The "Thanksgiving Post Mortem", edition.

iPad shuffled to The Dells, "Stay in My Corner". Nice soothing start to the morning. The day after Thanksgiving, 5:09 AM. I arrive at the clinic at 4:40, the doors to the treatment area open at 4:45. Yay!! They've been opening the treatment area doors late. But not today!!  I'm hooked up before 5:00. I got my ice, the TV is on and set to closed caption.  Closed caption so I can have my music and read the the TV if something catches my attention.  Heh. And enjoying the few moments before yelling lady arrives.  

The Dramatics, "Door To Your Heart". The day after.  The aftermath. The post mortem of Thanksgiving. The conclusion of Thanksgiving Day?  A good time was held by all. The cooking schedule worked out very well. The most labor intensive was the potato salad. However, Brian was my sous chef and that made life so much easier.  All the vegetables were chopped and used as needed. Onion, celery and green pepper was used in the potato salad and the dressing. He also helped peeling the potatoes for the potato salad and the candied sweet potatoes. He peeled the eggs. And he boiled the shells for the macaroni and cheese. And Dad?  He snapped 4 pounds of green beans, got the ice and filled the water glasses!  

The Temptations, "Hey Girl I Like Your Style".  The potato salad was finished Tuesday evening. Wednesday, I took a nap after treatment. I wasn't as washed out.  It may have been adrenaline and anticipation. Anyway. I took a nap and we ventured out around 2:00.  I forgot to get a tablecloth and realized I needed boullion. We made a quick trip to Target. And also got some Moscato (yum) and toilet paper. You gotta get toilet paper when you're at Target.  Oh yeah. We picked up snack stuff for Dad and Carl. Earlier in the day, Dad snapped the green beans. While the green beans were cooking, I prepared the dressing and got that in the oven. After the dressing finished, Brian made his Chex mix going. House smelled good!!  Lol. 

Santana, "Black Magic Woman".  Got up Thursday morning. Put on the sweet potatoes. Watched the Lions. Megatron!!!  Joique Bell!!!  And listened to the announcers tell us how good Stafford is.  Enjoyed the win. Peeled the sweet potatoes. Candied them up. Had the apartment and hallway smelling like heaven.  Dad set up the living room for him and Carl. Dad picked him about 2 hours before dinner so they could chill. See photo below. Dad had champaign and Brian and I provided the snacks. They even absconded with some of the cheese for the macaroni and cheese.  Lol. 

Dinner was served at 4:00 on the dot and the cook and sous chef were not worn out!!  Hooray for planning. Except... I made way too much food. Lol.  I need to scale it waaaay down. We sent Carl  home with enough leftovers for several meals!  :-)   Another friend of Dad and Carl dropped by.  She had another dinner to attend, but she wanted some potato salad. And she lives in the building. Pauline,  Dad and Carl had a great time. I think I mentioned that the 3 of them are the lone survivors of a group of 25 retired couples that socialized together.  Pauline is 95, Carl is 92 and Dad is 88 7/12. Lol that's what he says. The three of them are still going strong and still quite active. Dad and Pauline still drive. 

Whitesnake, "Here I Go Again".  It was a wonderful day. It was my absolute pleasure to serve them. Brian drove Carl back home. We let Dad, Carl and Pauline enjoy their champaign. ;-)   Carl called and thanked us for the dinner. I told him to expect more invitations as we enjoyed his company. Yesterday was just a wonderful day. And yeah, we crashed afterward. Lol. 

 Signing off with Larry Graham and Graham Central Station,  "The Jam".  So the dialysis clinic is in a building across the street from a mall. It's actually on like the mall property or something. We get here at 4:40. AM. Sears parking lot is pretty full and I can see Macy's looks kinda full also. I've been told by the patients that the parking will overflow into the clinic parking lot by the time we got out.  And I leave around 8;45 AM. We'll see. I'll let you know Monday. And finally I'm not shopping today, Black Friday.  Then again I rarely did  before  my kidneys failed. And a mall is the last place I want to be after treatment. And finally, yelling lady is here, but she's hoarse. She's  still incredibly loud. Eh. 

Have a great weekend. And I'm gonna enjoy me some leftovers. I'm drooling now!!!  Lol. Photos of Carl, Pauline and Dad, Carl and Dad, Brian, Carl and Dad, and the dinner table before attacked it. Yeah I know, no photos of me. Eh. 

The "It's Thanksgiving!! Almost...."

Ipod shuffled to Earth, Wind and Fire, "That's The Way of the World". Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to it. I think it's because it's a time to celebrate and a time to be thankful. We'll have a traditional dinner with my small family and 2 close friends of Dad.  Dad will pick up Carl, who is 93. And Pauline, 95, who lives in the building will join us after she attends another dinner. ;-)   It is my absolute pleasure to serve them. Neither Carl nor Pauline have children. Brian, Shawn and I were adopted by them a long time ago. Lol. OMG. They'd slip my daughter $100 bills over the years. Often Lol. Imagine a 8 year old flush with cash. Lol.  Hey the local Las Vegas station just flashed a shot of Metro Airport..or should I say McNamara? <snicker>. 

Stevie Wonder, "Another Star". My dinner menu is solidified and cooking is planned.  Grocery shopping  happened on Saturday. Well, actually I started purchasing ingredients about 2 weeks ago.  Monday we got the mini ham and roasted turkey breast at Honey Baked Ham. 2 things about Honey Baked Ham. There was a line!  I didn't expect that. I thought that the line would start on Tuesday. That being said, the line moved quickly and I have seen it much longer. We usually go on Tuesday so it may have been more crowded yesterday and will be today. The 2nd thing is they had samples of roast turkey, smoked turkey and cranberry chutney. The chutney was delicious. And the smoked turkey was to die for. However I bought the roasted turkey.  I wasn't sure if my guests would have liked the smoked version. I will have it at Christmas dinner though!  

Guy, "Groove Me". 5:28 and yelling lady is here. I heard her over a cranked up Teddy Riley. :-(  Yesterday I fixed the potato salad. That was an all day event. We also went to Target. We needed 2 floor lamps, little snack bowls and snacks. Dad is going to pick up Carl a few hours early oh Thursday. They're gonna sit on the sofa watching football and a few glasses of wine.  I got them some nuts and Brian is making Chex Mix.  Now you ask, why do I need floor lamps?  Well since we've moved in we've been sort of remodeling the apartment.  Some things needed to be readjusted for me and Brian. Like placement of our computers. Also I wanted to open up the living room as a living space. It was a company/guest space. We moved out a lot of stuff. Well actually everything is gone except one floor lamp. So many floor lamps because there is no lighting in there.  I purchased a modular sofa with a chaise (!) and a sleeper sofa. I removed the sofa, love seat, coffee table, end tables and the big ass lamps. The room opened up and looks so different!!!  So anyway. That's the floor lamps. Lol. 

The Dramatics, "In The Rain".  I put the Thanksgiving decorations on the door. I bought some orange poinsettias. Orange!!  But I forgot the tablecloth. We'll get that today. I'll do the green beans and dressing today. Dad gets to snap the green beans!!!  It's coming together. And then on Monday I start the Christmas planning. Lol.  On the dialysis front, the clinic will be open on Thanksgiving. That doesn't have to happen. We have modified schedules for Christmas and New Years. It doesn't take any more effort for to do it for Thanksgiving. That really sucks for the patients and staff. Some staff will have a 12-16 hour day tomorrow. ;-(   

Signing out with Bruno Mars, "Uptown Funk", my new favorite song. I just need to play it until I tire of it. Lol. Saw him on Saturday Night Live with Mark Ronson and Mystikal. Lol. Brian and I were in bed and started dancing. Bruno and his group look like a funked  up 21st century version of Morris Day and the Time.  Photo of new sofa.  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. And yeah I'm niot shopping on Friday. Black Friday took on a whole meaning. Bah. Having trouble transferring photo. Instead here's a photo of my new dog. Yeah I can't have a real dog so this will have to do. I'm still trying to name her. Lol. 

The "Confessions of a Prime Rib Snob", edition.

Ipad shuffled to Jill Scott, "A Long Walk".  I am a prime rib snob. Or I should say I'm picky about prime rib.  How did this happen?  When did I admit to it?  As you know our 27th anniversary was Friday. I did have dialysis on Friday so Brian made reservations for dinner on Saturday at Lawry's, The Prime Rib. Yeah, I did feel out of sorts for most of Friday. Brian's scores huge points for considering the treatment day and after effects. Back to how I became a prime rib snob. 

Steely Dan, "Deacon Blues".  Years ago. I don't remember when, a group of my coworkers went to Las Vegas. A few of us wanted to have a meal at an upscale restaurant. Well, 5:26 and yelling lady is here...yelling. Anyway, it was decided we'd go to Emeril's Delmonico Steakhouse at The Venetian. Reservations were made and we'd meet there at whatever time. As Brian and I made our way to the restaurant, a coworker, Anthony, was headed that way also. He was with some guy we didn't know.  Anthony says, "Guess who I found?"  The guy was the Oracle Corp account rep for the City. The guy says Oracle will be taking us out to dinner. Oh cool. We knew it was going cost to eat there so we were prepared for sticker shock, but hey, the tab was being taken care of one of our vendors.  And yes, we actually did talk business. How fortuitous that 3 of the decision makers were there!!  

The Moments, "Not on the Outside". Old school basement music. ;-)  Long story short, we had the best prime rib I'd ever tasted. I mean that prime rib rib exceeded anything I'd ever had by leaps and bounds. Not to long after, I had prime rib at a buffet. OMG. That was the toughest piece of meat I'd ever encountered. Huge strands of meat trying to get stuck in my teeth. And it took forever to chew. Bleah. Lol. I was ruined. I now had standards or any kind of beef.  Of couse I was all over the Kobe Beef at the Bellagio.  Lol.  And I love walking into Morton's and getting assaulted by the aroma of the steaks. And Texas de Brazil. I think that's what prompted Brian to select Lawry's. We took Dad with us to Texas de Brazil in Septmber for Brian's birthday  and he loved it. They offered us the prime rib and it melted in your mouth. And as an aside, that particular slice of beef was medium. Rolled me right off of always ordering medium well. That slice of prime rib was the best I'd had since Emeril's. 

Nas and Chisette Michelle, "Can't Forget About You".  So now we're at Lawry's. The service was impeccable. I got a glass of the best Moscato I'd ever had. The server made a spinning salad at the table. Then here comes a guy with a giant silver cart full of prime rib.  The server asks what cut I want and the doneness and instructs the carver.  I get the traditional cut. The carver also serves a choice of mashed potato and creamed spinach and creamed corn from the big silver cart. Oh yeah, the carver was wearing a big ass medallion. Master carver. Lol.  Of course he was in his chef outfit including the hat. And he ladles the au jus on top of the cut. And we also have 2 types of horseradish and Lawry's salt and pepper on the table (don't need any of it). Tender and tasty. Lol. I'm salivating over the memory.  And yeah, I didn't finish anything. Lol. 

Johnny Kemp,  "Just Got Paid".  After dinner, the server brought us a pumpkin cake desert....for our anniversary. And calling it just pumpkin cake is doing this marvelous creation a disservice. Lol.  We had coffee. Heh. We couldn't even finish the SHARED desert. Lol. And I couldn't finish my coffee. I was able to finish about 2/3 of the prime rib. You know what's it's like when something is sooo good and you're just too full to go on and you look wistfully at what's left?  Yeah. They boxed it for me. :-)

The Spinners, "I'll Be Around". So there you have it. I'm a prime rib snob. That's not necessarily a good thing. Good prime rib is a budget buster. But then  again, I shouldn't be eating prime rib on a regular basis, so it remains a celebratory treat. I can live with that. 

Signing off with  New Edition, "If It Isn't Love".  Friday was a pretty good dialysis day. No BP spikes. The accesses stopped bleeding in a reasonable time ( no spurting when the tech peeked - lol. She can move pretty fast to get out of the line of fire (spurting blood). Yelling lady got sedated. And is so today.  I had the quarterly meeting with my care team. I brought Brian. I'm doing good and excitedly waiting for home hemo training. I've finished my Thanksgiving day shopping. Let the cooking commence!!!  Have a good Monday. :)  

The "Today We Celebrate 27 Years of Being Married", edition.

  Ipad shuffled to Al Green, "Love and Happiness". Honest it shuffled there all by itself. :)  Ah. I was thirsty this morning. I try not to drink much before I go to treatment. It adds to the dry weight. But after we weigh, we can get cups of ice and water. The ice is my vice of choice. Little cubes of soft (sort of) crunchy ice. Not thirsty anymore. So yeah. Brian and and I were married on November 21, 1987 at St. Cyprian Episcopal Church in Detroit on the corner of 28th and Milford.  We'd been meeting with the minister of the church, but he died. We got transferred to Bishop Mayson. Yep. An Episcopal bishop offiated at our wedding. Well yelling lady is in full force at 5:24. Home training cannot start soon enough. 3 patients have already transferred shift or day. Yes. The yelling is that bad and disruptive. 

Amel Larrieux,  "Get Up". Brian and I first met in the fall of 1983 at a party of a mutual friend. I was introduced to him in passing. The following January I was registering for a class at Wayne State. This guy comes up to me and asks if I remember him and we had met at the friend's party and introduced himself.  "Oh yeah. Nice to see you again. Bye". Lol. I was not impressed. But then he seemed to be in a lot places I'd go to on campus. One day I saw him near the library and realized he also saw me.   I have a blind friend, Nino, who had an office in the library. I was on my way to visit him.  I raced in to Nino's office, closed the door and explained I was trying to disappear from this guy. I told Nino that this guy seemed be wherever I was. Nino looked sympathetic as someone knocked on the door. Nino gives me an evil smile and hollers, "Come in". ;-(   Brian sticks his head and says he though he saw Pat come in here. Nino says yeah. She's here. Thanks friend. To this day, Nino claims he was a matchmaker. And yes, I still love Nino like crazy!!!  Lol. 

Cream, "Sunshine of Your Love".  Gotta love Clapton. Well, I wasn't meant to avoid Brian. We were taking the same computer class. Meeting him in the computer lab was inevitable. Then the smarty pants asked for help on a project. Long story short, he thanked me by taking me to a baseball game. Yep. A 1984 Tigers game. Hey, Eric Clapton completely drowns out yelling lady. The Tigers had a game the night before that gone into extra innings. A lot. Maybe it finished after 18 innings?  We went the game the next day and I had a really nice time. That summer we went to quite a few games. Hey. This Brian guy is really nice. But we remained just friends. He stayed in the friend zone for a looooong time. Lol. 

Mariah Carey, "Shake it Off".  We remained good friends through both us being employed by the City. He became a Detroit Police Officer. I worked in Police Communications. We actually trained at the Police academy at the same time. He invited me to his graduation from the academy in the fall of 1985 and I went. It was a pretty impressive ceremony. They had the new officers walk across the stage. I saw Brian in his police uniform. And it hit me. I was in love. :-/  I really didn't see that coming.  I kept it to myself.  

Beyonce, "Crazy in Love". Flash forward to early 1986. Brian played basketball on his precinct team. The games were in a gym at headquarters. Since I worked in the building I went to see him play during one of my breaks. I took a coworker with me. During a break, he and a teammate came over to say  hi and he introduced me as his girlfriend.  Lol. My friend snapped her head and looked at me in surprise. I looked back at her with surprise. Lolol. That was news to me!!!  Lol.  I've asked Brian when did he decide I was his girlfriend and when was he going to tell me? Anyway, after about a year after that, we got engaged..in January of 1987. The wedding took place November 21, 1987. Of course I left a lot out. But perhaps I'll tell it another day. ;-)

I've ordered Shawn's Thanksgiving dinner.  She's going to make potato salad for her contribution to where she's been invited for dinner.  Yes, the family potato salad recipe. Made by my grandfather, my mom, me and now my daughter.  <proud mom>. Lol. We could not not learn. We watched and helped to make the potato salad all our lives. We've learned by osmosis. Lol. 

Signing out with Michael Jackson, "Butterflies". Yeah, Brian still gives me butterflies <blush>. We're heading to Lawry's for Prime Rib on Saturday. And consider this. 2 years ago for our 25th anniversary, I was recovering from the near death event failure of my kidneys.  I couldn't even leave the house. :-(  Let's all live our lives to the fullest. We have no idea what tommorrow will bring. Make your life happy!!!  Have a wonderful weekend!!! 

Oh yeah. One day I'll go through the CDs with the wedding photos. These will have to do. 

The "A Gift to Shawn Got Me Thinking...", edition.

 The Spinners, "I'll Be Around".  5:15 and it's quiet. For now. Yelling lady usually rolls in around 5:30.  The doors to the treatment area open at 4:45.  When they opened and we (the patients) entered, some started yelling and imitating yelling lady. Apparently and not surpringly, the clinic manager got quite a few complaints. I vented online and got several numbers to call, such as the ESRD network.  We'll see how it goes today.  People were getting off early again on Monday. And other patients started yelling back and cursing loudly. I digress.

The Roots, "What They Do". The Tonight Show house band. Bet they never saw that coming!! WTG. Shawn is spending her holiday break with us in Las Vegas.  After Christmas her friend from New York will be visiting her here.  Accommodating both of them is no problem and Grampy says she can have access to his car. Well, I got my promotions from our "locals" casino.  One of the promotions was rooms for $19.00. I mentioned it to Shawn and ended up suggesting she and her friend could stay one night. Both agreed.  I also asked if they wanted to see the Cirque de Soleil Michael Jackson tribute at Mandalay Bay. Ugh. 5:27 and we're off to the races.  The yelling has begun. ;-(   Up goes the volume. If  you talk to me one day and I have trouble hearing, you'll know why.  I've digressed. Again. 

Pharrell, "Happy".  I started thinking why even drive to the strip. So I checked out rates at some of the hotels. There is a window of days after New Year and the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) that are ridiculously low. Jackpot!!!!  I gave her a list of hotels for them to select. When I was her age I'd love being on The Strip. And especially now. Vegas is gearing itself to attracting the younger, non-gambling crowd. The girls sound excited. 

Bread, "Making It With You". This process also got me thinking. My first trip to Las Vegas was in 1986. The Strip has changed quite a bit. The Excaliber, Luxor and Mandalay Bay weren't there. As a matter of fact, it was an empty lot until The Hacienda, where Redd Foxx played. The MGM wasn't the MGM, it was The Marina. When the MGM was built, they kept the shell ofthe Marina.  I can show you, if you wish. That whole cluster of City Center and TheCosmopolitan used to be souvenir shops and the Holiday Inn Casino. We were there when The Dunes was closing. We were playing blackjack.  The dealer would tell us his hand, which determined our bets.  We won a lot of games.  Lol. We were there when Treasure Island was being built. For some reason we spent almost 2 weeks there for one Christmas.  Treasure Island was under construction.  Treasure Island was built in modules. They'd lift entire sections of floors.  In 2 weeks, we saw Treasure Island grow 15 stories!!!  And we were there when some of the crosswalks were put up. Before that it would take 20 minutes to cross the strip because the pedestrians would not stop for the traffic lights. ;-(  I could go on. Lol

Signing off with  Terry Callier, "Ordinary Joe".  Well you've got my dialysis news....yelling lady.  She really is not self aware. I will get do not rescusitate orders. I do not want to be kept alive with no hope of getting better, not recognizing my loved ones. And leave my family with the burden of exorbitant medical costs. So they can watch me die. But don't worry. I'm not planning on dying soon. :-)  Have a great day. Stay warm and find some entrepurenial  kids to shovel the snow. :-)   Photos of Vegas around 1986. Check out Sigfried and Roy at the Frontier.  I found a Frontier matchbook with them on it. 

The "I'm a Resident of Las Vegas, But...", edition.

Ipad shuffled  to The Jackson 5, "Maybe Tommorrow".  I am a resident of Las Vegas, Nevada. And I embrace it. But it's not easy. I mean, it's easy to live here, but I'm not ...connected. I think that's the best term. Ok. You're saying, "Pat. I have no idea what you're talking about". That's fine because I'm going to try to articulate what I mean. I'm not necessarily a political animal, but I learned Civics when I was a kid. I always knew who were my elected officials. Well. Up until the last election for City Council. But in my defense, the seats were based on regions of the City. I knew my City, County and representatives, commissioner, judges, dog catchers, etc. I knew officials in other local cities and counties. Out here, not so much. I know the mayor. I know Sen. Harry Reid. Lol. But I don't know my congressman. I have no idea the name of the other senator. Council members?  Nope. And Brian asked how were we to learn the 99 judges they have. I actually think the number of judges exceeds 99.  Lol. Anyway, I'll get there.

The Jacksons, "Show You The Way To Go". Hey. It's the ipad shuffle, not me. Lol.  On the same note, I'm weaning myself from news from Detroit.  But I still follow the sports team. However, the games are rarely televised out here. But we sure do get a lot of Lakers and Clippers and Denver. Denver?  Shrug. Lol. The thing is I could never be a fan of the Lakers or even the Clippers. Off topic.  We pass the sports book for the old Las Vegas Hilton on Sunday mornings. The parking lot is packed. Every single game televised starting at 9AM until the very last game!!  I called it the church of sports.  

The Dells, "The Love We Had (Stays on My Mind)."  We are trying to get involved. But we've been here only 3, almost 4 months.  Seems longer, doesn't it?  :-D   Yikes!!! Yelling lady is here and her lungs are strong this morning. Gonna be a long 3 hours. :-(  Well guess what Brian did this weekend?  He ran a 5K Saturday night.  Yes, I said Saturday night. It was the first event of the Las Vegas Rock and Roll Marathon.  The run wasn't to far from where we live. I thought if he drove, the distance he'd walk to get to the starting line might be the same as waking from the condo!  lol.  The route started behind the SLS, went past the Westgate (The old Las Vegas Hilton), down a street which took them onto The Strip and back to where they started.  And yes, I've got pics!!  And I'm really proud of him. <3. 

The Stylistics, "You Make Me Feel Brand New".  The marathon and the rest of the races were run on Sunday night. A marathon, a half marathon, and a half of a half marathon. The streets started closing around 2PM for the 6PM start time. Here's the thing. The Strip, Las Vegas Blvd, was closed from Sunset, which borders the south of the airport, all the way to Fremont street downtown. That made it just about impossible to go from the east side to the west side and vice versa. Pedestrians on the strip have the walkways, but vehicles would have to go crazy out of the way.  I thought it was kinda cool for the runners having the strip to themselves at night. 

The Doobie Brothers, "Black Water".  On a final note, we finally had to turn the heat on yesterday. The temps stayed in the 50s and it was in the high 30s on the way to treatment this morning.  Brian and I chuckled when we saw a news segment about cold car care. It was the tips we got for when the weather hit the 20s. And the people were warned to not take their grills inside to warm up the house.  O.K.

Signing off with Bobby Womack, "California Dreaming".  I pulled out my jacket and some sweaters. Oh yeah. I had a reasonable facsimile of Hudson's Maurice Salad waiting for him for after his 5K. And got a medal!!  Enjoy your Monday.  And stay warm. :)

The "I'm Just Trying to Get to Thanksgiving", edition.

Ipod shuffled to Marvin Gaye, "What's Going On".   Christmas been creeping up since September. We saw decorations in the stores even then. It ramped up after Halloween. And now it's in full force. Except we haven't celebrated Thanksgiving yet. But I was in Macy's last week and they had another one of their ridiculous sales.  I bought a few gifts for Shawn. But she's my baby. I can't help it. Brian also showed me a few watches he liked (drooled over).  And I showed him some jewelry I liked. But still.  Lol. 

The Temptations, " I Wish it Would Rain".  I already mentioned I'm going to send a Honey Baked Ham dinner to Shawn. Well not a ham. She prefers the turkey breast.  And it comes with 2 sides. I was going to send a ham also but she claimed that that would be too much for her and her roommate. I think there's never too much. Lol. But I'll respect her wishes. :-)  She also mentioned that she and her friends will have a potluck or something since none of them are traveling "home" for Thanksgiving.  Oh and yeah, I've already purchased her round trip ticket out here for Christmas. I like to get that out of the way before prices spike.  Ignore the fact that I'm whining about Christmas being pushed on me before I'm ready and yet I'm already planning and purchasing. Shhhh.  

Lakeside, "Fantastic Voyage". Funk!!  I've planned my Thanksgiving dinner.  I asked Dad to invite his friend Carl. Dad and Mom and Carl and his wife were very good friends. Carl's wife died about 2 weeks after Mom.  So now once a month Dad and Carl get together. Carl is in an independent living or something center.  The center was able to provide the services his wife needed, but allowed Carl to still be independent.  Anyway. It's a full service place. Carl accepted the invitation.  I'm sure Mom would have wanted me to extend the invitation to Carl. And it's my pleasure. Brian or Dad will pick him up on Thanksgiving day. I'm also waiting for him to let me know what special dish I can make for him.  My menu?  I'll buy Honey Baked ham and a smoke turkey breast. I'll make potato salad, sausage dressing, gravy, macaroni and cheese, candied yams and fresh green beans. There will also be cranberry sauce. Dessert will be pumpkin pie (courtesy of Boulder Station Casino - lol), Apple pie and ice cream.  Yes. I know. It's a lot for four people. I plan on sending some home with Carl. Everyone needs leftovers!!!

James Brown, "Cold Sweat, Pt1".  Hey. I saw a video of James Brown singing "It's a Man's World" with Pavarotti.  Amazing!!  Pavarotti sang in opera style, in italian. Back to Thanksgiving.   Now all this takes planning. It take extra planning to work around my dialysis schedule. Here's the thing. At my treatment center in Detroit, we had a holiday schedule. The week of Thanksgiving, instead of MWF, I'd go Sunday, Tuesday, Friday. That schedule would allow me to get a lot done on Wednesday. But at this clinic, there is no special schedule. Yes. There are folk who'll dialyze on Thanksgiving day. :-(   Anyway. I'll do the potato salad and green beans on Tuesday. Candied sweet potatoes on Wednesday and the rest on Thursday. I think this will work.  And as always, Brian, my sous chef, will assist. <3.  Wednesday will be a crap shot. Not sure how I'll feel after treatment, but I think I can get the dish done at least by the evening. 

Kool Moe Dee, "Wild, Wild West".  I want to get a floral arrangement and a door decoration. Make the apartment look festive, but appropriate for the holiday.  Oh and I got Bath and Bodyworks Wallflowers. Smells sooooo good. I placed one in the hallway outside the apartment near our door. Lol. A treat for the nearby residents. :)  Smells like vanilla. 

Signing off with Vanessa Williams, "Dreamin'". The weather out here is still mild. I'm marveling that we're in the 70s and Denver is frigid. It's really not that far from here. And it's even warmer south of Vegas, in Laughlin.  And a note to my cousins....still haven't baked a turkey!!!!  Lol. How about you?  Have a great weekend. Stay warm if you're somewhere cold. And yeah, I'm ecstatic that I'm not. ;-). 

 

The "Wonderful Wednesday", edition.

Ipod shuffled to Tamia, "You Put a Move on My Heart".  Well, hopefully it'll be a wonderful Wednesday. Tuesday was pretty good. Monday was fairly ok also. My tech is on vacation. The techs here appear to be more stressed than in Detroit but I have my theories. The biggest difference is the for profit aspect of the dialysis center here. The idea of making a profit and time saving efficiencies vs patient care are quite obvious here. I'm still in the queue got home hemo training. Life should be a lot better when it starts. 

Roy Ayers, "You Send Me".  Let's backtrack to Monday. I have a substitute tech. He is not a stranger to me. Techs go to him for advice, assistance or call for him when they have a questionable stick or for problem solving. Patients sometimes ask for him. He can solve the problem. And he wore a fireman uniform for Halloween. :-)  Boots, pants and all. Under that hot protective gear.  And yes, he nailed my not as super special as they had been accesses. ;-)   My session went fine until he took my standing blood pressure. Here we go again. Actually just before my time was up, I felt the warm flush. My ears get hot. But my sitting BP was normal. But standing, it dipped to 94/65. :-(  He wanted the top number to be over 100.  And then I needed to sit for a few minutes. When the standing BP was taken it normalized. I'm good with catching the BP while it drops to prevent the full on crash. I hate that feeling of knowing I'm on the way to losing consciousness. A week or so ago, my tech saw the drop as it was occurring and immediately gave me a hit of saline. Anyway that was lowlight of Monday. The rest of the day was fine. 

Steve Miller Band, "Jet Airliner". Tuesday was Veterans Day. My dad served in the Navy in the South Pacific. I have to find the photograph of him in a tropical paradise with a parrot on his shoulder. Lol. He mentioned he enlisted when he was 18 and that had been 70 years ago. The he chuckled about trying to remember that far back. He also said that the church honored its veterans and asked them to stand. He was the oldest vet and the only one from WWII. Remember. He's 88 1/2. And he won't let me forget the 1/2.  :-D  I did post a photo of my handsome nephew in front of a tank on Facebook yesterday.  He's in the army.  I'm very proud of him. Lol. I'm proud of all of my nephews. 

The Five a Heartbeats, "Nothing But Love". Lol. One of the best scenes in the movie. Eddie King, Jr. and Choirboy.  So you know that I've been whining about not having Westborn out here. Well I kept seeing a commercial about a market that has been voted the best grocery store in Vegas for the last 3 years.  But I'd never seen it during our explorations.  I googled it. I had to pull up a full map. I was familiar with the cross streets, but sure enough we'd never been in that area! The Southwest. And there is only one. Not a chain. 

Mark Ronson featuring Lily Allen,  "Oh My God".  So after we worked out ( It was legs and glutes day and I whined on the treadmill but I'm still increasing my time and pace...I digress), we headed to the store, Glazier's market. It was a nice little drive and route had a lot of new development. And in Las Vegas fashion, the road went from 4 lanes to 2 lanes with desert encroaching to 6 lanes...rinse, wash, repeat. We finally got to an area that was quite populated and found the store.  It was beautiful!!  It was huge!!!  We ran into a grocery store quite similar in Springfield, Illinois. It had everything. Cheese department, bakery, ready to eat foods, a sausage counter (they make their own sausage). A restaurant with a piano and an extensive wine area. They even had seafood stock!!!  <3  I'm a happy Pat!!  Yeah it's out there, but that's fine. The drive is worth it!!!

Signing out with The Doors, "Light My Fire".  I am enjoying the workouts. I guess I've been physical most of my life. Involved in sports, basketball, softball, bowling, golf, riding dirt bikes, swimming,  coaching.  I'd never like exercising. Running was the most boring thing ever. But the treadmill?  I love it. Lol. And the weight machines just seem to be a challenge I need to beat. I've increased weights and reps on most. Some machines are more challenging, but I'm going to beat them!!! Rawr! !!!!!  Lol.  You got  my dialysis angle today so I'm out of here!!    Let's have a wonderful Wednesday!!!  

The "The Holiday Season Officially Starts 11/11", edition.

Norman Collins,  "You Are My Starship".  Well. Another week at dialysis. A routine that never ends. A job from which there is no vacation. No complaints. What do I mean when I state the holiday season starts 11/11?  Heh, when I worked, the season started on Election Day....in years when there were elections. Election Day is a paid holiday. The work schedule went as follows. Those of us who worked with any facet of Public Safety were quite busy the last 3 days of October...Angels Night in Detroit.  The hours for many were from 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM. Command centers, patrolling, reporting, being on call for any technical issues. By November 1st we were a bit worn out. But Election Day is right around the corner. Day off. Yay!  

Mary J. Blige, "All That I Can Say". After Election Day comes Veterans Day. Another paid holiday. And my mom's birthday. If Veterans Day fell on Tuesday, it wasn't unusual for people to take off that Monday.  Of course the Monday before Election Day was fair game also. 2 consecutive 4 day weekends!!  Then here comes my wedding anniversary on November 21. Followed by Thanksgiving!!  December 12 is the kid's birthday, December 17 is my birthday. Here comes Christmas Eve, which is also the date of my parent's anniversary. Then Christmas, New Years Eve, New Years Day. And whew!!!  That's the holiday season. Insert more birthdays of my nieces and nephews and we're into the 2nd week of January!!!  My mother in law had parties from August through January for the kids, kids spouses and all of the 9 grandchildren. Lol. 

Common, "I Want You".  Anyway. For me, the season starts November 11. My mother's birthday. She would have been 90 this year. I miss her very much. I hate that she was confined to a bed and dementia stole her last year of life. She didn't deserve that. But she lived a wonderful life up until that time. She believed in giving and giving back. And she made sure I got that message. :)  I miss her. A lot. But I smile when I think of her. I know she loved me. A lot. So even though she's not here, November 11 will always be the start of the holidays. A joyous and wonderful season. :)

On another note with a questionable tie in to dialysis...my cell phone died. Imagine it clutching it's keyboard and gasping for breath and going out cursing me with its last breath!  Ugh. Yelling lady is here. I've got the volume cranked up to just about as loud as you can with over the ear headphones and I can still hear her. :(  And she's on the other side of the room. She's not really cognizant of much, except she's doesn't want to be here. I think I'll write about quality of life soon. 

 Heart, "Crazy on You". So back to the cell phone. It died. And it wouldn't take a charge. Gah. I have to turn the volume down. I'll go deaf. I have a no win situation here. ;-(  The cell phone IS my lifeline. Lol. I had to tamp down my panic. Fortunately the Sprint store is nearby. Long story short, I killed my phone by charging it too long..over time. I admit I was told not to charge overnight. But it was so convenient. *Sigh*. Lesson learned.  I got a new phone.  Sprint said it was time to get a new phone anyway. I know have a jumbo Galaxy 5. The phones get bigger and bigger. With more useless junk preloaded. :-/   (But I got a new phone!!! Whee!! Feeling giddy!!! New toy!!!!). Ahem.  Dialysis angle??  I could have miss that call for a new kidney.  I don't know when the phone died. It was working at 8AM  at 1PM it was blank. Got new phone up and running around 4PM. Yikes!!!  Anyway. Not charging over night. I learned that lesson!  

Signing off with The Dramatics, "Ocean of Thoughts and Dreams".  Celebrate your veterans tommorrow. Give them a thank you, a hug and a kiss.  They are proud of their service to their country and rightfully so. Have a wonderful day!! 

The "Wow! That's Close. Or Not", edition.

John Legend, "Save Room".  First things first. I told you about the elderly lady who yells nonstop during treatment. She's a frail little thing. I think she has dementia. Not only does she yell nonstop, she's loud. Really loud. And she's yelling from the moment she's hooked up and is still yelling when I leave. I catch about 3 hours of the yelling.  The headphones with music cranked up only muffles the yelling. Yes. It's that loud. This our 2nd week of this. Apparently on Wednesday a lot of patients, including me, had had enough.  Most of the patients complained to management. Quite a few patients cut their treatment short because of the yelling.  I had a long talk with the manager.  The clinic is cannot turn away patients. I get that. But to have 35 people suffer because of the one?  Surely you can accommodate all of us without subjecting us to the yelling. Dialysis is stressful enough without additional stressors. The blood pressures of patients were elevated.  I had a headache coming off the machine, not due to treatment. Anyway. We'll see how it's handled today.

The Isleys, "Twist and Shout".  Copied by The Beatles.  So what do I mean by close. I dunno. Terminology got me.  What's close?  What's nearby?  Well the condo is close to the convention center.   Lol. That can be confusing. The convention center is huge. Huge!  We're less than a 1/2 mile from the southern end. It's not an issue. It just is. Until a massive convention comes. And there has been a massive convention this week. All week. When cars are parked across the street from the condo, that's a large convention. How many attendees?  Oh, 100,000+.  And yeah, it's only a real problem twice a day.  Traffic on the main access street to the condo comes to a standstill between 4:30PM to 6:00PM. The convention lets out a rush hour.  Huge buses, shuttle vans, taxicabs.  And let's add road construction to the mix. And the other day there was an injury traffic accident in the street.  We run our errands and make sure we're back home by 4:00. Lol. 

Carole King, "It's Too Late".  What else is close?  We're about 3 miles from the airport. We are just west of the southern approach. It's not used all the time. And it's pretty cool if you like watching planes. Which I do. It's especially cool at dusk and the evening. You can see the lights of the planes as they clear the mountains preparing for landing for all runway approaches.  You can see planes lined up in the eastern sky. The planes look like they're headed for the condo the turn right and don't go over the condo.  We were on that flight path returning from Denver.  I had fun knowing exactly where I was while in the air. The turn actually happens about 1/2 mile from the condo, we dipped left over Boulevard Mall and flew over the  Vons Supermaket. Lol. Also, if you're driving on Tropicana near Paradise or Eastern near Sunset, it looks like the planes may land on you!!!  I'm not used to it, but it's always a thrill!!!  

Jackson  5, "The Love You Save". I always the urge to imitate the dance they did when the performed this song!  Lol.  Oh yeah, I forgot to mention one of the east-west runways is being repaired into the next year, the north-south runways will be used more. It really hit home yesterday. We were at the Town Square Mall. Which is a few miles south of us, south of the airport, but close to the airport. Very close. And the mall is apparently is on the landing route. A plane flew over us. We were startled at how low it was, with it's landing gear down. It looked like it just skimmed over the top of the stores!!!! 

The Main Ingredient, "Happiness Is Just Around The Bend".  On Saturday, I attended sorority meeting. I had to look up the address.  It was in Henderson. Which is not close. But this  was ridiculous. I drove south in Las Vegas Blvd until it was a 2 lane highway. Dad said I was almost at the California-Nevada border. Lol. And we went to the Red Rock Resort for brunch a few weeks ago. I can see it when we're on the Desert Inn overpass. But it's not close. It's easily a half hour to 45 minute ride.  We think places are close and they are not. We're still trying to find the best routes. Places like DSW Shoe Warehouse are far away.  :-(  We make do. And are still having fun exploring. And oh yeah. There's much, much more to Las Vegas beside casinos. (But there's things I miss that just aren't here). 

Signing off with The Main Ingredient, "Goodbye My Love".  This highlights Cuba Gooding's voice. :)   The workouts are getting better. I'm not a fan of the ab exercises, I do them, with plenty of whining. Lol.  The weekend is going to be in the high 70s and I'm loving every minute of it!  Have a wonderful weekend. :-)

The "We're Finding Our Groove", edition.

iPad shuffled to Marvin Gaye,  "What's Going On".  One of my favorite albums.  The lyrics are just as relevant today as they were when the song was released in 1971.   44 years.  "War is not the answer". "Don't punish me with brutality".  We've started to get into routines. Of course Monday's, Wednesday's and Fridays are pretty set.  Wake up at 4:00 AM, wash up, brush teeth, eat 1/2 bagel, sip some coffee, take meds, pack dialysis bag and head off to dialysis. I'll arrive at the clinic before the doors open at 4:45...most of the time. ;-)  The last 2 days I walked into the clinic just as the doors to the treatment area opened. I am on the machine on or before 5:00 AM. I dialyze for the next 3 1/2 hours. And yes, by 8:15 I'm watching the clock. I usually finish around 8:45 barring any low pressure drops. {shudder}.  

The Isley Brothers,  "Make Me Say It Again, Pts 1 & 2". I asked this before..what's the deal with the Isleys and 2 part songs?  And how do I differentiate between the parts?  Seriously.  Anyway. Does the song bring back memories?  ;-)  That's our routine. Brian wakes up, makes coffee and the bagel and drives me to treatment. Every, Single. Time. I can drive myself, but he insists. <3. After he drops me off, he may head to the gym, or back to the apartment. He may walk around the condo grounds, do chores, or take a nap. After all, he woke up at 4;00 AM. Let's think about that. He wakes up with me on my treatment days at 4 in the morning to take me to treatment.  And he's back to pick me up 4 hours later.   "What a mighty fine man!"  

Will Downing, "I Try". After treatment we go to breakfast. We rotate between Mary's Hash House, the Omelet House, Blueberry Hill.  We go to IHOP or the Egg and I if we find coupons. But I wouldn't mind the Egg and I being in our regular rotation. However, Mary's Hash House is my favorite. And yes, her hash is fantastic. She makes her own jellies (homemade apple butter, jalapeno jelly just to name a few) , her own spicy ketchup, chipotle sauce and habenero  sauce, fresh made cinnamon rolls and homemade sausage. And daily specials. After breakfast I'm ready to go home and recover from treatment. I'm not real interested in doing too much for the rest of the day.  Some days are better than others. I may go out, but no real activity. So that's pretty much Monday Wednesday and Friday. But wait. What about Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday?  

Phyllis Hyman, "When You Get  Right Down to It".  We started painting yesterday. The class is in the afternoon. But we usually go to the gym around 2-2:30. Well not now. We got there around 9:30.  The work out is just under 1 1/2 hours..for now. The time is still increasing as we get used to working out. After working out, we come home, eat a light mid morning meal, do chores, maybe I'll take a short nap. Then it's time to head for painting. 2 1/2 class. That's a workout in itself. Lol. Get home fix dinner. That's a full day. 

Stevie Wonder, "Go Home".  We're filling our days with more activities.   Settling in, if you will.  And enjoying life.  This is a continuation of normalizing life after my kidneys failed. Brian pushes me and that's fine. He's played a huge role in my recovery and my attitude. He doesn't like invitations to my pity parties so he won't let me have the pity party to begin with. lol. ;-(     :-D  Anf finally, for whatever reason, life feels so much more relaxed out here.  I don't know why, but that works for me.  

Signing off with Mary J. Blige, "My Life". We're wearing jackets now. At one point Detroit was warmer than Las Vegas,   However, that's not the norm. Hahaha. Sorry!  It's hump day.  Make it a good day!!!

The "Happy Anniversary! Living Without Kidneys", edition.

Jackson 5, "Never Can Say Goodbye".  This is pleasant song to start the week. One of the few songs I learned to play on the piano that was not classical. And this arrangement is nice. I like how the flute weaves through the song. And the brothers harmonize nicely behind Michael.  Well. 2 years ago today I was in ICU. Apparently fighting for my life. Rushed to the hospital the afternoon of November 2, 2012 because I couldn't breathe...pulmonary edema. Wishing that on no one ever.  I have no memory of anything that happened after I got to ICU.  Maybe around 5PM?  I'll have to check with Brian.  November 3, 2012 was. Saturday. I woke up feeling better.   I don't remember a catheter was inserted in my groin...not to be confused with a Foley catheter for urine, although I had one of those, too.  Two catheters between my legs!!  Woot. Not. Lol. And I had a hemodialysis treatment. I don't remember any of that!!!  I had an additional treatment later that day. And I did feel so much better.

George S Clintoton, "Atomic Dog".  Monday morning party over here!  So it's been 2 years since I started treatment. And I know this. I do remember how awful I felt before dialysis. If your kidneys fail, you start dying. Your body can't get rid of waste and toxins. And fluid starts to accumulate in your body.  It could be in your ankles, your face. For me it was my lungs. Ugh. Anyway. My point is dialysis saved my life.  

Heatwave,  "The Groove Line".  So after 2 years I think I've learned to live pretty ok with kidney failure. Like many of you ..or not...I had no clue of what kidney failure was or what it did to the body. I absolutely had no idea how vital having healthy kidneys are.  Once your kidneys are gone that's it. There is no cure. None. Only treatments. A kidney transplant is not a cure. All it is, is using the kidney of someone else. Granted it's the optimal treatment (most of the time), but it is not a cure. All I can do is select the treatment that is best for me. I've repeated before that for people who don't have kidney disease, the kidneys work constantly..24/7. My artificial kidney 3.5 hours a day...3 days a week. I have watch my intake of fluids and foods for even dialysis to work. Other treatments include peritoneal dialysis and home hemodialysis and nocturnal dialysis. Heh. This is the it's time I've brought up nocturnal. I'll explain another day. 

Ernesto Lecuona, "Malagueña".   My point is I'm not doing too bad. I get that I have many limitations, but there is still quite a bit I can do. And I do a lot!  On average people last 5 years on dialysis. So theoretically I have 3 years to go. Well that's average. I have too many things to do and 3 years is just not enough time. Or in the words of Sweet Brown, "ain't nobody got time for that". :-D  I had to listen Malguena again. I can't believe that I played that song on the piano. Well yeah I can. At the time I knew I kicked much ass when i played.  It used all 88 keys on the piano. I had to move and almost stand up. Lol   Just don't ask me to play it now. That was one of my recital pieces when I was a senior in high school.  And as well as I played, my cousin was even better!!! I've digressed. 

 Dr. Dre,  "Let Me Ride"   So the volume on my headphones are on really loud and when this started I needed to lower it. Why is the volume so high?  The yelling lady came in early..with no sedation. There's a constant , "TAKE ME OFF", "STOP", "I WANT GET OFF", "TAKE ME HOME" and other things I can't make out. She's really loud. LOUD. LOUD.  The music can temper her for the most part. I can still herar her. The patients are not happy. First shift patients want their naps. And it's not happening because she's yelling for the entirety of her treatment. *sigh*. I'm thinking that the clinic needs to really address this.  Eh. One of the downsides of incenter dialysis. I've digressed again. 

Anyway. 2 years. I'm doing pretty good. Actually a lot of days I'm doing great. I'm working out.  I've started the process of reactivating my sorority membership out here. Our painting classes start this week. I'm thinking about starting a line dance class to learn the many versions of the hustle which I've never gotten...clumsy me. :-)  So I'm kinda looking at this as the anniversary of getting my life back. The months preceding dialysis I was dying.  BD and AD. After dialysis (AD) is a good thing!!

Signing off with Parliament, "Up For the Down Stroke". Let's party here. It's never to late to jam with Parliament. Chair dancing as I end the blog!!  Have a great day!!!