Lise is Home

Daughter Lise was here for six glorious weeks, and now she is safely home in Denmark. We seem to have had an eating frenzy the last few days, but that’s because I don’t think of taking people’s photos until we sit down for a meal. Neighbor Holly took us out to eat quite close to home, and I was happy to be at Kobe’s once again. We enjoyed Holly and Denise, who divides her time between Florida and here.

Lise and I were with neighbor Shawn at Jukebox Junction. Lise and I wanted to go there for fried clams, but clams are no longer on the menu. Other choices were good, though I doubt we’ll go back often.

Because of my facial surgery, Lise and I had not been taking a daily walk in the morning. We made an exception to go halfway, where we stopped for Lise to pet CAT.

Our final eating expedition was at Culver’s before dropping Lise at the airport. Denise was our driver, since I won’t drive in heavy city traffic. On the way home, there were several cloud bursts.

Lise had a long wait, since her flight was quite late. She wasn’t sure she would make her connection in Atlanta. Everything seemed to finally be working out, until the plane landed and did not proceed to a gate. There was a medical emergency on another plane, which kept all other planes away from the terminal. As she sat there, she knew her flight to Amsterdam was boarding. By the time she got to the gate, the door had been shut. Normally that would mean she would wait for the next flight the following day. Marvelously, they opened the door for her and left immediately after that! Whew!

The next morning an app showed me she had landed in Amsterdam, and a few hours later she was in Copenhagen. She texted that she thought her suitcase made it with her! There have been numerous times when luggage followed her a day or so later, both here and in Denmark.

Goodbye, Joyce!

Neighbor Joyce is between residences at the moment. Her former home next to mine now has new owners, and she has a contract to buy another near one of her daughters. In this interval, she is floating between friends and relatives before heading south. She came to pick up her houseplants that had been in my living room. This was the last day in this area, so it was our formal goodbye. Joyce, Lise, and I enjoyed visiting on the back porch, the place where Joyce and I often sat to chat. Of course, I’m happy for her, but I’m sad to lose a very dear friend, walking partner, and neighbor.

Lise and I enjoyed our last lunch with David before she goes back to Denmark. We’ve had such fun together on our weekly lunch and shopping days! David and Lise shared a giant sweet potato topped with barbeque, although it doesn’t show in the photo. They finished it all and were both very full.

3:22

I read the clock from my bed. It was 3:22 in the wee hours, and I couldn’t sleep. The surgery site felt like there were 1,000 ants crawling on it. My nose had been itchy the day before. The only relief I had was pushing the area around it. There was no way I was going back to sleep, so I decided to take a shower and let warm water flow over my face. Instant relief!! This could have been done the morning before, but I had been in a rush to get ready for the day. Now writing seems to provide the necessary distraction. Thank you for enduring this with me.

As I walked to the desk, I saw a glow outside and stepped onto the front porch. What a beautiful sight! The photo isn’t good, but it gives you an idea of what I saw.

A Most Delightful Visit

Favorite relatives, Myra and Rick, planned to camp in the mountains one night and come to visit Lise and me after that. Camping did not go as planned. They pitched a tent in the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest and went to a nearby town for dinner. While they were eating, they noticed extremely heavy rain falling outside. Back at the campsite, they found a small tornado had passed through. They talked to a ranger at some point and were told they couldn’t get out immediately. The tent was still there, but they slept in their car. They were hemmed in by fallen trees. The next morning they waited until the trees were removed and finally could drive to us. Rick let us know there had been a storm, but then communications went out. We knew they were fine when Rick was able to text again.

They treated us to barbeque at Ben’s, the closest eatery. The travel talk started there, and then we came home to sit on the porch for hours. I thoroughly enjoyed the converstion between these three world travelers. At hourly intervals I iced the sugical site on my face and was content to listen to them comparing notes. They had been to exotic places and asked each other, “Did you see this or that?” Their memories are sharp! Rick told me they enjoyed talking to Lise, because many people don’t share their enthusiasm for foreign travel. Lise said she would really love to travel with them some time. I hope they can meet in some faraway place and explore it together.

When the air became chilly outside, we moved to cozy chairs in the sitting room. Conversation continued unabated. We reluctantly went to bed, still wanting the fun to continue. I hope we four can get together again when weather is not an issue.

On the Nose!

I had the second surgery on my face, this time on the nose. The surgeon, his staff, and daughter Lise were marvelous. After hearing others talk about procedures in this area, I had begun to dread it. There was no need. The procedure was straightforward, and they got the cancer the first time. They numbed me again to close up the hole and pulled skin from the surrounding area to cover it. This time the bandaging will be minimal and easy to manage. Lise listened carefully to the instructions and asked a few pertinent questions. It’s always a good idea to have someone with you if you feel you might miss something important. Lise has been a marvelous nurse/companion.

On the way home, the bandage began to leak a little bit. To stop the bleeding, I tried to put light pressure on the spot. That was easier said than done, since we were on an interstate with heavy construction in several places. I’m thankful I didn’t mess it all up. Half an hour in a recliner seemed to put everything to rights.

Here is what I looked like late that afternoon.

One Frenetic Sunday

Thank heavens the day did not continue as badly as it started! A bit after 5:00 in the morning my phone beeped an alarm. Jabbing at it did nothing. I jabbed my way to the settings where none of the three alarms were set. Needing light, I used my voice to mistakenly turn on the kitchen light. Another four words got the bedroom light on, and four more darkened the kitchen. Beep! Beep! Beep! I finally realized the phone was still plugged in and remembered I had a new app to warn me when it was over-charged. Pulling the plug, I sighed with relief while mentally kicking myself for being careless.

It took a while to get back to sleep after that rude awakening. I struggled through a vivid dream, where I was working at a company with a fancy computer system. I had to get an alarm stopped before it started, and I couldn’t find it. Thankfully, I woke up before everything exploded. That is the first time in my life I’ve ever had a dream directly related to an event I had just gone through.

I did not have time for my usual Sunday routine. I always sit before the computer fully clothed, including rings and earrings. Today I wore a nightshirt and slippers. I put down my phone and couldn’t find it seconds later, even though I made Alexa call it. I couldn’t see or hear it! Lise rang my number, and we found the phone under a hat on the computer table! How it had time to crawl under a hat is still puzzling me. Lise found it was recording our conversation because I hadn’t hung up. I turned on the iPad for the church service and discovered the service hadn’t started on time. In trying to hurry, I failed to log in correctly. She did it quickly and accurately, so I didn’t miss anything. She was cool and collected, in sharp contrast to me. During the service, I calmed down so that nothing else went awry.

In high contrast to the bumbling this day was the time Lise and I spent with neighbor Holly the day before. Holly’s company had a family and friends day for employees at Ten Acre Garden. It included a pizza dinner and a jar for cutting flowers from certain areas in the garden. How peaceful that was!

Reading Glasses

These days I wear reading glasses upside down and backwards. Because I can’t put any pressure on the surgical site near my eye, I had to think of another way to look through them. The lenses would work better if my eyes were equal to my eyebrows. As it is, I keep my head ducked down to see straight ahead. This is still better than the first days after surgery, when one eye was bandaged shut.

A Used Car

Life continued at a very fast pace after the surgery on my face. I didn’t keep up, but Lise did. We had taken a used car for a test drive last week, and when Lise checked on it, she found the dealer had lowered the price. We were not the only ones who noticed that change. Lise called to say we would come over to look at it again, and she was told a couple had it out for a test drive at that very moment. We heard nothing more until the next morning. The dealer called to say the couple couldn’t make up their minds to buy that car or a brand new one, so they were going to sleep on it. We didn’t even eat breakfast, but zoomed over there to buy it. The couple had not paid money to reserve it. Lise and I said to each other that we helped the couple decide to buy a new car instead of agonizing over the choice.

It seemed like there were 1,000 places to sign my name on a stack of papers. They made it very easy, though. I signed my name and initials in one place, and from then on, I just had to touch a pen to the screen that was as big as the top of the desk. Lise and I both read the pages quickly before I signed them.

We had a celebratory lunch – a hamburger and a milk shake each. We shopped at one nearby store and went home. A few hours later the car was delivered to my house. The next day we took it out to meet David before having lunch and shopping for groceries with him.

Later David come to my house so that he and Lise could make room in the garage for the new-to-me car. I took a photo of them as they celebrated the completion of that project.

The garage was a busy place! Neighbor Holly drove Lise to the airport in Snot, my 16-year-old car. Lise flew to Utah to visit cousin Chrissie for a few days. Holly’s car had something major wrong with it and was towed away for repairs, so Holly will keep my car until hers is back. Everything seemed to work out well for all of us, and I am very thankful.

Surgery

Surgery on my face turned out to be a pleasant experience. The doctor, his staff, and the other patients were delightful. I had the last appointment, so I watched as the other five patients were taken from the first waiting room. Lise and I rejoined them in a spacious room in the back where there were snacks and a coffee machine. I think the nurse took this photo of the lines the surgeon drew to guide himself.

Each of us had our surgery and returned to the waiting room while lab work was done on whatever had been removed. I had to have a second session, because the results showed there was a bit more cancer to take out. The surgeon and nurse chatted with me during that second removal. They were fascinated that my daughter lives in Denmark and wanted to know more about her. I also found out the nurse grew up on the south shore of Long Island.

Lise and I treated ourselves to a hamburger and went next door for a frozen custard dessert.

The dressing for this procedure is much, much larger than seemed necessary, but the incision and plastic surgery were very close to my eye. Lise took a photo of my reading a blog post on my phone. It is awkward, so I won’t be able to read every post on the WordPress Reader, and I can’t comment freely as I usually do. The incision is right where my glasses usually rest on my nose. It could be weeks until it is healed enough for me to wear glasses again.

On the funny side, I had Lise take a photo of me the day after surgery when she commented on my hair.

I don’t know what I would have done without Lise at this time. She solved the problem of my getting to the doctor by asking David to swap cars for two days. David was eager to help in any way he could, and I appreciated that. Lise has helped me remember to put ice on my face 15 minutes every hour, and she reminds me when to take the medications related to this. She found a good place to buy a tire for the car and got that done while I was icing my face. I’m glad she has had some time to spend with neighbor Holly, since the two of them enjoy each other.

Visitors to Blue Ridge Parkway

Visitors Magda and Basia had only one day to see the Blue Ridge Parkway, and it did not begin well. Lise and I heard thunder before our alarms went off. We all ate breakfast together and set off in rain. Despite the drizzle, we got out at my favorite place, Sunburst Falls.

We continued driving on the Parkway, stopping occasionally. Lise has a knack for being at the right place at the right time. We looked at the lovely view from the Pisgah Inn and went inside. We knew we couldn’t eat in the dining room, because we didn’t have a reservation. Lise went to the desk, anyway, and asked if there would be a possibility we could get a table. It was 20 minutes before the kitchen would close. The woman said she’d check. Within five minutes, she called out to us and said we could be seated!! I was shocked. The waiter said we had to get our order in before 2:30, and we did that easily. We loved the food and the scenery.

We continued driving on the Parkway until we got to Asheville. Magda has been to Culver’s before, and she knew it was part of our airport routine. Since she and Basia had a rental car, they would not have gone to the airport. We went there for dessert, having soft frozen custard with a couple of toppings.

A warning light about the car tires came on, and it was already after 5 pm on Saturday. The garage nearest my house looked closed, but Lise went in, anyway. I felt a great relief when a man opened the door and came out to look. After taking off the left front tire, he told Lise it looked like it could explode at any time. He checked and didn’t have any tire in stock that would fit the car. Looking at the spare, he said we were lucky it was there and usable. He put the rear tire in the front and mounted the spare at the rear. He said we had been only moments from a blowout!! And to think we had been on mountain roads for hours and on the interstate highway the last 40 miles! God was protecting us from a real disaster. Our instructions were to drive less than 50 miles per hour for 50 minutes, and then let the tire cool completely.

Lise got busy once we were home. It would have been a big hindrance to drive that car to Asheville for my appointment at 8:15 Monday. She checked about renting a car. The only rental place had already closed until Monday morning. Too late! She contacted grandson David and asked if we could swap cars for two days. Thankfully, he agreed. He will be going to work and not driving a great distance. I will still be concerned about his safety, but I need to keep that appointment for surgery on my face.