December chitchat

[Snuggles2]

Hi everyone,

I am home safe and sound from my trip to Michigan to see my sister and her family. We were gone from the Wednesday before Thanksgiving thru the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It was great seeing everyone after the covid restrictions. We have been back for over a week now and no one has come down with any sicknesses. I am very thankful for that. We ate, played games, talked and had a great time. It is just the perfect amount of time to be guests in someone else's house. Long enough to enjoy the stay but not too long as to feel like you are overstaying your welcome. The weather was perfect for the drive up and back. Sunny and not snowing or raining.

Since I have been back I have been finishing up decorating the inside of the house for Christmas. My Mom always made Christmas magical while she was alive. Her decorating was great and I remember as a kid being showered with gifts (money was tight then but I didn't know it). I have some of her decorations that she made and I think of her and my Dad while putting them up so decorating the house and Christmas trees is an enjoyable trip down memory lane. Why is it we don't appreciate things until they are gone? I would love to spend 5 more minutes with her and my Dad to tell them how much I love and appreciate them (that was a title of a Hallmark movie I recently watched).

Virginia, I am glad you enjoyed your family gathering. It sounds like you got to see family you hadn't seen in a while. I'm sorry not everyone was able to attend. What good food did you eat there?

Agate, I hope you get through your upcoming medical appointments without difficulty. I am almost through mine. I only have my tooth filling to get on Friday and then I can celebrate the doctor appointment season being over for me. I do have to make an appointment for blood tests and get the latest Covid booster shot. My neuro appointment went well last Wednesday. She is happy I am stable and that my mri's haven't changed. Her 'prescription' was to keep taking my vitamin D, keep walking and eat healthy. I go back in 6 months. She originally said she wanted to see me back in one year but changed her mind as she was talking. But she did move my mri's from yearly to every 2 years unless I have a problem.

Howie, It sounds like you have a sleep schedule like mine. Unpredictable. I stay up watching TV until 3 or 4 several nights a week. My late night show preference is Dateline. I record the shows that play heavily on the weekends and watch them when I cannot sleep. I had to be up early this morning for a dermatologist appointment but came home and took a 2 hour nap. I bet I have problems sleeping tonight!

I hope everyone is safe and warm.

[Howie]

Snuggles, my weekday TV ends after 4 X-files, then a Baywatch to end the night. Baywatch because I like to look at the....uh....beach!

[agate]

Snuggles, I'm glad that the trip went well and that you got back safely and in good health. I like that idea of a "doctor appointment season" that is over for a while and am hoping that I don't have very many more appointments coming up soon.

Since some here seem to crave exciting views, here's a Mauna Loa eruption photo. It's not every day that a volcano erupts.

[agate]

Virginia, I hope you haven't been affected by the power outages I've been hearing about. Very hard to be without power when it means being without heat during winter months.

[Howie]

No phone, no lights, no motor cars,
not a single luxury.
Like Robinson Caruso,
it's primitive as can be.

Gilligan's Island? Never heard of it.

I hate having no electricity. I walk into a room and hit the light switch, even though I know perfectly well I have no power. I lose power way too often, and sometimes it's out for hours. We are modern humans, and really count on our devices to make life livable.

[agate]

Are you saying you have no power now, Howie? Power outages are a huge problem for me too, whenever they happen. It's worse in the winter because the heat here is electric, and when it goes out, it gets cold around here very fast.

People over a certain age or with some chronic medical problems should be automatically exempt from power outages. I'm not sure how that could be possible but that's the way things should be.

[Howie]

Agate, I do have power now, but tis' the season. I too have all electric, so it gets cold fast when the power goes out. When that happens, it's nice to have a nice warm cat to bundle up with. They are warm little creatures.

[Snuggles2]

I spoke too soon about the end of the 'doctor appointment' season. I went onto my doctor's patient portal yesterday afternoon and found out that my mammogram I had on Friday showed a suspicious spot on each breast that they need to do further scans on. I called this morning and made an appointment for the further scans the week before Christmas. They indicated that appointment could be several hours long as they do their scans and look at the results and scan again if needed. Ugh. I had breast cancer in 2015 (lumpectomy, radiation, hormone treatment) and my mammograms have been clear since then. One of the spots is near the lumpectomy scar. I am trying not to panic but my mind keeps wandering to the worst thoughts. Justwhen I thought I was done with doctors for the year.

I hope everyone is having a better day than I am!

[agate]

Too bad, Snuggles! I understand your concern, what with your history of previous breast cancer. I hope they're just being extra-careful and will find nothing alarming. Having to spend hours having scans and waiting for results, just before Christmas, doesn't sound like fun at all. Maybe you can try not to let this ruin your holiday season and can put the whole matter on a back burner until you absolutely have to deal with it.

[Ikoiko]

Sorry about your mammogram, Suggles. I hope all works out well for you. I am in the middle of doctor’s appointment season as well.

I had a fine trip to Denver over Thanksgiving. Of course, lots of sleeping to recover.

Yesterday I went to luncheon for my boyfriend’s golf organization. It is nice to get out once in a while.

Virginia, I got my haircut last week for the first time since the pandemic! Got my eyebrows waxed also.

[agate]

Thanks for checking in, Ikoiko--and I'm glad that the Denver trip went well.

First haircut since the pandemic? I can understand that. The woman who came to this building to do haircuts wasn't coming during the pandemic and I resumed trimming my own hair. It's not the greatest haircut but professional haircutters don't get it right either.

[Ikoiko]

I have long hair that I usually wear in a ponytail, but now it is a bit too short to pull back. I am glad to get rid of all the damaged ends.

[Snuggles2]

Ikoiko, I thought I went a long time between haircuts during the pandemic as I went about 9 months between haircuts. I had shorter hair and bangs when the pandemic started but I grew it out during the pandemic and now it is one length without bangs and is several inches below my shoulders. I loved wearing it in a ponytail during the summer and I wear it in a ponytail sometimes now. It is much easier to take care of than when my hair was shorter. When it was shorter I had to wash and dry and style it everyday or I had the dreaded bedhead look. Now I wash it only 2 times a week. I tuck it in a shower cap the other times I shower and it takes less time to get ready in the morning. I keep debating getting it cut shorter but I love the ease of taking care of it when it is longer.

[agate]

Gee, Snuggles, I'd have thought long hair would always be harder to maintain--just because there's more of it. My daughter had a lot of hair and liked wearing it long--and getting the tangles out was quite a chore at times.

I myself couldn't grow long hair no matter how hard I tried and so don't really know.

[Howie]

Agate, why can't you grow long hair. For me it's easy. I just wear it in a ponytail. Even when I'm at home where no one but Sam can see me. I just never cut it but do trim my beard. I don't want to look like an old mountain hillbilly even if I am.