I took the truck to Big 10 Tires today to get the air conditioning charged up. I didn't want to wait around so I walked to the dollar store and strolled through it. I bought a $8.00 purse. When I got back, they gave me the bad news. The compressor was bad and that would cost abt. $800.00 to fix. WELL, that wasn't going to happen and I didn't want to charge it when it had a leak, for I don't drive it that much and I would hate to think the juice was leaking out with it parked in the yard. Last summer Karen and I drove it to H'ville with the air broken and it was a very hot drive! I guess it will just be a yard truck. It does drive well and the radio still works and it has power steering, but it won't have air conditioning!
Today was a slow day but it seemed to pass quickly. I prepared my Primary lesson. Now, I'll have to learn it so I won't have to look at my notes too much. I don't take the book with me. I will next Sun. for I hope it will be my last day in the classroom. I don't really have the patience to teach such young children. With the stress I have at home and my age, I think I will do better at the piano. Sis. Shelby, the President, wants everyone to be happy and when she gets another teacher, then I'll start playing the piano. Yeah!!
Before I was contacted about playing the piano, Karen had come over with a Finch Family File Folder book and we were in the process of running copies of various pages off. She was going to help me get some games together to help manage the time I have left over after I'm finished with the lesson. The call came while we were coping the pages, so we stopped that. She loaned me several games she had made up for that age class and it will really helped. I have really been blessed with talented friends. I hope they get something from my end of the friendship!
I have a Dr's appointment in H'ville at 10:30 AM. I have the exercise class at 8:30 and will go after that. I think I will cancel my membership at the Wellness Ctr. since I'm going to the Senior Ctr. to exercise. No use paying for membership that I don't use. If I had an exercise buddy, it would be different, but I don't. Jan Laytham goes to the Senior Ctr. so I know her and she has introduced me to her friends. I try to go early so I can do some walking before the exercise starts. It's mostly range of motion exercises. But I'm moving and that's what counts!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
Dirge of the Morning
What do you do when you wake up at 3:00 AM? What do you do at 4:00? At 5:00? At 3:00, I tried to get back into my dream. When that didn't work, I put some music on my CD player which is conveniently located near my head so I can play music and not inconvenience others. At 4:00 AM I listened to more music and then got up. It's 5:00 now and here I am. I'll wait until 6 or so before going into the other part of the house. Today is the day I take my Foasmax, which is the medicine I take for osteoporosis. I can't eat anything until 30 min. has past and I am hungry when I get up. This way, I'll take the medicine before I normally get up and will fool my stomach! Ha-ha!
Today, at 8:30 AM I'll go to the exercises at the Senior Ctr. Actually, I'll probably go a bit early so I can walk around the gym. I wanted to take the truck to get the air conditioning fixed, but Frank thinks you need to be the first one there so they can get right to the truck, so he suggested I wait until Tuesday to do it, which I probably will.
Frankie and his family will be coming the week-end of the 4th of July. They'll come Friday and leave Sun afternoon. The worst part will be the feeding of all 6 of them. Do they eat beans??? I haven't cooked in so long, I dread the thought. Maybe I can go to Sam's and buy some already cooked food. Kayla can't eat anything with wheat and I don't know about any other diet restrictions except Rachel is allergic to pork. I'll call Rachel and talk with her about what to buy and fix.
Mary Kate and the kids will come the Sun. that Frankie leaves. She will stay until Friday. She's no problem to cook for. We'll just go to the grocery store and buy what we want. Week after this week, Sadie is coming over while Trudy goes to Girl's Camp. Sadie will be old enough to go next year, so she's looking forward to it. Sadie won't be any problem to feed. I'll just take her grocery shopping and she can pick out what she wants.
Girl's Camp is a great experience. The years I went, 1st as a camp director and later as the Young Women's Leader, we slept in tents and cooked on camp stoves. Had portable out houses. Now they have permanent cabins. (that's cheating a far as I'm concerned....!). It's still a great experience in the heat of the summer, amidst all the bugs and snakes and creepy crawlers!
You can tell I liked all of the above. There's nothing like getting back to nature. I'm probably too old for it right now, but I loved it back then. I bet I went to Girl's Camp for 8 years straight.
It's 5:40 AM now and I can't think of anything else to say. Next time I see my Dr. I'll get some pills that keep me asleep all night. I don't need to make any more cards so I guess I'll go back to bed and read. Hope to have a good day today regardless of the time I got up!
Today, at 8:30 AM I'll go to the exercises at the Senior Ctr. Actually, I'll probably go a bit early so I can walk around the gym. I wanted to take the truck to get the air conditioning fixed, but Frank thinks you need to be the first one there so they can get right to the truck, so he suggested I wait until Tuesday to do it, which I probably will.
Frankie and his family will be coming the week-end of the 4th of July. They'll come Friday and leave Sun afternoon. The worst part will be the feeding of all 6 of them. Do they eat beans??? I haven't cooked in so long, I dread the thought. Maybe I can go to Sam's and buy some already cooked food. Kayla can't eat anything with wheat and I don't know about any other diet restrictions except Rachel is allergic to pork. I'll call Rachel and talk with her about what to buy and fix.
Mary Kate and the kids will come the Sun. that Frankie leaves. She will stay until Friday. She's no problem to cook for. We'll just go to the grocery store and buy what we want. Week after this week, Sadie is coming over while Trudy goes to Girl's Camp. Sadie will be old enough to go next year, so she's looking forward to it. Sadie won't be any problem to feed. I'll just take her grocery shopping and she can pick out what she wants.
Girl's Camp is a great experience. The years I went, 1st as a camp director and later as the Young Women's Leader, we slept in tents and cooked on camp stoves. Had portable out houses. Now they have permanent cabins. (that's cheating a far as I'm concerned....!). It's still a great experience in the heat of the summer, amidst all the bugs and snakes and creepy crawlers!
You can tell I liked all of the above. There's nothing like getting back to nature. I'm probably too old for it right now, but I loved it back then. I bet I went to Girl's Camp for 8 years straight.
It's 5:40 AM now and I can't think of anything else to say. Next time I see my Dr. I'll get some pills that keep me asleep all night. I don't need to make any more cards so I guess I'll go back to bed and read. Hope to have a good day today regardless of the time I got up!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Savage Sunday
I guess I was more tired from the trip yesterday than I thought. After Sacrament meeting, I was beginning to lag. Primary opening exercises were good but I had noisy children and I was in no mood to deal with that. I was a bear. I hope I wasn't too stern. My lesson was over in 15 minutes and I have them for 50 minutes! They didn't want to color and I had already played one game and was at a loss on what to do. One of the mothers was in with me and she had a bag full of file folder gamer which were super! There were matching shapes games and I don't remember what all she had, but I will have to make some of my own. In a file folder there are pictures on both sides of the folder and there is a baggie with the matching parts velcro-ed in the folder. Everyone but I probably knows about this. This is the busy work I need for the 5 yr. olds.
I don't need to be going to the cannery if it makes my Sundays crazy. It was nice to go for the first time and help out but maybe I'm too old and out of shape to do it. I did enjoy getting out of the house. It's hard to get old and not be able to do the things I used to take for granted.
I think I will drop my membership to the Wellness Ctr. and go to the Senior Ctr. instead. They have exercise classes Mon-Wed-Fri. The exercise isn't as hard but I will still be moving! Jan Laytham is involved in it and I went last Fri. to check it out and met some nice people. They use a short pole and a nerf ball. I was given a new ball and Jan gave me her husband's wooden dowel because he can't exercise because of his arthritis, so I'm set to go. The center opens at 7:30 AM and people come early and walk and the class starts at 8:30 to 9:15. I think I'll go tomorrow. Maybe I'll drive the truck and get the air conditioning fixed. Dad just said it might just be the truck, meaning it would be broken for ever and not fixable. I hope not. It drives nicely and doesn't look too bad except for the rust on the hood. Maybe George can help me spray the rust away. He has some landscaping rocks for me to pick up and it surely would be nice if we (I would help) could sand and spray paint the rust away. I don't really care what it would look like, just keep it from rusting more.
I don't need to be going to the cannery if it makes my Sundays crazy. It was nice to go for the first time and help out but maybe I'm too old and out of shape to do it. I did enjoy getting out of the house. It's hard to get old and not be able to do the things I used to take for granted.
I think I will drop my membership to the Wellness Ctr. and go to the Senior Ctr. instead. They have exercise classes Mon-Wed-Fri. The exercise isn't as hard but I will still be moving! Jan Laytham is involved in it and I went last Fri. to check it out and met some nice people. They use a short pole and a nerf ball. I was given a new ball and Jan gave me her husband's wooden dowel because he can't exercise because of his arthritis, so I'm set to go. The center opens at 7:30 AM and people come early and walk and the class starts at 8:30 to 9:15. I think I'll go tomorrow. Maybe I'll drive the truck and get the air conditioning fixed. Dad just said it might just be the truck, meaning it would be broken for ever and not fixable. I hope not. It drives nicely and doesn't look too bad except for the rust on the hood. Maybe George can help me spray the rust away. He has some landscaping rocks for me to pick up and it surely would be nice if we (I would help) could sand and spray paint the rust away. I don't really care what it would look like, just keep it from rusting more.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Grand Canning Day
Karen Decker and I left my house at 7:30 AM ( in her van). We met Sharmon Kitchens and we three drove to Hendersonville, TN to the Bishop's Storehouse. There we dry canned pinto and black beans, rice, quick and regular oatmeal, apple slices, dry milk, refried beans, carrots, drink mix and I think that's about all. It was a big job for just the 3 of us, but we got it done. Oh,we canned red winter wheat too. There are 6 cans in each case and the wheat weighed the most when we had to move it. I don't know how many cases we had, but the back of Karen's van was full and we had taken the row of back seats out. We were loaded to the gills. I only had 3 cans of apple slices. I had ordered some macaroni but they didn't have any. I can buy it at the grocery store, anyway. I don't really like macaroni but it will give a variety in our diet, if necessary. It would have been good to have had some men to load all the cases into the van. Bro. Decker met us at the church and helped unload and load the cases into Sharmon's truck.
Bro. Decker had been assigned to clean up the church so we all went in to check everything out. This was 5:00 PM. We had to move some chairs around but everything else was pretty clean. Sis. Shelby, the Primary President was there and we talked to her for a few minutes, then we went home. I had had 2 eggs and a piece of bread for breakfast and a bar for lunch. After 3:00 Pm, we stopped at a store and I got a diet, caffeine free Pepsi, and ate another peanut bar. I got home after 5 and I was hungry! All in all, it was a good day of service.
Bro. Decker had been assigned to clean up the church so we all went in to check everything out. This was 5:00 PM. We had to move some chairs around but everything else was pretty clean. Sis. Shelby, the Primary President was there and we talked to her for a few minutes, then we went home. I had had 2 eggs and a piece of bread for breakfast and a bar for lunch. After 3:00 Pm, we stopped at a store and I got a diet, caffeine free Pepsi, and ate another peanut bar. I got home after 5 and I was hungry! All in all, it was a good day of service.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Health History
About the time I was 42 Years old, I found a lump in my right breast. I got it monogrammed and sonogrammed (I think that's the name of the test-it's the one where they smear K-Y jelly on you and the rub some instrument on the spot and it tells them something). The lump was declared benign. This went on for several years. By then, I had changed Dr's, because Trudy was taking my first grandchild, Forrest, to see a GP Earnest Hendrix. In the course of seeing him, I would get my pap tests done but he didn't send me for a mammogram. When I asked, "Why?", he said his patients complained of the discomfort of the test, so he didn't send them. I should have taken the initiative to ask for one on my own, but I didn't. After 14 years of having this lump, it turned into cancer. I hadn't had a mammogram in 4 years, so if I had insisted on the test, I might have caught it earlier.
When I had gone to Mary Kate's house to help her move some furniture, and I took a shower, I noticed a change in the right breast. After I got home, I went to see Dr. Hendrix. He mashed around on me and didn't find anything but said he usually sent patients to a surgeon if they had any questions, so I saw Dr. Ravi. He did a biosipy(sp) and found cancer. I had to come back to see him to get the stitches out when he told me it was cancer and we made an appointment to remove the breast the next morning. He sent me home without taking the stitches out! I took them out myself, not realizing I was going to loose the entire breast the next day! I was in the hospital 2 days without too much pain and then came home.
That was the 3rd or 4th week of Dec., 2002. By the end of the month, Dr. Ravi put a port in my chest (the place where the needle would be put for the chemotherapy). In Jan. I began taking chemo every three weeks for maybe 6 mo. After that, I had 27 doses of radiation. I had to drive to H'ville 5 days a week for a 12 min. treatment. The chemo and radiation were very debilatating and it has taken me 5 years to get over it, if I have even now. Five years of survival is sort of a bench mark for surviving cancer and I have reached the five year point. I recently had a chest x-ray and it showed a spot on my right lung! I panicked and thought the cancer had come back. I had a CT scan and my oncologist said it was a scar from the radiation! Whew! I guess there will always be scares.
I didn't like the way I looked one sided, so almost a year later, I had the other breast removed. I was relieved because if the cancer did return, it wouldn't have a place to return to! I know it can come back anywhere but I like being flat chested, when I want to be.
If I have any advice to give, it would be to have any lump removed! Benign or not, it can always turn into cancer, so be on the safe side. It's your body. Take care of it. Have all lumps removed. Don't take a chance. Nothing is worth the agony you will go through if it turns out to be cancer. Yes, if caught earily, it can be removed and the chances to it coming back are slim, but why take that chance if you can avoid it. I'm Jan Layton, and I approve of this epistle.
When I had gone to Mary Kate's house to help her move some furniture, and I took a shower, I noticed a change in the right breast. After I got home, I went to see Dr. Hendrix. He mashed around on me and didn't find anything but said he usually sent patients to a surgeon if they had any questions, so I saw Dr. Ravi. He did a biosipy(sp) and found cancer. I had to come back to see him to get the stitches out when he told me it was cancer and we made an appointment to remove the breast the next morning. He sent me home without taking the stitches out! I took them out myself, not realizing I was going to loose the entire breast the next day! I was in the hospital 2 days without too much pain and then came home.
That was the 3rd or 4th week of Dec., 2002. By the end of the month, Dr. Ravi put a port in my chest (the place where the needle would be put for the chemotherapy). In Jan. I began taking chemo every three weeks for maybe 6 mo. After that, I had 27 doses of radiation. I had to drive to H'ville 5 days a week for a 12 min. treatment. The chemo and radiation were very debilatating and it has taken me 5 years to get over it, if I have even now. Five years of survival is sort of a bench mark for surviving cancer and I have reached the five year point. I recently had a chest x-ray and it showed a spot on my right lung! I panicked and thought the cancer had come back. I had a CT scan and my oncologist said it was a scar from the radiation! Whew! I guess there will always be scares.
I didn't like the way I looked one sided, so almost a year later, I had the other breast removed. I was relieved because if the cancer did return, it wouldn't have a place to return to! I know it can come back anywhere but I like being flat chested, when I want to be.
If I have any advice to give, it would be to have any lump removed! Benign or not, it can always turn into cancer, so be on the safe side. It's your body. Take care of it. Have all lumps removed. Don't take a chance. Nothing is worth the agony you will go through if it turns out to be cancer. Yes, if caught earily, it can be removed and the chances to it coming back are slim, but why take that chance if you can avoid it. I'm Jan Layton, and I approve of this epistle.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Clean Bill of Health
A visit to that Dr. is a real ordeal! I don't have to wait in the waiting room long, but once I get into a room, I wait an hour before I see the Dr. Today, he had to wait on the CT scan that was supposed to already be there. He's a nice Dr. and he said the spot on my right lung was just a scar from the radiation I received on that side. I'm glad to get that over with! If I hadn't gone on the internet and looked up "lung nodule" I would have been better off. Too much knowledge can be bad at times.
I met Trudy and Sadie at Chick Felay ( I don't know how to spell it and neither does the computer) and we had an ice cream and then went to the Dr. After that Trudy took me by the pain center to pick up Dad's Rx and then I went by the store and got Dad's new shoes. I came home the way I went, by I-65. Then, I had to stop by the pharmacy and get the meds. I was wiped out by the time I got home.
After supper, we went outside for Dad to look at the chimney to see how to affix his copper antenna for his ham radio to it. That was an awkward sentence wasn't it? I had noticed some Virginia Creeper growing up the north side of the house and Dad removed it. I have some young trees growing in some Iris along that side of the house. Since I haven't been going outside much, green things are taking over!
I met Trudy and Sadie at Chick Felay ( I don't know how to spell it and neither does the computer) and we had an ice cream and then went to the Dr. After that Trudy took me by the pain center to pick up Dad's Rx and then I went by the store and got Dad's new shoes. I came home the way I went, by I-65. Then, I had to stop by the pharmacy and get the meds. I was wiped out by the time I got home.
After supper, we went outside for Dad to look at the chimney to see how to affix his copper antenna for his ham radio to it. That was an awkward sentence wasn't it? I had noticed some Virginia Creeper growing up the north side of the house and Dad removed it. I have some young trees growing in some Iris along that side of the house. Since I haven't been going outside much, green things are taking over!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Time For A Picture
These flowers are gone now but they still make a pretty picture.
I went to Wal-Mart and got two twin air mattresses and a hand pump today. I also got a pair of shorts and a new shirt (I passed by the "Used" shirt...), Now, we have plenty of room no matter who visits us.
I visit the Dr. tomorrow to see what that spot on my lung is. Trudy is going to meet me and go with me. I'm going to suggest we eat lunch together so she will know where to go. It's next to Crestwood Hospital, but I don't know the name of the building. It may be ClearView Cancer Institute, or maybe not. I've only been going there for 5 yrs. One would think I would know the name of the building! I'm glad to get this episode over with. I surely was up-tight about it yesterday. When I Googled "lung nodule", it said only 15% survived 5 yrs. I guess that meant lung cancer. Hum-m-m. I could get up-tight again if I thought about this any more.
We thought we could pick up Dad's computer today but will have to wait until tomorrow. No sweat. We can do that. Pauline and I will be going V.T. Thursday. We see 5 sisters and hope to see everyone at one time or one day of driving. Gas is $3.89 a gallon now and has been holding at this price for the last few days.
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