The "The Busy Weekend, Part 2", edition.

Good Thursday morning!  I like Thursdays. Why? Well. I completed my nocturnal treatment and I'm not scheduled for another treatment until Friday night. Free night!!! Of course today is my trainer day and she'll beat me up...with a smile. Lol. Love her though. And actually the entire staff and other clients are supportive of everyone. It's a welcoming place. But they make you work!  

I mentioned that my organization had an event on Sunday. The organization is The Society, Inc. The mission of The Society is, "To promote friendship and social exchange among members; to function as a resource for young people in the arts; and to promote educational, civic and cultural experiences within the community".  

The Society Las Vegas chapter held its annual fundraiser/youth showcase Sunday. It never disappoints. We showcase talented youth involved in the arts in Las Vegas. The event started with a string orchestra.  This is what greeted the guests as they entered and were seated. While lunch was served, a young man created an acrylic painting. And yes he was pretty much finished when we finished lunch. Then we were treated to a group of students from an organization that teaches violin to students. The first student was a beginning student in the program, a young man who couldn't be more than 8 years old, followed by more seasoned students. 

We had singers and dancers, all talented young people from Las Vegas. These young people are so talented and it is such a delight to watch them. I look forward to the showcase event..oh yeah, the event is called, "The Little Black Dress". Yes, I wore a little black dress...well maybe not so little, but I wore a black dress.  lol. We also had a cart load of raffle prizes and a silent auction. And for a bonus, the food was good..imagine that. 

The national director of The Society attended and we also gave awards to members of the Las Vegas community who work with the young people in the arts. The event was held at The Orleans. And I'd call the event a success! And so now the work for next year begins! 

So how is the Perry Fields house hold going?  Well did I mention that "we" rented out the condo. We were made an offer that we couldn't refuse.  It started out as we were landlords by committee. I handled the paperwork..there were some things that the condo home owners association required. Brian  made sure the apartment was emptied and Dad made sure the apartment was cleaned and painted and fixed.  However in the end, Dad gets the check. Lol. Being a landlord is keeping him busy. And it's not a lot, but just enough. Because the HOA is responsible for quite a bit. Woot!  

So the other day, dad comes running out of his room and was asking about a smell. He liked it. I was in my room and couldn't smell whatever it was he was talking about. I eventually came out and knew exactly what he was smelling. Brian was using some coconut smelling cream or lotion and that's what dad was talking about. Anyway, this led to us going to Bath and Bodyworks and getting some wallflowers. I let Dad pick out the scent for his room and he picked lemon. So now he has his own smell good room. 

Well I think I'm up to date. I need to find out if we have Halloween stuff here in the subdivision..there are children here. I'm going to do some minor decoration anyway. Well that's it for today. So now not only am I going to tell you to learn to swim, but to ask you to support art with your kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, etc. it's good for them, in more ways than you can even imagine! 

Photos courtesy of Lady Anika

The "The Busy Weekend", edition.

Good Wednesday morning. The weather is wonderful out here. Las Vegas fall weather. I'm staying out here.  So. Life goes on. This past weekend was a busy weekend. Same weekend last year and the year before that was also busy. Here's why. One of the organizations I belong to has its major fundraiser on Sunday. So the week leading up to it is busy. And also this year a dialysis group had their yearly Las Vegas get together. I wasn't able to attend it last year because another dialysis group had a conference here at the same time. Lol. I haven't figured out cloning yet. And being around others on dialysis is important to me. Being around people who understand what we go through, what our issues are. 

So let's start with that. The group is called I Hate Dialysis (IHD). It is a message board and Facebook group. IHD was the first group I found on the internet immediately after I was was diagnosed with ESRD. I read a little. It scared the day lights out of me. I rarely went back to the message board, but they did have a presence on Facebook and that wasn't as scary!  And let's face it. It's been almost 5 (!)  years. The whole kidney failure/dialysis thing is not as frightening to me...knowledge is power. So when it was mentioned on Facebook group they'd be meeting in October in Las Vegas I let the admin know I'd be attending. Well yeah. I live here. Lol lol. 

So let me digress for a moment. I belong to several dialysis Facebook groups. I'd classify them as 3 major groups and 1 minor group, with IHD being the minor group.  But not any more. 

I wasn't able to attend all of the activities because I had prior local commitments. Brian and I went to the meet and greet. I had the address and it wasn't too far from our old condo. I was confused, but once we arrived I understood. It was a timeshare resort.  In the middle of a neighborhood. Lol. Las Vegas never disappoints. Yes, there is the strip, but there are so many more places to stay. And being a fan of Hawthorne Suites.. Wyndham properties...I've found and have stayed at Hawthrones smack dab in the middle of residential neighborhoods. 

I've digressed. Again. There weren't a lot of people who attended, but those who did traveled quite far to get here. The admin and her family are from Southern California. Yes..that's not far. There was a lady who came from Tennessee. There there were several people who came from Canada. New Foundland, Canada!  And then there was the lady who traveled from Ireland. With a fancy battery powered wheelchair!  Alrighty then. And those who where on dialysis had scheduled treatments. So this lends for a discussion on quality of life while on dialysis. Topic for another day. Let's just say travel is not a huge problem. 

In addition to the meet and greet, Saturday evening we had dinner at Buca Di Beppo. Portion control is not practiced there....  We had a great time. Although. This restaurant is probably not the best place for those of us on renal diets..unless you do nocturnal home hemodialysis (points to self). Anyway. A good time was had by all. Gifts were passed out.  Brian and I did not get the memo, but we'll be prepared next time. I got a bunch of goodies from Ireland. And I must say, everyone who attended was so pleasant. We enjoyed ourselves and enjoyed the company. 

So. I guess that was the dialysis front. Treatment is going well. I finally got my million dollar meds because I had to. The cool thing is because of the treatment I do and the frequency, I don't need as many meds. Woot!  I feel pretty good. I still get tired, but I'm getting stronger, thanks to my deep water fitness and fabulous personal trainer. 

That's it for today. I'll write about the Sunday event tomorrow. Oh. I went to a lighting store, Lamps Plus. I lost my mind there. I saw the most beautiful crystal chandeliers and I know good and darn well I wasn't going to get one, but boy, they were so wonderful!!  Lol. Lamps Plus is a dangerous place!  Enjoy your day! 

I hate dialysis. But you ready knew that. ;-)

Everything is served family style. Even deserts. 

The "Las Vegas is my Home", edition.

Good Tuesday morning. I'm having a disconnect and a strong connection. What does that mean?  Let's start with Sunday night. Brian and I are just lazing around watching the 10:00 news. About 15 minutes in, the newscaster mentions there was a shooting on Las Vegas Blvd. Not to be disinterested, but every now and then there are acts of violence on the strip. They are not random acts, but targeted acts. I hate to hear about the acts of violence, but it happens. Well about 5 minutes later, the newscaster looks a little spooked and another guy joins her at the desk mentioning something is happening, but they don't have confirmed information. However Twitter is blowing up. I start looking at the various news stations Facebook pages. I'm getting a sense that this is something different. I could see the panic in the posts. Before the newscast was over all the on air personalities were on screen, including the weather guy, all trying to get a handle on what's going on. 

At 11:00 I changed channels. The new channel has more info and are now broadcasting Twitter feeds. And the weekday evening anchor has shown up. Uh oh. We stayed with it until just before 1:00 AM. At that time the death toll was less than 10 and less than 50 (!) injured. And we were being told that the numbers would rise.  And the station insisted on playing and playing the sounds of the automatic weapons.  During the night our phones were getting random notifications. Brian sent a text to Shawn to let her know we were ok and we did the we are safe thing on Facebook. 

We wake early most days and on MWF I do deep water fitness and Brian has his gardening class. I check my phone. I exclaim "holy shit!"  Brian asks me what's wrong. The death toll jumped to over 50 and the injured jumped to 500. It took a few seconds to process that. It also seemed important to continue on with our day. I had responses to my Facebook check in. I also had a message from a friend who is a radio host in Detroit requesting an interview(!). We watch the news. And go about getting our day started. I wanted to see the national coverage. Well that didn't happen. All of the local stations had nonstop coverage until late last night. You know we had to turn of the TV or watch other shows just for a break. It was just too overwhelming. 

Oh, for the record, we live about 7 miles from the hotel. Anyway. I head out. Traffic is the same. People heading to work. Kids heading to school. Landscapers headed to wherever. I arrive at the pool. Parking lot was full, people were swimming laps and people showed up for class. We were all trying to maintain normalcy. And the odd thing was no on really talked about what had happened. 

I watched as much coverage as I could. The weeping would come and go. Yes, I did the radio interview. Apparently because we had the nonstop local coverage I ended up having information that hadn't hit the national news or just random facts. Like we knew there more weapons that had been originally reported. 

We got through the day. I ordered my meds. And was resigned to pay the $1,100 for th refill. And life has to go on. We planned chili for dinner and Brian did not disappoint. He's moved from ground beef. He used sirloin for the chili. Ok ok. The steaks were on sale...buy one get two free. We have sales like that out here. Whoo hoo!  I did treatment Monday night and here we are now this morning. 

So here are some tidbits for you. Las Vegas has one trauma 1 hospital. It has one trauma 2 hospital. That's it. Yes, here are other hospitals here, but they are not trauma hospitals. Look. The hospital that Brian was in last week did  not have personnel at the main desk on the week end. Same thing at the hospital dad was in when had the hip replacement surgery. At these lesser hospitals, the emergency rooms are rather laid back...because they are not trauma hospitals. Las Vegas Blvd is still closed. People started lining up for blood donations around 2AM Monday morning.  People waited in line to donate blood for up to 8 hours. So much food and water was delivered to the blood donation lines that they had to be turned away. We had a food truck festival over the weekend. Several trucks showed up to feed people in line for blood donations. Tents and chairs were supplied to people waiting in line, in addition to umbrellas to protect them from the sun. Air traffic was stopped for several hours. Officials were concerned that the airplanes could be targeted by the high powered rifles. Yes, the hotel is very near to the airport. 

There are real people getting out there doings things. Helping others. Those people donating time and resources. Doctors and nurses showing up off shift to assist. Counsellors showing up when the call went out. People Donating blood. So much so that the donations had to stop. Getting out pertinent information. Did you know several hotels are offering free rooms to relatives of victims?  Southwest and Allegiant Airlines are flying victims and relatives out of Las Vegas for little or reduced fares.  

Finally, I am a resident of Las Vegas...well Henderson, but it is the Las Vegas metropolitan area. My disconnect is the living through the horriffic event. The connect is I am a resident of Las Vegas. And I hurt for my home. But the city will survive. The residents care. And so now you know. There is so much more to Las Vegas than the strip. The residents have come through during this horrible episode. And we always will. 

#LasVegasStrong. 

People waiting to donate blood. 

The "Our New Normal", edition.

Good Tuesday morning!  We stay busy in spite of ourselves. All of us, including Dad. The move is pretty much over and yet I want to do decorating...which costs money. Eh. We got a new stove before we even moved in. The original stove was kinda ewww.  And the plan was to replace appliances as needed. Well as needed happened sooner than we thought. The dishwasher needed to be replaced, so that was on the list. But then. We had a "mishap" with the oven. The oven was a wall oven and microwave. The microwave still worked, but the oven was dead. The repair guy pretty much said there was no hope. And let me reiterate..the oven issues were self inflicted. I won't go into details. So...we had to get a new wall oven. And they ain't cheap. Especially the microwave/oven combo. We decided to get a double oven and a counter top microwave. It really was less expensive. Go figure. The breakdown occurred just before Labor Day. The oven was installed yesterday. But we now have an oven. And we purchased the microwave on Sunday. We're back in business!!  

I'm looking to replace the dishwasher before Thanksgiving. And oh yeah. We have a trash compactor. We've never used one and don't care. I'll eventually swap it out for a wine cooler. Whoo!!!  And finally a new range hood. We have time. We'll be here a while. That being said, we all really like the kitchen!  

Brian is taking a master gardener class. Yes. He has a green thumb. His class is the same time as deep water fitness on MWF. Clearly I wasn't interested in gardening. I still wanted to swim. So he goes to his class and Dad lets me take his car and I go swimming. 

And guess what. We're getting a puppy!!! And that's one of the reasons we moved. Yes, we're getting another westie. We will be picking up the puppy in about a month. All 3 of us are looking forward to the arrival of the puppy. Still searching for a name. 

On the dialysis front I finally got back to nocturnal dialysis. It feels good. We weren't able to do it because of the move and the need for the water to be tested and we needed the settings for the machine. We did it flawlessly. And I feel good. Oh yeah. I left out Brian is still going to deep water fitness on Tuesday and Thursday. Same instructor, different, but closer pool. And consider this. After he goes to deep water fitness on Thursday, an hour later we go the trainer. Go Brian!!  

That's pretty much for today. It's cooled down here...for a while it was cooler here than in Detroit. We actually turned the air off. Lol lol. Yeah it's going to get warmer again, but not crazy hot. And finally a nice footnote. My dialysis nurse has volunteered to help with dialysis patients in areas devastated by the recent spate of hurricanes. My dialysis team rocks!

Puppy!

The "I Heart Water", edition.

Good Friday morning. I just got back from deep water fitness. And I'm tired. And that's ok.  It means I worked during class instead of slacking. There are people that treat the class as social hour. The instructor isn't having that. Lol. But yeah, we talk during exercises. I has a running conversation while doing the crawl for 5 minutes. Lol. I did sound breathless. As did the person I was talking with. 

So this is where we are. Brian is taking a gardening class...that's the same time as deep water fitness. And I gotta tell you. My interest in plants is zero. I mean I like to look at them and admire them but it stops there. My husband however likes plants and takes care of them...he got that from his mom. We still have poinsettias from last Christmas. And one still has red leaves and one still has white leaves. Lol. Who does that?  Lol lol. Well, Brian does that. I've digressed. I had absolutely no interest in the gardening class. I wanted to go swimming. Swimming is life!!!! 

So this is what happens. Dad has graciously let me use his car on MWF morning. My class is one hour. Brian takes our car. His class is 4 hours (!). Now here's the fun part. Brian drives me everywhere. Remember ...helicopter husband. But now I'm driving. And as a side note, he had me drop him off at the barber the other day. Long story short, I've driven more in the month of September than I have the entire year. I was spoiled. But now, if I want to go to deep water fitness, I have to drive myself. And I do! 

My back hurt when I woke up. I think I slept in a funny position. But I was looking forward to getting in the water to take the pressure off my spine. And it did. And the movement made me fell better. Even as I was bitching and moaning and huffing and puffing, I was enjoying being in the water. There is a dialysis angle to this. I chose the type of dialysis that I do so that I can swim. I'm happy with this decision to stick needles in my arm instead of having a hole in my stomach. No hate for the peritoneal dialysis folks...to each his own. And I know some people could never stick needles into their arms 5-6 days a week. Touché. 

Water is life!  I am allowed 40 ounces of fluid per day. I can indulge in a little more since I do home hemodialysis, but I still have watch my fluid intake. Remember, people with no kidneys don't urinate. So. Fluid intake includes drinks..water, coffee, juice...but it also includes soups and fruits...FLUID. My fluid of choice is...drumroll..Water!! Didn't see that one coming, did you?  Sure, I'll treat myself to root beer or lemonade periodically, but nothing is better than a glass of ice cold ice water. Water is life!!!

That's it for today. Apparently the triple digit weather is over for the year. I was tickled when the weather folks said fall was setting in...with temps in the mid to high 80s. Lol lol.  I'll take it!!!! Enjoy your weekend. And go learn to swim. Go on. Do it!  

Hot tub is water!!

The "Settling In", edition.

Good Sunday morning!  Not a lot going on. Still settling in to our townhouse, but all 3 of us are enjoying the new home. The increase in square footage amuses us. Dad claims he needs to pack a lunch to get to the kitchen or the dining area. Lol. I've lost Brian in the house. He was not in the bedroom with me. He wasn't in the den. He wasn't in the kitchen. He wasn't in the laundry room. He wasn't in the living room or dining area. All the bathroom doors are open..so he's not there. Last room I checked was the office. And there he was. Lol. I've had Dad disappear also. At least we know when someone is coming or going. All entrances beep when they open. Doors and garage doors. 

Of course I'm still in love with my bed. Love the style. We've replaced the stove. We had a mishap with the oven, so we're getting a new one this week. It wasn't planned or in the budget for right now, but you gotta do what you gotta do. While we were at Home Depot ordering the oven, I got sidetracked by countertop materials and backspalshes. We just watch way to much HGTV. I do like our cabinets though, so no changes there. Hehehe. I need to get new blinds. At least we removed the drapes. I hated HATED them.  The current blinds are better, but in time....  I also want some wall fans and a few new light fixtures.  And Brian and I are talking about changes to the bathroom...but in time. None of it needs to be done right now,..except the stove. And even if it seems like I want to make changes, make no mistake. I really really like our new home. We all do. 

More rooms. More walls. Yes, we've hung our (presentable) artwork, but we still would like more stuff on the walls. We're doing pretty well keeping the clutter down. And we still have a few more boxes to unpack. And a few more furniture pieces I'd like to get, but in time. I'm enjoying the pseudo minimalist look. :-D  

We eventually got the dialysis machine and water hooked up. Bonus!  One of my nurses lives nearby, so she stopped at the house to do the inspection on her way home. We're good and I'll be back to nocturnal dialysis this week. Been 2 months. Still lots of supplies, but now we have somewhere to store them. 

We're getting back into activities. Somehow I've made myself much more active in the sorority and my other organization. Dunno how that happened. Lol. Meetings ahoy!  Brian is taking a master gardener class. Did you know his mom is a certified master gardener?  So Brian has nurtured our poinsettias from Christmas. One still has red leaves. I'm duly impressed. Anyway, here's the thing. His class is the same day and time as deep water fitness. He's going to go his way and I'll be going my way. Dad has graciously allowed us to use his car on MWF mornings. 

On the dialysis front, the sun is really messing with me. Good thing we're just about done with triple digit numbers. My feet had a blister-palooza. Ouch. Ouch and ouch. I'm down to one..but it's bottom of my left foot. Forgive me if I walk funny. Ouch. It is better today. Oh yeah. We take blood samples once a month, at the beginning of the month and send the samples to the lab via FedEx. . This month we were notified to hold off. The lab is is Florida :-(  

Finally, as much as I bitched and moaned about the drive to Oregon, my kid is finally in the same time zone. Yay!  And she may come here for Thanksgving. And other holidays if she wants.  Happy mom!!! 

That's it for today. A few of my friends have checked in as safe in Florida..anxiously waiting to hear from others. Take care.  

The back of the house. The HOA takes care of all the landscaping! 

My bed <3 ...  It does look like this. 

The "The Road to Oregon...The Last Day", edition.

Good Wednesday morning!  We've left Reno and are heading back to Las Vegas. Since we came through Carson City on the way to Oregon, our way out of Reno is not the same route. Using phone GPS, we end up on a nice 4 lane highway. And too soon we're back on the 2 lane highway. Brian and I are both cranky and Brian realizes we had some pretty bad coffee on the hotel. Before were totally out of civilization we stop and get McDonalds coffee. Yes. Just coffee. The window lady asks us where were from. We say Las Vegas. She challenges us because the car has California license plates. WTF???  Brian says it's a rental car. Pfffft. We grumble about her for a few minutes. Lol.  We go through twisty tiny back roads with sketchy communities before we eventually get to the main highway. We pass a few billboards warning about the use of meth (!!!!!!) some places are still looking like ghost towns. 

It's a long boring trip. We switch out my iPad and use Brian's iPad for his playlist. We stop whenever possible for Brian to take breaks. Driving through the desert is boring and tiring. There is nothing at all to see. We stopped in Tonopah for lunch. We stop in Beatty..."The Gateway to Death Valley". where the burros roam the street. There were 2 tour buses that had stopped at the casino....  And there is a pretty nice candy store. That was our last stop. Once we got close to Las Vegas..,where the road opened up to 4 lanes, I fell asleep!  Lol. I woke up when we were in Las Vegas. 

It felt so good to be home. We may have been in this house for a month, but it is home!  Dad had some chicken waiting for us. And. We were too tired do treatment. It would wait until the morning. But lesson learned. We have to rethink these long road trips. I've had to do treatment almost everyday straight since we've returned because of not doing enough treatment while on the trip. We need to drive no more than 6 hours in order to have the energy to do treatment. Treatment adds another 4 hours to the day. I have retained fluid and that's not good. Not good at all. The good news, and I get that this make sense only to me and Brian and my home hemo readers, it that the water quality at the new house has been approved and we can use the water to make the dialysate instead of hanging all those bags. My nurse called to let me know the water was ok while we were somewhere in the Nevada desert. 

We returned the rental car Thursday morning.  And that concluded the trip.  We're slowly getting back to our routine. Went swimming today for the first time since the move..almost a month. Our swim friends were happy to see us. Apparently we were missed. We were asked if the move was complete. We said it was and mentioned the trip to Oregon. They were surprised that we fit that in during the move. In retrospect perhaps it was, but you do what you have to do. And driving with Shawn to Oregon was a nobrainer!  But I will never, ever do that drive again!  Ever! 

Well that's it for today. Pretty day outside. Enjoy your day!