oncologist was comforting.  She is not at all concerned about my red blood cell and hemoglobin counts at this point, so I will stop worrying so much about them, and just keep trying to eat iron rich foods.

In that effort, I made another batch of the white bean soup that we like so much.  I shared some of it with my friend Annette, who has really helped us out with house sitting, and who also just randomly brings me little gifts.

In the past year or so, he has reminded me that I really do have a friend here.  

Now that the bamboo is cut back, we can see all of the toys from the family behind us, and Dave will be going out there today to toss them back over the fence, HAHA!

Dave will get out behind the shed today, too, to cut down saplings ... again.  Those can be added to the pile of bamboo at the curb for pick up tomorrow. 

HOPEFULLY, in the coming week, we will get the gardening boxes situated and filled.  Dave's procrastination tendencies have gotten in the way, but I think we might get it done now.

Dave sees his new talk therapist this coming week. Hopefully, getting back into therapy will help in his lack of interest in things.

Our friends who came through town a few months ago are back today, and we will meet up with them for dinner tonight.

It should be a gorgeous day here today.... so very rare in Oklahoma.

Have a lovely week!

Nourishment

 In the last 18 hours or so, we have had several rounds of gentle, nourishing RAIN! 

Two periods of showers yesterday afternoon, and then more very early this morning, and again just before I got up.

There is more on the way, so the soothsayers say!

Hopefully, the drought is over now, and the burn ban will be lifted. 

This past week was low key.  I had my blood draw, and now my hemoglobin is low, as well as my red blood cell count, but the nurse didn't call or message, so I guess they aren't worried about it yet.

I see my doctor on Wednesday for my usual check in, and will discuss it with her and the dietician that day.

In the meantime, speaking of nourishment, I made really good cheese burgers for dinner last night, because there were beautiful beef patties on sale.

I've completed the wellness study, and done my exit interview.  I will miss the incentive to do a work out of some kind every day, and hope to be able to continue on my own.

I can feel and see a difference from my dedication to the project over the past eight weeks! There's muscle tone where there was softness/weakness before! 

Next Thursday, Dave FINALLY gets to see a dermatologist.  He has a few very worrisome spots on his neck and face, and had to wait three months for this appointment, and then they delayed it another week.

My thought is he will have to have those spots removed post haste.

We are needing to make plans for our trip to Chicago for a wedding in May, but we need to get this issue addressed first.

Our Annabel developed a cough this past week, and was hiding on Friday morning (which is HIGHLY unusual for her), so we got her in for a vet appointment.

He thinks it's probably allergy related asthma, due to the extreme dry weather, and the high winds we have had.  He gave her a steroid injection that will last a month, and she has not coughed since.

If her symptoms return at the end of the month, we are supposed to get her back in to see the vet again.... which we REALLY do not want to do. She is a TERRIBLE vet patient.  She gets SO very scared, and lashes out.

Anyway, he listened to her heart and lungs, and there was nothing alarming, so that was a big relief. 

Oh, and we finally got the check from Fed Ex, and donated it to the Humane Society.  That was before we knew we'd have to take Annabel to the vet.  OH well.

I am off to make French toast for breakfast....a rare treat around here.  Have a lovely week! 

Rain, glorious rain!

 We had two waves of storms this past week that brought a total of about 3 inches of desperately needed rain! 

Unfortunately, some areas were hit by severe weather, with damaging winds, but our area was spared.

Now that it has rained, we will need to start mowing pretty soon.  I mowed part of the back yard once in March, when the part closest to the house was deep in weeds that were finished flowering, despite the drought.

But soon, the grass will come out of dormancy.  Trees are already greening up, including our willow, which is a relief.

The front flower bed needs to be cleaned out, and the front yard raked.  It's FULL of sweet gum pods from the tree next door.

All of the high winds we've had over the winter, as well as recently, have brought down a never before seen abundance of those pods, and I hate them!!  They're hard as rock, and round, and will turn your ankle if you step on one wrong.

Anyway, these recent weather fronts seem to have brought a change that will last a little while, and we should return to SPRING for at least a week.

Dave got the little bamboo bushes cut down in the spot where I want my cedar gardening boxes to go, so that step is done.  Just need to get some pavers put down for them to set on (the legs that raise them up off of the ground are not capped with metal), put them in place, and fill them with soil!

Dave had his first appointment with his new talk therapist on Friday.  Hope it will be a better fit than the last one, when he gave up due to no progress at all.

Other than that, neither of us had any appointments last week, which was nice.  

We got out to walk a few mornings, despite the wind, and I've lost another pound!  

Hoping to do so again, hopefully every day, this coming week.

If you celebrate Easter, may you enjoy your celebrations, and have a good week.