My leukemia's back.

[donrae]

OGM, that's great news about your sister. Every step.....even baby steps.....closer to goal.

I guess my stem cell transplant doctors work with and learn a lot from kidney transplant folks. Kidneys are the most common solid organ transplant, and the most live-able (is that a word?). So there's lots more research on complications, etc on kidney transplant folks, and that apparently carries over to stem cell recipients. Anyway, sounds like OHSU has a great transplant program and you all will be in good hands.

Again, no school. I swear, the homicide rate is going to soar on this town.

My older boys are past the worst of the funky teenage boy smell for the most part. The youngest one doesn't have it too much. He's very into personal hygiene, and usually smells pretty good. I made it out yesterday and bought some air fresheners. Things are better

We're still frozen today. I've got to get out and check that everyone has thawed water. Tomorrow, it's supposed to both thaw and rain heavily, and we have flood warnings. Wonderful.

Honey was at work talking with our boss about my recent respiratory issues. I've know this lady for 15 or so years, watched her work her way up from CNA to her Master's degree in Nursing. She was so upset when he told her I couldn't care for the animals anymore, she knows how important they are to me. She sent him home with a full box of the N95 respirator masks, so I can safely go out and see the animals when I want. How sweet, right? I'm so blessed in so many ways.

Now, if I can just get it warmed up in here! this poor trailer---I don't know how you're doing, blooie. We only have the wood stove in the front. Honey and I have a small space heater in our room, but this morning the curtain in our room was frozen to the window. I'm chucking wood in that stove like crazy and still huddling under a blanket with Eve. I'm such a wimp.

 

[Blooie]

OGM, that's great news about your sister. Every step.....even baby steps.....closer to goal.

I guess my stem cell transplant doctors work with and learn a lot from kidney transplant folks. Kidneys are the most common solid organ transplant, and the most live-able (is that a word?). So there's lots more research on complications, etc on kidney transplant folks, and that apparently carries over to stem cell recipients. Anyway, sounds like OHSU has a great transplant program and you all will be in good hands.

Again, no school. I swear, the homicide rate is going to soar on this town.

My older boys are past the worst of the funky teenage boy smell for the most part. The youngest one doesn't have it too much. He's very into personal hygiene, and usually smells pretty good. I made it out yesterday and bought some air fresheners. Things are better

We're still frozen today. I've got to get out and check that everyone has thawed water. Tomorrow, it's supposed to both thaw and rain heavily, and we have flood warnings. Wonderful.

Honey was at work talking with our boss about my recent respiratory issues. I've know this lady for 15 or so years, watched her work her way up from CNA to her Master's degree in Nursing. She was so upset when he told her I couldn't care for the animals anymore, she knows how important they are to me. She sent him home with a full box of the N95 respirator masks, so I can safely go out and see the animals when I want. How sweet, right? I'm so blessed in so many ways.

Now, if I can just get it warmed up in here! this poor trailer---I don't know how you're doing, blooie. We only have the wood stove in the front. Honey and I have a small space heater in our room, but this morning the curtain in our room was frozen to the window. I'm chucking wood in that stove like crazy and still huddling under a blanket with Eve. I'm such a wimp.

And now you know why my other hobby is quilting!

I've said it before and I'll say it again...heating these old trailers is like heating a corn crib! I can't imagine how you manage with a wood stove and space heaters. It was 22 below this morning with a wind chill factor of -44. That's cold! But we hate to stick a bunch of money into this place too......next thing you know we've got a Mercedes package on a VW chassis. <sigh> Our central forced heat does a pretty good job, but it also heats one half of the house much better than the other. So the front is always chilly while we broil in the bedrooms! We did crank the registers way down back there, practically shutting them, but the shortest distance between the furnace and the rest of the house is the back bedrooms. When we want to raise bread in winter, we put it in the second bedroom. which serves as Ken's office. The stupid thermostat was in the hall on the NORTH wall...yeah, a two inch thick wall that probably has nothing more than 1970s newspapers in it for insulation. So the doggone furnace would kick off, the thermostat would chill down in minutes and then kick the furnace back on. We did move the thermostat and that helped. But yikes! When Ken's aunt lived in this place she qualified for LIEAP, and they "insulated" the place and put in new windows. That was 25 years ago. We also put in new windows, but with 2" thick walls it's hard to find any energy efficient ones...they are all designed for "normal" wall thicknesses. We have to get ours at the Old Mobile Home supply company, and aside from having better sashes and such, they aren't much better than the old crank type that were in here before.

So why not move? Why not have this old trailer yanked out and build something new? Well, because it's paid for, and our yearly property taxes on the house, the garage, and a corner lot with mountain views on two sides are only $169, which is a big reason. We're in our late 60s....the last thing we want to do at this point in our lives is start a new mortgage. So we make do. Besides, I love this house, with all it's idiosyncrasies. After 26 years of living in Navy Housing, and then another 6 years of living in a duplex, we finally own something, and I'm hanging on to it!

 

[N F C]

There's no place like home Blooie!

 

[Blooie]

There's no place like home Blooie!

Exactly! Besides, I'm basically lazy. Wake up, turn around and make the bed, pick up dirty clothes and pop them into the basket in the bathroom since that is most likely my first stop of the day, grab the vacuum and make that straight shot through and I'm done. Yep. Works for me. Deep clean day takes about 20 minutes longer, but that's because I have to clean the bathroom and get the dusting done.

 

[N F C]

Exactly! Besides, I'm basically lazy. Wake up, turn around and make the bed, pick up dirty clothes and pop them into the basket in the bathroom since that is most likely my first stop of the day, grab the vacuum and make that straight shot through and I'm done. Yep. Works for me. Deep clean day takes about 20 minutes longer, but that's because I have to clean the bathroom and get the dusting done.

There's something to be said about NOT living in a McMansion

My house is tiny too...it's not ours but we'll stay as long as the jobs keep us here. We were offered a larger house in town but this is the perfect size for the two of us. Plus, it's less than 5 minutes to the golf course so very handy for work. And, big bonus, we're out here in the sticks where we can really enjoy the hills and wildlife. Big win for us!

 

[donrae]

Yeah, when I got up this morning, Sugar Monkey was on the sofa with Eve, all tucked down under a comforter. She's like a little radiator. If he could figure out how to get her on his bed (top bunk), he'd sleep with her all the time.

We don't get near as cold as you do, Blooie. It was pretty extreme for us last night, and I think it was down in the mid teens. No wonder it was so cold!

I do love the wood stove, though. Nothing like being able to back up to the stove and warm the heinie

.

 

[sourland]

Nothing feels quite like the heat from a wood stove.

 

[Bunnylady]

2017 is getting off to a rough start for us - as I mentioned on another thread, my mother's cancer is back. She was first diagnosed more than 20 years ago; it was caught at an early stage, and recovery was, as they say, uneventful. This time, it looks more serious. She had a mastectomy a few days ago, and apparently some of the lymph nodes they took came back positive. When I last spoke with Mom on the phone, she said they hadn't settled on a treatment plan yet; she will know more when she goes back next week to have the drainage tube removed.

I'm coveting y'all's prayers for my parents. Mom had a nasty fall during the summer, and wound up shattering the bones in her right arm. That has been slow healing, and she still has only limited use of it. This latest surgery was on the left side, so she basically hasn't any arms to work with, and her knees haven't been reliable for years (which might be why she fell in the first place). My father has been hugely helpful to her for the last few months, but he's not exactly a spring chicken himself. Since my brothers and I all live at least an hour away, we are of limited availability to help, and my folks have always treasured their independence. Until very recently, they were doing Meals on Wheels at least once per week in their community. I am concerned as much about their mental and emotional needs as I am their physical health at this point. I know our Father holds them in the hollow of his hand, but knowing that they are in the hearts and minds of my friends is a comfort to me, too.

 

[FridayYet]

2017 is getting off to a rough start for us - as I mentioned on another thread, my mother's cancer is back. She was first diagnosed more than 20 years ago; it was caught at an early stage, and recovery was, as they say, uneventful. This time, it looks more serious. She had a mastectomy a few days ago, and apparently some of the lymph nodes they took came back positive. When I last spoke with Mom on the phone, she said they hadn't settled on a treatment plan yet; she will know more when she goes back next week to have the drainage tube removed.

I'm coveting y'all's prayers for my parents. Mom had a nasty fall during the summer, and wound up shattering the bones in her right arm. That has been slow healing, and she still has only limited use of it. This latest surgery was on the left side, so she basically hasn't any arms to work with, and her knees haven't been reliable for years (which might be why she fell in the first place). My father has been hugely helpful to her for the last few months, but he's not exactly a spring chicken himself. Since my brothers and I all live at least an hour away, we are of limited availability to help, and my folks have always treasured their independence. Until very recently, they were doing Meals on Wheels at least once per week in their community. I am concerned as much about their mental and emotional needs as I am their physical health at this point. I know our Father holds them in the hollow of his hand, but knowing that they are in the hearts and minds of my friends is a comfort to me, too.

 

[sourland]

2017 is getting off to a rough start for us - as I mentioned on another thread, my mother's cancer is back. She was first diagnosed more than 20 years ago; it was caught at an early stage, and recovery was, as they say, uneventful. This time, it looks more serious. She had a mastectomy a few days ago, and apparently some of the lymph nodes they took came back positive. When I last spoke with Mom on the phone, she said they hadn't settled on a treatment plan yet; she will know more when she goes back next week to have the drainage tube removed.

I'm coveting y'all's prayers for my parents. Mom had a nasty fall during the summer, and wound up shattering the bones in her right arm. That has been slow healing, and she still has only limited use of it. This latest surgery was on the left side, so she basically hasn't any arms to work with, and her knees haven't been reliable for years (which might be why she fell in the first place). My father has been hugely helpful to her for the last few months, but he's not exactly a spring chicken himself. Since my brothers and I all live at least an hour away, we are of limited availability to help, and my folks have always treasured their independence. Until very recently, they were doing Meals on Wheels at least once per week in their community. I am concerned as much about their mental and emotional needs as I am their physical health at this point. I know our Father holds them in the hollow of his hand, but knowing that they are in the hearts and minds of my friends is a comfort to me, too.

Prayers offered for you and your family. I know that feeling of entering the house and looking at the phone to see if the message light is blinking, and thinking it must be the worst. We went through this with Elaine's parents and to a degree with my mother although she had on her own entered an assisted care facility. The Princess and I have talked about this and hopefully we will be able to make the proper decisions before someone else has to make them for us.

It's scary from both sides.