We ended the blog last week with Sunday, so will start this week with Monday for a change and it might be a short week, if we stop on Friday night.
It was a quiet day, so quiet I don’t remember anything that happened, and I didn’t record anything that day. Oh, I remember! I spent almost the entire day working on the web page for my retirement celebration. It is long and has many pictures, so everyone who accesses it will have to have even more patience than taken to go through our Season’s Greetings newsletter for the year. One must have a high speed Internet connection to view and also a WIDE computer screen to have it format correctly with four photos per line. Here is the link if you want to give it a try:
http://www.elixant.com/~nancyh/2010retirementCelebration.html
The only other things I did were eat, rest, and play with the cat.
We did have the very sad news from Jim & Rosy that (one of our long ago pups) a wonder(ful) Brittany, Brigitte (BG) had crossed the rainbow bridge. She was an incredible positive influence in their lives, as they were in hers. She will be missed terribly. We understand, having lost our Brittany family members through the years. It is never easy no matter how you might try to prepare for it. Brigitte was very special and they were able to give her a new life after a very rocky start with another family, a trip back to our home for a year, until we fortunately found her forever home with them. Brigitte was Jim’s fishing buddy. People on the river knew her by name and others called her “the dog who fishes.” If you look on the link above about the retirement party, you will see a couple of pictures of BG, and can read how important she was to my life earlier this year when she came for a visit to see me in Ellensburg, in the rehabilitation center. It was a very special day I will never forget. Brigitte jumped up into the chair beside my bed to be petted. Jim and Rosy also came to visit me in ICU, bringing pictures each time, so I was able to show off “our” Brittanys in their loving home to my care-givers. Everyone was always interested. Some of them John posted on the wall curtain so everyone coming in the room could see them, just like a greeting card.
Tuesday, was another less involved day. No trips to town because our neighbor was kind enough to bring us the dozen eggs we forgot Sunday when at the grocery.
Today has been mostly catching up on emails, and playing with the kitty, Sunny. He is getting bolder each day. He loves to climb to high spots in all rooms. “His room”, now has a clear track he can run to get to the window sill to look out. He launches himself from John’s computer chair (okay- if John is there Kitty uses a leg as a launch pad), to an open filing cabinet drawer with a book placed in it for support, and up to the window. This has been the solution to finding a feeding spot that the dogs can’t get to. In the den he is willing to jump up into my recliner, but not on command, yet. He sits beneath me while I’m eating, begging for food as the dogs do. He’s learned that trick fast. They won’t beg from John, because he won’t ever give in, as I do. I finally got tired of it and used a newspaper to threaten him, so now at the end of the week, he just lays on the floor with the dogs and doesn’t climb up.
Dec. 29th, Wednesday was a day for celebrating. This day a year ago was the day of my valve replacement surgery that saved my life. John baked a pecan pie following his mother’s hand written recipe from 40 years ago. Still warm, we carried it into town to a turkey dinner with new friends — with talk about their times in Idaho, remembering our time in Idaho in some of the same places. Returning home, we were greeted by our dogs and kitty. After a moderate month our temperature has chosen this day to plunge. For our return home it was about 15 and heading down. We won’t get above 20 until about the 5th of January. John says “I intend to turn the oven on, warm the house up, and bake a cake on the 4th – my birthday some 38 years ago.” [Nancy says that last number is bogus.]
Thursday: scheduled to play music at Mt. View Meadows Assisted Living Home. It went well, with an appreciative audience and a new addition to our group (a guitarist who sings). She was my student 15 years ago and now is a biologist here in town. She sent me a job-announcement to distribute to my jobs list, and I sent her back a thank you and a link to our Christmas newsletter. She was back to me in a few minutes saying she didn’t know I played the fiddle (violin) and that she plays the guitar and had been wishing for a group to play with. She fit right in and was thrilled to join us, and we were happy to have her too.
I went by the bank, deposited a check, and visited with people there over a cup of coffee. They were so happy to see the condition I’m now in. I had on my velvet black vest today with the white snowmen on it, and people really were cheered up by it. Also went by the hospital to donate some money to their “foundation”. It seemed like the right thing to do after all they have done for me over the past year and a half.
Oops! Amazingly, I went to look for something in the retirement celebration web page, and found several errors. I corrected those and changed a few more words in the text.
[John says my errors are inconsequential. He suggests this web page:
The “oops” list: http://micom.net/oops/ ]
I had cereal for lunch because I didn’t want leftover beef stew. Guess I’m getting picky again. Better stop that or John will quit cooking for me. We had a nice roast (with onions & tomatoes), acorn squash and leftover rolls brought home from last night’s dinner. We split one small piece of pecan pie (added ice cream) we brought home from the dinner last night. Yum.
Friday: Well, nothing much happened today. The temperature struggled up to about 14, then gave up and started down again. I wasn’t going out anyway. John had to bundle up twice to check on and feed the horses. I did download another music program for transposing music for my friend that plays the clarinet. Last one I used for 30 days and it expired. There were some things I could not do with it, so now I’m evaluating a more expensive copy and one that will allow me to do some of the more advanced things (such as changing the time signature in the middle of a tune). I had to change from 4/4 time to 2/4 time for only one measure, and I couldn’t do that with the old software. The first only cost $10 but this will be $50. I think it will be worth it. I can do a few more things. I maybe could have gotten along with the smaller version, but what the heck ? I might as well give myself a nice gift. It also has a way of inputting notes from the keyboard. I will have to learn that trick. Right now it is just putting in a note at a time by selecting-&-dragging the type of note I need and placing it on the music staff. I did one page of music before I ran out of energy this afternoon.
Now it is New Year’s Eve. In addition to the cold it has been very quiet out here. Past tense. Was. The neighbors started setting off fireworks, early. That upset the dogs, even though they are bird dogs and used to gun shots. Not for years, though.
I’m ready to turn this over to John for corrections, additions, and posting on the WordPress servers. He will post this early Saturday – in the new year.
Nothing big is planned for Saturday or Sunday this week, the first two days of twenty-eleven or 2011.
So, Happy New Year.
May you enjoy spectacular sunrises and sunsets; babies’ smiles, and funny antics of puppies, kittens, and your human friends. May you witness the unfolding of the petals of a million flowers and especially enjoy every astonishing and miraculous beat of your heart. *
Nancy (& John)
________
*For the inspiration for the “May you …” wish, and many more, see: