Long Days and Scary Times

I think I have mentioned before, when you work in tourism the summer months, especially July and August, are crazy busy. I know my days are about to be very busy. Coming home late and barely getting to bed before I have to get up and do it all again, is going to be the norm for a couple of weeks. Ahhh retirement is starting to look so delicious.

My husband and I spent a few days last week at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville. Vanderbilt is where we had the kidney transplant. I say we because it is my kidney that he now has. If you are new to this blog and would like to read that story you can read it here and here.

The kidney transplant took place fourteen years ago. We have been trucking along just fine with great creatinine levels for hubs. We make a trip to Nashville three times a year for his checkup. The last year or so the creatinine levels have started to creep up. The creatinine level is what determines how well waste is being filtered out of your body. Finally in May after several blood tests the doctor ordered a kidney biopsy. If the kidney was in rejection we needed to know.

We checked in on Wednesday morning last week. The biopsy was to take place at 10:30 that morning and we would spend the night and be back home by Thursday afternoon. It didn’t quite work out that way. The biopsy did take place at 10:30 that Wednesday morning and hubby had to stay in bed for eight hours so that the possibility of bleeding was reduced. We were supposed to get the biopsy results by Thursday morning. The lab was running behind and we didn’t get the results until late Thursday evening. The kidney is not rejecting. The age of the kidney and the hit it has taken from anti rejection meds has made the kidney show some usual wear and tear, figuratively speaking . So it is not uncommon for those levels to rise. There may be some adjustments to his meds but nothing serious at this time.

Whew!!! We were so relieved!!! We had been holding our breath for a day and a half, heck who am I kidding? It was more like weeks, waiting to hear the results. This was the best possible news we could have gotten.

Because we got discharged from the hospital so late we decided it was not a good idea to try to make the almost four hour drive home. We were both exhausted. I had gotten little sleep in the pull out chair-bed in the hospital room the night before, and I would have to do all the driving. Mark wasn’t allowed to drive for a few days. He still can’t lift over ten pounds, sorry Gus, and he is very limited to daily activities for two weeks. We spent the night at the nearby hotel where we always stay when we have appointments. We treated ourselves to room service and got a great night’s sleep.

We got home on Friday afternoon I started laundry and did some work around the house. All of the babies were so glad to see us. They were so needy for a few days, especially Gus. We had to leave Bunnie outside while we were gone. I hated that, but she has shelter and my nephew came over every day to check on her and make sure she had plenty of water and food. He always checks on the kitties for us while we are away. He is a gem. I don’t know what we would do without him.

I went to work on Saturday to take care of a report that was due. I did a grocery pick up after work. I also returned to the Farm Market and bought okra and squash and a lot of other goodies. I was off on Sunday and I caught up on laundry and baked sourdough bread for the week. We had a feast for dinner from the vegetables I had gotten on Saturday.

***The sourdough bread was yummy. I’m starting to get the hang of folding and stretching the dough.*** ***If you know you know.***

***I got quite a bit of this shawl finished while we were in Nashville. I try to do a few rows every day so I was able to do quite a lot while we had some down time.***

It was back to work for me yesterday. A lot of long days ahead. You know, when you or a loved one has a health issue it very much rules your life. No matter how much you try not to worry or give it all over to God, it’s still there to some degree. I told my husband that we would get through this and continue to forge ahead. That is really all you can do. And no matter how many hours I have to work this week it is better than being in a hospital waiting for test results.

Have a great week

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!

A Busy Week And An Earthquake

Hello and happy Monday. It is not often that we have earthquakes in our neck of the woods but we had one Saturday morning. Yep you heard that right. I was cleaning house upstairs and hubby was cleaning downstairs. He had his headphones on as he usually does when he vacuums. I was in the bedroom and suddenly everything started shaking. We have a large armoire with mirrors on the front. It started shaking like crazy. The windows were rattling. I yelled downstairs and by this time hubby noticed it too. He yelled for me to come downstairs. It seemed like it lasted forever. My sister who lives thirty minutes from me called and they had also experienced it.

Turns out it was a 4.1 earthquake centered just about 10 miles from us near Greenback Tennessee. It was felt from Atlanta Georgia to parts of North Carolina. Wow!! I am hoping for no aftershocks.

I spent most of last week in Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia with the attractions group that my work is a part of. I will give you a more in depth post on that visit tomorrow. Bristol is about a four hour drive for me. I left early last Monday because my first meeting didn’t start until noon. It was a full couple of days. I got back to my house Wednesday evening and I was so tired I collapsed on the couch and didn’t move.

Because I was gone most of last week for my attractions group meeting I was only at work on Thursday. I came in and caught up on a few things. On Friday I went with my sister for her appointment with her oncologist. We had to wait almost three hours but it was okay because she is in full remission. That news was well worth waiting for.

We did a little shopping after the doctor visit. I bought two planters at T.J. Maxx.

***I added a couple of succulents to this kitty planter.***

***And I put one of my smaller orchids in this sheep? ram?***

I spent most of the weekend at home. I made a yellow Bundt cake. It stuck really bad. Note to self, please use parchment paper, I just put it back together and slapped some chocolate icing on it and it was fine. And of course I knitted and crocheted the day away. AHHH a good weekend.

***This is a picture of the side of the cake that didn’t stick to the pan.***

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day. My mama has been gone for many years. And we lost my little mother in law last July. It’s always a bit sad when we think of them no longer being with us.

My orchids are still doing very well even my miniature orchid, Ingrid, is blooming. I just love this color.

That was my week last week. I barely had time to do anything at home or on the blog. I did post a Wordless Wednesday. It was made up of sunrises and sunsets over the years. If you missed it you can check it out here.

Have a wonderful week and join me back here tomorrow for a new post on my time in Bristol, Virginia/Tennessee. I will give you a teaser. I got to ride on the Bristol Motor Speedway!!!! What????

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!

Hello December

I had been wishing for colder temperatures and man have they arrived. I still love it though. The air feels so cold and crisp. Just the way it is supposed to feel this time of year. It’s so hard to believe that December is here and a new year is coming soon.

How was your Thanksgiving? Ours was very nice and quiet. My nephew and his girlfriend came for dinner as well as my sister in law. we had such a fun time. My entire family no longer gets together on Thanksgiving Day. It seems as though each family is having their own special day. That makes me sad. I think next year we may try to plan a day, close to Thanksgiving Day, and get together with all of us. Time together is so special and should be treasured.

My sister and I took off early Friday morning for Black Friday shopping. It’s just not the same as it used to be. The crowds are not the same. So many people are doing online shopping and it makes going into the stores unnecessary. Most of the stores started their sales on Monday before Thanksgiving. I guess as I get older I’m just not that interested in being in huge crowds. The fact that I work with the public and experience this almost every single day also has a lot to do with that. But I’m not quite ready to give it up yet.

I still love going out on Black Friday. My sister and I start out early. We check out a few sales but we mostly love it because it is always our kick-off to Christmas. This past Friday was no exception. We started out around 7:00 AM and returned home around 4:30 PM. We had a wonderful time just being together.

As I said I wasn’t really looking for anything particular. I did buy a few Christmas presents and got some of that out of the way. But on our very last stop, which was as at Marshall’s, I found the best gift of all. It was for me but still.

While I was digging through some throw rugs I found a cat rug. It’s purrfect. Sorry I had to do that. It was my best find of the day.

I put the rug at my front door and Gus is already in love with it.

***I guess he thinks I bought it just for him.***

My nephew lives in Smithville and it is about two and a half hours from us. He had to work on Thanksgiving and didn’t get to enjoy any of his favorites with the family. On Saturday my sister and I met him about halfway to his house and had dinner with him. I made him a pumpkin pie, and his all time favorite, Butterfinger Cake. I didn’t get a picture of the cake or the pie. We got home late on Saturday. But it was totally worth it getting to spend some time together.

On Sunday I stayed home and relaxed. We did put up our Christmas tree. We still haven’t added all the decorations yet. I also finished my socks I was knitting.

***I think they turned out pretty well. Most of the stripes match. I had just a little different coloring on one toe.***

Even though our outside kitties come into the garage at night it can still get really chilly. We have a little heated house for them. They all love to pile up in that small house. It is the cutest thing ever. I am leaving you with a picture of Izzy poking her head out of the house. She secretly thinks the house is all hers and she is only sharing it with the others.

It was back to work for me this week. A full week ahead and a lot of things going on. I love Christmas and all the fun things that go along with it. But it can be so tiring. Remember to take care of you during this time. I think as women we tend to try and do it all and be all for everyone. Sometimes that is just not possible.

Have a wonderful week. Stay warm if you are in this area.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!

Hello Monday

Hello and happy Monday!!! How was your week and your weekend? I have been a bit under the weather. I am not sure what is going on. I think it is just that I haven’t been getting enough rest. Also a change in the temperature always gives me some sinus issues. I am feeling better today and I honestly think it was just the fact that I returned from my Wisconsin/Minnesota trip and went right back to work. We had a big week at work last week. We had some filming done for commercial and promotional footage and it was a lot to prepare for. It was a bit exhausting.

***It was exciting to see our cave lit up like this. I can’t wait to see all the footage. They even took a drone inside the cave.***

Last Saturday we celebrated my brother and sister-in-law’s 50th wedding anniversary. It was very nice. My two nieces planned everything and had it at my nieces’ church in the sanctuary. It was supposed to be a surprise but I think they sort of figured it out when they drove them to the church instead of out to eat. We had a great time catching up with friends and family. I was supposed to make the wedding cake but I realized a few weeks ago that the anniversary party fell the day after I returned from my Wisconsin trip. I knew I just couldn’t put a huge cake together in less than a day. They bought one somewhere else and it was yummy. They did a great job with everything.

***It’s hard to believe these two have been married for 50 years. I think ii was in Jr Hi when they got married.***

Yesterday we celebrated my nephew’s, well my great nephew actually, 21st Birthday. A milestone birthday so we had to celebrate although, who am I kidding we celebrate anything. We had the party at my sister’s house. My nephew Chris did most of the cooking on the grill. We brought some sides and had a feast. My sister just got a new dog baby and he is precious. He only weighs three pounds and will only be about seven our eight pounds when he is full grown. His name is Cooper, and I will admit I tried to smuggle him out of the house in my purse. It was such a fun day.

***Birthday Boy, Caleb holding his sweatshirt I got him when I went through Chicago last week.***

***Sorry about the blurry picture but this guy would not stop wiggling. He loves people and wants to be in the middle of everything.***

Today I felt much better when I went to work. Work has slowed down a tiny bit. The weather is cooler and so nice, especially early mornings and late afternoon. the leaves are changing colors but not a lot and not very fast. The weather here had been fairly dry until a few weeks ago and the leaves need more moisture to turn those beautiful colors.

***The trees with yellow leaves are my favorite.***

***We also had our first frost last week. It was beautiful.***

So that has been me for the last week. I have been listening to a great audio book. Olive Kitteridge written by Elizabeth Strout. I just finished it and found the second one, Olive Again, there is also a mini series on Max. Olive Kitteridge. The mini series follows the book and I am hoping for a second season. Only four episodes in the first season. Olive lives in Crosby Maine. The books are Almost like short stories but all of them weave Olive into them. I have loved them and now I am almost finished with the second one. At first I didn’t like Olive but now I love her. She is outspoken and tough but she can be so kind and she believes in treating everyone equally.

So other than work, housework, taking care of hubs and the kitties that is what I have been doing. Thankfully my traveling is over for a few months. That makes me very happy.

What have you been up to? I am sorry if I have neglected your blog posts. I love reading all of them and can’t wait to catch up.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!