He's OK now but....

 Many years ago, Laura emailed me after a night in an Australian swamp "I'm OK now, Mom."  It was a memorable line after a terrible experience.

I've been thinking about that line today.  Yesterday Jim had a routine rheumatology appointment in which he had a high blood pressure reading.  He attributed that to his hurrying into the examination room from the car.  I said we could check it when we got home with a monitor I've had for a few years.  

When we checked at home, his reading was even higher--much higher.  After a few more tries with confirming readings, I asked him to cancel his golf date and call our doctors.  He did so and got an appointment for this morning with a nurse practitioner.  Little by little the reading went down but it was still definitely hypertension. 

Googling the numbers told us that one had to head to the ER immediately if it was 180/120.  It was not that high but the initial numbers were not far below that. 

Jim felt good about the nurse he saw this morning.  She prescribed a medication and asked him to monitor his blood pressure twice a day and then see her in two weeks.  She didn't want the drug to lower it too far!

We picked up the prescription and Jim took his first pill at noon.  Tonight at 9 pm we got out the monitor.  Sadly, the batteries were dead.  Happily, we had more in the closet.  The numbers tonight were great!  What a relief!  How wonderful to see that drugs work and work so well!  We are so relieved and grateful.

----------Two weeks follow-up--All good.  He needs to check b/p two or three times a week and see nurse again in three months.   

This is Enough

 

"This is Enough" has been my mantra lately.  When we were in St. Pete Beach last January, I sat on the deck looking out at the bay and told myself, "This is enough."  I didn't need to go on a long walk or a swim and we didn't have a car half of the time.  It was enough to look out at the beauty around me and meditate with thankfulness.

Laura writes about the value of setting 100 goals.  I don't have 100 goals.  I don't have a bucket list and this week I read a piece in the Washington Post in which someone's father set a "chuck-it list" instead of a "bucket list" and was relieved to do so.  There are no places I really want to see other than visiting our children and grandchildren in their homes.  I have no desire to travel overseas again or even to fly anywhere in the US.   We do plan to go to Florida again in January so we will endure Newark Airport one more time at least.

It makes me somewhat sad to think of all the times I explored NYC by myself--the adrenaline I felt stepping out of Penn Station into the crowds on the sidewalk.  Thanks to a few falls and other incidents, I would not dare do it alone again.  Jim and I might make a trip there together but we have no immediate plans. 

We are offering our bikes as a give-away to students coming into town.  I insisted on bringing them here when we moved but we have not used them and now I feel too uneasy about doing so--getting off and on and keeping my balance.  It's a regret but not a big loss!

"It is enough" to do the household chores, to do Spelling Bee and the NYT crossword puzzle daily with Jim, to watch the Mets or the Phillies from our couch, to find good books to read, to email friends and hear from them in response, to visit our children and grandchildren, and to blog when I am inspired to do so!

Married 56 Years and One Day

 

My sister was the first and only one to congratulate us on our 56 years of marriage.  She sent a lovely, warm text that we really appreciated.  I did not put any photos on Facebook so there were no reminders to our offspring or announcements to friends.

We celebrated in our own way and it made a bit of a story.  Over the last four years, we have often used On the Border as a place to celebrate--sometimes with takeout during pandemic years.  We celebrated good medical news, memorably the last radiation treatment Jim had as I recall. 

We are definitely the "old folks" in going to dinner early but we enjoy sitting in the bar and taking advantage of happy hour prices.  So last night we ordered our house margaritas.  Jim ordered a chicken queso from the regular menu and my usual taco order was no long available so I happily switched to quesadillas.

The waiter apologized when my drink came with salt when I had said "no salt."  I assured him it was not at all important.  Our food came promptly and was great. The quesadillas were even better than the usual tacos. 

When the waiter brought our check, he told us we were the easiest customers he had all night.  Maybe that is a line he uses for a better tip!  Later we noticed and pointed out to him that he had missed the drinks on our bill.  He said he had left them off on purpose. It came out even in a way because my quesadillas were not half price as listed on the happy hour menu.  

I hope Jim did leave him a generous tip!  (He said he did!) We were so satisfied with our drink and meal that we decided to postpone a planned ice cream cake purchase for another day--to extend our celebration.  

May we be blessed to celebrate more anniversaries together!  We are thankful for each one.

Why We Moved to New Jersey

 It was definitely a major change in our lives four years ago to sell a house, downsize our belongings, and move 700 miles away from South Bend, Indiana to Princeton, New Jersey.  It was not easy to find medical and dental care we liked, let alone a hair salon and a golf course.  And a place to worship.  We missed South Bend friends and our church in South Bend.   I missed the opportunities we had at Notre Dame for programs, art, and library resources.  At least Jim was able to continue to take advantage of ND library resources with document delivery of electronic materials.  

We moved here to be closer to family, our three children and their spouses and our eight grandchildren.  A few weeks ago we were able to see our ten year old grand-daughter in the role of the wicked witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz and what an evil witch she was with her terrible cackle!  Then last week we drove just one hour to Ocean Grove to enjoy a cookout with our daughter's family and then a second cookout just a ten minute drive away with our son's family to say good-bye to our grandson leaving for his second year of college.  

And yesterday it was another jaunt to Ocean Grove where our daughter was on her own with her five children with her husband having to work this week.  The nanny and her daughter were going to join them today.

Grandpa was instructed in various Kindle games and did his part in digging in the sand at the beach.  I resurrected the "name the baby" game we used six years ago at our 50th anniversary week and three of the older grandchildren gave it another try with lots of good guesses and plenty of wrong ones.  I was happy to have had time to have conversations with two of them when others were in the surf or on an ice cream trip.   And then it was just an hour's ride home and  we were able to sleep in our own beds.  

Patience!

 

I think it was late April when I ordered moonflower seeds from Amazon.  I soaked them for several days and then planted them in a pot inside the kitchen.  Only two seeds germinated.  When I knew any danger of frost was past, I planted the little seedlings outside. The vine grew well.  Our maintenance man asked if I was growing "Jack and the beanstalk." 

 A few days ago we saw a bud and this afternoon--before dark--the first moonflower bloomed.  There should be others but it may be a while.

And as always, we have to enjoy the lovely white blossom tonight because it will wither and die by morning.  I texted our downstairs neighbor to take a look before it disappears!  I will go downstairs later tonight to enjoy it by moonlight! 

Credit Card Fiasco

 I wondered why the clothes I ordered from Macy's a few weeks ago were not arriving.  There were four items at ridiculously low prices but with the Macy name, I thought it would be OK.  Then my AMEX bill arrived with the charge not from Macy's but from some place in Hong Kong.  That was bad enough but there was also another charge from some place in Colorado.  I disputed the charges on my AMEX account and they credited me for the Hong Kong charge but not for the other one.  They showed me the Colorado bill with my email on it.  A little research showed that the company sold tee-shirts with rude sayings.  When I tried to call and email them, my efforts would not go through.   I wonder if they really even exist. 

I felt I learned a lesson from the too-good-to-be-true items from Macy's.  That charge of $29 was refunded.  The other charge of $35 scared me because someone had both my email and my credit card number and what would be charged next to me?  It could be a lot more than $35!  So I froze the AMEX card--and then I cancelled it completely.  

Cancelling a card means that one needs to check the automatic monthly charges.  Two of ours were donations to Passport 13, our local PBS station, and Doctors without Borders.  I contacted both of them and changed the charges to another credit card.  Then there was my default card for Amazon which gets used a lot!  I cancelled my Kindle Unlimited account and changed the default card for my 99 cent Kindle purchases and I guess for the Amazon Prime charge when it comes due. 

So what else should I cancel?  I think I cancelled the Apple charge for extra storage--only 99 cents.  When I tried to cancel a Microsoft 365 charge, I was told I had to pay $1 for Tech support--which would be refunded or I could get support for $55 a year.  Forget it!  I was not going to give anyone else my credit card numbers.  When Microsoft finds out my AMEX card is no longer valid, they will cancel my account. I tried to let them know ahead of time.

I found this whole experience frightening--to know that someone has my information and is using it.  But the AMEX account is now closed and the Visa card we have is with a local bank so I feel more secure about that.  If that becomes a problem, Jim has another credit card we almost never use except for flights.  

We need credit cards in this era of ordering online and rarely using cash.  But there are dangers and they scare me.  I hope it is all settled now and there will be no more unusual activity on my cards.  

Watch Hill Chapel Adventure

 

Jim was invited to give a lecture at Watch Hill Chapel in Rhode Island.  It was part of a series called "Solving the Mysteries of the Scriptures" held over three consecutive weeks.  

We left home around 9 am Tuesday morning and arrived in Watch Hill around 1:30 pm.  The ride was mostly pleasant except for the congestion around the Bronx and the George Washington Bridge.  We found the chapel first and then found our accommodations at the Misquamicut Club which was a few miles away.  We were grateful for our Apple Map app which guided us through the resort area.

We made sure we were plenty in time for the 5:30 lecture lest the event organizers got concerned.  And actually because bad weather had cancelled so many flights, the contact person was a bit concerned because he was not aware that we were basically local--not in South Bend, Indiana any more. 

The lecture went well.  There was a good turnout in a lovely chapel setting.  Jim warmed up the crowd with his great story of grandson James making not a taco but a Dead Sea Scroll out of play dough many years ago--saying maybe the Scrolls had really taken over our life. A good laugh at the beginning bodes well for the rest of the lecture!  There were many questions in a lively give and take afterwards. One unusual and maybe rather bold question was how did the study of the Scrolls affect Jim's faith.  Jim said he appreciated the care early interpreters showed and how seriously they took Scripture and felt he was a part of that tradition. 

 Two trustees and their wives took us out for dinner at the historic Ocean House across the street from the chapel.  It was very pleasant looking out over the Atlantic where the sunset still reflected pink in the east.

We found our way back to the Club and had a quiet night there with plenty of breakfast options in the refrigerator across the hall in a little lounge.  

With the advice of our dinner hosts, we made better choices for a route home and crossed the beautiful Tappan Zee bridge and then headed south on 287.  It was much less congested and a far easier ride even if close to 20 miles longer.