We have discovered why we hadn't heard back from the hospital about Z's manogram yet: they put the wrong prefix on the phone number. Our area code for his cell is 240; the local area code is 254. The lady taking down the information was either on autopilot or thought Z had mispoken, so the phone number they had was not correct.
After two weeks of playing phone tag with the hospital and his PCM, we finally heard from the surgeon late yesterday.
Results:
There is a tumor present, but it does not have the resonance signature of a cancerous tumor.
Now we have to wait until Monday to find out what they plan to do with it.
BUT this is Great! Fabulous! Terrific! news.
Other news that's making our collective heads spin: we are moving back to Maryland, in two weeks. Due to some unexpected events involving our tenants, we are going back home to take possession of our house and eliminate paying for two places at the same time. Our tenants were supposed to be in the Maryland house until the end of next March, when they were going to be purchasing it. We were not planning to renew their lease. After discovering they would be unable to purchase the house, they gave us their thirty days' notice to be out on the first of August. They have a large family and finding suitable living quarters can be a challenge for them, so when they found something they jumped on it.
Our house is in no condition to get a new tenant at this time, so back to Maryland we go. We have actually gotten phone calls from two different people -- one neighbor, one friend from church -- in the last week expressing some concerns about our property. We're not entirely certain what we're about to walk into. Our lease in TX runs out in September, so at least that part is easy. Z will have to stay in TX until work can move him up here, though, so he may be sleeping on couches for a while.
Initially it was looking like he'd be in TX until March of next year, but an opening has occurred in the D.C. area and hopefully Z will slide into it by the end of September so we can be a family again. Z will continue working with the church here until he leaves.
We have accomplished what we came to Texas to do as far as getting the new church started, we have done all we can do at this point. Any future progress is out of our hands; it's up to the people who say they want this church to get rolling. Ball's in their court to do what needs to be done.
It's still surreal and such short notice, but luckily I can pack things in my sleep. This makes move #21 for me (in 32 years) and #26 for my husband. Guess our military brat pedigrees (and six years as a military wife) come in handy once again, right? There is still the "freak out" element present, though. I do that really well, too.
Our kids are actually excited to be heading back up there. A gets a little grin on his face when we mention moving back to Maryland, and K flat out shrieked with joy the first time we told her. Now she asks multiple times daily if we're "going to Maryland today?"
We are hoping beyond hope that we will land in one place and just stay there for a while. Contrary to popular belief, we do not actually enjoy moving. We moved twice in Maryland -- once to a home closer to Z's work, because he was getting up at 3:45 in the morning and getting home close to 9 p.m. and by moving closer he could sleep in until 5:00 and get home around 7 -- more family and sleep time. Then we moved a couple of years after that because we'd bought a house; Z was getting out of the military and we were planning on staying put for a long time.
We said when we bought the house that we were there unless God Himself moved us. Famous last words, she said, as the H family drove to Texas a year later...
Sooo -- now we're coming back, hopefully for good this time. Both Z and I really love western Maryland, from the people we have befriended to the gorgeous scenery. At the risk of sounding like a complete freak, the land out there just has a beautiful, peaceful spirit about it, whether you're at the river or up hiking through the mountains. Maryland feels like home. It's the first place either Z or I have felt that way about, in all of our moving around.
And, hey! Maybe I can have that garden and chooks yet. I think the chickens will have to wait at least a year, though, until we can get everything squared away with the house. I suspect that repainting will be on "the list"; we're hoping drywall repair and replacement flooring are not on "the list".
If we can swing it, one of the things we'd like to do in late fall would be to take down the "office tile" ceilings and put up good ol' drywall ceilings. That will make a tremendous difference in our abilities to insulate and soundproof, because the ceiling tiles we currently have are rated at about a 2 to a 4 as far as R-value goes, and it's not so easy to put in insulation over a ceiling with a bunch of cracks and holes in it.
It will also look about a thousand times better, which will do wonders for my mood. Amazing how aesthetics can do that. I'm not a fancy schmancy person, but I would like things to at least have a nice finished look. Some of the tiles have holes in them, and whoever installed them didn't put the frame in straight, so we have a crooked grid all over our ceiling with views of the roof around the edges of some of the tiles. It's just enough off to irritate me. Functional, yes, but not energy efficient, and they're ugh - lee.
My husband believes that every house needs an ugly something, if for nothing else then as a conversation piece. Perhaps we'll leave the genuine circa 1960's scalloped wooden cornice in the living room for him...that way I can update the kitchen and ceilings and still have an ugly thing for Z. Or maybe not.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Dog Days
We are in the dog days of summer -- we've had over 30 days of temperatures 100 degrees or higher this year. That does not include the days that it is, say, a balmy 98 degrees with a heat index of 109; those simply don't count. Who does that counting stuff anyway? By my book, those heat indices should count.
We have only had a couple of days dipping below the 100 mark since June 1st, but you really can feel a difference when it does. Hopefully the tease the weatherman threw us about Friday and Saturday will actually happen: highs 97 to 99 with a chance of thunderstorms. I sure hope so; we're so dry we've been pretty much under a constant burn ban for our county, and our air conditioning system running full blast only keeps it between 85 and 90 inside, depending on the external temperature. It also freezes up a couple of times every day, and we have to switch it to "fan" for a while to melt all the ice -- about 10 minutes generally does it -- before turning the air conditioner setting back on.
A is in ESY summer school through the middle of next week. It's hot enough that if his bus is only 4 minutes late, it's enough to exhaust you. Luckily the bus is air conditioned, so A is just fine once he's on board. He's loving school and is actually doing the work now that his teacher has learned what he's capable of, and A has learned that his teacher isn't a pushover.
K has sprouted like a weed and is actually fitting into 3T clothing comfortably; when we arrived here in March, she turned three but was still wearing 24 month clothing. We're thrilled she's catching up to others in her age group, but are having to alter our clothing schedule of hand-me-downs and reassess her needs for this fall. (Based on her past growth times we figured it would take until at least November to even keep the 3's up on her butt, but she's surprised us all. And she's tall and thin, not a chunk at all).
In other news, there is a disturbing practice in this town that, while it's present in a lot of places in the United States, is made exponentially worse here where there are a lot of military moves. What I'm referring to is animal dumping. People find out they're moving across the country or out of the country, take the collar off their animals, and boot them out the front door to fend for themselves.
I was so angry when I came back home from my walk this morning -- I'd seen yet another dog, a yellow lab this time, that was so thin you could see every one of its ribs and vertebrae wandering the streets looking for shade and water. If you call the local animal authorities, you get a wearied response that they'll canvas the area sometime in the new few days and try to pick them up. They get so many calls and don't have the staff to keep up with it all. We also have rabies and other diseases running rampant due to the large feral animal population, too, so I didn't dare approach the poor beast.
We are now taking care of a black lab that showed up at our house about a month ago in a similar situation. She had no collar, and despite calling around, asking neighbors, and posting a notice in the paper we have had no "hits". She was never quite skin and bones, but she has filled out nicely since her time with us. So sweet, puts up with all K's attentions, and is well trained. We didn't even get a leash for her until last week, on Saturday, because she stays at your knee when you walk and will stop when you do. If she wanders all you have to do is pat your leg or say, "Come", and she's instantly back.
She does not bark at people coming to the door or other dogs outside our fence either, which is strange but really great at the same time. She is an awesome dog, someone lost a really good one. The only possible issue that we've discovered is she loves to dig -- especially in my big tub that houses my zucchini plant. She gets along fantastically well with our male Siberian Husky -- once she set him straight that chicks don't like guys all up in their junk all the time.
When we took the collar and leash out of the store bag on Saturday, her butt hit the floor and her tail started wagging so hard it looked like she'd wag it clear off. She is so happy to have a collar, and I think she knows that she has a family again. I took her for a walk on the leash for the first time Monday morning and she was so excited when I pulled it out she was jumping up and down and wriggling her entire body. She pranced along past all the fenced dogs on our route with her head high and her tail out behind her all pretty, smiling the whole time.
Z and I ran through every dog's name we could think of (and made up a few out of desperation) just to see if she'd answer to something. All of our attempts were dismal failures. We asked the kids what they'd like to name her, to include them in the process because we can't just keep calling her "dog". A's contributions were "black dog" and "water". K came up with the dog's name, mostly because she most emphatically refuses to call her anything else. Our new pooch now has the most unlikely moniker of, "Princess". Smart dog, it only took her 2 days to start answering to it.
So, "Princess" is now sporting a lovely red collar and a tag with her name and our phone numbers engraved on it, and has a red leash to match.
As far as we can tell, she has never been fixed; neither has Mischa. Z and I were contemplating this the other day and are wondering just what any puppies would look like if they occurred between a male Siberian Husky and a female Labrador Retriever. The pups would likely be uglier than homemade sin, but have fabulous personalities. My mother suggested that we could call any offspring "Labrarians".
....yeah....
That tidbit of family knowledge probably gives you all some valuable insight into why I am the way I am.
We have only had a couple of days dipping below the 100 mark since June 1st, but you really can feel a difference when it does. Hopefully the tease the weatherman threw us about Friday and Saturday will actually happen: highs 97 to 99 with a chance of thunderstorms. I sure hope so; we're so dry we've been pretty much under a constant burn ban for our county, and our air conditioning system running full blast only keeps it between 85 and 90 inside, depending on the external temperature. It also freezes up a couple of times every day, and we have to switch it to "fan" for a while to melt all the ice -- about 10 minutes generally does it -- before turning the air conditioner setting back on.
A is in ESY summer school through the middle of next week. It's hot enough that if his bus is only 4 minutes late, it's enough to exhaust you. Luckily the bus is air conditioned, so A is just fine once he's on board. He's loving school and is actually doing the work now that his teacher has learned what he's capable of, and A has learned that his teacher isn't a pushover.
K has sprouted like a weed and is actually fitting into 3T clothing comfortably; when we arrived here in March, she turned three but was still wearing 24 month clothing. We're thrilled she's catching up to others in her age group, but are having to alter our clothing schedule of hand-me-downs and reassess her needs for this fall. (Based on her past growth times we figured it would take until at least November to even keep the 3's up on her butt, but she's surprised us all. And she's tall and thin, not a chunk at all).
In other news, there is a disturbing practice in this town that, while it's present in a lot of places in the United States, is made exponentially worse here where there are a lot of military moves. What I'm referring to is animal dumping. People find out they're moving across the country or out of the country, take the collar off their animals, and boot them out the front door to fend for themselves.
I was so angry when I came back home from my walk this morning -- I'd seen yet another dog, a yellow lab this time, that was so thin you could see every one of its ribs and vertebrae wandering the streets looking for shade and water. If you call the local animal authorities, you get a wearied response that they'll canvas the area sometime in the new few days and try to pick them up. They get so many calls and don't have the staff to keep up with it all. We also have rabies and other diseases running rampant due to the large feral animal population, too, so I didn't dare approach the poor beast.
We are now taking care of a black lab that showed up at our house about a month ago in a similar situation. She had no collar, and despite calling around, asking neighbors, and posting a notice in the paper we have had no "hits". She was never quite skin and bones, but she has filled out nicely since her time with us. So sweet, puts up with all K's attentions, and is well trained. We didn't even get a leash for her until last week, on Saturday, because she stays at your knee when you walk and will stop when you do. If she wanders all you have to do is pat your leg or say, "Come", and she's instantly back.
She does not bark at people coming to the door or other dogs outside our fence either, which is strange but really great at the same time. She is an awesome dog, someone lost a really good one. The only possible issue that we've discovered is she loves to dig -- especially in my big tub that houses my zucchini plant. She gets along fantastically well with our male Siberian Husky -- once she set him straight that chicks don't like guys all up in their junk all the time.
When we took the collar and leash out of the store bag on Saturday, her butt hit the floor and her tail started wagging so hard it looked like she'd wag it clear off. She is so happy to have a collar, and I think she knows that she has a family again. I took her for a walk on the leash for the first time Monday morning and she was so excited when I pulled it out she was jumping up and down and wriggling her entire body. She pranced along past all the fenced dogs on our route with her head high and her tail out behind her all pretty, smiling the whole time.
Z and I ran through every dog's name we could think of (and made up a few out of desperation) just to see if she'd answer to something. All of our attempts were dismal failures. We asked the kids what they'd like to name her, to include them in the process because we can't just keep calling her "dog". A's contributions were "black dog" and "water". K came up with the dog's name, mostly because she most emphatically refuses to call her anything else. Our new pooch now has the most unlikely moniker of, "Princess". Smart dog, it only took her 2 days to start answering to it.
So, "Princess" is now sporting a lovely red collar and a tag with her name and our phone numbers engraved on it, and has a red leash to match.
As far as we can tell, she has never been fixed; neither has Mischa. Z and I were contemplating this the other day and are wondering just what any puppies would look like if they occurred between a male Siberian Husky and a female Labrador Retriever. The pups would likely be uglier than homemade sin, but have fabulous personalities. My mother suggested that we could call any offspring "Labrarians".
....yeah....
That tidbit of family knowledge probably gives you all some valuable insight into why I am the way I am.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Wii UnFit
Sooooo.....we have a new Wii Fit in our household.
Thanks to a car wreck a little over 3 years ago and 4 abdominal surgeries in the last 5 years, two of which sliced me vertically from navel all the way down -- let's just say that my activity level hasn't been what it used to be, my right hip does NOT have a great range of motion, and my belly has far too much motion. Walking and subsisting on salads only does so much, so here goes a try at something else.
Initial impressions: the board thing is actually pretty sensitive, and I hate how it measures your BMI. Even if it's probably true. Ahem. Even if it is true... The Wii Fit actually picked up on the differences between my balance on my right and left sides, though, consistently through the different exercises.
Using the Wii Fit is actually pretty fun to do, but due to range of motion limitations I have discovered a difficulty with some activities, like the yoga "tree" pose where I have to raise the right leg (left is fine), and some of the balance games like the skiing. I overcompensate to the left, where I put most of my weight. My right side is now a couple of inches higher permanently due to the aforementioned wreck, so that makes sense. Makes walking and running interesting sometimes depending on the terrain...the more level it is, the better I am at maintaining balance. Hiking up mountains at this point is probably not the best idea because I will trip all over myself and innocent bystanders.
Who knows? Maybe this will help with what the months upon months of physical therapy didn't, or at least maintain what range of motion I've got remaining on the right side. At least it's fun, and my daughter tries to do the things standing next to me on the floor -- so not only will that keep her out of trouble, but she'll burn off some of that dadgum energy too.
Here's to a new venture!
Thanks to a car wreck a little over 3 years ago and 4 abdominal surgeries in the last 5 years, two of which sliced me vertically from navel all the way down -- let's just say that my activity level hasn't been what it used to be, my right hip does NOT have a great range of motion, and my belly has far too much motion. Walking and subsisting on salads only does so much, so here goes a try at something else.
Initial impressions: the board thing is actually pretty sensitive, and I hate how it measures your BMI. Even if it's probably true. Ahem. Even if it is true... The Wii Fit actually picked up on the differences between my balance on my right and left sides, though, consistently through the different exercises.
Using the Wii Fit is actually pretty fun to do, but due to range of motion limitations I have discovered a difficulty with some activities, like the yoga "tree" pose where I have to raise the right leg (left is fine), and some of the balance games like the skiing. I overcompensate to the left, where I put most of my weight. My right side is now a couple of inches higher permanently due to the aforementioned wreck, so that makes sense. Makes walking and running interesting sometimes depending on the terrain...the more level it is, the better I am at maintaining balance. Hiking up mountains at this point is probably not the best idea because I will trip all over myself and innocent bystanders.
Who knows? Maybe this will help with what the months upon months of physical therapy didn't, or at least maintain what range of motion I've got remaining on the right side. At least it's fun, and my daughter tries to do the things standing next to me on the floor -- so not only will that keep her out of trouble, but she'll burn off some of that dadgum energy too.
Here's to a new venture!
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