The "It's November Already!", edition.

Good Tuesday morning!  Last week a dear friend and her husband were in town to celebrate her birthday. We had a wonderful time together. It's always great when people contact us when they visit Las Vegas. We miss you!  And also this past week was the birthday of one of the nicest people I know. Ann Marie worked for me as one of my project managers, but she was just so much more. Brian and I still marvel how she just showed up at our house one day to see if she could help us pack for our move to Las Vegas. We honestly would not have made and progress had it not been for her. 

So when Brian runs errands I usually ride with him. I may or may not get out of th car. Yesterday we went to a grocery store to get some items (including a few honeycrisp apples. Yumm).  I waited in the car. The grocery store is under the approach for airplanes landing at McCarran Airport. I'll see commercial flights and private airplanes..lots of private jets coming into Vegas. Every now and then an armed forces plane approaches..both transports and jets(!). As a matter of fact the other day Dad and I noticed a giant propeller plane on the landing approach...lumbering through the the sky!  Lol. 

Anyway. I'm in the car watching planes approach for landing. It's nonstop traffic. Brian and I chuckle about people chomping at the bit to land to hurry up and hit the casinos. But this is what I noticed while I was waiting. To the west of the grocery store is a park. The park has its fair share of homeless people hanging out there. They park their grocery cart o' belongings by the fence that separates the park from the parking lot.  The people on the planes have no idea that they're flying over these homeless Las Vegas residents. And yes, the homeless population is large out here. Anyway it was just a sobering observation. 

November 2 marks the 4th (!) anniversary of me being rushed to the hospital because I couldn't breathe and then being  told my kidneys had failed. Can you believe it's been 4 years?  The average lifespan of people on dialysis is 5 years. It appears I'll be surpassing that milestone. It hasn't been all fun and games. As a matter of fact, right now I'm fighting blisters on my hands and fingers due to the porphyria cutanea tarda. And that happens when I get the iron injections...because I can't produce enough iron...which triggers the porphyria.  But since my kidneys are whack, I need iron injections.  Sigh. Yes. My nephrologist knows about the effect of the iron injections. And yes we try to put the injections off as long as possible, but it was time. I get tired when my iron reserves get low. So I just deal with the side effects. It'll normalize soon. 

All things considered I'm still doing ok. I'm back swimming. My skinned knee (and toes) are healing nicely. The blister on my toe finally did its thing and I can now wear normal shoes again. It's time for the manicure and pedicure but I'll wait another week for everything to clear up. No need to startle the nail tech with my gnarliness!!! 

Well. That's it for today. I was going to retell the events of the week of November 2, 2012. And I will on the next entry. It's interesting to read what I wrote 4 years ago versus what I remember now. Anyway. Enjoy your day. Take time to just observe and wonder at the world around you. Kiss and hug your loved ones. And have a wonderful day!