Friday, February 28th, 2025
Friday Five
TGIF!! Time to share five random things about our week. Here’s mine:
- It’s been weirdly hot here this week, but it’s supposed to drop in temp over the weekend and possible rain on Sunday.
- I went for Jury Duty on Wednesday. It was the third day of my cold, but I powered through to get it done. It was packed with 290 jurors called in for at least two very big cases. I was called up for a murder trial that was going to be at least a month long. I was excused because Wizard has some limitations and I have followup screenings this month to make sure I’m still doing fine after last year’s skirmish with cancer (yeah, yeah, I said the word, LOL). But anyhow…that and Wizard’s issues excused me from being a juror on the trial. I bet it would have been 70% tedious and 30% very interesting. And now my jury duty is done for at least a year.
- It’s been a crazy flurry of medical stuff this week. So as I mentioned, I have a follow up with my surgeon at the beginning of the month and one with my endocrinologist at the end month. In prep, I did a blood test last week. The two doctors must have woke up yesterday and said, “We must think about Jen and do stuff!” And in about 24 hours time, I have an ultrasound scheduled for this Wednesday afternoon, my thyroid hormone has been lowered again and I have new sodium pills to deal with my chronically low sodium levels. Even my pharmacy filled those new scripts in record time. I mean it was stunning how fast everything got done and seemingly organized. In all seriousness, this is what good healthcare looks like. I really don’t like thinking about have had cancer, but it’s reassuring to feel like my medical team is closely monitoring for anything signs of trouble.
- While my cold is mild, the fatigue, fuzzy head and nagging Wizard had me “resting.” I nearly lost my mind from boredom! I couldn’t concentrate on reading, didn’t want to watch anything…I didn’t want to be around me
Yesterday, I ignored the cold symptoms and did stuff. Later in the afternoon I rested a bit, but it was a much better day and I was no longer irritated by my own breathing. - We are planning to to to Turbo’s baseball game tomorrow and looking forward to it. Otherwise, we’ll see what the weekend brings.
That’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a great weekend!
February 28th, 2025 at 7:33 am · Link
I hope your hot weather gets back to normal. No need for it to be all hot ahead of time, ya know. I’m glad they let you out of jury duty. Now’s not the time for that. Yay for getting through all your medical stuff with a little expediency. I’m so glad your medical team is on the ball. Bummer about your cold, though. Yay for being on the road to recovery. Yay for Turbo’s baseball game! Have loads of fun!
1) It’s been hotter than usual here, too.
2) The warmer weather has me thinking about, and actually doing, gardening. There’s a whole lot of work to do to get my gardens back to some semblance of nice after 2 years of ignoring them.
3) I made carrot cake yesterday, this time with raisins instead of nuts. It turned out really yummy.
4) Ooo, yesterday, I also stopped at a thrift store I haven’t been to in a while and scored some awesome old paperbacks – including an old Sax Rohmer. (Those are hard to find, so I was thrilled.)
5) I think we finally got the wren out of the garage. It’s been a few days since he took any of his suet pellets, so fingers crossed he’s outside finding himself a lady-love so they can make more wrens. =o)
February 28th, 2025 at 9:21 am · Link
Weird weather all over. Yay for no jury duty but yeah, a murder trial could have been interesting. Wow! Sounds like your team is totally on top of things and are going “Chop, chop. Get’er done!” Good on them and good for you. Yeah, colds will do that. Yay for Turbo baseball! My five:
1. After a week of record lows, we had a week of more seasonal (if warmer than normal) highs. It’s been really nice and we needed the break on the utility bills.
2. I ended up vehicle-less for a couple of days. The O2 sensor went out on Only’s “new” Expedition. The dealership’s service dept. had 80 people on the wait list for a courtesy loaner. Luckily, it’s fixed and I’ll have Drover back today for…reasons…
3. Meal planning has been interesting this week. LG has a colonoscopy Monday morning so eating around his restrictions. I’m his driver so I needed Drover back before Monday! I refuse to drive his truck unless it’s an absolute emergency. It’s too big and too much electronic stuff for me to figure out. Old lady here, folks!
4. I absolutely, positively have to get a newsletter out today, though I’ll likely schedule it to go out tomorrow to coincide with RETRIBUTION’S release.
5. Pete story. I rolled over in bed, startled him somehow–enough that he hissed at me (something he never does). I got up to visit the little author’s room and Pete was crouched on the floor in front of the dirty clothes hamper. This was approximately 4 a.m. When if got up later–around 6:30–Pete was not on the bed. Nor was he in the bedroom. He did not appear for breakfast. This does NOT happen. He is ALWAYS there for breakfast. I went to the garage and called him (in case he’d slipped out when LG opened one of the garage doors). No Pete. I looked in all the hidey holes. No Pete. I looked in all of Loki’s hidey holes. No Pete. I even got down on the floor to check under the bed. No Pete. It took me 5 minutes to get off the floor. I opened closests, cabinets, boxes and drawers. No Pete. When LG got up, he looked. No Pete. Much later, LG went out on the porch to retrieve a package that had been delivered. When he came back in, Pete was sitting there, about three feet from the door, staring at him. I can only assume that Pete has found the door into Narnia and went for a visit.
Soccer tonight, First Saturday siren test and lunch tomorrow. Also, my birthday and release of MOONSTRUCK: RETRIBUTION in digital and print and GHOSTS & THE ANCIENT STONES in print. Have a great weekend, all!
February 28th, 2025 at 3:39 pm · Link
1. Sorry it’s been so hot. I hope you do get rain this weekend.
2. With all you have going on it’s a good thing they let you out of jury duty. In Ohio, if we serve on a jury we have 5 years before they can call on us again.
3. Good that you have a medical team that is on the ball. My sodium level is always below the lowest limit marker. We’ve tried all kinds of things to bring it up but nothing works. I wish you success.
4. Seems like you’re coming out of the cold. I hope so.
5. Have a wonderful time at Turbo’s game. If you can, post a photo of the hat so we know the logo.
1a. I have this terrible post nasal crud going down the back of my throat. It’s allergy related. I haven’t found anything to stop it yet. It’s driving me crazy making me feel like I’m chocking.
2a. It’s in the 50’s today and super windy. Tomorrow the high will be 25F. Gotta love weather.
3a. I had to return Onyx Storm last week and I re-requested it. Yesterday I was #143 in the cue, today I’m #547. How can that happen? Oh well, guess it will be a very long time before I find out the ending of the book.
4a. I really want to vacuum my car. It needs to be warmer and not raining so I can take it outside. My garage is just too small for me to operate the vacuum on the driver’s side.
5a. I’m not planning on much this weekend. My hip has really been hurting so I thought I’d try and take it easy.
I hope you have a fantastic weekend!
February 28th, 2025 at 6:11 pm · Link
B.E., thanks! I’m looking forward to Turbo’s game and it will be cooler too.
1) Hmm, the weather is so bi-polar.
2) Well, the warm weather is good for getting you motivated to think about your garden, and maybe plan for Spring.
3) Cake is always a win!
4) Score!! Thrift stores are awesome for those kinds of finds!
5) I sure hope the wren has found a sweet wren to mate with
Hope you have a good weekend and enjoy the carrot cake!
February 28th, 2025 at 6:18 pm · Link
Silver, colds suck, LOL. But yeah, my medical team is on top of things and I’m not taking that for granted.
1) Sure glad you’re getting a break from the brutal weather.
Hope all is well with his colonoscopy and that you don’t have to drive his truck.
But Pete…he’s clearly a magician!! That disappearing act was pretty amazing! Your cats are highly entertaining!
2) Wow that’s quite a waiting list for a loaner vehicle. I guess that’s just how it is these days. But glad Only’s car is fixed and you got your back…whatever the reasons.
3) Ah the reasons become clear. Yep, the diet restrictions are fun pre colonoscopy, but not as fun as the prep
4) Hope you were able to get the newsletter done and scheduled. They are a pain but worth it!
5) First, sorry about how long it takes to get up off the floor. I’m only just learning that it gets harder and not happy about it
Wow you have a very busy weekend! Hope soccer, siren test and the release all go perfectly!
February 28th, 2025 at 6:25 pm · Link
Viki, I haven’t been able to get my sodium up either. People think I’m avoiding salt, and I don’t. I think it’s a genetic thing, and I’m not really happy about sodium pills. But we’ll see if I tolerate them and go from there. But yeah, mine is pretty low and I know it can be a serious concern.
1) Oh no! I used to have that when I lay down at night, and it’s miserable. I don’t know why it stopped, but I also use cough drops at night. You may not want to do that. I hope you can find a way to help reduce that.
2) We’re all dealing with these wild weather swings! Although mine are smaller than all yours!
3) How does that happen in the waiting cue??? That does not make sense! I’m sorry you have to wait like that!
4) Man that’s frustrating when you want to vacuum the care and can’t. Hope you get the warmth you need to do it.
5) You should take it easy. This week, my hip has been better and I suspect the forced rest from the cold helps. Hope some rest helps yours!
I hope you have a good and restful weekend that gives your hip a break.