Ray's House of Love Vol III

sassandgroove · Aug 5, 2015

I haven't read much because I still fall asleep when I try. Hopefully when I'm more recovered I can. I've been watching the show Stargate the last several days. And I've been crocheting.

Juniper I pray for a good and speedy recovery.

Komnena · Aug 5, 2015

Stargate was a good show.

Maryn · Aug 6, 2015

The end is in sight. I have one more load of vacation laundry to do, and today the plan is to re-pack the plastic tubs with beach and vacation rental stuff, clean and folded for next year or whenever we next go. I figure I'll hold out two beach towels in case we have a hot day here, but Mr. Maryn seems to have had enough beach for the season, so we shall see.

I got the Windows 10 download on this computer, and it seemed fine at first. Now I'm having minor problems with items in the quicklaunch not working. Luckily, word processing and internet browsers are not among the duds, but it's frustrating not to be able to use the damned calculator or file explorer.

Maryn, tough audience

Trevor Bruhn · Aug 8, 2015

I got W 10 around the same time, M, and the only change Ive seen is the cards in the solitaire deck.

Maryn · Aug 9, 2015

Yeah, so far I'm underwhelmed. It takes a full 15 seconds to wake up the computer now, sometimes 20, which doesn't seem like long but is, compared to Windows 7. I still have four dead icons and three live ones in quicklaunch, and I can't even figure out a fast back-alley way to get to two of them. (Come on, Windows, I need my calculator right there, since I can no longer add and subtract!) Over in the taskbar I have a New Notification, probably from Microsoft, but I can't open it.

It's frustrating. I'm not sure I'm going to upgrade the desktop when its turn comes around. I might wait until it's less buggy.

Maryn, whose knee is being mean to her

sassandgroove · Aug 10, 2015

I don't think my little netbook could even handle W 10. It runs slow now. I can't use two programs at the same time.
So I'm back at work today. I'm anxious but it will probably be fine. I have an understanding boss and there are couches. I can nap at lunch if need be. Wish me luck.

Maryn · Aug 10, 2015

As we like to say in Purgatory, You can do eet! Especially if you get to rest as needed. Remember that workplaces do not give extra pay or medals for toughing it out when you're in pain. That's nature's way of saying go home, or at least lie down for an hour.

We're expecting a thunderstorm later today. It makes me glad I pulled weeds twice last week, so they're not there to flourish with watering. (But what about all the ones whose roots broke off underground?)

Yesterday I sewed some, and to my amazement, all my ongoing projects are completed. This never happens. Now I have to decide what's next. I have so much fabric my options are limitless.

Maryn, who buys way faster than she sews

sassandgroove · Aug 10, 2015

oh I need a break. My friend wants to see me at lunch so there goes a nap option. but boss has meetings so is not here. I've managed to read all my email and make a list of things that need or may need responding to. Now to tackle that. In few minutes. after some more tea.

I've started crocheting again, that last week or so. I hadn't felt like doing anything for a long time. I also looked at my WIP on Saturday to see where I am and figure out where to go. Still working on that part. but still, progress.

now, tea.

Maryn · Aug 10, 2015

Tea and progress--a winning combination!

Maryn, who all of a sudden wants tea--and progress, damn it

sassandgroove · Aug 12, 2015

I've made it through three days of work relatively unscathed. I'm tired but it's not a bad, omigodiminpain tired, just regular tired.

Wye Pen · Aug 13, 2015

Good you are back to normal sassy.

------------------------------------

Maryn you're walking on the water I mean writing

------------------------------------------------
It's all over the news guys or just google "Universe" Scientists are gone off at tangents

Maryn · Aug 13, 2015

I may be low or no profile for a bit. Medical thing today, funeral trip tomorrow through Sunday.

And they wonder why I write so slowly, eh?

Maryn, a book a year at best

sassandgroove · Aug 13, 2015

better than me.
hope your medical thing goes well.

jywile, thanks. I'm not back to normal yet, but I am better.

Maryn · Aug 13, 2015

Medical thingy is over, all is well. Now I get to start thinking about what to pack. Why this is such a stressor I don't know. It's not a long trip and little will be expected of me, but no-o-o, I must be prepared for anything!

juniper · Aug 14, 2015

sassandgroove said:
I've started crocheting again, that last week or so.

Thanks for your offer of a crochet gift, through PM. Oops! Cat out of bag - now everyone will want a present from you!

sassandgroove said:
I've made it through three days of work relatively unscathed. I'm tired but it's not a bad, omigodiminpain tired, just regular tired.

I'm glad you're getting back into the swing of things. Healing is a wonderful thing.

Maryn said:
Now I get to start thinking about what to pack. Why this is such a stressor I don't know. It's not a long trip and little will be expected of me, but no-o-o, I must be prepared for anything!

A few years ago I put together an Excel spreadsheet as a travel guide. It migrated over into a Word doc at some point and I update it occasionally, when something new pops into my head.

It's probably way too much for the average person to think about, but I find it calms my mind when I'm packing just to skim it and say, "Yep, need that" and go get right then. Or, "Nope, don't need" and skip it, but know that I considered it.

It's also got lists of things to do the week before travel, 2 days before, etc.

More and more I've found that if I don't have something written down, it's not going to happen. Or a lot of "need to remember" doesn't have to be on paper - Maryn, you finally convinced me a while back to use Evernote and it is a miraculous app. Love it.

~~~
So, I'm still hanging out, recovering from surgery on Aug 4. Released from hospital on Aug 9. Good news is I feel good most of the time. A little tired, but I went into work yesterday to chat with my boss about various stuff and people told me they were surprised to see me looking so well. That was a nice feeling.

Bad news is I will be starting chemo in mid-September. Could have been earlier, but I asked the oncologist (one who did my surgery) if I would feel well enough to attend a concert I've had tickets for since December. He said, "Well, depends on the concert."

I said "Foo Fighters" and the 2 other docs in the room nodded and murmured, and he said, "Go to the concert, make it a last hurrah weekend, and we'll start chemo after that." I really like him. He'll be controlling all of my treatment and I think I have faith in him.

Other bad news is the cancer I have is quite rare and there's not a chemo regimen designed for it, so it will be a bit of trial-and-error to find the proper chemo cocktail.

I'm hoping to get in a couple weeks of work before chemo starts, and then work part time after that. I'll probably have to be moved out of the Emergency Department and into a less-infectious area, but my boss seems really willing to work with me on that. So, things are going as well as can be expected.

I just have to figure out all the paperwork the HR dept is sending me about FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) and disability pay and blah blah blah. And it all has to be back to them, some signed by the doctor, by Aug 21 or it gets canceled and have to start over. Yuck.

Tomorrow I'm going out to a cancer benefit picnic on a farm about an hour away. Supposed to a nice weather day. Won't stay long, but the farm is a place I'd like to see. It's the Roloff Family Farm, made famous on tv by the show "Little People, Big World" about a family with dwarfism among three of them. I hate to admit it, but I watched the show when it first came out in 2006 and I was living in California and we were thinking about where to move ... the farm countryside I saw on that show was a factor in bringing us up here to Oregon. Yeah cheesy, but wow, Oregon really is beautiful.

sassandgroove · Aug 15, 2015

I made it through the work week and I drove yesterday and today, just a bit but I did! Took the little black dog for her check up. But I'm wiped today. Took a three hour nap, in the living room, while hubby was joking around with his best friend.

Juniper I put off my surgery for Def Leppard so I understand. I hope and pray you recover fully. If you want a gift let me know. Your master travel list sounds like a good idea. I forgot my cpap when I went to the hospital - hubby had to go home to get it.

Maryn · Aug 16, 2015

I completely understand delaying surgery or chemo a little while when you have an expensive or important commitment you cannot change. Last January I attended a funeral for Aunt Ruby and Uncle John, who died without hours of one another in December--but their daughter had cruise tickets for over New Year's, paid for and non-refundable. As Mr. Maryn and I said, they'll still be dead in January when their daughter gets back.

We are back from yet another trip for a family funeral. Aunt Lucile was 100 years old, the final eight years with worsening dementia, so it was not an especially sad occasion. The family was glad to see relatives from so far away. Mr. Maryn and his brother were the only men wearing jackets and ties, other than funeral home employees. Lucile's grandson wore his uniform form the plumbing business his grandfather started, with "Dave" stitched over the pocket, and a camo baseball cap. I imagine we seemed ridiculously dressed up. Or really sophisticated. Something. But it's family, everyone accepting everyone else. I was glad we went, as Lucile was a big part of Mr. Maryn's childhood and was wonderfully kind to me when we married.

But I hope not to ride in the car again for a while.

juniper · Aug 17, 2015

A weird little scenario played out in my head the other day. There's a WIP, a mystery novel I never finished because I got stuck in the middle. Couldn't figure who I wanted to be the killer! Had 3-4 viable options that would take the story in a different direction - but I just stopped.

So a couple of days ago this thought popped in: "I can finish it now, because it doesn't matter so much."

I think I had this grand idea of writing the perfect mystery novel that would become a huge success and spark a long-running series ... now that seems highly unlikely, and I'm ok with it. So I can just write the story.

Pretty much overnight, I've mellowed so much since my cancer diagnosis.

Maryn · Aug 18, 2015

Isn't it odd and interesting how something like that alters your outlook? Among my changes was that the snoring which used to infuriate me, as if Mr. Maryn were doing it on purpose, no longer bothers me. (Unless you think he's doing it on purpose!)

I am in awe of anyone who writes a mystery without knowing ahead of time who did it and planting clues all along the way. I simply could not do it any other way.

So, you want to report your word counts here, just to be accountable to some nice people? We promise we will not come to your home with pitchforks if we deem your progress insufficient. Unless you need your compost pile turned or something.

We went to a baseball game last night and it was uncommonly lovely. The food was okay, the beer went down really well and seemed to offset the headache I'd arrived with, the night was quite warm but not hot, we had great seats that cost nothing compared to the major league prices, and nobody sat anywhere near us, so we could sprawl a little. Plus our team won.

In other news, I am now sick. I suppose attending the funeral exposed me to an unfamiliar germ pool, and something got to me. I'm not laid up in bed, just scratchy throated and headachey. And very hard to please. Mr. Maryn says.

I think it may be a day to read a junky novel. I got one at a thrift store not long ago.

Maryn, sounding funny when she talks

juniper · Aug 18, 2015

Maryn said:
Isn't it odd and interesting how something like that alters your outlook? Among my changes was that the snoring which used to infuriate me, as if Mr. Maryn were doing it on purpose, no longer bothers me. (Unless you think he's doing it on purpose!)

my hubs snores really loudly. He has sleep apnea too, but refuses to wear the c-pap he's supposed to. I know it's a pain but it worries me that he won't do it. I've been thinking double twin beds, like in the Dick Van Dyke show, might be the way to go for us. Give me some room away from the snoring, but keep him close. He's actually been sleeping in the guest room for a few months, but I'd rather him be in bedroom with me. :e2cry:

Maryn said:
I am in awe of anyone who writes a mystery without knowing ahead of time who did it and planting clues all along the way. I simply could not do it any other way.

So, you want to report your word counts here, just to be accountable to some nice people? We promise we will not come to your home with pitchforks if we deem your progress insufficient. Unless you need your compost pile turned or something.

i think I should outline out the rest of it, really. It was a NaNoWriMo project so seat of pants for first 50k. But then - stuck. I need to read it through from beginning and get the story in my head again.

If you want to come turn my compost, feel free! We used to just have it out in a row but one of the dogs was rooting through it so I got a nice bin off craigslist for about $30. But not good about turning it.

~~~~~~~
i had a central port embedded near my clavicle today. Chemo IV drugs will go through that, so I won't have repeated IV sticks. Things are getting real but I'm maintaining sanity. Didn't sleep much last night, worrying about insurance, job, keeping up life insurance - my main thoughts are not about me but how this will affect my family, now and later, if I don't live long. I don't want their lives messed up because of this stupid thing going on. :-(

Maryn · Aug 19, 2015

You actually compost? I salute you. When I pull weeds and cut off the winter-interest plants in early spring, I either toss the stuff into our little strip of woods (a massive ten to twenty feet deep, no doubt once a farm's windbreak) or put it at the curb for the town to turn into its compost. My lone rule is that if the plant I pull is an invasive runner, I don't chuck it in the woods, so the wild grape and Virginia creeper can't just gain a new foothold. (Although it may be too late on the damned creeper.) But rotting crabgrass and ordinary weeds have, over time, slightly raised the lowest level of the woods, where water used to stand after a rain.

Sometimes I think it'd be great to hire a landscape designer to put in a bunch of native plants, with something blooming or looking interesting all the time. Other times I think I should be doing that. But there's just too much to learn.

Mr. Maryn had a chemo port. It's important, I remember, to keep it clean like they tell you. Now I can't even tell where it was, but I imagine his chest is hairier than yours.

IMO, it says something about your character that you are more concerned about the people you love than yourself, if the worst case scenario plays out. I think I just have time for another salute!

Maryn, beaming health rays in your general direction--golly, I hope someone else doesn't snag them!

sassandgroove · Aug 23, 2015

Hey! I got a new computer courtesy of my hubby and it's so much faster than my netbook from 2006. I can go online and write at the same time. WOOT.

Hubby and I both have sleep apnea but we wear our cpaps. I feel so much better that I wished that I had two, one for naps in the living room and my dad said he had his old one and gave it to me, so I have two. It came in real handy when I was moving to the couch in the middle of the night.

Sorry you need a port but having gotten three IVs in the hospital I can see the benefit.

I've been back at work for two weeks, and made it ok, but the up is that I've also been writing for two weeks. WOOT! WOrk and writing at the same time. and I'm only 8 weeks out from surgery. barely any Tylenol and it's mostly for a sore back from sleeping on my back. I'm so much better.

Maryn · Aug 24, 2015

Just as we'd hoped, Sassy. I hear from other people that they almost forget what it's like to be nearly pain-free, so it's especially sweet when it finally happens. And it's great to hear you've got the juice to write when you're not at work instead of coming home wiped out an in pain. Hidden bonus, huh?

Mr. Maryn had a port. (And a starboard, tee-hee.) It certainly beat being stuck over and over and over. He's usually pretty good about medical stuff, but even he had his limit and dreaded some tech he'd never seen before using his veins for on-the-job training.

I am finally feeling better and not needing drugs every day, which is a good thing. I'm still pretty clogged up, but daytimes, when I'm upright and can breathe, are now manageable. I sort of resent that I lost a week of my summer, though. I didn't accomplish one thing since we got back from the germy funeral. I know, I know, count my blessings. I'm just being my usual petty self.

Yesterday I knew I was on the road to recovery when I wrote for a little bit. Only a few hundred words, but it meant my brain's gears were meshing again. I hate that about being sick, that I can't even think.

Maryn, not all that great a thinker at any given moment

sassandgroove · Aug 24, 2015

glad you are getting well. I'm a bit overwhelmed at work so I popped in here for a sec. Students are back and classes start Wed so it's crazy time.

Maryn · Aug 24, 2015

That job at the college would be so much better if they didn't allow students anywhere near the place, I imagine.

Ray's House of Love Vol III

Sassy haircut

In Honor of Peter Tomich,USS Utah

At Sea

At Sea

Sassy haircut

At Sea

Sassy haircut

At Sea

Sassy haircut

At Sea

Sassy haircut

At Sea

Always curious.

Sassy haircut

At Sea

Always curious.

At Sea

Always curious.

At Sea

Sassy haircut

At Sea

Sassy haircut

At Sea