Today is the day for my semi-annual mammogram and ultrasound of the affected left breast and the annual mammogram of the other side. It's at 9:15 a.m., so I have to get out of here by 8:30, making this a short blog.
I have read many other breast cancer women's blogs and reports, and I've spoken to some in person. It is a common feeling to be nervous on this day and to stay nervous until the all clear comes in. I didn't think I was having those feelings this year until I got in the shower this morning. Somehow it swept over me like the water. I was nervous. I felt butterflies in my stomach.
Maybe I'm having these feelings today because of a story I just heard from an acquaintance on Friday. An older gentleman was talking to me about something I've forgotten while we were at the pool. Then he mentioned his wife had passed away in 2010 from breast cancer. I immediately became interested and asked questions about her situation. She had her first diagnosis in 2006, stage II (like me), lumpectomy with clean margin (like me), but it was not in the lymph nodes so she did not have to do chemo like I did. She did her course of radiation, but she postponed it for six months because she was afraid of it (I postponed mine for six weeks to take a cruise and move to Florida). Just before her two year anniversary of the lumpectomy, she was diagnosed with stage IV. It was in her pelvic bones, and she died two years later. I hate hearing stories like that.
The man, much older than me, said she was 51 at her original diagnosis, 11 years younger than he, and he never expected her to die before him. Even two years after her death, it was easy to feel his pain as he told me this story. He still wonders if postponing the radiation by six months changed her outcome. No one will ever know. He also mentioned that hers was an aggressive form of cancer, and she was younger than I was at the first diagnosis, which often makes it more aggressive.
I know there are so many types of breast cancer and different stories out there. No one can compare one woman's story to another and expect to be able to relate it to her own situation. Still, it was unsettling to hear the story and to think about my mammogram coming up in one hour.
When I get back from the mammogram, I will put away some laundry while I wait for Mark to get back from his deep cleaning at the dentist. If it's not raining this afternoon, then we might go to the pool this afternoon. There's a 50% chance of afternoon thunderstorms, so if it rains, we will stay home, watch TV, and read. Tonight we are having dinner out at Sweet Tomatoes as part of the synagogue fund raiser. Tomorrow is Weigh-in Wednesday, so I hope I can behave myself. This morning I'm down one pound for the week. It would be nice to maintain that one pound loss through tomorrow morning's weigh-in.
And just to end on a positive note, I won THREE games at Mah Jongg yesterday. That was my best day out of the last five times that I've played. In the four times before yesterday, I had only won THREE games total, so three in one day was fantastic. Fortunately, all 7 women who were playing had good days and won at least once.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Tisha B'Av
Today is the observance of the Jewish day of Tisha B'Av, the day of the destruction of the two temples in Jerusalem. It's the ninth of the month of Av, except that today is really the tenth of Av. We have to move the observance over one day because we are not allowed to fast on Shabbat, except for Yom Kippur. Last night we went to services to begin the observance of the holiday.
There are a lot of rules for observing this holiday. Oh, wait...that's true for everything in Judaism. LOL! Oh, wait...I'm not supposed to laugh or enjoy anything today. DOH!
Mark used to go to work on this day because there's no prohibition against that. Because it always comes in the summer, I never had to do it. I must admit that I never read all the rules for observing this day. This morning I decided to do some googling. I found a pdf file from a very observant synagogue somewhere (never found out where it was) and read some pretty restrictive rules. I guess this is why I don't go to that shul!
Mark is fasting, as he always does, with one small exception of taking enough water and small amount of cheese to make it safe for him to take his heart medication. Preservation of life is always paramount, and if he doesn't take this heart med twice a day, his life is definitely in danger. I don't think I ever fasted on Tisha B'Av. Today I am planning on skipping breakfast (not too hard when you don't get up until 9:15), eating a smaller than usual lunch, and having no snacks The fast ends at 9 p.m., so we will be IN our local Denny's and ordering our food at 8:59!! I have already had two cups of coffee, though. I always observe the big fast on Yom Kippur, but I just can't seem to do these other ones. Sigh.
My fledgling choir did a great job of singing "By the Waters of Babylon" in a four part round last night. There were nine of them up there. Each part was three people and I was the fourth part by myself. It worked very well. They received many compliments after services, and I hope they felt as proud of themselves as I felt proud of them for their work.
Yesterday we spent the day in the morning at shul, and then we went to the Shalom Club's luncheon and pool party. We were pleasantly surprised at the party. In addition to turkey wraps and corned beef sandwiches which did not use kosher meat, there were tuna salad and egg salad sandwiches. Cole slaw, potato salad, pickles, watermelon, and chocolate chip cookies (regular and sugar free) rounded out the menu. It was delicious! There were about 40 people in attendance, and many came over to talk to us. We knew a few of them, but many people just stopped by to introduce themselves because they had not met us before. It was a nice, congenial group of people. They had hired someone as a DJ and party organizer. She had them playing some pool games and dancing in the pool. I took a plastic "hard hat" and danced YMCA along with everybody else. The pool was so warm that it felt like bathwater! It was fun to go over to the other side of Solivita, called Venezia. They have a pretty big pool and clubhouse over there, so it was a nice space to use. I felt sorry for the people in the house right next to the pool. The loud music and the DJ on the microphone must surely have been heard inside their house. I wonder if they thought about that when they picked that lot.
After the party, we came home and napped before showering, dressing, having dinner, and heading over to SOJC for the Tisha B'Av services. Mark and I laughed that it was probably the first day that we've had down here in Florida where we literally spent the whole day just with other Jews! In Maryland there were probably many days like that since virtually all of our friends were from the synagogue. On Shabbat we would go to services and then either spend the day home alone or play Mah Jong and hang out with our Jewish friends. Here in Florida even when we go to shul, we often go to the pool in the afternoon and hang out with non-Jews. Not that it matters to us whether our friends are Jewish or non-Jewish, but we just remarked on it yesterday because it was something new for us down here.
There are a lot of rules for observing this holiday. Oh, wait...that's true for everything in Judaism. LOL! Oh, wait...I'm not supposed to laugh or enjoy anything today. DOH!
Mark used to go to work on this day because there's no prohibition against that. Because it always comes in the summer, I never had to do it. I must admit that I never read all the rules for observing this day. This morning I decided to do some googling. I found a pdf file from a very observant synagogue somewhere (never found out where it was) and read some pretty restrictive rules. I guess this is why I don't go to that shul!
Mark is fasting, as he always does, with one small exception of taking enough water and small amount of cheese to make it safe for him to take his heart medication. Preservation of life is always paramount, and if he doesn't take this heart med twice a day, his life is definitely in danger. I don't think I ever fasted on Tisha B'Av. Today I am planning on skipping breakfast (not too hard when you don't get up until 9:15), eating a smaller than usual lunch, and having no snacks The fast ends at 9 p.m., so we will be IN our local Denny's and ordering our food at 8:59!! I have already had two cups of coffee, though. I always observe the big fast on Yom Kippur, but I just can't seem to do these other ones. Sigh.
My fledgling choir did a great job of singing "By the Waters of Babylon" in a four part round last night. There were nine of them up there. Each part was three people and I was the fourth part by myself. It worked very well. They received many compliments after services, and I hope they felt as proud of themselves as I felt proud of them for their work.
Yesterday we spent the day in the morning at shul, and then we went to the Shalom Club's luncheon and pool party. We were pleasantly surprised at the party. In addition to turkey wraps and corned beef sandwiches which did not use kosher meat, there were tuna salad and egg salad sandwiches. Cole slaw, potato salad, pickles, watermelon, and chocolate chip cookies (regular and sugar free) rounded out the menu. It was delicious! There were about 40 people in attendance, and many came over to talk to us. We knew a few of them, but many people just stopped by to introduce themselves because they had not met us before. It was a nice, congenial group of people. They had hired someone as a DJ and party organizer. She had them playing some pool games and dancing in the pool. I took a plastic "hard hat" and danced YMCA along with everybody else. The pool was so warm that it felt like bathwater! It was fun to go over to the other side of Solivita, called Venezia. They have a pretty big pool and clubhouse over there, so it was a nice space to use. I felt sorry for the people in the house right next to the pool. The loud music and the DJ on the microphone must surely have been heard inside their house. I wonder if they thought about that when they picked that lot.
After the party, we came home and napped before showering, dressing, having dinner, and heading over to SOJC for the Tisha B'Av services. Mark and I laughed that it was probably the first day that we've had down here in Florida where we literally spent the whole day just with other Jews! In Maryland there were probably many days like that since virtually all of our friends were from the synagogue. On Shabbat we would go to services and then either spend the day home alone or play Mah Jong and hang out with our Jewish friends. Here in Florida even when we go to shul, we often go to the pool in the afternoon and hang out with non-Jews. Not that it matters to us whether our friends are Jewish or non-Jewish, but we just remarked on it yesterday because it was something new for us down here.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Gators and Tonga Toast
Here are the pictures from Wednesday and Thursday that I promised. Some of you got these pictures already in an email. For those who didn't, enjoy!
Yesterday was a great day. Mark had no problems using our vision insurance at WalMart. He liked the people there and the selection. Our insurance covered about half of the total costs. He will have his new glasses next Friday morning. The rest of the day was at the pool and then dinner and an ice cream social in the ballroom. OY! We ate so much. I should have taken a picture of that food! What I ate for lunch and dinner must have had a lot of calories and sodium. I'm up three pounds today.
Today we will be leaving for shul in just a few minutes. After shul, there's a luncheon pool party with the Solivita Shalom Club. We are members, but we haven't done very many activities with them. Mostly we don't because they do things like this, have a luncheon party on Shabbat when tonight begins Tisha B'Av and we have to go back to shul. ERG! They are ethnic but not religious! Anyway, it was paid in advance, so we thought we would participate. It's from noon to 4, but because our shul is so far away we can't even get there until 1. We're just hoping some of the lunch food that is vegetarian is still left. They don't order kosher meat. ERG again!
Tonight my little fledgling SOJC choir will sing "By the Waters of Babylon" in a four part round as part of the Tisha B'Av services, starting at 9:30 tonight. There are nine of them singing tonight, and I think they'll be great! Tomorrow is a big fast, like Yom Kippur, no food or water from sundown tonight to sundown tomorrow. Mark always fasts like that, so we won't be doing anything except hanging around the house tomorrow. Very low key day until he can eat a late dinner.
Meanwhile, here are those pictures!
Yesterday was a great day. Mark had no problems using our vision insurance at WalMart. He liked the people there and the selection. Our insurance covered about half of the total costs. He will have his new glasses next Friday morning. The rest of the day was at the pool and then dinner and an ice cream social in the ballroom. OY! We ate so much. I should have taken a picture of that food! What I ate for lunch and dinner must have had a lot of calories and sodium. I'm up three pounds today.
Today we will be leaving for shul in just a few minutes. After shul, there's a luncheon pool party with the Solivita Shalom Club. We are members, but we haven't done very many activities with them. Mostly we don't because they do things like this, have a luncheon party on Shabbat when tonight begins Tisha B'Av and we have to go back to shul. ERG! They are ethnic but not religious! Anyway, it was paid in advance, so we thought we would participate. It's from noon to 4, but because our shul is so far away we can't even get there until 1. We're just hoping some of the lunch food that is vegetarian is still left. They don't order kosher meat. ERG again!
Tonight my little fledgling SOJC choir will sing "By the Waters of Babylon" in a four part round as part of the Tisha B'Av services, starting at 9:30 tonight. There are nine of them singing tonight, and I think they'll be great! Tomorrow is a big fast, like Yom Kippur, no food or water from sundown tonight to sundown tomorrow. Mark always fasts like that, so we won't be doing anything except hanging around the house tomorrow. Very low key day until he can eat a late dinner.
Meanwhile, here are those pictures!
Friday, July 27, 2012
Highs and Lows
Yesterday was one of those days that had very high highs and very low lows. I shall explain!
The high was the first half of the day. We went to breakfast with Barb and Al at the Kona Cafe in the Polynesian Resort. The breakfast menu there is truly spectacular with its signature dish of Tonga Toast and the beyond delicious Macadamia and Pineapple Pancakes. Barb had never had Tonga Toast, so she ordered that and was not disappointed. The rest of us all had the pancakes. Mark was determined to finish them, but Al and I had more sense! It's a huge portion.
At least when we were done, we walked some of it off at the Magic Kingdom. Despite the heat and crowds, we took the monorail over and rode Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, and Peter Pan. Three of my favorites! On the way out we stopped into the Sorcerer's area and got four packs of cards. Barb and Al are collecting them, but you can only get one pack per day per person. Mark and I aren't collecting, but we got our packs and that gave Barb and Al five or six new cards for their set. It was a pretty good day for them because they already have most of the set, so to get that many new ones out of these four sets was pretty rare.
It was National Chili Dog Day, so Mark and I went home and had low fat kosher dogs with vegetarian chili on them for lunch. Delicious!
That was the end of the good part of the day.
At 4 p.m. I had a dentist appointment. It was for a check up and cleaning. My dental insurance pays for that twice a year, and I'm usually pretty good about it. Somehow I missed going in December, so it was a year and one month since my last visit. In the meantime I knew I was having some odd feelings in the tooth that got its root canal last summer. The endodontist had warned me that it wasn't going to last long, so I was expecting trouble.
Well, I got there at 3:50 and signed in and took my seat, like the sign said. At 4:45 when I had never been called, I went to the desk. I could tell the girl was shocked to see me. She had been on the phone making appointments the entire time. She had never seen me sign in. She picked up the clipboard and looked shock to see a name on there. She apologized profusely and said she'd get me in. I went to the dentist's office for the check up part at 5 p.m., but I didn't get out until 6 p.m. Then I didn't even have time for the cleaning, so it got rescheduled for August 7. Ridiculous. Two hours just for a check up.
As if that wasn't bad enough, of course the tooth was bad. It has a cavity and an abscess in it, which causes the pain when I chew on that side too much. It has to be pulled. Unfortunately, the far back molar on that side (lower left) also has a cavity in it and is starting to get bad. It's also got a root canal in it already. Both of these teeth are under a bridge. So I need the bridge removed and both teeth pulled, leaving me with no molars on the left. Dental implants are the best solution, but they are not covered by insurance (considered cosmetic surgery) and cost thousands. Instead I will have a partial removable denture plate made. Fun times. I don't have time do do any of this now before our trip to California, so the fall will now be filled up with many dental appointments.
\
I need to go see an endodontist for the final say so on the fact that the teeth need to be pulled. Then I have to go to the oral surgeon to have them pulled. God only knows who makes the false teeth! It will take a long time for this to be over.
But WAIT! That's not all. I have calcification below the gum line, so I'm being told a regular cleaning (meaning free!) isn't an option. I now need a "medium" cleaning for $30, and then two deep cleanings (left side upper and lower one day and right side upper and lower another day) for $120. This deep cleaning is the same thing Mark needs. I was told I need this done every three months. I said NO WAY! My cost of $120 is MY PORTION. I told them I'm going to do it only as often as my insurance SAYS they will pay some of it. Then I need "maintenance" cleanings in between at $20 each. This is just too many times to go to the dentist and too much money to spend on teeth!
Well, by then it was 6 p.m. Mark and I had plans to go to dinner at the Bistro and then walk across the street to see the movie "The Artist," which started at 7. If I did the cleaning at that point, there was going to be no going out. I said no to the cleaning and rescheduled. But on the way home I just got so angry about the money and the time and the loss of two teeth and the possibility of pain in California and a trip to an emergency dentist (that probably would not be covered by my dental HMO insurance), that I just wanted to cry. I was talking to Mark on the phone and asked him to have a shot of whiskey ready for me when I got home. HE DID!
When I got home, I just couldn't go out again. I drank the whiskey and Mark made us the rest of the chili and hot dogs for a quick and easy and light dinner. I had a tossed salad and a banana and called it a day for eating. The whiskey calmed me down, and Mark paid $5 for "The Artist" On Demand, so we still saw the movie.
And to top it all off, my new shoes rubbed a blister on my right big toe! AARRGGH!!
Highs and Lows.
I promise next time I will talk about the great trip to Gatorland and put up some pictures. I also have some pictures of our MK fun with Barb and Al. I just don't have the time right now to post them. I have to take Mark to WalMart for an eye exam appointment at 10 a.m.
The high was the first half of the day. We went to breakfast with Barb and Al at the Kona Cafe in the Polynesian Resort. The breakfast menu there is truly spectacular with its signature dish of Tonga Toast and the beyond delicious Macadamia and Pineapple Pancakes. Barb had never had Tonga Toast, so she ordered that and was not disappointed. The rest of us all had the pancakes. Mark was determined to finish them, but Al and I had more sense! It's a huge portion.
At least when we were done, we walked some of it off at the Magic Kingdom. Despite the heat and crowds, we took the monorail over and rode Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, and Peter Pan. Three of my favorites! On the way out we stopped into the Sorcerer's area and got four packs of cards. Barb and Al are collecting them, but you can only get one pack per day per person. Mark and I aren't collecting, but we got our packs and that gave Barb and Al five or six new cards for their set. It was a pretty good day for them because they already have most of the set, so to get that many new ones out of these four sets was pretty rare.
It was National Chili Dog Day, so Mark and I went home and had low fat kosher dogs with vegetarian chili on them for lunch. Delicious!
That was the end of the good part of the day.
At 4 p.m. I had a dentist appointment. It was for a check up and cleaning. My dental insurance pays for that twice a year, and I'm usually pretty good about it. Somehow I missed going in December, so it was a year and one month since my last visit. In the meantime I knew I was having some odd feelings in the tooth that got its root canal last summer. The endodontist had warned me that it wasn't going to last long, so I was expecting trouble.
Well, I got there at 3:50 and signed in and took my seat, like the sign said. At 4:45 when I had never been called, I went to the desk. I could tell the girl was shocked to see me. She had been on the phone making appointments the entire time. She had never seen me sign in. She picked up the clipboard and looked shock to see a name on there. She apologized profusely and said she'd get me in. I went to the dentist's office for the check up part at 5 p.m., but I didn't get out until 6 p.m. Then I didn't even have time for the cleaning, so it got rescheduled for August 7. Ridiculous. Two hours just for a check up.
As if that wasn't bad enough, of course the tooth was bad. It has a cavity and an abscess in it, which causes the pain when I chew on that side too much. It has to be pulled. Unfortunately, the far back molar on that side (lower left) also has a cavity in it and is starting to get bad. It's also got a root canal in it already. Both of these teeth are under a bridge. So I need the bridge removed and both teeth pulled, leaving me with no molars on the left. Dental implants are the best solution, but they are not covered by insurance (considered cosmetic surgery) and cost thousands. Instead I will have a partial removable denture plate made. Fun times. I don't have time do do any of this now before our trip to California, so the fall will now be filled up with many dental appointments.
\
I need to go see an endodontist for the final say so on the fact that the teeth need to be pulled. Then I have to go to the oral surgeon to have them pulled. God only knows who makes the false teeth! It will take a long time for this to be over.
But WAIT! That's not all. I have calcification below the gum line, so I'm being told a regular cleaning (meaning free!) isn't an option. I now need a "medium" cleaning for $30, and then two deep cleanings (left side upper and lower one day and right side upper and lower another day) for $120. This deep cleaning is the same thing Mark needs. I was told I need this done every three months. I said NO WAY! My cost of $120 is MY PORTION. I told them I'm going to do it only as often as my insurance SAYS they will pay some of it. Then I need "maintenance" cleanings in between at $20 each. This is just too many times to go to the dentist and too much money to spend on teeth!
Well, by then it was 6 p.m. Mark and I had plans to go to dinner at the Bistro and then walk across the street to see the movie "The Artist," which started at 7. If I did the cleaning at that point, there was going to be no going out. I said no to the cleaning and rescheduled. But on the way home I just got so angry about the money and the time and the loss of two teeth and the possibility of pain in California and a trip to an emergency dentist (that probably would not be covered by my dental HMO insurance), that I just wanted to cry. I was talking to Mark on the phone and asked him to have a shot of whiskey ready for me when I got home. HE DID!
When I got home, I just couldn't go out again. I drank the whiskey and Mark made us the rest of the chili and hot dogs for a quick and easy and light dinner. I had a tossed salad and a banana and called it a day for eating. The whiskey calmed me down, and Mark paid $5 for "The Artist" On Demand, so we still saw the movie.
And to top it all off, my new shoes rubbed a blister on my right big toe! AARRGGH!!
Highs and Lows.
I promise next time I will talk about the great trip to Gatorland and put up some pictures. I also have some pictures of our MK fun with Barb and Al. I just don't have the time right now to post them. I have to take Mark to WalMart for an eye exam appointment at 10 a.m.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Today we are going to...
GATORLAND!
Finally!
Until the end of July, Florida residents get in for $10 instead of the usual $25, so it's worth it to try to get in there for such a bargain. I hope we have enough time. I have to be out of there by 4 p.m. today in order to get home, make and eat dinner, and get to the SOJC choir rehearsal by 7:30. Hopefully that will all work out.
Now on to the other things. Weigh-in Wednesday was good. I am 253.2 this morning, down four from last week's weight of 257.2. I'm very happy about that because I have to admit I wasn't working at it at all this week. I didn't walk; I went to the gym only once; I played in the pool (can't really call it swimming) only once; I ate whatever I wanted. I mostly lost those four sort of early on, probably a reaction to getting back to a somewhat more normal routine. I thought I might be up today because of the huge Indian dinner last night, but I am actually the same as yesterday morning. This week I might need to work at it more in order to show another loss.
Yesterday we had some snafus along the way. The first one was at the WalMart Vision Center. Despite it saying that you could walk-in, you can only walk-in for an eye appointment on a day when the doctor is actually THERE, which wasn't yesterday. Mark made an appointment for Friday morning and showed our insurance card. When we got home, there was a phone call from that lady saying there's a problem with the insurance so call her. Hm...I have been paying for this Davis Vision insurance plan through my employer for years and years and never once remembered to use it when I went for glasses. Finally I made Mark pick a place that accepted this insurance, so NOW WHAT??? I got new cards in the mail this year saying that I have the insurance; the lady in WalMart said they take Davis Vision; but call because there's a problem. I'll keep you posted.
The second snafu was the Dr. Scholl's kiosk. I located one on their website, a WalMart near WDW. After having lunch at the Q'doba, also near WDW, we went to the WalMart. I found the kiosk, but it didn't work. ERG! So back to the car, look up the website (Thank God for smart phones and Safari!), find the next nearest location. Back down the road about three miles to the next WalMart. It worked!! I got orthotics, a number 410, and found a DIRT CHEAP pair of men's Dr. Scholl's sneakers at the same WalMart. They were on sale for only $20. The orthotics were $50, but this is a LOT less than custom made orthotics. I'm going to wear the new sneakers and orthotics all day today and see how it goes.
The best thing about yesterday was dinner at the Saffron Indian restaurant in the Dr. Phillip's area of Orlando. Fantastic! Mark had a coupon from Living Social. We paid $17 for the coupon and the restaurant then took $34 off the bill. We had an amazing vegetarian appetizer (six items, two of each), plus a grilled mahi mahi sizzling like a fajita when it came to the table, rice, and a paneer with peas dish. We shared everything, plus we had wine. I also ordered an Indian ice cream dessert, kulfi. Fantastic. We walked out of there paying only $28 plus tip. What a great deal!! Of course, if we had gone there without the Living Social deal we would have dropped $74 last night. Thanks to Evey for putting us on to the Living Social deals.
We tested that restaurant out to see if it's worth going there with our friends Tom and Cathy when they come for a week's visit in October. They like Indian food and were the first to take us out to an Indian restaurant back when we all lived in Maryland. They took us to a great Indian place where they live now, so it seems like it's finally going to be our turn to take them to a nice Indian restaurant. I think we have found it at the Saffron on Sand Lake.
Well, time to shut down this computer, shower, dress, and get out to GATORLAND!!
Finally!
Until the end of July, Florida residents get in for $10 instead of the usual $25, so it's worth it to try to get in there for such a bargain. I hope we have enough time. I have to be out of there by 4 p.m. today in order to get home, make and eat dinner, and get to the SOJC choir rehearsal by 7:30. Hopefully that will all work out.
Now on to the other things. Weigh-in Wednesday was good. I am 253.2 this morning, down four from last week's weight of 257.2. I'm very happy about that because I have to admit I wasn't working at it at all this week. I didn't walk; I went to the gym only once; I played in the pool (can't really call it swimming) only once; I ate whatever I wanted. I mostly lost those four sort of early on, probably a reaction to getting back to a somewhat more normal routine. I thought I might be up today because of the huge Indian dinner last night, but I am actually the same as yesterday morning. This week I might need to work at it more in order to show another loss.
Yesterday we had some snafus along the way. The first one was at the WalMart Vision Center. Despite it saying that you could walk-in, you can only walk-in for an eye appointment on a day when the doctor is actually THERE, which wasn't yesterday. Mark made an appointment for Friday morning and showed our insurance card. When we got home, there was a phone call from that lady saying there's a problem with the insurance so call her. Hm...I have been paying for this Davis Vision insurance plan through my employer for years and years and never once remembered to use it when I went for glasses. Finally I made Mark pick a place that accepted this insurance, so NOW WHAT??? I got new cards in the mail this year saying that I have the insurance; the lady in WalMart said they take Davis Vision; but call because there's a problem. I'll keep you posted.
The second snafu was the Dr. Scholl's kiosk. I located one on their website, a WalMart near WDW. After having lunch at the Q'doba, also near WDW, we went to the WalMart. I found the kiosk, but it didn't work. ERG! So back to the car, look up the website (Thank God for smart phones and Safari!), find the next nearest location. Back down the road about three miles to the next WalMart. It worked!! I got orthotics, a number 410, and found a DIRT CHEAP pair of men's Dr. Scholl's sneakers at the same WalMart. They were on sale for only $20. The orthotics were $50, but this is a LOT less than custom made orthotics. I'm going to wear the new sneakers and orthotics all day today and see how it goes.
The best thing about yesterday was dinner at the Saffron Indian restaurant in the Dr. Phillip's area of Orlando. Fantastic! Mark had a coupon from Living Social. We paid $17 for the coupon and the restaurant then took $34 off the bill. We had an amazing vegetarian appetizer (six items, two of each), plus a grilled mahi mahi sizzling like a fajita when it came to the table, rice, and a paneer with peas dish. We shared everything, plus we had wine. I also ordered an Indian ice cream dessert, kulfi. Fantastic. We walked out of there paying only $28 plus tip. What a great deal!! Of course, if we had gone there without the Living Social deal we would have dropped $74 last night. Thanks to Evey for putting us on to the Living Social deals.
We tested that restaurant out to see if it's worth going there with our friends Tom and Cathy when they come for a week's visit in October. They like Indian food and were the first to take us out to an Indian restaurant back when we all lived in Maryland. They took us to a great Indian place where they live now, so it seems like it's finally going to be our turn to take them to a nice Indian restaurant. I think we have found it at the Saffron on Sand Lake.
Well, time to shut down this computer, shower, dress, and get out to GATORLAND!!
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Some errands are on the agenda.
This should be short today because it's about time to head out for the errands. We have two big errands, but we are rewarding ourselves with dinner at a vegetarian Indian restaurant in Orlando. Mark got a good coupon deal from Living Social for it.
Mark needs new glasses, so our first errand is a trip to the WalMart Vision Center for an eye exam and to pick out new frames. My vision insurance works there. Last summer I made a huge mistake by going to Lens Crafters. I got no coverage and a huge bill, nearly $500! This year, Mark is being smart and going to the place that accepts our insurance. He has been complaining about not being able to see anything for a long time. I think he's been using the same glasses for way over two or three years now. It's time.
Then I'm going to try to get non-custom orthotics at the Dr. Scholl's kiosk and some new walking shoes. In 1992 I was diagnosed with plantar fascitis in both feet. It was extremely painful then, and the podiatrist said it was a lifelong condition and that I should never, EVER walk barefoot or without custom orthotics again. Well, after awhile of following that advice, the pain went away. I got cocky and started wearing some dress shoes and sandals without orthotics. Eventually the pain would come back. Every couple of years I would go back to the podiatrist and get a new pair of custom orthotics. It was a cycle I was willing to go through.
Well, it's way past time for that again. When I got my old Nike walking shoes completely soaked in the water at Animal Kingdom in June, I took the orthotics out so I could wash the shoes. They had not been out of those shoes in over two years, since before the cancer diagnosis! LOL! They were broken and stinky. The shoes did not improve with washing, so I threw them out. Now I have no walking shoes and no orthotics. I'm living on borrowed time.
Unfortunately, my new insurance, as good as it is for many things, does NOT cover custom orthotics, even for plantar fascitis. I could NOT believe it. I called CIGNA and that's what I was told. I still can't believe it. Those things cost between $400 and $600!! I just don't want to pay that right now. I'm also not in pain right now because I've only been walking without them for about a month. It can take many months before the pain sets in again. So today I'm going to a store with the Dr. Scholl's kiosk, step on the machine, and have it tell me which pair of over-the-counter inserts to buy. I will then go buy a new pair of walking shoes that can hold the inserts. Hopefully, that will buy me some time. Maybe it will work as well as the custom ones. If it doesn't work, there are some things on Footsmart.com that claim you can step on something and mail it in and have some custom orthotics made for you at a MUCH lower price than at the podiatrist.
Have a great day no matter where you are and what you are doing!
Mark needs new glasses, so our first errand is a trip to the WalMart Vision Center for an eye exam and to pick out new frames. My vision insurance works there. Last summer I made a huge mistake by going to Lens Crafters. I got no coverage and a huge bill, nearly $500! This year, Mark is being smart and going to the place that accepts our insurance. He has been complaining about not being able to see anything for a long time. I think he's been using the same glasses for way over two or three years now. It's time.
Then I'm going to try to get non-custom orthotics at the Dr. Scholl's kiosk and some new walking shoes. In 1992 I was diagnosed with plantar fascitis in both feet. It was extremely painful then, and the podiatrist said it was a lifelong condition and that I should never, EVER walk barefoot or without custom orthotics again. Well, after awhile of following that advice, the pain went away. I got cocky and started wearing some dress shoes and sandals without orthotics. Eventually the pain would come back. Every couple of years I would go back to the podiatrist and get a new pair of custom orthotics. It was a cycle I was willing to go through.
Well, it's way past time for that again. When I got my old Nike walking shoes completely soaked in the water at Animal Kingdom in June, I took the orthotics out so I could wash the shoes. They had not been out of those shoes in over two years, since before the cancer diagnosis! LOL! They were broken and stinky. The shoes did not improve with washing, so I threw them out. Now I have no walking shoes and no orthotics. I'm living on borrowed time.
Unfortunately, my new insurance, as good as it is for many things, does NOT cover custom orthotics, even for plantar fascitis. I could NOT believe it. I called CIGNA and that's what I was told. I still can't believe it. Those things cost between $400 and $600!! I just don't want to pay that right now. I'm also not in pain right now because I've only been walking without them for about a month. It can take many months before the pain sets in again. So today I'm going to a store with the Dr. Scholl's kiosk, step on the machine, and have it tell me which pair of over-the-counter inserts to buy. I will then go buy a new pair of walking shoes that can hold the inserts. Hopefully, that will buy me some time. Maybe it will work as well as the custom ones. If it doesn't work, there are some things on Footsmart.com that claim you can step on something and mail it in and have some custom orthotics made for you at a MUCH lower price than at the podiatrist.
Have a great day no matter where you are and what you are doing!
Monday, July 23, 2012
Promised Pictures
Yesterday I fully described everything we were going to do, and it went exactly as described with one notable exception. We went to a movie that was one hour later than originally planned, partly because we got there at the last minute and didn't want to have to sit in the front row and partly because we decided to spring for the pricier ETX experience. It wasn't worth it. We didn't love the movie and the ETX just seemed too loud. Anyway, because we went to the 11:30 movie instead of 10:30, it just put us off an hour so we skipped going to Epcot for the Agent P game. It will be there for another day.
Lunch at Beaches and Cream was fun, but it was also a bit disappointing. We went for the much hyped grilled cheese sandwich and tomato bisque soup. The sandwich was touted as having a six cheese blend on sourdough bread. I guess it did, but the filling was skimpy and didn't taste that great. The soup was made with a beef broth base, so we had french fries instead. All in all, a disappointment. The good thing was that they did have a sugar-free, fat-free vanilla ice cream. Mark was thrilled to eat that with his new crown and no pain from the cold! I had a Mickey sundae with the same ice cream. July is National Ice Cream month, so it all seemed appropriate.
The real hit was the concert. We had NO idea that the Disney cast members every put on something like this, but they have been doing it for ten years. We also grossly underestimated how truly spectacular it was going to be. There were about a 100 voices in the choir, a huge orchestra, dozens of energetic dancers, and a cast of about a dozen or more solo singers and actors. The story was loosely based on Alice in Wonderland and Dorothy in Oz. A little girl named Mary Anne was trying to build a machine that would wake her up from her dream and go home. She kept running into characters who were based on Wonderland characters. The story was VERY loosely related to the songs, but it didn't matter. The three hour show was just an amazing performance!! Best of all, the money was entirely for charity. Next year we will get tickets a lot sooner so we can sit together and have better seats. I had a slightly obstructed view of the chorus, which in no way affected the sound or the view of the action on the stage. Still, I like looking at the chorus! LOL!
I ended up taking pictures only of lunch! So here are the promised pictures.
Lunch at Beaches and Cream was fun, but it was also a bit disappointing. We went for the much hyped grilled cheese sandwich and tomato bisque soup. The sandwich was touted as having a six cheese blend on sourdough bread. I guess it did, but the filling was skimpy and didn't taste that great. The soup was made with a beef broth base, so we had french fries instead. All in all, a disappointment. The good thing was that they did have a sugar-free, fat-free vanilla ice cream. Mark was thrilled to eat that with his new crown and no pain from the cold! I had a Mickey sundae with the same ice cream. July is National Ice Cream month, so it all seemed appropriate.
The real hit was the concert. We had NO idea that the Disney cast members every put on something like this, but they have been doing it for ten years. We also grossly underestimated how truly spectacular it was going to be. There were about a 100 voices in the choir, a huge orchestra, dozens of energetic dancers, and a cast of about a dozen or more solo singers and actors. The story was loosely based on Alice in Wonderland and Dorothy in Oz. A little girl named Mary Anne was trying to build a machine that would wake her up from her dream and go home. She kept running into characters who were based on Wonderland characters. The story was VERY loosely related to the songs, but it didn't matter. The three hour show was just an amazing performance!! Best of all, the money was entirely for charity. Next year we will get tickets a lot sooner so we can sit together and have better seats. I had a slightly obstructed view of the chorus, which in no way affected the sound or the view of the action on the stage. Still, I like looking at the chorus! LOL!
I ended up taking pictures only of lunch! So here are the promised pictures.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
It's gonna be a Disney Day!
Mark and I felt FULL of Disney when we had Reuben visiting. After all, we went to the parks for six straight days in a row, but the last of those days was June 24. WHAT??? We haven't been in 27 days??
It's time!
Today we will have a very wonderful and special Disney day, full of things we have not done before. I just know some of you are thinking that we surely MUST have done it all by now, but NO! That's the beauty of Disney. There is just SO much to do, and they are always adding something new.
It will start off with the Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises at the Downtown Disney theater. (First, let me remark that it will be bittersweet today to do that because we will be thinking of and praying for the people in Aurora, Colorado.) After the movie, we are going to the Yacht and Beach Club to eat lunch at the little poolside restaurant called "Beaches and Cream." It's known for it's ice cream, which we have had a few times, but today we are going to have their special grilled cheese sandwich and tomato bisque soup. Yum. It's still National Ice Cream month, so I think we'll have that, too.
From there we can walk right into the World Showcase gate of Epcot to play the new Agent P game. This is an interactive game based on the Perry the Playtpus character from the Phineas and Ferb cartoon series. Agent P has recently replaced the Kim Possible game, so this is our first chance to try it out.
After that, we are going to take the boat over to Disney's Hollywood Studios. Our first stop will be for dinner at the Commissary, Asian salad bowl and sugar-free strawberry parfait. Then, tonight at 7:30 is the final performance of the Disney Encore Cast Performance of the show "Finding Wonderland," which showcases the musical talents of many of the Disney cast members. The cast members have been putting on a show annually for quite awhile to raise money for charity. This year's charity is the Better Life Pet Rescue. We never even knew about this cast member performance until this year. It's been going on for years and year, but we just found out! It's in the same indoor theater where Mark and Reuben went to the D23 event in June. Unfortunately, we waited so long to buy tickets that it was virtually sold out. Mark found two tickets together in the last row on the end with an obstructed view, but before he bought them they winked off the computer. Sold. Then he found two, one in front of the other in two different rows, but...same thing. Gone before he could click. Then we got virtually the last two tickets left, not anywhere near each other. Whatever! We will sit by ourselves, in separate areas of the theater, enjoy the performance, and talk about it later. At least we GOT in!
Tomorrow, I promise there will be pictures!
It's time!
Today we will have a very wonderful and special Disney day, full of things we have not done before. I just know some of you are thinking that we surely MUST have done it all by now, but NO! That's the beauty of Disney. There is just SO much to do, and they are always adding something new.
It will start off with the Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises at the Downtown Disney theater. (First, let me remark that it will be bittersweet today to do that because we will be thinking of and praying for the people in Aurora, Colorado.) After the movie, we are going to the Yacht and Beach Club to eat lunch at the little poolside restaurant called "Beaches and Cream." It's known for it's ice cream, which we have had a few times, but today we are going to have their special grilled cheese sandwich and tomato bisque soup. Yum. It's still National Ice Cream month, so I think we'll have that, too.
From there we can walk right into the World Showcase gate of Epcot to play the new Agent P game. This is an interactive game based on the Perry the Playtpus character from the Phineas and Ferb cartoon series. Agent P has recently replaced the Kim Possible game, so this is our first chance to try it out.
After that, we are going to take the boat over to Disney's Hollywood Studios. Our first stop will be for dinner at the Commissary, Asian salad bowl and sugar-free strawberry parfait. Then, tonight at 7:30 is the final performance of the Disney Encore Cast Performance of the show "Finding Wonderland," which showcases the musical talents of many of the Disney cast members. The cast members have been putting on a show annually for quite awhile to raise money for charity. This year's charity is the Better Life Pet Rescue. We never even knew about this cast member performance until this year. It's been going on for years and year, but we just found out! It's in the same indoor theater where Mark and Reuben went to the D23 event in June. Unfortunately, we waited so long to buy tickets that it was virtually sold out. Mark found two tickets together in the last row on the end with an obstructed view, but before he bought them they winked off the computer. Sold. Then he found two, one in front of the other in two different rows, but...same thing. Gone before he could click. Then we got virtually the last two tickets left, not anywhere near each other. Whatever! We will sit by ourselves, in separate areas of the theater, enjoy the performance, and talk about it later. At least we GOT in!
Tomorrow, I promise there will be pictures!
Friday, July 20, 2012
TGIF
I sat down to write a blog this morning and was stunned to find out that the last one was on Tuesday. It's Friday! How did that happen? Was I really that busy? I guess so. I didn't even do an official weigh-in Wednesday report. Hm...
Well, there's nothing else to be done now except play catch up for the last two days. Wednesday I weighed in at 257, same as Tuesday, which was fine. I had eaten the deli meat for lunch Tuesday, after all. Today I am down a few pounds to only 254. I'm pretty excited about that. I haven't really been trying too hard or exercising. There have been no long walks or trips to the gym yet. Wednesday's breakfast and dinner were my usual perfectly controlled meals at home, but lunch was a kosher hot dog and fries at the pool bar. Yummy, but stupid. Yesterday, I had a cosmo at the pool bar and then ate dinner out at Lakeside last night for the free wine. Dinner was a medium-sized piece of plain grilled salmon, steamed zucchini with onions and peppers, and wilted spinach in garlic and oil. That was very reasonable; however, I also had an ice cream sandwich at the movie last night (Safe House with Denzel Washington, very intense) and an entire container of Mt. Rainier cherries while watching TV. Still, I have no complaints. I think my body is still taking in less calories than many of the days up north. My breakfast and lunch yesterday were at home and normal.
Wednesday was just one of those very busy days. It started out with a morning trip to the radiation oncologist for my six month check up. It was fine! I am going to see him one more time in January, and at that point, barring anything turning up by then, I think he's going to say I don't need to check in with him anymore. I like him, but it will be a milestone to get released from his care in January! For some reason, they collected my $20 co-pay, gave me a receipt, and then came back and took back the receipt and returned the money. The receptionist said there was a note not to collect my co-pay? WTF? Why? I don't know. I bet I get a bill later from the billing office! It was weird, but I spent half that cash on lunch later!
I had that quick hot dog lunch out, not the best choice that day, before my gel manicure and pedicure because by the time I got out of the rad onc's office and took Mark to his comic book shop, there wasn't enough time to go home to eat before the salon appointment. I had not had my nails done in over three weeks, so they were in DIRE need! I enjoyed the two and a half hour visit to the salon. My nail/hair lady is a lot of fun to talk to. I've told several of you that she is French Canadian from about a half hour drive out of Quebec City. We talked about what to see if I go on a Canadian cruise. She recommended we go to the old city. She joked that she would give me a key and that I could take a cab to go check on her summer house! Mostly we talked about how sick her two cats are and how much money they have cost her recently. LOL! I told her she was reminding me why I don't have any pets anymore. When I came out of the salon, I met Mark at the pool for a quick dip before heading home to our usual Wednesday night dinner of shiritake spaghetti and salad (nice and low in calories). Then we headed over to the WDW area for a synagogue choir rehearsal.
There had not been a rehearsal in a month because of our company and our trip. I spent all day worrying about this rehearsal. I didn't know if anyone would show up or if they would remember anything. I also worried that there was going to be a raging storm to drive through. None of those worries materialized. The storm fizzled just after we left the house. Six people showed up and they remembered everything! It was a most productive rehearsal. Yay! There are only four more rehearsals with this fledgling group before the High Holidays. I think they might make it after all!
Yesterday I went to my cancer support group in the morning for the first time in about six weeks. There were no new people there, but it was great to catch up with the usuals. It's a lovely bunch of people. While I was at the support group, Mark was doing our weekly grocery shopping. We had our usual lunch at home, and then it was time to take Mark to the dentist. Anyone who knows Mark knows he HATES the dentist. This was his follow-up appointment to have the temporary crown removed and the permanent one installed. He had to have a small shot of Novocain to get the job done, but it went pretty smoothly. He's actually very happy about the crown because he had been having very bad pain for quite some time in that tooth. Now it's feeling great. After the dentist appointment, we went to the pool, the bar, the restaurant, and the movie, all of which I had mentioned earlier. It has been two busy, very good days.
Today is going to be a lot more relaxed, so it's the first morning that I can sit and write a blog. We plan to go pick up some tickets at the Solivita Lifestyles office for a dinner later in the month. We will shop for fresh fruits and veggies at the Farmer's Market at the Village at the same time. After lunch, our plan is to be at the pool until dinner time! Very low key! The heat is up and the rain chances are down. It's a nice Florida summer day. I hope everyone else is having a great day, too.
Well, there's nothing else to be done now except play catch up for the last two days. Wednesday I weighed in at 257, same as Tuesday, which was fine. I had eaten the deli meat for lunch Tuesday, after all. Today I am down a few pounds to only 254. I'm pretty excited about that. I haven't really been trying too hard or exercising. There have been no long walks or trips to the gym yet. Wednesday's breakfast and dinner were my usual perfectly controlled meals at home, but lunch was a kosher hot dog and fries at the pool bar. Yummy, but stupid. Yesterday, I had a cosmo at the pool bar and then ate dinner out at Lakeside last night for the free wine. Dinner was a medium-sized piece of plain grilled salmon, steamed zucchini with onions and peppers, and wilted spinach in garlic and oil. That was very reasonable; however, I also had an ice cream sandwich at the movie last night (Safe House with Denzel Washington, very intense) and an entire container of Mt. Rainier cherries while watching TV. Still, I have no complaints. I think my body is still taking in less calories than many of the days up north. My breakfast and lunch yesterday were at home and normal.
Wednesday was just one of those very busy days. It started out with a morning trip to the radiation oncologist for my six month check up. It was fine! I am going to see him one more time in January, and at that point, barring anything turning up by then, I think he's going to say I don't need to check in with him anymore. I like him, but it will be a milestone to get released from his care in January! For some reason, they collected my $20 co-pay, gave me a receipt, and then came back and took back the receipt and returned the money. The receptionist said there was a note not to collect my co-pay? WTF? Why? I don't know. I bet I get a bill later from the billing office! It was weird, but I spent half that cash on lunch later!
I had that quick hot dog lunch out, not the best choice that day, before my gel manicure and pedicure because by the time I got out of the rad onc's office and took Mark to his comic book shop, there wasn't enough time to go home to eat before the salon appointment. I had not had my nails done in over three weeks, so they were in DIRE need! I enjoyed the two and a half hour visit to the salon. My nail/hair lady is a lot of fun to talk to. I've told several of you that she is French Canadian from about a half hour drive out of Quebec City. We talked about what to see if I go on a Canadian cruise. She recommended we go to the old city. She joked that she would give me a key and that I could take a cab to go check on her summer house! Mostly we talked about how sick her two cats are and how much money they have cost her recently. LOL! I told her she was reminding me why I don't have any pets anymore. When I came out of the salon, I met Mark at the pool for a quick dip before heading home to our usual Wednesday night dinner of shiritake spaghetti and salad (nice and low in calories). Then we headed over to the WDW area for a synagogue choir rehearsal.
There had not been a rehearsal in a month because of our company and our trip. I spent all day worrying about this rehearsal. I didn't know if anyone would show up or if they would remember anything. I also worried that there was going to be a raging storm to drive through. None of those worries materialized. The storm fizzled just after we left the house. Six people showed up and they remembered everything! It was a most productive rehearsal. Yay! There are only four more rehearsals with this fledgling group before the High Holidays. I think they might make it after all!
Yesterday I went to my cancer support group in the morning for the first time in about six weeks. There were no new people there, but it was great to catch up with the usuals. It's a lovely bunch of people. While I was at the support group, Mark was doing our weekly grocery shopping. We had our usual lunch at home, and then it was time to take Mark to the dentist. Anyone who knows Mark knows he HATES the dentist. This was his follow-up appointment to have the temporary crown removed and the permanent one installed. He had to have a small shot of Novocain to get the job done, but it went pretty smoothly. He's actually very happy about the crown because he had been having very bad pain for quite some time in that tooth. Now it's feeling great. After the dentist appointment, we went to the pool, the bar, the restaurant, and the movie, all of which I had mentioned earlier. It has been two busy, very good days.
Today is going to be a lot more relaxed, so it's the first morning that I can sit and write a blog. We plan to go pick up some tickets at the Solivita Lifestyles office for a dinner later in the month. We will shop for fresh fruits and veggies at the Farmer's Market at the Village at the same time. After lunch, our plan is to be at the pool until dinner time! Very low key! The heat is up and the rain chances are down. It's a nice Florida summer day. I hope everyone else is having a great day, too.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Busy day
This was our first full day back at home. Wow! It really felt so great to be home.
I haven't written a blog since Saturday. Everything that day went exactly as I had predicted it. I had a great time playing Mah Jongg. I only won one game, but it was enough. We also had a wonderful time hanging out with Georganne, Rudy, Felix, and Phyllis.
On Sunday I decided to upgrade our auto train accommodations to a sleeper car. We took a sleeper car from DC to LA back in March of 2010, and it was wonderful. I didn't order it originally because it seemed so expensive, but today when I called they said it would only be $132 to upgrade. I decided that it was worth it, and then when we got there, it actually only cost $54! I have no idea WHY, but I plunked down the $54 quite happily. For that we got six complimentary bottles of water in our room, two BIG pillows EACH, a quiet and private room so we could watch our Disney movie out loud on my Kindle Fire, and an actual BED to sleep in. It was wonderful. The other perk is that the bathrooms in the sleeper cars are always cleaner because fewer people are using them. There's also one on the same level as the sleeper roomette, so no worrying about going downstairs in the middle of the night. I was very happy! I had packed my camera, so I didn't take any pictures, but I had taken a lot of pictures back in March. I included a few of those today just for fun.
When we got to Sanford, ours was one of the last 12 cars (out of 165) to come out, so we had over an hour wait. No problem. We didn't mind. We thought that the families who were running off to start a vacation should have their cars first anyway! Once we got home, we unloaded and unpacked, at lunch, and fell right to sleep! LOL! We thought we were well rested, but we both sacked out almost three hours in the afternoon. I guess all that vacationing was finally catching up to us. We had a lovely dinner at the Stonegate Grille and came home to watch the Orioles get WHIPPED by Minnesota.
Today we had our four month doctor visit for a check up. When I was there in March, my blood sugar was 100. That's just one point over the upper limit of 99, but I had never hit that before. I also weighed in that day at 264, not good. The new lady doctor fussed at me that day, which inspired me to try to lose weight. Of course, I got down to 245 and then all the company and the vacation put back a good bit of it. Nevertheless, I weighed 258 today, so that was a loss of six pounds in her records, so she was happy. Also my blood sugar (two weeks ago when the blood was drawn) was 98, normal. All my numbers were great. The cholesterol was the best it had been for the last several check ups. She had nothing to say except keep up the good work! YAY!!
Mark and I went to Clermont for lunch at the kosher restaurant, Cohen's, and to buy some fresh kosher ground beef. We each ordered a salad. Mark got a fried chicken Caesar salad and I got a Chef's salad, corned beef, turkey, and roast beef! I also got chicken corn chowder. So delicious. It's nearly an hour to get up there, but it's worth it. We shopped at Publix for a few days of supplies, and then came home to do little chores, like paying bills and balancing checkbooks and writing some cards.
It was a wonderful visit up north, but we are both so happy to be back to our own home and neighborhood. I just love Florida living!
I haven't written a blog since Saturday. Everything that day went exactly as I had predicted it. I had a great time playing Mah Jongg. I only won one game, but it was enough. We also had a wonderful time hanging out with Georganne, Rudy, Felix, and Phyllis.
On Sunday I decided to upgrade our auto train accommodations to a sleeper car. We took a sleeper car from DC to LA back in March of 2010, and it was wonderful. I didn't order it originally because it seemed so expensive, but today when I called they said it would only be $132 to upgrade. I decided that it was worth it, and then when we got there, it actually only cost $54! I have no idea WHY, but I plunked down the $54 quite happily. For that we got six complimentary bottles of water in our room, two BIG pillows EACH, a quiet and private room so we could watch our Disney movie out loud on my Kindle Fire, and an actual BED to sleep in. It was wonderful. The other perk is that the bathrooms in the sleeper cars are always cleaner because fewer people are using them. There's also one on the same level as the sleeper roomette, so no worrying about going downstairs in the middle of the night. I was very happy! I had packed my camera, so I didn't take any pictures, but I had taken a lot of pictures back in March. I included a few of those today just for fun.
When we got to Sanford, ours was one of the last 12 cars (out of 165) to come out, so we had over an hour wait. No problem. We didn't mind. We thought that the families who were running off to start a vacation should have their cars first anyway! Once we got home, we unloaded and unpacked, at lunch, and fell right to sleep! LOL! We thought we were well rested, but we both sacked out almost three hours in the afternoon. I guess all that vacationing was finally catching up to us. We had a lovely dinner at the Stonegate Grille and came home to watch the Orioles get WHIPPED by Minnesota.
Today we had our four month doctor visit for a check up. When I was there in March, my blood sugar was 100. That's just one point over the upper limit of 99, but I had never hit that before. I also weighed in that day at 264, not good. The new lady doctor fussed at me that day, which inspired me to try to lose weight. Of course, I got down to 245 and then all the company and the vacation put back a good bit of it. Nevertheless, I weighed 258 today, so that was a loss of six pounds in her records, so she was happy. Also my blood sugar (two weeks ago when the blood was drawn) was 98, normal. All my numbers were great. The cholesterol was the best it had been for the last several check ups. She had nothing to say except keep up the good work! YAY!!
It was a wonderful visit up north, but we are both so happy to be back to our own home and neighborhood. I just love Florida living!
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Lots of time on the road
Friday was an easy-going day, for the most part. Mark and I had breakfast with Cindy, our usual workday morning with her. Sometimes, I accidentally sleep in and find that she's gone to work already when I get up. I was determined not to let that happen yesterday since it was the last workday morning breakfast we could spend together until the trip up next May. Mark never misses! He sets his alarm, showers, and gets out of the bathroom early enough so as not to be in her way when she gets up. Then he gets downstairs so he can make her a cup of coffee when she comes down. He is so nice! They talk about everything under the sun, and sometimes they talk about things in the morning paper. Breakfast at Cindy's house is delightful.
After she left for work, Mark and I watched some TV and got ready to go to the movies. We went to see the new Amazing Spiderman movie in 3D. It was OK. I liked it well enough, especially because it had Emma Stone and Sally Fields in it. Sally Fields played Aunt May and Martin Sheen played Uncle Ben. Those performances made it worth the price of admission. Otherwise, it was just OK, but I'm glad I saw it.
I went back to the house and put the chicken and vegetables for dinner into the oven. My plan was to let it all bake about four hours. Mark stayed home to be sure the house didn't burn down from the oven being on, and it also worked well for letting Lowell in when he came after work. I left around 3:30 to go pick up Emily in Columbia. It was fun playing with Trillian for a few minutes when I got there, but the drive back was horrendous. There was no road going from Columbia to north Baltimore that wasn't just inching along because it was a Friday rush house and a home baseball game. My roundtrip took three hours! Crazy, but I had fun talking to Emily the whole way.
Cindy, Ken, Logan, and Kip were also there for dinner. What a fantastic night! I hated to see everybody go because I knew I would not see them again until May, unless some of them decide to fly south to see us. We will be back in May for Lowell's graduation from University of Baltimore. I have to admit that I felt sad when I hugged Lowell and Emily and said good bye. Logan and Kip were the next to leave. We had not seen Logan since Evey's wedding! Unbelievable. He is going to be a senior in high school next year and then on to Art School. What a talent! Cindy and Ken took off around 11 p.m., the last to leave. It was a great way to end our visit with the family by having a big dinner party.
Today is our last full day up in Maryland. We are going to synagogue, although we are getting a very late start! Then we will head to Frank's house to load the car with the boxes of Alice's Passover things that we flagged last Saturday. Annie is hosting Mah Jongg again, and eight of us will be playing. That's going to be great fun. The day will end with some pizza, schmoozing, and cruise excursion talk at Jen R's house. Georganne is babysitting Felix tonight, so Rudy, Phyllis, Mark, and I are hanging out with her. That will conclude our trip up north.
Tomorrow we will do last minute laundry, pack, and hit the road about 11 a.m. We only have to go to Lorton, VA to catch the auto train. If there is not a lot of traffic, and there shouldn't be on Sunday, I think it will not take longer than two hours to get there. Monday morning we will detrain in Sanford, FL around 9 a.m. , so we expect to pull into our driveway by 11 a.m. at the latest. I'm looking forward to taking the train home. It's so relaxing. I'm also looking forward to sleeping in my own bed Monday night. This trip has been very busy, full of wonderful activities and fantastic people, but after almost three weeks, it will also feel very good to get home.
After she left for work, Mark and I watched some TV and got ready to go to the movies. We went to see the new Amazing Spiderman movie in 3D. It was OK. I liked it well enough, especially because it had Emma Stone and Sally Fields in it. Sally Fields played Aunt May and Martin Sheen played Uncle Ben. Those performances made it worth the price of admission. Otherwise, it was just OK, but I'm glad I saw it.
I went back to the house and put the chicken and vegetables for dinner into the oven. My plan was to let it all bake about four hours. Mark stayed home to be sure the house didn't burn down from the oven being on, and it also worked well for letting Lowell in when he came after work. I left around 3:30 to go pick up Emily in Columbia. It was fun playing with Trillian for a few minutes when I got there, but the drive back was horrendous. There was no road going from Columbia to north Baltimore that wasn't just inching along because it was a Friday rush house and a home baseball game. My roundtrip took three hours! Crazy, but I had fun talking to Emily the whole way.
Cindy, Ken, Logan, and Kip were also there for dinner. What a fantastic night! I hated to see everybody go because I knew I would not see them again until May, unless some of them decide to fly south to see us. We will be back in May for Lowell's graduation from University of Baltimore. I have to admit that I felt sad when I hugged Lowell and Emily and said good bye. Logan and Kip were the next to leave. We had not seen Logan since Evey's wedding! Unbelievable. He is going to be a senior in high school next year and then on to Art School. What a talent! Cindy and Ken took off around 11 p.m., the last to leave. It was a great way to end our visit with the family by having a big dinner party.
Today is our last full day up in Maryland. We are going to synagogue, although we are getting a very late start! Then we will head to Frank's house to load the car with the boxes of Alice's Passover things that we flagged last Saturday. Annie is hosting Mah Jongg again, and eight of us will be playing. That's going to be great fun. The day will end with some pizza, schmoozing, and cruise excursion talk at Jen R's house. Georganne is babysitting Felix tonight, so Rudy, Phyllis, Mark, and I are hanging out with her. That will conclude our trip up north.
Tomorrow we will do last minute laundry, pack, and hit the road about 11 a.m. We only have to go to Lorton, VA to catch the auto train. If there is not a lot of traffic, and there shouldn't be on Sunday, I think it will not take longer than two hours to get there. Monday morning we will detrain in Sanford, FL around 9 a.m. , so we expect to pull into our driveway by 11 a.m. at the latest. I'm looking forward to taking the train home. It's so relaxing. I'm also looking forward to sleeping in my own bed Monday night. This trip has been very busy, full of wonderful activities and fantastic people, but after almost three weeks, it will also feel very good to get home.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Back from NJ and NY
I did not take the laptop up to NJ and NY, so there were no blogs for awhile. It's been a fantastic four days. We did everything we wanted to do: dinner Monday night at the Gaertner's, trip to the cemetery on Long Island and visit with Mark's cousins on Tuesday, trip into Manhattan with Leslie to see Newsies on Wednesday, and a drive back to MD with a visit to the new casino on Thursday.
My back has shown steady improvement and barely bothers me at all now. My cold is improving with just a little bit of snuffling, sneezing, and coughing hanging on. We ate SO much delicious food, both at the Gaertner's and in restaurants, that I thought for sure I would have gained a TON of weight. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my weight this morning was the same as last Thursday morning, 256. That's not a good weight, but to have remained the same for a week with so much eating out was pretty impressive to me.
Our northern trip is almost at an end. We will be getting on the auto train on Sunday afternoon and sleep in our own bed again on Monday night. I also want to get back to regular exercise and eating at home. Mark and I both feel like we really need to get back to our normal eating habits. There are four weeks at home before we head out west for a three week trip. My plan is to try to lose 10 pounds in that four week period, back to the mid-240s, before heading to Nevada and California. I'm sure I'll put them back on like I did on this trip, but at least I'm starting from the 240s and not the 250s. Once I get back to walking in the morning, doing weight machines at the gym, and tracking my calories around 1200 a day, I'm sure I can drop 10 pounds in four weeks.
Here are some pictures from the trip. Enjoy!
My back has shown steady improvement and barely bothers me at all now. My cold is improving with just a little bit of snuffling, sneezing, and coughing hanging on. We ate SO much delicious food, both at the Gaertner's and in restaurants, that I thought for sure I would have gained a TON of weight. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my weight this morning was the same as last Thursday morning, 256. That's not a good weight, but to have remained the same for a week with so much eating out was pretty impressive to me.
Our northern trip is almost at an end. We will be getting on the auto train on Sunday afternoon and sleep in our own bed again on Monday night. I also want to get back to regular exercise and eating at home. Mark and I both feel like we really need to get back to our normal eating habits. There are four weeks at home before we head out west for a three week trip. My plan is to try to lose 10 pounds in that four week period, back to the mid-240s, before heading to Nevada and California. I'm sure I'll put them back on like I did on this trip, but at least I'm starting from the 240s and not the 250s. Once I get back to walking in the morning, doing weight machines at the gym, and tracking my calories around 1200 a day, I'm sure I can drop 10 pounds in four weeks.
Here are some pictures from the trip. Enjoy!
Monday, July 9, 2012
Now on to the next phase...
Yesterday was great. Everything went as planned. The play at Theater J about Jerry Siegel was absolutely amazing, dark, but amazing. The creative use of staging, lighting, and flashbacks really gave an interesting take on the creation of Superman and how it impacted Siegel's whole life. What's really unbelievable is that this is only the second production of this play ever. In 2010 it premiered in Cincinnatti. As far as we know, there have been no other performances. It really deserves to have more exposure.
Today Mark and I are heading to NJ. We will spend three days at the Comfort Inn in East Brunswick, near Evey's in-law's house. Tonight Leslie has invited us to a cookout at her house, which will be fantastic. She even has easy access to kosher meat up there. Tuesday we are going to Long Island to visit the cemetery of Mark's parents and grandparents. We will also talk to the office about how to be sure we have proper paperwork to prove that we can be buried in the remaining two Silverstein plots. After that cemetery visit, we will be having a kosher Chinese lunch with Mark's cousin Arnie. Nice. The final part of the NY/NJ visit is a matinee performance of the Tony award winning musical Newsies. It's going to be AWESOME!
We will be back at Cindy's Thursday. I might even go to the new Arundel Mills casino that afternoon!
At least it's finally raining and cooler today. Yay! Everyone is happy that the temperatures are only going to be in the upper 80s this entire week. The temperatures up here have been making central Florida look cool!
Although we are having a great time visiting everyone, Mark's cold is still lingering, and he gave it to me on the Fourth of July. He is improving, but I'm deteriorating. So much sneezing and coughing, UGH. Last Tuesday I pulled my back doing absolutely nothing but getting up from a chair. It was particularly bad on July 4, but then it showed improvement every day until yesterday. Now this morning it's probably at its worst. I have no idea why, but sitting in some chairs and making the transition from sitting to standing is very painful. Once I'm up and walking there is no pain at all. Weird. Well, I'll just keep taking plenty of ibuprofen and hope it goes away again soon. The cold doesn't help because sneezing in a sitting position hurts the most. LOL!
Today Mark and I are heading to NJ. We will spend three days at the Comfort Inn in East Brunswick, near Evey's in-law's house. Tonight Leslie has invited us to a cookout at her house, which will be fantastic. She even has easy access to kosher meat up there. Tuesday we are going to Long Island to visit the cemetery of Mark's parents and grandparents. We will also talk to the office about how to be sure we have proper paperwork to prove that we can be buried in the remaining two Silverstein plots. After that cemetery visit, we will be having a kosher Chinese lunch with Mark's cousin Arnie. Nice. The final part of the NY/NJ visit is a matinee performance of the Tony award winning musical Newsies. It's going to be AWESOME!
We will be back at Cindy's Thursday. I might even go to the new Arundel Mills casino that afternoon!
At least it's finally raining and cooler today. Yay! Everyone is happy that the temperatures are only going to be in the upper 80s this entire week. The temperatures up here have been making central Florida look cool!
Although we are having a great time visiting everyone, Mark's cold is still lingering, and he gave it to me on the Fourth of July. He is improving, but I'm deteriorating. So much sneezing and coughing, UGH. Last Tuesday I pulled my back doing absolutely nothing but getting up from a chair. It was particularly bad on July 4, but then it showed improvement every day until yesterday. Now this morning it's probably at its worst. I have no idea why, but sitting in some chairs and making the transition from sitting to standing is very painful. Once I'm up and walking there is no pain at all. Weird. Well, I'll just keep taking plenty of ibuprofen and hope it goes away again soon. The cold doesn't help because sneezing in a sitting position hurts the most. LOL!
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