In One Day

Yesterday the tulip buds were just turning pink

 

And today they are wide open like they're about to drop their leaves?! 

I hope not! I'm looking forward to a few weeks with my tulips, not hours!

Just Stuff

Took a break from writing last night for a late workout...

Listened to Courtney's "golden birthday" Spotify mix.

And now Abba is all I want to listen to!

 

Marge is still in the hospital but improving. 

She didn't like the pic with her breathing tubes in and her glasses on, 

but I think her smile is cute and its fun to have a hospital documentation photo.

Shout out to Nick on the oly lax instagram!

Finally, Google Fiber is coming! 

(And thankfully the construction and cones will be gone by Morgan's wedding!)

Progress

 Just submitted 25 pages to my class for feedback.
Wish me luck.

When I introduced myself (virtually) this semester I said:

"I've got a busy next couple of months, but I want to prove to myself I don't have to have a span of wide open weeks to make progress on my book. (Because realistically, when does that ever happen?!)"

Proven. Go Me.

Marge

Dan and I got a text from Marge on Sunday afternoon saying she was having severe breathing problems which started the evening before which she thought was from the high pollen count in the air. 

They got worse when she laid in bed, so she had to sleep the whole night 

in a straight back chair with her head on a pillow on her desk. 😭

Her oximeter said her oxygen was only 71% (which is REALLY low).

She said she was getting scared and asked if Dan could come over and give her a Priesthood blessing, 

then added, "but if you are going to watch the Oscars, I can wait."
Oh Marge, can't breathe and scared, but willing to wait if we were in the middle of something fun.

(Side note: I didn't even know they were having the Oscars this year. 
Were there even any movies that came out?)

Dan was out of town, but Marty and Lizzie were here and I'm so glad they were able to come to Marge's with me. I called a friend who is a nurse who said she needed to go to the ER immediately. Oxygen levels were too low. If it was just asthma, they'd give her a breathing treatment and she could go home when her levels were more normal. But they would also do an x-ray and take blood tests to rule out other problems. Rachel called back while we were with Marge and confirmed what my friend said. 

Getting in the car was a trick because Marge's legs were weak from the lack of oxygen. 
Gratefully Marty is amazingly strong and a plumber working across the street 

ran over to help when he saw our predicament.

(Marge sitting on the ground and the three of us brainstorming 

how to help her in the car when the seat was so high.)

The plumber and Marty literally picked her up and got her in. They were heroic.

Fortunately one visitor is allowed in the hospital room now and so I was able to go in with her.

After numerous blood tests, x-rays, Cat Scans and echocardiograms, she was diagnosed 

with congestive heart failure. The main priority for her stay in the hospital is to help get the fluid out of her lungs and body with an IV diuretic. 

She's in good spirits. Said she hasn't talked to this many people since Covid started.

The nurses are sweet, I've been there when the doctor comes each day and he's calm and helpful and happy to answer all our questions. Originally projected to go home tomorrow. 

But that all depends on clearing up the congestion.

But she looks great and is feeling positive. 

Once she's discharged, she should be able to maintain clear lung function through a diuretic 

and resume her normal activity.

Rows to Sow

Rain all day today and I couldn't put off getting my seeds in the ground any longer.

I didn't till or hoe or anything. Just scraped a planting line, sowed and buried.

We'll see how they grow.

Beets, carrots, lettuce and spinach for now.

I'll try to get the peas in the ground soon!

Rainy day, post exercise, if-I-don't-do-it-now-I-never-will, gardening get-up:

P.S. Happy Golden Birthday, Courtney!

(I didn't know that was a thing, but your golden birthday is when your age matches your birth date.)

26 on the 26th!  

Beautiful, kind, smart, funny, generous, thoughtful girl, I love you!

Anniversary All-Day

Happy 29th Anniversary to us!

We started the morning at 5:30 a.m. because Dan, Marty, Lizzie and Erika were 

running a half marathon! Dan was surprised I wanted to get up that early and go.

But of course I wanted to cheer them on! (And he has got up early to cheer me on lots of time!)

They are so inspiring!

Dan sprained his ankle a couple weeks ago which was so frustrating as it l

imited his training in the critical weeks before the race. 

But he healed quickly and committed to keep working and ended up doing really well!

In spite of shin splints and not having as much time to train, 

Marty was committed to participating and finishing, regardless.

13.1 miles is a long way to run with grit alone, but he did it! So proud of him.

Lizzie had knee pain during her training that halted her distance for a while, 

but through patience was able to find solutions and continue making progress. 

Lizzie said her sister, Erika, was the most prepared, but  in the middle of the race was hit by 

a dire bathroom need and no bathroom available!

The moral of these stories is how like life they are.

In spite of planning and preparing, we ultimately are going to hit obstacles.

They may set us back, but its up to us to decide if we let the obstacles defeat us or not. 

Finishing is a pretty great feeling!

Even better when the path hasn't been easy. It makes the accomplishment even sweeter

because YOU DID IT!

Dan and Mark (Lizzie's dad) decided to run back and find Marty and finish the race with him.

They found him with about only three-quarters of a mile left and ran with him to the end.

Mark was a great coach, encouraging him all the way to the finish line!

Congrats you guys on an amazing accomplishment!!

13.1!

After the race, Dan was ready to go home and get in the ice bath.

Nick had a lacrosse game in LOGAN (ugh, so far away!) and we were disappointed it was too far to drive to watch him with the race in the morning.

But when we got in the car after the race, we realized if we drove directly there, 

we could make it to Logan in time for game start.

I thought there was no way Dan would want to drive for an hour and half so tired,

but he wanted to and so did I. 

Go 49!

(He's on the right, in white, with the long hair.)

In his last tournament he made five goals over three games. 

So he gets a lot of playing time and is so fun to watch.

He plays Attack most of the time. A little bit of Midi in the last quarter.

And even the face-offs a bunch of times.

I remember when he was in 5th grade, I was so surprised to see how aggressive he was on the field.

He is pretty low-key otherwise and I realized the kid finds fire when competing in sports.

He even got in the penalty box this time. But it was a lame call because he and his opponent crashed into each other and both fell down. But the other team was down 12-5 so I think they needed any opportunities to score as they could get.

Happy Anniversary, Dan!

That night we celebrated our Anniversary dinner at Bartolo's 

with Nicholas, Michelle, Brent, Jay Paul and Ethan,

who were in town for Morgan's graduation.

Pretty great to be surrounded by people we love.

Morgan's Bridal Shower

So much fun celebrating Morgan last night and getting to spend time with 

Sheree, Elise, Simone, Diane and Michelle as well. 

Plus, we met the Paul's best friends that we've heard so much about for over 20 years! 

Also Sheree said, "We need to do something like this for Courtney and Lizzie. They got skipped!"

Yes, I think we do! And it is sad they got skipped!

Edie came over today so I could teach her how to make a turkey in the steam oven.

22 lbs in 1:30 minutes. So moist, juicy and browned on top. It was absolutely delicious.

(Yes, we had a few bites as we cut it up!)

She brought her juicer to press juice while the turkey was cooking

and encouraged me to get out mine and give it a try.

Dan gave me the juicer as a gift years ago and I haven't used it even once

because all those parts seemed way to overwhelming to put together and to clean.

But, the juice was delicious -- some carrots, apples, oranges and lemon.

And learning with a friend made it way more fun and the clean-up not as intimidating 

as it seems on your own.

Great project of the day. 

I kept thinking too bad I didn't get this out during Covid quarantining last summer.

Juicing would have been the perfect thing to do with all that free time!

Pagosa

Overnight trip to Pagosa.

Thought we'd have more time to walk the property and check out some local shops,

but we were going going going the whole time. 

Staying in town was new and walking in the morning past antique stores and shops 

to Yamaguchi Park, home along the wetlands trail and past the natural hot springs 

was just the new territory my brain needed to enjoy to feel expanded and settled.

It was important to get some decisions made in person on the house and although we didn't have the downtime I was looking forward to with Dan to walk around, explore and talk,

we will have those times in the future. I recognize that and look forward to it.

But I do always love being somewhere new with him. 💚

TP in Threes

Oh Happy Day! 

You can now buy three packages of toilet paper per person at Target! 

Progress

My word of the year for 2021 is:

Progress

It's come up a lot in different talks I've listened to and feelings I've had when thinking 

how to describe my goals for my book, health and fitness, and my spirituality.

Look at this tree making its own progress this spring...

April 11

April 19

Last year's words were "Direction" and "Listening."

Good choices for a crazy 2020.

I Hate Goodbyes

 And today I had to say goodbye. 

But first, a Sunday walk around the reservoir, another of my Central Park favorites.

I've taken many pics with Courtney of this view over the years,

and she reminded me that after we moved her into the city and she was on her own,

 I made her promise if she was feeling alone or discouraged,

to take a walk in Central Park. 

Good advice, Me!

Being surrounded by beauty in nature and in the diversity of people is sure to boost your spirits

and remind you you belong to a big, wonderful world.

Cherry blossoms don't smell. Apparently.

I'm so glad these two have each other. They're a perfect team! 

A portrait of me falling on the curb.

Okay. I love every view.

Michael made us special brunch drinks... 

I think they're called "Bicycle Gang." 

We said how much Nick would like making special drinks, 

so they sent him the recipe. 

Yep, when I got home, he had the syrup already chilling and hand squeezed the oranges to 

mix up up a round.

These guys crack me up.

On the plane I closed my eyes for a bit, read my book for a bit and worked for a bit.

After all that I looked at my watch and it had only been an hour and a half since boarding.

What?!

Actually I got lost in a weird time continuum. My computer said one time, my watch another even though neither could connect to the wi-fi and update to real time.

I never was quite sure what the correct time was. 

There is value in a non-computerized watch.