Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Back to Busy!

It sure feels good to be busy! AND, AND....I got to sweat Monday and yesterday! That felt GREAT!!!

Monday I worked outside, sweating, pulling weeds out front and hand clipping the long grass along the picket fence. There were a lot of weeds to be pulled and I worked over an hour and a half out there. The results were worth the sweat and dirt I got all over me.

Monday night we went to see Ryan play lacrosse. His season ended last night, and we knew we couldn't make that game so we made a special effort to get to Monday's game.

En route to the game we stopped at Lowe's. Sandy wanted to get vegetables to plant in the garden and I wanted some petunias to plant in the big planters on the front steps.

Well, did I get petunias! I got so many of them I was able to plant the big pots, plus two medium pots and another smaller one! I put two pots on the deck, where they provide some nice color and another pot by the stone bench out by the pond. I also got some other plants and made a hanging basket with some of them and will plant the others somewhere...I'm not yet sure where!

I also bought a bag of river rock which I spread by the quince bushes along the driveway and along part of the pond, where I had transplanted some plants to fill in a bare spot. It looks very nice there now, if I do say so myself.

After I did my outside work, I moved indoors and cleaned the WHOLE house! I mean, I dusted, cleaned sinks, bathrooms and vacuumed the whole house!

I did this because Karen and Charmine were coming to visit today and because I could clean the whole house. It felt good!

And, I didn't even take a Five Hour Energy Drink to make it through the day. I had been taking one every day to be able to get thru the golf outing, the trips to see Ryan play, etc. I was VERY proud of myself.

Yesterday I had had it with my hair. I was sick of how I was sticking up, looking strange. It wasn't curling like it did last year. So I posted on Facebook that I wanted to shave it off. Everyone was very supportive, almost enthusiastic, about this, so I mentioned it to Sandy. Sandy surprised me by saying "well go get the clippers and we'll do it!"

I was shocked because I thought she would be afraid of me getting nicked and possibly bleeding because of my immune situation. You should have heard her get after her father for continually failing to cover his mouth when he coughed! But I digress...

I raced upstairs, got the clippers and a towel and assumed the position. She zip,zipped it and VOILA! I look like a woman with a shaved head, not a freak with hair sticking two inches straight up and with a mohawk in the back!

She showed me the clumps of hair as she cut it off...I did not like the color-a horried gray, mixed with blond and darker hair. UGH!

So, if it doesn't come in to my satisfaction, or it can't be colored to make it right, I just might keep this look, for the rest of my life. It's nice and cool and easy to care for...I wouldn't mind. Of course, my first choice is to have it come in like it did last time, curly and dye-able. (is that a word?)

This AM I got up early again (yesterday I got up at 8:30!) and went down to get my blood work done. Then I ran over to Lazizah to get things for lunch--hummus, tabouli, some salads and pita bread. Then I came home, took a shower and got things set up for lunch before Charmine and Karen came to the house.

They came, we ate lunch and had a wonderful visit. We chatted for a couple of hours and parted with a pledge to get together again soon. Charmine and I were trying to talk Karen in to going kayaking with us. Hopefully, she will.

After they left I sat outside for almost an hour, writing down a list of the different birds I saw out there. I added a new "yard bird" to my list-I was quite excited to see a Cedar Waxwing out there....first time I've EVER seen one of those in my yard!

I got a kick out of watching the dogs going after squirrels, with Rocky leading the charge. They are always a day late and a dollar short it seems. I cracked up, watching a little chipmunk hop across the yard, Rocky and Bubbles looking right past it..searching for squirrels. They did not see the chipmunk at all! Then they ran right past where it went and didn't catch the scent! It was hilarious.

Tomorrow I will keep busy and hope that I DO NOT get a call from a 401 area code...that would be Ann Marie, calling to give me the bad news about my blood work. I'm hoping there is no call from Rhode Island and I can be admitted to the hospital at 8AM Friday for my LAST CHEMO!

If I do go on Friday, you'll hear the screams of joy!

Sox are on the verge of sweeping the Rays! How the tide has turned for them!

Nighty night....from your bald headed pal

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Big weekend, starting Friday. My coach, Pam Childs, came over in the late AM and we hitched the dogs up and took them for a little walk in the neighborhood. It was rather warm and I can't walk too far, so we kept it short. Then I had a lite lunch and Pam had something to drink and she headed home...but first she told me to take a nap.

I didn't think I would take a nap, but then I said, "she's the coach, I have to do as she says." So I laid down on the bed and slept soundly for two hours. Guess the coach was right! Then I got up, fed the dogs, got my stuff together and went off with Sandy to Waterford to watch Ryan play in a lacrosse game.

First time I've ever seen lacrosse played. Ryan is a freshman, but already he's on the varsity team. His team got their asses whupped, but he did some good things in the game. I don't understand all of it, but from what I can see, he's valuable when the ball is loose on the field...he's great at fighting for possession.

We were FREEZING at the game...the wind was blowing and really making it quite cold out there...still it was great being outside and feeling the wind and the cold.

After the game we went for ice cream...believe it or not. Got a little sundae at Friendly's in Norwich on the way home. Then we swung by the grocery store and bought two big bunches of bananas....one that is pretty ripe and one that is green.

This is my new thing...eating bananas. I get up every AM around 7 and go downstairs and get a banana. I come back up to bed and eat my banana. Then I have a second banana in the evening sometime after dinner. I think it has been helping a bit with my bowel situation. So, we go through a lot of bananas lately...as Sandy has been eating them too.

I hit the hay almost as soon as we got home...I was beat. Of course, bananas or no bananas, my system dictated that I get up about seven times that night! And in between, I had trouble falling asleep. So, it felt like I got very little sleep.

Yesterday I got up, had breakfast and got myself ready to tag along with Sandy, Frank and Ryan, who were going golfing (a birthday promise to Frank) at Chanticleer in Colchester. I had a ball riding in the cart, critiquing and texting Taylor, who was at home with a possible sinus infection. I also chatted on the phone with my cousin Fran who is safely back home in South Carolina after her visit to Putnam last week. Later I called Charmine, to check on how she's doing (she has asthmatic bronchitis) and we talked about making plans to get together with Karen some time soon.

After golfing we all went to Harry's for supper. We had the cheeseburgers of course, but I promised myself that the next time I'll try something new. They had a sign there that amazed me...it said that they are celebrating their 90th anniversary! WOW!! That's a lot of cheeseburgers! Wait, did they even have cheeseburgers 90 years ago?

I finished reading my first book on Kindle last night. Denise Mina...an author I love. She's from Scotland and writes kind of detective novels about a different world...the world of Scotland and environs. I had bought two of her books on the Kindle the other night and marveled at how they were downloaded on the Kindle within two minutes of me confirming that "yes" I wanted to order them. Instant gratification.

After I finished the book, we watched an episode of "What Not to Wear," one of our favorite shows and then I crashed. I was so pooped. And, for once, my bowels cooperated and I didn't have get up and go to the bathroom every half hour.

Good thing, because this morning Fran Johnson came over for a visit. Haven't seen Frannie in years and it was so good to visit with her today. Carol came over too, bringing fresh eggs from her brother in law's hens. Yum. We all chatted over coffee and then both of them had to go.

Sandy is out mowing the lawn, one of her favorite things to do and I'm typing this and watching the Sox. My buddy Timmy is on the mound. Sox are winning...so far.

It's been a great weekend.

Next week I weed out front, replant my tomato seedlings and my herb and salsa gardens. That should keep me busy! The weeds have been growing like, well, like weeds!

And hopefully Charmine, Karen and I can get-together.

Later!

I