We Prayed for RAIN not WIND

In the first picture see the big rock?  See the bowling gazing ball?  The ball was on the rock or right beside it before the wind came.  I’ve heard people tell children that the Angels are bowling when it thunders.  Hmmmm.

Several live and dead branches fell out of my maple trees.  This all happened yesterday evening, may happen again tonight. 

There was a lot more wind and thunder then rain.   Outdoor things were canceled.  My lights went off and back on several times.  A lot of people’s lights stayed off.  The heat wave is predicted to last another several days.  Yuck.

A big show called a Tattoo was to be put on by the Airforce.  Eighty thousand people were predicted to watch it.  The wind damaged their stage and their tents and tipped over several porta potties.

It dropped 30 degrees in 15 minutes.  The security people had to check the porta potties to make sure no one was in them.   Four people were injured, none seriously.

The Airforce does this show once a year but it is canceled for this year.

They had to go ahead with the fireworks as they were wet and it wouldn’t be safe to try to use them another time or dismantle them.

My tomatoes are setting on and growing fast.  I didn’t water them last night.

As you can see Rascal drinks from the potty chair.   She likes it best for some reason.  Maybe she has had a lifelong wish to drink from a toilet and never could reach a full size one. 

Lunch and nap time.

Later….

Thinking about it

A handsome young man can talk an old lady into about anything. 

The Dr’’s office called on Tuesday offering me an appoint on Wed. with one of the other Drs since mine would be on vacation for two weeks.  I took the appointment.

It was with a young man who went over my history with me.  He pointed out that the first chemo I took was Taxol which I quit because of side affects.  (numb hands and feet and sleeplessness due to having to take steroids the day before) 

He explained they had improved it in the eighteen months since I took it.  I would no longer need the steroids the day before and the side affects were less.  It even has a new name – Abraxne.

He also prescribed some new pain meds, some of them have a pretty high street value.  One of them is supposed to last twelve hours.  All my other ones last only six hours.

He wanted me to start the new chemo that day.  I said I needed to think about it. 

I’ve been thinking about it. 

I have decided to try it – as he says I can still stop at any time.  He says I should be in a fetal position sobbing before I stop chemo.  As I have said before, people don’t die of cancer, they die of treatment.

For those of you who are pro’s at this – my CA  27-29 was 607 the last time they tested for it.  I may have told some people that it was much higher but apparently I misunderstood.  That number seems to follow the advancement of the cancer for me.  I have heard it isn’t always accurate for everyone.

One reason I will try it is I want to vote next fall.  This may give me a chance to do that.  I think this election is worth the effort.

So now I need to call the dr’s office and tell them.  Maybe I’ll wait till Monday for that, just to be sure it is the right decision.

later….

PET Scan Tomorrow

No exercise today, darn, I planned on jogging – LOL

No food tomorrow morning, just water and meds.

Arrive 8:45 for 9:00 appt.  Wear no metal.  Get a shot of radioactive sucrose, doze for an hour in a very comfortable chair in a dim room. 

Lay still for 45 minutes while being slid in and out of a large donut, with my arms over my head. 

Fun fun and they won’t tell me anything.

My doctor usually gives me a call when she gets the results. 

I have increased the dosage of Cymbalta from 60 mg to 90 mg.  I think this has reduced the amount of vicadin that I take. 

I am also taking Gabapentin to try to stop the nerve pain in my feet.  As the side affects of the chemo wear off I may be able to eliminate that drug.  It seems to be working as I just get a tingle instead of a hot needle type pain.

I know – more than you wanted to know – more than I ever wanted to know, also.

I’m very happy to report that my daughter, Susan, came through her back surgery just fine.  She only spent one night in the hospital. 

She will have a long recovery but I’m sure she will do fine.

We need rain.  I’ve been watering my bucket garden every day.  It was 90 degrees today.  I stayed inside and the dogs didn’t stay outside very long. 

I woke up in the night and found I was using Rascal as a pillow.  She didn’t seem to mind. 

Waking up in the morning is an opportunity for dogs to play on the bed – and me.  Teddy plays his “hide his face” trick then jumps around, surprising me – since I couldn’t see him with his face hidden.  Rascal  lays on her back giving me an opportunity to rub her belly.

The word “off” gets Teddy off the bed in seconds.  Rascal hasn’t learn that command yet. 

I’ll have to set the alarm for in the morning, they didn’t get me up till 9:05 this morning. 

later…. 

 

Eighteen Months of Chemo

I don’t want to be considered a quitter but today, when my oncologist asked if I wanted to continue chemo I said NO. 

She agreed with me.  The blood tests show it isn’t working.  I am having pain in the area of my liver.  So far the vicodin is handling it pretty well. 

So I will get a PET scan, not scheduled yet, and see the Doctor again on July 9.  I am comfortable and happy with this decision.  

I smiled all the way home and even took a wrong road in my daze.  The wrong road was in a construction area which is changed every few days.

Some people will not be happy with my decision but it is my decision to make and eighteen months of poison is enough.  I want to try to enjoy the rest of my life.

A new-to-me refrigerator was delivered today.  Lory and John were here to accept it in case I didn’t get home in time. 

It has an ice maker but I have opted not to get it hooked up as I don’t use ice and I have heard they are a lot of trouble.  If someone else wants it hooked up, they can do it.

 Lory and John emptied the old refrigerator and threw out a lot of what was in the freezer.  They also filled the new one for me.   Thanks Lory and John.  They also enjoyed playing with Rascal.

This one is a scratch and dent from a used furniture store.  I never would have spent the money for a new one this nice.  I did want the bottom freezer and I love the double doors on top.

Without leaving my yard I took pictures of flowers this evening after I watered my tomato, potato, and onion plants.

Do not notice the huge burdock leaf, lower right, in the first picture. 

The orange lilies are often seen along old country roads.  I always picture a home built nearby.

The last one is a blurry onion bloom from a full size onion.  Each of those tiny flowers will have a seed.  I will share the seed with several people.  They may not work if the onion Lory planted is hybrid.

Each day is a treasure, enjoy it.

later….

 

Bit of everything.

We got a bit of rain yesterday.  According to the news we are almost five inches behind this year.  The corn is growing in the nearby fields and I’m watering my bucket garden on the deck.

The big concrete things in my front yard are going away slowly.  They are going in big holes and being filled with fairly large gravel.  I think there will be a grid on top of it all to catch run off rain water. 

There is one just across the street.  They seem to be doing the other side of the street first.  I hope I get one on this side as I get water in my cellar whenever it rains much. 

Yesterday Rascal decided to bark at all the doings in the street.  She thinks she is a big watch dog.

As to Rascal’s breed, the vet and her assistant agree that her head is mostly Yorkshire terrier.  The rest of her is pure dog.  They call the color on her body is merle.

She decides to stay out a lot when Teddy comes in.  I have lured her with treats to get her in sometimes but that could become a bad habit so today she is staying outside turning her back to the open door.

Have to do dishes today.  Yesterday I got last weeks laundry put away.  Also went to the local Dr’s office to get blood drawn.  I have become friends with the lady who does it.  Her Mother also has cancer and is under hospice care, still in her home. 

I get my last chemo a week from today, then sometime in July I will get a PET scan.  I am not hopeful that this is working since nothing else has worked for long.

I would enjoy a time (short or long) without chemo.

The neighbor who does my lawn found a sundial under some of the weeds ground cover.  Since the top of the birdbath broke last winter it is a nice substitute.

Since it is in the shade most of the day it won’t tell time. 

There are some birds nesting in a gourd bird house I made.  We were nearby when two little open mouths poked out the hole.  Those gourds are the only place the birds have used for a nest even though there are several bird houses hanging around.

later….

Vet and Promises

Took Rascal to the vet’s yesterday, of course Teddy had to go along.  She had fleas so they gave both dogs a pill that would start killing the fleas in a half hour.  I am to give them another dose tomorrow.

She got doses of all the things dogs need since I didn’t have any medical history on her. She moped around last night and this morning.  I pulled out the pink throw with kittens on it and she seemed to enjoy being covered up.

Rascal has gum disease.  That probably explains why she doesn’t eat hard treats.  They gave me an estimate of having her teeth and gums worked on.    OUCH!! 

Rascal has found the scent of the rabbits under the deck and goes a little crazy.  I have to drag her inside to get her to stop.  Maybe I’ll try to get rid of them myself.  Moth balls and vinegar are said to make them leave. 

I overdid yesterday so I rested most of today.  Lory came over and took a load of stuff to go to the barn.

So much for the promise not to block my driveway.  I managed to get in by going thru my front yard between the concrete things and the front of my house by way of my neighbor’s driveway.

If you enlarge the picture above you can see my mailbox is on a post.  In the picture below you can see that the post has been replaced by an orange barrel.

I set that post myself, dug the hole and sawed off the post to the proper length.  I was able to do that stuff a few years ago.

I’m sure it will all be beautiful when they get done.

Later….

 

Mother, Daughter Hairdressers

My daughter, Lory, and her daughter, Andrea, are both hairdressers.  I voted for plumbing but didn’t win. 

Of course, I have no hair, but I do sometimes have a leaky faucet.

They do one another’s hair.  Today they came to my house to touch up the color on Lory’s hair.  Lory was impatient to see how it came out, but Andrea, the boss of this job, made her wait the full needed time.

Lory tried the “Mother Authority” look which was ignored.

The pleading look didn’t work either, that’s Lory’s youngest, Jake, on the left.

Andrea’s husband, Chris, and Jake enjoyed the discussion.

I didn’t get a picture of the finished product but it was very good. 

This week marks the beginning of a project to add a third lane, sidewalks, and curbs on my street. 

When I moved here in 2002 I was told this project was going to happen “next year”.  It has continued to be “next year” till now. 

Don’t know what those things are in my front yard.   That will take a big hole to bury those.

I have been assured that I will be able to get in and out of my driveway whenever I need to.   We will see about that

later….

 

Rascally Rascal

Rascal takes her toys seriously.  One toy had to go away as it caused a snapping incident.  There may be a good reason for her name.

She is really a very sweet dog.  I’ve had dogs who knew it was a game to play tug of war with a toy.  She takes it to heart.

She is very interested in the rabbits living under the deck.  Maybe she will chase them away. 

She slept on the bed last night and took a nap at me feet this afternoon.  There is some jealousy going on but then there usually is when there are two dogs.

I managed to get them both in the same picture.  As you can see, Rascal has taken over the throw on the floor and has a toy in her mouth. 

The chemo caught up with me today with a lot of aches and pains so I took it easy.  I did get the unpacking done and did a couple other little jobs around the house. 

Beautiful weather got me outside for a while just sitting on the deck.  It could stay like this till Christmas if I had my way.

later….

Women are allowed to change their minds.

Craigslist had a dog on there that needed a home, a six year old Shitzu spayed female.  I looked at the ad several times, it had no picture.

I called and left a message.  The lady called back and we arranged to meet today. 

As you can see I came home with a dog.  Her name is Rascal.  She is more active than Teddy and wants to play more.  She grabs up a toy and shows it to him and snarls, trying to get him to want it.  He doesn’t care. 

They will settle things between them.  I feel sure she will dominate him – that’s just the way females are.  I’m hoping he may learn to play some.

It will be a while before I can get a picture of the two of them together.  She is shorter but longer.

We have gotten rain which will mean more mowing.  After a week of heat wave we are back to normal.  I even had windows open.  There is one window that opens onto the porch so it can be open even in the rain. 

I know I’m crazy to want another dog when I don’t know what my future will be but it cheers me up to have the two of them and watch them interact.

It will be interesting to see how they settle who sleeps where tonight.

I weighed the same as the last appointment at the dr’s office, and I’m trying to eat enough.  The first few days after chemo are a challenge.  I read somewhere that a boiled egg was enough protein for a day.  Of course, I haven’t found anything that says how much dark chocolate is enough.

later….