A late morning blog........on a chilly day,just what the doctor has ordered!
Just looking at the days that are now flying by....each day getting us closer to October 2nd when Lori and I will venture forth again to Ann Arbor for a check-up and a PET scan. If this results are what we expect,we'll then be given a date to having the chemo port being taken out and needless to say,that will be a huge hurdle for us both. This will be the best sign yet that the remission is be a lasting one and we can fully move on with our lives. Of course I'll let you all know what the results are and when she will have her surgery.
I wonder if we'll be able to keep it and mount it as a trophy......
Last month in our sub-division,we had our annual meeting. Last year,I attended it for the first time with my neighbors,Al and Larry. Out of 280 homes,maybe 25 people showed up...it was a decent meeting and we voted for new officers and discussed some community events along with HOA fees. We voted to raise the dues from 20 bucks a year to 40.00 in order to pay for a better snowplow service. Which would have been awesome had we HAD a winter last year. The fact is we only had one storm with more the 4 inches of snow all of the whole winter. That means we paid for the service but only used it once.
But we didn't know that was going to happen based on the past years,right?
This year's meeting rolled up and our HOA treasurer,who fought very hard to get people to pay their dues (the dues are all voluntary) and had gotten 84% of folks to pay the 40.00 instead of the 40% who only paid the 20 year before,had proposed to not plow any streets in which less then 80% percent of the homeowners had paid dues.
So at this year's HOA,we had about 75-80 people show up and were angry about this idea and overwhelmingly voted it down. Where as last year,the meeting was friendly and neighborly,this one was a far cry from that. People were rude,shouting over each other and hostile. What little community we may have had pretty much vanished that day.
Al and I were talking about this the other day about what defines a community. I mean,I consider Lori and I to have 5 excellent neighbors,one good neighbor and one deadbeat one. When we go on trips,I feel pretty good knowing that our home will have several eyes on it in case something goes wrong and we do the same for them.
And I have two examples....Lori's car hood is getting nicked up,pieces of paint are being chipped by our roads. Now before it gets too nasty,I decided to have the hood repainted and start budgeting for it. I started by calling Maaco ,they wanted between 300-1,000 for the job and that was the LOWEST estimate!
I asked Al,our neighbor if he would go with me to the local Maaco shop . He agreed but wanted to look at the car first...he had a nice laugh and told me to quit "worrying". He suggested I get a can of touch up paint and do it myself for 10 bucks. Sound advice and I did just that. That saved us a ton of money.
The second example is our other neighbor "John". I knew John very slightly until one day I discovered we were co-workers. But just we started to get to know each other,he was suddenly and unexpectedly let go from the job. I won't get into details but lets put it this way,he and his new department head didn't get along.And the kicker,his department head may be on that same slope because John had a key skill his department has yet to replace. I know,mumble jumbo....but the fact remains that John is a great guy with a lot of skills. When he found out my lawn mower was having problems,he offered to fix it,he also told me the best place to get parts so I can get it running again.
One side note,John has a dog name Bruschi (as like the Patriots linebacker) except its a female. The dog is all bark and all love. We all enjoy watching her romp around her yard and "talking"to everyone she meets.
The day I brought my lawn mower to John's house,his dog came out all excited and started biting at the front left wheel. Now what was really funny,is that wheel is completely bald and needs to be replaced come next spring,yet somehow she knew that already. It was pretty amazing.
But that is what being a good neighbor is about....be it Lori and I noticing Al had accidently left his back door open,to Marlene and her son putting away our garbage cans to just talking among ourselves.
I wonder where that has gone.....
1:05 pm Saturday
This has turned into a rolling blog entry....its inching closer and closer to fall time. The weather has been cold and damp the past 3 days. The temps are in the 70s now and sliding into the 60s. My friend Michelle in North Dakota said she had a 28 degree day....so who knows,maybe we'll have a real winter after all.
Lori has been ill the past 3 days with what she thinks is a urinary tract infection. She has felt miserable and has run a fever. Now normally this is a issue that hopefully with the OTC meds she is taking,it would be contained. But not now....now its a major concern and with our appointment being 10 days away,we're wondering if she shouldn't be seen now. We're going to have to take a "wait and see" stance since our last three primary doctors at Oakwood all have left within a year of our becoming patients.
Today she says she feels much better but you just never know,especially when you are dealing with cancer.
Every little illness takes on a potential danger because of the earlier illness and you can't help but get nervous.
But I'll keep you updated.
Well I better get this up and running,I have to get ready for work today. I'm closing at the store tonight,with the weather being sort of "ugish" and Michigan playing Norte Dame tonight,we should be sort of quiet. That won't be such a bad thing...
And lastly.....good luck to the San Jose State Spartans tonight when they play the San Diego State Aztecs. The Spartans,after losing a 20-17 to 21st ranked Stanford,have bounced back to rout UC Davis,45-13 and Colorado State,40-20. The next two weeks are critical to see if the Spartans can go bowling as they tackle SDSU and Navy before taking on Utah State. When those 3 games and the world is a much brighter place!
Anyone catch the new show on NBC called "Revolution"? I thought it was pretty cool myself but was wondering if anyone else had caught it.
Well....thats all I got for now.....I better post more regularly again.
No comments:
Post a Comment