It's a Very Busy Day Today - Time to Get to the Pool

I had time this morning so I took the time to pay the first half of my property taxes. Thus ... I no longer have time this morning - LOL. It's a full day today. I start out (after my swim) with an eye doctor appointment out at the clinic which is a fair distance away, but I like these people and they've always done a good job for me. They did my Lasik way back when, and my cataracts almost two years ago. And they've done my annual exams regularly for decades. Good people. 

When I first went to the clinic, it was one of several 
small locations scattered throughout the Cities. Now they 
have large buildings in several of the suburbs and they're 
one of (if not THE) largest eye clinic in the Twin Cities. 

After I'm finished with them (and can't see because of the dilating drops) I'll make my way back to my own area (carefully). I have a phone consultation with my Radiology Doc this morning, and then it's on to groceries and my most important job today - working on my treadmill. 

Doc Wilson is absolutely awesome, and the 
Radiology team he heads is efficient, competent, 
professional and caring. Great people from 
front desk to the Head Honcho! 

My treadmill company has sent me the instructions for removing the front plate so that I can take additional photos of the slipped rail to show them. I found the correct Allen wrench for the bolts last night, so I'm ready to get going on this ASAP. I'll also be contacting the software people regarding my virtual runs. Apparently they're local, so if necessary, I'll drive out to their suburb and knock on their door. I want my virtuals back, and I'm not understanding why I don't have them. 

The fitness software I use on the treadmill is powered 
by Treo Wellness. If they're not a local company, they 
at least have a local branch. If I can't get anywhere by 
phone today, I'll have to try and go to their offices 
on Friday. 

But today also must include grocery shopping (there are items we MUST have) and cooking. So, generally, I won't be bored today - at all! LOL. I'm really glad I postponed my orthodontist appointment - adding that into today's mix would have been extremely difficult. 

I love my local supermarket. I remember shopping at 
Byerlys and at Lunds separately, and when they merged 
it was a perfect marriage. They have a deep selection, 
excellent produce, and great people. 

So, I hope your day will be a bit more relaxing than mine. Have an excellent one, no matter what, and spread some love today. A little love can go a long way to help heal the person you're giving it to, as well as yourself. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

DH Is Driving Me INSANE! GRRRR!

DH is driving me insane (if I wasn't already on the borderline). He's going over my calendar multiple times, writing everything down and questioning each appointment. Then, when he was giving me oral instructions for a task I'm to do today, and I asked him to please write them down (and it would have been two sentences worth of effort), he absolutely exploded. Frankly, I'm NOT feeling the love. I'm feeling more like I'm in some Petri dish. I might phone my memory doctor and ask him to have a conversation with DH and explain that writing directions down is EXACTLY what I need done, and that any minor inconvenience ... well, too bad! 

DH either doesn't understand, or simply doesn't care 
that I need written directions when he asks me to 
do something in a particular way. If this persists, 
I'll be contacting my brain doc and asking him to 
call him directly and tell him, AGAIN, that directions 
need to be written out for me. 

I was SO angry. It wasn't that I was asking him to do so much.  I fully understand that he's over his head in tasks to get done so that we can get out of the business, but ... I went back to speak with him at his desk or ask for his help on the sales floor several times yesterday, and all he was doing was playing Bridge on his phone. He wasn't doing anything for the store. So ... I really don't know what to say. I'm pretty much working at the store when I'm there. I take a break with my phone during my lunch, and when I go to the bathroom. That's it. The rest of the time I'm on the sales floor and at the store computers working. He's certainly not working towards getting the store closed if he's playing Bridge on his phone most of the day. 

We each have our own thing that we enjoy doing on our 
cell phones. I love reading on my cell phone - I go through 
a lot of e-books in an average year. He plays Bridge. 

So, there are issues. *sigh*  On the Good Side of events, my replacement skin suit (full body swimsuit) was delivered yesterday and I'm wearing it today. It's lovely - kelp in the ocean with the light filtering down through the fronds. I also love the way the suits fit when I first get them. Like all swim suits, they stretch out through use and the chlorinated water. I took a closer look at my damaged suit too. I think I might take it to my tailor. It's the bottom portion of one leg that got eaten by the water extractor. I think my tailor might be able to cut it off above that point and put in elastic. It won't be as snug (and it'll look weird), but they're VERY expensive suits and it still fits well. I could get another season at least out of it with a decent repair. It might be worth it - I'll try to build a quick trip to the tailor into tomorrow's schedule. 

This is the skin suit I ordered to replace my damaged 
suit. I think it's lovely. Of course it fits like a dream 
because it hasn't started to stretch out yet. I should get 
a good summer's worth of outdoor swimming from it 
before it stretches too much. 

But tomorrow's schedule is a bit crowded. I did phone my orthodontist and get a different appointment with them.  I simply didn't have the time to start with my eye exam in the Southeastern part of the Cities, then drive to the Northern part of the cities for the Orthodontist, and then to the Central part of the Cities for my Radiology appointments, all within four hours. Not with road construction, which is a constant at this time of the year. So, I rescheduled my orthodontic appointment. My wires can remain without glue for another week, it won't harm them (ideally) and I really don't have any choice. 

When it came down to logistics, I figured it was a bit 
tight to get to every appointment on time if I had the 
Orthodontist in the mix. So, I rescheduled him for 
a different date. Now I'll have time to breathe between 
my Eye Doctor appointment and my Radiology appt. 

I'm off to the pool to work some of this frustration out in the water. I hope you have an excellent Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow before starting my "Very Busy Day" - LOL. Be kind, enjoy your Spring (or Fall) and Slava Ukraini! 

Blossoms, Appointments, and Running and Somehow They All Fit Together - LOL

Hello Monday, welcome to our last week of April. Spring has settled here in the Frozen Northlands and even though our maple trees are slow to develop their leaves, other trees are already splendidly green and gorgeous. The Spring is my favorite season. I love that specific color of new green leaves and plants, before they've gone darker in the summer heat or more golden in the autumn frost. We didn't have much of a winter, actually, which is probably bad for our water levels, but it's wonderful for my personal happiness (and made driving to and from the hospital complex every day much easier all around). 

The cherry blossoms are out on the trees in Como Park 
right now. I know they're blossoming in Washington DC, 
but we have our own wonderful cherry trees in our own 
park that are every bit as beautiful. 

I've realized that my schedule for Wednesday is impossible. I start out with an eye doctor appointment, then I was supposed to squeeze into my orthodontist for a quick reglue on a couple of back-tooth wires which have worked loose, and then back to the hospital complex for a radiology appointment and a phone conference. Well, I'm going to have to reschedule the orthodontist. I just can't be that many places within the time frame I'll have available. I'll be phoning them this morning and getting rescheduled, hopefully for this week still, but next week is also just fine. 

My Wednesday will have me travelling South, 
then North, then South again, then West. It's 
just NOT going to work out with reality and 
road construction, so I'm going to have to 
postpone one thing. 

We had a rather laid-back Sunday - lots of TV which was fine. I was able to give the kitchen a fairly good clean and sort. I still have to wash the floor, but I did give it a good sweep. I got my full 45 minutes on the treadmill this morning too, so I'm "bright-eyed and bushy tailed" as the saying goes. 

I love my treadmill, but having the virtual reality views 
on the screen really makes a HUGE difference in the 
quality of my workout. I get involved in my music and 
the scenery and don't "clock watch". It's really the only 
way I can easily get my 45 minutes in. 

I'll contact my friend who sold me the treadmill later today. I'm suddenly not getting my virtual runs (which I absolutely depend on). Looking back and time frames, I might have just purchased six months of the videos (although I thought I bought an annual plan). I'm not sure what it would be listed as in my credit card receipts, so she would probably have that information available for me. Then I can go back into my statements and find out when it was paid and for how much-how long. I've been using the sample virtual runs, but using the same ones every day gets REALLY boring. LOL

So, I'm off and running. Lots to do. Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

It's Earth Day Today - Plant a Tree, Pick Up Garbage and Walk to Work

Happy Earth Day to all of you, my friends near and far. It's been a long time since the first "Earth Day" when I was in High School, but that we're still thinking about ways to live a more sustainable life on this beautiful planet of ours give me hope for our futures. 

Earth Day always brings back memories of High School 
to me. That dates me, I know, because I participated in 
the very first Earth Day by ducking out of school (along 
with a LOT of other students) and walking downtown 
to the Civic Center to look at displays and get information 
about saving the planet. It's been important to me ever since. 

Today is a short post because it's a swimming day and I still have a couple of things I have to do before I leave for the pool. DH and I are juggling doctor appointments tomorrow. I get a one-hour consult with the "Brain" doctor to discuss my memory testing and whatever results came from that, then DH has to run off to the Men's clinic (that's what I call it, but it's basically OB-GYN for men - LOL) to find out whether he has cancer or not and what his future holds. I'm once again going on record about NOT wanting to live in interesting times. 

I love these satellite photos from NASA that celebrate 
Earth Day this year. We live on an extraordinary planet 
and we're so very fortunate.  The photos above 
spell out EARTH DAY. Take a closer look. 

But, it's a swimming day, and another day in our early Spring. The birds are attempting to build nests on our outdoor light fixture once again, and the squirrels are destroying it every time and eating the eggs. Life goes on. *sigh* I'm going to wrap this up and head to the pool, because I think I really need my swim today - I feel fat - LOL. Have an excellent Tuesday and hopefully I'll be back with a bit more to say tomorrow. *Hugs* to all of you and Slava Ukraini. 

A Very Busy Day Today

Something got messed up yesterday, and schedules clashed, computers didn't show appointments, and I ended up missing a pre-radiation meeting that I should have been at. I'm NOT happy about that. The care team and I were so focused on getting the arm infection under control and healed, and that's where our focus should have been, and was. But when Emily was trying to schedule me up to a different clinic for an ultrasound and possible fluid extraction, there was nothing coming up on My Chart to indicate that there would be a scheduling conflict. 

We've all become so dependent upon our computer 
scheduling, and bouncing different doctors and appointments 
around here and there, it's been a life saver. Except ... this 
time it messed up. 

Well, I was supposed to meet with my Radiation Therapy team yesterday at 9:00 am, and I had NO idea I was supposed to do this. Since I still had an open, weeping wound, we pulled the other clinic off the rotation and I continued doing what I had been to (hopefully) eliminate this abscess under my arm (quite painful, but more annoying than actual pain by this time). 

My lymph nodes were not just swollen, they 
were also infected. That led to an abscess under my 
right arm in the armpit area that was extremely 
painful, and was draining copious amounts of 
fluid. Ick! Today, things finally seem under 
control, no pain, and the incision has finally 
completely closed. Hallelujah. 

So I actually spent yesterday at home, cooked a stew that I've already marked "Do Not Make Again", and a couple of baked pork chops that are fabulous (so at least one kitchen experiment turned out well). I worked on getting the crap out of my armpit incision, and I slept. I was rather desperate for sleep. I didn't get some things that DH needed me to do, but with luck, I'll get to them today. 

I wasn't super happy with the stew I made, but the oven baked 
BBQ pork chops with onions I did turned out wonderful. 
I could only eat about 1/2 a chop and half a salad, but it was 
a true meal for a change. Still, I'm down another pound. I'm 
not in danger territory yet, but I do have to keep my nutrition 
levels high. 

But, today I'm going to start out at Radiology with an abject apology. It won't help in the scheduling, but it's all I've got to give. They open early, so I'll be there first thing. Then I'll walk down the two blocks or so to the Breast Center for an update with my current care giver there. Everything is clicking into place, but it's a rusty fence, creaking a great deal and needing that extra shove to get into position. That's my life - LOL. Have an excellent Friday and end of the month, and if you celebrate Ramadan, have a good one ahead of you. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

It's a Doctor Day and Maybe a Cooking Day - Happy Wednesday!

I was sick yesterday. I called DH in to work, headed home and went to bed. I suspect it was just the exhaustion of the past few weeks hitting home, but I got home, changed into my jammies, hit my bed and I was out. I awakened for a quick dinner, watched a little of "Thomas Jefferson" and went back to sleep. I think I'm finally caught up - LOL. 

There's nothing much better than tumbling into 
bed while wearing a comfortable set of PJ's. 

I did awaken around 1:00 am and went to my computer to do some research on chemotherapy and radiation therapy. They both have their plusses and negatives, so I'll see what the radiation Doc has to say this morning. In the afternoon, I meed with my surgeon for a post-op wrap up. I think the stitches under my arm are slightly infected, which isn't a good thing, but I'll be sure to ask her about that and have her take a look. I'm really hoping she'll pull the steri-tape off. I think I'm healing well (except for the single area) and I want to keep the progression going. 

I think Chickie Mama will join me for the post-op conference in the afternoon. I told her I didn't think anything really germane would happen in the morning meeting, but left attendance up to her. 

It's hard to believe that I've been on WildFit for four years 
now, but I'm really happy with how my body reacts to the 
alkagizers that I drink four days a week. It's hard to argue 
with success. 

So, that just leaves me with the problem of what to cook for the next week. Unfortunately, I won't have a chance to cook anything until Friday, and I'll be behind on my "Ogre Juice" if I don't get some made today. But, my scheduling needs to be a bit fluid at this point. My phone did remind me that I've reached an anniversary today, though. I started WildFit on this date in 2021, so I've now completed four years living with WildFit. It's one of the best things I've ever done for myself. Have an excellent day and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Today is a Merry-Go-Round of Errands and Appointments

This time I managed to kill a new watch within a week of receipt. *sigh* I'm really good at killing watches. Fortunately this one wasn't super expensive, but I guess I'll have to look at getting one that is, to get the functions I need in something that I actually can operate. The inexpensive one I had before this current watch was pretty good, but I found getting it set was almost impossible. I need something that's made for old people - LOL. I probably need a FitBit, and they're not inexpensive. 

Several friends who also swim have recommended 
FitBit watches to me. I've always been hesitant 
because of the cost, but if it would last a year, 
I could live with it. Meg's Fitbit has lasted for almost 
five years and is still working. She swims several 
times a week and is very active. 

Today is a merry-go-round of appointments, starting with a 7:40 am mammogram, and progressing to an 8:30 am appointment with my Orthodontist to get the lower band removed. At noon, I see my dentist to get the loose crown reapplied, and then at 1:00 pm I'm back at the Orthodontist to get the lower band reapplied. Then I'll actually have a couple of hours to go to my co-op to take advantage of a specific once-a-month sale they have on my collagen, and the grocery store for tonight's dinner and other sundries. I should be home in time to phone Aearwen for our weekly chat, and then, after dinner, I can collapse - maybe - LOL. 

By the time I get to the grocery store later this 
afternoon, I'll probably feel like a limp noodle! 

I'm postponing my usual Wednesday laundry until Friday. I simply won't have the time to deal with that today at all. Fortunately that's not an essential - I won't run out of clothes, and the beds can manage without new sheets for a couple more days. I did cancel my 11:00 am COVID booster appointment. Those appointments are never timely and always take far more time to get in and out than they should. I'll get that rescheduled for next week (which will be the 2nd time I've had to cancel and reschedule. Maybe my COVID booster shot is a doomed task). 

So, I'm off and running. Have an excellent Wednesday and I'll be back tomorrow. Maybe a bit exhausted from today's errands, but ready to start anew. Slava Ukraini and prayers for Israel. 

Flip Flopping, Positive Vibes and Driving Around

Today I start my day out by driving to the eye doctor for my final checkup and, hopefully, a new prescription for eyeglasses. The appointment is for 7:30, and I want to check in no later than 7:15 am. Since that would crunch my swim/gym time, I decided to flip days so I'll swim on Friday and take today as my "off" day. It's not a problem, just a shift. 

Switching my schedule today just seemed much 
easier than being super rushed. So I'll swim 
tomorrow instead of today and breathe a little 
easier. 

My Doctor came through with a prescription for an antibiotic - 2 pills a day, 12 hours apart with food. That's another detail that is pushing me to do my swim tomorrow. Adding in breakfast after my swim and before heading out to the far Southeastern suburb of my eye clinic simply wouldn't work. So, I'll have a lovely toasted no-grain bagel after I get this posted, and keep on my 6:30 am/6:30 pm schedule for the pills. I already feel much better after only one day's worth, so I'm sure this will kick that UTI out of the park and out of my life. 

I'm really good about taking my daily vitamins, but having 
to take a med two times a day, 12 hours apart is a bit more 
challenging. It's easiest to take with my breakfast around 
6:45 am, and with dinner 12 hours later, so I just need to 
keep to that schedule for a few days. 

I've been doing some work for DH on old invoices that he's using with his AFS inventory reduction plan. I spent a bit more than an hour with Photoshop, getting miscellaneous things off the form, and now I'll go through again and pull away specific prices that he wants out of there. It took a while to figure out what would work the best/easiest, but I was successful. Unfortunately, I can't do this on my laptop - the "light" version of Photoshop that I have on the laptop doesn't allow me to do what needs to be done. So, that limits me to working on these at home only. Oh well. 

I use Photoshop every morning for the pictures that I 
post here in my blog. I have Photoshop Elements on my 
laptop, and I find it more challenging and less 
satisfying. I suppose I'll have to save my $ because I'll want 
the full Photoshop when I upgrade my desktop computer. 

I'm sending lots of positive thoughts out to Aearwen today as she looks at two possible places for her and her son to move to. Due to many extenuating circumstances, she has to sell her home which has been in her family for almost 60 years, and move to a smaller place. In the long run, it's going to be fabulous for them - but getting everything done and taken care of efficiently ... that'll be a much harder chore. So, positive thoughts, everyone. 

It never hurts to have positive vibes sent 
to friends who are a bit overwhelmed, so I'm 
asking for all of you to send positives 
to Aearwen as she sorts out this move. It's 
a major thing to move out of the family 
home after all these years. 

So, on that note, I'm plugging in photos and getting my day underway. I hope your Thursday is awesome and spectacular, it's the only Thursday, June 8, 2023 you're ever going to get, so make the best of it. I'll be back tomorrow with a short post before I head off to the pool. Slava Ukraini. 

It's a "Day Off" - Errands, Errands and More Errands

Today is starting out hard and fast. I have my morning swim, of course, but then, instead of heading back home at 6:15 am or so, I'm hopping into the car and driving to one of our southeastern suburbs for an eye doctor appointment which I have scheduled for 7:30 am. I'm really hoping something can be done about my vision issues. I can't see adequately for my job any more, and my vision is always switching back and forth from near to far. My focus is poor, basically, my eyes are in bad shape. That's not something I can work with for much longer. 

My vision is too blurry to effectively read my 
price tags any more. I'm mixing up 9, 6 and 8 on 
them, and that's leading to errors - sometimes really 
bad ones. DH and Chickie might be worried about 
my mind, but I'm worried about my vision. I have 
a feeling a lot of mind things will be cleared up 
if I can just see clearly once again. 

I would also like to get my driving license renewed today, but I might not get to that until Friday. In many ways, Friday would be a better choice. I could be at the licensing office when they open in the morning and have less of a line to wait in. I'll probably do that. 

My city's Licence Center is quite convenient to get to 
for me, but it's always good to be there first thing 
in the morning to avoid long waits. I'll try to be there 
at 7:30 am on Friday to get my Driver's License 
renewed. 

I got my next audio book loaded onto my waterproof headphones last night, so I'm totally set for today's swim. The books are in sets of three per story line, and I'm starting book 3 now. I'm looking forward to seeing how this particular plot gets resolved. 

I'm ready to start book three of my current group of 
audio books. I loaded this one up on my underwater 
player last night, and I'm ready to go. I've worked with 
music and with books, and books suit me better. The 
best thing about the Drizzt series books is there's a LOT of 
them, so I still have books to get through the rest of 
the year, most likely. 

As usual, however, I have a bunch of stuff on my list for my "day off". So I'm going to cut this short and start working on a couple before I leave for the swimming pool. I hope you have a truly wonderful Wednesday and Slava Ukraini. I'll be back tomorrow. 

We're Stressed - I Foresee A Bumpy Road Ahead

 DH was up for much of the night. He has an MRI scheduled for first thing this morning, and it's a bit of a drive south from where we live to get to that particular clinic. So, he left me a note asking me to wake him up when I leave. That's got to be my 4:30 am leave since his appointment is at 7:00 am or 7:30 am. 

He was up for most of the night, and has to leave for an 
MRI appointment early this morning. He's probably 
going to have to catch an afternoon nap or he'll be 
semi-comatose by tonight. 

I'll run into the same situation tomorrow when I have a 7:30 am appointment for my eyes, so I'll actually leave for that appointment right from the gym, maybe dropping off my swim gear before continuing south to my eye doctor, but maybe not. 

We've got some major roadblocks in our way 
while we try to get the store closed. There's 
nothing like government to toss roadblocks 
up and make them a total PITA. 

We ran into some major roadblocks for our store closing when I researched the requirements of our City for closing the store. It's not horribly difficult to arrange, and the cost is minimal for the closure license, but they also require an inventory list and our inventory records are woefully out of date and inaccurate. So, DH spent yesterday on the computer working on that issue, and I suspect will be spending a LOT of time dealing with that. We have some problem departments, and we'll just have to work through it. 

Our individual stress levels right now are through 
the roof. Just a LITTLE high - LOL. If we manage 
to get through this year and get the store closed, it'll 
be nothing short of a miracle. 

The stress levels we're both under right now are ridiculous, though. He;s snapping at me, and I'm pulling into my shall because putting on my armor allows me to deflect his attacks. It's not a really good way to work any relationship, and we won't be able to maintain it for long. 

So ... long story short ... we're stressed. We're stressed in different ways and expressing it differently, but we're both super stressed right now. I know we'll get through this, but it's going to be a rough road ahead until we get to the new pavement. Have an excellent day, I'm going to work out some of my frustration in the pool. Slava Ukraini. 

Lunch With an Old Friend and Taxes - That's My Life Today

Today I am meeting an old friend for lunch. It plunges a hole in my day, but it's a good reason, and I'm looking forward to a nice catch-up. Although relationships can be convoluted, JenyBeth is the daughter of Richard, who was the brother of our best man and dear friend, Steve. DH and I went to school with Steve and DH and Steve were totally BFF, even though they would never have used that term. Steve had a brother, Richard, who happened to live in the Twin Cities. So when we moved up here, and DH went back to New Mexico to finish his thesis before our Fall wedding, I was at loose ends and decided to contact Richard to find out if we could become friends over the long summer. 

I love cemeteries and have since I was a child. I looked 
for any photos of Richard or pictures of the cemetery 
where he might be buried, but I actually think Cindy had 
him buried back in Indiana - their home state. In any 
case, photos weren't available, so you just get this rather 
pretty shot of a general cemetery. 

I'd cook a meal and have enough to share, so I'd give him a call and invite him over for dinner. Richard and I got along really well, and when DH moved back up, I introduced the two of them and they bonded really well. Richard had a girlfriend and they married, then both of them moved back to the Twin Cities. Within a year or two, Cindy was pregnant with a wonderful kid who has grown into a beautiful and talented young woman - JenyBeth. 

I love the fact that when I was looking for any photos 
of JenyBeth, quilts came up instead. I don't know if 
this is one of hers, but she loves quilting and that's been 
her craft for many years. She also makes lovely holiday 
cards and I enjoy mine every year. 

Richard and Steve have both passed on, and Cindy is in a care facility because her MS got so bad she really needed more help than any single person could offer her. That leaves JenyBeth, and she's always been a great friend of mine. When we get together, we can chat for hours, despite our age difference. I'm young at heart, she's got an old soul. We bond really well. I'm looking forward to seeing her again and catching up on what's been going on in her life. 

Paul Schutta is our accountant. When we left Eleanor's 
firm, I needed to find someone new, and he had good 
reviews and was near where we live. We've been with 
Paul for many years now and he does a great job for us, 
even staying after hours to meet with us since we don't 
close the store until almost 6:00 p.m. 

DH and I also have an appointment with our accountant tonight for the corporate income tax return. Those of you already in fear of the April 15th deadline for personal income taxes, you know nothing. Business income tax returns are due on March 15th, so accounting firms go crazy at this time of the year and Paul's business is no exception. Our business taxes are usually pretty straight-forward, however, so I don't expect the meeting to last long and we'll be back home to eat dinner quite quickly. Still, it's one more thing for an already packed day. 

Have an excellent Wednesday and I'll be back tomorrow. If I remember, I'll discuss a few books I've either recently read or am reading that might interest you. If I don't remember that topic, I'm sure I'll get to it within a week. Slave Ukraini.