This and That

Happy that it's Friday and Reece will have a 3 day break from school.

Went to the BMT clinic yesterday. My labs were pretty good, except for that pesky low red cell count. It's about the same. My doctor is going to give me the Epo shots once a month to help with my red cell production. My liver function is a little off, and he believes that may be what is causing the problem. Everything else was normal, though. I won't have to go back to the clinic for 3 weeks!

I watched the convention last night off and on while trying to put the littles to bed. Reece is having trouble going to sleep early and sleeping in his own bed all night. But we'll get there. The girls, Aubrey in particular, fight going to bed every night. They like the stories and the songs, but not going to sleep.

The speeches last night were really good, I thought. I do think we will have a different president soon, and I'm glad of that.

I made apricot glazed pork roast for dinner on Wednesday. We liked the sauce. Next time I think I'll make it in the crock pot, then shred the meat and mix it with the sauce. This time we spooned the sauce over the sliced pork. You can also make this recipe with chicken. The recipe is here.

Not sure what else the weekend holds, but we plan to have a cookout on Monday, and to celebrate Mom's 86th birthday. I asked her what she wants for her birthday, and she said she doesn't want a thing. But I'm sure we can come up with something. :o) Her birthday is Sept. 5, but we will have the celebration on the 3rd.

Time to get to work around here. Have a great Friday!

Jacob's Fish Tale

Our son Jason posted this on his Google+ page about our grandson, Jacob.

Jacob brought home a worksheet they did at school. They were told to write a story about the picture. I think Jacob drew on his experience fishing off the pier in Rockport when writing his (and for his drawing on the back of the sheet).

(Incidentally, the ocean sunrise on my Google+ profile page is a picture of that pier.)

I love the story, but I especially love the drawing of the fishermen on the long, long pier. :o)

Great job, Jake! I love you!

Monday Chatter

Little buddy (Reece) did fine at school today, although he didn't have much to say about it. He went outside with his sisters to play as soon as he got home.

I get up to spend time with him before school, so I was up early this morning. After he left I made the banana bread I had planned to make last night. Josh and Cyrise had a couple of things to pick up at the store last night, so they got some baking powder for me. The bread turned out yummy.

Ron was home this morning. We had a pipe leaking at the side of the house, and he had called a plumber to come fix it. Roots from the hedges had pushed the underground pipe up, causing it to break and leak. The plumber replaced it with a pipe that won't break.

Ron went on in to work, and stopped at Mom's on the way. I sent her lots of leftovers and a big hunk of banana bread.

Praying that Isaac doesn't do too much damage in New Orleans (or anywhere else).

School Tomorrow

Reece will go to school tomorrow. :o(

He looks so cute. He got a haircut today. He doesn't want to talk about going to school.

He and the girls found the carcass of a huge moth this evening. They were all fascinated. I'd like to have seen that thing alive!

I went to Gran's by myself today; he didn't want to go. He was having too much fun playing with his Papa.

Teddy had rubbed poop into Gran's carpet. Sometimes I'd like to strangle that dog. So I cleaned that up, then cleaned up a mess in her freezer. She had put a can of soda in there to get cold and forgot about it. It exploded. Everywhere.

I took her some of the catfish, rice and corn we had for dinner last night. She exclaimed over and over again about how good the fish was. She hasn't had fish in awhile; I'm glad she liked it.

I made homemade baked ziti, broccoli and Texas garlic/cheese toast for dinner. It smelled so good baking, and everyone really liked it. There is plenty left to take to Gran tomorrow.

A couple of days ago I made chicken cordon bleu casserole, and that was a big hit, too. But I think they liked the ziti better.

I was going to make banana bread this evening, to use up some of the bananas that are getting ripe, but we are out of baking powder. Guess I'll wait and make it tomorrow. One of the little girls pulled all the bananas off the stalk, though, so they are ripening even faster. Maybe I should put them in the freezer.

Later....

Reece and the girls went to sleep pretty quickly tonight. Reece is used to staying up later, and I'm glad he went to sleep so easily. He has to get up at 6:30 AM!

August Weekend

My new couch was delivered this afternoon. Everyone is happy with it, and it looks nice with the rug and hardwood floor in the family room.

Ron and the kids were in the pool this afternoon when a hard shower went through. There was no thunder or lightning, so they stayed in and thought it was the most fun thing ever. I tried to get some pictures of the rain. You can see it pretty good slanting against the grass in the picture of Ron.

Jason posted on his Google account that he and his two youngest kids went hiking today, and they also got caught in a downpour. Like Josh's kids, Jason's kids also thought it was fun and exciting. You can tell we Texans haven't see much rain around here lately. It causes all kinds of excitement.

I fried catfish and talapia for dinner and served it with rice and corn. Starch city, but it was good. :o) Reece loved the catfish. Well, they all liked it, but he liked it more than the girls did.

Please pray for my cousin, Jewell, who is having some health problems. Thank you!

Hope you're having a good weekend!

Wednesday with Kelly

I'm finally getting settled after a rather hectic day.

I got up early this morning. Last nights dirty dishes were still on the counter, so I cleaned the kitchen, put on a pot of beans to soak and made myself some toast for breakfast. I brought my tea and toast back upstairs and got online for a bit, but got really sleepy. Reece was still asleep, so I snuggled up with him and went back to sleep for a couple of hours.

Ron went to Gran's for me today, and I met Kelly at La Mad for lunch at 1 PM. Then we went to Michaels, where she bought some jewelry findings and I bought some little metal bird stickers for $2. (Big spender). :o)

I've been looking for a new sofa or sectional for the family room, so we went to Stowers to see what they had. I bought a sofa; I'm excited! It will be delivered Saturday. I'm glad Kelly was with me to give me her input.

Came home and watched the kids in the pool for awhile. Cyrise had cooked the fifteen bean soup and made rice and cornbread. Dinner was yummy!

I read to the little girls and put them to bed, then Ron, Reece and I went to the grocery store. I found some new recipes online that I want to try, so we got all the ingredients for them. When we got home, Aubrey was up. :o\ Then she wanted to help put the groceries away.

So it's been a long, busy day. I'm so glad I feel energetic enough to be on the go and doing things. It's wonderful to feel "normal."

Running Away

Yesterday I ran away for a couple of hours. Do you ever do that? Sometimes I feel so restless that I have to get away. I just got in the truck and drove. I drove north up Hwy. 281 because I was longing to see the hills. I drove all the way to Johnson City, then turned around and drove back, listening to KNBT all the way. It was nice and I felt a bit refreshed by the time I got home around 8:30 PM.

Sometimes when I run away I go northeast, to Gruene, New Braunfels, Canyon Lake, San Marcos or Austin. If I go northwest I can see the little towns along 281, or go up I-10 to Comfort or Fredericksburg. A little further west will take me to Concan, Leaky and the Frio River area. Straight west is the way to Castroville, settled by the Alsatians in the 1800s. You can see all kinds of church spires as you come down the hill from the west into Castroville. Rockport, Corpus Christi, and North Padre Island are a couple of hours south. A few hours more will take me to Harlingen and South Padre.

And that's just a few of the places you can run away to around here. I'd like to visit the piney woods of northeast Texas, and the Big Bend in west Texas, too. And Marfa. I want to see the mysterious Marfa lights. But those places are more than a couple of hours away.

(Photo from Wikipedia. That's one of the views I saw).

Seven

I can't believe how quickly time passes. Tomorrow is Friday, and it seems like it was just Monday. I guess having so many appointments this week made it seem to pass more quickly than usual.

1) I saw my radiation oncologist on Wednesday, just a follow-up visit. He was pleased with my progress. He will be leaving the Army in a few months, and I won't see him again. So when I left I gave him a big hug for making it possible for me to walk and not have to spend the rest of my days in a wheelchair. He gave the glory to God. I love that in a doctor. :o)

2) Today I was at the BMT clinic for a few hours. My labs were pretty good. HGB is still low and Dr. O is determined to find out why. I got some kind of shot in my tummy to help make red blood cells grow. (Forgot the name of it). I hope it works.

I was hoping to see Dr. B today, but he wasn't around. I have to go back in two weeks, so I'll probably see him then.

3)I had to stop for gas on the way home, so I stopped at Costco. It cost me $80 to fill up the truck! Then I went into the store to look around and bought some groceries. We had quiche lorraine and spinach and artichoke quiche, broccoli, and rosemary bread for dinner. I also got peaches, strawberries and raspberries. Costco always has such pretty fruit.

4) School starts here August 27, so Reece and Aubrey have a bit more than a week of summer vacation left. They are looking forward to going to school. Their parents have been shopping for supplies and clothes.

I plan to take the volunteer class so that I can help at school, or go on field trips with them this year.

5) Reece and I are sitting on the patio. It's still pretty warm, but there is a breeze blowing. Josh and Cyrise got me a bamboo wind chime the last time they were in Rockport, and I love the sound of it. I was listening to Alison Krauss on Pandora until Reece came out. Now he is playing Angry Birds on his Kindle. His favorite game lately has been Ice Age Village. He likes building his own village. :o)

6) Looking forward to Friday, with no appointments to keep. (I do need to go back over to the hospital to pick up some prescriptions. I walked out of there today and totally forgot about them).

7) Please pray for the soul of my email friend, Mike Klemko, who passed away yesterday. His daughter emailed me to let me know last night (her comment is on the last post). Mike also had mantle cell lymphoma. He was a kind and courageous man. Thank you for your prayers for him.

(Photo of peaches from Costco.com).

Monday With Mom

Ron got home on Friday, and we are all very happy to have him home again.

The weekend was okay, nothing special. I am pleased with Mitt Romney's choice for VP. I like Paul Ryan--he's pro-life, smart and Catholic. :o)

Mom had a doctor appointment today at 2 PM and I spent most of the day with her. I went over to her apartment at noon. I'd tried to call her to remind her about the appointment, to give her time to shower and get ready, but she didn't answer the phone. She didn't answer the door when I got there either, and I was beginning to panic. Turns out she was out on the patio with her dog. She showered and got dressed and we dried and curled her hair. She looked cute.

Her former primary care physician stopped taking Mom's insurance, so the insurance company sent us a recommendation for a new one. Mom liked him, so we will continue to see him. He thought she was in good health for her age. We'll see him again next month, after she has some lab work done, and a chest x-ray. We were there until nearly 4 PM, and I kept having to run down and feed the parking meter.

Neither of us had eaten lunch, so we were very hungry by the time we left the doctor's office. We stopped at the Cracker Barrel not far from Mom's apartment complex. That took awhile, too, but it was good. I took Mom home and got her settled, then drove home in rush hour traffic. It was around 6 PM when I got home, and I was tired.

I have two appointments this week, one on Wednesday with my oncology radiologist and one on Thursday at the BMT clinic. It sure gets old, but they do take good care of me.

Reece, Gran, Ice Age

Reece, on the way to Gran's yesterday: "Gramma, look at the clouds. They're all tangled up."

He went with me again today. I've been planning to take him to see the newest Ice Age movie, and decided that today was the day. So we went to the movies this afternoon. A sweet tea and nachos for me, Dr. Pepper and a hot dog for him, and some AirHeads (which he didn't really like). We sat through tons of previews before the movie finally started. He liked Ice Age very much, and wanted to know if we could get some ice age toys. So we went to Toys R Us afterwards, and got some of the little characters. He and the girls played with them for the rest of the day. They each got a toy, too.

I baked a frozen lasagna for Mom today, and served it to her with mixed peas and carrots. She really enjoyed it. I think she like the veggies best of all.

Teddy had shredded her best fitted sheet by digging at it (on both sides of the bed), so I threw it away, leaving her with only one set of flannel sheets that don't fit well. Today I took several sets of sheets from our house. She has a full size bed, and we don't have a bed that size any more. I'm so glad for someone to be able to use the sheets that have been taking up room in the linen cabinet for so long.

Uh oh. I turned my phone down when we were in the movie theater, and I just saw that I've missed two calls from Ron this evening. I tried calling him back, but he must be asleep already. I always forget to turn the ringer back up when I've turned it down. :o(

Going to bed now. I couldn't sleep last night, got up at 2 AM and watched a little bit of the Olympics and a movie. So I'm pretty tired and ready for sleep. G'night.

Weekend Roundup

Reece and I went to Gruene yesterday.

I didn't take him with me to Gran's, and he was disappointed, so I thought we would do something else when I got home. First we went to Garden Ridge to look for some more of the patio lights I bought there, but they didn't have any more. Then we stopped at WalMart for t-paper and wipes. He got some Ice Age gummy candy, too.

I was hungry since I hadn't had lunch, and asked him what he would like to eat. Of course he said McDonald's, so that's where we stopped. He didn't eat any of his cheeseburger, though.

Then we drove to Gruene. It was awfully hot, and I didn't know if he would think it was fun, but he did.

First we went to the General Store and got him a couple of little toys. Then we got an ice cream cone at the soda fountain. We sat on a bench outside the antique store while we finished our ice cream, then explored the antique store. He loved looking around in there.

We walked over to Gruene Hall, where I took him to the restroom. There was a band playing, people dancing and the place was packed. Reece didn't like it there at all. I was hoping we could sit and listen to the music and watch the dancing for awhile, but he said it was "too loud." He has some sensory issues where sound is concerned, so I didn't want to make him stay there when he was so obviously miserable.

The band was wonderful. The female singer was singing Patsy Cline songs, and she was very, very good. The band was called the Hot Texas Swing Band, and some of the members were formerly with George Strait's Ace in the Hole Band, and with Rotel and the Hot Tomatoes.

When we got home, Reece said to me, "Gramma, thank you for taking me some place today." He is so sweet! He's a perfect road trip companion. :o)

This afternoon I met Kelly at the Kona Grill at La Cantera for her birthday lunch and shopping. She wanted to go to a movie, but there was nothing on that she wanted to see, so we shopped instead. It was lots of fun being with her. I got her a couple of pretty plates and a cute little set of ceramic measuring spoons at Anthropologie, and a pair of slippers that you wear to dust floors at Sur La Table. Our time together was too short.

I stopped at Milbergers on the way home and got a pot of basil, a decorative sweet potato vine and another plant that is dark green with pink sprinkles all over the leaves (forgot the name). I'll plant the last two in a pot together. I think the light green vine will look pretty with the dark green and pink leaves of the mystery plant.

While I was at the nursery a "cold" front came through, with lots of wind and a few sprinkles of rain. It cooled things off a little bit, but we're still supposed to be in the high nineties, low one hundreds next week. We really need some rain!

So, it's been a pleasant weekend. Hope yours has been nice, too!

Five On Friday

1) I was at the BMT clinic yesterday for labs. All is well. My HGB is still a bit low, but not low enough for a transfusion. It was the same as last week. My doc is very pleased with how things are going, and I don't have to go back for 2 weeks. He took me off the prednisone. I'm happy about that! I still have some gvh, and may always have it, so I'm still on tacrolimus.

2) I stopped at the thrift store today on the way home from Mom's. I bought some salad plates that match my old Pfaltzgraff dishes that we use every day, and some dessert plates and a platter that match Kelly's winterberry Christmas dishes.

3) I got the little girls a bunch of summer dresses, all for 30% off, and some of them were 50% off because they had blue tags today. They are all good brands and look nearly new. Love a bargain! This particular thrift store supports the Medina Children's Home, so I like shopping and donating there.

4) Ron is still gone, and won't be home until the end of next week. We're all missing him.

5) The kids and I are watching Ice Age (the first one) while their parents are out with friends. I'm allowing the girls (except for Gina) stay up past their bedtime to see the movie. Reece has been playing Ice Age Village on the Kindle Fire, and now he wants all the characters. :o) He especially likes Sid the sloth.

Hope all of you have a good weekend.

Happy Birthday, Kelly!

I hope you are having a wonderful birthday.

I pray that God will continue to bless you always.

I'm looking forward to celebrating with you this weekend!

I love you!
Mom

Chick-fil-A for Lunch

Reece and Aubrey went with me to Gran's today, and we stopped at Chick-fil-A on the way home to pick up lunch.

Adrienne, that's the chicken sandwich I ate for you on the table. :o)

The line for the drive-thru was all the way out into the street, the parking lot was full, and people were parking in the TGIFriday parking lot next door! TGIFriday went out of business, so their parking lot was available. It was amazing, and made me feel good that so many people came out to support traditional marriage and Chick-fil-A. I bet it was like this all over the country. Hurray!

And lunch was delicious. :o)


(That's a Wendy's cup in front of Reece. His daddy had Wendy's for lunch and one of the kids always seems to wind up with the rest of his soda).