Seeing Friends in Visalia! Great Time as Always!

I had an echocardiogram. Most of the tests I have had are invasive, requiring radioactive material be put in my blood. This just required gel on a pad that she moved around to look at my heart. What I found out while I was there is that I don't have a bicuspid valve. It is a normal tricuspid.  I think it was over 30 years ago that a cardiologist did tests and told me it was bicuspid.  I could actually see the valve and I told Lori, the Sonographer that It looked tricuspid to me and she affirmed that I was correct. I have to wait for a doctor to read it and, if something else needs to be done or all is okay that Dr. Tun will inform me.  This test was done to see if my heart is leaking because my refraction rate is 80% and normal is 60%  Dr. Tun has never seen anyone with the results I have had.  Hopefully, all is okay.  We will see.

Hart Park has an area that peacocks like to hang out.  I went looking for peacock feathers for my teacher Carol Bradshaw. We have been working on peacocks for two weeks now. Well, it was easier said than done. There were several cars there when I arrived around 11 am. So people could have already picked up feathers. I did go to the opposite side of where people were and I found a couple of feathers.  Then I saw two within the gate where the peacocks tend to stay. It was too far to reach. I used the umbrella handle but I seemed to be pushing it further. Then I started looking for a long thin branch to reach it. I eventually did get two more feathers.  It turned into a bigger deal than I expected. I do have some peacock feathers from a stay at Martha's home, but I didn't find the bag I put it in.   

Peacock in Hart Park.  I don't think anyone lives in this house which has a gate around it.
That is where the Peacocks like to hang out.

Linda has joined us in class. Carol noted things I didn't get in the drawing of the peacock, so below is another stab at it. Carol also asked us to find a picture of a lizard to draw.  Below also is a picture taken from the feathers I collected, that Carol laid out and that I took the picture.  She said the focus of these recent drawings - peacock, lizard and snake are on patterns. I am not done with the peacock, but I will get it done tomorrow

Three Peacock Feathers.

Peacock - Still being worked on

Last summer I had lots of plumbing work done. It is not finished. My shower and bath are leaking and it has become ridiculous. So I had the same guy Trevor for part of the work then. Shower is fixed but the bathtub needs a lot more done. We settled on $650 for all of it.   Ugh!   But I really don't have a choice. I'm not doing work to make it prettier (though I would like to). I am focused on keeping it whole. If you wait too long, problems can get worse and you put out a lot more money at one time.   I am relieved though to have the repairs I had done completed.  He thinks it is time to replace the galvanized pipes in the house, but he did give me a guesstimate of $7,500 to replace those in the house. Way too overwhelming!  I don't have that sort of money. 

I gave a form to my doctor to get a handicap placard for parking. I do fine for most parking, but big events with hug parking lots are very difficult for me to handle because of the distance to get in. My doctor signed this and I will mail it to the Department of Motor Vehicles.   I have stalled on this a long time, but I really don't want to lessen my activities as much as I can. 

I told my friend Janet when we were at Mexicali’s about the results of the echocardiogram.  She was an nuclear medicine technician.  She said that the work when I had it done then, like at least 30 years ago is like comparing caveman times to now.  Pictures are much clear now.  I’m glad I have friends in the know to check with.

To top off the week, I met with friends I worked with in Corcoran. There were seven of us- Marc, Lynette and her husband Simon,  Bill and his wife Jana, Jody and me. We met at The Vintage Press which was delicious.  

Some of us talked about another restaurant called Craw Daddy's. When Paul and I lived in Visalia, we went there several times. It had just been built and opened.  Simon had heard a lot of ads on it recently.  We were wondering if it was a new owner and wondered if they had changed the menu some. Anyway, we thought it might be worth checking it out.   I did speak with Lynette after this and we are going to see if the restaurants in Visalia have been reviewed and perhaps go by that.  

We stayed at the Marriott which is being remodeled. Lynette and Simon were on the seventh floor (it has eight floors).  Jody and I each had a room on the second floor. There was nothing obviously changed on the second floor, but I did see my friends' room on the seventh floor. I liked it.  It had what looked like a very dark wood-slatted floor,  a sophisticated sofa, special lighting in the mirror, wide screen oversized television, and a wonderful large picture of the sequoias. The entire hotel is being redecorated.   I like to stay at that hotel when I visit, however,  prices are getting a lot higher and depending on if I can get a deal or not,  i would stay there less frequently.  There are less expensive hotels in the area and I could stay there.  

 Bill looked good as did Jana. Jana is more of a Facebook friend, but I have met her at several gatherings. Of course Lynette and Simon looked great. Simon gave me a jar of canned lemons he brined.  He asked "Do you like Middle Eastern food?"  I do, but I had to order a couple of books so I could make some dishes. I'm really hoping there is a big section on vegetables. I've been to Turkey twice and I fell in love with the vegetables!  If we had it like that in the United States, I would easily eat all my veggies.  Marc looked very good. I believe that he really enjoys not working (like me).   I have not had a problem of thinking I had nothing to do. His life runs a little slower (as mine does). And he really takes his time having his coffee in the morning, then walking his dog (in the foothills of Sequoia) before driving to Visalia to work out at the gym.  I think it is over two years ago since I have seen Jody.  I can’t be sure, but it was great seeing her.  It is such a long drive for her to come and she can hit very heavy traffic, so she left for home early in the morning. We will look at getting together in the Fall.  I realized after I got home that I had not taken any pictures!  And, I don't think anyone else did either!  

Below is from another blog about a funeral procession on its way to the cemetery.  We need to think beyond ourselves when other people are hurting.  This is worth reading. 

https://pastorcindym.wordpress.com/2016/07/11/stopping-traffic/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email

So that was a loaded week.  I got lots of sleep in-between events, so I did okay.  I really hope your week went well and I will see you next Sunday.                   Rachel

How Do We Comfort Each Other?

Before getting into what I discuss in my blog, I want to express my condolences to all the people of France, the victims and their families. It seems we are living in a very dangerous time and there are people who are filled with such hate that they will kill innocents. This happens here also. I believe that love and peace will eventually win, but we need to stand against hate. We all want a safe place to live and be able to live our lives without threat.  Terrorism has no place in our world.  Many people have posted heartwarming tales of people helping people. The more we do this, the more it will multiply. It takes so little to be kind. And there is a big payoff with an attitude like this. I'm not being PollyAnnish. I don't see this as an unreasonable or unrealistic way of being. What we do reverberates out. Kindness in general begets kindness as hatred in general begets hatred.  I don't mean on an individual basis that it will always turn out good. But, when I look at us as a group, the whole, this can make a better environment for all of us. 

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On October 24, I shared an article about what we need when we are grieving. This article touched a nerve in quite a few people. We would like to be sensitive of others, but feel very overwhelmed in providing this support because we are hurting too or we would like to make it all better for the one suffering. Or being in denial, because what we are seeing and observing is more than we can psychologically accept.   Unfortunately, we can't always do this. When we feel so incapable of doing this, we feel we are worthless. My sense is that our American culture never helped us in dealing with this.  I believe that other cultures that have dealt with death and dying in a more open manner seem to do much better than us. 

One issue which I believe is tied to this is the fear of dying.  I will admit this was my fear.   In the beginning when I was diagnosed I preferred ignorance.  I did not want to know any details. I did not want to do research to find out what worked better; what were things that would help me more.  I wanted my portacath out when my treatment was done because I wanted to pretend I was normal, and since I felt this portacath and that it would have to be flushed regularly to keep it from clotting, I would not be able to pretend or a word that describes it well, be in denial. One nurse was upset at me for pushing to get the portacath removed saying "what if the cancer came back?"  I was so angry with her  I said "then the chemo didn't work!"  Well, in fact, the cancer did come back seven years later. After crying a lot, I decided I had to take a different approach.  So this time I decided to look directly at my fears. It is interesting what happens when you do this. It becomes a non issue. I had friends who thought this was very negative.  I lost my fears as I did this.   So since then, it isn't the fear that gets in my way, it is not feeling good which is difficult to tolerate. I like being active and when I don't feel well, I can't do this. If someone has a thought in dealing with this, I would appreciate!

I found this article about dealing with fear. It is worth taking the points it offers. 

http://www.dealingwithfear.org/fear-of-death.htm/

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AT&T came out Monday morning. I have had multiple issues with my service.    It turnout, I had several issues going on that one remote control, the receiver and one of the DVR's were replaced. He checked the speed and in the end, it appears it is all working.  

Shelley and I joined several of our Red Hatters to a paint night. Shelley and I have discussed doing this for a while. It was great!  It was at a wine bar called Wine Me Up!  They also had beer and appetizers.  The wine list was fairly extensive and because I'm not really a beer drinker, I didn't note the choices of beer.  We got there a little early to get set up,    get our wine and appetizers, which were unique and tasty.  There were seven of us from our group and we all did the same picture.  We all loved it and plan to go back in February or March. 

Members of our Red Hat group who went- Pamela, Claudia, Me,
Evelyn, Judie, Shelley, and newest member Betsy.  We
all painted the same picture.

Some of the people painting.

The leader of our group Evelyn and me

My daughter Shelley painting

No, it is not a dragon, it is red wine poured in a glass and
splashing out.  On the left if a vase with flowers.  I'll guess the
white and yellow are the son, but I don't know.
This is on my wall next to the Entry Way of my home.

Crystal came over for dinner one night to learn to make something different together  for her family. She is the cook. So we did something very easy - hamburger patty with grilled onions, beef gravy, mashed potatoes and string beans.  I wanted to do chili beans but I thought with her being pregnant, it might be a problem.   But, I gave her the supplies to make this for the family.  Next time, we will make a meatless meal. 

I got together with my friend Jeanne at the Tofu House. Delicious food! Breathe loved the food and I know she will go back. When people try it out, they love it.   I bought a tee shirt which turned out to be too small for me even though it said extra-large, which said Sassenach. Sassenach is an English Inhabitant in Scotland often used in a derogative manner, but not in this story. This is from the series Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon.    The menu changed. Some of the prices raised which made sense since I thought they under charged for several items they served.   They also added some items including lettuce wraps. Yum!   I'll try that next time! 

My friend Jeanne wearing the tee shirt I gave her.

Janet and I met at Mexicali's, where we meet most weeks. This time, she showed me the picture I had drawn of her dog Poopy, now professionally framed. Wow!  That really made the picture stand out. I took the picture when it was dark in her car. It still came out fairly good!

Janet holding the picture of Poopy in her car.
She had just picked it up from the framers.

I saw my oncologist on Friday and had chemotherapy.  I had gone to the lab, but tests for this chemo were not listed. Oh well.  I will  do this next time I go to the lab.  My nurse gave me the direct number to m Doctor and them, so I can call immediately to correct this.   

I went to Visalia to join my friends, including Marc who's wife Mimi died. Annemarie and I shared a room at the Marriott where Lynn and her husband Simon were.  We ate at The Vintage Press, a very nice restaurant.  Two other people we worked with joined us, Dr. Fisher who for a while was our supervisor, and Dr. Thomas who worked on another unit.  It was a lovely evening and we will meet in December after Marc's birthday most likely at Tommie's a pleasant restaurant in Visalia.  I hope we can stay at The Marriott again.  It is a nice place.  I brought too much snack food, again as did Lynn and Annemarie.  We had water crackers, with goat cheese, red and green grapes, plus a Cabernet to have before heading to dinner.

 

So that is it for the week. It was a full week, but I was able to fit in a couple of needed naps.  I hope you week went well and I will see you next Sunday.  I will be working further on my contour drawing of a deer to bring to class on Tuesday.  Right now, I'm going to take a much needed nap.     Rachel