Week 11 - Exploring with Rene

I had my follow up with the oncologist to start the week so scheduled some fun right after. Inviting a friend for lunch got me in cleaning mode and I ended the week with birthday fun in Omaha. In between was a not much, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

My oncologist appointment was at 10:15 way down south in Lincoln so I picked Rene up on the way there and after spending 2 minutes with the doctor (total waste of an appointment!), we headed out for an exploration day. Our goal was Auburn, which I used to go to all the time because Connie lived there but Rene had never been. We made our way via every small town we could hit, stopping in Tecumseh for a yummy lunch and then dinking our way through small towns to Auburn.

The wonderful thrift shop wasn't open on Mondays and the cute gift shop had closed so after getting gas, a carwash and a soft serve cone, we headed further east to Brownville. It's a small town on the Missouri River and nothing was open so we just drove through and headed home via Peru to see the state college there. Connie used to work there but Rene had never seen it. After hitting other small towns, we ended in Unadilla where there was a meat market we'd seen on Pure Nebraska - a show on a Lincoln station that visits towns all over the state. It was underwhelming but the gas station there also had a thrift shop, which was fun. I dropped Rene home and headed straight to knitting. It was a fun day.

I had invited Lori over for lunch on Thursday to watch a zoom on trees by Nebraska Statewide Arboretum so the cleaning began. I cleared surfaces - the bookcase that was piled with yarn, my desk, computer table, bar and the front room table. I actually dusted using something my sister had put in my stocking - Scrub Daddy Damp Duster. Game changer! It's designed for people who never dust so need some water to get the thick layer of dust. That done, I swept, vacuumed and cleaned the bathroom. 

I made corn chowder and corn muffins for lunch and some cookies I'd baked on Tuesday for dessert. The talk was interesting and Lorri left shortly afterwards. I had my monthly Ripples zoom at 2:00 but struggled to focus. I went outside afterwards with a cup of tea and read in the shade because it was 79 degrees outside. I struggled to focus on my book too. I don't know why but I was antsy.

I spent time organizing my knitting projects on Friday and cleared a few more surfaces. I had posted a picture on Facebook of a friend who had recently died. His daughter contacted me to ask if she could use it at his celebration of life, which I said she could. I then went through pictures from the other trips we'd been on (he was the husband of a knitter on a couple of Jean Moss trips) and sent her a few more pictures. I then spent some time going through lots of pictures from other trips, which was a pleasure. I also chatted with Anne, who had gotten back from her trip to Morocco. It was a nice afternoon.

It was the weekend between Lori and Andrea's birthday so we were doing lunch on Saturday in Omaha. Andrea and I went to the Thrifty Artists Garage Sale (found some fun vintage sewing trims and chatted with the people from the Creative Reuse Store in Omaha) before meeting Lori for lunch at First Round in the Blackstone District. We had a fun lunch and they liked their presents. We then got ice cream a Coneflower Creamery, which has vegan ice cream for Lori. I got a super delicious flavor - caramelized Irish brown bread. SO good. Then we all went to Warmth, the new-ish yarn shop in Omaha, for our spinning group. It was fun and we headed straight home from there because Andrea had a dinner that night in Lincoln to get ready for.

I spent Sunday relaxing and getting chores done. It was a good week with lots of fun but enough down time between the fun that I was feeling good. I hope there will be more weeks just like this coming up.

Week 10 - Now a Cold

It was another week of roller coaster weather and if my mom were alive, she'd blame that weather on the cold I caught. It wasn't too bad and I was able to do what I had to but also took every opportunity to relax.

Helen had invited me for lunch on Monday but when I arrived early, she was still in her jammies and said she hadn't gotten around to making anything for lunch because she'd spent all her time painting walls in her house. She usually prefers to cook so we can stay in but I had no problem going to Piedmont Bistro, which is my favorite restaurant in Lincoln and only a block from her house. Back at her house, we spent the afternoon chatting away while drinking tea. When I looked up it was after 5:00 and I had to scramble to get to Monday Night Knitting. I ate PB&J in the car on the way there. Good thing I'd had a nice lunch.

A cold front was due on Tuesday afternoon so I was outside that morning taking down the winter decorations in the pots by my doors and changing the front door wreath and flag. I then went to every store in town looking for St. Patrick's Day decorations to add to the pots but came up dry. I found some white flowers at Family Dollar so put those in the front pot and left the side door pot empty. I'd look for some pansies for that. The front slammed into the house at 12:15 so I was happy to have gotten my outside stuff done and was cozy inside along with my cats. The big news for the rest of the day was I slept without the post-surgery bra for the first time. Milestone!

It snowed on Wednesday so I spent the day chatting with friends and spent that afternoon reading. Tim and his sons came and shoveled me out at the end of the day. It wasn't much snow but I still had a lifting restriction so was happy they came.

I woke up with a sore throat on Thursday, which is how I feel at the start of a cold. I had planned to go to a talk on butterflies at the lake but didn't want to share my germs so stayed home. I ended up working for 2 hours with Cindy on JE training she's creating a video for. Other than quick calls/emails here and there, I haven't worked in awhile so put in the few hours to get paid. I went out in the afternoon to get some ClaritinD so I wouldn't be a mess on Friday.

I had my follow up with the surgeon on Friday. She was happy with my incisions and told me the 10 pound lifting restriction was over but to listen to my body. I went to Aldi on my way home and lifted too much and immediately felt it. Stupid! I picked up Chinese food on the way home and was in for the weekend. I made pizza for supper and cleaned up the kitchen but otherwise just spent the afternoon reading.

There wasn't any excitement for the rest of the week. I knitted, streamed, read and did some cooking. Sunday was glorious (the snow was long gone) and I opened the windows and hung laundry on the line. I was feeling better after resting for a couple of days. I had a long talk with my old friend (since junior high) Janice and caught up on a few things.

So I was signed off with the surgeon but ended the week with a cold. We had snow on Wednesday and it was 68 on Sunday and even warmer weather forecast for the next week. Lots of ups and downs but I'm still smiling. Progress.

Week 9 - My Surgery Week

After going through the ringer since early January, my surgery week was finally here. It was scheduled for first thing Tuesday but I had to go in on Monday for some procedures. I was as prepared as I could be and was looking forward to putting it behind me.

You know me so won't be surprised that I'd scheduled lunch with Dodie on Monday to get some happy in. My first stop was dropping Dottie's huge yarn box at the UPS location at the Wahoo hardware store and dropping my spare car key at my friend Lorri's house. As usual, I had planned to drive myself to surgery and then have Anne drive me home in my car and have Rene follow us to drive Anne home. But Lorri mentioned that she and her husband would be in Lincoln on Tuesday afternoon so I asked if Bob, her car guy husband, would be willing to drive my car back, saving Rene from taxi service. He was happy to do it, saying that he loves to drive different cars when I dropped the key. Great.

Lunch with Dodie was good, as always, and with an hour to kill, I stopped in the office. I had planned to check in with Layton but spent so long chatting with Lacey that I had to head straight to the doctor. I had to have a radio frequency thingie (I called it the nubbin) put in my breast next to the spot they'd be removing. Then it was off to nuclear medicine where they injected me with something to identify which lymph nodes were draining the cancer area. What I didn't expect was having to wait until the juice made its way to the nodes so they could take pictures with the gamma camera. It took so long that I only had time to slam together a sandwich to eat on the way to the library for knitting. I went to bed early and set the alarm for 5:30 am.

I slept OK and after a quick shower, I was out the door at 6:40 to head to Anne's. I parked in her driveway and she drove me to the surgery center. Everyone was super nice and it was the usual pre-surgery stuff then chatting with Anne until they were ready for me. I woke up back where I started but with a post surgery bra on and feeling dopey. I got dressed and we headed out but I couldn't even cope with holding a coffee when Anne did the Starbuck's drive thru. We picked up lunch for me and my pain meds and I was home. Anne got me settled in my chair and left. A cup of tea helped with my headache (should have gotten that coffee) and I spent all afternoon doing something or other (still dopey) before logging on for a lecture on children of Nazis that I'd signed up for. It was very interesting and I did more nothing before going to bed. I wasn't uncomfortable but took a pain med and went to bed. I'm happy to report that sleeping in the bra, which I'd have to wear 24/7 for the next week, wasn't uncomfortable and that was the only pain pill I ever took.

Needless to say, Wednesday was a quiet recuperation day. I spent most of the day talking, messaging and emailing family and friends. The only thing I accomplished was bleach testing the 2 bags of the yarn I'd bought on Friday that I suspected was sock yarn. Whenever I got up from my chair, I'd snip off small pieces of yarn and put them in the bleach. If they completely disintegrate, they don't have nylon so I won't use them in socks. I'm happy to report that about 2/3 of the yarn had nylon. Yay!

On Thursday, I could take a shower. It felt great but I was shaking as I dried myself off. Despite this, I ran some errands in Wahoo. When I was back home, you would think I'd run a marathon. It was warm enough to read on the bench outside but otherwise I did nothing for the rest of the day.

I had an all day zoom on Friday called Big Talks from Small Libraries. It was fine to sit in the sun, knitting and watching the presentations. The best thing was getting a call from the surgeon who told me that there was no cancer in the lymph nodes which means I'm now 100% cancer free. Such a relief!

Andrea and I had an outing scheduled Friday afternoon to go to a civic garage sale (that's what my dad called them and where he shopped for books) at a high school in the next county. She picked me up mid-afternoon and we found a few things but were done way too early for supper so we headed to David City. We hit a thrift shop then went to Buresh Meats, where I found a bunch of bargains. It was still early but we headed to Abie's Place, where Andrea's boyfriend met us for dinner. It was fish all around and their fabulous French fries. Afterwards, we headed to a hill to see if we could see the planetary alignment. We could only see a couple, which looked like bright stars. Underwhelmed and tired, I sat in the car after just a few minutes. I was happy to get home and into my nightie. That was a busy day for me.

I was back in quiet mode for the weekend, chatting with family and friends, slamming out a pair of shortie socks that needed to get mailed and streaming or reading. I still had no pain but was aware of my incisions. I took off my bra long enough to wash it on Sunday and was happy to put it back on with a fresh nightie after another shower. I was in the home stretch and was feeling good.

So surgery was done, no other cancer was found and by the weekend I was getting my energy back. The stress dreams had also let up and it was warmer so I was able to get outside some. A good week, right? I'll have a few more weeks before radiation and hormone blockers and I plan to enjoy them.

Week 8 - Cold and Cancellations

It was my last week before surgery and it was the coldest week of the winter with high temps just above zero with wind chills in the negative 20's. This lead to lots of time inside and cancellations galore.

It started snowing in the wee hours on Monday and it was still snowing all morning. I had my pre-op physical at 1:20 and with it too cold to be outside, I messaged my snow crew and asked if they'd do my driveway. It was supposed to stop snowing at noon and they said they'd do me first so I could make my appointment. I got a call from the clinic with an offer to reschedule for Friday, which I happily took but they guys were already on their way. They did their usual quick job but it didn't end up stopping so I bundled up and went outside at 6:00 to do the last inch that had fallen. Anne Marie's son was driving by and stopped to help so it was quickly finished. With no knitting due to Presidents Day, I happily went back inside for a night of knitting and streaming.

The high temp on Tuesday was 1 not including windchills so I stayed inside. My front room reading in the sun book was The Fourth Wing, which I was totally sucked into and finished that afternoon. I immediately reserved the 2nd book in the series, which meant I'd be braving the cold (high temp of 2) on Wednesday to pick it up. I hit The Warehouse before the library and went right back to reading as soon as I got home. I kept reading Thursday too. By that point, the Wednesday night Saunders Medical Center's program on beef at the lake had been cancelled as well as the student dinner at Southeast Community College on Thursday night, which was why I'd delayed my surgery. Oh well. I was happy to stay warm inside anyway.

It was 23 degrees on Friday, which felt absolutely balmy, and I finally had plans to leave the house. After my rescheduled pre-op physical that morning, I'd be driving to Lincoln for lunch with Darla and final errands and grocery shopping. Despite telling me my labs from January would be good enough, they told my doctor that they wanted labs so after a cursory physical, I had blood drawn and an EKG so just made it to Virginia's Cafe at noon. Darla and I had a nice lunch and catch up after her birthday cruise. I gave her a cowl I'd finished the day before using the yarn inspired by our favorite Mexican restaurant in Lincoln. I think she liked it.

Awhile ago, I had found a crocheted afghan on pinterest that I loved and I asked Dottie to make it for me. She called me to say that it worked best with the soft acrylic that she told me she didn't like so I've been giving it to Anne for years whenever I find it in a Goodwill grab bag. Here's the first test square that Dottie made and original from pinterest. Love it! So my mission for Friday afternoon was to hit every thrift shop in Lincoln to find more. Of course I only found one skein but did find tons of good quality yarn, including some sock yarn. Anne had also pulled some so I stopped at her house to pick those skeins up and we chatted for awhile, of course. After a stop at the grocery store for my last stock up, I headed home for the weekend.

My surgery would leave me with a lifting restriction (10 pounds) so this was my last chance for awhile to do heavy cleaning - vacuuming, washing floors, changing litter boxes, doing final laundry, etc. I had upped my Chewy autoship date so unloaded that huge box and immediately filled it with yarn to ship to Dottie, using my new shipping scale to weigh it and print my own UPS label at half the cost of walking into a UPS Store. Between chores, I chatted and visited with friends. Andrea stopped by and we went over the Jean Moss book that I'd be mailing out to all the Jean Moss alums from our old knitting trips (we were both choked) and my friend Lorri came over for tea and blueberry muffins.

By the end of Sunday, I was ready for surgery. My house was clean enough, my fridge was stocked and I had friends lined up for transportation and post-surgery help. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful group of friends. On to surgery!

Week 7 - A Nice Surprise

It was a quiet week that started with scheduling surgery, had plenty of snow, a Fremont run and a nice surprise to end the week. There was lots of talking on the phone and knitting between it all, of course.

I got a call first thing Mon day to schedule my surgery. It had to be a Tuesday or Thursday and the first available one was the 20th but I had tickets to a meal for that night so I scheduled it for the 25th, with pre-surgery procedures on the 24th. I also had to schedule a pre-op physical and EKG because my annual physical the first week of January had expired. Oh well, at least now I had a date so could plan accordingly. I spent that afternoon on the phone talking to Sharyn and Janice then went to knitting. After a day puttering inside, I was back at the library Tuesday night for a board meeting.

It snowed all day on Wednesday so I sat cozy inside knitting the day away while watching A Gentleman in Moscow, which we'd read for book club recently and I had loved it. The series was very good and didn't stray from the book. When the sun came out late afternoon, I went out and shoveled. The snow was light and fluffy so it was easy. Thursday was another stay cozy inside day, talking to my cousin, watching my favorite knitting YouTubers and reading in the sun in the front room. Being retired in the winter when it snows is a joy.

Having been holed up all week, I was happy to do a Fremont run with Andrea on Friday afternoon. I scored a bunch of cookbooks at the Restore, found a couple of fun vintage throw pillows at the Estate Dispersal Store and then hit Goodwill. It was Valentine's Day and Andrea's man was coming to Fremont for dinner, which I was invited to but declined so I dropped Andrea off at Crush and happily headed home.

We got more snow on Friday night into Saturday and with the roads a mess, our spinning field trip to the new(ish) yarn store in Omaha - Warmth - was cancelled. I spent the day knitting and went out that afternoon to shovel again. Then Rene called with a proposition.

A friend of hers had given her 2 tickets to the musical Kimberly Akimbo in Omaha and she asked if I wanted to go with her. Maybe it was all the shoveling but I was not immediately in. When she offered to pick me up and said we could park in the garage that was attached to the theatre so wouldn't have to set foot on snow, I somewhat reluctantly said I'd go to the 1:30 matinee.

I started neatizing and cleaning just in case Rene would come into the house and did a bit more Sunday morning before making bacon and eggs at 11:00 so I wouldn't be hungry during the play. We had loge seats so no one in front of us but we couldn't see one side of the stage. It was fun and my kind of musical with actual words between the songs, unlike Les Mis or Phantom, both of which I fell asleep in. Anyway, I suggested we get pancakes after the play, which was exactly what I wanted and Village Inn was right on the way home. We stopped at Aldi too, which I hadn't hit in Fremont, so I grabbed milk and a few things to tide me over. Nice.

So it was a nice, quiet week with a couple of fun things at the end and lovely snowy days in the middle. I only had one more week before surgery and it would have the coldest weather of the winter so there'd probably be more cozy time inside, which is pure bliss for me. Here are the 3 pairs of socks I finished during this cozy week with more knitting time to come. Life is good!

Week 6 - Back to Reality

Vacation was over and it was back to reality. First stop was an MRI to make sure there really was only the one spot of cancer. Of everything so far, I was most nervous about this.

My appointment was at 12:30 on Monday in Lincoln but I left early and ran all my errands beforehand. I ate a wrap in the parking lot for lunch and then did the MRI. I was told I would get a call with results and I went home to wait. I had had thoughts of baking to take to knitting but couldn't get motivated so didn't. Something on my mind maybe?

Luckily I checked the patient portal first thing on Tuesday, which showed the results and had an understandable summary that said that no additional cancer was found. Big relief to say the least. Unfortunately I never got a call from any of the 3 doctors I'd shared the results with but at least I knew. I spent the next couple of days knitting in the sun and trying to stop thinking about cancer. I even went to a mental health program at the medical center but that was more for the free dinner and goodies. : )

I had an appointment at 12:15 Thursday to meet the surgeon. I met with the nurse first and she went through a big notebook of information, which of course was pink. I then met with the surgeon who gave me all the details. They'd be taking out the tiny tumor and would inject me with radioactive stuff to identify which lymph nodes were draining the tumor area and so would be removed for testing. It would be outpatient and I'd have to wear a post-surgery bra 24/7 for a week after surgery. Biopsies on the lymph nodes would determine how many radiation sessions I'd need. They'd call me soon to schedule my surgery. I went home and spent the afternoon on the phone, teams and messenger giving friends and family an update then had another comfort meal of breakfast for supper (not my first this week).

On Saturday, Andrea and Lori took me to the Woodcliff Restaurant, which is on the fake lakes off the Platte south of Fremont. It's an interesting place where you can get anything from a burger to Faroes salmon on a bed of carrot puree with beet coulis - so from mom and pop cafe food to Gordon Ramsey style. We started with a huge plate of delicious onion rings and then I had the salmon. Since it was my birthday dinner, we got a free yummy dessert to share. I was showered with fun presents and we chatted for ages so it was a great night.

Otherwise, the rest of the week was getting things done, running errands and relaxing. I got a long overdue haircut, did laundry and hung it out on the line, went to a fun sale at the fairgrounds to benefit post-prom (that's where I found this embroidered pic, which is perfect for me), finished some socks and did some reading in the sun. 

It was another stressful week on my cancer journey but them not finding more cancer with the MRI took a big load off my mind. Everyone involved was lovely and I had great support from friends and more birthday fun. I'll get through this! Just keep swimming.

Week 5 - Palm Springs Time

It was the week for our annual (hopefully going forward) trip to somewhere warm during our cold Nebraska winters. Anne, Rene and I were heading to Palm Springs, which was my idea because I didn't want to give Florida any of my tourist dollars and I wanted to go to the Salton Sea again, which my good friends were OK with.

Despite checking in exactly 24 hours before our flights, we all had C boarding passes. Luckily the flights weren't full so Anne and I had an empty seat between us and Rene did too a few rows away. We flew via Denver and got to Palm Springs at 3:30. We picked up the car, which they upgraded to what felt like a tank to me - a Santa Fe - and I was the only driver to save money so Yikes! After picking up some groceries, we went to our VRBO, which was a 3 bedroom house with a hot tub. We turned it on and Anne suggested In 'n Out for supper since she'd never been. Double double animal style - yum! We soaked in the hot tub until we were pruney then I bought Plagues & Pleasures at the Salton Sea to watch in preparation for the next day. It was a great start to our trip and we'd only been there a few hours.

We ate breakfast and headed out to our first stop - Desert Shores. I knew that the water had receded but was shocked by how far out we had to walk from what used to be the water's edge. Next stop was Salton Sea Beach then Salton City. We took lots of pictures and Anne and Rene seemed to be having fun. We drove completely around the southern end, which is all ag land, stopping at the Sonny Bono National Wildlife Refuge where we didn't see much. By the time we we heading north up the east side of the sea, we were hungry and I was thrilled that the Ski Inn in Bombay Beach was open. We had great burgers and my favorite tots before exploring the art instillations on the sea side of the berm. The end of a fun Salton Sea day found us at North Shore, where the community center was closed but the director saw us looking in the windows and gave us a private tour, telling us all kinds of history along the way. What a fabulous day! Since lunch was so late, we ended with cheese and crackers for supper, a soak in the hot tub and working on the puzzle we'd brought.

The next day was Shield's Date Garden. Their movie was down but we walked the gardens and had a nice lunch in their restaurant before buying some treats in the gift shop. Next stop was the only yarn shop in the Palm Springs metro, which was small but we all still managed to find yarn to buy. We had been in search of a lemon tree to pick some from and found one on our street. The nice man who lived there let us pick some so we'd have those to take home. At home, we had more cheese and crackers and got so busy finishing our puzzle that we never went in the hot tub.

Thursday was our last full day and we were taking the aerial tramway up Mount Jacinto. There was snow on the ground up there and we did the long version of the nature walk. It started out on a clear, wide path but the higher we got, it became picking each step between ice, snow, tree roots and rocks. The ranger had told us to go from view point 5 to 1 so we'd be going uphill on the worst part but the signs weren't helpful so we ended up doing it in the other direction. Between points 4 and 5, Anne and I both fell. My knee bent more than it has since it was installed and there was some swelling but I lived to tell. We were up there a LONG time considering the hike was only 1.5 miles so got back down late afternoon. We went to Sherman's Deli for a very late lunch (I think it was 4:00). My knish was delish (ha!) and we all got a dessert to go. We had our last soak in the hot tub, snacked and watched the date garden movie before heading to bed.

Our flight wasn't leaving until mid-afternoon so we had the morning yet to go on Friday. I had wanted to do a mid-century modern architecture tour but at $125 each, I had explored for other options. I found a self-guided car tour that was only $17 so we checked out of the house early and started that. I wasn't very good with lots of stops like "between those gates you can see a sliver of a house through was (fill in old celebrity name)'s house" kind of things. We gave up after doing most of it and went downtown for the Birkenstock store (Anne and Rene bought shoes) and a slice of pizza for lunch. Rene googled an MCM neighborhood and we spent our last hours going up and down streets were regular people live in MCM houses, critiquing each one as we went by. We returned the car and were ready for our uneventful trip home. We got to Omaha late and were still driving at midnight so Anne and Rene sang happy birthday to me. I unpacked, showered and got to bed around 1:00 am. It was a great trip!

I had never really acclimated to Pacific time so was awake every morning at 4:30 despite staying up late each night so was a zombie on Saturday. I happily sat in my chair with my cats, chatting with friends and streaming/knitting the day away. I felt much better on Sunday and got some laundry done, scooped boxes and got back on track.

It was a wonderful winter break and I'd happily go back to Palm Springs. As always, even with such a short trip, it was good to be home. I also was able to forget about my diagnosis for awhile but would be right back on my cancer journey with an MRI Monday. At least I got the break to forget about it for awhile.

P.S. Photo credits to Anne and Rene since a few of these pics are theirs. : )

Week 4 - It's Breast Cancer

Yes, breast cancer but stage 1 and just a 3mm (1/12 of an inch) cluster of cells. After a bit of surgery and radiation, the oncologist says I'll be 100% cured. I'm going to hold her to that.

The start of the week was lovely with and I spent time avoiding TV, which meant lot of knitting, streaming and yarny things. Wednesday was a Lincoln day and I had a nice lunch with my work peeps, thrifted and ran errands but was home in time for tea and reading in the sun. Then the phone rang Thursday morning at 8:10.

It was my doctor, who has never called me in all the years I've been her patient so I know it was bad. They'd found cancer in the biopsied samples and within hours I had an appointment for the next day with an oncologist in Lincoln. Helen went with me and the doctor was lovely. She explained that they'd take out the cells and a few lymph nodes then a month after that I'd start radiation and would take hormone blockers. She really did use the words "100% cured" so I left feeling pretty positive. They set up an MRI and an appointment with a surgeon then Helen and I left for a yummy lunch at Copal. After a quick stop for kitty litter, I headed home so I could get busy.

Anne, Rene and I were leaving for Palm Springs first thing Monday so I had things to do. I ran errands in Wahoo on Saturday then got busy with laundry, packing and changing litter boxes, interspersed with lots of reading and talking to friends and family to tell them my news. I did some knitting and crocheting (!) too, finishing my January challenge socks too. Aren't they fun? The bright colors were a new year's gift from my friend Lori at the start of 2024.

By the end of the day Sunday, I was ready to go and was looking forward to a week in the sun not focused on cancer. I was bolstered by my oncologist's words (there's something I never thought I'd say - "my oncologist") and would deal with next steps after enjoying a week of fun with friends.

Week 3 - Fun vs. Biopsy

It started out as a quiet winter week, which works for me, but got busy later. I got some stuff done in the house and got out of town 3 days before the cold set in on Sunday. And a biopsy - no biggie.

I made some progress in the laundry room, finally getting the culled Christmas stuff back under the stairs where it belongs rather than in middle of the room where it's been for years. With all that put away, I went through the totes that weren't Christmas related, which were mostly ebay linens that I moved into the the ebay room. There was a tote of pictures from my mother's trips with the church group over the years. Since she took the pictures and so isn't in them, can I throw them out? Time to check in with my sisters.

In clearing out the laundry room mode, I brought up all my amaryllis bulbs that I'd put down there in the fall. I gave them a little love and put them in front of my slider so hopefully will have some flowers soon.

Between all this laundry room work, I did a bunch of cooking. I made my cousin's apricot jello mold (took that to knitting), Lacey's sausage/potato soup and cheddar biscuits. Most of these last 2 and a small container of the jello mold went to Darla, whose husband broke his leg and is awaiting surgery. 

Darla's office was my first stop on Wednesday when I went to Lincoln for lunch with Dodie. Afterwards I went into the office to visit but the accountants were leaving so I had a long catch up with Layton, which was nice and killed time until meeting Rene and Anne at Granite City for Rene's birthday dinner, which was my 2nd yummy meal of the day. I had a nutrition program at the hospital at 6:00 and when I realized I'd be there super early, I opted to park at the Danish cemetery that's on my way home and knit while the sun set. How pretty is this! I can't say I learned much that I didn't know about nutrition and I took the boxed lunch they provided home to eat later. It was a long but fun day.

There was more fun in store on Thursday. Anne is a big fan of cone yarn and after both of us having failed to hear back repeatedly from a woman in Fremont who had some, I'd found someone else and we were meeting her in way north Omaha to buy some. We started with breakfast at a new to me place I'd seen on Facebook - AJ's Cafe. They're known for their pancakes and they were huge and delish. We then met the woman only to find out that she'd bought all the yarn from the woman in Fremont, who had repeatedly not responded to her too but finally did. What are the chances? Anne bought a bunch and I bought a few too (why?) plus some non-cone acrylic for my sister. I was back home in time to eat my boxed lunch from the hospital program and be back there for a biopsy at 2:00.

I've had  calcifications they've been keeping their eye on for years and have had to go back for extra mammograms a few times. Now it was biopsy time. It was ultrasound guided and I felt nothing. I was home in time for tea and reading on the bench outside because it was in the 50's. I'd finished A Gentleman in Moscow, which I loved, earlier in the week so was back to Atomic Habits, which is a slog. I really want fiction for my reading. Oh well. The sun was gorgeous. When I went back inside, I start Nr. 24 about the Norwegian resistance in WW2. It's worth the watch.

The gorgeous weather held for one more day so I did my laundry and hung it on the line on Friday. I then pulled all the shelves out of my fridge and cleaned it all. Stupidly, I didn't mark where the shelves were and so struggled mightily to get them back in the right places. The back wall of my fridge had iced up and bulged in and there was no pushing it back even after the ice melted so the shelves are wonky. It took many tries to get it all back in correctly and I threw out lots of old food but it's all shiny and clean so it was worth the effort. Cross that off my to do list, where it's been for a long time.

After spending Saturday morning chatting on the phone, it was my 3rd time getting out of town in one week. It was spinning week so we did our regular Fremont run before and after our meeting, which is always fun. The temps plummeted on Sunday so I hunkered down, doing one of my favorite winter things - making homemade Boston baked beans. Unfortunately I over salted the water so they were salty but still better than canned. I had some yarn sorting fun that afternoon and made a delicious dinner of pumpkin ravioli with cream sauce.

That's a busy week for a retiree! Three trips out of town, making a big dent in my project list (I'm calling the laundry room done but there are some book shelves in there yet to go through) and some cooking, reading and streaming. I'm not worried about the biopsy and am hoping for an all clear next week. Cup half full you know.

Week 2 - All Things Medical

With my colonoscopy out of the way, it was time for all the other appointments and getting a few things done between them all.

On Monday, I was done with my Christmas tree, which is earlier than normal but then I had put it up earlier too. It was so tiny that I had it taken down in no time and then was off to my mammogram that afternoon, which was in Wahoo so didn't take long. I was back drinking tea in my front room in time to catch the afternoon sun. After some yummy quiche for dinner, I had fun at Monday Night Knitting.

Appointment #2 was my annual physical on Tuesday morning, which went well. My doctor went over my blood test results, which were skewed by the colonoscopy prep (not really a fasting blood draw), and didn't push a statin. That made me happy. Since I was out I went to The Warehouse and the local thrift shop before going home to make a project bag for Helen. And since nothing is easy, I had to spend time on the phone trying to get my Rx info updated with the online pharmacy. Sheesh!

On Wednesday, I had a 10:15 appointment in Lincoln to get a shot in my left thumb, which is doing the same clicking that my right thumb used to do when I was diagnosed with trigger thumb. It had been clicking since November but I delayed until the new year and new deductible. I had a list of errands and the Goodwill on Vine Street worked best before the appointment but they open at 10:00 and are a few miles from the doctor. Yes, I was waiting at the door when they opened and ran around picking up bags of yarn and was out the door by 10:05 and was 3 minutes early to the ortho doc. I was in and out of there in 10 minutes. It took longer to convince them that my Blue Cross was indeed active than to get the actual shot, which was way more painful than I remembered from my right thumb.

I went to my cousin's after that, where I was giving her her overdue Christmas presents. She needed to get some sleep (she works overnights) so I was not staying for lunch. She had a delicious pecan coffee cake in the oven so I had a piece of that before heading off for errands. I hit a couple more thrifts but needed an oil change and figured I could pick up a few groceries while it was being done if I went to Walmart so that's what I did. By not wasting the waiting time, I was able to get home in time for more tea in the sun while reading, which I'm trying to do every afternoon. Or at least the sunny ones. I was going to a presentation on exercising at Saunders Medical Center that evening, which included a light supper. It was interesting enough and I got to take an extra boxed lunch from some of the empty seats from no shows. Nice.

I started the day Thursday with a recycling program at the lake, which is part of the NRD's education program. I enjoyed the extra boxed lunch while watching my favorite knitting YouTubers - The Grocery Girls - before heading back to the hospital for another mammogram and ultrasound at 2:30. The radiologist was there and still had some concerns so I have a needle biopsy scheduled for next week. Yet another medical appointment. Will it ever end?

After four days of medical appointments, I took Friday off. I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to untangle a skein of yarn my cats had gotten into, chatted with my sister Dottie, who I rarely talk to, and read for hours in the sun. It was a lovely, relaxing day, which I totally needed.

It was Estate Dispersal Store weekend and since I'd missed it last month, I decided to do a Fremont run without Andrea (that felt weird) because she was out of town. I picked up farm fresh eggs on the way out of town (turns out the man I had met at Casey's recently to buy eggs from lives 2 blocks from my house) then hit all the regular stops - Restore, Estate Dispersal, Goodwill, Aldi and HyVee. I bought a few things at each place, including some cheap meat for the freezer, and was home in time for more reading in the sun. I made egg roll in a bowl for supper, which I've been wanting for awhile. Yum!

Sunday was my regular chore day but I started it with a yummy breakfast of blueberry pancakes and bacon and a chat with my other sister. I took down all the rest of the Christmas stuff and so my house was back to normal, which always feels good. After laundry, dishes, neatizing and such, I made a chicken cottage pie and Brussels sprouts for supper. 

So, it was a busy week but I got all kinds of things checked off. Unfortunately I was not done with medical stuff but hopefully the biopsy (my first ever) will be the last for a long time. Wish me luck and enjoy the cute picture of Rosie. It's hard to get a good pic of a black cat. : )

Week 1 - Happy New Year

After fasting on Sunday, 600 calorie days on Monday and Tuesday felt like a feast! It felt good to be eating clean and healthy food to start the week off and since I'd be having a colonoscopy on Friday, I would totally be enjoying having friends over for tea on New Year's Day.

I used to do a big tea with all my knitting friends on New Year's but post-pandemic, it has evolved into just Andrea and Lori. That's much easier and so an enjoyable start the the year without any stress. There was lots of cleaning going on early in the week and then some baking (my mom's lemon squares) that morning to go with stollen and truffles. The sun was shining so we were good to drink tea, knit in the sun and chat.

But I had a mission for them. I had taken all my under-the-bed boxes of workhorse sock yarn out from under the spare bed when looking for the perfect color of yarn and they were still out. I put them all on my bed (5 boxes) and labeled 12 lunch bags with months. I asked if they'd be willing to choose 12 skeins of self-patterning yarn for each month and tape them shut. They were up for it and were laughing the whole time. They even came out to ask for paper and pen to put notes in the bags. So now I have 12 mystery bags for my reading/zoom socks for 2025. How fun is that!

It was a good thing Wednesday was fun and the food was yummy because Thursday was colonoscopy prep. I made jello but never ate it instead drinking black coffee and tea all day. I had to get up at 4:00 am on Friday to drink the 2nd half of the prep, which I mixed with tea instead of gatorade because it was SO sweet. I went for a blood draw on the way to my colonoscopy at 10:00. I was home by noon and happily had a fried bologna sandwich (a childhood favorite) for lunch. Delish! Then I took a nice nap and had a nice dinner. Done with that and 5 years until my next one.

I had planned to keep dieting before a Monday blood draw in Lincoln but they were supposed to get snow so I moved it to before my colonoscopy. This meant I could eat normally, which was a joy. I had a nice, relaxing weekend chatting with friends, knitting in the sun and doing a few chores. 

It's amazing how much you can appreciate normal after a week like this. I had 3 more doctor appointments next week but then hopefully will be all set for the rest of the year. Wish me luck.

Just One Word - 2025

It's time for a new year and a new word to focus on. As usual, I struggled on what to pick. Several sounded good until I checked back and I'd already used them. I spent some time with a thesaurus and asked friends for input and this is what I came up with:

This is my first full year of retirement and I had grand plans like go through my entire house, purging 25 years of stuff before the end of the 2024. Right. That wasn't doable. I did make a dent in things and donated 3 carloads of stuff to the Stuff for Strays sales but I still have a long way to go. My retirement plan also included starting to add in all kinds of things since my house would be done. These included starting an exercise plan, volunteering, selling on ebay, quilting, having a perfectly maintained yard and garden.... that kind of thing. On top of reading, knitting, thrifting, travel and all the other things I enjoyed while working. Now it's already halfway through January and I've yet to get going on most of that. Clearly I need to find my retirement groove.