Tuesday, March 25, 2025, WI, MN

 Monday was another nonstop, whirlwind kind of day.  Dawn and I walked over to Sunrise Restaurant and met with Mary, Lori, and Erin. Jonnie was not feeling good, so she didn’t join us.  We ended up sitting there for 2.5 hours talking, laughing, and reminiscing.  

When we got back home, we took Joey for a walk and then had about 10 minutes to rest before we left for a tour of some apartments at Greenspire.  I know, I haven’t mentioned this much but I have decided to move back to Stoughton and this is one of the subsidized options there.  Every apartment was remodeled last summer and cabinets, appliances, bathrooms, heating & AC, patios or balconies were all completely redone.  It is a complex of about 80 units in ten two-story buildings.  The grounds are nice with mature trees and it is location in a residential area.  After seeing the options, I am thinking a 2nd floor unit with balcony would be preferred. So…I am looking at a possible move in July or August, depending on availability of units.  

The hardest part about this will be moving away from Ben and his family, as I have been closely involved with them for the last 13+ years.  My thinking on this is that when I do come to his house for a visit, it will be more hands on quality time spent with the family - rather than the little snippets of time we have together now.  I feel that I am ready for small town living again, will welcome the quiet that comes with that, and I don’t feel I will ever lack for an active social life.  

Dawn and I went to The Feiring, a new restaurant in town and had a cocktail and a serving of bruschetta that were both yummy. Then we walked over to Fahrenheit 361 and she had a glass of wine and I abstained since I was feeling pretty chipper after the jalapeño margarita that I had at the previous place.  I dropped her off and then went to hang out with Pat and Tracey for about an hour before saying our goodbyes.  The days have been really busy and full and I have slept so good every night - including an 8-hour window of sleep one night - that just doesn’t happen for me very often.

This morning I was packed up and ready to hit the road by 9:30 and I made it home by 3:00 with a short stop at Randy’s house in St Paul to drop off a care package from Dawn. It feels real good to be back home and I enjoyed a nice, hot bath and walk to the park.

Sunday, March 23, 2025, MN, WI

Fifty-seven years ago today, Mike and I got married in San Bernardino, CA - a day that started our life together, raising our two sons, having lots of adventures, and becoming the best of friends.  It’s so sad that only 45 of them were spent together.  I miss him. 

 I cleaned house for Cassie and Tommy and made an easy $100 that is always good for the pocket.  After I got home, I walked Joey and while walking, I got a call from Judy asking if I was coming to art class. Oops! So after getting ready for my next appointment, I headed to class and we made a mosaic painting that turned out really cute.  After class, I went to my bone density test appointment and was ready to veg out at home when I got back home.

I packed up and was on the road and heading to Stoughton by about 9:15.  The drive was easy, road conditions were great, and the trip went fine.  I saw huge flicks of pelicans along the Mississippi River and several Herons in the sky too.  Traffic was quite heavy after hitting Wisconsin Dells.  I visited with Dawn for a while and then went to see Pat and Tracey - it was great to get hugs again from them.  We had Reuben sandwiches for dinner and then I headed back to Dawn’s house.

Friday was a whirlwind, starting with coffee, a nice walk, and breakfast with Dawn.  I then went to visit Judy, who stopped dialysis treatments last October and is still doing fairly well, although I do feel that this might be the last time I see her.  We had a very nice visit, reminisced about a lot of things, and then we hugged and said ‘see you later’.  And I cried when I got to my car.

My next stop was to see Susan and Joey and Rocky finally met - they came quick friends and got along fine, although they didn’t play together.  We had a nice visit, always finding lots to talk about.  We have been good friends for a long, long time.

Pat and Tracey and I ordered pizza for dinner and watched “A Million Ways to Die in the West” a fun parody of the old west that brought lots of laughs.

I spent most of the day today with Pat and Tracey, helping Tracey clear out her closet (she still has difficulty getting her hangers hung) and part of that is because she has way too many clothes in there - not much room to hang more.  I also helped her with her laundry and then made a pasta, meatball, cheese and marinara hot dish for dinner that turned out to be yummy.  I will definitely make that again. 

Wednesday, March 19, 2025, MN

 Wow!  I’m just sitting here next to the window having my coffee this morning when I see cop pull a blue pickup truck over.  He goes to the truck and is there for about five minutes when another cop pulls up behind him and goes to the truck.  As they are taking the woman from the truck, three more officers pull up behind (one is unmarked) and another unmarked car pulls up in front with lights flashing.  There doesn’t appear to be any scuffle, I can see the woman surrounded by cops and they start to search the truck with big bright lights, then they take photos from many different angles and put the woman in the cop car.  It will be interesting to see what the news has to say about this one.  

Tuesday, March 18, 2025, MN

 My big news today is that I DO NOT need surgery for the compressed disks in my spine - the Neurologist feels that it is not severe enough to warrant surgery and has referred me to a physical therapy consultation to determine if I can relieve some of the discomfort that I have been experiencing (numbness and pressure on my left side). I am relieved and willing to do what is necessary to feel better.  

Ben and Jill invited me and Lois & Dennis to dinner on Sunday he made a yummy Vietnamese dish called Bun Cha - grilled pork meat balls that were served on a bed of rice noodles, cucumbers, cilantro, and mint and a yummy sauce over the top.  I made a strawberry crumble for dessert and Lois brought Oatmeal Raisin cookies. It was great to hang out with them all. 

This morning, I put potatoes, carrots, onions and corned beef in the crock pot and had it simmering all day long.  There wasn’t room in the crock pot for cabbage, so I tried roasting the slices in the oven with salt, pepper, lemon juice, and bacon crumbles - yummy! I met with my Stampin Up group and then headed out to my doctor appointment.  Sherry from Building II joined me and Deb came by and had a beer with us.  It was a nice evening hanging out with the girls.

Thursday, March 13, 2025, MN

 Well, another serious health possibility has been ruled out today when I had an ultrasound of the Carotid arteries to determine if there was blockage that might have caused the strange ‘unable to speak’ symptom that I had a couple of weeks ago during an episode.  The ultrasound showed less that 50% stenosis of the arteries, so they are not blocked and are functioning well.  This leads me to believe that the episodes that I have been having are all related to the compressed disks in my upper spine. They continue, have changed over the last six weeks and are now just mostly brief warm, numbing pressure sensations that are mostly concentrated from my left shoulder to ear that happen periodically throughout the day.

I also had my annual physical on Monday and she was in agreement that the symptoms could be caused by the compression of the disks and that any slight movement could cause discomfort.  She has ordered the usual mammogram (I had that on Wednesday and there are no issues there) and a bone density and a meeting with a pharmacist to review my meds and supplements.  To complete my medical stuff for the year, I will still need to see the dentist and have a vision check.  

Cathy asked me to do her taxes for her and I agreed but just have to wait for the Certificate of Rent paid from our landlord (they were due to us on January 28 and MN gives refunds to renters, so even if you don’t have to file income taxes, you can file for the renters refund).

I made a big pot of 15 Bean and Ham soup today, had a bowl for dinner, and gave a bowl to Cathy, and will take some to Ben and his family today when I clean.  That still left me with at least two more meals - yummy!

Saturday, March 8, 2025, MN

 I had my annual physical on Monday and that all worked out just fine.  Her opinion regarding the episodes that I’m having was that it could all be related to the compressed disk and any slight movement could cause that to happen.  She did order an electrolyte panel blood test to determine if my heart medicines were all still ok and I heard back that no changes should be made.  She also suggested that I meet with a pharmacy specialist to review my current meds, a mammogram and a bone density test.  Guess I have a few more appointments coming up in the near future.

We had a big winter storm all through the night on Tuesday and Wednesday and it dumped about a foot of heavy wet snow on us.  I heard from Mary, the Food Truck coordinator on Tuesday night that she would let me know on Wednesday morning if the delivery would be made.  Several volunteers gathered in the community room and waited at least an hour but the truck never showed and I never got a call, nor were my calls returned.  They made the delivery on Friday instead.

Lois invited me to go to the Spring Junkarama event in Shakopee with her and it was fun to look around, bringing back lots of memories of antiques and stuff that I have owned in the past.  My only purchases were a bottle of local Maple Syrup that was already on my grocery list and an interesting little fern plant.  Lois bought a plant stand for her porch.  It was fun!

I’ve been working on a 1,000 piece ‘Puzzle Twist’ puzzle of the Minnesota State Fair this week and managed to finish it in four days.  What a challenge! The puzzle itself turns out to be different from the picture on the outside of the box - items can be arranged differently, can be different colors, and there are also a few added items.  The top photo is the box and the bottom one is the finished puzzle with a few of the differences circled.  

   

Monday, March 3, 2025, MN

 Last week was quite the week.  The deal for the Camry fell through, as George was not willing to negotiate with splitting the cost to replace the starter and I was not comfortable paying his full asking price plus that expense, so I backed out.  Not a problem, as my RAV4 is still in great shape and will get me where I’m going for a long, long time. Beverly felt bad and was afraid that it would jeopardize our friendship - no way!

I had spent the last 10 days or so with very few of the tingling, numbing effects that I had been having and I was feeling so good on Wednesday that I made a pot of Cream of Potato soup, a salad, and drop biscuits and took them over to share with Ben’s family.  Everyone loved the soup and it is always a compliment when you are asked to share a recipe.  We had a nice visit.

Unfortunately, the weird symptoms came back early the next morning and have continued to repeat every hour to hour and a half with an occasional break of several hours.  I have sent an email to the neurologist’s nurse and hope that I get a response before too long.  I was able to get a decent night of sleep last night, had a few episodes but did not record them and was able to go back to sleep.  My annual physical is today.

Cathy invited me for dinner on Saturday night and she made a delicious chicken chow mein.  I whipped up a batch of chocolate chip cookies to share and also took them to the swim meet yesterday.

I went to the girls’ swim meet yesterday and they are all doing so well.  They each swam in four events and most of their previous times were improved upon.  Charlotte took a first place in the 50 Yard Fly.  She also swam her second 500 yard freestyle event and said that she really likes the endurance of that one.  Norah and Camille each had a second place event too.