Blueberry Picking

Sandy and I like blueberries. I went blueberry picking a few years ago with friends and we all had a great time. Last year Sandy and I went and we picked twenty-two pounds of them.

This year the season started a little early, on July 7th or so. We arrived on Sandy's day off and went to work. It was hot. You could hear people talking to each other and to their kids, all having a good time, telling jokes or just enjoying themselves.

Me in My Pickin' Hat

Hard at Work and Having Fun

Sandy picked faster than I did. I had taught her how to strip them off the highbushes and she took off at a fast pace. Her bucket was full of blueberries and I still had a ways to go. By the time both buckets were full . . .

To the Brim

. . . we had picked twenty-six pounds of blueberries. Our freezer is full of them.

On the way home, we stopped at a two-man jail in a small town called Gardner.

For No Good Reason

Ingenuity

Zoey and Jenna are friends. Occasionally, they stop by our house to talk or goof around or kill time. One day, Jenna declared that she loves the goose on our front porch.

 

Jenna had an idea.

Why not dress him up? Him? She gave him a name: Tom. After a little work on their part, this is what Tom looked like.

The next time we saw Zoey and Jenna they were in business. Nail Art. A woman across the street had encouraged them to paint fingernails for neighborhood women. I helped them come up with a flyer and later they came by to paint Sandy's nails.

Jenna at Work

The Finished Product

Catching Up

It's been over three months since the last post, so I'll catch up on what we've been doing, with more current events to follow in another post.

Sandy's roses looked beautiful and one day Zoey stopped by to pose with them.

Flowers & Ham

On another day, the little guys in the neighborhood discovered that a sprinkler could be used for more than just watering the lawn.

Learning

Practicing

When Sandy and I came home from some event one night, she opened the patio blinds and found a visitor staring at her.

An hour or so later, Sandy looked again. This little robin had not moved an inch. The next morning I prepared myself to find the little guy dead on the patio. But he wasn't. He had moved.

We think he was hatched in one of the three nests in our front yard and was in the process of becoming independent. We don't know where he is now, but it still cracks me up to see him staring at us from atop the chimnea. Fat little belly, male pattern baldness, head held in a Kennedyesque pose.

Settling In

As luck would have it, my pacemaker and my CPAP have nothing in common. Which means, I still have to use the CPAP to sleep well. I had thought the pacemaker would remedy this, but a few days after the pacemaker was implanted I found myself being very tired in the morning. Our good friend nurse Nancy of Woodbury advised me that having the pacemaker will not negate my need for the CPAP. It would have been nice not to need it, but I do.

Julie's shower in St. Paul was a success. Julie's future sister-in-law Tina did a great job of putting it all together and Julie was really happy with the results.

Sandy is feeling well, so life is going on as usual for us. We have only to think back on what we were doing last year at this time to appreciate how pleasant "life as usual" can be!

A New Lease

It's probably too early to be certain, but my pacemaker is providing me with energy I hadn't had in years. It was installed yesterday. My left shoulder is in pain. Otherwise, I feel very well. I'm anxious to go for a walk tomorrow to see how it feels. To me, it's like trying out a new heart.

Last night I didn't sleep real well, thanks to being in a hospital and to having my left arm in a sling harness to prevent extending the arm. Nevertheless, I did not have to struggle to breathe. I am hopeful that my heart rate increase from about 40-48 bpm to 60 bpm will negate my need for a breathing machine at night. Time will tell.

Even though I awoke at 3:30 this morning I have not been overtired today. I hope this continues!

Meanwhile, Sandy and I have our doctor appointments and are doing well. We're looking forward to Julie's wedding shower on the 24th and a dinner with family the night before. This summer promises to be far better than that of last year!

Just For Us?

This will be just for Sandy and me for the time being, it having been so long since the last entry. It has been a good run, all in all. On March 17th we saw Sandy's oncologist, Dr. Yamada. We learned that Sandy's CA-125 score is 9.3 (normal is anything under 35). That was good news!

In February, I went into the hospital because I'd had chest pains and shortness of breath while walking at my favorite trail, Perry Farm. We found nothing conclusive, but I did make an appointment with a cardiologist who'd given me an angiogram eleven years ago.

He gave me another one on March 25th, which concluded that I had an irregular heartbeat and no more than 20% blockage anywhere. I was told that blockage of 70% or greater would have required further action. The cardiologist recommended a treadmill stress test, which I took today. He determined from the test that the reason I have shortness of breath is because I have an extra heartbeat that disables the heart from filling with blood as it should. This denies blood supply from oxygenating body parts such as the lungs from providing needed oxygen when my heart rate increases during exercise (I apologize to any medically-trained readers for my ignorance regarding medical terms).

He will implant a pacemaker in me on April 14th. I expect that this will help my feeling less lethargic than I have been feeling and that I'll be able to push myself farther while riding my bike. I'd like to ride the Elroy-Sparta bike trail this summer with my good friend Ted.

The best news here has to be that my daughter Julie is getting married on October 16th in St. Paul, MN. Just to make it even better, she's marrying a really great guy whose name is Todd Bagby. I am very happy for and with both of them for having made such good choices.

Even if Julie were not my daughter, I'd say she's a great catch for any young bachelor. She's not only educated beyond all reason, but she has both work and life experiences that make her exceptional.

Todd is no less qualified for the working world, but he's also great with kids and gets along well with everyone else! What more could one ask for? He's a lawyer, as is Julie.

'Nuff said. As a long-distance parent, I could not be happier for them. And, frankly, for myself!

Scot, Heidi and the girls are in Wisconsin with Heidi's folks for Easter weekend. Julie and Todd are about to move to Richfield (Minneapolis suburb).

Happy Easter!

A Bittersweet Week

Today was a sad day. Our cat Smokey had been diagnosed with a number of health problems. He had some liver damage, an infection of unknown origin, an open sore on his left cheek, and . . . worst of all . . . diabetes. His glucose was very high. So today I took him to the vet and had him put to sleep. Sandy agreed that this had to be done but did not want to know when. I made an appointment on Monday and he was put down today, on Friday. I pampered him all week while telling Sandy nothing about the appointment until she came home from work this evening.

We'll miss him, and we guess that Bandit will miss him, too.

On Wednesday the 16th, Sandy and I drove to the University of Chicago Hospital to see her doctor. We got there about 20 minutes early and didn't see the doctor for another two and a half hours. It was a busy place that night.

The good news is that Sandy is still very much in remission. The CA-125 score that must be below 35 to be in a "no-cancer" range was nine. 9! Good news indeed.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!