room for living . . .

we have the smallest living room in the state.  really.  when we looked at the house, I noticed it immediately.  and thought, this is why the place isn't selling.  it is also the main reason I refer to my home as 'the cave'.  no light.

its only ten feet wide.  I actually had to take measurements when I saw it and then go back to my condo and push the furniture in to see if I could live that way.  tight.  but I could.  and, I'm glad I did.  

but you know what, it's one of my favorite rooms.  yeah, it's a little funky decor-wise but that's why I love it.

I've filled it with things that make me feel good.  a huge squishy sofa, two Mission Craftsman leather recliners, a table my parents had when they first got married . . .  happily refinished by the 9TS, and covered with a hand tatted doily by the 9TS's mother.  The floor to ceiling fireplace . . . did I mention the saving grace is a really high ceiling at one end . . . made from rough coquina stone.  so rough in fact that in most little facets, there are goodies stashed.  Kidlet and I added them one day when she was seven.  and more appeared.  everything from a Polly-Pocket pet to a Swarovski crystal pig.  then there is the leather giraffe.  love him.  snow shoes.  ancient metal ice skates, a grape vine wreath.  an antique barrister bookcase full of my grandfather's books, a 100 year old bear . . . slightly munched in college by a zealous canine, a scarred Lionel engine, and the odd collection of paper mache cats.  then there is the woven basket stuffed with logs, the fat wood and my personal favorite, my father's first scooter. 

whether I am curled up watching television while munching dinner . . . a habit we acquired after Kidlet left for college . . . or snuggled in one of the recliners, I love the peace that exudes from this room.  it makes me feel  . . . well, like I am home.

hooray . . .

Kind of a different type of day for a change.  I finally warmed up my iMac and new printer and did something creative.  It's been so long since I've rummaged through my stacks of card stock and hauled out the brads, flowers, adhesives, paper cutter, punches, Xyron etc., but of course it all started digitally.  It was a fun afternoon.

Tomorrow, I think I'll play with my sewing machine.  I have projects lined up and waiting.  The funk is clearing.

Kapowie . . . Blam . . . Socko . . .

the 9TS is sitting in a lounger getting infused with Remicade.  They called a little after 8:00 a.m. to be there between 9:00 and 9:30.  Take that rutabagas!!!!!

exhaustion . . .

two hour drive to tampa
blood work

appointment with Dr. K.

three hour drive home

wine

*****************************************************************

The good news?  Dr. K. can no longer physically feel the tumors on his right side.  Which of course means that they may have shrunk on the inoperable side as well.  Coolio!  We'll find out for sure in December.  Tappity, tappity, tap!!!

The sloth is scheduled for an infusion of Remicade Tuesday morning.  HERE in town.  In the meantime, he will stay on prednisone, Miralax, Senokot S and Lactulose if needed.  How was that for a tad too much information. 

It was a good day.  Exhausting but good.

this is why I adore Kelli, take 2 . . .

My first email of the morning, yesterday!!

"So, there is a rat that apparently scurries around every day outside Stu (the VP/GM)'s office.  He sees it out the window.  I asked him if he was sure it was a rat, or maybe just a little field mouse or something (he is, after all from England and Cincinnati, lol).  He told me it was either a very large mouse or a very small kangaroo.  LOL

 

Anyway........I had stopped going out the door right by my desk, because I didn't want to come face to face with this rat and have no where to go.  (it's a very narrow walkway path that leads to the main door.)  Well, people come and go out that door all the time, so yesterday I decided to get brave and leave out that door.

 

I came face to face with said rat.  ugh.  I texted Stu (who was on a flight to France) and told him I had finally seen the rat, and have named him Templeton.  Now I think I know why he said I constantly make him laugh.  I'm sure that's the last thing he expected to see when he was able to turn on his phone today after an all night flight, lol.  He called this morning and asked how Templeton looked......I said, well for lack of a better word, his fur looks kind of "ratty".  Then it occurred to me that's probably how that expression got started, and his fur probably looked exactly right for a rat.  And then I got the giggles and couldn't stop, all while Stu is listening on the phone from France.

 

I expect to be job hunting soon, ROFL."

 

"She’s crazy. And just when you think you’ve reached the bottom of her craziness, there’s a crazy underground garage."

— Karen Walker, Will & Grace

aaarrrrghhhhh . . .

Turns out, the nurse covering for our favorite nurse 'A', gave me the wrong name of the drug they intend to infuse.  It's Remicade not Rituxan.  Huge difference . . . and I even had her spell it for me.    Remicade is used to help the rutabaga problem caused by the Yervoy.  Very rarely do side effects enter into the equation.  So now all the paperwork has been shuffled to our insurance company and once we get an OK, off we go into the wild blue yonder.  Put on your seat belt dear Sloth and hang on tight.

EDIT:   Finally we have it straightened out.  We will see Dr. K. and get his labs done at Moffitt but the Remicade infusion will be done here at home. YAY!!!!  Everything has been approved.  Life is good again even if rutabagas stay on my s**t list for the rest of my natural born life.

grumble, grumble, grumble . . .

because of the recurrence of some nasty little side effects following his Yervoy infusions, the 9TS's presence is requested back at Moffitt at the end of this week.  As of this morning, our insurance company has still not received the paperwork from their referral office in order to insure clearance . . .  a usually minor irritation.  But let me back up.

When I called Moffitt last week and spilled my guts about the 9TS's guts, they called me back and said that Dr. K. wanted to see him and that they would do blood work prior to the appointment.  Apparently, Dr. K. also wanted to talk to us about infusing my sloth with a drug called Rituxan.  Two days later, we were called with the date and times for both the blood work and the appointment with Dr. K.  No mention of an infusion.  With me so far?  Good.

Tonight, we get the usual gravel voiced automated message reminding us of his two appointments.  Great.  But wait!  The cheerful little animatron tells us we should be at the infusion center at 5:00 for an infusion at 5:30.  Ut Oh.  If our insurance company hadn't yet received the paper work on the blood work and office exam, it's a good bet that they don't know about the infusion.  A $10,000 infusion, if you can believe the net.

Our insurance company has been very good about things but it also takes time.  Each request must go to a committee and be passed by the board.  Tomorrow, I need to start a panic of calls to see if we can expedite this affair.  Then there is the little matter of the side effects from this infusion.  Gulp!

A decision needs to be made as to whether the 9TS wants to do this.  No one has bothered to ask him!!!!  A little more information would be a very good thing.

I'm beginning to become less and less fond of this alternative world we have entered.  Let.us.out.  I don't like it in here.  Neither does my beloved sloth!!!!

grumble, grumble, grumble.

what a difference a day makes . . . .

Have you ever had a colicky kid?  Kidlet was caught in the throes of it for four long months.  Incessant crying for hours and hours.  The worst day, she cried for seventeen straight hours.  Yes, I thought about drop kicking her over the back fence.  But I didn't.  There were days however when I would swaddle her, put her safely in her crib, close the door to her room and sit on the sofa and pull my hair out for an hour.  The worst thing about colic?  You know it's harder on the infant.  I mean seriously folks, she wasn't doing it because she liked the idea of a bald parent.  She was miserable and I was helpless.

Finally, at about three and a half months, there came a perfect day.  She was a happy cherub.  Life was wonderful.  The next day however, my sweet little bundle was once again red faced and screaming.  And so it went . . .  two days of colic, one day of relief.  And then, one day of colic and two days of relief and finally . . .  blessed peace.  The colic was gone.  And I was left with a sweet angel so exhausted, she slept all night and took two four hour naps during the day for months. 

Why am I telling you this?  Because today, I woke up to find the 9TS in the bathroom shaving and getting ready to go to the gym.  Gone was yesterday's heap of misery.  My sloth was his old self.  I am thankful for this day and even if tomorrow sucks, at least we had today.  Happiness and light have entered the cave.  Today, I don't feel helpless!

 Credits:  Michelle Coleman

fun for the technically challenged . . .

I decided today was the day.  I was finally going to pull everything off my old desktop and stash it on an EHD.  Then move everything from the EHD to my new Mac, reformat the EHD for Mac and set it up using Time Machine.  Then disassemble the old computer, re-hook up the router and be back in business.

Things didn’t go quite as planned.  First, it turns out I am a back-up fanatic . . .  same files in 90 million places.  I must have had seven different files marked ‘Digi’.  Huge massive files.  Does that surprise anyone?  I spent a lot of time manually comparing and deleting duplicates.  The same applied to my stash of fonts.  I am not done.  This it seems, will keep me from boredom for quite some time.  Why don’t I let my iMac do it for me?  Do the words 'control freak' mean anything to you?

My old Dell is now sitting on the floor in pieces.  Each clearly marked so it can be easily put back together as soon as we decide where it is going to reside:  Kidlet’s room vs. the man cave.  The current hitch is the proposed four hours it is going to take for Time Machine to back up the huge amount of gigabytes I poured into it.   Good thing we are working with two terabyte hard drives.  Yes, I am a insane.

Then there was the immense pile of fur and dust balls that had accumulated in the tangle of cords under my desk.  Ah-chew!  So happy I now have a tower-less, predominately cordless iMac.  And finally, we have the issue of reconnecting to the net.  If at first you don't succeed, hit the help button.  Thank you, Apple.

Now if I can just find an updated driver for my five year old scanner . . . 

*****************************************************

Sloth Update:  Another.not.so.very.good.day.  We’ll try again tomorrow.  In the meantime, I am starting a spread sheet.  His medical bills are flying in from all over and I swear they are in Greek.  Who decided that doctors have to have their very own billing system and can’t play  nice with hospital billings.  For every procedure, we get at least three bills from the hospital and a separate bill from the ordering physician and each visit is to at least three departments.  You do the math.  We have good insurance but this is mind boggling and I am easily befuddled.

Drat, I am out of wine.

pippin vs. the alligator . . .

the window of the loft . . . my work space . . . sits a few feet above the pool cage.  It is a magnet for beasties large and small.  The largest being a particularly gruesome turkey buzzard who once stared back at me with nary a blink.  The smallest, a diligent spider who keeps building geometric webs the width of the pane, between the glass and the screen.  I regularly eradicate his masterpieces and he regularly shrugs his eight little shoulders and goes back to work.

Yesterday, Pippin was mesmerized by something in that vicinity.  I could hear her chattering and could see her dance, bobbing and weaving against the glass.  I finally got up to investigate.  A miniature alligator had somehow managed to wedge his small plump body under the edge of the screen and was trapped.  Pippin was fascinated.  Hours of feline entertainment.  Today, I will open the window, release the reptile and erase the wee ones artwork. 

Last night when Kidlet called.  I relayed the story.  Kidlet being a bit more realistic than I, would mutter 'Lizard' every time I said 'Alligator'.  It held up conversation a bit, but I do understand her point . . .  Finally, she suggested I start a new blog, strictly from Pippin's perspective.  Hum.  I'm  thinking:  Pippin, Ninja and Bear, Oh My.  Then again, how many cats can read.  Audience level would be at an all time low.  Sigh.

mother nature, I adore you . . .

you, finally turned off the heat, and I in turn, finally doused the air conditioning.  It is a win-win situation.  Thank you, MN.  It's been a long six months.

My walking companion has flown the coop.  Headed north.  I am left to trek solo.  Seems I am not good at that.  Too boring.  I need to find the ear buds to my iPhone.  But I did squeak in a 2.5 mile jaunt this morning and have good intentions for a 5 miler tomorrow.  The best part of MN having turned off the heat, is that I can sleep in before walking.  No more having to get on the road by 7:30 to beat the heat.  Life is good.

For the 9TS . . . not so much.  Yesterday he was a miserable beastie a.g.a.i.n.  I called Moffitt and they slapped him back on prednisone.  We're waiting for a call back for next week.  They are talking about infusing him with another immunosuppressive drug to flush out the toxins.  Rutabaga, thy name is mud.

And the sloth is not amused by MN.  He gets cold easily and is not as thrilled as I.   But I covered him with an old fashioned afghan and Pippin settled in on top.  I am not quite sure which of the two became more content. 

back in the day . . .

say circa 1969, I made half my clothes and bought the other half.  The other half being mostly hip hugging, 2.5" zippered bell bottom jeans . . .  wide enough to cover the toes . . .  and drag ever so slightly on the ground behind my platform boots:

 (tis not I, said the little red hen)

  . . .   or worn with buffalo sandals:

The rest fell into a more creative category:  Crop tops made from old T's, large scarves wrapped and tied for tops, tie dyed anything.  But one of my favorite patterns was a simple flowing dress.  I made it over and over again in variation.  The pattern, tucked away, moved with me time and time again and finally one day, several years ago, I happened on a box in the garage holding all my old patterns.  Alas, some critter had wrecked havoc in said box and the entire mess had to be chucked.  But, not before I gazed fondly at McCalls pattern 9715:

 It was a sad farewell.

The pattern kept nagging at me.  Mostly because one of the variations made was floor length and cut from an Indian block print bedspread that was the rage at the time.  It was comfy and I kept thinking of how wonderful it would be to hang around in one again.  The search was on.  McCalls no longer keeps it in stock and my web searches surprisingly uncovered several but all had recently sold.  

Last week, I hit the proverbial jackpot and stumbled across the pattern on EBay.  My first EBay purchase!   It came in the mail yesterday and today I am headed to Joann's, looking for a slightly heavier than normal cotton fabric because winter is finally coming to Florida.  Maybe flannel.  I'll let you know.

WARNING! WARNING! Kidlet beware!!

sorry for the screaming header but Kidlet is not a happy camper on the topic of eight legged beasties and this morning's walk seemed to have a theme in keeping with the season.   SPIDERS!

to set the record straight, I am not a fan either.  At least I am not as squeamish as I was as a kid, but they still give me the creeps.  The only difference being that at least now I can appreciate their artistic endeavors.  Kidlet still despises them with an unbridled passion.  She seems to have the same radar that I had growing up.  If it's in the room, we'll find it.  Now is the time to stop reading, Kidlet!

Joanie and I are always walking into spider webs since our trek wanders the bike paths of a nearby neighborhood.  It seems we walk before the riders ride.  The other day, I was flapping my gums and collected one right in the mouth.  Geez.  Not nice, Mother Nature. 

First thing this morning, Joanie spotted this little dude:

good grief!

but then we found this delightful little woven blanket.  Just in time for the temperature drop:

now you have to admit, that's some nice stitchery.

And then there was this beauty.  Great design work and each of her strings are two toned.  Very cool:

since I was having trouble getting a shot with my iPhone and fighting the sun, Joanie suggested I try from behind.  Fat chance!  I am not wandering off the path in case she belongs to some kind of knitting club and they were having a bee.  Can you imagine that in the face?!!?!?!?

shudder!!!!

on the upside we finally hit the 5.0 mile walk.  YAY!  We rock!!!!

autumn in new england . . .

                                                 Credits:  Katie Pertiet: Paper, Stitches, leaf overlay, Anna Aspnes: Overlays, coins, stems.

Since it was a low profile day, I hauled out an old photo the 9TS took in Sturbridge, Massachusetts and decided to play with it.   I miss the fall colors.

stuffed tomato . . .

Today has not been the very best of days for the 9TS.  I thought maybe I would try Liv's stuffed tomato recipe and see if I could coax him into a case of the munchies. (Not that I am opposed to an occasional lovely grilled Filet Mignon, but for the most, I shy away from beef. My version is all veggie.)

So I halved and gutted a huge tomato:

and started chopping.  The onions, garlic, zucchini, yellow crooked neck squash and mushrooms went flying:

The onion and garlic sauteed until they were soft:

and then everything else was thrown in.  When everything was just this side of crispy:

I added a layer of Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs and stirred it all together and stuffed it into the two tomato halves:

Then I covered the whole mess with mucho mozzarella cheese, tented it and threw it in the oven.  Twenty minutes later, I peeled off the tent and set it under the broiler until the cheese bubbled and turned a lovely light brown.

And then we ate:

The 9TS, who resisted the idea of eating, managed a quarter of the veggie goodness.  It is a do-again.  Next time however, I will drop the fresh tomato into boiling water first and skin.  Yummy, yummy, yummy.  Thank you, Liv.

a little of this . . .

*new ultrasound being done today.  locally.  thank.you.very.much.  so no slogging across the state. 

*the 9TS and I have turned into night owls, we were both wandering around at 2:30 a.m.  we  have   confused the cats.  they looked perplexed by the late night ramblings.

*speaking of cats, the 9TS opened his closet door and jumped back as a pair of his blue sports pants flew out the door, ran through the kitchen, up the stairs and under a bed.  he gently tried to coax the pants out from under the bed.  they came.  a very freaked Pippin did not.  she must have gotten tangled in the strings of the waistband. 

*kidlet isn't coming home this weekend.  something about not wanting to fight the motorcycles.  couldn't even bribe her with chicken Marsala or German chocolate cake.

*bear decided to get in the spirit of Halloween and go headless:

*and while covering creepy things, we have this cute little inedible:

*that's it for today.

a most imperious slurp . . .

When I get bored, I blog hop.  Some blogs I hit daily, others intermittently.  Today, I stopped by Liv's front porch to she what she's been up to.  Scrump-deliciousness!!!!  She posted a recipe for stuffed tomatoes.  I am drooling.

But then I remembered yesterday.  Meat twice in the same day and I do not get along.  Not that the meatball subs from Sorrento's weren't just THE very best, but add pulled pork for dinner and my body was in full revolt.  Turns out, I am not a meat eater.  Not really.  Before I met my first husband, I had been a vegetarian for seven years.  Enter Mr. Meat and Potatoes and I was back on the red stuff.  When the 9TS had open heart surgery in 2000, we cut way back again.  And since Yervoy did a tap dance on his taste buds, he'd been consuming watermelon in great quantities three times a day for two months, leaving me happily to dine on mainly roasted veggies.  Slurp.

But back to Liv's recipe . . .  drool.   It dawned on me that I could happily modify it substituting chopped zucchini, mushrooms, red bell pepper and ramp up the onion, garlic and mozzarella and come up with something similar to my beloved Stuffed Eggplant, but in roasted tomatoes.  So the ingredients will be first on my shopping list for tomorrow.  I am salivating at the thought.  Thank you, Liv!

Oh and as an aside, I finally tried the new Tasti-Lee tomatoes.  My humble opinion?  I'm back to my Campari tomatoes.  The Tasti-Lee is just too expensive for a flavor undelivered.

Dinner tonight?  Mediterranean Grilled Salmon, snap peas and seasoned rice.  And truthfully, with all the rain, the salmon is going in the oven.  Today is not the day to ask the 9TS to stand in the wet stuff and grill.

Speaking of rain . . . and no, I am not complaining since we are about to enter the dry season which will last until next June . . . it's been storming, drizzling, spitting, driving and leaking since Friday.   Joanie and I waltzed in the rain Friday morning, got rained out Saturday and managed to sneak in a dry 4.71 miles this morning.  The stuff is still coming down.  Happily, it breaks long enough that we are not flooding.   Very conducive to sleeping, reading, nesting and fiddling.  I am slug, hear me roar.

pinterest hates me . . .

and so, I am going to post my little found nuggets here:

and here:

and here:

and here:

and my favorite, here:

so there!

sigh . . .

The tumors have not changed.  Dr. K. is pleased because it means they neither grew nor were there any new ones.  And, the Yervoy is still working.  We may see better results when we go back in December. 

The 9TS and I are a little disappointed.  We were hoping they would have either shrunk or disappeared.  But, it is what it is and we'll keep on keeping on.

Tonight is definitely a wine night.   Thanks all, for the prayers.  You did good!!!!

double grrrrr . . .

1.   after all these years of tests, we screwed up.  No food prior to a CT.  And we had just stopped and filled the 9TS up with MickeyD cinnamon buns.  Now we have to wait until 3:30 and our appointment with Dr. K is at 4:00.  More nail biting.  How could we have!?!?!?!?!   The 9TS is down now getting his blood test done.

The 9TS's magic elixir:

p.s.  it's doesn't taste all that magical, judging from the look on his face.  Sigh.

2.   OMG, they took him to insert his IV half an hour ago and now he is MIA.

      (Starting on knuckles!!!)

3.   Turns out someone picked up on the fact that he broke out in hives after the last contrast CAT.  They want him to come back tomorrow.  After explaining where we live, they decided to do just a non-contrast CAT.  Now we don't know if we will get the results today or not.

3.   Dr. K. is running behind.  Which is actually good.  Gives them more time to read the CAT.

4.   The 9TS has gained 4 pounds!!!!!   YAY!!!  More updates to come.

aarrrghhhh . . .

nibbling my nails to the quick.

getting antsy . . .

just checked my iPhone and there was a message from Moffitt reminding us of our appointments on Thursday.  The big reveal.

First the 9TS will have a C-Scan, then they will run his blood work.  Finally, we will meet with Dr. K. and get the results.  We will finally find out if this summer's Yervoy debacle was worth the effort.  According to all of the trials, we should see if the tumors have shrunk.  Fingers crossed.  If it worked, not only is there a chance for a cure but, the Yervoy will have taught all of his T-cells to attack the cancer cells.  So if it were to reoccur anywhere in his body, the T-cells will go into warrior pose. 

Please, please, please keep your fingers crossed  . . . . and pass the Ativan!

p.s.  If you are older than mud, like me, you'll remember this:

goodness, goodness, gracious . . .

Saturday, we took off.  Ran away.  We were headed to an art festival in delightful, downtown, Deland, but apparently I was the only one who knew about it.  The city did not.  Oops.  But, as long as we were there, we decided to enjoy ourselves and wander the streets before eating at the Mainstreet Grill.  And let me tell you, the weather was oh, so beautiful.  The first day of fall weather.  High in the low 80's, even lower humidity.  Does it really get any better?

We stuck our noses in all kinds of shops.  I found a multicolored, mirrored fabric bag in one and wooden cat for my collection in another, oh and the 9TS bought me a white country crock for the kitchen.  Katie scored a onesie for her God daughter, a bird cage and a Star Wars Pez dispenser set.  We are nothing if not eclectic.

 This baby was sitting on a shelf in a restoration store.  Hum!!

 

Kidlet caught the 9TS and I smooching but I opted not to post that shot.  This one will do instead.

 

Walking along the street, Kidlet found a deserted wagon complete with sink on top.  Double hum.

 

Not to mention her penchant for other things enamel:

and after a while, we wandered home for dinner.  Sue had shared a recipe with me that I decided to spring on Kidlet and the 9TS.  What it lacked in flavor . . . which wasn't much and might have had something to do with my dyslexic confusion with teaspoons and tablespoons, flour vs. sugar  . . . it made up in speed.
Turned these granny smiths:

 into this rustic apple strudel: 

Slurp!!

It was a good day in our world.

Friday: 2.67
Saturday: 4.79
Sunday: 4.86