TGIF! Time to dive into sharing five random things about our week.

1. The medical system feels like it’s totally crashing in the last week or two in our neck of the woods. First brother in law is on hold waiting for treatment.  We’re all not happy and baffled by this. It’s not good for him, and he’s stuck in a hospital waiting.
2. For reasons I can’t begin to fathom, the imaging center decided they had to review my CT to see if it was medically necessary. Why? No clue, the specialist and my regular doc thought it was necessary, and sure enough the “team of doctors reviewing it” came to the same decision four business days later. It’s scheduled for late next week, and then I had a slew of paperwork to fill out. I’m sure there’s a reason but I can figure it out.
3. On the upside, saw my regular doc today and felt like sanity had returned just because he’s so ground in reality and helpful. He rolled his eyes at the Fodmat diet I was on and said, “Most of my patients, like you, have already eliminated every problematic food from their diet.” I felt validated We’re all baffled by mysterious side pain, and all of us feel it will remain mysterious but we’ll go though this final step of the CT then…wish the side pain well and move on with our lives. (When all else fails, be sarcastic or ridiculous because seriously, who has time or money for all this????)
4. All my pictures/wall art are still stacked in a corner of the living room. We keep trying to find time to lay them out and hang them. It’s becoming a fun joke. We’ll get to it eventually.
5. Hmm…what else? Oh we have had gorgeous weather! A day or so of rain which we really needed. And fall like weather that I love! Maggie and I took a little hike on muddy dirt roads yesterday and neither one of us cared. Wizard just shook his head, but he knows I walk off stress. And my doctor also assure me and encouraged me to do all exercise that I want too including yoga, and I won’t make anything worse. That relieved Wizard’s mind. He knows me best and knows this is real even when I try to convince myself it’s in my mind. But the point of this is that I truly love and appreciate this weather!

This weekend, first I hope things happen for brother in law that need to happen. Second we want to see Turbo, but we’ll see how that goes. They will come out here if they can. So that was my five, now I really want to hear yours! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

I wanted to share a story. Before Wizard and I got married, we were required by his church to go through their version of pre-martial counseling. What that turned out to be was several evenings with an older, and presumably successfully married, couple.

We were assigned a couple named Bill and Maureen.

At the time I was barely 20 and Wizard was 28. We knew everything already, of course. But we respectfully humored our “elders.” Over six weeks, Bill and Maureen graciously hosted us in their home and led us in discussions. They taught that a successful marriage was built on The Three C’s, which were communicate, communicate, communicate.

Wizard and I “graduated,” and while we truly liked them and found them quite interesting, we didn’t think we really needed any guidance. And yet, those “lessons” stuck with us over decades of our marriage. No matter how good or bad things got, we always remembered The Three C’s. We also kept in touch with Bill and Maureen, occassionally visiting them. Every year we’d get a Christmas card from them with updates about whatever adventure they’d had that year. They had a largish family, traveled when they could and seemed genuine in every way possible.

As each year passed, Wizard and I came to respect their advice, and appreciate their efforts with us, all the more. Without even realizing it, we were trying to follow their example.

Then the day before our anniversary this last weekend, we were both sitting in the garage on a break when I got a phone call. It was Bill and Maureen’s daughter sharing with us that her parents had passed away. I told their daughter how much of an impact they’d had on our lives, and she told me something truly startling: After 65 years of marriage, one of her parents passed, and one day later, the other passed. They hadn’t been sick at all.

And now they are together in eternity.

So when Wizard and I went to dinner to celebrate our anniversary, our waiter asked us the secret to a long marriage. Wizard and I looked at one another and answered, “Communicate, communicate, communicate.”

Then we raised our water glasses in a toast of gratitude to Bill and Maureen.

I’m mostly happy about the time change, and super sorry for those who hate it Maggie is not as happy when she thinks her dinner is “late.” She does not believe in excuses like a time change. But we did an awesome marathon walk in the morning so she can deal with the “late” dinner.

The weekend was mixed. Our brother in law isn’t well right now and that’s a worry, though we do think he’ll be okay once the doctors find the right mix of treatment. And Turbo’s family is striving to become germ free, but man, they have had a battle. Turbo’s four and a half and in preschool, so this is totally normal but not fun. Still I think they are almost well and are planning to come out here next weekend! We video called with him yesterday and he’d had enough energy to run a marathon. Kids are amazing!

Yesterday was our 40 year anniversary. We went to a really nice dinner last night (I hope, I’m writing this before we go to dinner, but I expect it will be great). This year we are tentatively planning two trips as our celebration, but not locked in yet. We’re pretty focused on, and enjoying, doing on the house but we also really want to take some trips. We’ll see if life cooperates or we’ll adjust our plans.

Speaking of the house, I ordered two chairs, and hoping I made the right call because they are white. That’s crazy, right? I mean I got dark couches so I wouldn’t have to worry as much about wear, dog hair and dirt But…obviously Crazy Jen got out of the locked closet and placed the order.

So these are my practical dark gray couches. (Ignore the arm of the old blue couch  in the front of the picture, those were given away to one of the construction workers.

And these are the 2 chairs I ordered that probably won’t come until after Thanksgiving:

I think will balance out the dark gray, and pull from the kitchen cabinets and granite. Plus we’ll use the couches more, and Maggie won’t be allowed on the chairs (Famous. Last. Words!). So maybe I’m not crazy?

It’ll be a LONG time before I can afford different tables, but I’m so happy that we will have plenty of seating. The chairs swivel which means they can turn to see the TV, and they recline. This week we are for sure, maybe, probably committing to getting the various retaining walls in the front, side and back, plus a lot of cement work.

So that was my long post about the weekend, now I’d love to hear about your weekend!

TGIF! It’s time to share five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

1. Time is racing by and we’re already into the Holiday Season. Crazy! I’m not ready! That said, we are having Thanksgiving here. I already have RSVPs from the kids with dishes they are bringing, so that makes it so much easier. So I’m not really behind.
2. Tuesday I found a frozen turkey at my regular store that was more than $50.00. Holy Sticker Shock, Batman! Then I went to Walmart to buy Maggie a new dog bed (she loves it!) and found the same size turkey for $27.00. SCORE! And it fits in my oven! I think it’ll be fun to have T-Day here as long as I keep insane Jen locked in the closet. Insane Jen will try to get all the furniture and wall hangings bought and placed and create a stupid impossible amount of pointless pressure. So she’s locked up tight and not getting out.
3. I had my followup visit, at which point I found out they GI practice is closing. Insert eye roll here. But what I know is this so far: My ulcers are only from the meds that I’ve stopped taking. I don’t need to worry that other foods or drinks are causing them. I can adjust my diet to whatever makes me comfortable. Those are two good pieces of news. The other news (nothing bad) is that one, while the diet did help some of the occasional nausea, it did nothing to help the on and off again pain on my right side. Pain like that is so weird it could be anything and is likely nothing significant or worrisome. But I agreed to a CT scan to check out a couple more things. In the meantime, I’m watching my diet and taking some meds to help and we’ll see. Let me just say though, I have a diagnosis of a redundant and torturous colon, but honestly I think the medical system is MORE redundant and torturous. I just want someone to say, stop eating this food, take this vitamin and go live your life.  Wouldn’t it be great if life were that easy?
4. I have to brag. Wizard hung the cabinets he built for the garage with only my help!! I did it! Mostly because Wizard used a slide in bracket system that just required the two of us to lift the cabinet and slide it up and onto the bracket where it locks into place. I’ve helped him move, lift and saw quite a few parts. It’s amazing what the two of us can do if we think it through first. But if I’d had to try and hold those cabinets that high while he drilled and screwed them in, I doubt I could have done it.
5. We have a plan to see Turbo tomorrow, but I’m skeptical it will happen. Oldest is working on kicking the cold, and there’s just a swirl of stuff happening. So I’m in wait and see mode. Today I’m dragging Wizard out (or will go by myself) to look at chairs (this isn’t Insane Jen, this is part-of-the-plan- budget-Jen ). Well that’s assuming if all the relatives are doing okay. They are more important than a chair or table.

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

We got two sets of kids on Halloween We sat outside and met some neighbors, so I call that a win. There’s a lot of dogs in the neighborhood too which is really cool. Maggie loved sitting by us and watching all the kids and dogs. Maggie seems very happy here, and she loves being in the garage any time we bring her out. When we don’t, she gives us her sad eyes. This is her on a sit/stay living the dream.

See that look on her face? She’s scenting the air while feeling the sun. Behind Maggie are all the cut and painted pieces for two cabinets that will go over the workbench. They are now assembled and ready to hang. Wizard is working on the workbench, and once that’s up, he’ll get a stronger person than me to help hang them It’s slow progress but he’s enjoying it most of the time.

And here’s some pics of the small back yard.

This is our covered patio (it’s a bit bigger than it looks here) to the backyard.

This is from the far counter of the yard (I’m up on a small hill) to the backside of side of the house. The patio cover and the room attached to it our the additions to the house we had done. We love them both. At the very end is the sun room/ dining room. So outside there I either want a lot of plants, or plants and a small sitting area.

These are before pics. Hopefully by the end of the year I’ll have after pics. We’re working on estimates and adjusting and refining our ideas as we get more info and professional advice. Because the house next to us is a pretty high elevation, the house on the other side lower, and we’re surrounded by hills, it all needs to be done correctly with the right drainage. Our last house was terraced so this part we understand At least a small yard helps contain the cost! In the front, we are concentrating on the hardscape of concrete and any block walls, the rest will have to wait. I’m not going to overwhelm you with pics of that.

So what’s going on in your world today?