Christmas week

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Robyn was here all day; that made the day special. We, the three
of us, took a walk around the Brockway loop so that Robyn had a
chance to see the 'hood, so to speak.

She, and mostly she, and I cleaned out the freezer. She carried
everything out to the back porch, in boxes of which we have too
many.  It is wonderful to have a defrosted and sorted, once
again, freezer.

In the evening Viki and Keegan came by for a short visit.
Keegan's year at grad school has helped mature him.  He seems a
young man now, instead of a kid.

Monday, December 23, 2013

Robyn and I went to Fantasy Orchids today and I fell in love with
an orchid and decided to buy it.  We also found a lovely one for
Connie who already has quite a few and seems to have the know how
to make them bloom instead of die.  When it came time to check
out Robyn insisted on paying and saying mine was a Christmas gift
from her and that she was so pleased to be able to give me something
she KNEW I would like.

We went to the Lafayette Florist to pick up the center piece
for Christmas dinner.  We were able to deliver it too, so that
they may enjoy it before and hopefully, after Christmas day.

The Liquor Mart was also on our list.  Robyn helped me pick out a
case of wine.  She chose mostly wines from Chile.  So far, they
are very nice.

The rest of the day Robyn and I spent preparing meals and just
enjoying each other.



Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Robyn spent the day with the Erie Cowleys today to help prepare
for Christmas day and dinner.

It was really windy today and 47F at 7 AM.  It was not a nice
day.  47F seems warm, in the sun and out of the wind, but too
nasty to go walking.

I did call a few friends, in Boulder to wish them happy
Christmas.  I haven't gotten around to sending cards.  They are
almost all still sitting on my desk.

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

What a lovely Christmas we had.  Connie, Greg, Meara and Alan
came from Parker ..actually Meara came from California, via
Parker and Alan from Wichita, via Parker; Robyn from Idaho
and we from Boulder descended upon the Erie Cowleys.

The house was decorated, both inside and out with greens.  The
table was set with very attractive holiday china and a white and
red and green center piece.

Dinner was great; roast prime rib, mashed potatoes and gravy,
corn, green beans with toasted almonds and homemade bread, by
Martha.  Connie brought an apple upside down cake for dessert.
There were many beers and wines to choose from and tasty before
dinner treats to go with the beverages.

After dinner packages were opened with Gabby playing Santa.

I had a wonderful time; 3 of my 4 kids together was especially
nice, but I missed Jeanne and Jay.


My good friend Betty Wilson celebrated her 90th birthday
today.  All three of her kids were home which made it even
more special.  I wished I could be there, too.

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Robyn and I braved the crowds in Boulder to go to town for lunch
and to go to Penzy's spice shop.  Robyn was eager to purchase
spices she can't get in the super market, but that Penzy's has.
She also picked up their catalog for future purchases.

We had lunch at a Latin American restaurant on east pearl.  The
name begins with A, but the script is such I have no idea what
the actual name is.  In any case, the food was fantastic.  I had
a stuffed poblano pepper with walnut sauce over it and cilantro
rice under it.  It was stuffed with ground meat and spices.  I
loved every bite of it and ate the whole thing.

We also went to Home Depot to get gravel for my plant trays.  I
had a terrible choice.  I could pay $7 for 40 pounds of dirty
gravel that looked like the stuff I could scrape up from the side
of the road or pay $7 for 8 pounds of washed river stones that
are very pretty.  Much to the astonishment of the Hispanic man
who showed me where the two types of gravel were, I bought 2 bags
of the pretty stones.  I'm sure he thought I was loco.

I spotted an "Orchid pot."  This is a flower pot that has a tray
and the pot itself is full of holes to let air circulate.  I had
seen one at Fantasy Orchids for $30 so this one at $10 seemed
quite a bargain. I would have bought two, one for my other
orchid, but there was only the one left.

We went to World Market to buy a china tray for my new
orchid.

Robyn fixed dinner again; such a treat.  I helped, but she did
most of it.

Friday, December, 27, 2013

Robyn's flight out of DIA was around noon so we didn't see her
today.

I had an appointment at 11 with Kim to check my INR, that is the
level of my blood thinness.  It's supposed to be between 2 and 3.
It was at 1.3.  I was shocked; I thought my diet was right on.  I
had been watching my vitamin K input very carefully, but not
carefully enough, apparently.  I have to go back again next
Friday.

Saturday and Sunday, December 28 and 29

Rest days.  I caught up on bills and laundry, etc.

A Busy Week

Monday, 13-12-16

It is a gorgeous day today, 62 F and sunny.  Amazing for this
time of year.

Dr. Braun, Robert's oncologist, called to warn Robert that he
must drink plenty of water because of the danger of kidney
failure.  The bio-antibodies and chemo that has been infused into
him has killed so many cancer cells his kidneys are struggling to
handle the sudden deluge of material to get rid of.

Tuesday

Robert is drinking plenty of fluids such that he was up many
times during the night to get rid of the water, but that is good,
too because that means the kidneys are getting flushed.

We had to go into the VA hospital this morning, early, for a
blood draw to check on his kidney function and his Tcells.  They
are not great, but not terrible.  We have to go back on Friday
for another blood draw and if necessary a blood transfusion.

Wednesday

Robyn arrived today in a rental car.  She is staying with Carl.
It was great to see her and to know she's close even when she's
not here.

Thursday

Lunch here, Fajitas that Carl made.  Carl and Robyn and Robert
and I enjoyed them very much.

Late in the afternoon I went to get my hair done.  I'd had to
cancel my appointment earlier in the week because of the
emergency trip to the VA on Tuesday.

Dinner here that Robyn fixed.  Chicken with chantrelle mushrooms,
yum!  Carl, et al joined us.

Friday

Breakfast here with Carl and Gabby, danish and lots of bacon.
This was a spur of the moment get together.  Gabby is on
vacation.  Martha is working.

We had to go to the VA for an appointment at 11 AM.  We had
good news; Robert didn't have to have a transfusion.  Just orders
to drink lots of water.  Kidneys still struggling.

Saturday

Robyn and I ran errands and had lunch together.

Vernon, Carl, GAbby, Robyn and Robert and I had dinner here.
Robyn roasted a leg of lamb with sweet potatoes, salad and
broccoli.

Sunday

Robyn was here all day; we three walked Brockway after lunch.
Then Robyn cleaned and defrosted my freezer.  She carried all the
food outside on the back porch where it was cold enough to keep
it frozen.  What a chore!  But, how nice to have a clean and
organized freezer again.

Robyn fixed dinner for us and the three of us enjoyed a lovely
Mexican meal.

Viki and Keegan arrived in time to share dessert with us.  Keegan
is home for the holidays from the U. of Oregon. It was fun to
have them join us and catch up a bit on Keegan's life.  He has
matured during the past year.

Second round of Chemo

This has been a difficult week, especially for Robert.

On Wednesday, Viki took us in to the VA, leaving here at 6:45 AM.
We were supposed to see Dr. Braun, but were to get a blood draw
prior to seeing him.  There were several crossed signals which ended
in Robert not having his chemo start until after noon.  His first
infusion is the anti-body infusion which is the one that causes
him the most trouble.  Following that he has two infusions of
chemo.  Because of the late start the nurse tried to push the
infusion through faster than Robert's body was able to take it.
Even so, we didn't get out of there until about 8 PM.  That meant
that a couple of nurses had to stay 2 hours past their usual time
of departure.

Connie took us home and Robert went to bed immediately.

The next day we didn't have to get there until 10 and I drove us
in.  We assumed we'd be leaving before dark and we did, but it
was close.

We didn't have to go in on Friday and Robert didn't feel too bad,
tired, but not totally wiped out.

I discovered that the Prius had a dead battery.  I called Boulder
Hybrid to see if they would come over and replace the battery.
They would, but since I have AAA he pointed out it would be much
cheaper if AAA jump-started the car and then I just drove it
over.  I was on hold for 30 minutes with AAA  when Robert
discovered what I was up to and why.  He insisted he could
jump-start it and we didn't need AAA.  And he did.  I drove
the Prius over to Boulder Hybrid and R. drove the jeep.
However, they said it'd only be 15 minutes and the Prius
would be ready and it was.  We both drove home.

At 9:30 AM on Saturday the visiting nurse came to give him a
shot.  He has to have these once/day for ten days.  The shots are
to up his good white cells.  I said that I could do it, but
Connie suggested we might both be happier if I arranged for a
nurse to do it.  I did and we are.

On Saturday he got really sick and was vomiting and gaging.  We
couldn't reach anyone at the VA and finally called our local
Primary care doctor and were given an anti-nausea medication
which worked like a miracle!

Today Robert has been "tireder than I have ever been before."  He
is not nauseated, thank goodness.  Tired is bad enough, but to be
sick to your stomach and tired would be too much. He has a hard
time making it from his office to the living room. He finally
decided to give it up and go to bed which is where he is as I
write this.

An Artic cold came through

This has been a very cold week..highs in the single digits
and lows in the negative numbers, down to -4.  We have
a few inches of snow on the ground which looks pretty,
but.  I keep the bird feeder full.  The birds are round
with all their feathers puffed out to keep them warm.


Monday, Dec. 2

We took our neighbor, Maureen in her car, to the Chrysler
dealer today.  She had an oil change package and time was
running out for her to use the last one.  She has a broken
arm and hand so cannot drive.  She is pretty darn
independent and won't call for help, so this was unusual
and we were happy to oblige.  Robert drove with her,
in her car and I drove the Prius.  We came home and
waited at home for the work to be done.  We went
back several hours late to pick up her car.

In the afternoon I went for a hearing test.  It turned
out pretty positive.  My hearing is on the low end of
normal for conversation, but for theater or concerts it
is not so good.  He suggested I was border line for
needing a hearing aid.  I could try one out for a couple
of weeks and if I liked it I could keep it and pay for
it, but if I didn't like it I could return it with no
charge.  I opted to wait until my hearing got worse
before I did that.  My experience in movie theaters is
that the sound is so high I wish I had ear plugs.

Tuesday, Dec. 3

Robert went to an eye, ear, nose specialist
to see about help for his dripping nose.  She was
very patient asked a lot of questions and explained
what was happening and why and that if Robert were
patient it could be made to be less of a problem.
He was given instructions on using a nasal spray to
flush his nose and a nasal gel to put in and around
the nose to help the soreness.  We'll go back in
six weeks and she may have something she can
do to alleviate the problem.

Wednesday, Dec. 4

Ryan's fiance had her defense today and did
well as I expected she would.  She's a very bright
woman and very poised and articulate.

Thursday, Dec. 5

I went to my cardiologist and had my INR
test and finally, I got the numbers right.  It is
a test to determine how thin my blood is and how
much blood thinner I should use.

Friday, Dec. 6.

Robert went to Salina to see about the furnace
which the tenants say is not working and in this
weather that is a real problem.  Robert ended up
calling Meyers Plumbing and Heating and they came
up and "fixed" it.

Connie and I went to Boulder so I could go to the
bank and we then had lunch at the Chop House on
Walnut St.  I had a fabulous "lobster club" sandwich.
It included lots and lots of lobster, smoked bacon,
avocado, tomatoes and lettuce!  I ate half the
sandwich and took the rest home.  Robert ate
what I had brought home which included the half
sandwich, rice with pecans and chili cornbread.

Connie brought goodies.  We ate the turkey dish
for dinner last night and Robert is working on
the pie.

I always enjoy time with my daughter and this
was no exception.

Nelson Mandel died today.  What a symbol of
how one should live ones life he was.

Saturday, Dec 7..Pearl Harbor Day

Today, Robert and I went to Home Depot to walk.
It is too cold to walk outside, but we need
the exercise.  We walked a mile which took us
through every aisle.  While we were there
Carl called to say they had left a poinsettia
in the house and I suggested they come for
supper.  They accepted and so I made spaghetti
sauce which is filling the whole house with
spaghetti smells.

The tenant, Chris, just called to say the furnace
had not come on at all in the last two hours! 
Robert called Meyers again.  Hopefully, this
time the fix will hold! Robert seems to have
more energy.  I suppose that is from the infusions. 
They knock him flat and then gradually he recovers. 
He is scheduled for more this coming week.

Thanksgiving Week

Over the river and through the wood
  Run fast, my Prius gay!
  Spring over the ground
  Like a hunting-hound!
For this was Thanksgiving Day

Over the river and through the woods,
  And straight up the driveway, Mate.
   We seem to go
   Extremely slow,--
  It is so hard to wait!

Over the river and through the woods--
  Now granddaughter's hat I spy!
    Hurrah for the fun!
    Is the pudding done?
  Hurrah for the pumpkin-pie!

   With apologies to Lydia Maria Child

And that is what we did on Thanksgiving day.  Connie had been working
all week and more.  There were 5 pies, a ham, a turkey, dressing,
sweet potatoes, mashed white potatoes, corn and salad.  Martha and
Carl brought beer, and fresh homemade breads and rolls.  We brought
flowers..the lazy woman's contribution.  The tables looked lovely even
before the flowers and the flowers added to the picture.  There were
ten of us so we had 2 tables.

We were--Connie, Greg, Alan and Meara; Carl, Martha and Gabby; Ann,
Robert and Carrie Rose Gibson (Amanda's daughter and my
step-granddaughter and Alyssum's half-sister).  The conversation was
lively at both tables and we all ate, probably, more than we should.
After dinner we moved to the living room and conversation continued.
It had been a lovely day, but by the time dinner was over it was dark
and not very inviting for a walk.

Martha had brought the professionally photographed video of the band
competition in which Gabby's school took top honors as State
Champions of Marching Bands.  Gabby is part of the Color Guard.
It was quite a performance.  I am really proud of Gabby.  She has
worked hard since August, 7 days a week of practice for at least
4 hours a day!  It has been so much work, but it did pay off.  They
danced beautifully with their flags of which they had several of
different colors.  The wind was blowing pretty hard, but despite
that they performed like real professionals.

All week the weather has been delightful.  Warm, for the season and
sunny every day.

Monday, November 25

I received the new printer-cartridges I ordered and was happy that
they work beautifully.  The HP cartridges are fair-traded at $69.95;
these are "generic" equivalents at $11.99!  Quite a price difference.
These may not last as long, but that remains to be seen.  At this time
I am delighted with them.

Tuesday, November 26

A quiet day at home

Wednesday, November 27

Carrie arrived at DIA at 5:15PM and missed the 5:30 shuttle by about 2
minutes.  The 6:30 shuttle went all over "hells half-acre" dropping
people at their homes.  Carrie was the last one off.  Instead of
taking 30 minutes from the airport it took more than an hour.  She
didn't arrive La Qinta  hotel on Dillon where we had arranged to
pick her up until well after 7:30 PM.  We did pick her up and
then I finished preparing and serving a very late dinner.

Thursday, November 28

As described above.

Friday, November 29
Carrie and I met Martha, Gabby and Summer Howe at the Tandori Grill
in Table Mesa, for lunch.  We had an enjoyable lunch.  The Tandori 
serves a buffet at lunch time so we had many choices from which to 
choose.Gabby found rice and a piece of chicken that suited her.  She's
not a very adventurous person when it comes to food.  The rest of
us found plenty to eat.

In the evening we picked up dinner at Spice China and took it over to
Carl's.  Spice China, if you call early to order, will prepare "low
sodium" dishes.  They did that and that is what I ate, so I was happy
to see if it worked, that is, whether or not my ankles would be swollen
in the morning. They were not.

Saturday, November 30.
We were up at 5:30 AM this morning to take Carrie to La Qinta to meet
her shuttle.  Her flight does not take off until 11:30 AM, but she was
to meet a friend at DIA and they would have breakfast together.  It
all worked at this end.

After she was picked up we went to Le Peep's to have breakfast, but
they don't open until 6:30 AM and this was about 6:20 AM.  We could
have waited, but I had good stuff at home so we went home.  I fixed
eggs and sausage with cinnamon buns on the side.

It's always fun to have company, but we're happy to be alone again,
too.

A very quiet week

Autumn hath all the summer's fruitful treasure;
Gone is our sport, fled is our Croydon's pleasure.
Short days, sharp days, long nights come on apace;
Ah, who shall hide us from the winter's face?
Cold doth increase, the sickness will not cease,
And here we lie, God knows, with little ease.
  From winter, plague, and pestilence, good Lord, deliver us!

From "Autumn" by Thomas Nashe (1567-1601)



Sunday, November 17th
This week has been pretty boring, but I make the entries
because I'm recording, to some extent, Robert's progress
after the three infusions he got last week. Robert is not

sleeping well and very, very tired.

I cooked a whole chicken with vegetables in the Slow Cooker.

Monday, November 18th

We went to the VA Clinic in Lakewood this afternoon.  Robert had to

have a blood draw; the advantage of going to any VA over our Primary

Care Doctor, aside from it being free for us, is that the results go

into the VA computer.

Tuesday, November 19th

This morning at 5 AM Robert was up because he had terrible pain in his
calves.  He said they were not cramps, but very painful.  He read an
article in the NY Times that said that some people who have been on
Statins for a long time develop terrible pains in their calves which
go away after they quit the statins.  He has quit the statins.

I met Susan Wayland for coffee at Starbucks at 80th and Wadsworth at
10 AM.  It's a good location for both of us; I can get there without
using US36, which is a mess of construction.  It took each of us about
25 minutes to get there, she from Denver and I from home.  We had a
good time and hated to leave, when we finally did, at noon.

Robert tired, but slept most of the night

Jo and Alf came for dinner.  I served grilled lamb chops, rice and
string beans and Brussels sprouts.  I had bought too many sprouts
because I shouldn't eat them.  It was nice to have someone else who
likes them.  Jo brought a blueberry pie with a sugary crust as a
topping.  It was really good.

Thursday, November 21st

Robert is very tired, but did sleep well.

I ordered a "retro" bread box and a new roasting pan.

Friday, November 22nd

Robert slept really well; he is getting rested.

Lorena came to clean.

Robert took the Van to the RV place to get some work done on the water
system.  He was trying to pump all the water out of the system, but it
wasn't working right.  He was gone for several hours, but was happy
when he got home because the RV folks knew right away what the
problem was and had the replacement part in stock.  The VAN
came home with all working right.  The "house" part of the VAN
was done by Winnebago and it is really klutzy.

While he was gone I tried a new pot roast recipe from my new
slow-cooker cook book.  I started it cooking, but too late for
today.I turned it off and shall re-start in the early morning.

Saturday, November 23rd

The pot-roast is cooking.

Again, Robert slept really well, but is tired again or still.

I went to Nancy to get my hair done.

We went for a very short walk; I was happy to turn around because my
hip was giving me fits and Robert was cold.

My new roast pan and bread box came today.

The beginning..

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Aside from taking a walk, which was lovely, nothing worth mentioning
happened today.

Monday, November 11, 2013

My friend Merry is in town this week and we are trying to squeeze in
as much time together as we can before Thursday, when Robert goes to
the VA for his first infusion of anti-cancer meds.  Today we, Robert
and I, met Merry and Bob Chervin at the Tandori Grill for lunch.  The
Tandori is in the Table Mesa Shopping Center.  It was an enjoyable 2
hours we spent there.  Chervin shared a story about Steven Schneider
that was pretty amusing; the spreading of his ashes in 6 different
places.  Each presenting a quandary for his widow as to just where each
of these destinations actual was.  But, she managed to scatter 5 of
the 6 bags, but the 6th is supposed to be scattered in Australia and
that has yet to be accomplished.  I would gather that Bob joined her
for each of the 5.

We did wish Robert, our only vet in attendance, a happy Vets day.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Merry and her significant other, Rob, came for dinner.  Rob is a
physicist and they were in Denver for the Plasma Physics Conference.
Rob is a quiet man such that from the kitchen I could hear neither he
nor Robert.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Merry joined us and Buck, Dennis and Vince at Casa Alfarez.  Vince
seems to have recovered from his automobile accident although he is
still on oxygen.  Buck is going through a series of medications for
his lung cancer.  He has had that for more than a year and continues
to do well.  We discussed a variety of things, some remembrances of
Chervin at NCAR and beyond.  We must have talked about him, in a
positive way, for almost an hour.

Robert and I broke up the party at 2:30 because we had to go to the
Denver VA for an appointment with doctor Braun;.  a pre-infusion
appointment and lab.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

I had arranged for us to be picked up at 7:00 AM for our 8:30 AM
appointment at the Infusion Clinic at the Denver VA hospital.Connie
will be around about noon and will drive us home, when ever we are
set to go.

They started the anti-body infusion about 10 AM.  It went pretty well
until about 2 PM when Robert had a reaction, first he was having
terrible chills.  I put a warm blanket over the chair so that he would
sit on it and wrap it over his shoulders and then 2 more on top of
him.  That helped, but he had been given so much fluid through the IV
that he had to keep getting up to go to the men's room.  At some point
in started gagging, in addition to the chills.  I think that was just
from the Tylenol the nurse gave him, for the chills.  Eventually the
anti-body bag was empty.  He relaxed and dosed for a bit and then the
actual Chemo was started.  He received 2 different types of Chemo.
Both of these worked well and didn't cause any problems, but still we
had to wait quite a while after they had been given before we could go
home, while we wait for the liter of saline to be dripped into him..

Connie had arrived before noon and then gone to the Zoo to kill time.
She was back after the chills and went out to get us some dinner; by
this time it was dinner time.  She brought back tortilla-less
burritos.  I shared mine with Robert; they were huge, but he didn't
eat very much.  He was pretty beat up.

Finally, about 8 PM we were released to go home.  Connie drove us home
and we were very grateful for that.  Robert was totally exhausted and I
was tired, too.  It was sort of the day from hell.

Friday, November 15, 2013

Back again this morning to the VA.  We didn't have to get there until
11 AM so the traffic was light.  Yesterday it was really jammed up and
took a long time.

He only had to have the 2 chemos today, no anti-bodies.  The chemo was
over by 1:30, but then they added a liter of saline solution that he
had to have infused.  That seemed to take forever, but we finally were
able to leave about 3 PM.

Robert felt good enough to drive and unless he is half-dead he prefers
to drive...so he drove us home.

At least we were home in time for me to fix dinner..

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Today has been quiet.  Robert was up every hour during the night to
get rid of that liter of saline.  But, he felt OK by lunch time and
has stayed busy the rest of the day.  At 3 PM, he said he was going
for a short walk.  I joined him and we did the full loop, so clearly
he is feeling much better.

A Quiet Week

A pleasant week with no excitement, thank goodness!

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Robert and I went to KingSoopers to do a bit of grocery shopping. 
After I put the stuff away we went for a walk.

Monday, November 4, 2013

I met Jo at Starbucks for coffee this morning.  We had a good long
woman to woman conversation.  Most of our get-togethers in the past
year have been dinners either at her house or mine.  Those are very
pleasant, too.  But, I missed the chance to just talk with another
woman.

Robert and I took a walk after lunch.

Richard, who is in town briefly, came for dinner.  He is a very
energetic person and full of ideas.  It is always fun to join him in
conversation.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Robert and I walked after breakfast.

Gary Greene came in the afternoon.  I still had some apple pie left
over from dinner on Monday.  We 3 ate pie and talked.  Gary is a
Bridge expert.  I used to play bridge and loved it.  I should love to
have taken a class with someone like him.  The hand is played out and
then he critiques it pointing out opportunities missed.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

We walked after breakfast.

Today Connie came.  We had lunch at the Cork.  We talked briefly with
a gentleman who may/may not be the owner, but who has been there a
long time.  He remembered Carl, but pointed out that was a long time
ago. He thought it might have been 20 years.  I told him Carl had a
14-year-old daughter and he was pleased to hear that.

Connie leaves for California tomorrow; they will be gone for a long
weekend; they return on Monday.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Steve arrived at 8:30 to clean windows inside and out.  We have a much
brighter out look since he's been here.

We walked after Steve left.

In the afternoon we picked up the Prius.  It was having it's badly
scarred passenger side door, front and back, repaired.  Oh, my it is
absolutely gorgeous.  It looks like new!  I am thrilled to have it
fixed.  I highly recommend Boulder Hybrids for any work you want done
on your Prius.  They are the best!

Friday, November 8, 2013

Our big opus today was a trip to Costco.  I have the freezer filled
with goodies and easy-to-prepare dinners, ready for next week.

Saturday, November 9, 2013

We walked and visited with our neighbors, June and Dick.

Sunday, October 27

Viki had us over for dinner.  Patrick, Robert's nephew, was in town
and staying at Viki's.  Also there was Pam's sister Peggy, Liza,
Ellery and Vernon.  That's quite a crowd in Viki's dining alcove, but
it worked. She served a really delicious bean soup with salad and
bread to go with it.  We had a delightful time.  She also served a
carrot cake with 88 lit candles to celebrate Robert's birthday.  He
blew them all out.

Monday, October 28

Today, to celebrate Robert's birthday again I had invited the Mosburgs
for dinner to come at 5 and eat at 6.  We had a roasted leg of lamb,
Brussels sprouts, butternut squash, salad and pecan pie.  It was good
to see them and the conversation was lively.  A very nice evening.

Tuesday, October 29

Connie's birthday.  Robert had an appointment at the VA to see Dr.
Braun.  We left about 10 so Robert could get the lab done before he
saw the doctor.  Our appointment with Dr. Braun was at one.  We had
lunch in the cafeteria and arrived at the 6th floor at 1.  Dr. Braun
called for us at 1:20.  We knew he was double booked and he mentioned
one of the double booked patient had cancelled, but he still had
Robert and #3.  We assumed he would rush through our appointment, but
he didn't.  He answered all our questions and more until 2:20.  So
Robert is set for chemo on the 14th.  He'll have two days of chemo;
Tuesday and Wednesday.

Wednesday, October 30

We dropped off the Prius at Prius Hybrids today.  Paul has found a
door for our Prius and it is the same color as ours.  He will take it
all to a body person and get the whole side of the car fixed.  I had
assumed fixing the doors, et al would cost $6000.00 and perhaps it
would have if we went to the shop the dealer recommended, but it only
cost $1100.  That's a lot of money and I'm sorry I smashed up our
little car, but happy to have it getting fixed.

After we dropped off the car we went to Cafe Alvarez where the NCAR
group meed every Wednesday.  That was fun.  Buck, Dennis, Vince and
Chervin were there in addition to us.

In the afternoon a flower arrangement was delivered.  Robert asked the
woman who was delivering them who they were from and she said,
"Someone named Martha."  It's a lovely arrangement set in a ceramic
pumpkin.


Thursday, October 31   Happy Halloween

A lovely day during the day, but it quite cool when it was time for
the trick or treaters to be about.

I went to Nancy's to get my hair done.  She was also able to show me
how to get rid of the mark on my hair where the CPAC strap goes.  It
is very annoying to go to bed with my hair looking half way decent and
then I wake up and it's packed down as though I had been wearing a
baseball cape all night.

Friday, November 1

This morning I ruined the whole day.  I went our early to put up the
flag; the wind was blowing some so I had some trouble getting it up.
When I finally got it up I stepped back to see how it looked. I hooked
a heal over the little curb around the rose garden and over I went
with a bang.  I swear you could hear that bang for quite a way, but
not in our house.  Head injuries always bleed a lot and since I'm
taking warfarin it might have been bleeding even more.  In any case
there is a lot of blood in our drive way.  Poor Robert, he hadn't
slept well so had gotten up to sit on the couch for a while and had
gotten sleepy and was sound asleep when I came in.  I called to him
from the back entryway and said I needed help. "I fell", I said and
"I bumped my head really bad and it's a bloody mess."  He came then
and looked at the mess and wondered if we could fix it at home and I
said, "No, we have to go to the ER ASAP."  He went to get dressed and
I sat and bled.  We went to Avista.  I'm not real happy with their ER,
but going there saves us having to fill out any paper work because I
am in their computer.  The receptionist told us to sit in the waiting
room and the nurse would be out in a few minutes.  I had a black
jacket on such that the blood didn't show.  The nurse finally came and
as we were walking into the ER, I said that I had fallen and hit my
head really hard on the concrete and you should be informed that I am
on warfarin.  That stirred them up; suddenly I was a trauma II and
people came from all directions.  They had me on the gurney with a
color on my neck before I could say much more.  Then I was raced to
the ct scan room.  I wasn't allowed to get off the gurney and on to the
ct scan bed,they had to roll me onto a board and then move the board
to the ct bed and then slide the board out from under me.  All this
time they kept saying not to move anything.  It all seemed a little
silly sine I had walked in there.  What ever, It turned out my neck
and spine were fine and I wasn't bleeding into my brain!  All this
time I am bleeding you understand.  Finally, the doctor came and they
poured something cold over my head, trying to get the blood out of my
hair.  Dr. Oakes wanted to use staples, but the wound had been open
too long...and whose fault was that?....and had swollen.  I had put
ice on the wound, but the first thing they did was take my ice away.
She stuck me with an anesthetic and was off to tend to someone else.
She was the only doctor on duty and things were quite frantic.  I
overheard someone say she has to talk to the officer.  So, car
accident, domestic violence, dog bite?  Finally, Dr. Oakes came back,
wiped more blood away and started to sew my wound together. Suddenly
someone called her and she said, "I have to leave, but I'll be right
back."  She came back about 10 minutes later to resume the stitching.
As soon as she started, I sucked in my breath, and she asked what was
the matter.  I told her the anesthetic had worn off, but keep going.
I don't want another anesthetic stick and then wait.  I'd like to get
this over so I can go home.  Fortunately there were only two more
stitches to do.  Connie had planned to come to the house so I had
called her to say where I was and what had happened.  She came to the
hospital instead of the house. I was happy to see her.

We finally left for home.  Connie brought all sorts of goodies for us,
the primary one being beef stew.  That was lovely! [aside, there is a
flicker at my feeder.  He has somehow managed to balance on one of the
perches and is having a grand feast]

Saturday, November 2

After yesterday, I was still exhausted today.  I'm a bit anemic to
start with and losing more blood didn't help.  It was a lazy day for
me.  But, the Erie Cowleys arrived about 5ish bringing Take Out from the Outback
Steak House.  Yum!  It was good to see all three, but especially Gabby.  She has
blossomed in High School.  She says she loves it; the poplar girls are really sweet
and the ...well some just don't get involved. 

Another week flew by

Monday, October 21

I did some researching on transportation to/from Denver.  Robert, I
think has decided to go the bio-therapy route for the next 6 months.
Part of that time it will be getting dark early and I can't drive at
night because of my poor blurry left eye.  He will be celebrating his
88th birthday on Sunday.

Finally the refrigerator at 204 has been fixed.  Columbine only goes to
the mountain areas once a week, hence..they came and determined the
problem and went a way to order parts.  The parts didn't arrive so they
didn't make it next week.  It has taken 3 weeks to get it fixed.  I am
looking for another appliance repair company.

Tuesday, October 22

I had another trip to the lab today and the doctor e-mailed the results
later.  I guess the infection, if there were one is receding.  In any
case the SED rate is declining; still high, but going down.

Later that day Connie came and we went out to lunch.  She brought shrimp
creole for Robert's lunch, but I had already prepared something and it
looked like we could share the creole.  It really look good!  We again
went to Louisville for lunch and went to the Waterloo.  I was not
favorably impressed.

After lunch Connie and Robert tackled the leaf problem in the yard.
Connie rode the mower with her donated attachment for catching leaves
and/or grass clippings.  They used the leaves to mulch the grass that is
still struggling to grow where the septic was installed.

Wednesday, October 23

We walked after breakfast; it was brisk outside.  A taste of winter to
come.

At noon we joined the NCAR crew at Cafe Alverez; Buck, Dennis, Vince,
Robert and I.  We had a good conversation, mostly about trips we had
taken.  Vince was just back from a Cruise from NYC to Montreal.  I ate
way to much, but only half of my lunch.  I'll pay for this tomorrow.

Thursday, October 24

We walked after breakfast; it's good to get out and stretch the muscles
and loosen the joints.

I met Susan for lunch at the Olive Garden at Sheridan and 88th Ave.  If
there were not so much construction I would have gotten there in less
than 15 minutes.  As it was, the traffic moved right along, but at 55
instead of 65. I left Robert instructions on warming up the shrimp creole.

I ordered soup and salad and I had no idea the soup was un-limited; I
gave some to Susan and took some home, too.  The same with the salad.
It was huge; we both had some and I took more than half of it home.
Robert and I had soup and salad for supper!

Susan and I  talked non-stop for 2 hours, maybe more; I think I left there
 at 2:45 and we had arrived at 12:30!  It was lovely.  We both dumped
and that was good.  I think we both felt better.  It's such a "woman" thing,
this sort of dumping, isn't it?

Friday, October 25

Robert and I walked after breakfast and after we had dropped off the
Prius to have its oil changed.  It was a lovely walk.The trees vary in
color from green to yellow to bright red to no leaves at all.  It's been
interesting to watch summer disappear as fall slid into place.  The
temperature was warm.

Later, when we picked up the Prius he told us that the water pump would
probably go in the next 6 months or so and he showed us how you could
tell and then showed us the collection of water pumps he had that he'd
taken out of Prius'.  He felt it was a definite defect in the design.
Interesting.

Saturday, October 26

It's been a lazy day.  We got up at 7 and I put up the flag and brought
in the paper and just was moving so slowly we didn't have breakfast
until a little after 8 AM.  I fixed sausage for Robert and we both had
coffee cake and juice and I had my 1/2 and 1/2 coffee.

We took a walk after lunch and it had warmed up and I was move alive.  I
think think Gabapenten I take makes my slow moving; maybe half a sleep
for a while right after I have taken it.  I have to be careful of when I
take it if I'm going to be driving.

Robyn and Jan are in town!

Friday, October 11:

Robyn and Jan are in town; arrived last evening
and are staying with Carl and Martha.

Saturday, October 12
Robyn and Jan  stopped by briefly then off to
Parker to watch Gabby strut her stuff in a
state-wide competition.

Sunday, October 13
Connie and Greg arrived bearing an apple up-side-
down cake and beer; The Cowleys, et al arrived for
dinner, shortly thereafter.  There were 9 of us in all.

We had London Broil, Mashed potatoes and Broccoli.
 And apple up-side-down cake and ice cream.

Greg, Gabby, Robyn and Janis sat at one table and
had a hilariously good time reminiscing over the
days In Clark Fork.

Monday, October 14
Today we received a check for our "totaled" jeep.

Robyn and Janis continued on for their road-camping
trip south west.

Robert and I took a walk and were stopped by the lady
from whom I buy eggs and honey to ask if we'd seen
the bears.  Much to my disappointment it seems we
have a mom and 2 cubs testing the neighborhood.  She
was headed home to turn on the electric fence to
protect her chickens and honey bees.  We continued
on her way, skipping the chance to see the bears.

Tuesday, October 15.
Today went to the VA and Robert has to think
about whether he is going to continue treatment
which means he'll be undergoing treatment for the
next 6 months.  He'll have to go three days in a row,
each of the next 6 months.  It is a bio-therapy treatment.
I'm not sure what this really is nor how Robert
will react to it.  If he doesn't take the treatment
he has an estimated 2 years to live. 5 years if he
does take the treatment.  Of course these are
statistical guesses

Wednesday, October 16.
Sean Wayland came over to put up our new track
lighting system over 2 pictures on the west wall
of the living room.  The Fishermen look much
better with a light; the Aspens didn't need the light,
but it doesn't hurt either.

Thursday, October 17.
We ran errands today

Friday, October 18
Connie came  to go out to lunch with me and to put the
leaf bag on the John Deere so we can pick up the
leaves using the lawn mower.

Connie and I ate lunch at a restaurant on Main
Street in Louisville.  It was very pleasant; a
small restaurant with one woman acting as hostess,
cashier and waitress.  She was very busy.  They
were doing a good business and the food was very
good..

Saturday, October 19.
This morning we went to Salina to meet with our
tenants to discuss what they should NOT do to the
house.  That meant, not painting any of the wood that had
not previously been painted and they could paint
any of the walls, but if the wall has wall paper
they most remove the paper before they paint.

They still seem really happy about the house!

Robert was pretty miserable while we were up
there, but he was really depressed.

In the evening we went to Jo and Alf's for dinner
and met two good friends of theirs, Kathy and George.
George and Alf went to college together in Worcester
Mass.  Robert shared stories with George.  It was a
very pleasant evening.  Robert commented when we
got home that he felt really good; that his malaise
in Salina must have been depression.

Sunday, October 20.
Robert is busy blowing out the sprinkler system.  He
has worked off/on all week on this.  Two trips to
McGuckens and several days of putting the system
together.

I am playing catch-up on in the house things.  I also
put my bird feeders back up.  I hope the bears have
gone on their way.

A Beautiful Fall Week

The big news of this week, for me, was the new addition to the
living room.  I bought a beautiful oil painting of the golden
aspens.  It is a bright and cheery picture.  I am very happy with it.

Connie went with me and helped me decide and then a few
days later Robert went to see it, too.  With his approval I bought
it and we hung it in the living room and we hung the picture
that was in the living room we hung in our bedroom.

Connie came on Wednesday and we went shopping.  That is she
went along and looked while I shopped.  I bought some new tops
and a pair of walking shoes. They are black and fit well.  I've
walked several miles in them already.

On Thursday I went to my Primary Physician to get a flu shot
and a pneumonia shot.  He also suggested I see my neurologist. 
I have twitches that I can't control.  I drop things and sometimes
my leg buckles. He thinks they are a side effect of the pain
medicine I take for my shingles scars.  I couldn't get in to see
Dr. Zacharias until November 13th!!  So, I guess I keep on twitching.

On Friday I saw my cardiologist and got an AOK on my heart.  If
I could learn to eat the right balance, I could get rid of warfarin...
but for now I am stuck with it and CPAC machine at night.  Joys
of the elderly.  If it's not one thing it is another.

Robert and I walk every morning about a mile.  It's good, gets the
blood pumping.

Robyn and Jan are in town.  They stopped in for about an hour today. 
I think they are coming tomorrow, with beer, to watch the Sea Hawks
game.  In any case we'll record the game so they can be sure of seeing
it all, if they want to.

Just an ordinary week

I called Denise Grimm hoping to set up an appointment
with her to talk about restoring the barn and how to
get funding for that.  She is so busy that I only
reached a recording; I left a message.  I shall call
her again tomorrow.

We went to the DVM to get a title for our "new" jeep,
but couldn't get a title because the seller had signed
in the wrong place.  I called him and told him that
and before I could really finish he said that he
would be out this evening to sign in the correct
place and fill out whatever forms were necessary.
And, indeed he showed up at 6 PM and signed the
papers.  He wouldn't stay..just signed and left.

On Tuesday the insurance adjuster came to look
at the smashed old jeep.  He said it wasn't
worth fixing and promised 1800.00 for it, but
we had to give him the title which Robert
couldn't find.  They took the car and Robert has
to mail the title when we get one and they will
send the check.

Wednesday we went to Cafe ...... where a group
of ex-NCAR-SCD employees meet every Wednesday.
This week Buck, Vince, Bob Biro and Dave Fulker
joined Robert and me.  We had a pleasant lunch.
The first start of conversation at one end of
the table became an "Organ recital" so Dave,
Robert and I started another conversation and
eventually the others did, too.

The oxygen concentrator was picked up late in
the afternoon, finally.  We really were tired
of paying for something which was not even
plugged in.  Much telephoning to insure that
Russell would be up at his cabin and ready
to empty it out.

Allison came to visit and stayed to eat lunch
with us; she had her own because she eats gluten
free.  We had a good talk.  It was really great
to see her.  I miss my Salina friends so much,
especially now seeing the trauma they are living
with every day.

On Friday Connie came and we had lunch at the
Boulder Cafe.  It was great, good food, not too
noisy and all-in-all a good place for lunch.

After lunch we strolled the mall.  I wanted to
go to SmithKlein Gallery to look at paintings.
I'm anxious to replace some of the "art" we
have with some local and original paintings.
As soon as I walked into the gallery I saw
one that I wanted.  It is lovely.  Aspens in
the early autumn, very bright and cheerful.
It was pricey, but I got them to lower the price
by about 30% and that made it affordable.

It is now hanging in our living room.  The
frame isn't one I would have chosen, but it
goes with the frame around the "Fishermen" which
is hanging next to it.

We spent Saturday and Sunday up in Salina.  On
Saturday we had an 11 AM appointment with one
of the volunteer managers.  We wanted to be
there so we could get more help in the barn.

That worked and the volunteers worked hard
for about 6 hours, stopping briefly for
lunch, provided by Julie Luckey.

At 5 PM we went to the meeting at the schoolhouse
to meet with the county to see what was in store
for Salina this winter, among other things.

Salina is so destroyed it doesn't seem possible
that a road can be built such that it can be
plowed.  Many places there is no road; a path
for 4x4 only.

Looking at the mess that was left, I told Marti
I would be up to help in the morning.  We agreed
I should show up at noon.  She, of course, was
there well before me and had made a good start.

I sorted out some of the canned goods and then
attacked the carpet with the vacuum sweeper.
I went over it once thoroughly and then once
again, just to make sure.  It was so dirty
with detritus from hiking boots.  They live
in a sea of mud.

Robert and I ate lunch in the car when I was
finished.  He was sick-tired and needed those
calories.  Lunch seemed to help.  We then
drove home.

We were both tired.  We slept until 9 AM on
Monday, having gone to bed about 10 PM.  We
had to stay up after dinner and dinner wasn't
ready until 7 PM.

So...that was our week.

We drove the jeep to just below Salina.

 1)Vernon's shop.

 2)Vernon's well and what used to be the road and is now the creek.

3)The county is busy making a temporary road using ground up concrete.

4) The land in the clothes line area has subsided a bit, but the wall though much lower, still stands.

 5) Our front yard.

 6)Robert surveying the destruction from the end of our side walk.  Water, mud, etc came  to our porch.  

 7) The remnants of my garden.

8)Our front gate; the steps are gone.

9) The road and barn. Vernon's truck and trailer are stuck.

10)More of our barnyard and the temporary road beside it.  The road here was not yet drivable.

11) I couldn't get to the back of the barn, the red is Russell's truck. Robert says the mud and debris are up to and over the shed roof.  He climbed on to the roof and looked up at the top of the mess. The picture below shows the inside of the barn.  The structure holding up the barn are the sides; the back and front are just hanging walls.  We hope to save it, but its future is uncertain right now.

The terrible flood and how lucky WE are.

We arrived home late yesterday afternoon, and everything here is fine.  John has taken good care of the house and raked all the new gravel on to the driveway; built a path to the solar hut using pavers Robert had purchased.He also used  some of the gravel.  He planted a couple of plants near the walk way and it looks lovely!

Our Salina house is probably fine as is Vernon's.  His shop got wet, but not too bad.  Our barn is probably history.  The Jersey barriers did not hold.  Of course, we haven't seen it yet and Vernon could not get to it because the road and creek are one and crossing is not possible at this time.

Some of our neighbors homes sustained terrible damage.  Two of them were hit by a horrendous mud slide.  A couple of people sustained major injuries from that slide.  Another home seemed to be well away from the creek, but their house was built on mine tailings, apparently.  In any case, first their car and then their out building went in the creek and the creek kept eating away until it was up to the house.  They escaped by climbing up the mountain to Pete Brady's place in Melvina...quite a climb with two little children.  You don't get to rescue much.

Most of the residents escaped by helicopter, but that of course meant a good hike up the mountain to where a helicopter could land.  Also people on the side of the creek the barn is on were helped across the creek by a high-line.  I suppose that is like a Zip line.  That would have been quite a ride! Again, that meant they couldn't take much with them and they still had a mountain to climb.

Marti and Pete did not leave.  They have power (Pete has solar and a cell phone), Marti has Xcel and Century Link.  I assume Marti has Internet, too.  I don't know what they'll do if the water doesn't go down such that road repairs can be made.  Also, I'm afraid Salina will not be at the top of the County Transportation Dept's number one priority!  I expect if we still lived up there and didn't know I had a heart problem, we'd have stayed, too.  I always have at least enough food stored to last us six weeks or so.  And assuming our solar panels were still ok, we'd have solar power, too.

The church is hanging, but didn't fall into the creek.  Most of it is still on land, but the front corner is not.

There is so much damage, Salina is really a disaster area big time.  I am very grateful we moved from there.  We have taken our house off the market, of course.  As people return and want to rebuild we shall rent it, if anyone should want to live there while the work is being done.

Hannibal, Missouri

This will be a quick post.  I have lots of news of Salina and the flood, but it'll have to wait.  Right now we are in Hannibal, MO at a campground near "Mark Twain's cave."\\

We expect to be in the middle of Kansas tonight and home on Monday.  I'll write more after we get home.  It's time for our morning walk now.

Vergennes, Vermont

We visited the Johnson's this afternoon.  They are friends and neighbors of Joy and Walt.  They had planned a picnic, but the weather didn't cooperate so we ate inside.  We had a good time talking with them.  He used to fly for TWA.  I'm not sure what she did over and above raising kids and now they have at least 2 grandkids who were at the picnic.

Sadly, I got sick in the afternoon after the picnic and was sick all not.  I'm not sure what caused the upset, but it was very unpleasant.  The next day I slept most all day and felt much better by evening. 

We had thought we'd go directly home from New Town, but I felt well enough to continue and Robert said he felt fine.  We stayed another day; it's always hard to leave the Kopeskys.  It is such a comfortable household.  However, now they have a grandson living with them.  He is not easy to have around; I'm not sure how Joy copes, but she does.

We left New Town on Thursday, the 5th, and headed for Cabella's in E.  Hartford.  They have a free dump station for RVs.  That is a great service!  We toured Cabella's, but couldn't find anything to buy.  Guns? no fishing gear? no and so forth. 

We went on to Essex Junction where step-granddaughter, Renee lives with her husband, Jonathan and their 3 very bright and very lively children.  Grandma Myrna has an apartment attached to the house and she is their live-in sitter.  She does a wonderful job; is gentle, but firm.  Jonathan and Robert hit it off.  Robert's comment later was that Jonathan was a fantastic teacher.  And I'm sure he is.  He teaches physics, but dreams up wonderful hands on experiments to teach various concepts.  It really sounds like a fun class to take.

Myrna took me to the local hospital lab to get an INR test which tells how thin my blood is and whether I should be taking more or less warfarin.  That took a long time because they insisted on having my whole life put into their computer even though I'll probably never visit their hospital again.

In the evening we all went for ice cream.  Before supper Renee was so tired she could hardly move, but after dinner she suddenly announced it was ice cream night.  She had to work all weekend so we left the next morning.

We drove to Vergennes, VT to visit my college friend, Sue.  We left about 10:30 and arrived at Sue's about 11:30.  She had been watching for us so showed up at the Van.  It was good to see her.  She has really downsized.  From a huge farm house in MA she had moved to a one bedroom apartment.  It is very nice, but very small and on the second floor.  We had lunch at Sue's and then took the VAN to David's where we'll park for the weekend.  David is having a slate roof put on his old house.  He and Robert talked about solar installations, briefly and then we left in Sue's car to return to her place.

We walked around Vergennes and visited the library where she volunteers. 

Later we had dinner at her place...and then she took us back to David's.  Between all this she and I talked non-stop.

We'll leave here on Monday.

The last day at the beach

We have had a lovely week at the beach.  We're just north of Ocean City, Maryland.  We includes granddaughter, Keating and her husband, Lee and their baby one-year-old James.  As well as Sue, Keatings mom and, of course, Robert and Ann.  

James is quite the little boy; he is the size of a two-year-old so sometimes it is hard to remember he is only one.  He is a rough, tumble and yell little boy; not the quiet sweet that little Aspen is.  How different two children can be and be cousins, at that. 

The ocean is a long way from our condo although the beach is quite close.  It is a long slog through loose sand to get to the beach.  Robert and I walk every morning, usually before breakfast.  We did 2 miles yesterday, but only one today.  And I am tired; not up to two miles  yet, I guess.

We have spent most of the week in the condo, except for our walk and jaunts to the grocery store and/or a restaurant.  That has suited us quite well.  The rest of the crew spends most of the day at the beach.  I realize how old we have gotten!

Tomorrow we hope to drive to New Town, CT to visit Robert's cousins Joy and Walt Kopesky.  We have met them at various half-way places for joint vacations.  They are  fun to be with.  Walt has been helpful through my recovery.  He went through similar about 7 years ago.  

We've arrived

I have been remiss about keeping up my blog.  We left Boulder last Friday about noon and started out on route US 36 through the mid-west.  It takes much longer that way because of all the stop/go signs through all the little towns.  We do it, each time, thinking it won't take that much longer because Robert stays under 60 mph when he's driving the van.  But it does take longer.

We spent three days getting across Kansas, Missouri, and Indiana/Illinois.  We picked up I-70 somewhere along Indiana or Illionois, I can'g remember which. In any case, at the end of each day we were exhausted and went to bed after dinner and then a walk.  We usually didn't quit until about 7PM so dinner was pretty late. The whole trip is pretty much a blur.

It has been a long, and tiring journey, but it is good to have arrived.  Sue came home from work
shortly after we arrived.  We chatted for a bit to catch up and then she fixed us a lovely salad and crab cakes for supper. We didn't stay up very much after dinner, but it had cooled off enough  so we felt we'd be comfortable sleeping in the Van.

This morning we waited for Keating and family to arrive and they did, but it wasn't until about 2 PM.  They are all tired from their journey although it helped that they arrived yesterday and spent the night at a friend of Keating's in DC.  A pool was the star attraction for Tamara.

James is a chunk, like Aspen, he is tall, but not slender.  He walks everywhere and was a bit shy with us, but hopefully that'll change.

We'll be here a few days and then to the beach.

ER/ICU one more time

Last Sunday I went to the ER and then was admitted to the ICU one more time, but they let me loose at noon with an Rx to fill.  I got the prescription and we went home.  At supper time I took the new medication.  In the morning we walked as usual and I felt fine.  I took another of the new medication at breakfast time.  After breakfast we went to Boulder and to the AAA and picked up maps for our trip. When we got home I called Kim (NP) to report that I felt OK.  I took another pill with dinner and another after breakfast Tuesday morning.  By noon I felt bad, very bad, short of breath, weak and tired.  I should have returned to the ER, but they had just sent me home and I have gotten so I really dislike being there. I don't remember too much after that.  Robert took my bp and it was 88; my pulse was 28.  He said I should go to the ER, but it was my decision.  That was a mistake because at that point my brain wasn't really working, but I didn't go to the ER and I survived the night.  I had just given up and expected to die, but I didn't care..I was soooooooooooo tired.  Wednesday morning, that is the next morning I woke up and felt much better.  I went to see Kim at 9:30AM.  Dr. Weksler joined her.  They were both concerned about my previous night's experience. Dr. Weksler said I should take no more of that medication.  But, for the next 30 days I should wear a heart monitor.  I'm now wired.

The technology of the heart monitor takes me back to the early 70s when I had a computer monitor at home and could call on my phone to the computer at NCAR and when I got the signal on the phone I put it into a contraption attached to the monitor.  I could then use the computer at NCAR from homeat 300 baud.  I didn't have a computer at home; there were no personal computers back then.

I'm to be fitted for an Apnea mask on Monday.  Seems I have Apnea which causes my oxygen level to drop because my breathing is either really shallow or not at all when I'm asleep.

The rest of the week has been a normal week for us.  We walk a mile plus (and the plus is increasing, hopefully to another mile in another week or two.)

On Friday Connie came and she drove me around so I could do some errands.  I wanted another scatter rug to cover the Oxygen tube running across the floor and I wanted to go to Penzys  to get some more salt-free spices.  I substitute "hot" for salt.

We had lunch at the Oak.  A rather strange restaurant for Boulder.  Connie had to take Pig Belly out of her BLT.  It also had bacon, but the tomatoes were fried green tomatoes.

So much for this week.

The Last Week of July

Rosa came on Monday and we finished her interview of me.  This was the latter part of my life, that is from 30 to now.  Both last week and this week interviews brought back both sad and happy times and some anger, too.  I've been divorced more than 30 years and there is anger buried down deep which popped up during the interview.

I went to my usual cardiac rehab in the afternoon and wore my self down to a frazzle.  But managed to pull out the stops and get ready for Jo and Alf who came to dinner in the evening.  We always enjoy our time with them.  They were just back from their place on the Cape and have about decided to sell it; it's not a vacation, but a work out when they get there.  Old houses do have many problems.

We also found that out this week as our plumbing totally plugged up again.  Great fun!  Our preferred plumber, Todd Oliver, answered his phone after I tried three times.  He answered to let me know they were on their way to Oregon and wouldn't be available to help us out.  He did give us the name and number of a company that specializes in cleaning out drains.  I called them and he, Doug, promised to come as soon as he could; probably after 4 PM.  He showed up about 3 and set to work.  He did get us unclogged, but the fix was only temporary.  Finally several days later, Thursday, he came and discovered we had a broken pipe just as the pipe leaves the house.  I don't know what all that entailed, but I do know they dug up the back yard.  The yard is back together and the plumbing all works!  Hopefully, that will take care of the problem for the long term.

On Tuesday the Cowleys came to dinner.  Gabby was tired..bored really, but the rest of us enjoyed the dinner and the time together. 

On Wednesday we went to a Cafe where some of my NCAR buddies have lunch on a regular basis.  Robert went this time.  Most of the spouses are excluded, but since he, too, is a computer type he was invited, too.  The attendees were Buck Frye, Vince Wayland, Dennis Joseph and Bob Chervin.  It was an enjoyable time.  I'm learning to eat salads when we eat out.  With the dressing on the side I can avoid most of the salt.

Robert found, on-line, a portable oxygen concentrator.  He managed to get the price down quite a bit.  These little babies are expensive.  Last night we tried it.  We need to experiment a little.  It has an extra battery pack such that it is supposed to allow the machine to work for 8 hours.  Unfortunately, for some reason the battery pack didn't seem to work so the machine stopped at 6 hours which should have been enough.  However, the siren on my finger oximeter went off a couple or three times such that I felt I hadn't had a chance to really sleep.  But, we'll play with it some more, but we'll probably take both it and our home machine as back up.  We used the home machine starting at 6AM and I slept soundly until 8.

Lorena came and cleaned on Friday.  The house sparkles after she has been here.

Connie and I went out to lunch on Friday and then to S cubed, the knitting/weaving store.  I'm so behind on my knitting I refrained from even looking at anything.  Connie had a couple of things she wanted, but they were out of them.

Carl and Martha came by this afternoon to pick up the traveling baby crib and the bag of toys that were all used when Alyssum was here.  They had been to Cirque du Soleil (sp?) last night.  It was NOT a disappointment.  They had a wonderful time.

Sleeptest

I seem to be caught in the grip of the medical world; I just seem to be OK when boom something happens.  My heart is very erratic, especially at night.We have noticed it with the oximeter that we have that stores the overnight data as well as the one the medical world did as well as the last sleep test.  In the meantime, I feel good most of the time, but react when I'm told I'm not doing well to then feeling really tired.  Today, I slept all night with no meters attached and woke up at 9 AM, 11 hours later and felt great.  I guess I was tired.  In any case I again go to SleepFit tonight and test for apnea again and this time I shall be fitted for a mask and hooked to the Cpap device.

We took the Van to the dealer this week and had the oil changed and that was about it...we haven't gone 10,000 miles yet.

I suppose the biggest news is non-news, but very annoying.  Our plumbing is totally clogged up.  We called a drain cleaning specialist on Thursday.  He came quite promptly and cleared them such that we thought the problem was solved, but it has returned.  The problem is that the pipes don't have enough slope to them and some of them, leading to the septic pipes, go through concrete!  We want to get this fixed.  before we leave for the east coast.  Our house sitter, John, doesn't need to have that problem while he is house sitting for us.

Friday was a busy day.  John came at 8 AM to go through the house and yard to see what he needs to do while we are gone.  The last time he house sat was in February; the yard situation was quite different.  The only change in the house is that when the weather is hot he needs to open up at night, close up in the morning and also put down the blind in the living room.  In any case I'm sure he can figure that all out.  He is going to move some of his tools into the Van room while we're gone so he can make things.  He works as a carpenter during the day, but his first love is cabinetry.

Rosa came at 9 AM to interview me for a class that she is taking.  She had to interview someone over the age of 72 and I fit the bill there.  I answered questions about my childhood, school experience through college and some questions about my twenties.  Obviously the person who put these questions together didn't realize that, in the 50s, it was not that unusual for a woman to be married and have 4 kids before she was 30.  I must admit, I rather enjoyed talking about my self for 2 hours.  She'll be back on Monday and we get to hear the rest of the story.

I found a wooden train set that I sent to James for his first birthday.  That was through AmazonUK.

Guess that covers it for this week.

Old Friends Visit

This week we had visitors all week; Paul and Barbara Kelly who live in Humboldt County in northern California and on the ocean.  They are roughly our age and really didn't want to do much of anything except be with us for a while.  The last time they were here Paul wasn't doing well at all; he was in the process of having a silent heart attack.  They used to live in Boulder and also have visited us enough times so they feel they know what the attractions are.  The only thing they wanted to do was visit the Boulder Book Store and they did.

While they were here we had a number of previous commitments so we were in and out.

On Tuesday Robert had his regular check up with Dr. Braun.  It was a good visit with good news.  No chemo at this time.  He wants Robert in town when he's on chemo.  He also scolded Robert for not using the e-mail system.  That system is super-secure and that annoys Robert.  He had also screwed up the first time he logged on and the system has no way to recover from that.  He finally called the HELP desk and they were able to get him going.  That is great so that we can contact Dr. Braun, if we need to, while on our trip.

The Kellys insisted on taking us to dinner; Robert demurred, but I said, "that would be lovely."  We went to a restaurant in Louisville.  It was an Italian restaurant,  the Blue Parrot.  The place was almost empty!

The same day, or evening, I had a sleep test to determine whether or not I have sleep apnea.  The report is due in 7-10 days.  I did not wake in the morning with a mask on my face nor did I use oxygen.

On Wednesday I went to a Cafe Alverez at noon to have lunch with some of my NCAR buddies; Buck Frye, Vince Wayland, Bob Chervin, and Bob Biro.  It was fun.  I enjoyed seeing them.  Vince had been in a terrible auto accident just two weeks earlier which included broken ribs and a broken sternum.  He looked frail, but is doing very well all things considered!

On Thursday I went to my regular cardiac rehab session.  I'm up to 2.2 mph for 40 minutes at 1.5% incline.  I hope to continue to up the speed.  I was happy to note that I have 20 more sessions that my insurance will pay for.

In the evening we went into Louisville and had dinner at an Italian restaurant, not the Blue Parrot.  The food was great, but the place was very noisy. 

Friday, the Kellys left heading to Spokane to visit other friends and then home.  I was so busy rushing to make breakfast and help them get off that I completely forgot a hair appointment I had.  My hair dresser, Nancy called, worried that I might be ill.  I said no, just absent minded.  She is very forgiving.  I went later in the morning.

In the afternoon Frank and Tommie Diaz stopped by.  We had met Frank on one of our evening walks.  They had a flyer for us; a "save the date."  The community is having a Pot Luck Block Party on September 22nd.  They came in and we chatted for a while.  I don't know whether we'll be back by then...but we'll see.  It was very nice for them to stop.  They gave us their e-mail and phone numbers and also the e-mail of the community coordinator.  Gradually we are getting to know our neighbors.  I'm delighted!

Good bye, Dr. Guber

Alyssum and Aspen left, with Connie on Tuesday, about noon.  It
was really hard to let them go, especially since they were not
really leaving until Wednesday morning.  It was clear that Connie
wanted some time with them, too.  Alyssum was also curious to see
Connie's house.

I went to the CardioRehab Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.  I'm
trying to make up for missed days.  I wish I could go on Friday,
but they aren't open on Fridays.  In any case, I continue to get
stronger.  I did 20 minutes at 2.5 miles/hour and 1.5% incline.
That doesn't seem like much, but it was work, for me.

The gas smell in the furnace room seemed to be getting worse and
both Martha and Alyssum urged me to call the gas company.  I
called Xcel and they came out promptly and found a gas leak
which they "red labeled."  I then called Todd, the plumber.  He
arrived the next morning and now there is no more smell coming
from the furnace room!!!

Wednesday evening my book club had a virtual meeting on-line.
Melissa set up a private group for the book club such that only
the club members were invited to join in the discussion.  At the
given time (7:30 PM) we all chimed in.  It was fun.  We all typed
our comments about the book and comments about other comments
and so forth.  I liked it because we actually discussed the book,
"Beautiful Ruins" by Jess Walter.  We all liked the book and it
was a great one for a discussion group.

On Thursday morning we went to an appointment with Dr. Guber (the
Thoracic surgeon who did my heart surgery).  We arrived early at
the last appointment and the receptionist said, "we like early."
This time we arrived there 1/2 hour early and again didn't have
to wait to get in.  We left before our appointment time.  I am
through with Dr. Guber, or he is through with me.  He said I
looked great and I said I felt great.  He asked me a few
questions and then said I was "good to go" so we went.

This past week has been very hot, but finally cooled off a bit
down into the 80s instead of in the 90s.

I've been getting ready for house guests.  Friday I ran errands
and am ready, I think.  They were supposed to arrive today, but
probably won't arrive until tomorrow.

No Fire Works

Alyssum and Aspen arrived on Monday, the 1st.  Aspen is on the verge
of walking.  She crawls at break-neck speed and is all over the house,
but only if Mom is in sight. She is clearly wary of losing her mom.
So many new people and places.  But by yesterday she had decided I was
safe and let me hold her while mom was busy loading the car with all
the stuff to make Aspen happy, we hope.  They shall spend the weekend
at Alyssum's friend Summer's house. I missed them the minute they
were out of sight.  I am sorry they live so far away.

On Tuesday, Alyssum, Aspen and I went to the mall. It was really hot
and sunny, but we found shade, for the most part.  Our focus was to go
to Rebecca's Herb shop.  We had hoped to park at Jo's, but someone
else was parked there and took up the 2 empty spaces.  We ended up
parking  across the street from the Sherpa Restaurant.  Since we were
there, we stopped for lunch. It is not far from Rebecca's.

We had a delightful lunch sitting outside in the shade.  There was just
enough of a breeze to make it very pleasant. The food and service
were both disappointing.

 After lunch we went to Rebecca's.  Alyssum did not
find what she was looking for, which was a disappointment.

From Rebecca's we went to the Mall and headed for the area where the
water pops out of the ground with no warning and at different places.
It is fun to watch.  We were having such a good time we forgot the
time and suddenly it was way past Aspen's nap time and she decided to
let us know about that.  So we raced to the car with a screaming baby.
And I do mean raced!  I was happy to collapse into the car and glad
that Alyssum was driving.  When I got on the treadmill the next day it
was clear Alyssum and I were going a lot more than 2 miles/hour.

I went twice this week to Cardio Rehab.  I still enjoy it except when
I am very tired when I go as I was on Wednesday.  Monday, I did fine
at 2 miles/hour.  Wednesday I couldn't get there and finally quit
before the 45 minutes was up.  I rested and then did the 15 minutes
with the weights. Alyssum, Aspen and I went shopping before lunch and
then I went to rehab.  After rehab I raced from north Boulder to South
Boulder where I had an appointment to check my warfarin level.


On the Fourth of July we had a picnic in the backyard with Carl and
family, Connie and family (Alan was home for the long weekend; it's
not that far from their house to Wichita.)   Alyssum, Aspen, Robert
and I also, of course.  We had a great picnic.  Carl manned the grill
and served up great steaks!  Connie brought home made bread and a
cherry upside-down-cake.  We also had corn on the cob, 2 kinds of
potato salad...and chips with guacamole and fresh hot salsa.  Also
beer, soft drinks and water.  It was an easy meal for me.  Especially
that Carl did the grilling; Wholefoods made the potato salads and
salsa.  The corn was great and plentiful.

Today we went to the high country to get out of the heat.  What mobs
there were in Lyons and Estes Park.  It thinned out some when we got
into the park.  I had packed snacks and it was afternoon by the time
we got up there.  We found a vacant picnic table and were grateful for
some rocks someone left, to hold down our table cloth.  It wasn't
really windy, except for an occasional huge gust.

We headed home and took the Road to Allen's Park.  By the time we
got to 9,000 feet, I was getting sleepy and I think I dozed off for a
minute or two.  The next thing I knew was that my hands were tingling
and my blood/oxygen level was at 69%.  Way too low. I knew I was
in trouble.  I had to pant to keep breathing and then my hands got so
tingly...really so bad it hurt. 

We came down as soon as we could and by the time we got to
7,000 ft I was feeling better and slowly the tingling in my hands
went away.  I shall not go above 8,000 feet unless I have oxygen. 
It was not a pleasant experience and a scary one.  

A Quick UpDate

Alyssum and Aspen Ann, my granddaughter and great granddaughter arrive today.  My goal is to make the house, or at least Aspen's part of the house 1-year-old-safe.  Not having had a little one around for more than 10 years, our house has plenty of No, Nos for a little one.  These are what I am removing.  Robert's candy dishes must go, etc.

I have had more tests, a heart catheterization and an all night oxygen monitor.  My new pig mitral valve is "beautiful."  No problem there.  The by-pass is also "beautiful."  The ventricular valve is OK, too.  I do feel it sometimes, however.   I have been prescribed to use oxygen at night.  As soon as the company received the prescription they were here within a  couple of hours.  I don't mind using the oxygen, at night!  I hate it when I have to wear it 24/7.

I am doing cardiac rehab three times a week for the next two weeks, to make up for last week when I didn't go at all.

I am also driving again, but until I hear that my ventricular valve is under control, I'll not drive within anyone else in the car, especially Gabby.  If I should pull over and die, she would be totally traumatized and figure that, somehow, it must be her fault.  And I wouldn't be able to reassure her that it wasn't.

Robert is out and about, mowing, weed whacking, etc.  He wants our "estate" to look as pretty as possible.  We still have a huge pile of gravel that is gradually migrating, with Robert's help, to the driveway.  It's hard work so he doesn't do but a little at a time.

More fires, ten in the State at this morning's count

The fires continue to burn all over the State.  Connie reports
that the one closest to her place is delivering lots of smoke.
We had smoke from the Black Forest fire, but the wind must be
blowing such that our air is quite clear.

I had a blip in my recovery.  I have been diagnosed with
ventricular tachycardia.  That essential means if I don't get it
under control it'll cause death without warning.  I did drive
home from the doctor, but shall not drive again until and if and
when it gets fixed.

I am to have a procedure, heart catheterization, to be done on
Tuesday the 25th of June.  At that time it is hoped to find that
the by-pass has collapsed.  In which case a stent will be
inserted and the situation will be remedied.  If that isn't the
problem a defibrillator will be installed, but at another time.
Sooner than later, however.

Needless to say, I am very disappointed.  Things had been going
so well at rehab, it was hard to believe that anything was wrong.
However, I now find myself quite short of breath, just walking
around the yard.  I do a lot of deep breathing to keep my blood
oxygen level up.

In the meantime, I am enjoying the fine weather and being
thankful we have moved from the mountains so that one area of
concern does not exist down here.  We could have a grass fire but
hopefully it would be put out long before it reached us.

I worry about my friends in the mountains, especially, Betty, who
is living alone in the midst of a forest.  I hope that she will
be safe.