MONDAY BLEW UP BUT MY HEART'S JUST FINE

 

My Monday blew up big-time and I’m not referring to the wind storm we had. In the past couple of weeks, I’ve had three episodes of chest pain, the first being the worst. I made the mistake late Sunday afternoon of sending my doctor an email asking, “Should I have called 911 when this happened?” followed by, “Should I call 911 if it happens again?” I also included my blood pressure reading from the episode that afternoon.

Well, after emails and phone calls, the medical consensus was I should report to Urgent Care on Capital Hill for evaluation. Okay, fine. I took myself there expecting to spend a few hours…NOT TWO DAYS!!!

The first indication I could be there for a while was when they hooked me up to an IV, blood pressure cuff and one of those beeping heart monitors. Blood was taken and I was asked repeatedly, “How do you feel?” Fine was always my answer because I did feel just fine. “Do you have any pain?” No was always my answer because there was none. I mean, really, I FELT JUST FINE!!!!

Several hours later I was told I would be transferred to Swedish Cherry Hill hospital. “Excuse me? Why?” I was told I needed an echocardiogram and a stress test and those could only be performed in the hospital. As soon as a bed opened up, I’d be taken there.

Well, crap, just crap. What about my car? What about my dog? So, I called
AJ who called his brother Thor. They both came to see me when Thor brought AJ to retrieve my car. I’m lucky they’re both available days on Mondays. They stayed for a while, their behavior more reminiscent of pre-pubescent boys than men, but they amused me. Haley agreed to stay overnight with Kuma…in the dark no less.

Now, began more tests and x-rays. I don’t know how much blood they eventually drew from me, but it was through the IV which, unfortunately had to be moved. The first poke didn’t bruise, the second poke gave me an orange-sized purple mark and the third worked and when removed only left a small red mark. I honestly don’t know how many tests they did, but I spent about thirty minutes looking at all of them this morning and trying to decipher some of the lingo.

All this while waiting for a bed at Swedish Cherry Hill. The result of this wait is that I spent the night in the Urgent Care room. This actually worked out, however, because the decision was made to do the stress test in Urgent Care. I didn’t even have to walk a treadmill. They did it via some medication which makes your heart rate increase. This test was preceded by the injection of some stuff and some kind of imaging. The young man who took me down to radiology drove my wheelchair fast…the most fun I had the whole time. Then came the injection of the get the heart rate up stuff and an EKG during the four minutes or so the med works. A bit later, another fast…and fun…trip to radiology for another set of images.

Finally, the woman who is now my cardiologist…aren’t I the lucky girl to have one of my very own…came down to see me. The end result of all the tests is that I have a small blockage, i.e., the blood still gets through to my heart, just not as much as possible when my blood pressure goes up. At this point in time…and never I hope…there’s no need for an angiogram or any kind of surgery. We’ll treat it with medication that will expand my blood vessels, remove cholesterol from my gut and who knows what else. I’ll be more knowledgeable about the meds once they arrive in the mail and I can read the accompanying information. It looks like, however, that I’ve now gone from four prescription medications to eight…better living through chemistry, right.

There will also be a cardiac nurse who will call me every Monday afternoon for a month to talk about how I’m doing and get my blood pressure readings for the week. About the only thing on the list of what I need to change would be my diet in a big-time way. It’s not that I eat a lot of junk, meat or bad stuff, but I do like my weekly steak, my cheeses and my little tot of gin. We’ll see how all that goes once the phone calls begin later this month.

I do have to give all the doctors, nurses and technicians who took care of me during my stay a big high five. They were all exemplary, very kind and helpful and I highly recommend Kaiser’s Urgent Care and its staff.

So, let this serve as a lesson to you readers…be careful what you ask your doctor. And okay, I know it’s better safe than sorry; better to know than to be stupidly unaware, etc., etc., etc. Still, I had other plans for Monday and Tuesday that didn’t include a two-day long visit to Urgent Care.

CLEAN WINDOWS LEADS TO OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

Ah, you know what they say about getting something new, i.e., the new makes what’s already there look old. Well, it’s sort of happening to me, but not quite in the way I planned.

Last weekend, AJ and Haley came over to give me a hand with moving stuff away from the windows because my window-washer, Tony, was coming on Thursday to make my windows sparkle. As part of this effort, I decided the drapes I had purchased way back in 1997 and hung in the living room needed to go away. Over the years, I’ve had them cleaned and didn’t want to do so again…the last time it was $2.00/pleat. So, they took the drapes and the rod down.

I didn’t realize just how big the front window was until it was sans cover…102 inches by 84 inches or at least that’s the size I’m using for the drape replacements. It seems HUGE only because I feel like I’ve been living in a fishbowl since Saturday. The fishbowl will be recovered today, again by Haley and AJ. I’m replacing the drapery rod with just a plain round rod and the heavy drapes with a bunch of sheer curtains, burgundy on the sides and white in the middle. I’ve always had white sheers in the middle so that won’t be a change.

When Tony came to clean the windows, he said it looked as though I was having a garage sale…and it does. All the glass in the windows is piled on various tables and counters, the furniture is all moved back from the windows. It’s a huge mess, but will look wonderful once everything is washed and sparkling from its proper location.

In the process of clearing Tony’s access to the windows, I had to raise the blinds on the three windows they cover. To my dismay, I found the strings, or whatever you call them, had failed on two, possibly all three of the blinds. Now, I hate levelor blinds in any case because they’re so dang hard to clean. In the past, John removed them from the windows and I scrubbed them while they laid on the deck. Obviously, I haven’t done this in the last five years because John hasn’t been available to remove and replace them. I did, of course, dust them off on occasion.

          To facilitate Tony’s access to those windows, I used painter’s tape to tape them up out of his way. I wasn’t sure how they’d respond when I removed the tape and allowed them to fall back down. Fortunately, they fell down and back into place so I can close or open them. Still, they're not very clean and I think I want to replace them.

I’ve done my research. I’ve measured, but did I measure properly. I guess I’ll have AJ check my measurements in case I do decide to proceed with replacement. If I do decide to eliminate the current levelor blinds, do I replace them with the same kind? In my research I found there are blinds that do not have strings and are a solid piece which crinkles up and down…they’d be much easier to clean. Or, should I purchase three new rods and some kind of curtains…there are ones that are supposed to keep out the cold and light better when closed.

I guess what my decision will be affected by a couple of things. First, the cost. Will the blinds cost more than new rods and curtains? Will AJ be inclined to return at some point to take down the old blinds and install whatever I end up purchasing? Probably because he’s such a good guy. So, stay tuned. Funny how the decision to get the windows cleaned has led to so much other confusion and need for consideration.

"IMAGINATION SETS IN, PRETTY SOON I'M SINGIN'"

Late Monday afternoon, I was sitting on my deck in the sunshine with my little tot of gin and thoroughly enjoying everything my eyes could see and my ears could hear. I know I’ve mentioned more than once how much I’d love to sell my house and move someplace that’s smaller with a small yard. I know I’ve said that I feel like this is way too big for me to keep up for much longer.

As I sat there, sipping my gin, the lyrics from Credence Clearwater Revival's song, "Lookin' Out My Back Door" began to play. It was written by John Fogarty and I’ve always loved the song and the ideas it presents, especially the part about imagination setting in.

  Just got home from Illinois, lock the front door, oh boy!
                Got to sit down, take a rest on the porch
                Imagination sets in, pretty soon I'm singin'
               Doo, doo, doo, lookin' out my back door

There's a giant doin' cartwheels, a statue wearin' high heels
Look at all the happy creatures dancin' on the lawn
Dinosaur Victrola, listenin' to Buck Owens
Doo, doo, doo, lookin' out my back door

Tambourines and elephants are playin' in the band
Won't you take a ride on the flyin' spoon? Dood-n-doo-doo
Wonderous apparition provided by magician
Doo, doo, doo, lookin' out my back door

Tambourines and elephants are playin' in the band
Won't you take a ride on the flyin' spoon? Dood-n-doo-doo
Bother me tomorrow, today I'll buy no sorrows
Doo, doo, doo, lookin' out my back door

Forward troubles Illinois, lock the front door, oh boy!
Look at all the happy creatures dancin' on the lawn
Bother me tomorrow, today I'll buy no sorrows

Well, I don’t have giants or statues wearing high heels or tambourines and elephants playing in a band, out my back door or even in my garden, but I like the idea of using my imagination and not being bothered or buying any sorrows.

As I sat there, still humming the song after it stopped playing, I got to thinking about what I’d be giving up should I sell and move. I can look around my almost private yard and see so many memories that bring me joy and comfort. How could I possibly leave those behind. I know the memories would move with me, but somehow it’s not the same as sitting in the sunshine and watching my memories play among the grass and flowerbeds.

And, those memories. Well, I could write for pages and pages and not cover every single memory I see in my back yard. There’s the boys playing on the grass, working in the garden to help me, wrestling with each other and their friends, family time barbeques, lunches, dinners…I think it and it’s happened there.

What about all the wildlife we harbored, if you could call them wildlife. We had chickens, rabbits, ducks, and even a goose that didn’t like anyone but John. Buford the rooster didn’t like anyone, even John, and had his neck rung after he attacked our nephew and almost put his eye out…I don’t think my nephew likes chicken some forty years later.

Chickens and ducks lay eggs and those had to be the best eggs I’ve ever had, no matter how they were prepared. And, I can’t forget all the birds and hummers that came to visit the feeders, the moles no matter how hard I tried to eradicate, rats and mice. We even put up a bat house, but as far as I know, we’ve never had one move in.

At one point when the boys were young, we put in a largish garden encircled by a fence to keep the chickens out. All the quarts of string beans we harvested and I canned. The lettuce, radishes, green onions, broccoli and tomatoes we grew and harvested. And this was long before growing your own food became popular. The apple tree that gave the best apples for so many years that ended up in pies in the freezer. The way the boys groaned when apple-peeling time came round.

We never grew much in the way of berries aside from the raspberry patch. John tried with strawberries in one of those tire enclosures, and I can still see him holding his harvest…two strawberries. One was very small and the other was kind of medium. I have a photo of him with his crop. We laughed a lot about that.

The water feature I decided to build without any idea of how to go about it. Still, I managed to dig a hole, line it with a black piece of plastic, go to the mountains and bring home buckets of rocks with which to finish my masterpiece. I remember how in the process of building this, Thor came home and had to take me to emergency. I’d done something to my toe and it really hurt. Somehow, I’d managed to dislocate one of my toes. The relief when the doctor injected a numbing drug was unbelievable. Initially, I thought I’d been stung by a bee.

That water feature continues to provide me with the sound of water as the little pump pushes the water up and out. Recently I added a little sun-driven fountain that pushes water up into the air, but only if the sun shines on the solar panels.  I thought I could discontinue my little pump, but the fountain doesn’t make much noise at all so I’ll keep the pump going.

Of course, there are all the plants that inhabit my garden. So many of them were gifts from family and friends and as I gaze at each one, I’m reminded of the provider. There’s also the various yard art pieces, some of which I made myself, others that I’ve purchased or that have been gifted by family and friends.

Sitting there in the sunshine, my little tot of gin at hand, I came to the conclusion that there are only two choices left to me when it comes to leaving this oasis. My first choice would be the coroner pulling into the driveway because the energy that makes me me has abandoned my body. The second and least favorite choice would be my sons informing me the time has come for me to be situated someplace else.

Regardless of which choice comes to fruition, I’m going to continue to sit on my deck, enjoy my little tot of gin and relish all the memories this little garden/ yard provides and hope and pray that at some point in the distant future, it's he coroner that arrives first.

NORTHWEST DRIFTWOOD ARTISTS' SHOW...I WON

 

The Northwest Driftwood Artists’ show in Maltby on May 11^th was terrific and the number of beautiful sculptures amazing. How artists can take a rough piece of wood that looks as though it might be too big and/or ugly for even a fireplace or campfire and turn it into a beautiful sculpture is astonishing.

The sculptures are not judged, but the people attending were given a ballot on which there were six choices, i.e., tiny, small, medium, large, extra-large and hanging, and encouraged to vote for their favorite in each category. All the sculptures were numbered and the title and artist identified on a colored paper tent in front of the sculpture. Attendees were also provided with a program and information about where the show will be held next year…Brightwater in Woodinville.

There was a raffle for several driftwood sculptures, a silent auction of finished pieces as well as one huge unfinished piece, a donation jar, tables of raw wood for sale ranging from tiny to huge, and a table where artists were demonstrating our craft.

I don’t yet know how many people attended, but the woman who bought the huge unfinished piece of wood really really wanted it because she paid $300.00 for the privilege of taking it home. And, my eldest son won one of the raffle pieces. I don’t have a lot of other information about the show and probably won’t until the May newsletter is published, but I do have information about the two pieces I entered into the show.

I WON SECOND PLACE FOR OTT THE OTTER AND THIRD PLACE FOR PERCY THE PORPOISE in the small category. I can hardly believe the attendees liked both my pieces that much. It couldn’t have been because I had a huge number of family and friends attending…only five of those invited came. I believe it was actually the names of my pieces that caught the public’s fancy.

I know I voted for a small sculpture that was a seal on a rock. The seal was perfectly formed and the wood striations of black/dark brown/light brown followed the seal’s shape…beautiful. Maybe that sculpture won first place. I’ll have to wait to find out. I also liked a classmate’s sculpture entitled Vortex. She found the wood in a stream and it was full of pitch. I saw how hard she worked to create that perfect piece and think hers was far better than mine.

The show and the people I’m getting to know through NWDA, much more than winning, has inspired me to get busy with the various pieces of wood in my garage. I do have one that’s almost finished, “Escape from the Primordial Ooze.” All it needs is a base that resembles ooze and I’m on the lookout for that. I’m sure it will be ready for the 2025 show…if I knew the date, you could mark your calendars now so you could save the date and come view our outstanding work.

BACK PAIN UPDATE/DIAGNOSIS

         

          Finally, an update about my back pain even though the results cannot be considered a favorite. I had the MRI on May 10^th, got the results on May 12^th (which were as clear to me as mud), and talked to my doctor on May 14^th. 

          The results weren’t too terribly different from what the x-rays showed. I have severe arthritis in my lower back but my spine is in alignment, there is no nerve impingement and no terribly bulging disks. All good news except there isn’t a lot that can be done…spine replacements are still in the distant future.

          Surgery isn’t an option (thank heaven because that sounds really scary to me), but I could have a corticosteroid injection which might eliminate the pain. I’ve decided to go with acupuncture before I go to the needle. I have an appointment with a acupuncturist/naturopath in Lynnwood for May 21^st…fingers crossed that acupuncture works and/or the doctor has some additional information to share or suggestions to make that will improve the pain.

Meanwhile, I’m moving on with my life. Now that I know I can’t seriously damage myself by moving around, I can return to my fitness classes, walking and my home PT/exercise program…just need to ease back in to it so I don’t suffer an injury. Those weeds in the garden had best be on notice…I’m coming for them.

         I do have to admit, however, that I’m going to really miss getting up, having a latte and going back to bed for another hour or two of sleep every single morning. I’ll still be able to manage this wonderful habit a few days a week, but seven days a week will become a favorite memory. 

BUSY DAY

 

Today is going to be a very busy day. I have my MRI at 6:00 am in Bellevue and have to be there by 5:30 am. Later that morning I have to be in Maltby to deliver my driftwood sculptures and assist with set-up for the show. And, it’s supposed to be HOT. I’ve a feeling by the day’s end, I’m going to be exhausted.

On my return from Maltby, Kuma will expect some attention. The asphalt is going to be too hot to play bally-ball on the street in front of the house. That means we’ll need to take a short drive to a grassy location where he can run free and chase the ball to his heart’s content. I’ll have to make sure I take water for his bowl I keep in the car.

As for lunch and dinner, it depends on when I get back from Maltby. If I’m starving before that, I’ll have to pick up something…maybe a double ice cream from the Snoqualmie Ice Cream Parlor…especially if they have both Kentucky Bourbon and Tennessee Whiskey. If I get back home for lunch, maybe I’ll bring dinner in. Right now a MOD pizza or salad sounds great.

Meanwhile, that old 286 I spoke of is grinding away attempting to bring forth more memories of those years. Makes me wonder if smoking all that marijuana and hash oil caused some of those files to simply drift completely away. I’m going to have to think about all that during my travels and experiences today.

SCARY MOVIE

 

Boy, it’s amazing how my mind works and manages to retrieve memories that had long been filed away prior to computers. I like to think those memories reside in my old 286 and that’s why they don’t reach the forefront very often…takes too long and the 286 was so slow.

Anyway, when I started thinking about Goofy’s and the gang that hung out there, another memory surfaced. It’s also amazing how some of the names are right there and others are just a shadowy figure in the background. These were men and women who occupied a large portion of my life way back then.

Anyway, the movie The Exorcist came out and was discussed by everyone. I had read the book and it scared the shit out of me. I almost wanted to sleep with the lights on. Anyway, one late afternoon the Goofy’s gang decided it would be a good thing to go down to the Cinerama and see The Exorcist.

We carpooled down in a couple of cars and found we’d have to wait for the next showing. We bought tickets and retired to a nearby bar, had drinks and played pool. When the time came, we returned to the Cinerama and found our seats. I don’t remember any of us purchasing drinks or popcorn.

Like I said, I had read the movie so I knew what was coming. John sat ono one side of me and Dennis on the other. Whenever I knew things were getting a little scary, I’d rock my seat…the seats rocked back then. Dennis would put his hand on my knee and whisper, “Stop.”

The movie was just as scary as the book. When it was over, we returned to Goofy’s. There wasn’t much discussion about the movie in the car I was in and when we got to Goofy’s, none of the guys had a lot to say. In fact, I don’t think any of them had more than a beer if that before deciding it was time to call it a night…it wasn’t even midnight.

Some of the guys may have been raised Catholic, but even so, I think the movie either scared them or gave them something to think or not think about. I don’t remember any of them discussing the movie even later on.

STRAWBERRY HILL

 

My brain is still working in the background to figure out the next steps for Maddie and Spence, but at the forefront are a couple of experiences from my misbegotten (actually wasn’t) youth which jumped from the depths just yesterday.

I was talking to a couple of people at the Senior Center and one of them told me to go home and have three margaritas. I responded that I couldn’t drink tequila because I once got sick on it. I also can’t drink rum or strawberry hill. Once of the women knew what strawberry hill was and laughed. This led me to regale them with the following experience.

Long ago when John and I were separated, he took to hanging out at Goofy’s which was a tavern on Ballinger Way. When we reconnected, I automatically became one of the gang which consisted of other males and now and then a female or two were included. The guys always treated me well.

One summer we all went camping in eastern Washington. Our campsite was at the corner where two roads intersected. John and one of the other guys, Brad, got seriously drunk Friday night and made a horrendous amount of noise. I cannot now remember if the ranger came to our campsite that night or if he just let us know the following morning he received a lot of complaints.

John and Brad were both very hung-over the next morning and I demanded Brad give me equal time no matter how he felt. So, he walked me into town to the local bar and I began to drink strawberry hill. I was a cheap and easy drunk so it didn’t take much. By the time I was verging on drunk, a young cowboy came into the tavern. It was obvious he was a cowboy because he was wearing a cowboy hat, cowboy boots and one of those belt buckles.

Well, I was just drunk enough to make an ass out of myself. I, fortunately, don’t remember everything I said and did, but I know I made the very young man uncomfortable. I do remember saying things like, “Is your horse outside? I want to ride your horse.”

Brad was eventually able to drag me away from the cowboy and the tavern. I was seriously drunk. He managed to get me back to the campsite to my sleeping bag and I passed out.

I don’t remember this part either, but there were a couple of other females with us that weekend. They thanked me (sarcastically) later for driving away an entire truckload of men. They’d stopped at the stop sign and were flirting with the women when I suddenly sat up, vomited up all that strawberry hill and passed out again. The truckload of men immediately left.

I didn’t feel so good the remainder of that day, but John was PISSED. He was so pissed, he barely talked to me the rest of the weekend. I was his wife and as such, he expected a certain type of behavior and I had really crossed the line. I have to admit that hurt my feelings, but it also made me angry.

The rest of the crew could tell how pissed John was and Brad was kind enough to take me aside when John wasn’t looking and tell me more or less that what’s good for the gander is good for the goose. The gang didn’t think any less of me for my little escapade but I think they might have thought John was a bit of an ass.

NEW EROTIC NOVEL???

 

Yesterday I didn’t prepare a blog post and I’m having trouble getting one done today. I don’t have an excuse for today (yet), but I have a good one for yesterday.

Instead of writing, I spent the time reading the six (thought I only had four) chapters I’d written last year for my next erotic romance novel. I was pleasantly surprised by finding two extra chapters plus how well they all tied together. Now, I have to figure out where my protagonists (Madeline and Spencer) go from here. I think I’ve written them into a corner which may be why I stopped, so I need to find a way to yank them back to the center so they can move on.

In a few words, Maddie applies for an EA job at Spence’s company. His current EA made inappropriate advances toward Spence after working for him for eight years and he can no longer work with her. With the first handshake, both Maddie and Spence feel a “zing” which only increases when Maddie has to attend a dress-up function with her boss the first weekend they know each other. The outgoing EA has told Maddie why she’s lost a job she loves, so how can Maddie react to the electricity between her and Spence. And Spence, how can he continue to ignore how he feels and his body’s response to Maddie when it’s totally against his conviction about dating/sex in the workplace.

So, any ideas on how to get them back to the center and having wild, crazy sex would be most appreciated. Meanwhile, I’ll think about them as I go to sleep and perhaps dream the next chapter.

And, just as an aside, I looked for "Erotic Novel Clipart" on the internet and had to choose to turn off a "safe" button. OMG, the clipart images that appeared on my screen after that weren't exactly erotic, or at least my definition of erotic, more like pornography. Won't be asking for those clipart images again.

NOT MY FAVORITES

           Today I’m writing about a couple of things…plants…that are not my favorites

There are alliums and there are alliums. I’ve always loved those huge ones that look like big purple balls while blooming and then look sort of stiff balls of stars when the blooms die off. What I don’t like, in fact, what I absolutely hate are the little tiny alliums. It’s been decades since I first ordered those bulbs. The fact they sent me ten or twenty for almost nothing, or maybe even free, should have been a clue, but I was a new gardener then and had no idea that each of those bulbs would produce what seems like thousands of other little bulbs.

          It was either last year or the year before, but I think last year, I decided I was going to sit there and sift those damn things out of the dirt so they wouldn’t come up the following year. I have no idea how much time I spent doing this, but a lot. I ended up with enough of those things to fill a three-pound coffee can. I didn’t throw them away, but buried them in another location where if they grow and reproduce, I simply won’t care. I just checked that area and there are a few spindly shoots, but it's apparent not every single one of those bulbs survived which makes me wonder…

          how does the garden look this spring with all those pesky bulbs gone? Like I didn’t spend any time at all cleaning them out last year. If anything, there are even more than before although the new growth has skinny stems as opposed to thicker ones. I’m also not sure they’ll produce any blooms this year which will be just fine. Apparently, missing even a tiny bulb the size of a grain of sand doesn’t eliminate those little alliums from your garden. Which makes me wonder why that pile of much larger bulbs I stuffed in the ground has barely produced anything.

          So far, I’ve either pulled the leaves/stems out of the ground or cut them off. They’re preventing plants I want to grow from growing. Perhaps doing this will kill them off…at least I can hope.

         Another plant that is problematic is the bluebell. I swear the moles must move the bulbs from place to place. I also swear that every single blossom produces a seed which then falls to the ground and produces another plant the following spring. As far as my memory goes, I do not remember ever purchasing these bulbs, receiving them as a gift or planting them in my yard. 

And, okay, unlike those little alliums, they do produce a beautiful stalk of blue blossoms, and sometimes even pink or white, but after that, nothing very lovely at all. Over the years, I’ve pulled them out here and there, but it’s almost a waste of time. Like the alliums, there always seems to be something left behind to spring up the following year.

I've lived in this house for fifty-five years and gardened more or less seriously for at least forty-five of those years. My garden has gone through various stages from being a huge vegetable garden in my hippy days to lots of lilies in the past few years. What I'd love is to hire a landscape architect and have both the front and back gardens totally redone. Of course, that's not in the budget and never has been, so I'll just keep mucking about on my own. It's not the perfect garden I've always envisioned, but its  mine and does bring me lots of enjoyment. I even enjoy yanking those alliums and bluebells out of the ground. 

MEA CULPA

 

Well, my face is red but I’m extremely pleased I was totally wrong. I don’t remember quite when I bought the ThePhotoStick Omni, but I was exceedingly disappointed in the product. I even gave it a scathing review on Facebook. It’s been sitting in the organizer on my desk since then.

Lately, I’ve had a bit of trouble with my computer plus I wanted to make sure I didn’t lose any data from my FitBit files on my phone so I pulled it out and plugged it in. I was totally AMAZED.

I don’t know how I missed all the available information the first time I plugged it into my computer, but I certainly did. This time I found a prompt on my screen, clicked on it and an entire program came up. I followed the instructions; and, while it took a while, every single file on my computer is now backed up on ThePhotoStick Omni.

There was even a ninety-four-page instruction manual available and I printed it out so I could figure out how to back up my phone information. I did that as well, so now I can return my FitBit to its factory settings and not lose all the data it had acquired during the time I’ve worn it.

And I guess the next time I see a post on FaceBook about ThePhotoStick Omni, I’ll have to plead mea culpa and say nice things about this excellent product.

THE APPLE I-PAD...

 

is an amazing piece of equipment; however, I really hadn’t given it much thought or looked at it as one of my favorite things. That all changed yesterday.

I was maybe a chapter from finishing a book on my I-pad and I knew the battery was low. Still, I persevered, hoping to reach THE END. Instead, the screen suddenly turned black, an indication the battery was dead. Okay, fine, I’ll just plug it in and get back to the end of the book by the end of the day. HAH.

Late evening, I went to get my I-pad. I had checked to be sure it was charging when I plugged it in, but now, the screen remained black. Nothing I tried would bring that damn thing to life. I was a bit distraught.

Now, I’m the kind of person who always said I HAD to read the book by holding the actual book in my hands. Ten years ago, when I went on a trip by myself, I downloaded books to my I-pad and took it with me. Traveling by myself, it was the best companion possible when it came to the end of the day and I was in my room alone.

My original I-pad died in 2020 and I bought a new I-pad Air. It has so many different utilization possibilities, I haven’t even begun to figure the majority of them out. I can do my email, go on the internet, and, best of all, read books I download from the library. I keep telling myself I’m going to spend some time figuring out how to use the various programs and apps on this I-pad, but I haven’t yet.

Anyway, this morning I went online to see if I could figure out what was wrong with my I-pad, all to no avail. I did find out there’s a program that will help me learn how to use this I-pad and I’m going to check back at some point and see what it can help me with. Now, the only alternative was a trip to Alderwood to the Apple store.

I arrived a bit before 11:00 am, was signed in and told I would have to wait thirty minutes at the most for assistance. I sat out in front of the store in the sunshine and played with my phone. When I went back in, it was maybe another five minutes before one of the store managers came to help. He used a different cord to plug my I-pad in and then did something magical…at least it seemed magical to me because suddenly the black screen was filled with my stuff. YAY.

He then turned me over to a young woman and told her to run a diagnostic. She did so and found absolutely nothing wrong. She told me that sometimes when an update is being installed, the I-pad will hiccup and freeze. Then she asked if the manager had told me how to do a hard start. He hadn’t, so she told me what to do. Press the up volume button, then the down volume button, then hold the on button for about sixty seconds. The magic the manager had performed wasn’t magic at all.

Anyway, back home, I made my lunch and settled down to finish the book. It was more than a few pages, but all-in-all very good. I just wish the protagonist would stop smoking cigarettes.

I CHOSE...

 

to pull up my big-girl panties after my pity-party yesterday and spent some time making an effort to look nice. That was because I had a date to have lunch with my eldest son. On the way to pick him up, I stopped at business Costco and bought gas…hadn’t even put that on my to-do list.

AJ directed me to a Mexican restaurant called Avacados which is on Hiway 99 in south Everett. We had a very good lunch and the prices were more in accordance with what they used to be prior covid…all the other restaurants I’ve been to before this one ran me close to $24 for one entrée without a tip. Not ony did we have a good lunch, but AJ ordered deep-fried ice cream with strawberry topping. I was going to have one bite just to see how it tasted because I’d never had it before…let’s just say there wasn’t much left when we put our spoons down.

After dropping AJ at his house, I stopped at the store for milk and yogurt and went to the pet store for more yummy frozen bones. That’s two more errands that were not on my list.

At home, I took Kuma out front and we played bally-ball until he was almost too tired to chase the ball one more time. I swear, he’d keep chasing until he fell over if I didn’t call a halt.

Then I changed into gardening clothes, got Kuma a frozen boney-bone and we went out to the back yard. I worked for a while, sitting on my little stool so I don’t have to bend a lot, pulling weeds out of my flowerbeds. Kuma licked and gnawed his boney-bone. I didn’t work long or hard, but stopped feeling as though I’d made some progress.

That’s what happened when I CHOSE to pull up my big girl panties and get on with my day. It ended with me feeling quite good plus I have yummy left-overs for lunch today.

I CHOOSE...

 

to not hum, “My Favorite Things” today, but that’s okay since I managed to blog positively for the last twelve days. I’m giving myself permission to hum a dirge (if I could think of one) instead.

In the process of thinking about today’s blog, I went back and looked at the various comments that have been made since I began this blog in 2020. In particular, I read the one I posted that was entitled, “I’m depressed.” Even though it’s been over a year and a half and Kuma has been added to my life, so many things I wrote than are still quite applicable today, maybe more so because of the back pain and Percocet.

So, for today, and just for today, I’m giving myself permission to be depressed and look at the darker side of my life. Tomorrow will be a new day and I’ll CHOOSE to adopt a positive attitude regardless of pain or depressive medication.

Meanwhile, rather than just sit around in a funk, I’d best look for projects to occupy my hands and mind, always a good way to CHOOSE to feel better…and I will.

FAMILY LUNCH

 

          On Sunday there was a family lunch of nine women. The oldest was ninety-four and the youngest almost eighteen. These women are known by various appellations, i.e., mom, daughter, daughter-in-law, auntie, great-auntie, nana, grandma, granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin.

With the exception of three, all could be called mom and one of those three will become an official mom in October. Seven could be identified as cousins; five as daughters; four as grandma/nana; four as sisters; two as granddaughters; and one daughter-in-law. Whew, it was difficult to figure that out, but I think I got it right.

Missing was our great-aunt and sister to our other great-aunt. She’s almost ninety-seven and now unable to leave her home without serious assistance. None of us nine were able to provide the kind of assistance she requires. After lunch, however, a number of us went up the street to visit her at her home. There’s a great photo of the two ninety-something sisters from that meeting.

Among the ten of us there is a wealth of memories, but we know that the potential for more memories that include all of us at the same time is waning. That’s why we decided a number of years ago to try to do these family lunches on a semi-regular basis because we knew the ladies in or approaching their nineth decade might be leaving us sooner rather than later. Already, there’s the one who can no longer attend, but she’s still with us.

As the third-eldest (unbelievable, right?), I can think back to my childhood and have memories of the two eldest. They were young then, with small children…my cousins. There were picnics, family gatherings, overnights, surprises, showers, weddings, funerals, and included so many other relatives that are no longer present. I treasure those memories as I treasure these lunches…one more memory to add to those from before.

This was my granddaughter’s first family lady lunch. It is my hope she will return for future lunches. I’d like her to have some memory of these wonderful women who have inhabited my life for all of my life in one way or another. It always makes me wonder how I can be so happy when also feeling sad.

SPRING

 

          Growing up, my Great Aunt Lola and Great Uncle Ike (and they were, indeed GREAT), had a tulip tree (magnolia) growing in their front yard. I loved that tree and asked Auntie if she would make sure to leave it to me in her will. Well, as you can imagine, that didn’t happen, but thanks to my children, I now have a tulip tree of my own, gifted in memory of my mother.

          Also in memory of my mother is a pink dogwood tree gifted by John’s sister. It’s located in the front yard, so I have a favorite in the back and one in the front. I love these trees and always look forward to them blooming each spring. The tulip tree is pretty much done blooming for this year, but the dogwood is a cloud of pink right now. And it’s the first time this tree has bloomed much at all. I may put a chair in the driveway and contemplate its beauty for a while today.

          Do you have favorite trees? These two are my own personal favorites, but I also like many others. There’s a lime green tree a couple blocks away that is some kind of maple. It’s beautiful spring, summer and fall. Of course, there’s my old Karlberg Memorial apple tree which actually had a number of blossoms this spring. Hopefully, it will produce more than just the one apple it yielded last year.

          What were lilac bushes are now lilac trees in both the front and back gardens. I love those too, especially the way they smell, but I’m doubtful about being able to harvest a bouquet since they are now so tall.

          And I cannot forget those huge bright pink clouds of blossoms on what I think maybe cherry trees of some kind. Or, the white dogwoods of all different sizes and types. Also cannot forget all the different rhododendrons, large and small in such a wide variety of colors.

          Can you tell Spring with its blooming trees, bushes and flowers is my most favorite time of the year.

WEEDS OR FLOWERS???

 

          “A weed is just a flower growing in the wrong place.” This saying is attributed to a woman named Cecelia Ahern and I’ve decided it is one of my favorite sayings. This is because I look out the window and see weeds growing with great abandon in what is usually my weed-free and carefully upkept garden.

          As I’ve blogged, my back is bad and my ability to remove those flowers growing in the wrong place is limited. Rather than be upset and depressed about this fact, I’ve decided to love those damned weeds as I do my dahlias and lilies.

          There, a new favorite thing that’s never been on my want, need or desire list in the past. Oh, I feel so much better now…well, not really.

LATTES

 

Back in the early nineties I came into a bit of money. E-trade was just beginning about then and I wanted to invest the funds rather than spend them. I took a couple of investing classes and asked the second instructor if he would take care of my money. Alas, I didn’t have enough because he had a $5,000 limit and I only had about half that. The one thing this man did stress when talking about investments was how he could put every single penny he had in Starbucks stock and sleep like a baby.

I did my research and ended up buying three Northwest stocks, one of which was Starbucks. That man’s faith in this company paid off and I watched my piddly funds grow and grow and grow. They almost reached $100,000 before the stock market took a big dive a few years ago. But that was okay because I didn’t plan to sell. These funds are my “emergency” funds.

What made me think of all this was my favorite coffee EVER!!! When I was employed, I stopped at Starbucks every single morning on my way to work. There were times I even went on weekends or John went and brought lattes back. I always felt good about spending that money because I owned a teeny, tiny piece of Starbucks.

          As a retirement gift to myself, I bought a Nespresso machine. Since then, I have two lattes every single morning and even a decaf one in the afternoon if I feel the need for an iced latte. My trips to Starbucks have become very few and very far between. I think I’ve lost my Gold Card status, but that’s okay.

          Nespresso is amazing, at least in my opinion and that of Danny DeVito and George Clooney. I buy capsules, kind of like Keurig, but from the Nespresso company. In the beginning, I think the cost was sixty-five cents each. Now they are eighty cents each. I order one-hundred at a time and the shipping is free.

          If that wasn’t enough to sell me on this company, besides the fact I really love the coffee, Nespresso has a recycling program. I save up two-hundred capsules in the freezer (so they don’t mold), put them into a pre-addressed bag Nespresso provides, and drop the bag off at UPS. Nespresso pays to have those used capsules returned so the grounds and the aluminum can be recycled.

          I still have my lattes every single morning, my favorite way to begin my day.

BOOKS

 

          Friends and family share their reviews about a wide variety of television programs. Were I to make a list of all these broadcasts, and I have on occasion made lists, I’d be hunkered down in front of the television 24/7. It’s not that I don’t watch TV because I do, it’s just that I have a different and far more favorite way to utilize my time…BOOKS.

          According to my mother, I taught myself to read before I began school. When we moved to Seattle, I was eight years old and was introduced to my local library via a school field trip. I’d found my home away from home. It was the kind of home that allowed me to travel the world, nay, the universe, and even places that might not have actually resided in the world or universe. Long before I was grown up and was able to travel independently, I had already traveled more than I believed any other person could have.

          Year by year as I grew up, I chose different paths for my life, depending on the books I was reading. I became the first woman race-car driver, first woman jockey, first woman in space, first successful woman in a wide array of careers. Unfortunately, my growing-up dreams didn’t come to fruition once I reached adult-hood although I had also read a lot of romance novels.

          Another pleasure that results from reading is the ability to share my books with other readers. It’s always such a gift to find another reader who knows my author(s) and my book(s), but it’s even more enjoyable when I can share the names of authors and book titles with someone who hasn’t yet discovered these favorites of mine. Just as fun is being given the gift of a new author or book I haven’t yet found.

          These days, I’m sincerely grateful for my I-Pad because I can visit the King County Library without even leaving my house. And, it’s so easy. I look up a book, make my request and the library notifies me when the book is available or allows me to borrow it right then. Downloaded to my I-Pad it’s ready for me to read in a print-size that doesn’t leave me with fried eyes.

Seriously, I never thought I’d want to replace a hand-held book with an electronic one, but reading books on my I-Pad has become my absolute favorite way spend time visiting other times and places.

PERCOCET

 

          John was addicted to Percocet. I now understand why and am so thankful he had just renewed his prescription before he passed. I was somehow smart enough to keep that big bottle of medication when I went through and eliminated the other hundred bottles of stuff…and, okay, I exaggerated there just a bit.

          Some mornings my back hurts so badly, it’s difficult to move and just sitting up and getting out of bed HURTS. But move I do and make my way to letting the dog out, fixing myself a latte and leaning against my heating pad set to HIGH. Most mornings, depending on what I did the day before, the heating pad is enough to make the pain bearable. I get up and continue with my day, beginning with my home exercise program which seems to help.

          I do not want to become a Percocet addict, so I’m extremely careful about how often I resort to those wonderful pills. Very rarely, I’ve taken three in one day, but it’s usually just one and that just one not even every day. On some days, though, Percocet becomes my absolute favorite medication. I pop one of those babies before or after my latte or even after my home exercise program because the pain hasn’t improved even a little bit. Then, it’s back to my favorite place…bed…until the Percocet does its job.

          It’s my hope the MRI shows something in my lower back that is fixable. As I said, I do not want to become an addict were that even possible the way they administer pain medications these days. Meanwhile, I’m most grateful for this inheritance, but also find myself wishing the bottle was magic and could refill itself. Of course, then it would undoubtedly become my absolute favorite medication Multiple. Times. Every. Single. Day.

GLASS

 

          There is something absolutely fascinating about glass. I’ve read about how people built homes with shutters instead of glass. I’ve read about how expensive it was to have glass windows back in the day. My home had single-pane windows when it was purchased. Now it has double-pane, should probably be upgraded to triple-pane, and three garden windows.

          Those garden windows don’t contain gardens, but displays of glass I’ve collected and been gifted over the years. I love glass and things made of glass. If you asked me to point out my favorite piece, it would be very difficult because there are so many I just love, love, love.

          Just sitting here typing, I can look to my right and see the large face candle-holder. It’s clear glass with an orange center and the face is rather abstract. There’s the red and orange rooster I found at Goodwill, the green bird with the long tail I bought cheap in some little antique store and several hand-blown glass bowls I picked up here and there.

          The kitchen garden window doesn’t contain much in the way of glass, but does have a few plants and fake orchids. I gave up trying to grow the live orchids after I was told to STAY OFF LADDERS!!!!

          It doesn’t really matter where you go in my house, you’re going to find glass. There are birds, fish, vases, bowls, pumpkins, fruit, rabbits, snails and apples. I lament giving Haley most of my apples when I was downsizing because I thought I’d be moving. I had quite the collection. I kept my favorites though. There’s the octopus AJ gifted me when I finished cancer treatment. There’s one of the pumpkins Angie gave me for my birthday. Thor worked at a florist for a while and I have several glass vases and watering balls he brought me.

          Glass is indeed my favorite decorating item even though I absolutely hate having to dust and/or wash the damn stuff. I have my windows cleaned once a year in the spring. That’s when I haul all the glass into the kitchen/dining room and run it through the dishwasher twice on the rinse cycle. It sure beats having to wash and dry each piece by hand although there are some pieces that have to be handled that way.

          Next month will be window washing time, and while the glass still looks okay because I’ve dusted now and then, it will sparkle and glow during these longer light-filled days in front of the freshly cleaned windows. I’m grateful for my fun collection of glass, especially when I look at the various pieces and remember the person who made the gift or the little shop where I found another treasure.

BFFS, FRIENDS, ACQUAINTANCES

 

          An article I read indicated that a person my age or older was lucky to have one BFF. I guess I’m more fortunate than most because I have several BFFs plus other friends and lots of acquaintances. This is how I identify my groups.

          A BFF is someone you see on a regular basis, with whom you lunch, attend various events, help out, support and love a whole bunch. In turn, they provide their love and support. This kind of friendship cannot be bought and as that old credit card commercial used to exclaim, “It’s priceless.”

There are other friends I don’t see very often, but whenever we do get together, it’s as though we just saw each other a few days ago instead of weeks or months. There was always the potential for us to become BFFs, but location, time, energy, life demands prevent that possibility. Still, I deeply value and love these people and appreciate what our relationships bring to my life.

Finally, there’s the acquaintances. Some, I see regularly, but we don’t lunch or do other stuff together, i.e., the folks in my fitness class. Others are sort of in passing. We run into each other, chat for a bit to catch up and go on our ways. I always rejoice and feel good about those interactions.

          I’m extremely grateful to have all these folks in my life. Each and every one is a favorite in one way or another. I value each for their love, support, concern, care, talent, energy, and kindness. Each one brings a richness to my life for which I’m always grateful.