July Living

We wait for these warm July days all winter long, and when they arrive they seem to go too fast, filled up with just living: flowers, gardening, soccer, small outings, doctors visits, reading, daily chores, and visits with friends and family. 

Flowers from the garden on the table. 

Soccer matches without coats, and scarves only because they are part of your supporter gear. 

This was a big rival match against Portland and was chosen as the time for the celebration of the Sounders previous CCL Champions League Tournament Victory. Yes, Champions of Champions. A very Big Deal. 

The Navy Paratroopers helped us celebrate. There were seven of them!

And the usual pageantry, with 40,000 fans, only a few of them for Portland. 

We rubbed it in.

But pride goeth before the fall. We lost. Badly. 

That was on Saturday. We comforted ourselves with burgers at Red Robin and them a stroll on the dock at the Des Moines Marina. 

On Sunday I was restless. I needed an outing. We wanted a few things for the garden so we visited two nurseries. Vassey's is a smallish independent nursery that has such beautiful, well cared for plants. We soaked in the beauty. 

The color range on these barberries was so striking. No need for flowers. 

Monday was a work day, inside and out. By the end of the day I was tired and my back hurt. I tried not to be cranky but I was not always successful. 

Tuesday I did my PT and then watched the Jan, 6  hearings. Tom did a lot more work outside. Some day I may write about DJT and his awfulness, but not today. 

Wednesday morning we were off in the awful commuter traffic to get to my long awaited consultation with my neurosurgeon. The news is mixed, but mostly good. Dr. Gala and I both believe I do not have Normal Pressure Hydrocephalies. What I have is what I have been describing - "multifactorial" causes for my mobility issues. We both grinned as we translated that to "a lotta stuff". 

So now we get back to work on that "Stuff". I had back x-rays today. I will be scheduled for a spine MRI. I am being referred back to my orthopedist for consultation on my "fixed" hip, my other hip, and my knee. There will be more surgeries in my future.

But not on my brain. My brain? most likely "normal aging".  That's bad enough! :-)

Enjoy July!

Everything's Coming Up Roses

 

The roses are blooming abundantly now, but that expression also means having some good luck.

Last week I had a hearing test, my first one in three years. COVID prevented an earlier exam. The result was that, yes, my hearing is declining, and yes, I really need my hearing aids. Last week the audiologist said I might be ready for new hearing aids.

I called to get an appointment at the Hear Center. That was complicated. It is almost impossible to get a phone number that gets you anything but an automated system. I tried my Kaiser-Permanente numbers. I tried going on line and Googling. That was interesting. I ended up at Capitol Hill, Washington DC and not Capitol Hill, Seattle. We got a good laugh. I persisted. I finally got a person, Andrew, in the right city. Turns out the earliest appointment would be in October, but...there was a cancellation that day if I could be there at 2:00. I could!

I got my hearing aids serviced and the tech advised me that I could easily wait another year for new ones. Good. They are expensive, and even though my insurance now covers about half the cost, it's still a bunch.

I am always getting notices from KP of earlier appoints available, but by the time I see the notice, they are gone. This week I got the notice in time, signed in, and was able to get an appointment with my neurosurgeon for next week instead of next month! I have been waiting for this consultation about the Normal Pressure Hydrocephalies diagnosis for many months, since February really, when I first got the results of the MRI. Do I have it? I don't know. We'll see what the doctor says about doing the spinal drain test. 

Meanwhile our days are full of home jobs. Tom works and I manage to do a little. This week he has washed all 27 windows inside and out. He has pruned the fruit trees and the rest of the big shrubs. He keeps the plants watered and fertilized.   He mowed and edged the lawn. I'm sure there's more but I sort of remember one day at a time. 

Today I planted out the last of the plants in the green house, a small job, took the leaf blower to the front walk and porch and the back patio, and finally got out my blue bottles that I decorate the patio table with. Moving into summer has been slower for me this year. Thank goodness Tom is still so capable. 

Tomorrow morning ( Saturday) I have a Zoom meeting with my HS Class reunion committee. Our reunion is next Saturday down in Oregon near our home town of Molalla.  It's our 60th. We're old now. Will this be our last 10 year reunion? Probably. 

Then we'll leave about 10: 30 for a 1:30 Sounders match. We go early to avoid crowds on the light rail and in the stadium when we arrive. We'll eat lunch there before it gets packed. It's a big rivalry match with Portland and should be fun and exciting. 

I hope you are all enjoying your summer and not dwelling too much on all the tragedies going on. We can pay attention, we can care deeply, we can work for a cause, but we can't fix what we have no control over. 

Peace be with you.  

Another Bang Up Fourth

 By the time we arrived at the brunch hosted by friends on the Normandy Park parade route, I had too many layers on. The cool, cloudy weather was clearing and becoming a lovely, mild, mostly sunny day. We ate too much of all of the potluck goodies and then assembled street side for the parade.

The parade, a community affair, was mostly cars this year, one horse, and lots of candy tossing. Of course we "elders" like to see the cars of our youth.

And there it is, my first car, a 1964 Chevy Impala. Mine was white and a hard top.

Since we would go to the Cove, a community beach park,  after the parade, and I couldn't walk that far this year, I hitched a ride on Gus the Bus as Jill and crew brought up the tail end of the parade. 

Gus is very popular with a certain age set (old). I had a good time tossing candy to kids and flashing the peace sign for what was left of the parade route. There were lots of smiles and waves. 

The kid crew before the parade. Isaac brought friends.

At the Cove after the parade.

Jill, Irene, Allie, the cousin from Nebraska, and Isaac.

Tom and I returned home about 12:30. Tom napped and I caught up on all things electronic. About 4:00 we were on the freeway headed south to Gig Harbor, and food and fireworks at SIL Jan's house.

There was pretty much non-stop eating here. We had to call a halt for about an hour before we could eat pie. 

There were no commercial fireworks in Henderson Bay this year, but Jill brought some and all around the shore there were constant eruptions of bangs and booms and sparkles in the air.

First, Nature put on a show. 

Then, with fireworks going of all around, we did sparklers. Me too.

Jill's venue

And Jill's big booms and sparkles. 

And the moon added to the show,

It was another well celebrated bang up 4th of July.

Win Some, Lose Some

 

Roses from the garden

Well, that appointment on Wednesday to get a shot in my hip for troublesome tendonitis turned out to be a miss, not a hit. I guess all this time I have been trying to stretch the wrong tendon. My hip surgeon apparently didn't get it right. Sometimes Sports Medicine and PT guys know better how the body works. It's not the hip tendon, it's one or more of the glute  tendons that attach to the hip joint. No shot for now, more targeted PT. I couldn't get an appointment with my PT person until August 5th, but at least the Sports Med  Doc showed me what to do and I am changing my PT routine. 

I made it to the Sounders match Wednesday evening, but they lost. Wednesday was not such a good day. 

Orange impatiens I bought at the Whidbey nursery. Everything is orange under this umbrella when the sun shines. 

There were no appointments on Thursday! I did my full PT routine and spent some time outside snipping and clipping. We had been trying to find the right chair mats to work in our office on the new plush carpet. We finally did enough research to find ones with thick enough vinyl. We ordered them on Wednesday and they arrived on Thursday! We think they will work well. Time will tell. Hopefully a win.

Today, Friday, after our usual breakfast with friends, I made another trip into the city to the medical center, this time to Audiology, for a hearing test. We wanted to know for sure that it wasn't my ears causing my loss of balance, and it had been a long time since my last test. 

Yep, my hearing loss is progressing to the severe stage. Nope, no indication of structural damage. Yep, it's probably time to update the hearing aids. Oh boy, another big expense.

It is a beautiful afternoon. I did a bit more snip and clip, and took a few photos. Charlie Cat paid me a visit. Now I'll get this blog launched and work my Wordle before we grill some thing for dinner. 

Photos from the patio:

The trellis with the Black-eyed Susan vine and small succulent pots.

Pots with topicals and tender plants and succulents and spiney things. 

Happy Fourth of July! Yes, Gus the Bus and gang will be back for another appearance at the parade.