The "Channeling James Brown..Sort Of", edition.

Or "I Feel Good". Sort of. No song named "I Feel Better".  Good Monday morning. I feel better.  A couple of hits (injections) of epogen also known as my hemoglobin enhancer have a made a huge difference. Not sure of medical terms, but let's roll with it. I know too many doctors and nurses who could correct me. I'm betting on them not reading this. 

You don't know how bad you really feel until you feel better. Well maybe. I know I felt bad. I was ready to just roll over and die. Seriously. All hope was lost. Now, the nausea is gone. The appetite is slowly returning. I felt great on Saturday. I still stuck with my bullion. But I did have some little sausages. And I swiped a forkful of my dads spaghetti. Sunday was Dad's day to pay for brunch and he wanted to go to PF Changs. I was ready. I checked the menu and decided on something safe.  Chicken fried rice, but I wanted a cup of hot and sour soup. Well Sunday came around and reality set in.

We head out to eat after Dad returns from church. PF Changs opens at 11:00. Before we left, my body let me know that the crackers I'd eaten earlier didn't agree with me. Ah shoot. I went anyway. I had little to no appetite, but I was getting out of the house. Dad and Brian shared an appetizer of Dynamite shrimp and I had a taste of a half of a shrimp. I also had some ginger ale. For some reason. The ginger ale had a soothing quality and I drank a lot. Anyway. We ordered and I did order the chicken fried rice. Holy crap. The bowl was huge. PF Changs tends toward family style.  And that bowl of fried rice underscored that!!  I had 3 spoonfuls and even more ginger ale. Lol. But that was fine. I was able to sit through brunch without getting sick and hold a conversation. Of course I took a 3 hour nap when I returned home. 

Oh yeah. Did I tell you Brian brought me some flowers on Saturday to cheer me up? <3. Anyway. Brian has a woodworking class on Sunday afternoon. After I woke from my nap, I made myself a cup of chicken bouillon. Brian came home and showed off his first project, a beautiful cutting board. We did treatment later on. Watched Lions football (what a disappointment). Enjoyed Once Upon a Time and Last Man on Earth. Treatment finished. I was a little over loaded on fluid, but I expected that after I tried to drink all the ginger ale in PF Changs. Treatment got rid of the excess fluid. And!  I had a bowl of fried rice after treatment. I finally was able to enjoy it'. 

So I'm feeling much better, but I have a ways to go. It took a while to get to where I was and its going to take a while to get back to "normal". My stomach muscles still hurt fro the heaving, vomiting and coughing. Feels like I've done 3884757493028 sit-ups. And boullion is still the comfort drink of choice for now. But I have more energy. And I need to remember to pace myself. Lol. 

Looking forward to seeing my brother and his wife next week. Haven't seen them in a while. Talked to Shawn last night. That always lifts my spirits. And of course Brian. My helicopter husband. Sometimes I think he hovers too much. I encourage to get some time to himself and that I'll survive. But you know what?  I miss him when he's away. Shhhh. Don't tell him that!!  

Still hot. Not complaining. Have a wonderful day!  

The "Channeling Mel Brooks ", Edition

Good morning. Well, I got the lab results back. My hemoglobin count is low. The epogen was started immediately and the dosage was increased from the previous rounds. Now we just wait and see. Yesterday was particularly brutal. And I'm leary of eating solid foods. So right now I'm subsisting off of apple juice, water, chicken noodle soup and the occasional triscuit. The biggest thing is I'm tired. And this is how I channel Mel Brooks. Or maybe Madeline Kahn. My new theme song is, "I'm Tired" sung by Madeline Kahn in Blazing Saddles. Lol. And if you know me, Blazing Saddles is my favorite movie of all time. 

At this point it's a matter of time. It took time for me to degenerate to this point and it'll take time for me to crawl out of this hole. I slept better last night that I had in a while, so that's a hopeful sign. We'll see where this goes. As it stands now, though, I'm still pretty much confined to not only the condo, but getting out of bed is proving to be a challenge. But it's unseasonably warm here right now and who wants to be outside where it's 104 degrees anyway?  Am I right?  Lol.  

Enjoy your weekend. And as much as I really like it out here I do miss the fall in Michigan.  A trip to Blakes or the Big Red apple farm was always a treat. And if you couldn't make it there, you could always go to Franklin Cider Mill. Drink a glass of cider for me!  

The "My Wakeup Call", edition.

Good morning. Still ill. Still feeling pretty bad. I've been to the monthly team health care appointment. Several ideas as to what the issue may be. It looks like probable culprit is my hemoglobin levels. Because I have no kidneys, my body can't readily produce hemoglobin. So every now and then I need a hit of epogen to increase the hemoglobin level. I'd been on epogen in the spring and the level was raised. But it was suspended in May, because the level was within normal range. Checking the level is easily done via my monthly blood tests. Except last month because of the vascular access issues, I had excessive  clotting which caused a problem in the blood draw. They finally got a good blood draw yesterday. Results should be back tomorrow. I predict..almost guarantee that the hemoglobin levels have dropped. My symptoms are classic for low hemoglobin levels. Which is much better than a series of GI tests {shudder}.  The major symptom is being incredibly tired. I.Have.Absolutley.No.Energy. And that sucks. Huge. 

And it sucks because visitors and activities  abound now through the next 3 weeks. Mike and Ethelene are in town. My brother and sister-in-law will be in town next week, followed by my best friend and her sister. Then.  Brian's high school all 70s class reunion, followed by an event by an organizational which I'm a member. I get tired just thinking about it. 

So what was the wake up call?  Around 5:30 this morning my phone let me know I had a text message or four. It also woke Brian.  I checked it and it was my great friend letting me know she'd be in town for her nieces wedding. Yay!!!  

So that's it. Still not eating much. Still tired. Still can't sleep. Pretty much miserable. Eh.  Supposed to meet up with Mike today. I'm thinking about just having them drop by the condo. We'll see how I feel later on. 

Enjoy your day!  

The "Chronic Illness Sucks", edition.

Good Thursday morning. I know, I know the blog has been less than upbeat lately. Well, it seems as if I'm trying to push through issues. I'm still nauseous. It came to a head on Tuesday. And I am incredibly tired. My appetite is shot, but its been waning for the last 2 weeks. Of course all of this started immediately after my monthly appointment. 

I knew I wasn't eating, but I needed to get some protein in me. But right now meat, any meat is less than appetizing. I thought I'd try cottage cheese. Boy. Was that a mistake. That just set off a horrible chain of events which culminated in a horrific Tuesday. I curled up in a fetal ball and moaned most of the day. I eventuLly was able to eat about 10 teaspoons of chicken broth. No noodles, no chicken. Just Broth. I skipped dialysis Tuesday evening. Which was fine. I'd done treatment Saturday, Sunday and Monday. We were trying to get back on schedule to being off on Wednesday. But it wasn't meant to be.  

I woke up yesterday with a tentative appetite. We headed to Mary's Hash House for some grits. She makes great grits. Comfort food. Her portions are huge, so I ended up with a bowl of grits, 2 eggs over medium, a sausage patty as big as my hand and home fries. I passed on the toast!  Lol. I mixed my eggs and grits together because egg juice on grits is soooo right! I ate a little less than half.  I ate about 1/3 of the sausage and none of the potatoes.  Oh. I did drink most of my apple juice. And then I felt bad again. Not nauseous, but tired. Oh, so tired. 

Came home and vegetated for the rest of the day. We were able to do treatment last night and that went flawlessly.  It's hard to believe that I just relax and chill out while sitting in a recliner with needles in my arm pumping blood in and out of me, but that's exactly what happens. I sort of watched the GOP debate, but Ted Cruz is just way too creepy  to look at. I digress. 

I've got a lot of things to do. One of the organizations I'm involved with is having their major show and fundraiser in October and there I some things I need to do for that. I need to get some sort of energy level back up. Today. So far so good. I tested the waters with 1/2 bagel and cream cheese. I'll venture out for a while and see how long I can last. The weather is nice here now so I'd really like to get out.  Hopefully this will pass.  

I leave you with the wheel of chronic illness. Let's see what I spin today. 

The "OK. Now The Problem is Really Solved", edition.

Good Monday morning!  The weekend was pretty good. Last time I wrote about my access and needing the angioplasty.  And was sure the problem was solved. Well. Friday evening we proceeded to start treatment. Brian had set up the machine and I'd set up my station. I successfully cannulated my arterial access...translation - I stuck my lower access hole. Oh. Not sure if I explained that the buttonholes are a lot like a pierced ear. Now it was time to stick the venous access, the upper hole, the access that was causing the problem. Put the needle....and nothing!  Adjust the needle and....nothing. Feel the arm to make sure I feel the throbbing. It's there. Try a second needle. Nothing. Uh oh. 

In defense of my arm (that sounds funny doesn't it), it was still sore and swollen from the angioplasty on Thursday. We called the nurse. She said to ice the arm and try again on Saturday morning. Well Saturday morning was the first sorority meeting after summer break. And I wanted to go. So I went. 

When I got home we started the process again. This time the needle went in like a champ! Honestly, I was never happier to be able to do a dialysis session. How sad is that?  We did treatment again last night and I was still a wee bit apprehensive, but the needle slid on nicely. So it looks like the angioplasty worked and my accesses should be fine for the next 6-8 months. 

I'll be doing a 4 day stretch of dialysis because of the wonky schedule of last week and that's fine. Now if I could only get some sleep. I'm having really bad bouts of insomnia. 3 hours of sleep a night if I'm lucky. It might be a side effect of going off schedule and a build up of toxins. Right now all I know is that I'm perpetually tired. Ugh. 

That's it for today. I'll be able to start deep water fitness today. I'd been feeling ill the last last week of the last session and then I had access issues the first week of the current session. Outside Temp is 73 (!) right now. Fall is in the air. It's still heading to the mid 90, but no warmer. Have a good day. 

This chart. That's me. 

The "Problem Solved", edition.

Good Friday morning!  I know, I know. 2 days in a row again.  Well just don't expect this to happen often. I just want to report back about yesterday. 

Wednesday night I had trouble with my dialysis stick. After 3 tries, I couldn't not access my venous line. This effectively stopped my dialysis treatment for the night. That didn't make me happy. Of course dialysis at all never makes me happy, however, I kinda need it. To, you know, stay alive. The good news is I had done treatment on Tuesday. I never, ever go more than 2 days without treatment. Again, I know. You're like, but Pat you used to have weekends off.  And I did. But that was before I did home hemodialysis. The whole process is different. 

So back to what was happening. The sticks on the venous access had started to become problematic within the last week, but I attributed it to a change in needles....deep inside I didn't think the needles were that different. But what else it could it be?  The next event was during the blood draw.  Brian has to draw blood for 3 tubes. The first one went fine.  The second draw just stopped. Way unusual. But no time to figure out why. We go to plan B and use syringes to pull blood. As we pull out the blood draw tube we notice a blood clot (Warning!  Warning). I thought that was strange. I just don't clot. We finished the blood draw, I fussed with the needle, finally got it in and treatment went fine. 

Then there was the Wednesday debacle and finally Thursday morning. After a bit of fiddling around with the needle, I got it in and we started treatment. Early on the machine complained about the pressure in the venous line, but Brian did his magic on the machine and we continued on. Although Brian kept on giving the dialysis machine  the side eye. About 3/4 of the way to completion the machine stopped with a red 30 alarm. We get yellow and red alarms. Reds stop the machine cold turkey. Brian looked up the red 30 error. That is a clot in the machine. Stop treatment now. Do not pass go.do not collect $200.....you get the idea. We couldn't even rinse back. Just stop and disconnect. And yes. This was a first. After Brian broke the cycler (machine) down, we saw the clot in the dialyzor. The good news is I got most of the treatment in. 

I called my nurse. Well well well. It was time to visit the vascular surgeon. Time to check out my beautiful life saving fistula. I was to show up at the doctors office in about and hour. How's that for service?  We arrive at 1:30. The receptionist has all my info because my dialysis nurse sent it in, plus all of my medical. Information appears to be on some giant Las Vegas medical database. No matter where I show up, the info is there!  Lol I'm digress. After about 5 minutes I get called in the back. I recognize  the nurse from my visit to the vascular surgeon's office in January. She remembered me also. I was the one who had an allergic reaction to the dye during the procedure. Am I special or what? We talked about the meds I would receive during the treatment. I got hits of fentanyl and mega hits of Benadryl to offset the reaction to the dye. 

I get prepped and talked with the doctor.  Walk to operating room. Get prepped some more. Same personnel as before. Doc comes in and the meds are administered. I get to watch the procedure on a monitor. Sure enough, my accesses were clogged and closing up. So of course clots would form and stop everything. The doc did an angioplasty on the fistula, inserting a ballon and expanding the ballon, with expanded the veins.  I felt everything, but it didn't really hurt and I'm high as hell anyway. I just start talking and talking and talking. Lol. What are you doing now?  Why are you doing that?  And on and on. And then it was over. 

I got wheeled out, put on a gurney, given some apple juice and graham crackers. The wooziness went away enough for me to get to the car and Brian drove us home. The process was completed in less than an hour an a half. My fistula is fixed and I'll be back to doing treatment tonight!  I'm happy the problem was solved. I'm relieved the problem was solved. Yes. I was concerned all kinds of ways, but I have a good medical team and they acted quickly to solve the issues. I'm quite thankful. 

And that's it. An all dialysis entry. This is normal for a dialysis patient with a fistula. The fistula will close periodically and will need an angioplasty. Now I know the symptoms.  And to be honest, this is exactly what happened in November 2014. Heh. I even wrote a blog about it. Bet I won't forget it now!!!

Have a great weekend. Not swimming today. 24 hour directions want the site to stay dry for 24 hours. I Have a busy weekend with meetings. Why are they all on the same weekend?  And one day I'll tell you about seeing those huge British Airways 777s on the landing pattern. Which kinda passes close to the condo!  

Opening up that vein!  

The "I Love Talking With My Kid", edition.

Good Thursday morning!  Last night we watched Jimmy Fallon. I like whe Justin Timberlake is a guest. They did a montage of old school rap. Jimmy always gets carried away with Straight Outta Compton.."crazy mother...." At which point Justin stops him and reminds Jimmy he's straight outta upstate New York. And The Roots are playing the music. And show ended with Mackllemore which was okay but what made it better was he was joined by Kool Moe Dee, Melle Mel and Grand Master Flash!  

Yesterday Brian and I painting lesson. Our acrylic instructor called and asked if we wanted to attend a workshop. It was just the 2 of us so I guess it was a semiprivate lesson. She sent us a photo of the project and we were both skeptical, but the finished product looks pretty nice. I guess so after 5 hours. Whew!  But I enjoyed it and we are learning and improving.  But I'll be the first one to tell you I have no talent!  

Tuesday I dove headfirst into the rabbit hole. I'd been feeling ill for almost a week and it really hit hard. I felt nauseous, dizzy, lightheaded, I hadn't slept longer than 3 hours a night, no appetite.   Just ugh. And it wasn't letting up. Brian, of course, had me tethered. He let me go so far before he gently pulled me up.  And I still,fought it. But I got up and out. I did my treatment. And the felt better physically. Huh. I'd had treatment on schedule the entire time I felt ill. But Wednesday night after treatment, most of the symptoms were gone. I woke up Thursday feeling better than I had in over a week. Go figure. 

Lazy night Shawn and I were commiserating and it was suggested we plan on having a pity party together one day. Sometimes the constant and working and studying for the doctorate program can get intense and frustrating. And a break and a pity party is needed. Well it didn't last long. I get a call 2 hours later. She's been selected to present a paper the Society of American Archeologist. Apparently this is THE organizations for archeologists. When I asked her the topic, of course I had no idea what she was talking about - lol -  but I was excited for her!  And she is excited that her work is being recognized. So we fall into the rabbit hole and then somehow we find springs and bounce out of that rabbit hole!!!

Finally last night I had trouble with one of my needles. Usually when I insert my needles, I get a flashback of blood in the tubing which indicates I've hit the vein and we're ready to move the blood. However when I inserted the needle in the. Emojis acces, there was no flashback. *sigh*. Tried 3 times. Going to try again this morning, but to be honest, I'm not hopeful. I'll be calling my nurses this morning. I may have to visit the vascular surgeon today. And see I MUST get this taken care of. I cannot skip 2 days of treatment.  My life is precarious like that. I mean there are a few alternatives, but I want my established buttonhole to work. We'll see. 

That's it for me today. Any plans we have today will be be fluid, depending on if I can do treatment. Still hot here, but this should be the end of the triple digit temps for the season...or so they say. Enjoy your day!  

The "The Labor Day Picnic", edition.

Yeah, two entries, two days in a row. It happens. This one is about the last summer dinner with our seniors, Pauline, Carl, Herbert and Dad. I've actually planned out dinners for them for the year. I served ribs for Memorial Day and for July 4th. What to have for Labor Day?  I thought let's try fried chicken. But you know me, I'm not trying to fry chicken for a crowd. Now I can fry chicken and my fried chicken tastes good. But it's....messy. So yeah.  I haven't fried chicken in years and wasn't about to start. And I didn't want KFC, especially with the new creepy Colonel Sanders!  I digress. And even though I like Popeye's I didn't want that either. Too bad there's not a Chicken Shack out here. I looked for broasted chicken. Las Vegas didn't disappoint. Or rather it did. Lol. I found exactly 2 broasted chicken restaurants in the entirety of metropolitan Las Vegas.  And one of them was in Boulder City. :-/  Much too far.  Fortunately the other on was in Las Vegas. A ways away from us but when put in perspective it was close enough. 

So as always, I try out my menu items in advance. And the same held true for the chicken. We had to try it out to see if it was good enough. About a month ago Brian and I found our way to The Streets of New York. Yes, that's the name of the restaurant. It's actually a west coast based pizza chain, but they also prepare broasted chicken. We got a family meal and Brian, Dad and I had it for dinner. It passed the taste test. Item number one complete. 

Other menu items included greens, corn, deviled eggs, fresh tomato slices and cheesy biscuits. That was a fairly easy menu. The corn was Olathe sweet corn. From Olathe, Colorado. Notice "sweet corn". I saw the grocery circular so I bought some ears and tried it. It was almost as good as michigan sweet corn. And that was good enough. I went back and bought a lot, a LOT of ears in early August  cooked and froze the corn. The cheese biscuits came from a recipe I saw on TV. The original recipe called for blue cheese, which was good, but it was too strong.  This time I used cheddar. I also made these in advance to try them out. The deal with the biscuits is you cut each biscuit into quarters. That makes for a whole lot of biscuits, 32 per can.  And no way can the three of us eat all of those biscuits. So I froze those. 

Two weeks before the dinner I fixed the greens. Because my dad claimed he didn't like greens. And while I was growing up, he never ate them. There were a lot of things he didn't eat. Yes, he was so picky that mom would fix different meals for him sometimes. That's what you call a spoiled husband. Mom really loved Dad. I digress. Since we've been out here, he's been quite adventurous in eating and told me he'd try greens. I almost fell out of the chair!   Lol. So I fixed the greens. You know by now my greens recipe is the same as my green bean recipe. It's basically a vegetarian version and cuts out the hammocks or smoked turkey and still tastes good. Anyway.  So guess who ate the greens?  And had a second helping...and a third helping?  And even liked the pot liquor?  Lol. 

Finally I rounded the dinner out with sriacha deviled eggs. Not  too spicy, just enough to give you a poke but you're not sure who poked you!  Oh and some slices of some big fat tomatoes. Except I got the tomatoes from the grocery store. And they were not as good as the farmers market tomatoes. /cry.  Desert was apple pie with ice cream.  And I got Carl some really fancy neopolitan ice cream to take home......the strawberry part had strawberries, the chocolate part had chocolate pieces and the vanilla part had vanilla beans!   And oh yeah, the chicken came with slaw. So yeah. Slaw was served also. 

Dinner is at 4:00. Dad picks up Carl. Pauline and Herbert live in the condo complex. When they arrive, Dad serves his guests champagne.  Pauline prefers a particular brand and Dad makes sure he has it. Long story short, our guests stayed until after 7:00. As always, I really enjoyed listening to them. They have great stories and life experiences. It is a history lesson. And they now expect to leave with their goody packages. When they arrive, they have their bags and return the containers!  They left this time with 2 pieces of chicken...yes, when I bought the chicken I figured in them taking food home, greens, corn and biscuits. And Carl had his ice cream! 

Brian and I finished the day with a treatment because we were going to a bowling party on Monday. And yes we went. It was a sorority function. So much pink and green!!  I need more pink and green!  Lol. 

Finally, I'm still feeling punky. I think it may be a side effect of a med. The strength was increased and that's about the time these symptoms started. I'm going to call my nurses today. I ate very little at our "picnic" and yesterday I was reduced to my favorite comfort food, Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup...don't judge me!  That being said, life goes on.  I still have things to do and am not interested in being in bed all day. Bleah. 

Have a great day. It's a short week!  

Yes, I used a pastry bag to pipe in the filling. The first time I tried it was pretty bad, but I learned. Lol. 

The "Enjoying the Holiday Weekend", edition.

Good Monday morning?  How have you been?  Me, I haven't been feeling well lately. When I went to my checkup the previous week I was fine. Of course within days after, I started feeling punky. I'd get light headed when I stood up, was weak, felt slightly nauseous and had little to no appetite. At least I wasn't running a fever. That's like doom and gloom in a person with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). Anyway. I didn't have time to be sick. Brian's birthday was on Friday, September 4 and then on Sunday, l was hosting the dinner for my seniors. Let's start with Brian's birthday. All week long I was too weak  to function but I needed to shop and go to the bank. I did manage to go to the bank. I needed $$$ to pay  for Brian's dinner and pick up some food for Sunday. 

On Friday I rested all day hoping I'd have the energy to take Brian out to dinner. He wanted to go The Golden  Steer. The restaurant is in a nondescript strip mall just west of the north end of the strip. I'd noticed it when we drove down the street and wondered about it. I looked it on Yelp and it had good reviews and mentioned it to Brian. When I asked Brian where he wanted to go for his birthday dinner he suggested The Golden Steer. I was surprised, but sure, why not. I made the reservations. At 5:00 Friday Brian, Dad and I showed up at The Golden Steer. The meager strip mall parking lot was full and we saw people heading into the restaurant. We go inside and and I stepped back in time!  

For my friends in Detroit, this restaurant was Carl's Chophouse on steroids!   The size of restaurant was deceiving from the outside. It was huge. When you first entered, there was a ginormous bar and bar area. The hostess  took our name, checked for our reservation and lead us into the next room. Giant booths with plush leather like seats. Each booth was named for someone who'd sat there. We were in the Sam Boyd booth,  you know. Boyd gaming. Think downtown casinos. Or Samstown on Boulder. Other booths we noticed were Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr.  

As soon as we were seated, we  were greeted by our tuxedo'd headwater, Fabian.  It was obvious that Fabian had oodles of experience. He took our drink orders and another waiter served them. The bread was brought the to the table immediately. We ordered our food. You know, the wonder of the Internet is you can peruse the menus before you ever walk into a restaurant. And yes, my dad does that also.  We walked in knowing what we wanted. We'd even discussed how this was going to go. Knowing steakhouse portions, Dad and I were going to order the small steaks, a potato and share a salad. Well that didn't happen.   I walked into that fabulous steakhouse, ordered a petit filet mignon, 8 oz, butterflied, and a baked potato. And I HAD ABSOLUTELY NO APPETITE. Dammit. I opted out of the salad knowing I'd had trouble trying to eat the steak. Dad ordered the petit filet mignon with a twice baked potato. And the birthday boy had prime rib and creamed spinach. That creamed spinach is real old school!!!  

While waiting for the food to come, I felt lightheaded. I needed to recline, so I went to the car for a few minutes. As soon I got there, Brian sent me a text that the food had arrived. Of course. I made my way back.  The head waiter was waiting for me. I sat down, he lifted the cover of the plate to reveal the most perfect looking filet mignon.  And he waited for me to taste it to make sure it was to my liking!  Lol. That was the most difficult bite of my life. I wasn't hungry. At all. But I tasted it. And it was delicious. And I was pissed because I just didn't want it. During the meal, the hostess and the other waiter expressed concern that I wasn't eating. I assured them the food was fine, it was just me. The other waiter eventually boxed up my steak and potato. In all I had 2 bites of bread and you know it was that fresh baked warm bread where the butter melts immediately, 1 bite of potato and 1 bite of steak. <sad face>.  At least I didn't pass out. 

Brian and Dad finished off their meals. Dad ate all of his steak and potato.  Lol  for  an 89 YO, he's got a fine appetite. Brian had some prime rib left.  And the restaurant brought him out a slice of cheesecake with a Roman candle on to for his birthday. Yes. A Roman candle.  Lol that thing sparked for 45 seconds!!  Rofll.  What I would have like to have had was the Caesar salad prepared at the table and to finish off my meal with Cherries Jubilee, also prepared table side. You know that means I have to go back!  I forgot to mention that the Martinis we saw served were in largest martini glasses I've seen and the shrimp the shrimp cocktail seems as big as my head!  

Well that enough for today. This is along entry. I'll just have to relay the senior end of summer dinner tomorrow, but you know a good time was had by all!  Have a great holiday. And eat some. Fresh tomatoes for me!!!!

Our waiter. You know he's been around a long time if I find his photo when I search for photos for the restaurant!!!

The birthday "candle". 

The "I'm Going to Try This Again", edition.

 Good Wednesday morning!  So what am I trying again?  I started writing an entry on Monday, but my topic bored me. So if it was boring to me, imagine what you may have thought. I was explaining that I was trying to not be whiny. Lately I've been incredibly tired. And I hate that. My protein levels are slowly dropping. Part of the problem is the constant tearing and healing of the fragile skin on the back of my hands is sucking the protein out of my body..concentrating on healing. I'm learning to be more careful and am now wearing sun protection gloves while I'm in the car. Or as Brian says we have a reason to use the glove compartment in the car.  *rim shot*. 

My monthly checkup was uneventful. And we're doing fine here. The pools are closed until after the holiday so water fitness resumes next week. The art classes resume mid September. I'll be taking an art appraisal class. Sounds interesting. I think Brian is going to dabble in woodworking.  The organizations I'm I start up this month also. It all sounds so busy. Plus I need to take a road trip to California to visit friends. 

My menu is set for Labor Day. Broasted chicken, corn, greens, cheddar rolls, deviled eggs, sliced tomatoes and apple pie. Sorta like a picnic. And of course ice cream for Carl. Oh and yesterday we made some banana pudding. I hadn't had a banana in over 3 years. It tasted good!  Lol. Now before you say, hey Pat, bananas have potassium and you're limited in the mount you can eat. But remember. My potassium numbers were low because of the daily dialysis. And the dietician told me to add potassium foods to my diet!  I finally added a banana. And that's only because I prefer tomatoes. 

And by the way. We went to the small pitiful farmers market.  A farmer from California had some mighty fine looking tomatoes. And we bought some. And you know what?  That was a sweet, sweet, juicy cat tomato!  I want more!  

Finally, I have a niece who is staring her final semester and will receive her Masters in December in Texas. I have a niece who is beginning her freshman year at Michigan State University and my kid is starting her third year in her doctorate program..she's starting planning her thesis. Time has flown. Weren't we just moving her to Univereity of Illinois just yesterday?  

Well that's it for today. Temps are going down out here...slowly. It's sad when I look forward to when the high is only 101 degrees. Oh yeah. I didn't want to see Mission Impossible:Rogue Nation  because..well don't worry about why. But I went to see it. And I enjoyed it. I haven't been disappointed with the movies this summer.  I do f know how to end this so I'll just say have a great day!!  

Photo of swim class. With our 20 year old fitness leader. :-D