An Apple A Day

Happy New Year

Sun, 30 Dec 2007 21:37:19 GMT

RELECTIONS OF MY LIFE...WHAT I DID FOR SUMMER

Sat, 06 Oct 2007 19:32:55 GMT

Wow! I cannot believe the last time I posted a journal entry was in July!

Our summer was one fun filled season. Here is what Rick and I have been up to:

In late June my dear friend Patti and her husband Matt from LA came up to Oregon for a 3 week long visit. We went to the Columbia Gorge Hotel for Sunday brunch, went to our hometown 4th of July Parade. Rick and Matt spent a day at our Waterfront Blues Festival. Matt got to meet one of his favorite performers Joan Armitrding . Had a day at the beach. The 3 week stay ended with a high school friends reunion. During that time I had my D&C procedure.

On the 4th of July my oldest son Kris flew out of Portland for his 3 month work assignment in Ketchikan, Alaska. Kris is a real outdoorsman so he was in his own kind of Heaven, fishing and hiking and meeting the locals when he wasn't busy working on a watershed project.

August was a month filled with social events and parties and cookouts.

September was my family reunion which I was the organizer for so starting Labor Day weekend we had family coming in from California and Maryland. My sister Karen was able to come out from Baltimore. We had not seen each other since the last family reunion 2 years ago. Right after she returned home from the 2005 family reunion she was diagnosed with Colon cancer. She had surgery and chemo and is now cancer free. We had a wonderful time together just being 'Sisters".

2 weeks before the family reunion we decided to turn our second bedroom into an office. Since our sons had moved out we wanted to reclaim the space. Rick and I decided this would be a wonderful time to get rid of "That 70's" carpet and put in vinyl. When we pulled up the carpet there was a MAJOR problem with dry rot so a 2 day project turned into a 2 week project. When my cousin Wayne from California flew in we still had all the funiture that would live in the office in our living room.

September was also my birthday month so we had some celebrations for that.

The thrid week of September my youngest son decided to move back home...........temporarily.

October 1st my son Kris flew back home from Alaska. He is now "crashing" here until he finds a place of his own. He starts back to work on Monday so it should be soon when we have our home back and we can take down the Apple Inn sign!

The weather here in Oregon has turned to Autumn with wind and rain and very cool temperatures especailly for us this time of year. It is now time to hunker down and slow down. I did join a womens group which meets once a month. This is a great group of women whose hearts and souls and life's journery is in the same path as me.

So there you have my WHAT I DID FOR SUMMER recap.

BE A KID AGAIN

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 13:39:33 GMT

"Great is the human who has not lost his childlike heart." - Mencius (Meng-Tse)

LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE DREAMERS

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 22:51:23 GMT

"The absolute, most surefire way of physically moving in the direction of your dreams on a day-to-day basis, without messing with the 'cursed hows', is living them NOW, to any degree you can." - Mike Dooley

Yep, Start where you are and don't wait until WHEN happens thats what I say! Dream, Dream, Dream, and then Make it Happen!

I'M OKAY

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 04:29:42 GMT

I'M OKAY!!!!

Today I had my D&C and a hysterectomy. No Fibroid tumors. It seems like a good cleaning is going to do the trick. I feel better today than I have felt in about 5 months. Rick saw the before and after pictures and what a difference he said. I have a follow up appointment in two weeks just to make sure the biopsy is good and to decide what if any other course of action needs to be taken.

Today I spent a quite day at home. I had to be at the hospital at 6 o'dark in the morning. My procedure started at 7:30 I was home by 11:00. I took a nice long nap when I got home.

This afternoon our friends Matt and Patti called to see how I was doing and asked if it was okay to stop by. Patti and I are like sisters and Matt is like a brother in law so of course I welcomed their visit. Matt and Rick went down to The Waterfront Blues Festival so Matt could see one of his favorite performers Joan Armitrading. They are still down at the festival and will probably get home around midnight. Patti left and went back to her in laws place where her and Matt are staying. She had called to make sure I am still feeling okay.

My sister Karen called to check in on me. My good friend Carol called also to check to see how I was doing and my boss Lowell called. It is such a warm and wonderful feeling to know there are people who genuinely care about my well being

I am disappointed I was not able to attend The Blues Festival but I am so glad I took a step towards feeling better. I have too much fun to partake of to be down in the dumps! Life is waiting for me to live it to the fullest. So look out world, we are in for the time of our life!!!!!

Yesterday my oldest son Kris took off for his BIG ADVENTURE in Ketchikan, Alaska. Kris works for a non profit organization called OSPRIG which is an environmental and citizen advocate group. The organization focuses on environmental, consumer and health related legislation and lobbies for the protection of our earth and our people. Well about a year ago Kris really became in awe of Alaska he put out to The Divine how he would love to experience Alaska for himself. A couple of months ago Kris got a lead from his friend Nick that his father in law Ernie who lived in Ketchikan need to hire some one for the summer to do some work in Prince Wales Island which involves Erosion control in the National Forest!!!!!!! Hmmmmmm. Coincidence????? I don't think so. Kris called Ernie and it all came to fruition . Originally Kris was to leave on July 11 and had to come up with the %600.00+ dollars for the airline ticket. Well Kris got a phone call last week from Ernie asking him if he got his ticket yet and Kris said no he had not he was waiting to get paid..the ticket would have used up almost his whole paycheck. Well Ernie was very excited that Kris had not gotten his ticket yet. He said GREAT! (in a good tone of voice) I NEED YOU HEAR NOW! I will pay for your ticket. So the arrangements were made. Ernie paid for the ticket. Kris is living out a dream of his and not as a PAYING tourist but at a GETTING PAID employee doing something he believes in , saving the environment.

I took Kris to the Mass Transit station so he could catch our MAX train to the airport. I did get a little misty watching Kris walk to the station with his back pack and fishing pole heading out for his adventure. This is the first time in Kris' 28 years of living on this earth that he has been this far from home. But I am soooo happy for him to be able to realize a dream of his. When Kris left he said Good bye Mom. I Love you. See you in October. Now how could that not just pull at a Mother's heartstrings?

But, I am okay. Physically, Emotionally, Mentallyand Spiritually.

Life Expands

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 20:26:44 GMT

"Beyond familiar....just past fear....that's where life expands." - Author unknown

I have the next few days off work. Originally Rick and I were planning on taking our annual "at home vacation" to attend the Waterfront Blues Festival, but life had other plans for me. Thursday I will go in for my D&C which I am hoping will take care of the pain and miserable way I have been feeling. Those darn hormones!!! Today I went in for all my pre-op procedures which took all darn morning.

So until Monday I plan on pampering myself with rest and relaxation.....and lots of fluids per the pre op nurse! This little chapter of my life is definetly not familiar and I am getting past the fear and I am expecting life to expand after this is all over with.

START DANCING

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 02:33:28 GMT

"Life is full of fun, joy, happiness, abundance, prosperity, service, and LOVE...That's enough to want to make you dance to the divine rhythm that is you...Start Dancing!!!"

Looking For That And Found This

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 04:09:56 GMT

I have been writing up a detailed resume so I can apply to become an approved speaker for the American Board of Opticians. This is something I have wanted to do for years and years. It has been quite the task to go over my experience, my training, my everything to put into the resume which it seems to me to be more like an Infomercial for Marcy Apple! Anyway, I needed to remember a date for a presentation I had given years ago. Luckily this presentation had been taped and I was hoping the date would be on the video label. I knew I had kept the video of the presentation and I THOUGHT I knew where I had rat holed it. I went to the first place I thought it would be. Nope , not there. Then I went into the scarry closet. I so did not want to go there. There were a couple of boxes of memorabila and pictures. I Went through all the boxes and still no luck on finding the video. I did find my VHS tape of An Affair To Remember, oh I love that movie. Well the couple of boxes of pictures took Rick and I down memory lane. I even found pictures of my 25 year old and my 28 year old when they were babies, I found the picture of me in my very first dance costome in my very first dance recital when I was all of 5 years old. Then in the bottom of a very small box I found the above picture. I thought I had lost it. This picture is of my friend Mary and me with Bonnie Raitt. About 9 years ago Mary and I went to a Bonnie Raitt concert and after the concert we were allowed back stage to meet Bonnie Raitt!. That was an evening I will never forget. Bonnie was easy to talk to and had a wonderful sense of humor. So in looking for THAT video of my presentation I found THIS cherished picture of Bonnie and Me.

PS: While I was rumaging in that scarry closet Rick was sitting at this very desk, looked down at his pile of videos he has taken with our video camera and what do suppose he found sitting there right on top of the pile, YEP he found The video of my presentation and lucky for me the date of the presentation was on the label.

All's well that ends well.

Good Day Bad Day

Sun, 03 Jun 2007 00:08:28 GMT

Yesterday I had additional mamogram pictures taken and a breast ultrasound. I didn't think I was too nervous about the procedure but evidently I had suppressed my emotions for the past week. After the additional photos were taken and I was waiting to hear if I would need the ultrasound uncontrollable tears started streaming. The tech came back with news I would indeed need the ultrasound. All through the ultrasound procedure the tears kept coming. Not aduible sobs but those quiet tears us women are so good at. The ultrasound tech finished and said she was off the show the radiologists the ultrasound and he would be in to tell me the results. She squeesed my hand and told me not to worry and showed me where the kleenex box was to dry my eyes.

The radiologist came back with good news! There was only a very small spot which appeared to be a cyst. There was no blood supply to the cyst which is a good sign it is not anything to worry about. I will go back in 6 months for another procedure to see if it has disappeared.

Off to work I went tears still streaming. I had really bad cramps as my uterine hyperplacia was in full force. I called Rick and told him the good news.

I was however an emotional wreck. I came home for lunch and Rick was home for lunch too and I told him the details of the procedure and I just broke down sobbing.

I went back to work after lunch feeling a little better but still in a lot of pain with my cramps. Nothing and I mean NOTHING went easy at work. Not one thing worked properly and easy tasks turned into disasters. The afternoon drug on and on I didn't think it would ever end.

The day did end. We went out to dinner, we came home I took a pain pill and went to bed.

Today is a better day. The cramps have lightened up and my attitude is better than it was yesterday.

This hormonal roller coaster is a ride I want to get off of and I want to get off NOW!

What's Happenin'?

Wed, 30 May 2007 02:24:09 GMT

I suppose some may wonder what the heck is happening with me. I wonder the same thing. Since we got back home from our vacation I have just felt out of sorts. I finally went to the doctor and I have uterine hyperplacia sounds terrible but it just one of those wonderful things some of us women go through. I am on a progesterine regime right now and we shall see if that straightens things out. If it doesn't then it will be time for a DNC. Fun. Then last Friday my doctor called me and she told me my mamogram was not normal so I go in this Friday for some more pics and an ultrasound. I am tired beyond words and feel loopy all the time. My memory is non existant and I have mood swings galore!

I just happened to have a bit of energy so I thought I would jot down a few words and let you all know I have not fallen off the face of the earth...not yet anyway!

On a lighter note we adopted an adorable 4 year old kitty named Sadie from our friends Randy and Carol. She just makes us laugh. Our cat Tucker and her are working out the terms of their relationship. All in all they are doing well with one another. Tucker is just so laid back he pretty much lets Sadie have her way. We have taken pictures of her but have not downloaded them onto the computer yet. She is a tiny thing compared to our lug of a cat Tucker who weights in at 18 lbs. Sadie is a little 10 pound mainly white kitty with apricot and brown blotches and the biggest blue eyes. She is our little princess and she knows it.

The weather here in Western Oregon has turned to summer overnight, literally. Today was in the upper 80's and tomorrow we should reach in the 90's. This is very early for us to have such warm, sunny weather. I just hope we do not use up our summer now. July 4th-8th is our annual Waterfront Blues Festival which Rick and I always attend. Our friends Matt and Patti are coming up from California June 23rd and they will be attending the festival with us on July 5th to see Joan Armitrading. I sure hope the weather is sunny and warm then!

So in a nut shell that is whats goingon with The Apples. We are just keepin on keepin on.

I will post the results of the ultrasound.