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Catching up

Forgive me for not posting for a very long time. It's not that nothing is happening or that a lot of things are happening, keeping me too busy. Somewhere in between.

Mara and I have been busy, cleaning and sorting. The front bedroom is almost unrecognizable. You can actually see the top of my desk. (!) The games now take up three shelves under the bookcases and none of my sewing stuff is under there anymore. The top of the bookcase is clear. (!) The top of my dresser is cleaned off, though there is still stuff there. But it is my stuff and just what I want there. And the corner next to my dresser is down to bare wood. (!) I even brought down 4 boxes from the attic. Stuff has left the house. Not to worry; I'm talking bags of trash. Well, wait, there were some bags/boxes that went to the Salvation Army, but it was mostly glass from Mark and Mara's wedding. And two boxes of books. More next week. I had to go back to work and Mark came so they both went to Stuebenville to visit Mark's parents. I am going to try to take one day off a week to keep working on this.

I had an upper GI and small bowel follow through. I can't blame you if you don't really want to read this part. I won't be offended if you just skip down to the next part to look at the photos. It was interesting to watch the barium travel down my system. There seemed to be a tight spot at the base of my stomach/beginning of the small intestine. I finally caught up with my oncologist (hear the slight tension in my voice?) on Wednesday. He seems totally unconcerned. I think to mullify me, he has ordered a CT scan on Monday and then I have an appointment with him on Tuesday. I will keep you posted. I will tell you this. I have decided to transfer my care to the oncologist who originally was tracking my blood changes. I think her goals are more in line with mine. I have also 'activated' Hospice care. That doesn't mean that I am going to lie down and die. I am still working almost full-time. The only reason I am not working full-time is that I want to continue to clean out the house. I have plenty of energy to work full-time. If I get the house to the point where I am happy, I will go back to 5 days a week for as long as I can. On a side note, just so you know I won't work myself to death, I have talked to Gloria (a trusted co-worker) about knowing when I should no longer be there. In her, you have someone who will watch out for me, for you.

And now for some photos . . .

I took a few and wanted to share.

Progress on the house next door. Okay, it isn't quite next door, but close enough.
house.jpg
Tomorrow I will post what it looks like now. This was taken the day before Thanksgiving. Or so. You will be amazed at the difference. I was. I think they have slowed down for the season, but they were here today, so they keep working on it.

Claude, Margaret and Co. came for a visit. Here is a record.
m v w.jpg
(Inadvertantly, men against the women)

Here are some photos that speak to me. See if you can figure out what they are saying.
clematis.jpg
The clematis. I have never seen it bloom in late November before. Isn't it beautiful? Amazing.

ice.jpg
I loved the texture of this. Can you guess what this is a photo of?

maple.jpg
Daddy and I went for an early morning walk. The frost was coating everything. Especially lovely with the angle of the early sun.

I have been knitting, but I thought endless photos of socks were getting sort of boring. I am almost finished with Mara's top. I will take a photo of that when I am. I know you just can't wait to see what it looks like!

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» Okay, It's Tomorrow. from For Crying Out Loud
Okay, yesterday was actually tomorrow, but we'll pretend. This is what it looked like two days after yesterday's photos. By that I mean, the Friday after Thanksgiving. Here is how it looks now. I was amazed by the speed of... [Read More]

Comments

Maman, it seems like basements are a bygone of a past day (I have to admit, growing up with a basement, I really like them). As for your mystery picture, I'm going to guess that it's leaves in a frozen puddle, well maybe just iced over. And to be fair to Jesse and Monica's son (whose name, at 1 am, happens to escape me) he was actually having a good time and just got caught a little unprepared in this picture. Thanks for the update (though I'm pretty well informed).
Oh, and Gloria is both loving and honest, she'll take good care of you.

Well, we would have never fit in this house if we hadn't had a basement. The new house will be bigger than ours in living square feet, but there is NO storage! And even the garage is a one car garage and I think they are putting the washer and dryer in it, too. But the drawback of a basement is that it is a stuff magnet. The basement, or at least my Craft Corner of it, is my next target.

You are about right on with the mystery picture. It is the bucket at the bottom of the rain spout by the dining room. Frozen. And what is it about the clematis that is speaking to me?

I think Cameron was a little startled by the flash. I agree, he was having a good time and was a delightful baby. Great age, too. Actually, I think it is Uncle Claude who looks like he got caught a little unprepare in the photo. It was so good to have a nice long visit. By Sunday, we were really having some fun. Too bad it is so far away.

I won't reveal the clematis story, since you already told me. :-)

This morning we woke up to Mark's father practicing "Jingle Bells" on the ukulele. Last night we had dinner with Rahmat in Pittsburgh - I had fun telling him some of the stories of Gramma & Grampa, as well as the stories Daddy told us of when he was a kid, heheheh.

Now you know why I dread group photos! I am blessed/cursed with a mobile face, so given that a photo captures an instant in time I can't begin to guess what I will look like from one to the next. But, I am really glad we were all there together enjoying one another's company.

Stephanie,
I'll call you soon /or call me so that we can get together for dinner. Things have been a little hetic. Love your pictures.
Nadine

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