All Hallows Eve

Quiet in our neck of the woods. We did turn on the porch light for the little spooks who don't read the newspaper and know that they were supposed to look for treats last night here in Tullahoma. Last night our door bell rang for a total of three times and we had a total of seven little spooks...I think an all time record low for us. Tonight several churches in town are having "trunk or treat" so guess that is where candy seekers have gone tonight.

We both went to Sunday School this morning. Woody taught his class. Then we came home and had a bowl of white chili and some cran-apple crisp. A little later Woody and I went on a walk...this time we walked about four miles. We both came home and took a nap after the walk. Woody watched football this afternoon.

The trip routine has begun...as we washed our clothes this weekend, we put items to be packed on the guest bed. Tomorrow the serious (actual) packing will happen. I can't believe that tomorrow is the first of the month and once again time for another trip to NIH.

Happy last day of October!

Beautiful Blue Sky Day!

Woody got up early this morning, but didn't go walking since it was hovering right around freezing. He read instead. Later in the morning he went to the library. He has watched DVDs, football, and baseball and read. He also made our first cranapple crisp of the season...the first always tastes the best! I have quilted just about all day. Woody and I did go for a walk in between the football game and the baseball game. We walked about two miles. Not a cloud in the sky. After we got home, we got in the car and went to check on the ginkgo tree...but it hasn't turned its golden yellow yet. We came back home and I started quilting again and Woody is watching the baseball game and reading. Tullahoma has "trick or treating" on Saturday night when Halloween falls on a Sunday. But, so far our doorbell has rung all of one time and it is almost 8pm. Woody has a big bag of balloons ready for the spooks and goblins. I heard nice thank yous from the only ones who have come and one of them told Woody that the one he got was his favorite color.

Chili Weather!

It has been a rather chilly day (heat actually kicked on...on its own this morning) which means chili weather! I made a new white chili recipe today..."The Ultimate White Chili"...and it really is very good...and, warmed us up...by the time Woody had finished eating it, he was sweating! Before I could make it, Woody had a challenge...to find canned tomatillos...and thanks to a kind lady at the grocery store, find them he did. (I had guessed right that they would be in the Mexican food section in the grocery store.)

Since the morning started off in the upper 30's, Woody waited to go on his walk till later in the day. After lunch he walked to the Credit Union and Kroger's. We didn't have school today as some of the grandchildren and their parents got the nasal spray flu vaccine this morning and the doctor said that they shouldn't be around Woody (cancer patients and chemo patients) as it is made of live flu virus. This afternoon while Woody took his walk, I worked some more on Joy's quilt. Then after he got home I made the white chili. Woody has read and watched some TV today.

We have a freeze warning out for tonight. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Busy Thursday

Found this fellow on our front door a couple of days ago...I had trouble getting his picture till I took him from the side! A bit fierce looking?!

Woody got up early and went on a walk to test out his new size of shoes. I think that they passed the test. He walked to Krystal's and back...about six miles. Then later in the morning he went to the grocery store. Joy, Esther and Abigail cycled through doing some reading and/or math with me in the morning. Then after lunch Graham came over to read to me. I read to all of them after they read to me...so I have read quite a few stories today...and several of them a couple of times! After Graham read, I decided to start a soup for Woody's supper tonight. I was leery about it as it has horseradish in it (not a favorite flavor of mine). But once all the ingredients were in it, that flavor blended in and it wasn't noticeable. This is a new soup for us...Creole soup...pretty good. Woody is on his second bowl as I type! I am not eating with him tonight as I am getting ready to go out to dinner with my ladies' Sunday school class. We are going to a restaurant in Lynchburg...Cattywampus.

I was in contact with Woody's research nurse today checking to see if Woody was supposed to have lab work done this time as it wasn't note on any of the appointment papers. I was pretty sure that he was supposed to, but didn't want to make him give up any of his blood if it wasn't necessary! I just got an email back from the nurse and he does have to have labs done at least an hour before his scans. They are checking his creatinine levels prior to giving him the dyes that they give during the scans.

Well, an early blog since I am heading out for a "night on the town!"

Successful Day!

Bags of paper, etc. that needed to be recycled (after cleaning the church library) got picked up at our curbside recycling that Tullahoma provides its residents. Big success to have those off our front porch! Then Woody put a call in to the doctor and told her that he did need to have the eye drop prescription filled. A little after noon, he got the call back from the doctor's office that they had phoned it into our pharmacy. So success in getting the prescription phoned in. This morning, I decided to try one more time to get the NIH patient rate for our hotel...this was either the fourth or fifth time that I had called the reservation 800# over the last week and a half. They always quoted a higher price than what I know the NIH rate to be. Finally, today, less than a week till we need the room, I was able to get the NIH rate for both nights. I have finally figured out that they don't like to give out rooms at that rate till close to the date...they want to get as many rooms filled with their "normal" rates (which can be as much as three times the NIH patient rate). Today marked the day when it was less than a week to the day that we needed the room...so guess at this point they want to start filling those rooms that might be empty next week! That was a good feeling to finally get those reservations. When the gentleman said that, yes, they had the rate for both nights and the rate he quoted was the rate we paid on other visits, I said "hallelujah!" I'm sure he wondered about me...but he was very nice! So success in getting a room for two nights next week in Bethesda at the hotel that we feel like is our home away from home! After getting home with his new shoes last week, Woody realized that they didn't feel as good as they had felt in the store. So today he walked to town and exchanged them for a larger pair...another success for the day. On the way home he picked up his prescription at our pharmacy. And, the biggest success of the day...I was able to put/get them in his eyes!!!!!!!! This afternoon while Woody took his to town and back, I got a call from one of my Internet sewing friends. She was having some trouble doing something with her machine embroidery software. I managed to walk her through it over the phone...so one more success for the day.

Oh, to add a bit more to yesterday's story of Woody's money blowing away when he was paying for gas...it was five bills...not just one that he had to chase down! Wish I had a video of that!

A Day For Weathermen!

Today was either a weatherman's dream or his nightmare! If you live either in Alabama or Tennessee all you had on TV (if you only get ABC, CBS, and NBC like we do)was weather starting this morning and it was still being broadcast at 6pm (the last time that I looked at our TV...no evening news for us)! You can hear the excitement in their voices as they track one storm after another...now, when they have been on a solid six hours, as had the weatherman we were watching in Alabama...well, he was starting to lose his voice! I'm not sure about Tennessee, but Alabama has had one tornado after another today. I know that TN has had our share today too...but we really only heard about Alabama's and a couple of counties in TN...which is is ok in instances like this as the tornadoes that come our way usually come by way of Alabama...so we can watch them track our way! There was one that was headed in our direction this afternoon and Tullahoma's tornado warning siren was sounded at a point, but that tornado fizzled before it got to us and shortly after that things cleared up here. We did get some good rain from that storm. And it cooled down dramatically.


The day started out very warm and quite humid and VERY windy...felt like tornado conditions from the start to me. The winds were out ahead of the front that was coming through. I had school with Esther and Joy and then I went to get my hair cut. Woody left while I was having school with Esther. He had an appointment with our personal care physician, Dr. Harlow, in McMinnville (about 45 miles away). His eyes had been bothering him for several days. We had contacted his NIH doctor and she said she wanted him to see our doctor here. So he made an appointment for this morning. This morning, when he got up, his eyes seemed to be better. Wouldn't that be the case since he had made an appointment! Dr. Harlow said that it was probably an infection that was caused due to allergies. She put in a call to the NIH doctor to make sure that what she prescribed was ok with Woody's Research Protocol. Dr. Harlow called back this afternoon to tell us that NIH had approved the medication...so if his eyes are still bothering him tomorrow, he is to call her and she will phone it in to the pharmacy. He did tell Dr. Harlow about his fall a week and a half ago and that his mouth was still bothering him a lot...her comment: "It should be hurting!"


When Woody got home from the doctor, he suggested that we go for a walk before the storms got to us...so we went out in the wind and a little rain. I took quite a few pictures, but none ever captured how windy it was...except for the picture that I posted tonight...the flag shows the wind...and it took quite a few pictures to get it so you could see it as the wind was whipping the flag around in every which direction. You may have to click on the picture to actually see the flag...well...I will add a cropped picture of the above picture showing the flag blowing in the breezes. I had trouble standing still for many of the pictures that I took today. Woody bought gas and one of the bills that he was paying with flew away and he had to chase it down. Very blustery! Woody left a while ago to walk to the prayer room at church...so hopefully the weather stays calm!

Where do the days go?

The days seem to be flying by. I can't believe that October is almost over and that Christmas is two months from today! Woody didn't walk today. We had quite a bit of rain in the night/early morning. He got up and read due to the wet conditions. The rains cleared out by the time that I was ready to go to the church library for another work day...though we had a few more showers while I was working at the church. Graham, Abigail and Joy read to Goosey (Woody) today instead of me. I brought home quite a few bags of things for Woody to go through, agian. He has already gone through them and we have taken out what needs to be recycled. Woody was watching a DVD when I got home from the library. Some of the things that I brought home were VCR tapes to decide if they are appropriate for the library. He watched one of those after we went through everything. The library is looking better...but still lots to be gone through and lots to be processed...one of these days! But in reality...library work is never finished! Woody is now at Monday night prayer meeting at church.

Cross over Tullahoma

Yesterday just as we got on the Greenway path, I noticed that there was a cross in the sky...either formed by clouds or contrails. If you don't see it, start at the horizontal bar on the cross over St. Paul's Catholic Church and start going diagonally toward the upper right corner of the picture and you will be tracing the vertical line of the cross. As you go up that line before you come to the corner you will come to the line that cuts that line (horizontal line of the cross). It was very plain to us looking up at that moment...the problem came with getting in just the right place to take the picture. It's almost like a shadow of the church cross in the sky!

Woody got up early and went for about a two-mile walk...to Sonic and back. He told me that if I had gone with him I could have gotten a picture of the harvest moon. Oh, well...a bit too early for me! We both taught our respective Sunday School classes morning. After we got home, I made marinara sauce and cooked some whole wheat angel hair pasta. Woody has read, watched football and also some TV. I have read a little and pretty much had a "do nothing" afternoon. We did take a walk around the block in the late afternoon. It is a beautiful breezy fall day...that breeze is supposed to be blowing in some much needed rain and perhaps some storms for tonight, tomorrow and maybe even the next day. I just looked at the radar...and it's coming!

Skunky Saturday

Woody is thankful that I only had to title this "skunky" and not "stinky" Saturday, as he walked within a few feet of a skunk in the wee hours of the morning. Woody was on one side of the fence that surrounds the cemetery and the skunk was on the other side. They both looked at each other. Woody said that the skunk's eyes shone! Woody walked quickly on...hoping that the skunk did the same thing in the opposite direction! He said that he did smell a skunk at another time on this walk...but that the one that he saw wasn't smelly. Woody said that he almost woke me up this morning to take a picture of the moon because it was so beautiful...sort of glad that he didn't as it was very early in the morning and I was sleeping very soundly after not sleeping much the night before. It is cloudy here now so we won't be able to see the moon tonight...so no pictures of the harvest moon. Woody walked about 13 miles on his early morning walk. After he got home, he made himself pancakes...I slept through that, too! Slept through the clean up of the kitchen, too. Later in the morning we both went to the public library. I sat in the car and read my book while Woody went in and got some books and dvds. Then we headed for the Tullahoma Greenway which you can get to down a path that's next to the library. We walked the greenway and back...maybe 3 miles...so Woody really got some walking in today. We came home and had lunch. Then I worked on my Sunday School lesson and Woody read and watched football. Tonight's picture is one of the views on the greenway. Really pretty in some places as you can see! And, the sounds of birds in the trees and undergrowth and bushes is phenomenal...must be thousands and thousands of birds taking refuge in that area. Such a beautiful walk and to think that it is so close to our house.

Frustrating (?) Friday

I had trouble coming up with just exactly the right word that starts with "fr" that described the day. It has been rather frustrating for me to think that I have been up so long and didn't accomplish close to what I wanted to accomplish. I woke up looooooooong before Woody this morning...it seems that if I go to bed early then I will only sleep around four hours and then wake up and not be able to get back to sleep. I have been up since between 2:30 and 3am and haven't taken a nap...though I did just about fall asleep a couple of times today when I was trying to read. I got up as quietly as possible...trying not to disturb Woody too much and headed to the sewing room...I decided that if I couldn't sleep then I should accomplish something...like quilt some more on Joy's quilt. And, I did get quite a bit done on it. When Woody got up, I put it aside for a little while and went downstairs and made us a mushroom and Parmesan cheese omelet. After breakfast, Woody cleaned up the kitchen for me. I went back upstairs and worked some more on Joy's quilt. Then when it got closer to time for the girls to come over for school, I set it aside and started some wash. In the end Nathan and Kathy and family were yard saling and running errands, so we didn't have a lot of time for school over here today. After lunch I talked Woody into coming with me to the church library. I want him to look through the books on our shelves to see what books need weeding. He did one section, then he read for a while, and then he left for a meeting. I continued to work in the library...that was the most frustrating part of my day...I worked on processing books...I must have worked on 50 or more books all together...but in the end there were only three that were ready for circulation...just so many steps to get them on the shelves. I did get lots of memorial plates printed off and put into the fronts of the books...the library software makes it so much easier than the way I was doing them before...typing each one individually! I probably would have had more books ready to put into circulation, but we were out of date due slips...we're waiting for them to come in the mail...hopefully next week. After I worked in the library, I drove home. Woody walked home from downtown Tullahoma after he finished with his meeting...trying out his new shoes! He got home a little after I got home. We have been resting and relaxing this evening. Well, I should be doing a little less relaxing as I "should" be getting my Sunday School lesson ready...but the fact that I have been up for so many hours makes me think that it will be a bit difficult to concentrate on it.

Thoroughly Thursday

Thoroughly BUSY Thursday! Woody got up early and read. I had a meeting at church at 9am so Woody drove me to the church. He parked the car at the church and then proceeded to go on and do his errands on foot...which included going to the Credit Union and to the shoe store. Yeah...he listened to me and bought new shoes...hopefully no more slipping on sidewalks! After the meeting at church, another library worker and myself went to work trying to clean up some of the piles, bags, etc. that have accumulated around the library. I brought bags and bags of books home with me to go through with Woody to decide which to keep and which to give to the public library for their sale. That job didn't take long...quite a few bags will be heading to our public library when we go on Saturday. After all that I was pretty tired...as it was then getting well on into the afternoon so I decided to flop on our bed and read for a few minutes to recoup...well, it didn't take many sentences in my book to see I wasn't going to be able to keep my eyes open to read...so I took a power nap...well, probably a bit longer than a power nap should last...when I woke up, I went downstairs to fix our supper. Woody had peeled potatoes and cooked the broccoli while I rested (and he cleaned up the kitchen!). Woody wanted to try creamy broccoli soup...which starts out with a potato base...so while the base simmered, I pureed the broccoli. I ended up with more potato base than was needed for the broccoli soup so I concocted a creamy ham and cheese soup, too. So now Woody is reading. And, I'm not sure that I have enough energy to start on the next phase on Joy's quilt or not.

Working Wednesday

Woody woke up early and made himself breakfast...French toast. I said that he didn't make any for me and he said that he couldn't find me (I'm just as glad that he let me sleep!). After his breakfast, he read. Later in the morning he went outside and swept and edged the front walkway and did a small amount of mowing. After lunch he went on about a four mile walk. Since then he has watched a bit of TV, read and rested.

I started in on church library work about as soon as I got up this morning...and am just putting library work aside for the evening. I made an online order for some supplies and then went to Office Max for some other supplies. I sorted through paper work to get ready to make a book order and fill library memorials. Later in the afternoon, I went to the church library and spent about three hours there working on books...checking things in and shelving them and then worked on printing out library memorial book plates to put in the books (something new that we are doing with our library software). And, it worked...so the time and effort was worth it. So we have both had a busy day.

Terrific Tuesday

Christmas ornaments, antiques, lunch, and cheese...those words sum up my day. I asked Woody what he had done today and he said "well, I didn't go gallivanting." Well, to sum up my day...I did go gallivanting. I met up with friends this morning and we drove over to Shelbyville...not far from Tullahoma...but what a fun place to spend time poking around...I went places that I had never been before even though it is so close! Our first stop was the Co-op. I was told to be amazed and amazed I was! There were ever so many Christmas trees just loaded with ornaments. The inventory at this co-op is unbelievable...and, not just Christmas things. I ended up with just what I don't need...a couple more ornaments for our Christmas tree which needs no more (I will remember that when I am taking them off after Christmas...but I just couldn't resist a couple more!)! I also bought a Christmas present there. Next we headed to the downtown historic square. We parked and then started checking out the various stores there. We ate lunch at a little Italian restaurant. Then we went on down the street and checked out other stores...antique and sweet shops. Then we headed back toward Tullahoma making a couple of stops on the way back home...at the Bedford Cheese Store (I came home with a cheese that we hadn't tried before...Havarti.) and at another antique store. What a fun day. I was definitely ready to plop when I got home!

Woody said that he finished two more books while I was away...he is really plodding through that stack of books on the TV tray next to his recliner. He has also compiled a list of books that I am to see if we have at the church library. He was watching baseball when I got home. He left a little while ago...walking to the church for his time in the prayer room. I told him to be careful...this is the route that he took when he fell the other day.

When I got home I found that a dear friend had brought a "soft meal"...potato soup and pumpkin bread. Yum! So Woody even got a meal despite my gallivanting (usually when I go off like this he has to scrounge)! Woody is still very appreciative of soft food as his mouth remains pretty sore.

Mellow Monday

It has really been a pretty day here in Middle Tennessee. Woody got up early and proceeded to start reading and read on into the afternoon...stopping only for meals. He's really enjoying the fact that he can read for long spans of time now that he is retired. I got up and headed into the sewing room. I have done some quilting on Joy's quilt and have done some planning for what I am going to do after I finish the echo quilting (tracing around shapes on the quilt = echoing the shape with stitches a small distance away from the shape) that I am doing on it now. Woody didn't just read all day...he did clean up the kitchen for me. Oh, and he walked to the mail box. After lunch I ran errands and then came home and made chili. I attempted to make hotel reservations in Bethesda for our next NIH visit (two weeks away), but I wasn't successful in getting the reservation person to find the correct rate for NIH patients...so will try another time/day with a different reservation person till I am successful! Woody is now at Monday night prayer meeting. He is making progress in healing after his fall...his mouth remains sore...his left hand/wrist/arm seem to be okay.

Sunny Sunday

Woody and I both taught our respective Sunday School classes this morning. Then we came home for a relaxing Sunday afternoon and evening. Woody has rested and read and watched a bit of TV. I have read, talked on the phone with my sister, and done a bit of quilting...yes, I have finally gotten the quilt under the machine needle and pushed it around under that needle to do some quilting on it. Joy may yet get a quilt for Christmas! Woody and I took a late afternoon walk over into the next subdivision. He wanted to show me some pretty flowers (tonight's picture). I also found quite a few fall decorations in yards to take pictures of...perhaps future blog pictures...time will tell! Woody seems to be healing from his fall injuries (hmmmmmmmm think on that for a minute...fall decorations...fall injuries...think that I would rather stick with fall decorations...and I imagine that Woody would too!)

Today is a special day...Abigail Grace is now 7! Happy Birthday, Abigail!

Do you see what I see?

This has been a pretty "normal" Saturday. Imagine that! Woody made a quick trip to the library this morning (didn't take long at all since he drove!). He brought me back a book that I am having trouble keeping my nose out of! In my spare time today, I keep finding myself going to it rather than to the sewing machine...as had been my plan. I spent most of the morning making Spit Pea Soup (Woody is still seeking soft food to eat). After the soup was made, I went to pick up some prescriptions at the pharmacy. After I got back home, Woody asked me if I wanted to go for a walk. We went about a quarter of a mile away and sat on at a picnic table by a little pond. As we approached, a large crane/heron-type bird flew off. I saw it fly toward the trees across the way, but didn't see it go any farther...so I kept a watch out for it. And sure enough I eventually spotted it in the dead tree across the way. I never got more than a silhouette...but I'm pleased with what I did manage to get considering how far away the tree was from where we were sitting. I kept hoping that it would fly back to the pond, but I think that it had spotted us and wasn't going to make a move till we left. We did attempt to walk closer to it, but it flew away. We saw lots of birds while we sat there. Woody took a book so he could read while I attempted to take pictures. It was a very pleasant day to spend some time sitting in the shade of a tree by a pond reading and taking pictures. We were also entertained periodically by airplanes flying over...Tullahoma must have had a fly-in or an air show today. I managed to capture a few pictures of planes as well as birds...perhaps pictures for a future blogs! Woody has read, watched football and library DVD's and rested. He seems to be doing "ok" two days after his fall. He still looks a little rough. He has a sore spot on his left shoulder and left hand and his mouth is still very sore and he doesn't want to do any more chewing than absolutely necessary. But he seems to be on the mend.

To The Rescue!

This morning shortly after I got up, I went downstairs to fix Woody and me some scrambled eggs...he wanted something soft! About the time that I poured the eggs into the pan, the phone rang and it was Nathan. They were "stranded" about 12 miles down the road! Nathan had changed the oil in their motor home and he had put too much in and the light had come on...and in this vehicle that means "stop" do not proceed! They were on the access road to AEDC (where Woody used to work) and had pulled into one of the parking areas outside one of the gates into the Air Force Base. He asked Woody to go get some tools and the oil pan from their house and then bring them to them. So we found (thank goodness for cell phones and being able to communicate while we looked!) what was needed and headed out to rescue them! The children were in the vehicle watching a DVD (well, Elijah was asleep!) while Mom and Dad attended to getting their vehicle road ready once again! Woody supervised and I went in to see the children. This was a chilly morning and the children were a bit cool in the vehicle without any heat. A couple of them were sharing a quilt that Woody's mother had made many years ago. It is one that she made out of polyester so not as warm as a cotton quilt. I mentioned to Abigail and Esther that they might want to fold it in half and use it double to make it a bit warmer as it wasn't the warmest of quilts since it was made out of polyester...well, Esther caught what I had said...and she said "poly--ester...my name is Esther!" I did explain that it was a kind of cloth...but it was so cute for her to pick up on the sound-alike for her name...never occurred to me! New nickname? Abigail couldn't quite figure out how we showed up after they had started on their trip! She wanted to know if we had traveled a long way...and I told her it wasn't far...she asked if it had been one mile and I told her that it had been about 12 miles. I guess once they start on a trip they are far removed from us whether they are a mile or 100's of miles!

Shortly Nathan got their problem solved by draining a bit of oil out...and they were on their way again. He kept the tools that he might need if the problem reoccurred and we took the oil pan back to their house. We decided that we would go and early vote as election day may conflict with travels to NIH. Before we got out the door the phone rang...I almost didn't answer it, but decided that it might be Nathan so did. It was one of the research nurses from Vanderbilt calling to check on how Woody is doing. We chatted for a few minutes and I filled her in on the latest from his NIH study and told him about his fall yesterday. Then we headed off to vote and then went by the church for me to pick up a book at the library that I needed to help me prepare the Sunday School lesson on Sunday. Then we returned home. I then got our grocery list ready. Woody planned to stay in and rest today and he had already been out more than he had planned! So I headed out to run errands...went to the quilt store for thread to quilt Joy's quilt with, went to my sewing machine dealer to get needles to quilt Joy's quilt with, then to the Credit Union, and then on to Kroger. By the time that I got home and got the groceries put away I was tired...and took too long of a nap.

The next problem of the day came with technical difficulties in getting my pictures from my camera to the computer. My camera's battery ran out while downloading them...and after changing it "things" no longer recognized "each other!" Grrrrrrrrrrr........technology!! Love it when it works...but when it doesn't...(took more than an hour to figure out how to move the pictures...but I just felt like this post needed the picture...so I was determined...and I won!)

Woody is doing pretty well after his fall. His mouth is very sore. His nose looks pretty bad. (I don't see how he wears his glasses...thank goodness he doesn't need to wear them all the time!) After folks saw the pictures on the blog last night...he was likened to a hockey player...so he is considering telling people "that hockey season has started"...or he might just tell them that he is "working on his Halloween mask!"

Well, I still haven't gotten started on the quilting on Joy's quilt...but have thread and needles now...so steps closer to the actual quilting!

Rude Awakening!

(Picture is at the end for those with weak stomachs!)

Woody woke up fairly early and decided to go on a walk. I was half-way awake when he decided to leave (4:30ish) so he asked me if I wanted to go. I asked where he planned to walk to. He said McDonalds and I told him that I didn't think that I could go that far. So I went back to sleep...I heard the door close when he left and heard it open about a half hour later. He came rather quickly up the stairs and into our room and then went into the bathroom. I asked him how come he was home so quickly...his answer..."I fell!" Well, that was the rude awakening! When he turned around to show me, there was a lot of blood! Luckily he had a handkerchief with him. I am amazed, now that it is over, that there wasn't a lot more blood on things. He was very careful!

He took the route that takes him up a rather steep incline...he's not exactly sure what happened. It had been misting and he doesn't know if his shoes slipped or if he tripped or what...but down he went. He said that his mouth hit first...other than that he doesn't know much as to what got hurt when! I guess he was about a mile from home. The right side of his body seems pretty unscathed...except for the right side of his nose. His lower left arm had scrapes and cuts...partly from the fact that he had a bag of aluminum cans in that hand (he collects cans for recycling when he walks) and he also has medic alert bracelets on that wrist (there are scrapes/scratches that follow where they were on his arm). The first thing that we attended to was getting bandaids onto those places on his lower arm that were bleeding. And then we had a bloody nose to contend with. We first used a bag of ice and then changed to a bag of frozen peas. The peas definitely worked the best. His nose finally quit bleeding, but he did lose quite a bit of blood...now praying that he doesn't sneeze and undo the clot! I am also praying that his left arm near the wrist is just bumped and bruised. That is the arm that was broken so severely near the wrist in his bicycle accident two years ago and never healed completely. We were told that all his wrist/arm would need was a bad fall and it would break again. Oops!

Take note in the pictures below that he is in the same chair ten hours after his fall. This is the recliner in our bedroom. That is where he headed after we got him cleaned up some, where he sat with an ice pack on his nose for some time, and where he stayed till around 2:30pm. He has rested and slept a good part of that time. Around 2:30 he came downstairs and went out to get the mail. He has eaten a little...his mouth is pretty swollen and he loosened some teeth so he is sticking to soft food for the time being. He did say that he thought that he was going to be "ok"...about an hour ago. This has sort of done me in too...shortly after the bleeding got stopped, I felt about like a limp dish rag. I slept for several of the hours that he slept. Hopefully the worst is behind him...though, I'm sure that he will feel some extra aches and pains tomorrow! And, for those wondering why didn't we go to the hospital...well, there are so many restrictions (due to the protocol he is on) as to what can be done to/for him, we just decided it would be easier to try to deal with it ourselves. I did dig out the number to the 3rd floor nurses station at NIH in case we needed advice from them. And, I got dressed at 5am just in case we needed to go to the emergency room...so we were ready to seek help if the need arose.

Well, that about sums up our day...hope none of you had such a rude awakening! (And, I thought that I was going to get to start machine quilting on Joy's quilt today...oh, well, as Scarlett said, "tomorrow is another day!")

Midweek

Woody didn't go walking early this morning since it was very foggy out. So he read early this morning. He is really going through the books. He checked out a lot of books from our church library to see if some needed to be weeded out...our church library is full to the bursting point. But so far he has only read one that he thinks that we need to discard! I had promised Graham that I would take Abigail and him to the "Real Montessori School" when he finished the reading book that we had borrowed from them. (The "Real Montessori School" is what Graham calls the school where I taught for 27 years.) Since I use Montessori methods and have some Montessori equipment..."my school" is known as "Grammy's Montessori." We headed out to the school and got the next reading book and then had some lessons with fractions, 4-digit numbers, units, tens, hundreds, and thousands, and several other math lessons. Then we headed back home. Woody went for a two mile walk in and out of the streets in the subdivision next to ours this afternoon and then he "piddled" in the yard a bit. I went to the church library to work for a while late this afternoon. Woody has watched TV, a DVD, and read this afternoon and evening.

I took the picture of the North Carolina Chickadee, yesterday, while sitting in my friend's sunroom. They have the perfect bird watching spot. I managed to snap several little feathered friends' pictures while we visited.

PARTY! PARTY!

Today was a big day for two Dorrell granddaughters. This is Joy's real birthday...she turned 5 and since Abigail will turn 7 in just five days, we celebrated hers also. At least this was the breakfast celebration...waffles and ice cream...the birthday breakfast tradition in their house. Then Sunday they will have the cake and ice cream part of the tradition on Abigail's birthday. Abigail got part of her presents today, but has saved some for her real birthday. Our present to them this year was partially to be shared...so in this picture they are both opening it. All had a good time! After the presents, the seven of them headed off on a bike ride. Joy was anxious to try out the new basket and bell she got for her bike.

Woody also got a gift...Kathy had knit him a hat and scarf and she decided that he would need it before his birthday in December. He needs a knit hat already if he chooses to go out really early in the morning when it is quite chilly...especially with not having much hair on his head...though his head gets darker each day as new is growing in!

Not long after I got home from that party, I headed out the door for another! Three friends and I had lunch together. Three of us picked up lunch here in town and then drove out to the Normandy Lake area to the fourth friend's house to enjoy lunch in her new sunroom. Lots of fun being together!

While I was away, Woody walked to town for a meeting. And, in last night's blog post I forgot to tell the highlight of his walk yesterday. He often finds money on his walks...most of the time just change...yesterday he found a $10 bill! He has read this afternoon. A little while ago he left to walk to the prayer room at church. So by the end of the evening he will have had two walks to and from town today. Now me...I have mainly just partied!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOY!!!!!!!!!

It's that time of year!

Soup time! I just took off the stove burner our first pot of soup of the season...Spicy Vegetable Beef. Now...temperature-wise it really doesn't "feel like" soup weather...but we had this pot planned before we knew that it was going to be 90 degrees here today. But as you can see by this picture...fall colors are creeping in. This photo was taken here in TN on our way home from NIH last week...so the colors have crept in a bit more since then...slowly but surely God's paint brush is touching our trees. Such a beautiful time of year.

Woody took about an hour walk this morning. He waited for it to warm up a bit before he went out. The really cool mornings show signs of Fall. He has read and helped me get the soup underway...he sauteed and chopped and dumped most of the ingredients into the pot while I finished reading with Graham. Woody is now at the Monday prayer meeting at church. I had school with the three girls this morning and then later in the afternoon Graham came over to read. A little after lunch I had my 6-month check-up with my neurologist...everything seems to be the same with my Transverse Myelitis...continue on the same path for another six months.
Here's a link to the blog post that explains Transverse Myelitis:
http://wdorrell.blogspot.com/2009/03/my-turn.html

10-10-10

We both went to Sunday School this morning...we headed off a bit earlier this morning so Woody could get his snack items there before the youth arrived. His snack items seemed to have been appreciated as not a lot came home. Woody taught his Sunday School class. We came home and not long after we got home we went on a walk...about a two mile walk...not long for Woody, but rather long for me! I came home and had to have a rest before I ate lunch. It was a very warm Fall day...according to Weather Bug, it got to 90 degrees today.

Woody has been reading and watching football this afternoon. I have been working in my sewing room. I dusted the top shelf of the bookshelves...lots of pictures on that shelf...seemed like it was time to change some of the pictures so I have had fun looking through pictures on the computer that I have taken over the years of the grandchildren. My...how they have grown!

Saturday

Woody got up this morning and went for a walk. He walked to McDonald's and back (no eating involved just a destination). Later in the morning he went to the library and the fruit market. He also made a few sweeps of the yard with the lawn mower. He has watched two football games and has read. Graham and I went shopping for birthday gifts for Abigail and Joy. When we got back, Graham headed home and Abigail came over for a while. She cut off more buttons and then she read to me and I to her. While I was reading to her, Kathy, Graham, Joy, Esther, and Elijah came over for a while. Nathan was away doing prison ministry in Kentucky. Nathan got back a little while ago.

Woody's age group in Sunday School is responsible for the snacks that the youth have before Sunday School tomorrow morning. He is taking several things. He has already made one recipe. And, as soon as I blog, I'm going to go down to help him prepare something else that he plans to take.

Promise and Hope!

Here' s what I captured of the beautiful rainbow that we saw on our way home from NIH. It was not easy to get a good picture through the windshield and in a moving car...the camera wanted to focus on the dirt and/or the rain drops on the windshield. And, the camera didn't have a wide enough angle to get the whole rainbow...but here is one side...sort of. Each time I see a rainbow I think about God's promises and how His promises give hope.

Woody got up this morning and went on about a five mile walk. Later in the morning he went to the grocery store. I had school with Esther and Joy and read with Abigail and Graham. Abigail stayed after she read and gave Goosey some more of the slave labor that she had promised him. She cut buttons off of some of his old shirts and pants. Graham also stayed after he read. He was finding out the worth of some of the baseball cards that he has. I made one of our favorite recipes...Cantonese Spareribs aka Sweet Meat. This evening Woody has been watching a library DVD and I have been watching a Project Runway DVD that Woody got me from the library. That about sums up our day!

Establishing Routine...at least trying!

What is routine...really? It seems like lately we can never get into a routine...trips change routine...just life changes routine! Today I got up determined to get a little done...that is about all I got done was a little...or so it seemed during the day...but now that I look back at it we were pretty busy! Woody left a little after 6am for about a seven mile walk. Then later in the morning he walked to the fruit market and the pharmacy. He also made tuna salad (reason he walked to the fruit market...he wanted tuna stuffed tomatoes). After lunch he read and napped. I worked on getting things back in order after the trip and also did some cleaning. Then in the afternoon I had school on our front porch since it was such a beautiful day. Esther and I went over some of the sounds that the letters make. Joy and I read some lists of phonetic words. Abigail and Graham read out of their extra reading books. After Graham read, he and I came in to see if Goosey (Woody) needed to be awakened from his afternoon nap. But he was already awake. When I told Woody that I had read with all four, I asked him what he had been doing and he said that he guessed that he fell asleep. Graham helped me with some of my dusting AND he vacuumed the stairs. Great help!

I am blogging late tonight because Woody and I went next door to take care of five little munchkins while Nathan and Kathy went shopping for Abigail and Joy's birthdays. We had a fun and crazy time! When the fun and games ended, Abigail was a big help...she gave Joy and Esther their baths. Graham helped too by helping me get Elijah ready for bed. I put Elijah to bed and then the rest of us gathered downstairs for stories. Graham opted to look at some baseball cards and talk with Woody about them. Then the four headed upstairs for tooth brushing and prayers. Just as I tucked the last one in and said the last prayer, Nathan and Kathy came home.

So that sums up our first day home after the latest trip to NIH. Tonight's picture is of yesterday's sunrise in Virginia. Woody stopped at a rest stop so I could snap a picture of it.

Home again, home again!

Here's our tripometer after yesterday and today's travels...so multiply that by two and you will have our round trip for this time. We had an uneventful day of travel. We left at 6:45am Eastern time and arrived home about 1:30pm central time. So we traveled almost 8 hours today. We found out that it is just about pitch black at almost 7am in Salem, VA at this time of year. We had a time of very light sprinkles which produced a beautiful rainbow. Upon entering our house we heard a voice...it was Nathan. He was over at our house getting some containers...they had made us supper and were going to put it in our containers so we wouldn't have to return theirs. Nathan headed home with the containers and not long after the whole family appeared. Each of the children had helped in making our supper...well, Elijah had mainly sampled the cheese! They stayed and played for a little while. A little after they went home Woody and I went for a walk...around our block and into the next neighborhood and around one of the blocks in that neighborhood. We sat on the front porch for a little while after we got back from our walk.

We did get an email from Dr. Rosati. She said that the total shrinkage of Woody's tumors was 33%. That is going back to the scans before his treatment and comparing them to the scans he had this time. So last month they had shrunk 22% and this time an additional 11%. She said, "Great news!"

It's good to be home!

One Was Wispy!

This has been a day of beautiful clouds. A few of those clouds were wispy...which brings me to the description of one of Woody's tumors. Dr. Rosati came in and told us that Woody's tumors had shrunk some more since the last scan. Woody asked her specifically about the one that he had been able to see and feel on his sternum...which we have observed disappearing these last two months since his treatments. The only thing that we can now see/feel of this tumor is that there is still some bruising on the skin. She said that the CT scan showed that tumor to now be what she described as "wispy." She said that someone new looking at Woody's scan wouldn't pick up on the fact that it is melanoma...she only knew it due to the fact that she knew that melanoma had shown up in that spot on previous scans. She couldn't give us a percentage of shrinkage as she had had surgery last night and hadn't been able to do the measuring on the scans yet. She is supposed to tell us via email how much the tumors have now shrunk. Both doctors that we saw seemed pleased with the way the tumors have continued to shrink.

Before leaving the clinic, we were given appointments for next month. Once we had the appointments in hand, we headed downstairs to get our voucher check for travel and a night of lodging and also went to the pharmacy to get another bottle of antibiotics (he has to take these for another four months at least). Then we headed to the car. We got under way about 2:30pm Eastern time and stopped for the night in Salem, VA just as it was getting dark. I took tonight's blog picture through the windshield of the clouds over the Blue Ridge Mountains. Like I said at the start of the blog...the clouds were absolutely beautiful today...quite a "show in the sky!"

And, as Woody would say..."The good Lord willin' we'll be home tomorrow."

We Made It!

We are now at the hotel...enjoying free appetizers because our room wasn't ready (I had requested feather free). We left our VA lodgings at 7am Eastern time and arrived at NIH at 10:30am to find all patient parking gone...so we went back to the front and let them valet park the car. Woody checked in to have his lab work done at 11am. Then we sat and he did a crossword puzzle and I read a bit and dozed. When I woke up, we went to get me some lunch (Woody couldn't eat till after his CT scans). Then we went to the CT scan waiting room and did just that wait and wait. We were an hour early for his "shake" (contrast that he had to drink). He got that about an hour and fifteen minutes after we got to the waiting room. They called him back for the scan earlier than was planned...but then it was wait and wait some more...him in the back...me still in the waiting room. He was back there for 1 1/2 hours for a test that only took about five minutes when they finally got "to it." I can tell you that everything in the CT waiting room closes down at 4:30pm...if you are later you have to go back to the MRI waiting room! Woody finally resurfaced around 4:45pm. And we headed out to get our car from the valet parking and then pulled around and parked in the patient parking area (not so full at a little before 5pm). We chose to leave the car at NIH due to exorbitant parking charges at the hotel. We got out suitcases out and rolled them back into the main clinic building and headed to find out what time the next shuttle to our hotel would leave...and someone must be praying for us!!!!! The driver was right there "calling" for "Hotel North"...the exact shuttle that we needed to take us to our hotel. So we made it...arrived ahead of time for tests...got free parking...got free appetizers (which are big enough for our supper)...and now we just found out that they upgraded our room to the concierge floor (still at the NIH rate (which we will be paid back 1/2 for)...appetizers and breakfast on this floor)...prayers are definitely being answered...Woody says to keep it up!

Tomorrow we will check out...take the shuttle to NIH...see the research doctors around 1pm...and head on down the road after the doctors are finished talking with us. So I will be blogging some where between Bethesda and Tullahoma tomorrow night.

Delayed Start!

Woody got up early as usual. He woke me up when he thought that it was time to get things into the car. We got the car loaded and then we headed to church. This was a very special day for the Dorrell's. Abigail and Joy were baptized at the early church service by their daddy. Two very sweet moments to start our day. After the church service we went to Sunday School. Woody taught his class. I got out to the car first, but couldn't get in as we only have one key for this car and Woody had it. When Woody got to to the car, he couldn't get the key to unlock either of the doors. This a problem that we have from time to time...but we didn't need it today! The above picture is Nathan, Elijah, Graham, and Abigail coming to our aid. But to no avail...we tried the key in both doors and turned the key both ways in both doors...still "no go!" So Nathan decided to go back to our houses and go into our house and get the key to the trunk and then come back and let Graham go into the car through the trunk. While we were waiting for their return, both Woody and I continued to try to unlock the door. Our deacon came out and I said that maybe he could help us...Woody told him to just pray that we could get in so we could get on our way...and shortly after that the passenger door finally unlocked! Quick answer to prayer! We hopped in the car and were off. I called Nathan and Kathy and told them they could cancel their trip back to the church. So...our start was delayed about ten minutes. We will NOT be locking the car doors the rest of the trip!

We finally found a place to stay the night...a long stretch of highway without places to stay near the road. We're not sure that we will be able to find our way back to Interstate 81 from all the winding around that we did to get to where we are staying. We are in Lexington, VA (we think!). We traveled about 450 miles today. The last 100 miles in the dark...not Woody's favorite time of day to drive.

We need to be at NIH by noon for Woody's lab work. We have 200 miles to travel to get there...so barring any problems along the way we should be able to get there before noon.

So...a drive of 200 miles to NIH (Bethesda, MD) for lab work and CT scans tomorrow. I'll report in from Bethesda tomorrow night...as Woody would say..."The good Lord willing!"

Just about ALL packed!

"Things" are just about ready to be put in the car in the morning. I guess it is getting easier to pack...since we have packed so much lately. I think (I need to go back and check for sure) that this will be our 7th trip to NIH since April 27th of this year.

Woody walked to the library and then on the way home stopped at the pharmacy to pick up a couple of my prescriptions. Woody has been reading from his stacks of books and also watching some football. He finished vacuuming the family room. Graham came over for a while after lunch and he and Goosey (Woody) spent time working on a project. And, I have gotten things into the suitcase.

We will get up and head to church in the morning and then get on the road right after Sunday School. So...tomorrow night I will be blogging from some place between here and Bethesda.

Chocolate and Pink!

Three sisters in their matching chocolate and pink shoes!

We've had a busy day. Woody didn't get up quite as early as he has been...maybe he will sleep longer now that it is cooler and the fact that sometimes he doesn't go to bed quite as early as he was when he was working.

I got up fairly early...but probably not early in my husband's eyes! I got clothes into the washer and started deciding what I will pack. Woody has put some of his clothes on the guest bed in anticipation that they might hop into the suitcase. I had school with the three girls. Abigail decided that she would stay with us while the rest of her family went to check out yard sales in the area. After she finished her school work, she and I headed to the shoe store in the hopes of finding a pair of shoes to match her sisters'. And, as you can see by tonight's picture, we were successful. When the girls came over to have their shoe picture taken, they stayed for a while to play. And, Woody got some more of the 10 hours of slave labor out of Abigail! She helped him make tuna salad...she chopped the celery with a special chopper that we have. It ended up being sort of a "Tom Sawyer job," as she convinced Joy that it was fun to do...so she and Joy took turns pushing the top of the chopper down. Graham also came over for a while to finish up a project that he was making for Joy for her birthday. Elijah was over for a while too. So a busy morning and afternoon!

Woody got underway with vacuuming the family room...but it is still a work in progress. He has read quite a bit today and he also did the grocery shopping...this time concentrating on food to take on our trip. I miss getting to do that part of preparing for a trip. I can't imagine that I won't "have" to make a WalMart trip just "on principle" tomorrow!

Happy October!