Where does time go?

I've been reading my favorite blogs this evening.  Each one is a treasure to me as it brings me into the life of the writer and shows me the things that make up their worlds.

I'm at a bit of a loss today as it occurs to me that I have nothing so very wonderful to say on this rainy evening.  I guess I'll ramble on a bit.

Roy's outside garden is producing peas and carrots.    The peas are so sweet because they've grown slowly on their own schedule.

In case you didn't know, I'll tell you that winter is citrus season in our world.  Our tangerine tree began having sweet tangerines in December and is still loaded down with tangerines.  We've been eating two or three every day.  I think maybe a garden fairy puts more tangerines on the tree at night.

Yes, these are not our tangerines, but our oranges in the photo.  I'm too lazy to go out in the cold rain and take a photo of the tangerines.  Take my word for it that the tangerines are growing every bit as thickly as these oranges.

Roy has been experimenting with his greenhouse.  Now that the weather's cold (by Southern California standards) he's been leaving a light on inside for warmth, but he has to turn it off and open the doors to cool it off if the day turns sunny.  He has lettuce and beets growing, but the tomatoes aren't happy.  We did have ripe tomatoes from the winter garden, but that was just a bit of luck - a very warm fall.

Pally (my implanted defibrillator) and I are doing fine.  I received a surprise box in the mail.  It's a heart monitor.  I wasn't expecting it, but there it was.  It is plugged into the telephone line and sits on my nightstand for the sole purpose of interrogating Pally as to how I'm doing and reporting back to the doctor.  This is happening on Monday nights while I sleep.  At first I felt a little out of sorts about it, but now I just ignore it.  It sits there with its bright green eye (on light) and when I'm ready to sleep, I cover the light with the instruction book that came with it.  If I don't cover the light, when I turn out the lights it casts a spooky green light all over my bedroom.  Don't the people who make these devices do a home test?  Who wants to sleep that way?  Not me.

Our granddaughter who lives in town is expecting a baby boy in late March.  We are all so excited.  We expect lots of company when he arrives because Brandy and Ken's little condo doesn't have a lot of guest space - I think the sofa is where guests can sleep.

I'll write more in a day or two.  In the mean time, please keep entertaining this lazy blogger with your beautifully written blogs.  I love them all.

Marilynne

A little sand and salt water

Our family has a wonderful Christmas tradition here in San Diego.  Sometime between Christmas and New Years we go to the beach.  I know, life is sometimes tough.  Let's say it in pictures.

The day was sunny and warm.

My granddaughter has a new eReader

It was a great day for kayaking

You can hardly see the gull for the sun
sparkling on the water.

We had lunch at the harbor.

The fog crept in about 4 PM.

When it started to get cold
we left for home.

Hope you had a great day.

Marilynne

Pally update

Three and a half weeks have gone by since Pally (my defibrillator) joined my life.  I thought I'd be feeling a lot better by now, but I don't.  Maybe I have unrealistic expectations.

Roy joined me on a test drive to see how I did.  It felt good to be behind the wheel again, but the seat belt that crosses my shoulder pressed hard against Pally when I drove the Honda.  My Silverado pickup - not so much, so if I drive I'm taking the pickup.  We tried putting the shoulder part behind my back.  That works, but it isn't ideal.

Dancing Western

I'm not really back to cooking again, but maybe I haven't made my best effort.  I adore eating out.  On the other hand, Roy would love it if I cooked and he's been such a big help to me, now that he's pretty much over his cold.

Both of us are tired a lot.  Maybe that's impatience as much as health.  We do need to let our bodies heal.

Marilynne

Looking forward

It's been two and a half weeks since Pally joined me in taking care of my heart.  Our plan was for Roy to pamper me (guy style) and for me to enjoy it and focus on getting better.  Unfortunately it didn't work out that way.

I was recovering from serious (but not difficult) surgery while at the same time Roy was suffering the cold to end all colds.  I now know what he'll look like if he lives to be 100 - terrible.  We managed pretty well, but I think I needed less nursing than he did.

When we could finally take a road trip, we went to the
 casino/outlet mall.  It felt so good to be away from the house.

Roy's cold prevented him from holding my hand before and after surgery.  I missed that, but we both agreed that he was much too contagious to be visiting the hospital.  He never went inside.  I signed myself in, and he was waiting at the curb when they wheeled me out to go home.  Not what we had planned at all.

So now we're both better.  I'm still not allowed to drive, square dance, or go to Curves, but that day is coming.

I'm seeing the doctor almost weekly so the tech can fine tune Pally.  It makes me laugh when he says "I think I'll raise your heart beat a little," and he does it.

More next time.

Marilynne

Thanksgivings Past

It's going to be a quiet Thanksgiving here this week.  I'm still getting used to Pally and my husband is sick with a nasty cold.  Do I need to say I'm not cooking the big dinner?

So, I'm thinking about Thanksgivings past.  I have a photo from our Thanksgiving in Florida where Roy and I are smiling at the camera and everyone behind us is making faces.  I didn't know it until I saw the photograph.  That's how our family is at Thanksgiving - laughing and enjoying themselves.

A quiet moment at the beach

This photo is from the same thanksgiving - two sisters talking while they dip their toes into the Gulf of Mexico.  That was a good Thanksgiving, but there were others.

Same daughter, another state (Washington).  Our daughter and her husband had bought a brand new house and invited us for dinner.  She had spent a bonus (when companies still paid bonuses) on a brand new cherry dining table made by the Amish.  It was gorgeous, but before we ate they covered it well with pads and tablecloths.  I laughed inside, but it was really a lovely Thanksgiving.  They are really good cooks.

Same daughter, another state (Idaho).  (She learned this moving around business from her parents.)  They had bought a quirky old house in Idaho.  There was a gorgeous Japanese maple just outside the dining room window.  Our whole family was there.  She had bought a kit for making a gingerbread house and we had a fun time putting it together.  (The kit had enough candy in it for tasters.)  It was cold and icy.  I knew there was a secret floating around, but it didn't come out.  Later we heard from the quiet daughter that she was divorcing her husband.  She would have collected so many hugs if she'd just had the courage to come out with it.

Harris Ranch.  We have family all over the Left Coast (the Pacific Coast).  We have driven from San Diego to Washington State many times.  In the middle of the drive up the center of California there is an oasis called Harris Ranch.  By time you get there you have driven many miles through farmland and large empty spaces.  We are so happy to arrive at Harris Ranch and rest a while.

One Thanksgiving Day we were traveling and hungry and stopped at Harris Ranch to find they had a huge Thanksgiving Buffet.  Dinner with all the trimmings.  You can see why we call it an oasis.

Lyons in Stockton.  We had been visiting my mother in a rest home that Thanksgiving.  On the way home we were hungry and stopped in Stockton to eat.  It was late, but when the staff heard we hadn't had Thanksgiving Dinner they rustled up the full deal.  I'll always remember their kindness.

The Bank Bldg. in Woodland.  This is the saddest one.  Roy's father had died a day or two before.  All the relatives were in town for the funeral.  It was Thanksgiving Day and the Bank Bldg. was closed for the holiday, but when my mother-in-law asked them, they opened the restaurant just for us - a single menu - and we all had Thanksgiving dinner together.  Some of us hadn't seen each other in years.  It was a sweet sad time.

Our home in Phoenix, Arizona.  My parents had come to visit for the holidays and I'd cooked the big meal.  Roy was a surveyor and his crew consisted of young men on their own and from many backgrounds.  That morning one of the men dropped by to talk to Roy and pick his brain about surveying.  He was embarrassed when he found we had company, but we talked him into staying.  He was great company, talking about his home in Connecticut and regaling us with stories of living there.

Our home in San Diego.  We often invite someone we don't know for Thanksgiving - if there's anyone left to invite.  San Diegans are hospitable people at Thanksgiving.  We've had servicemen from Camp Pendleton and a family who were new to the area and sort of lost.  We've had our kids together and separately.  (When we're looking at houses to buy, I always think about a place big enough to have the family over for dinner.)

The first Thanksgiving my kids took over the meal for me.  They were at our home for a visit and I was not really up to cooking that year, so the kids just threw me out of the kitchen and cooked it themselves.

Last Thanksgiving.  We invited company, but I was finding it was all of a sudden too big of a job.  My granddaughter stepped up and together we made the big meal.  That's the kind of family we have.

So, this post started out a little sad, but I'm smiling now as I write.  Whatever your circumstances this Thanksgiving, enjoy your day.

Marilynne

The other side of the mountain

When I have a tough time ahead, I try to look at it as climbing a mountain.  You struggle to achieve the top, and then, just as you achieve the top, you can see that the rest of the trip is downhill.

I'm a lady, of course, and my chest is
a whole lot prettier than this one.

I've started down the other side of my health mountain.  Last Wednesday my doctor implanted a implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) made by Boston Scientific in my chest.  I call it my Pally for short.  You can thank Lin of Duck and Wheel with String for the name.  She always calls her readers her Pally.  Well, my Pally is pretty close and intimate with me.  I can hardly say the scientific name of my device.

Pally will live with me the rest of my life.  Her job is to make certain my heart is beating regularly and doing the best it can.  If my heart's in trouble, Pally can give it a shock to bring it in to line.

It was a tough decision for me.  I had no idea that I was ready for such interventions.  I thought I was doing pretty well for an old lady.  I square dance regularly and go to Curves three times a week.  I eat well.  It took me a while to think it through and decide that this is what I wanted to do.  (Well, I think I really didn't want to do it, but it was the best of my options.)

I was in the Cardiovascular Institute near my home from 6:15 AM until 4 PM.  That's not long considering what happened in that amount of time.  I was semi awake for the operation.  (I would have been more awake, but I had to get up powerful early.)

A rep from Boston Scientific told me he was in the operating room to operate the device.  He told me that a day later when he hung a magnifier-like device over my shoulder, went to the computer and told me everything was fine - except that he wanted my heart to beat a little faster - so he told the device what he wanted.  I could feel my heart speed up a little.  I really feel bionic now.

So, it's a little more than 48 hours later and I've been taking care of myself and marveling about Pally.  It was scary not being in the hospital even overnight, but it had it's pluses - like I slept in my own bed that night with my husband beside me.  That beats the hospital any time.

Now that it's over I wonder what the big deal was.  The procedure itself was clear cut and fairly simple.  I've been promised that I'll feel a lot better.  Feeling better hasn't happened yet, but what do I expect in 48 hours or so?

So, Pally and I are fine and learning how to work together.  My scar is just under my collarbone and won't be a problem when I wear a bikini.  (That's because you're never going to see me in a bikini.)

Now I have to follow instructions and work towards driving again (groan) and going back to my usual stuff.  It will just take a little time.

  Marilynne

One down and one to go

I'm happy to report that the angiogram went well.  My arteries are clear, meaning that we can go ahead and implant the defibrillator.  With the exception of a little soreness on a very private part of my anatomy, I'm feeling good.

I hope next Wednesday goes as well.

Thanks to our service men today and always.  You're doing a splendid job.  We wish you were home with us, but your job is important.  We  care about you.

  Marilynne