Jet Lag GONE!

Finally, the jet lag is gone...just like that! Yesterday I was still feeling "out of it" and this morning my head is clear as a bell.

I also dropped four pounds overnight...I'm not as bloated as I was before. I think that staying away from milk..this is Day Two with no milk or milk products, is helping. I want to cautiously say that it's helping me to reduce the trips to the john at night too...but I don't want to jinx anything. Last night I only had to go six times....the two night prior to that were just ridiculous!

The big news over the weekend is that we got the new TV...a 52" Sony Bravia with a Sony Home Theater system. We bought it at Sears on Saturday, they delivered it yesterday and Sandy set it up. We moved the "little" 46" Bravia upstairs to the bedroom..where we can lie in bed and look at it head-on. It's a LCD...so to get the best view you need to be right in front of it....the new TV is an LED and you can sit on an angle and still get a great view.

We have to figure out how to get the wires to the rear speakers of the theater system, right now we have them running under the rug...not a good thing. The thing is we have wires there from the previous home owner who had a home theater installed. I think we might snake the wires through the route they used when they installed his system. Of course the wiring for the old system is not compatible with our system.

Anyway, Sandy finally got the home theater all wired up and good to go after 10:30 last night. We put "Avatar" in the blue ray player to test out the system. WOW! We had to force ourselves to shut it off...we really felt like we were in a theater.

I had been wanting to get a home theater for years and Sandy was always resistant. Last night as she was drooling over the picture and sound, I did an "I told you so."
She didn't mind at all. She loves this set-up.

I went to see Dr. Valin last Thursday. He described me as "still skinny" six years after my by-pass surgery. That made me feel good. Later, when I said that I do "what the doctors tell me to do" he said, "you're one of the few." That made me concerned for the other people who don't follow doctor's orders. I know that one has to use common sense, but until the doctor is proven wrong to me...I do what they say. It has put me in good stead for the most part, thus far.

Anyway, he said that I need to be cut open again. He will use the same suture line that he and the other two surgeons have used...this will be the fourth cut in the same place. He said usually hernias can be done laproscoically, but in my case I need both....open and lapro. He will cut me open and then put five slits all around my abdomen and tighten things up, wrap the whole area in mesh and then close me up. It will take three weeks for the tissue to grow through the mesh and then I can "do whatever you want" according to Dr. V.

It is going to be painful...since he will have to move around a lot of things inside me. Well...that's what they have morphine for, that's what I say. Sandy questions if I will have a limit on what I can lift. I just want to be able to lift the bags of birdseed-40-50 pounds. If I can do that after surgery I'll be a happy camper! Hey, even if I can't do that I'll still be a happy camper-to have that lump gone from my abdomen...it looks so weird...it's the size of a baby's head now...looks like I have a baby in there, trying to get out!

I'm going to schedule the hernia surgery for the beginning of November I think. I will have to be in the hospital overnight. First I wait to get the "all clear" from Dr. DiSilvestro after I have the CT scan (tomorrow).

Sandy is rightfully sick of me and my medical needs. She doesn't really want to have to drive me to New Haven and then come back the next day to get me and she really doesn't want to have to "play nurse" again when I get home. I guess I'll see if I can find someone(s) to give me rides to New Haven. I think I will be fine when I get home...I'll have that big TV in the bedroom. I'll just stay there, out of sight. HA HA!

The only things I'm concerned about with this surgery--I have to go through all that reaction to anesthesia and morphine again--the constipation; the diarrhea; and the mental confusion that lasts for about six months.

Oh well...you do what you have to do.

I have been busy today, making an appt for the driveway guys to come out and take a look at our driveway. We need to have some cracks filled and the driveway sealed. Sandy tried last year to fill the cracks, but they are too wide for consumer repair. We need a professional.

I also called to make an appt with Dr. Sansone (I finally found her--in New Britain) to have a colonoscopy. My MD is faxing the referral to her. I hope they call me back today so I can schedule soon. Carol says she is excellent and can easily handle my scar tissue situation and that I will love her, she is really funny and a great person. Sounds like my kind of gal.

I also have another call into the fireplace guy. He called back over the weekend and I missed him. We need him to move our "power vent" for the furnace...the fumes come right in the living room and bedroom windows. We want to have it moved to the chimney. And, we want to see if he can help with getting our fireplace converted to gas.

We seem to be doing OUR best to support the economy and getting things taken care of at the same time. It's the American way.

Oh, I hope to hear from Cooper's today about my memory card for my camera. I brought it down there after I couldn't download my pics from Sweden onto my computer. The computer said that my files were "corrupted." I couldn't believe that. I could see the pics on the camera just fine. Cooper's said they can retrieve the pictures and the cost is right. It's worth it to have them work on it for me.

Once I get the pictures back I have to combine them with the ones I already downloaded and edit them all. I'll boil them down to a manageable level and put together a slide show. Then I'll take it on the road!

Later!

Sweden Part Deux

I know I said I would post more yesterday, but I took the day "off" to clean house. Sue me!

Maria pointed out, rightfully so, that on the first Sunday of our trip we also packed in a visit to the Dag Hammarskjold museum. How could I forget that? It was an old farmhouse where he used to live. It was surrounded by acres of land he owned...beautiful. My mother was a huge Hammerskjold fan...she was so proud when he was named Secretary General of the UN. He did a lot of good things for children around the world, and was a peacemaker. Probably the last true peacemaker the UN has had running it.

So, I left off with the fab party that the Lowerstroms threw for Sandra and which we were lucky to be part of. We met Birgitta's father and Mats mother and sister. We met Birgitta and Mats best friends, Ankie and John. John is a police man and travels all over representing the Swedish police at national police conferences in the US. He has been to more states than I have! He was very interesting and funny, we spent the night chatting with him mostly.

Did I say yet that we had "Ann Miller Vacation Weather?" When I go on vacation I usually get exactly the weather I need to do what I want to do. This is well-known. Even Jean tells people to plan their vacations around when I'm going away.

It didn't fail me in Sweden. We had sun when we needed sun, overcast, cool conditions when we were going out hiking and rain....at night. Except it did start to POUR just as Mats put the meat on the grill for Sandra's party! I got pictures of him, huddled under a beach umbrella he hastily rigged over the grill!

So, when we wanted to relax at the beach on Saturday, to recuperate from the party, of course we had the sunniest, hottest day of the trip...or so it seemed. We went to the beach, which had great sand, wasn't crowded at all and we all went for a dip...or two. I read my book on my Kindle in the sole beach chair, while the other three stretched out on blankets.

Afterwards we went to eat at the "Shakespeare" an authentic British pub that had been floated in from England and set up in this shore town. We started out sitting on the patio, but there was a guy playing piano there who was just "too much." And there was too much cigarette smoking going on. I will admit however, that it would have been worth it to endure all that just to watch the various characters who were sitting out there.

The piano player had to be gay. I mean, no straight guy would sing "Goodbye Norma Jean"...at least not with that look on their face! It was hysterical to hear those words cominig out with a Swedish accent! Too bad I didn't shlep my video camera over there.

I ordered the fish and chips...I figured, hell, I'm in a British pub...it should be good. Not! The fish was overbreaded and overfried....the stuff inside tasted like it was rotten. I focused on the chips part of the meal...which were greasy. Unfortunately, I think all of us ate at least some of those chips, so we all had to fight each other for the bathroom that night. All night long in my case.

On Sunday we got up, ate and left for the airport to fly to Stockholm....an eight hour drive by car, but it took us only 50 minutes in the air to get there!

When we went to get a taxi, Mats approached a guy and asked him about taking us to the hotel...I guess the guy didn't understand so Mats said, (IN ENGLISH!) "Do you speak Swedish?" The guy said, "Yes, I do, do YOU?" We laughed hysterically.

He turned out to be a nice guy and yes, he did take us to our hotel. When we got there they told us Birgitta and Mats room was ready, but our room, which was right next door, wasn't. So we went up to their room and stowed our bags there. Then we all headed out to explore Stockholm.

We took Maria to "Gamla Stan"...the "old town." This area is close to the palace, so we took a quick look there. Then we hiked down the famous street where all the tourists go and all the souvenir shops are calling to you. We found a place to eat on one of the side streets and got to sit out on the patio, watching folks go by. Good meal there. I had the weiner schnitzel....delish.

When we got back to the hotel I went to get the room key and the clerk told me she had to check something and took off. When she came back she told me we were in Rm 220. I told her "no, we are next door to them, in Rm 309." She said they had to move us and gave us a bigger room. So we all went up to get our bags and then we all went down to check out this room.

We walked down the hall on the second floor and found a door marked 220...but when we opened it, there were stairs going down! We went down the stairs and came out to an area where there was a room on the left--our room and straight ahead was a door that led out to a bar/patio area! We were the only room on this level!

We went in the room and it was bigger, it had an anteroom with a second tv and sitting area, a good sized bedroom...a big bathroom with double sinks. It had french doors opening out onto a little walkway that led to the patio area. The only thing it didn't have was Air Conditioning...and Maria and I are both in menopause! OUCH!

Birgitta was furious with them for changing our room and wanted us to protest. We started unpacking as we were tired and said, "let's see how it goes." So they left and we got ready for bed. But it started getting really hot in there. Soon we get a phone call from the desk, Maria answered. Apparently Mats filed a complaint with them about moving us and now they had a room on third floor for us! Maria didn't want to move all the stuff again, we were tired...so she said no to the move and asked for a fan. They brought one down.

The fan was a dinky plastic thing that was totally inadequate. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep like that. So, I got up and opened the french doors to let the air in. I knew it put us at risk for break-in (as if someone could actually FIND this room!), so I put a chair in the doorway, figuring that if someone tried to get in I would hear the chair move. I was all set to yell in a deep voice, "get out or I will shoot!"

We slept okay and the next day got out room moved to one with airconditioning. We slept good the next two nights.

This was a very nice hotel...the Hotel Stureplan. It is in the Stureplan area, hence the name, a very exclusive area of Stockholm, where all the rich and celebrities go to eat and shop. It was very nice walking around in that area. The hotel is an old building that has been restored and the rooms are very nicely decorated and appointed. I loved the "rain shower" showerhead in the bathrooms. You had a choice of the massage shower head (great water pressure) or the rain shower one....I would massage my shoulders, legs and back with the massager and then rinse myself with the rain shower. Now I have to have both in my new shower at home...when we renovate.

On Monday we went to see museums in the castle that I had already seen...but they did add new displays so it was cool. We also went on a boat tour "The Bridges of Stockholm." Stockholm is built on a huge archipelego, it's on a huge lake essentially. Everywhere you go you see water. We got on our tour boat and waited for other passengers....we expected a lot of them as the boat before us was loaded with people. Well....NO ONE else got on! We pulled away from the dock, the boat carrying the Lowerstroms and the Millers...that's it! It was like we had our own personal tour...we could shift from side to side of the boat to see what the "tour guide" (a recording in various languages) was talking about. It was so cool.

Monday night was a big night. We caught the train to the town where my cousin Lilian lives...she picked us up at that station and drove us to her house. She had a big meal planned for us. We were also jonined by cousin Peder, who I had never met.
Peder is doing a lot of genealogical study of our family and he brought cds for us that he had burned, containing the results of his research. We exchanged stories of the family and had fun. Lilian served us liver pate, a mushroom pate (delicious!) and a seafood bouilliabase that she had made. It was so good and so RICH! My stomach had trouble processing all of it and I spent the night in you-know-where.

Peder drove us back to our hotel. We really enjoyed meeting him...he has the great sense of humor we all seemed to get from our families. He told us that it seems that Carl and Carolina (my great grandparents) raised their children to believe that they could do anything they wanted to do if they were willing to work for it....my grandfather used to tell me that all the time. Their children grew up believing that...that's why they built their own houses when they knew nothing about carpentry; tackled new careers with zest and handled change with eager anticipation.

Tuesday we saw the changing of the guard at the palace and then toured the podalace. It's all so impressive! Sweden has a king and queen and the oldest princess married this year to her long-time sweetheart and former personal trainer, Daniel. The guard ceremony was great...I'm glad Maria got to see it...especially the drummer on the horse.

Excuse me but this is where I draw a bit of a blank about what else we did. I know that in Stockholm I ate only two meals a day...breakfast at our hotel...which gave us the opportunity to get our eggs and bacon...something Birgitta and Mats don't have at home....well, in that form anyway! HA! Breakfast at the Lowerstroms is a smorgasbord of cheeses; knackerbrod (rye crisp); liverwurst; ham; marmalade; pickles; and coffee. I am still eating in this style now that I'm home, but I have cheese and pickled herring on rye crisp.

Anyway...since I usually have meals help me remember the day I am a little fuzzy about the details of Tuesday...oh! We went to the Tre Kronor Museum, which none of us had seen before, then we went by boat to Skansen--Duresgarden...this is a huge area filled with various museums (like the Vasa Museum that I visited last time I was there); an amusement park; an area like we visited in Lund, with old buildings and houses that had been moved there from various parts of Sweden (like Old Sturbridge Village;)a great zoo and loads of walking and biking trails. They were also having that famous Tuesday night TV show that all of Sweden watches---a sing-a-long show. They hold it in this park. The place was packed with people trying to get into the show.

We went to get something to eat as it was well past noon. We went into a restaurant where they sold slices of pizza, etc....but the guy there was all alone and swamped with customers. When Mats got a cloth and cleaned off our table, the guy came over and yelled at him...for a long time. We got up and walked out. I told them I would treat to lunch and we went to the exclusive place that was next door and had one of the best meals of our trip!

Then we hiked through the old houses, taking a million pictures, everywhere you looked was a photo op. It was closing time, so we didn't get to go into any of them.

We hiked up the hill to the zoo and that was AWESOME! We saw babies....buffalo, bear and moose; we saw WOLVES and wolverines; we looked for, but couldn't find, owls. It's a great zoo....the habitats for each animal is large, with lots of variety for them...trees to climb on and over; water features, places to hide. If the animals don't want to be seen, you aren't going to see them. The kind of zoo I like.

When we got back to the hotel we tuned in the TV to watch the show from Skansen...I couldn't believe that this is the show I heard so much about, that dominates the Swedish airwaves on Tuesdays....maybe if I knew the songs it would be different...but I doubt it. I don't think I could watch for more than five minutes if I lived there. Hope I don't insult anyone by saying this...it's a Swedish thing...you have to be there.

On Wednesday our flight back to Malmo wasn't until 6:30 so I figured I would treat all of us to a massage and pedicure at the spa that is affiliated with the hotel. We got a price list and Birgitta reviewed it with me....OUCH!!! They wanted almost $200 for a massage and a $100 for a pedicure! We said no thanks and opted for roaming about the Old Town again, where we loaded up on souvenirs.

We made it back to the hotel to collect our bags, catch a cab and got to the airport with no time to spare! We were the last ones on the plane!

On Thursday we traveled to Aspo...the island where it all began for the Lowerstrom/Lofverstrom family. This is where my grandfather lived. We found the property with no problem and we even found a man who remembers hearing about a tailor (my great grandfather) who had beautiful gardens and when the kids graduated from school, they were allowed to go into the gardens and pick flowers. That felt good to hear that story.

We walked around the area where the family homestead once stood and took loads of pics. Again, a photo op every second. All the red cottages, with the beautiful gardens. We went to the church and the graveyard to see the family grave...although we know that they are not buried there...they moved the gravestone a few years ago. I left stones on the gravestone, to let them know that someone from the family had been there...if a grave is considered abandoned, they get rid of the stone.

It felt like it took forever to get back to Svedala from Aspo. Birgitta had to drive as Mats was pooped and not feeling well. It rained on the way home...it was like Sweden knew we were leaving.

On Friday we packed and headed for the airport in Copenhagen. Some confusion about getting our boarding passes and getting our bags checked...good thing Birgitta was there to help us figure things out.

We bid tearful goodbyes and got on the plane for the USA. In Iceland, my name was on the randomly selected list to have my carry-on bags searched. They pawed around nside my shopping bag and my purse and then had the gloves swabbed and the sample put into a machine for analysis. Very cool. I passed, of course, and they gave me a bottle of Iceland water for my troubles. Good water.

Sandy and Jean picked us up at airport and took us home. It felt good to see the doggies and Murphy and it was great to sleep in my own bed and have the free rein of my bathroom! HA HA! I am already working on getting Sandy to agree to go to Iceland...she said she would like to go for a week...which is more than I thought I would get out of her...I was thinking a long weekend!

Since I have returned I found out that Windows can't process more than half the pictures I took! It says that the files are corrupted. Bullshit! I cToan see them in the camera! I'm going to take the camera down to Coopers and have them put the pictures on a CD for me.

I am losing a half pound a day...which is good as I gained aout five pounds on vacation...all that bearneaise sauce and good Swedish cooking!

I made an appointment about the hernia, which acted up a little on the trip. They are going to see me today, so I'm off to shower, change and get my butt to New Haven after I finish this.

I have lots of MD stuff coming up....CT scan next week and then seeing Dr. D. for my quarterly cancer follow-up on the 1st and Olympia for my (non-existent) GYN appt on the 2nd. I don't know how that works...do I still go for annual appts if I have no "works" down there? And if I'm seeing the surgeon every three months.

Another great thing...the mammogram that I had done before I left for Sweden came out okie doak. Olympia sent me a nice note with the results, telling me how she thinks of me all the time and prays for me. I am so fortunate to have health care people like her in my corner!

Okay, I'm sweating out here now on the patio. Have to get everything inside.

Oh...remember that wren that built the nest in the hose reel by the back door? Well, she had at least two babies and I've gone through hell everyday worrying about them...are they still alive? Is she still alive and feeding them? Have the dogs been bothering them, etc. So far so good, despite the fact that every day I tell myself that they are dead. Can't wait for them to get the hell out and fly away! Then I'm going to destroy that nest and put up a wren house on the wall above the hose reel...let her use that next damn time!

Later!

Svenska Flickas!

Well, we are safely home from Sweden, and have loads of wonderful memories for our time spent!

I will hit the highlights, which happened every day--but I can't remember every specific day....I didn't keep a journal like Maria did (and as I did on our trip to Italy)...so, I'll hit the highlights and may not have them in chronological order.

We arrived at noon on Saturday July 31st and rested and visited at Birgitta and Mats' the rest of the day. On Sunday we toured around Southern Skane (the county where they live). We hit a flea market and I bought some scarves (which everyone in Europe and Scandinavia seems to wear). We traveled to Ystad and climbed a huge hill to see a "stone boat"...stones laid out in the shape of a boat that had been built centuries ago...kind of a Swedish Stonehenge. It was beautiful at the top of that hill as it looked out over the ocean...gorgeous. We passed neat houses and fields of cows in our hike up. Fantastic pastoral and ocean scenes combined.

Then we went into Ystad and had a great meal at a restaurant in town. I had steak, cooked on a plank, with mashed potatoes and veggies. It was delicious and turned out to be one of the best meals of the trip.

We waited about an hour, wandering around town, as we wanted to hear the man who blows the horn in the church tower, starting at 9:15 PM and continuing every hour thereafter on the quarter hour, to let the town know "all is well"....a tradition that has been going on for centuries I guess. Well...we all got a good laugh out of this...as we waited in such anticipation and then the weak "whooooo" that sounded three times was such a let-down from what we were expecting! It became the joke of the trip....everytime we saw a church tower or needed to sound a mock alarm, we would let out a quiet "whoooo." The guy was even interviewed on national tv the day after we heard him....and we have NO IDEA what the big deal is.

On Monday we went to Denmark and took in Tivoli Gardens....something I've wanted to see for a long time. I wasn't disappointed. I can see all the ideas Walt Disney "borrowed" from Tivoli when he was planning the Disney theme parks. All the beautiful flowers, fountains, international theme areas in the park...it was great!

We had a "Danish" hot dog at the park. It's served on a plate, a hot dog, a bun, fried onions (crispy) and puddles of mustard and ketchup. The dog isn't in the bun. You dip the hot dog in the mustard and ketchup, take a bite, take a bite of bread and follow it with a bite onions. That's it. Tasty...but mild compared to our hotdogs.

On Tuesday, I was awakened by the sounds of Birgitta, Mats and Sandra singing Happy Birthday to me! They came in my room bearing a tray with a present and a lit candle on it....what a surprise! Good thing I hadn't taken off my night shirt like I almost did that night! They would have been the ones who were surprised, not me!

In the evening we went to the "Turning Torso" section of Malmo and walked around. It was cool, both weatherwise and with scenery wise. Then we went to downtown Malmo and they surprised me with a river barge trip for my birthday...we went on a barge where the had a guitar player who also sings Swedish folk songs and some American and British songs that we all sang along with, while we ate a great meal that they served on board as we traveled along the canal. Everyone one the boat sang "Happy Birthday" to me and the party of women who were sitting next to us shared the cake they brought to celebrate the upcoming wedding of their friend. It was a magical night on the water.

The next day we traveled to the nearby college town of Lund. What a quaint, picturesque town! We went to a place that has displays of old houses and what life was like in the olden days in Sweden. Very interesting and very "Olde Sturbridge Village-ish." I loved it.

On Friday, the Lowerstrom household was buzzing, first with getting ready for Sandra's 20th birthday party, and then, the party itself. We greeted Sandra in the morning, waking her with her presents (a Nikon camera from her parents and a memory card for it from us) and a cake with candles. The rest of the day was spent getting ready for the big party scheduled for the evening.

About 20 people celebrated the happy event, including family, friends and one dog. Lots of great food, great drinks and great conversations. At midnight Sandra and some of her friends left for a night on the town in Copenhagen in a white limousine, hired by her parents, to really celebrate in style. We collapsed in bed, exhausted.

More on the trip tomorrow.

One more day....

Tomorrow we fly to our big vacation! I'm just about all set. I packed yesterday and have taken some time thinking about what I packed, so I can unpack and pack lighter.

I have all my supplies ready...I have to tote so much medication, potions and lotions, I almost need a bag just for them!

Sandy is limiting me to lifting only 40 lbs and my big bag already weighs 42! Something's got to give.

Tuesday I had to go to Putnam for Mrs. Saucier's wake. I saw JP and Paula and later, Betsy and Chris came in. I haven't seen them in years. I got everyone's phone number (I lost Paula's and Betsy's when I moved) and I will not lose them again!

I hope they can come down to the house sometime. That would be such fun. I will put together a "slide show" of Swedish pics when I come back....maybe they can come and see them.

Chris said she and Larry read this blog...so I give a shout out to them! Hey guys!

I miss that gang...we had so much fun and did so much together, back in the day. I really wish we could all get together more often than at funerals!

After the wake I went up to see Bob and Wini. We had a nice visit,sitting out under the tree...even though a squirrel or some other critter was sitting way up above us, eating seeds out of a pine cone and dropping the leavings on our heads! It was so funny.
When I got home that afternoon I had a few minutes to recoup and then the door bell rang...it was Terry Coney, visiting from Arizona. She came up for her grand-daughter's birthday party--which we missed on Sunday, due to Sandy being under the weather and me trying to avoid the heat. It was great seeing Terry and catching up with her, then Carol came over and then Sandy came home....the party was on!

I had to leave after awhile and head to NL for another gathering of old friends. The "ladies' group" was gathering at Cpt Scott's for dinner. We had a great turnout--I think there were 13 of us, including Joanie Dunbar, who's husband just passed away not too long ago.

I didn't like the food. I paid good money for a hot lobster roll...it was not toasted well, very little butter on it and the lobster was tough. I ate the lobster meat out of the bun and called it a day for Cpt Scott's.

After dinner we went over to Michael's for ice cream. It was beautiful out...we sat at the picnic tables and chatted, under the full moon...a fantastic moon!

It was a great day.

Yesterday after I finished packing, Dori came over, bearing the gift of a cordless weed whacker. It needs a new battery and Brad wants to get a different whacker...so they are giving this one to me! I ordered the new battery last night.

Dori stayed and we caught up on life...Dori enjoyed watching Bubbles groom Lily...her daily routine--cleaning Lily's ears, sticking her head in Lil's mouth (Dori really couldn't believe that) to clean her back teeth...licking Lil's eyes--which is where I put my foot down. I don't want her giving Lil an eye infection, I know where Bubbie's mouth has been! Eating poop....

So, tomorrow we head to the airport for a 9:30pm flight. We'll arrive in Copenhagen on Saturday at noon or thereabouts. Birgitta and Mats will pick us up...we head over the Oresund (spelling?) bridge...the world's longest suspension bridge and soon we will be in Sweden!

Oh, and Birgitta says that they sell G2 in Sweden...she's stocking up on it for me. Problem solved.

Later!

Excitement's over folks...nuthin' to see here!

As the weekend turns....Sandy's turn to almost pass out--at BJs! We were running errands and she said she didn't feel well. She didn't look good either. I told her I would drive and got in to cool the car off. She went back in to BJs to get a pretzel...which, as everyone knows, is what everyone needs to fend off unconsciousness.

I sat out in the car, trying to not worry, checking my watch every five seconds. After six minutes I shut the car down and got out to go check on her. Here she comes strolling down the sidewalk, with her pretzel medicine and a Coke to wash it down.

We went to her mother's to pick up Lily and to let Sandy sit in air conditioning with her feet up for awhile. This helped a whole lot and we headed home.

Today I let her sleep as long as she needed to...which was around 11:30. I got up at 6 am and let the dogs out to pee and poop and then begged them to let me sleep until 9. I had gotten up 11 times last night for you-know-what and wanted a chance to sleep a little longer. No soap, Bubbles got me up at 8.

We were looking forward to going to Terry Coney's granddaughter's first birthday party at Devil's Hopyard today. I had to send Terry a message that because of Sandy being sick (she thinks it's allergies) and because of my fainting bit in the heat the other day we had to beg off today. I don't trust being out in the heat for very long right now. When Sandy is sick she has a nasty habit of passing out...so she has to be watched. So suffice it to say we stayed home.

I fed everyone and had my cereal and then got to work. I debated going back to bed, but decided that I have too much to do before I leave on vacation Friday, so I don't have any time to waste. I cleaned the pond pumps and filtration system. This involves hauling these plastic pieces that are covered with green gunk out of the filter canister, rinsing them off with the hose, spraying green gunk all over me and the driveway, putting them back in the canister and starting up the pumps again. Oh, and I removed the old ultraviolet light system and installed a new one. All of this will help clear up the yucky, green water in the garden pond.

The fish appreciate it. By tonight, the water was way clearer than it was this morning. I can see that we have LOTS of fish in there...I could even see lots of black fish, which you couldn't see before when the water was yucky. They are all very lively...flipping around, diving and coming to the surface for food when they see me.he

After that job was done I worked on doing laundry, washing the new clothes I got for the trip yesterday. Jean had given me a gift certificate to Kohl's so I could buy shorts for the trip. Well, they didn't have shorts for me...so I got some cargo pants in three different colors...they look good on me...not all bulges and misshapen like other brands. I got some nice blouses too....very feminine, frilly things...that look good with the cargo pants, if you can picture it. They soften up the look a bit. The combo is interesting and looks great.

I also got a hooded black soft sweatshirt. I'll wear that on the plane, which gets cold, especially when we are flying into and out of Iceland and over the northern part of Norway.

Anyway, I washed all the clothes and then set about cleaning the house. I changed the sheets, dusted and cleaned the bathrooms upstairs. Then I threw Sandy out of the living room so I could clean downstairs. I did the whole thing, dusting, vacuuming and washing the floors. I know it won't get done again until I come back in mid August! Sandy doesn't like to vacuum. Maybe she'll surprise me.

Tomorrow is a busy day. I have to go for my annual dermatology check-up...something I started doing when I turned 50. I go every year to get naked and get checked from head to toe by a professional. Once they found a pre-cancerous patch in my eyebrow. They treated it with liquid nitrogen (or something like that). That's when I learned that I should have been putting sunscreen in my eyebrows all along. We forget to protect our eyebrows.

Anyway I don't want to get cancer (HA HA!!) so I go every year, faithfully. Now I have Sandy doing it too.

After that I'm going to get my blood work done, go over to the tv studio and help out the Baton Boys and talk to Ellen about my tv show; run up to Stott's to get the Relay $$ to Dede; and something else I'm supposed to do...but chemo brain keeps me from remembering it right now. Good thing I have a list written down. Oh...I have to go to Agway to get bird food. They are eating me out of house and home!

I have to make another batch of hummingbird food before I leave, so Sandy is all set to fill the feeders when I'm gone.

The trip is only five days away. We printed out the plane tickets today and it is feeling more real. I'm going over in my head what I'm going to bring with me and am pledging to pack light this time. I want to leave room in my bag to bring stuff home with me. Last time I bought very little in Sweden. This time I hope to pick up some things to bring home.

I was going to have my hair trimmed up before I went to Sweden, but I decided I'm going to have my cousin Sandra trim it for me. She did graduate from hairdressing school in Sweden after all!

My eyebrows are coming back, although it's hard to see them. My eyelashes are slow to return. I'm going to have to shave my armpits and legs soon enough. What a bummer! HA HA!!! I should complain...

Sandy seems to have benefitted from resting today. I'm feeling rejuvenated and happy I was able to do all the work around here today without feeling exhausted. Oh, I even trimmed big branches off the tree by the driveway and hauled the branches out back. And, hauled the garbage can to the curb...all by myself. It's the little things in life....and I'm enjoying it all.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that my niece Virginia made it through the tornado in Bristol, safe and sound. She was smart enough to get in the basement. Big branches came down in the driveway, right next to the house, but she was safe. She's a smart woman.

Nighty night!

In Which Sandy Saves Me Once Again

When I started this blog I committed to being totally honest about what was going on in my life and how I felt about people and things. Well, that got me in trouble once...the being honest about how I felt about people...

I have "edited" myself from time to time about my feelings, but never about what was going on with me. Today was the first time I hesitated about being "completely truthful" and I will explain why later.

Yesterday I passed out, or almost passed out, or something suspiciously like passing out and Sandy came home just in the nick of time to find me and get me "fixed" again. We learned something important in the process.

I don't remember completely what happened, but Sandy came home and saw me sitting on the deck with my head down on the table. She asked me if I was all right and I didn't answer, so she talked louder, asking me if I was all right. I yelled "I'm FINE" and she got pissed and let the dogs out....then she looked at me again and saw I didn't look right, I guess I raised my head and blinked a few times or something...then put my head back down.

She asked me if I had a stroke, "no" I said. "Do I have to call 9-1-1 and get an ambulance to take you?" "No" She felt me and found me to be cold and clammy...I was sweating like crazy.

She got me a G2....my magic medicine...I drank about 3/4 of it and felt a lot better. She took my blood pressure...it was low, but coming up.

She got me in the house and turned the A/C on...I had shut it off and had opened the windows to air it out and to save $$ on the A/C....it was 79 in the house.

I couldn't remember for quite some time why I was outside in the first place, what had happened...nothing.

Carol came over and brought soup as soon as she got the message on the phone about me passing out. So sweet....we had just decided that I should have soup for supper and bingo...there she was with the soup!

I realized later that I had not been feeling well for sometime yesterday, even though I had taken it easy all day. My electolytes were down, probably from the heat the day before and from all the diarrhea I've been having. I need to drink G2 when that happens...I had been drinking, but ice tea and coffee, stuff like that.

So now I know that when I see the "whirly gigs in my eyes" and I feel weird in the head like I did just before this happened, I need to drink my G2 and get my electrolytes in line where they should be.

I also realize I was close to passing out at the Sox game on Sunday too. I had the same feeling and I responded so fast to the G2 Sandy got me.

Now the reason I was reluctant to be forthcoming about this incident. I know that Maria and Birgitta are going to worry like crazy about me when we are in Sweden together. I don't want them to worry. I'm going to find out if they have Gatorade/G2 in Sweden and I will stock up and drink it when I'm there.

I also didn't want to hear about how I'm "doing too much" etc., the one day I do nothing is the day I pass out! Go figure!

It's all over now, I know what to look for and I know what I have to do to keep from getting in that condition in the first place, as I sit in my recliner and sip G2!

Later, after all that excitement...Sandy got to play nurse again (she misses it so...now that she's in IT instead of nursing...ha ha) and flushed my power port. It has to be done every six to eight weeks. She has supplies to flush me four more times to save me trips to the doctor's to get it done. She said she got good blood return and a good flush...so everything is working fine there. I have to keep the port in for at least a year after finishing chemo...to make sure I don't need it again. The day I get my port out will be another milestone for me. We'll really celebrate then!

All the excitement is over folks, no more to see here! I am so glad that I married a nurse, one who comes home at the right time to find me unconscious on our deck!

Later!

HEY-OOOOOOooooo

Busy busy busy!

Saturday was hot hot hot, so we putzed around, took the dogs for a swim in the pool and then I went over to Mark and Carol's to float in their pool. First time I've been in our pool this summer, it was nice. First time I've ever been in the Cote's pool...it's beautiful! The only problem with floating in the Cote's pool is that Porter, who is a 100lb+ black lab, wants to float on the lounge with me! And when I tell him he can't...he gives me such a sad look....

Sunday we were up early and on the road to Framingham to get the train to Fenway. I didn't realize that the train deposits you right there...it was so convenient. We got there a bit early..had time to watch the teams warm up and enjoy the pregame ceremonies.

The weather was unbearably hot and we were seated on the third base side, up under the roof, so we were in the shade, but the air doesn't move as good there as it does on the first base side. We were way up there in the stands but it was very convenient as you could just go up a few rows and you were on a concourse with restrooms and concession stands.

About the eighth inning I got super heated and felt quite ill. Sandy was out hitting the ladies room and when she came back she immediately recognized that I was in some distress. She wanted to get me up and out to where I could get some air but I told her I'd stay there and be quiet for awhile...actually I knew at that point that I COULDN'T get up and move....I was afraid I'd need to be carried out. I did sit quietly and we put water on my head and pulse points and that helped. I was sweating profusely, which is actually a good sign. I got tunnel vision and thought I was going to pass out, but that passed and soon the game was over and we sat and let people all around us leave.

After awhile I did feel better and we got up to go...my legs were quite wobbly. I was right, I wouldn't have been able to walk earlier. We walked to the train station, missing the train by about five minutes....too bad. Sandy left me sitting at the station and went back and got us drinks. She found a G2 for me and that helped me immensely...she went and got a second one for me to sip on the train...by the time we got to the car I was feeling very good.

I think we will take the train if we ever go up to Fenway again. It was so convenient and cheaper than parking.

Yesterday I went to work at UConn...it was only to take an online training session on HIPPA, the state code of ethics, etc....but it was great to be back on the road, going to work and getting paid for it. I got to see only two co-workers up there, Anna and Rosalinda...it was my luck that everyone else is on vacation!

Today I got up early again, to get ready to kayaking. Shirley came over and we headed over to Denise's. Bob, Denise's husband, was nice enough to take down two kayaks for us to use and launched us into the water...sliding down the boat ramp they have for the kayaks! It was so cool! Shirley got acclimated to the kayak and we paddled around for a little while, then her back started bothering her, so we called it a day kayaking-wise and went for a swim.

After Shirley dropped me back home I got changed into my working clothes and mowed the lawn. Sandy has been "letting me" mow the lawn lately. She told me that I didn't have to do the edges, which we do with the regular lawn mower...I was allowed to just run the lawn tractor. YAY! It takes me a little over an hour to do the whole lawn.

Yesterday and today I made it through the whole day without the use of the Five Hour Energy drink. Tomorrow I am going to weed out front, maybe trim bushes in the small yard out back (inside the fence area behind the garage) and then take the dogs to Colchester in the afternoon for PT. Sandy will meet me there and take over. Then I'm going to head to Seaside to meet Maggie McDermott. We are going to picnic down there tour around the place and go for a swim. Maggie is up here from Delaware, visiting her family. She and I usually hook-up when she comes up this way...it's always so good to see her and spend some time together.

This will be the first time in YEARS that I have been to Seaside. Same for Maggie. We both have lots of memories of the place. It's going to be very bittersweet to be there together again.

Sun have taken the Liberty to OT on a last second Renee Montgomery three pointer. I have to stop now and watch the rest of the game.

Nighty night!