I love my doctor

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cancer, doctors, postaday2016

Today I had another follow up visit with my oncologist Dr. Mullally, I am so lucky to have him as my doctor. The first thing he did was come in, give me a big bear hug and tell me congratulations. He was thrilled with the results of the endoscopic biopsies, negative and that my treatments proved successful. I have had more than my share of doctors and he is a singular figure in medicine where he is so caring and so affectionate, you feel like a friend cared for and important. I have never felt like that before, some of my doctors had nice bedside manners, but nothing compared to Dr. Mullally’s.

Basically for this coming year, I will be visiting with Dr. Mullally every other month, getting PET scans every three months and getting blood work when I am visiting with Dr. Mullally, my health will be kept well on track under his watchful eye.

Between my husband, our children and Dr. Mullally, I was in the best hands during my ordeal. I know how extremely lucky I am with my wonderful outcome, I am very grateful. 

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

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Memorial Day, postaday2016

Happy Memorial Day everyone! Today is a rainy morning in Blandford, our Memorial Day parade is scheduled for 11:30, it seems that the rain is letting up so I think the parade will be able to go on as planned. For a small town, Blandford does a wonderful job, the fearless leader who is in charge of the organizational duties to put on the parade, the speakers and the dedications is our next door neighbor Doug, I can’t remember him not doing it. I wonder if this year is our turn to have the high school band in our parade, nowadays the hill towns alternate the use of the high school band, years ago, both of our children took part in band and we used to follow them from town to town on Memorial Day, that was when the high school band took part in all of the hill town parades, it was crazy zipping from hill town to hill town.

Today is a day of reflection and respect for those who sacrificed their lives for our nation, my husband’s family had served in World War Two but they luckily made it back home. My family had served during the World Wars, but that was in France. That doesn’t stop me from recognizing and honoring the sacrifices that so many gave in order for us to continue to enjoy our way of life.

So everyone have a safe and happy Memorial Day!

Scrambling for space on couches

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beds, couches, dogs, postaday2016

My husband and I do not share the same outlook when it comes to dogs on beds and dogs on couches. He delights in sharing his couch with all three dogs, while I grudgingly set aside space for Lulu and Jack but with Stanley, I draw the line, Lulu sometimes gets the hint that she needs to get off as well. More often than not, when I am sitting on my couch, I have my iPad on my lap, deeply involved in reading articles and subsequently writing commentary about my readings, my iPad and I aren’t conducive to crowding by dog. Jack in his defense has been used to sitting on my lap for the past five years so I try not to put him off, but Lulu is too big to be a lap dog as is Stanley, the two still haven’t accepted that small fact.

When it comes to bedtime, I draw a huge line against having big dogs hog the bed, Jack being only 14 lbs sleeps with us at his own peril. He’s allowed because he doesn’t wake me, no matter what he does, I am sure he comes and goes from underneath the covers and I don’t care, he doesn’t wake me up so he satisfies a prerequisite, do not bother Maman when she is sleeping. Lulu and Stanley are bothersome when they are on the bed and so I shoo them off, while my husband gladly hugs them and kisses them. He does shoo them off when he is ready for bed, but at 5:00 in the morning when Lulu’s tummy’s rumbling, all the rules of “off the bed” go out the window and both Lulu and Stanley stand over your head, licking your cheek trying to wake you in the most affectionate way possible, while Jack sneaks out from where he was sleeping, somewhere underneath the blanket and starts talking to the back of your head, while you try to pretend you’re still sleeping. My husband is much nicer than I, he gets up right away, when I’m alone, I pretend to sleep, to try to stay in bed as long as possible, I usually manage to stave them off until 6:30 which is much better than 5:00.

X-Men the Apocolypse : a movie review

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postaday2016, X-Men the apocolypse

My husband and I are huge fans of the X-Men franchise, even before the movies ever came out, we used to watch the cartoons at home, having children is an excellent excuse to indulge in watching cartoons. I remember seeing the first X-Men movie and being excited that my favorite X-Men was practically center stage, Rogue played by Anna Paquin, unfortunately she didn’t last in the movie franchise, even though Rogue had been a huge factor in the cartoon franchise. 

Fast forward to this latest release and as you might surmise, my husband and I immensely enjoyed the movie; for close to three hours, we didn’t think of anything other than what was on the screen in front of us.

Since Rogue is out of the picture, my favorite X-Men is Quick Silver played by Evan Peters, the way he portrays Quick Silver is so joyous and freeing, it’s infectious, you want to be like him. What makes the movie successful is the story and the strength of all of its characters, in this movie we focus on the struggles of a young Jean Grey, who like every single young adult, is searching for who they are and how they fit in, Jean Grey’s struggles fit so clearly within the larger story, power and its control. 

However we can’t speak about the movie without addressing the heart of the cast of characters, Professor Charles Xavier, as a younger Charles, James McVoy plays him with such humanity, I fall in love with the character each time I see him.

For those who are X-Men fans, I highly recommend seeing the movie, it’s a great ride.

Reminiscing over Rex, our German Shepard

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german shepard, postaday2016, Rex

My husband posted all of these great pictures of Rex, our gentle German Shepard, and I couldn’t help but stroll down memory lane, reminiscing about his adolescent times, he literally ate the house and once our daughter had to go to school and tell her teacher that Rex had eaten her book with her homework attached. What really sticks out in my memory is what a wonderful babysitter he was, he lived for our two children. Rex could only relax when he knew where each of them were and that they were safe. He went nuts at pool time, he was our lifeguard on duty and he took his duties so seriously, he went into the pool and corralled the children to make sure no one drowned. Rex was amazing, he looked intimidating but there was no gentler giant than he, I miss him so very much.

The weeds are calling

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plants, postaday2016

The weeds are most definitely calling, as I was taking pictures of pretty flowers that have just made their appearance, I was tallying up all of the work that needs to be done. It is hot outside, 87 degrees and Blandford is without a mountain breeze today, not conditions conducive to weeding, at least the way I still feel.

I had just come back from the doctor’s, we are weaning me from my pain medication, I still have pain with swallowing, it’s better now, but I am still not 100%, I fatigue easily and the 2 hour round trip made me tired enough to tell myself weeding will wait for another day, it’s not as if the weeds will disappear, they’ll be there for me to pull when I feel up to it.

I took a few pictures of buds developing and maturing, signs that summer is coming, though I am not in a rush for summer, I’d like to enjoy spring to its fullest.

I was so happy to see my oregano make an appearance, I tried to keep the Rosemary alive this past winter, but I failed and all of my sage and thyme have died off as well, back to the drawing board for me and my dreams of perennial herbs.

 

Leftovers can be great

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leftovers, postaday2016

There are definitely days when leftovers are a godsend especially if the original dish was something that you really liked in the first place. I am not the biggest fan of chicken, but when it comes to sautéed breaded chicken cutlets, that’s chicken I can say yes to, roasted chicken is another way I like it prepared, I guess I don’t dislike chicken all that much as long as it is cooked the way I like it. Tonight I don’t have to cook because I still have breaded chicken cutlets and sautéed zucchini in tomato sauce with onions, garlic and Parmesan cheese in the refrigerator and after a day of cleaning half of the house, I’m happy to know I can pop a plate into the microwave and viola dinner is served.

I remember when I was a teenager, I disliked leftovers, mostly because I wasn’t the one in charge of getting dinner on the table. Fast forward thirty years and leftovers have become a welcome friend in the household. When I was preparing the zucchini and the chicken cutlets, it took a while to bring all of the components together to make a finished product, but once finished I knew I had a few days of meals and I could relax at dinner time. 

Making the zucchini is so easy, all it takes is patience to chop the two onions into small dice, slice six zucchini into uniform slices, smash and chop four cloves of garlic, once that is done, you sauté the onions first, to get them translucent and then you add the zucchini slices and the smashed garlic and let it saute until done, I add the tomato sauce and the Parmesan cheese and I have a delicious vegetable. My mother taught me how to make the breaded chicken cutlets, it is so simple, I slice the chicken cutlets in half and pound them thin, I dredge them in Italian seasoned breadcrumbs and I saute them in olive oil. Like I said, it takes patience to slice and pound all of the cutlets, then dredge them and then saute them but having several days worth of chicken to eat makes all of the work worthwhile.

Bon appetite to me.

A dreary day in Blandford

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honeysuckle, lilac, postaday2016

According to the weather forecast, today is the last day of springtime temperatures, tomorrow supposedly will see the thermometer go up to the mid eighties, sunny and maybe muggy, so today’s rain isn’t unwelcome, we can always use the rain. I wouldn’t mind keeping the seventies, we haven’t had much of those days, it’s been a chilly spring, I’m not ready to immediately jump into summer-like weather, not just yet.

I wish my blog was able to release the aroma of honeysuckle and lilac, it smells like candy outside, the breeze outside brings all the scents to the forefront and it is such a pleasure and a treat to walk outside with the light aromatic smell of both honeysuckle and lilac following you wherever you turn.

The puppies outside

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outside, postaday2016, puppies

I know that Jack and Lulu aren’t puppies, but Stanley at 10 months old still qualifies, actually he will be considered a puppy until he is 3 years old.  That is a very long time of puppy shenanigans if you don’t mind me saying. We have been working with Stanley on his behavior, we’re trying to teach him to be more mindful of his size. We suspect he is still under the impression that he’s Jack’s size, as you can see from the pictures, he left that size a while ago. I personally don’t like to be jumped on, my husband doesn’t mind it, but I do, so I am working on that specific behavior with Stanley, it is work but I feel confident that he will understand Maman doesn’t get jumped on before long. Stanley is smart when he wants to be, more to the point when he feels like listening, he seems to have a stubborn streak because when he wants something, he keeps at it.

Jack is still trying to tunnel his way out of the back, the crazy little man. The hole in the fence way in the back had to be stoned off, but that hasn’t deterred Jack from trying to find a weakness in that area. Jack has even enlisted Stanely’s help in trying to escape, thank goodness Stanley hasn’t complied as of yet, I’m not sure if Stanley just doesn’t understand what Jack wants or if Stanley simply isn’t interested, either way I hope it stays that way. Lol

Creeping phlox and other signs of life

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postaday2016, spring

It took awhile, but finally my creeping phlox has blossomed into its customary carpet of pale purple, in between the quirky winter and Lulu and Stanley’s paws, I consider my garden lucky to have the phlox return in all of its glory. I didn’t envisage exactly how great of a “footprint” the two big dogs would impart on my flower beds, their presence has me rethinking each flower bed in terms of replanting or more specifically not replanting and allowing for their foot traffic to dictate the shape and scope of the beds instead. I suppose that’s the nature of gardening, you have to be flexible with the seasons, Mother Nature herself and of course any animal friends you introduce to your household.

I’m still not 100% back to my old self, so I am not going to be as aggressive with the flower beds this year as I would have been in the past. I’m taking everything one day at a time and so whatever I manage to accomplish in the garden will have to suffice, at least for myself and I’m the only one who would be pushing myself, I need to be mindful of that and take it easy on myself, no one else is going to expect a wholly manicured garden.

I was complaining about the sad condition of my azaleas and I found a red blossom on one of the two.

Goes to show, you can never count something down and out because you never know, nature finds a way to surprise you. I had forgotten that I had planted a cutting from my huge rose bush in my pond flower bed, it survived the dogs and the winter! It even has a pansy from last year cuddling up to it, all nice and pretty. It’s the little things like this that make gardening so delightful.