Dealing with Computer Problems and Finally Posting Pictures

I’m taking a break before talking about the loss of my husband Paul.  I’m still thinking about it and how I will share it with you, so….

Coming home from the east coast was uneventful. Since I found when going east that carryon luggage is hit or miss to get on the plane, especially if you are one of the last two groups to board, I checked it all through. That certainly made it easier.

I was in four states while I was there- New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts.  I think that would have been very difficult to do in California!

On Tuesday I attempted to turn on the second computer to start working on my blog and it was a blank screen. I can't have this!  I have to have a computer that works.  So I decided I would get a Mac. I feel I've been having terrible luck with Windows.  On Wednesday I spent almost all day figuring out how it works.  I am impressed that it is all wireless except for the plug in the wall!  Really quite amazing!

I was trying to see if I could download all I have on an "old" iPod to my new Mac. Apple has no program to do that. Though one of the sales associates gave me the information to a third-party vendor which has a program to do that. I downloaded the program but I still can't get it to work. This is not my strength, but I have a friend who might be able to make it work. I'll call her. 

My grand-daughter Kayla contacted me asking me about my trip.  I asked if she would be interested in going out for pie as a belated birthday and to hear how her first year of high school is going.  She turned 14 last week. She said yes, so we did that.  I don’t think she likes pie because she just moved it around on the plate.  She wanted to get her eyebrows threaded. I asked her about it (it's a way of pulling out the hair by the roots).  So we made it to this business just before closing and I got my brows done too.  It was $10 for each of us.  Both of us looked a lot better afterwards. 

I had my chemotherapy on Thursday. One routine I do before going is putting a small amount of Lidocaine on the spot the IV goes. I have dealt with other needles, but I really have a problem with this one. So I put the stuff on a pad ready to go on. I go to take a shower and realize I never put it on me. Also, I wouldn't take a shower after doing this.  I looked around for where I could have placed it. The only thing I could think was that I threw it away with the paper. So I just started over after my shower. 

While I was at Chemo, Robin the social worker dropped by. My emotional state is so calm compared to where I was about seven years ago. I was an emotional basket case with my husband dying and my cancer becoming stage IV and metastasizing to my neck. I had chemo then that made me feel lousy. Anyway, I have not seen her for a long time. It was interesting reflecting how far I've come in coping by processing (working through what it all meant for me) all that happened, what I was told and choices I made as a result of what was happening. It turned out that when I usually go in now (Fridays) is not the day she works. Robin and I used to work at Kern Hospice years ago. 

My granddaughter Heather brought her pickup truck to take the parts of the bookcase that was delivered from Target.com back to a Target store. Good ratings from people who bought it but one piece had the holes drilled in the wrong locations and we couldn’t go any further.  I had many phone calls with the mail order  part of the business  There were no concerns dumping it in two shopping carts partly put together and given back to them at a local Target store.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to go through that again, but it sure was a nice style.  I checked several stores and found what I wanted at Office Depot. They were very inexpensive so I bought two and I'm paying $40 each to be assembled on Wednesday afternoon in my bedroom.  I thought it was odd that if I moved it from that room it would void the warranty.  What do they mean?

I saw Dr. Wong about my wrist. The pain in my elbow has been related to what happened. He told me to stop wearing the brace unless I was lifting something heavy or in a crowd where I might get knocked down. He also said that any movements that are hard for me should become an exercise. I start Occupational Therapy on Monday and will see Dr. Wong in six weeks. I'm doing so much better!

Yesterday I got together with my friend Janet after spending the day organizing my home. I have to tell you that I feel better as I get this work done and then I really enjoy going out.  Then Janet and I go to our standby Mexicali's; It is catchup for the week for both of us. 

Today I'm doing just a little around the house. I'm meeting friends for a movie and probably Chinese Food. We most likely will go to The Great Castle- an excellent restaurant.  The friends I'm meeting are Barbara, Jacquie and Debbie. We don't get together too often so it is very special when we do get together. 

We saw the art work of the melting clock so Ben sent me one.  Here is where I put it.

Here's the latest picture of Conner

Found this interesting article on Facebook.  It is worth reading. 

http://www.oktodie.com/blog/the-story-of-your-life-carries-great-power-by-monica-williams-murphy-md/

So as you noticed last week, I had no photographs.  They were lost somehow and even my writing had been lost but I had emailed it to my brother to help me with a technical problem. Thank goodness I did that otherwise there would not have been a blog. So I have included the pictures of last weeks blog. 

I'm with my brother Ben Gaman above and my friend Lynn Repasky below it

                                   9/11 Memorial -Pictures  of name with flower (placed on their birthdays)
                              and a reflecting pool with waterfall on the footprint of each tower- Very serene.

View from my room at the Wyndham Garden on the 16th Floor.
It is in Chinatown, in lower Manhattan between Little Italy and Wall Street.
Great Hotel!

9/11 Museum.- Staircase to Vesey Street that people used to escape, known now as Survivor's Staircase and wall of             watercolor depictions of the color of the sky on 9/11. The wall holds remains of people lost in the attack.

At the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) -The Olive Trees by Vincent Van Gogh
and sculpture of The Goat by Pablo Picasso

At the Metropolitan Museum of Art -The Temple of Dendur from Egypt
and a pencil drawing, Three Women, 1946  by Francisco Dosamontes. 

The New Britain Museum of American Art - Syl Sijan the security guard and me.  Looks very real!   I almost asked him if it was okay to take pictures here. How do they do that?!  They urge you to take selfies with Sy.l   And,Twilight Terrors by Rowena A. Merritt done in 1979

Picture of Ben, me,  our cousin Helen and her husband Alan Paret -Helen is one of 5 children
 of our aunt and uncle Shirley and Eli Snitzer. Aunt Shirley was my mother's younger sister.

This is a plaque honoring my uncle Eli Snitzer a physicist who was a pioneer in the field of laser glass research.   He was also involved in the development of fiber optics and won multiple awards.   This is in a park across the street from what had been American Optical in Southbridge Massachusetts.   He was well known in his field.
My uncle died May 21, 2012

This is a woodblock print my Aunt Shirley (Shirley Snitzer) did of 9/11. I understand it got an award. 

   It shows firemen in front of the Twin Towers. She was an accomplished artist. 

I did work on my drawing while there, but not much.  I didn't fill in the goat yet
and below that is a drawing of a chicken, though it didn't come through well.  I actually
drew the chicken upside down.  That really works!

                          

This was a picture of Conner last week.

So that's it for the week.  I'll see you next week.  Thanks for reading!            Rachel.