My voice!

I woke up in the middle of the night with a sore throat, but since I had no other symptoms I just figure it is from spending so much time outdoors yesterday (which I am definitely not used to).   There might or might not be a connection, but the chemtrails took over the sky yesterday.

This morning my throat didn't hurt but I haven't been feeling all that great.  Since I don't talk to myself, I had no idea I was losing my voice.  It now sounds so weird!

I tried to find some self-help online,  and mixed up a glass of warm water with 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar, a bit of salt, and a few dashes of cayenne pepper.  I feel silly talking out loud to myself but a few hours later I wanted to see if I have any of my voice left, and found that indeed I don't have much of it.  Tomorrow I've arranged to take all the family to Straw Hat pizza, which I like to do when we are all together, but I hate to be in a crowd especially since I really don't know what is wrong with me - if it's just from air pollution then I can't spread it.    I sound like a teen-aged boy whose voice is changing!  Any good vibes you can send my way will be much appreciated!

Budding artists

Two of my granddaughters (Jeannie's girls) came over recently for an "art day", and I thought I'd show you the results.  Click on a picture to enlarge it.

These are two pictures drawn by Arianna, using color art pencils. age 8.  

Then Autumn, age 11 arrived and here is her offering:

I think they do very good work, and it all comes from their imaginations, no models to follow.

Mike and his family are in town and I spent most of today with them.  After having a big breakfast at a restaurant we love, we went to Folsom Outlet Mall and did some shopping and browsing.  I didn't sit down very often so maybe I can count all the walking as exercise! 

Besides being tired, I am very happy to have spent the day with them.  It nearly breaks my heart to see Josh trying to do things with his left hand, as he just fractured his right wrist while snowboarding.  I may have written previously that he broke his finger, but in fact he fractured his wrist. 

I'm tired and if I get into a relaxing position I probably will fall asleep, so I'll close for today.

 

Good News For Me!

It felt like the day would never come, but yesterday was my eagerly awaited doctor's appointment.  She is extremely pleased with my progress and the improvement I've shown already.  Evidently the Rituxan will continue to work for several months to a year.   So I'm feeling great, my energy levels continue to improve, and I sure am happy about that.

The doctor said, however, that things could change and explained what additional treatments might be required.  She mentioned several options including chemotherapy which I immediately and categorically reject.  I won't ever do chemo.   She wasn't saying that I would ever need additional treatment, but to be honest I guess the possibility will always exist that I might need something else.  I'm fine with that knowledge and will hope for the best, which is total recovery!

I don't think I ever doubted that the prognosis would be good, but to tell the truth, in the last week I must have been more tense than I realized.  So I'm very glad to be able to have hope that I've seen the worst of it and that I can get some semblance of my life back.  I have to return for blood tests and consultation with the doctor on a quarterly basis.  When I mentioned that I am trying to fit in a trip to NY and PA, hopefully in June, she immediately told me I could return for my first update in 4 months, so I won't be going back until the end of July. 

Thanks to everyone who expressed good wishes for my recovery.   I'm convinced that good and positive thoughts absolutely work

On another subject, Mike and his family are here for the week.  They, along with Joe and his two girls, are at Lake Tahoe snowboarding.   Yesterday we got a text that Joshua (who will be 12 in June) broke his finger.  They sent a few photos and it looks like he won't be using his right hand for a while.   I don't know how he will do in school since he is right-handed, but he is resourceful and will figure out a way.   The pictures from the morning show the 4 kids in the outdoor heated pool, and then another one with them bundled up from the cold, waiting for the ski lift!

I'm off to the grocery.   Thank goodness for my great appetite - I'm trying to eat healthy and I'm sure it makes a difference.

Where did this appetite come from

I have had a very healthy appetite for the past year or so, even though I was dealing with lymphoma.  And now, I just don't know what is happening but some of my sweat pants are a bit snug, and I don't think I even want to try on a pair of jeans right now.

I decided to start exercising a little every day - just a bit at first and then maybe work up to a routine that's longer and more strenuous.  I feel great and have been wanting to gain weight for a long time.  What I'd like to do is to get rid of the belly fat I've been carrying around since I had repair for an umbilical hernia. 

I've been finding some new recipes on Youtube - some of them work and are delicious, while others aren't bad but not worth making again.  My breakfast this morning was a beaut! 

The weather has been strange - it's up to 64 today and alternates between extremely heavy downpours and brilliant sunshine.  Interesting, to say the least.

I still don't have much to write about but hope I can become more active in the near future.  It's been a long time since I've done anything to "write home about".   Wherever you are, I hope you are having a good day! 

My helpful kids!

Steve came over with Liam & Quinn who entertained me while their daddy used the weed-whacker to cut down the really tall grass & weeds.  As soon as we have a long stretch of sunny weather in the forecast he will spray and we'll get to work on the yard.

Before he left with the kids Jeannie came over with Arianna and went to work on my "storage room", which is now my "art room" as it used to be.  About 2 weeks ago you couldn't even step into the room without tripping on something, and now it looks really good.  Again, we got rid of a lot of junk!   I'm glad to be rid of most of it, but it hurts sometimes!

I took some photos of the room (but they are "afters" and not "befores!).  The lighting plus my camera are terrible, but I took them and they give an idea of what kind of room it is.  You just wouldn't believe what it looked like before, and I'm happy to forget what it looked like!  Click to enlarge photos.

This is a very small room and it's hard to believe that the woman who owned the house previously actually used it as a bedroom, with just a small twin bed in it.  It might work for a child, but her 40-something year old child had the "big" bedroom, kept the door closed all the time and smoked in the room.  I didn't think I'd ever get rid of the smoke, but eventually I did.

I did a ten minute walk this morning (about 1/2 mile) and then came home because I saw the streaks in the sky.  I may drive to the gym later on today and finish my walk under cover. 

It's lunch time and I'm hungry!  Donald sent over some delicious corned beef and cabbage he cooked for St. Patrick's Day, and I have half of it left.  I think I might go for it right now!  Thanks for tuning in, and I'll see you in another day or two.

 

Weird weather !

The weather today has been crazy.  I've tried to take photos but my camera really needs repair -- the cover to the battery compartment won't stay closed tightly enough for the batteries to make contact, so while I'm holding and trying to focus the camera I also have to hold the batteries in place!

First thing I noticed were the variations in clouds.  (Click on a picture to enlarge it.)

In the first picture there are several clouds that are very dark, and in the second picture I got some white fluffy ones.  The dark clouds obviously have moisture in them, but why are they so dark when rain is colorless?

I heard rocks pelting the house and street and looked out to find sleet covering everything.  Again, it was difficult to get a decent picture while trying to hold the batteries in the camera.  Everything was covered with sleet, including the porch and steps.   I'm sorry about the 2nd photo.  All I can think is that the sun was shining very brightly during this downpour of sleet, and caused the distortion in the second picture.

I went outside earlier to try to get a few pictures of the backyard that I want  to fix up, taking out the rocks and putting in a lawn, plus planting some small fruit trees along the fence.    I hadn't gotten very far until my neighbor next door spotted me and shot out the door to talk.  There was no taking pictures after that and I would still be there if another neighbor hadn't walked up and wanted to tell him something.  He is so nice and wants to trim some of the weeds & grass in the yard for me, and I couldn't get into the conversation to tell him that my son is going to do it.  I think he wants to help me because everytime one of the boys is here to trim the bushes or whatever, they also do some of his.  He's a good soul and in terrible health.  I can't count the number of times the EMT's have come to his assistance.

Sorry about the quality of the photos.  I'm going to try to find a place to get my camera fixed - I'd buy a new one but none of them has a viewfinder these days, and I can't see the screen when I'm holding the camera at arm's length.  

Is this really the end of the week?  It is scary to think of how much faster time goes by the older one gets.  I hope everyone has a fun weekend.  I think my kids are getting together at Joe's to celebrate St. Patrick's Day but I probably won't go.  I would want to leave way before everyone else does so someone would have to leave the party to drive me home.  I'll just remember how much I used to enjoy the holiday!

A New Life!

I'm not sure how long the enthusiasm will last, but for now I'm planning the future.  Nothing big, but I'm going to get outdoors more, for one thing.  I've been texting with my son Steve, who will help me get the yard in order if the rain ever stops!

I have a small back yard with small rocks rather than grass.  We might pull up all that rock and spread it along the very narrow side yard, and plant grass in the back.  I asked him if he would build me a small box-like structure that I can plant a few tomato plants - I may expand but right now all I can think of is one or two tomato plants.   I would also like a small lemon tree, and maybe a tangerine tree along the back fence.

I'll have to take it little by little and see if I continue to feel better.  I can't believe I'm actually back to the stage where I can see a future and want to make plans for it.  If the rain ever stops and we get a sunny day, I'm going to take a photo - a "before" - so that I can compare it to "after"!