Just a quick Note

Hello, We are home from our Rhine River Cruise. I have Covid so am not very peppy. We leave again on Monday for the Choir trip to England. It will be five days since I tested so I can go with a mask. Hope I feel better than I do now. We will be back in eleven days. I can share more things then. Paula

So Many Opinions

Hello. I went to the dentist this morning. After, the hygienist cleans, he always checks for this and that. I told him about the bubble or cyst that has been appearing and disappearing on the roof of my mouth. I had seen an ear, nose, and throat specialist about this, but it was not visible the day I saw her. Since it comes and goes, she thought it was probably not necessary to do a biopsy, especially since this is a difficult place. The dentist had a possible diagnosis for this condition. That is a plugged saliva gland. He also said, “If it hangs around for three or more days, call and I will take a look.” This apparently has been weighting me down because I feel so relieved. That two people think it is not cancer. Because of my white blood count, I am seeing a hematologist/oncologist who did not find anything, but still wanted to see me again. There is so much cancer in my maternal side of the family that it is not taken lightly. I am pleased to live in a place where there are some good health care workers just a short distance from my house. Leroy and I got out suitcases today and started to put some things in. I keep gathering my clothes because I might be hot and then I might be cold. Once in a while I think about our refugee family coming with one small suitcase for three of them. Leroy and I are trying to take just one check in bag, but we each have a carry-on bag plus a personal item. We people in the United States are loaded down with baggage. Does it help or hinder? Paula

How Many Appointments

Hello, Yesterday I had a doctor appointment in the morning. Then in the afternoon, we had a home visit that comes about because of our insurance company. We basically checked out ok on all fronts. I had high blood pressure at both visits. The “White coat” syndrome is down pat. I’m a good learner. Our memory of some words was also tested. We both passed. Nice to know that not everything is falling apart even though we no longer in the same condition as when we were in our twenties. I have a dentist appointment tomorrow morning. The reminder calls are a necessity since this had slipped my mind. Perhaps that is because we are leaving on a trip in just three days. Tonight, we are going to an organ concert. Thursday the day before we leave, we are going to luncheon at church. Seems to me more days are getting booked. We still water the flowers at church. There were five geraniums left after Pentecost. No one tended to them. One of the other people, who has a great interest in the flowers said, “Let’s plant them and see what happens.” I thought that was being overly optimistic. However, they all have a fresh growth of tiny green leaves. Paula

Official Retirement

Hello, Leroy is officially retired. On Saturday, his first day off, he made a trip to the museum. Is this going to be a pattern? Probably not. He accidently threw away part of a tea strainer and wanted to get there before they threw out the garbage. He had to go when they were open because he no longer has any work keys. On Friday, his coworkers had a nice lunch for him and I was invited to attend. He was gifted with a couple things. One was a t-shirt; the other was a color changing tea mug. We tried the mug this morning. It was rather amazing what was revealed when it had a hot liquid in it. Maybe we are easy to amaze.

I did not have him work too hard yesterday, but the future is coming. We need to deliver more newsletters in the five days remaining before we go on our trip. The timing of our two trips means we will miss some of the rehearsals for the choir trip. Hopefully we are getting it all in our brains so we can just pull it out. Paula

Lots Happening

Hello, We both enjoyed the play, even if it was a musical. Not sure why, but that seemed unusual for a play based on a true happening. It did not have an intermission, so we were home before the expected time even if it was still late for us to be out. Neither of us likes to be late or even about at the last minute. We were quite early. We had not been to this new building, but it was easy to find with that wonderful voice on the phone. We climbed the stairs instead of using the elevator. One of the younger ushers commented on what a climb it is. We did not find it so bad, must be the fifteen steps we climb several times a day. Even though it was our anniversary, we filled it will lots of chores or little jobs including buying some more plants. The hydrangeas were beautiful. It must have been a new shipment because the shelves were jammed. It was a struggle to get them out without breaking their neighbor. The blue one was in front, but still entangled a bit with others. the pink ones were in back and it was necessary to take out the blue to get to them. With persistence it happened. Then the problem was how to get the others back in this small spot. It was almost like trying to put back a sheet once you take it out of the package. Finally, I told one of the workers that I had left two of them by the side of the rack. It seemed like breaking a blossom off would be much too easy. We had a little conversation about this purchase: I said, "Let's get them, its our anniversary." Leroy wondered "How many things are we going to say are for this anniversary? Since we already called the play tickets for our anniversary. And once in a while you talk about the upcoming Rhine River cruise that way too. Seems to me it is getting out of hand." What better time to get out of hand?

Paula

Feeling Better

Hello, Saturday, I stopped taking one of my meds without consulting my health care provider. It felt like I was doing my own thing with my health. I have almost never done that on my own. Friday night I hardly slept because I had so much pain. It is a side effect of the one drug I take. There had been plenty of random pains before this, but then it seemed to affect the entire body. Now I am the “new me”. There are still some spots that talk to me, but it is rather minor considering. On Monday, I did tell my provided what I had done in an email. They called me. I believe they were not so happy, but I said I wanted to take two months off. I will try again later, but cut the dose in half and find out if that is acceptable with my system. I have taken a similar med before with much the same result. What a deal! I even have been sleeping better than I have for some time. It is like being freed from a cage. Leroy voted early this morning. He reported that there was no one else there. I voted mid to late morning it was true then too. It is not such an important election, but we live only about two-three blocks from the polling place. Voting is for us a privilege, so to keep it going means we must exercise that ability. On the walk home I went past a different yard than usual. Such beautiful flowers. At first glance the yard looks like an overgrown place, but not the second glance. Paula