Looking Up

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Since the diarrhea stopped and I’ve stuck to the BRAT diet until tonight – I had a bacon and egg sandwich.  We will see what that does to my system.

I forgot to mention that Susan and I went to see “We Bought a Zoo” on Christmas day.  If you like a lot of shooting and car chases and drama this is not a movie for you.  It is based on reality. 

Today I mustered some energy and put the license plate sticker on the RV.  Also started the RV and its generator and let it run for a while.  Then I cleaned some stuff out of the RV and car and installed the locking gas cap on the car. 

I came back in to find Bandit had opened the plastic bin I keep dog food in and was gobbling as fast as he could.  I keep a 5 lb. weight on top of it.  I may have to figure something else out. 

He had also peed in the mud room ARRGGGG.

Poor Teddy just looks guilty when he knows Bandit is doing something he shouldn’t.  He is so touchy that he went and hid when I pretended to pet a stuffed animal toy of his. 

My new year’s plan is to go to bed at the regular time and hope the neighborhood doesn’t set off a bunch of fire works.  If they do I may take advantage of the noise and fire one of my guns.

later….

 

Lazy Me

I haven’t been very good at blogging lately.  No good reason except the same old stuff is still the same old stuff. 

Tuesdays I go down the street and get blood drawn.  I try to combine that with other trips.  I got groceries this week and did laundry.  We haven’t seen any snow that sticks as the ground is still not frozen.  We have had some ice on bridges.

My PET scan was yesterday and my appointment to hear about the results is next year ( next Wed.).

I started the next round of Xeloda pills tonight in spite of having diarrhea for several days.  (Buy stock in toilet paper.)  I am on the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast) even though I don’t have bananas just now.

The diarrhea is a possible side effect of Xeloda which hasn’t shown it’s ugly head until now.

Luckily I had bought a frozen packet of rice so it was quick to fix and very tasty.  I’ll cook some of my own rice when the packet runs out. 

Bandit continues to wear diapers at night.  Periodically he pees in the mud room.  He likes the door open to that room even though it makes a cold draft. 

I trimmed his front toenails today by myself.  He really didn’t seem to mind very much except when I had trouble squeezing the cutter.  His nails are huge and hard to cut plus they are black so I am guessing where the vein is.  I think one bled a little but he wouldn’t let me look at it.

Teddy immediately ran and hid when he saw what I was doing.  He doesn’t mind being brushed and combed but toenails are a different story.

The Christmas items in my booth will be marked down to half off for a couple of week-ends and then they will go back in the attic.

I am enjoying playing Words With Friends on Facebook.  Scrabble is a good game to keep your mind alert.  I mostly lose but that’s okay.  Once in a while I get a really good word.

later….

 

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a blessed Christmas.

I enjoyed seeing my family Friday night.  We had a wonderful meal and secrets were being whispered around the room. 

The first gift I received was from Lory & John.  It was a glass canning jar with a Monarch butterfly in it.  It was fluttering around and moving it’s wings like a real one.  It is actually a fake butterfly on a tiny wire and it moves when the jar is disturbed or you tap the top.  Amazing.  A new pet that I don’t have to feed.

I also got lots of nice soft fluffy socks and a huge box of rice crispy treats with encouraging messages written on each of the 40 treats inside the box.

Also a couple of sweat suits for warmth and comfort. 

  And I mustn’t forget the Christmas pin and earrings and the fingerless gloves for my sore hands and the two whistles for my whistle collection.

There was one gift with some assembly required – a remote starter for my car.  If I leave the heat on and aim it at the windshield I can start the car from inside the house and the windshield will be cleared of frost before I go out.  I plan to get it installed this next week.

Everyone was happy with their green pieces of paper in the envelopes I gave them. 

Lory and John took me since I don’t drive the thruway at night anymore.  It was nice to be a passenger and see all the lights. 

I am so grateful for my family and friends who are there for me. 

A phone call from my sister in New Mexico where they are getting snow and 20 degree temps was very nice.  Their home on wheels wasn’t meant to endure those temperatures but they are coping very well.  

I’ll eventually get pictures.

later….

End of Eighth Zeloda Chemo Cycle

Now I get a week off and a chance to recover a little.  My hands tremble, my nose drips, my eyes water, my palms and the soles of my feet are very red.  One foot is so red it looks almost black.  Every step I take is painful.  I welcome the week off.

But that doesn’t mean it is safe for me to go around lots of people.  My immune system is down, I catch whatever is going around.

Enough complaining.  It does no good. 

The weather continues to be cloudy and/or rainy.  No white Christmas this year.  The twelve years we lived the New Hampshire we had two Christmases that were not white. 

In New England they plan on the snow and cold and use it to create fun.  Baseball fields were misted to make skating rinks.  All kids got skates for Christmas.  Snow mobiles are really fun and allow you to see the woods at a time of year you don’t normally see them.

So here in Ohio we endure winter instead of enjoy it.  My dogs seem to think rain will melt them so they must be booted out the door.  I dry them with a towel when they come in, hoping that will make them more willing to go out. 

Friday night my family is getting together to celebrate Christmas.   I will try to cheer myself up for that.   I enjoy my computer and play games on it, I enjoy reading books.  But I do get discouraged at times.

later….

Vehicles and Grumps

Got my car back this afternoon.  It needed front brake pads & rotors, a transmission fluid flush and change, and the hood wouldn’t stay up so it needed a new part.  Upkeep on vehicles is expensive – merry Christmas to me.

I still need a locking gas cap for it.  Anyway now my driveway is full again of vehicles that are in good shape. 

Downloaded a book from the library that wouldn’t download the other day.  I don’t understand all I know about how this works.  It wouldn’t even let me sign on the first few times I tried, then everything worked great.

I’ve been cutting on my hair now and then.  I know I’ll be in trouble with my beautician – my daughter.  But I can take it.

We are supposed to get a thunder storm in the night tonight.  Wonder if Bandit will be able to get into the bathtub. 

The weather has been in the 50’s for a couple of days – it will just feel all the colder in a few days when it changes. 

The dogs have enjoyed the warmer weather, rolling around on the ground and staying outside extra long.

It’s the middle of my two weeks of chemo pills so I’m a bit grumpy. 

later…. 

 

Vehicles

The car is at the garage getting checked from bumper to bumper.  I hate it when they ask me about a noise a car makes.  When I start it on a cold morning it kind of moans.  At least they didn’t ask me to try to make the noise.

The RV is in the driveway.  On the way home from picking it up I got $50.00 ($3.14/gal.) worth of gas put in.  That brought it up from 1/4+ tank to almost 3/4 tank full. 

The RV now functions as an escape from the house if the power goes off.  The carburetor was all gummed up on the generator due to lack of use.  I’m going to have to mark the calendar and start it and let it run for a while once a month.

After I had blood drawn this morning I went to the Dollar General store across the street.  Since our grocery store closed over a year ago the Dollar General has started carrying more food items.  It is really handy.  I found a couple of food items and a pair of long johns.  Since I had to throw out a pair this year I replaced them today.

You need to take advantage of things when you find them.

later….

 

 

The Boys in the Band

My granddaughter, Andrea, her friend Chris, and my grandson Jake took me to the show last night.  My other grandson, Will, is the one in the middle, the blue t-shirt.  This year they named their band “Caveman and the Neanderthals”. 

Back in the USSR–Beatles

Jailhouse Rock–Elvis

Everyone was wanting more when they got done. 

I learned that you do not hug a rock star right after a performance.  A thumbs up seemed to be the limit of approval he could take.

I got the trash and the recyclables out to the street this evening.  Yeah! 

I hesitate to brag on Bandit but he is doing some better on making puddles.  I find if I give him some attention before I take a nap he does a lot better.  So – some of his puddles are emotional, not physical.

We are having some warmer weather which is just a way of making the really cold weather seem worse. 

Tomorrow I take the car to be checked over and pick up the RV.  And go give blood to the local doctor’s office down the street.

I haven’t accidently pushed my emergency button since the other night when it went off three times.  I must be sleeping calmer.

later….

 

Busy Friday, Relaxing Saturday

Got a lot done Friday, groceries, bank, drug store, and barn. 

The barn looked wonderful with all the Christmas decorations etc.  Last Sunday was a house tour for the local town.  Only four houses signed up for people to come into their homes so they let a veterans museum and us (10 antique dealers in a barn) be part of the tour.

We are hoping we get a lot of new customers, people who normally wouldn’t notice us, and maybe they will spread the word about us. 

There are rumors that my oldest granddaughter is planning to elope in Jan.  Is it still eloping if you invite everyone to come along? 

I lost some weight with that cold I had last week so I am working at gaining it back.  So far I’m making headway on it.  Cooked a small pork roast in the slow cooker today.  The smell drove the dogs nuts all day.  Tough tootie, dogs, that’s people food.

Somehow Bandit got out of his diaper last night.  I must have slept like a tornado as the alarm button on my wrist went off three times.  I refuse to jump out of bed a 3:00 a.m. and run to the kitchen (actually quickly shuffle) to turn it off before it calls.  So every time I told them I was okay.

They should have a cancel button right beside the alarm button on my wrist.  The last time it went off was 6:00 so I just stayed up.  It scares the dogs out of their wits as the voice from it is quite loud and sounds like a person is in the kitchen. 

I am to test it once a month so I marked the calendar for a month from now.

All I did today was scrape the old stickers off my license plate and put the new one on.  I also removed the paper plate and put the regular plate on the back of the car.  Since it was below freezing outside I didn’t go for the front plate.  Don’t know why we need a front plate anyway.  I’ll put it on when it is warmer, like in the 40’s maybe.

later….

 

Sunshine!

We had sunshine today.  I took a short walk to the back of my yard and closed the gate to the garden area.  Teddy has been escaping from somewhere back there and coming back with burrs and animal dodo on him.  He seems very happy about it. 

His favorite blanket is pink with kittens on it.  Maybe this macho thing involving crap and burrs is his way of rebelling against the blanket’s image.

My pills arrived and were the right count.  They are now distributed into the holders for the next two weeks.

I found some old forgotten packets of tomato cup-o-soup.  All I have to say is – they spoil with age.

One day of sunshine – tomorrow they are predicting snow, not much but some.  Winter seems to really be here.

later….

 

Dr. Visit & License Plates

The doctor says to continue with the five pills per day for the next two week round of chemo.  They are to be delivered tomorrow by UPS and I have to sign for them.

Since I switched from six to five pills the last round  left me with 14 extra pills.   I only need 70 pills for two weeks now so they needed to ship me 56 pills.  56 pills plus the 14 I still have equal 70.  When they called today they said my portion of the payment would only be a few dollars more?!?

We will see how many pill I get tomorrow.

I stopped by the post office and got my new title for my Jeep.  Took it to the license bureau, transferred the plates, and got stickers for the RV and the car for next year. 

It didn’t rain today.  There was even a split in the clouds that showed that somewhere the sun was shining. 

I get that old urge to get into a vehicle and drive south until I find the sun.  I know it is there, I have faith that it is there.  We are supposed to see it tomorrow.  I may beat a drum and blow a whistle.

later…. 

Slow but Sure

Slowly but surely I am a bit better each day.  I overslept all Teddy’s efforts to get me up this morning. 

We have this system where I email Susan as soon as I get up – just an “I’m up” message.  Sometimes an expletive deleted is added.  Well, about 9:30, when Susan noticed she hadn’t gotten my email, she called and woke me up. 

WOW!  Okay I was reading a good book last night till midnight but that is still more sleep than I should need.  It felt really good though.

The rain was supposed to stop today so I hung a doggie belly band (diaper) out to dry.  Hah.  It is still nasty and 33 degrees and sprinkling off and on.

I didn’t get the trash put out yesterday.  That will make a double dose next week. 

Tomorrow is my Oncologist appointment in the afternoon and Thursday is the UPS delivery of the next round of chemo pills.   So I am pinned down.

Errands are pilling up but I think Friday Lory will be helping me out. 

Thank goodness for my Nook book.  I can get library books and return them without leaving my house.

And thank goodness for my dogs who let me sleep late and forgive me for being late in feeding them.

later….

More Miserableness

I got rid of the pleurisy but apparently not the infection that caused it.  Started running a higher fever Thursday evening.

So Friday morning I called the Dr. office.  The end result was a prescription of Levaquin 500mg.  

The side affects are daunting but the results are impressive.  Susan picked up the antibiotics for me, I took one at 5:00.

During the night I woke up twice wet with sweat.  It will still be a long haul to get over this.  I think this may be what I get for going to a three year olds birthday party. 

I need to get well enough to go to my grandson’s musical performance next Sunday evening.  The big music store in town has organized a band and they have been practicing.

Last year their performance was delayed twice due to weather.  Let’s hope that doesn’t happen again.

I actually ate three meals today.  So I’m really on the way up.  Everyone has offered to help.  Just their offers make me feel better.

Now, does anyone want to stop by and learn how to diaper a 54 lb dog? with very short legs?  about 10:00 p.m.?

Just kidding.

later….

Couple of Miserable Days

Two days this week I laid on the couch with a heating pad on my chest.  I had pleurisy.  Yuck.

I have very specific instructions about when to call the Dr.  A fever over 101.4 is one of the major rules.  In the afternoons I got to 100.4 but then it would edge down to 99 before bedtime. 

So I didn’t call anyone, just used the old fashioned cure and it seems to have worked.

I’m still not back to my normal but I am eating today, regular food, not chicken soup. 

The dogs were very patient with me.  I have found if I cover Bandit up with a light throw he is very happy.  He didn’t even get up when Lory and John stopped by.

We did have enough snow to cover the grass and put a cap on one of my bowling balls.  I get colorful bowling balls at thrift stores and put them around the yard as gazing balls.  The snow had melted by noon the next day.

There were a lot of accidents and some black ice.  I’m grateful I have a warm house and don’t need to go out if the weather is bad. 

Planning to feel a bit better each day.

later….