First Day Back At Work Blues

It's my first day back,

And my feet are killing me.

I've got the back to work blues

and I need some IBUs.

The songwriter in me is loosed! All I need now is a tune and the right cords.

This evening during my ukulele practice I went to the YouTube page of Ukulenny.and watched his video teaching ukulele blues in C. I have looked at other ukulele blues tutorials and can strum some, but this video instruction demonstrated picking - and it was a well done tutorial and made sense. I can now do a little improv blues in the key of C.

Part of learning to play is being comfortable with the chords and the strumming. Strumming was what was holding me back the most. I am now comfortable with a number of different strums as I go through the Ukulele for Beginners Strumming Lessons. I am now on lesson 10 and doing well. Lesson 9 frustrated me and I will have to revisit it. The lesson and the strum and the chords is not the problem - I think it is the song; Take Me Home Country Roads, which I have never particuarly enjoyed!

A final update. I finished my pratice for the night, went to put my ukulele away and found Shelby was laying in my case. One of Shelby's rules is that if it is black, unattended, and you don't want him in it or on it, he will take it over.

And Then Home

Wow, this has been a good interlude with the grandkids and with John, Kristie, and Kendra. Now I am on the way back to normal routine. However, I am going back with improved ukulele skills because of constant practice and with well exercised fingers from tying a variety of things from paracord.

The best about this past two weeks was spending time with my grand children. We had good times. I hope they can treasure this time together when they are adults and I am gone as I remember my grand parents. We just hung together, fished, caught and ate crawdads, tied paracord, laughed, talked, vegged, ate, drove, played with frogs. What could be better?

Enjoy my videos. Yes, I have a long way to go and my singing has issues I know. Just enjoy them! Any requests?

What? Still in Redmond?

Yep, still here and still having a good time but I am winding down. On Friday afternoon, after Anika's soccer practice the kids went to Kendra's and John, Kristie and I have been enjoying adult time. But before I get into that...

Thursday we were off to a very late start because I was sitting outside practicing my ukulele and the kids were watching videos. As a nanny, I do have my failings. We finally made it out of here around noon for a delicious lunch at Smith Rock Brewing. This is the place in Redmond with the best onion rings in the world, or maybe the U.S., or at least Oregon - but the best ones I have ever had. Then back at home we attempted to get two inflatable tubes into a Kia Soul along with two kids and me. We eventually partially deflated the tubes and brought a pump,with us. As comfortable as,the Kia Soul is for four people, there is not a lot of room for anything else. We headed for Cline Creek Falls with the intention of riding the tubes down the Deschuttes River over and over. But the river was running high. Avery declared that he was not comfortable with the depth or the speed of the current so we moved on. We tried Tumalo State Park about twenty miles away and upstream from Cline Creek and though running a little high, much more manageable. We spent some time there with Avery playing in the water and Anika trying to lure in chipmunks with treats. I just laid back in the grass and relaxed. Our next stop was Goody's Candy and Ice Cream in Bend for cones. Their ice cream is delicious!

Friday morning was "cake for breakfast" morning and Anika took full advantage. Avery stuck with peanut butter toast and I had eggs. We were out of the house by 9:15 and headed form the hills - Mt. Bachelor. We ended up at Sparks Lake Recreation Area which included Sparks Lake. Anika harrassed frogs and Avery fished. I watched and grabbed some photos. This is a beautiful spot and perfect if you have a kayak or canoe. Great paddling location. Though we were afoot, Avery, wading in a little bit was able to hook into and land three fish. They were small but frisky trout. He had a number of other bites but did not land them. Anika found a friend and commenced to catch and harrass the small frog population. We had a nice time there and then left for Bend around 12:30. Our goal was the Deschuttes Brewery and Public House for lunch. I enjoyed an Armory XPA and a burger while Avery had a burger and Anika pizza and fries. We all had a good time and then it was time to get back to Redmond. Anika had to get to soccer practice after having more cake. That cake came back to haunt her after practice.

After practice it was back to Kendra's for the kids and then an adult dinner for Kristie, John, and Colby. Mexican food and margaritas. Yum!

On Saturday Kristie, John, and I visited some. garage sales in Redmond and then some antique stores. I scored a cool fish shaped bottle and wine opener for $2.95. Then we headed for Redmond for The Little Woody. This was a barrell aged beer tasting which was also supposed to include a whiskey tasting. We never found the whiskey but enjoyed the beers. A lot of fun. Then we did a quick Costco run for some beef and then home to Redmond for steak, potatoes, and whiskey. Ummmm.

Sunday took John to work and Kristie and I hung out doing very little. Krisitie did house cleaning and then crocheting and I read and practiced the ukulele until we both got hungry. We had a tasty lunch and beers in Terrabone and then came home to veg. More crochet work for Kristie and more ukulele playing for me.

Winding down in Redmond. I am on my way back to Chicago on Tuesday. Happy Labor Day y'all!

And more Redmond.

Sunday afternoon brought severe thunder storms to Redmond. I have never seen so much rain here. There was lightning and thunder and hail and wind, oh my! We did have a beautiful sunset when it was all over.

With John's and Kristie's schedules not cooperating so that they could carpool and give me one of their cars, I rented one. Monday morning the kids and I went to the local Fred Meyer for groceries and a resupply of paracord. Avery and Anika have both been paracord tying fools.

When we got home, Anika and I started making a cake but discovered we had run out of eggs. Off to the big Wal-Mart for eggs and cereal (just try to keep Anika away from the sugared cereals.) On the way home the car beeped at me and told me there was a tire with low air pressure. We pulled into the driveway and Anika heard a hiss. Avery looked and saw a razor blade sticking out of the tire. Avery and Anika then learned how to jack up a car and change a tire. Everyone pitched in and we had fun. If you are in need to tire changing skills, these two can help you out. Oh, we were surprised when we pulled the never used spare out of the trunk that there was money in the well. We collected it all and Avery counted $2.40 plus a pack of pencil leads. Score!

With the tire changing interlude, a cake to bake and ice, and a trip to the airport to trade in our car, our plans for the day were altered. But we had fun never the less. First, our new car is a Kia Soul - like the ones in the commercials with the fat hampsters. We took advantage of the car for some posing. I must admit the this funky looking thing is comfortable and fun to drive.

Next it was cake icing time. We had baked it in a 13x9 pan, so after it cooled I cut it in half so that we could have a layer cake. Anika did a great job applying the icing to the cake, and the counter, and herself. That evening everyone agreed we had done a good job.

Tuesday was a lazy morning with Avery and Anika watching iCarly videos and me taking care of the routines of bills and phone calls. When I was done with the chores I got out my ukulele to practice. The kids told me to be quiet so I moved out to the front porch. It was rather nice. to sit out there inmthe sun and strum away. We then headed to Bend for lunch with Kendra and then a movie - Despicible Me 2. I loved it!

 

Redmond

I arrived in Redmond on Time a little before midnight last Tuesday. My bag did not arrive until 11:30am on Wednesday and the. was delivered about 1:30pm. It seems that Alaskan has a problem getting bags off and on their flights. In my past four trips between Chicago and Redmond, my bags have not made it twice on the trip west and once on the trip east. Other that that annoying issue, uneventful traveling.

On Wednesday I hung out at the house all day, and did little beside practice my ukulele and nap. The kids were in Boys and Girls Club and John and Krisite were at work and I was without transport. That was O.K. by me.

Thursday was a big day with the highlight being Anika's talent performance - she is a hula hooping diva.

On Friday, Anika went to Madras with the Boys and Girls Club for a day of swimming. Avery and John and I went fishing in the Deschuttes River. John's "short walk" to the river wasn't and involved climbing over downed tree limbs and though bushes and cat tails to get to the river. Once there and in the river I promptly fell. Fishing was a bust, like.y because the water temperature was 66 degrees. Pretty warm for trout. The kids were successful catching crawfish though. They collected 17 of them and we took them home for dinner.

 

 

Redmond in August.

 

Headed out to Oregon again to spend time with John, Kristie, Kendra, Avery, and Anika. Sharon was generous and we used her miles to fly me first class. Ain't she wonderful?

Uneventful flight from Chicago to Seattle and then on to Redmond. My bag didn't make it though until Wednesday afternoon. There seems to be a problem for me getting myself and my bags from Chicago to Redmond and back. On three of my last four flights here my bag has not made it. Once going west and twice going east. You would think the odds of this happening 75% of the time would ensure it would not happen.

I spent my first night on the couch which was just fine. The rest of my time here I will alternate between the kids bedrooms. No one wants to share a room with be because I snore! Fancy that.

Today, Wednesday has been a down day. I made a few phone calls and waited on my bag. Practiced the ukulele. I am getting better. Did some dishes, took a nap and have been planning dinner. I'm making Arroz con Pollo. Consider this a day of rest to prepare for full days with Avery and Anika! They were at Boys and Girls Club today.

 

Neuropathy Update

Happy Left-Handers Day!

Neuropathy. The worst bane of my recovery from chemo. I felt that my recovery from neuropathy had hit a wall. My fingers continued to hurt every time I touched something and were sometimes numb, sometime tingly and my feet gave me a combination of numbness and pain. The combination of pain and numbness in my feet makes it sometimes both painful and difficult to walk. The combination in my hands made it difficult to pick up things and made it impossible to play the ukulele!

In July I finally did something about it. I have been seeing a Naturopath since about mid June. She has recommended exercises, which I am not following as I should (surprise), a couple of supplements that I am taking, and she has a machine, an Ondamed, which I am thinking is magical. I don't know quite how it works but it does work. Example - when I first visited Melody she was in the process of using this machine and my left hand began to cramp. I have been having cramps in both hands for quite a while and they have become worse and more frequent. Melody pointed what I call her magic wand at my left hand and the cramping eased. She used the wand on both hands and the cramping which had been a problem multiple times a day is now almost gone. I now have minor cramps less than once a week. The fingers of my left hand, while still experiencing some tingling, are no longer painful and I have been playing the ukulele almost daily since these treatments began. The fingertips of my right hand are still tender and a little painful but not as much. My feet are much improved and I have been feeling all of my toes and the numbness in the balls of my feet is slowly going away. I even walked barefoot in my driveway and in grass recently. Bottom line, I've seen progress since seeing a Naturopath.

Melody did try a couple of new things on me last week - a toxin cleansing foot bath and a vibrating platform. While I felt better immediately after our session I lost ground within hours. I will not do either of those treatments in the future. If you are in the western suburbs of Chicago and having no luck with traditional medicine for a number of issues, go visit Melody Hart! You will not be sorry you did. I do not pretend to understand what she is doing but it is working and I trust her.

Sharon has noticed an improvement in my energy level and my walking - and she also notices immediately when my feet are hurting. Interestingly when my feet hurt, my knees and eventually hips hurt also as I try to compensate. We were able to make a trip to Ann Arbor recently to visit Audra. Sharon thought my being willing to make the trip was a positive step! We had a great time.

My feet!