Yippee!

Monday was another visit with the new PCP to review my blood work. She changed a couple of my prescriptions, other than that, things look good. She wanted to make sure I listed her on my hospital records so that she gets copies of all test results and add her with my oncologist's office. That can be done.
Tuesday is culture day, it seems. This week we took care of culture in a big way. My friend, Karen, is on the staff at the opera house. She snagged me a pair of tickets for Tosca. I'd wondered who to take with me and thought, the Niece--of course. She'll love it and we'll have a smashing good time. She had some sort of training in Cupertino in the day time--more like a long morning. She got here a little after two. She went for a short run, took a shower and changed, I changed, and we headed downtown. Just for laughs, we looked for street parking, and found it on McAllister St, right around the corner from the Opera House. First thing, we were off to dinner at Chevy's. I had my usual, but then, I know I like it, so why change? Back to the Opera House, to will call, where the tickets were supposed to be--and weren't. Karen was located and we found the tickets at the North entrance door. Dress Circle, Trustee's Bench, House Left. Very nice. We followed Karen back to her cave, the Green room---which is really more of a green corridor, but it was exciting to be there where the glitterati pass through. We did see the wife of the man who sang Scarpia.
It's the first time I've seen an opera with supertitles. I'd thought it would be annoying, but it was anything but. I know the story of Tosca more or less, but the supertitles really helped keep you in the action--so much so that I just wanted to slap Tosca by the end of the first act, but being a silly woman. Victoria said it had all the markings of junior high drama--"he said, she said." Tosca redeemed herself in the second act,
I had to get up and dressed early today, because Mr. Geek Squad was due between 8 and noon. I think he came around 10. God Bless him--he fixed it. I am now happily typing into my desktop. The laptop is an ever present help in time of need, but I am SO glad to be back to functioning. It had been infected by a particularly nasty virus, and he had to call his secret weapon to get is off and all signs of it removed. I did have to get a new hard drive, but he went and fetched it, installed it, and took away the bad one, so I was happy
I got my blood sucked this afternoon. Now I'm ready to settle down and watch a ball game
Later
xxooxx

Another Week's Worth of Stuff

Life has been less than exciting, if you don't include yelling at the computer. It took me three days to finally get hold of Mission Control at the Geek Squad to schedule an appointment. Everyone wants to fix the problem over the phone and that's just not happening.
Anyway--I met my new doctor on Monday--Dr. Nani Khanenashvilli, which she has shortened to Dr. Nani Kanen. She's Russian, of Georgian--went to University at Tblisi. She's also younger than I am and should outlive me. We had the "hello, how are you" meeting. She wants to make some changes in my meds--that's fine. To that end, I was back Thursday morning for a fasting blood test.
But back to the week. Tuesday's highlight was a big one. I went to see Spamalot with a group from church. I got picked up and dropped off, didn't have to worry about anything. The show is terribly funny. I saw in in London two years ago. It's best not to be sensitive about anything with a Monty Python show. Nothing is sacred and everyone's ox is gored. I wasn't laughing as loud as I did in London, but I had a happy smile on my face for the entire evening and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Pleasant company, too. I restrained myself from getting attack rabbit slippers.
Wednesday, I checked out with the dermatologist. There hasn't been anything new, even though the sore on my left elbow refuses to heal. There is nothing dreadful going on and I'm to see her again as needed. OK, then.
Thursday was the fasting blood test, which they did in the doctor's office--I have a follow-up visit on Monday to discuss the results. I had her look at a very painful and annoying yeast infection, external. She was very sympathetic, always a good sign, and prescribed both a cream and a powder to treat it. I'm already feeling better.
Friday, Mr. Geek Squad came over and thought he solved the problem in the blink of an eye and was off. Unfortunately, the problem persists, so we had to schedule a revisit for Wednesday. I'm still on the laptop for anything Internet related. The desktop works just fine for e-mail, spreadsheets and documents. I way don't want think about getting a new desktop--will if I have to--let's just hope I don't have to. Friday night I felt wretched--every once and a while I remember that I have cancer, and that did it.
Saturday morning, I went to Palo Alto for the memorial service of an Eastern Star friend. She was born in 1919 and had a good, long life. It was a nice service and nice to see old friends. Since I was already in Palo Alto, i did a little retail therapy at Macy's. I'm now well outfitted for the trip. Felt pretty dreadful last night, so I did not go to Third Saturday at church--just stayed home and felt miserable.
Today was church and a Giant's game on TV--they won. They not only won, they swept the series with the Texas Rangers. Go Giants!
I'm looking forward to another exciting week of doctor appointments. It's a pretty sad social life, but it's my social life.
xxooxx

A week's worth of stuff

I'll try to catch up. Last Saturday afternoon was Al's memorial service. It was very nice. For all her worrying about it, Ally did her father proud and did a very good job.
Saturday night was a real treat. My friend Kathy had an extra ticket for Garrison Keillor reading his new sonnets. It was a very entertaining evening followed by a snack at Max's Opera Cafe.
I can't remember anything of note on Sunday, but I do remember Monday. Monday was hard. It was my last appointment with Dr. Kubin. We both cried. The last month has been really hard on him. I hugged him good bye and he was just skin and bones. My prayers are with him and all those who love him. I am one of them. He recommended a new doctor--I have an appointment to meet her this coming Monday.
Tuesday was my therapist downtown--more tears about Dr. Kubin. I think he was the only man who ever called me a "magnificent woman." He acknowledged, respected, and enjoyed my intelligence and sense of humor. He's only been my doctor since 2001, but it has been an eventful eight years--with the exception of losing my mother, the hardest years of my life--so far.
Wednesday nothing of note. Thursday was chemo. I felt pretty crappy in the afternoon and evening, but it's still nothing like the first stuff, so I'm happy. I guess I can put up with some minor skin irritations. Oh, and the echocardigram I had last month was fine--came through with flying colors. I can have lots more Doxil. Yeah!
Friday I took my car back to the shop so that Jerry could fix the automatic air conditioner. A new computer for it and two hours labor. I love my mechanic but I always hope to never have to see him again. Friday also started my discussions with Microsoft. My desktop computer has been infected with viruses. I spent most of today talking to them too. Viruses are gone, but there is residual damage. So now I will chat with my friends at the Geek Squad again and hope they can resolve the rest of the problems. I really am not ready to buy a new computer. The laptop works, just not as convenient for me. It is a pain in the tush getting booted off of the Internet at the whim of the computer, and that seems to be the problem with the desktop. It's the little things that get to you.
So that's it, my week in a nutshell. I finished reading Firmin, not sure how I felt about it. I enjoyed most of it and the writing was good. I'm now on John Grisham's latest. I have a whole stack of books to read when I finish that one.
xxooxx

The Rest of Yosemite June 2009

Ally arrived Monday afternoon after an interesting journey. I should have given her more explicit directions, since it was her first trip. Since I can make the trip with my eyes closed, I assume everyone else can. Anyway, first order of business was getting her a decent pair of walking shoes, since that was the bag she forgot. We were off to the village. Shoes were located at the Sports Shop. She wasn't particularly thrilled with them, but the were affordable and they fit--they grew on her--by the time we left, she admitted they were cute.

Next order of business was off to Yosemite Falls. Since it was Ally's first visit, I tried to do the obligatory things, without cramming things in, and without taxing my stamina. We walked slowly to the falls. Ally was horrified to see people ignore the signs about the danger of scrambling on the rocks. I really like this girl. Anyway, here's the shot of the falls, taken as we were heading over to the Lodge.

We had dinner at the Mountain Room--my favorite place to dine in the valley--then made an early night of it.

We got a late start on Tuesday--no problem--we were in Yosemite--if we wanted to sleep in, we were entitled to sleep in--which we did. We almost missed breakfast at the Ahwahnee, but they took pity on us. The adventure of the day was Happy Isles. First stop was Sentinel Bridge for the requisite picture of Half Dome--but first I took a picture of the falls from across Cooks Meadow.

We walked to the chapel. We spent some time remembering Ally's father, Al, in the chapel. We were undignified and did some laughing, but it is impossible not to laugh when you remember Al. Al was a funny guy.

After our visit to the Chapel, we were back on the bus to Happy Isles.

Here is Ally with Tanaya Creek in the background, then standing in front of a blooming Dogwood tree

We had afternoon tea at the Ahwahnee, where we met a couple from San Mateo. Both of them had worked for The Phone Company, though the wife worked there several years before I did. Still, we knew a surprising number of people in common. Yosemite is one of those places where you realize what a small world it is. We made it a busman's holiday for Ally that evening and dined in the Pizza Loft.

There were still many places to show Ally on Wednesday, but Glacier Point won out, even though it was a long drive, and I don't really believe in driving in the park. Driving was cheaper than taking a bus tour, even figuring in the cost of gas. Wednesday was our worst weather day. As we got closer to Glacier point, there were increasingly large patches of snow--and the temperature was decreasing. The lowest we saw it was 45F and the rain was increasing. No problem. Ally had a jacket--I hadn't gone back to the room for mine--she found hers in her mother's trunk. We stopped in the gift shop where I bought something warm and got ponchos for both of us. Here is Yosemite Falls from Glacier Point on a not very nice day.

Here is a picture of the Ahwahnee from Glacier Point.

And this, my dear readers, is why they call it Half Dome. You can see the weather was not the best.

We got enough pictures, and then got back to the car and relative warmth. We made the obligatory stop at Tunnel View. Here is a picture of Bridalveil Falls from the viewpoint.

We got back to the hotel in time for tea with Fran and Hank, from San Mateo, then took a short rest and went to the Mountain Room for our last dinner. It rained quite a bit that evening, but I was safely in the hotel for all of it--Ally was outside for part of it, trying to get a phone signal.

Thursday morning was bright and beautiful. That is a rule for your last day. After breakfast, we had time for a short walk, so we went down to the Merced River--where tragedy struck. My beloved Nokia 9300 cellphone squirted out of my pocket, then, as in slow motion, turned end over end, down the slope, and into the river. Oops. Big oops. Bless her heart, Ally was able to rescue it, but CPR was in vain. I was able to save my contacts, so all was not lost.
Here is one last picture of me with my real hair--in front of another blooming Dogwood.

We both got home safely. I know I'll be back in October--already have the reservation. I hope Ally can get back someday. She definitely got the Yosemite Bug.

I got home to the bad news that my dear Dr. Kubin's cancer is out of remission and he will be closing his practice. I have one more appointment with him on Monday, when we will seriously discuss Plan B, finding me a new primary care physician. He will be in my prayers and has my eternal gratitude for taking good care of me for nine years.

Yesterday I was off bright and early downtown for my second haircut of the year. After that, I spent quite a lot of time at the ATT store. There is nothing like my Nokia 9300--everything now has little teeny keyboards. So I now have a new Iphone. I hope I can figure out all the doodads on it.

That's all for this morning.

xxooxx

So, Here I Am

Here's the Ahwahnee, viewed from the Wedding Lawn. A lovely place to chill for a few days. I tried to get a reservation a coupld of weeks ago, but I think this worked out better. There are still a few Dogwood in blossom--more than we had last June, but that was a week later.

Two shots of the Dogwood.

The Merced River with plenty of water.

This is Yosemite Falls. I'm here so often in the Autumn, when the Falls are non-existant. The weather is iffy--on again, off again rain. Rain doesn't matter in Yosemite. It is the best place in the world to just be.

The laptop is always an adventure for me, but I think I've got it.

xxooxx