Well hello Bidet

Last week, I went to get a massage.  They are always working on the center I go see Ellie at.  Well this time, it appears the toilet got an upgrade.  As I go to sit down to go potty before my 2 hours of bliss massage, I glance down and see this.  (Photo credit - Amazon.  This is not the photo of the spa photo.)

I've traveled enough that I recognized what this was for.  It is an economical add on to your toilet known as a bidet.  While in New York and Europe, I've seen these but have never been quite sure how to use it.  Since I was getting a massage, which is pretty intimate anyway, I decided to give it a go.  As expected, my....ummm...."butt" got a spray of water similar to sticking your "butt" under the faucet.  Hmmm.  Pretty good aim there but then I am left with a wet and dripping "butt".  So I got the toilet paper and wiped as one would for fear of not wiping and leaving a wet area on my pants or such.  But if you have ever tried to use toilet paper in water, the two have a personality conflict of epic proportions.  So then I am left trying to make sure I haven't left any wet toilet paper crumbs behind because......massage. I would simply die to leave butt crusties on the table or otherwise.  I kind of giggled to myself feeling like a UTAHN (alas uncultured) and really honestly wondered the point of the whole process because now my hands feel quite unfresh (yes I washed my hands).

I was part way through my massage.  Ellie leaned down to my ear and asked if I happened to notice the new addition to the toilet!  I told her indeed I did.  She had never heard of it and really questioned the sanitary process required for a publicly used toilet.  I did explain that in theory, it is sanitary and no one's butthole should ever touch the apparatus so she is probably safe.  We did both laugh and wonder what/why someone would think about adding this to the spa toilet...or anywhere.

I am sure it is because I am uncultured and for the life of me, I can't understand how it could be used with more finesse'.  So if you can fill me in, please let me know.

My Birthday

Turns out, my birthday was a great one spent focused on family.  With Nola coming out to see Dad, I got the opportunity to spend the day with her.  Mom and Chuck just happened to be in town as well and we had planned a birthday dinner for Saturday night.  I decided to take a day for myself.  I had a hair appointment in the morning which is always nice.  I went to get a much needed pedicure.  A little rest in the afternoon, and a fantastic dinner at night which was great.

We went to Antica Sicilia.  This is the second restaurant from "The Italians" that run Sicilia Mia.  They have some of the same menu as Sicilia Mia but so much more.  Turns out to be a large group with Mom, Chuck, John, Nola, Philip, Tiffany, and of course, me.  We enjoyed wine, appetizers, a family served salad, our delicious entrees, and a "chocolate cream puff ball thingy" that is to die for.  It was great company and exactly how I would have wanted to celebrate my day.

Bad lighting but this is Chuck, Mom, and John

Tiffany and Philip

Nola and Me

Sunday was my actual birthday.  I spent it at the hospital which was exactly where I wanted to be. Especially since it was Father's Day too.  While at the hospital, I went to the vending machine to get a soda.  Look what I got!

I've looked for my name is the store and never found it.  And voila' is comes out of a vending machine!!!  I felt like a lucky duck!  I must be doing something right!

My Dad

I got one of those very scary calls very late Wednesday night.  It is one of those where you answer the phone and you already know it is bad because it is 11:50 pm.  It was Cindy and Dad was found earlier in the day.  He was alone for several hours and was found unresponsive on the floor.  My heart sank.

We have worked hard to piece together what happened.  He has COPD and should be using oxygen.   He doesn't like wearing it.  We believe he fainted.   On the way down, he took out the coffee table. We have no idea how long he was there with limited oxygen.  We believe it was long enough that he had a seizure from the lack of oxygen.  He was taken to the hospital in Layton and put in the ICU.

I cleared my work schedule the best I could on Thursday and went to see him and offer support.  As you can expect, he was hooked up to many machines and was still pretty much unresponsible.  We (Cindy too) worked with the nurses and doctors trying to figure out the puzzle while trying to take care of Dad's needs.  There was a strong belief that he will have long term impact from whatever happened and may not recover.   I won't even tell you how much my heart was broken for this man, my father.

Nola booked a flight out and was here Friday night.  She and Dad have a close relationship and we were sure she could help.  Cindy was the lead of his care and we supported however we could.  We were able to offer each other breaks but make sure Dad had constant care and support and we could keep track of all the medical information that came at us fast and furiously.  We celebrated every baby step Dad made towards improvement.

Somewhere around 2 am Sunday morning, Dad woke up.  The great nursing staff helped him connect the pieces.  He had no idea what happened or where he was.  The past 4 days of Dad's world had been completely blank.  I can only imagine how scary that was for him.  For us, we were elated and so happy to see him awake.  Friday he couldn't follow commands and I was trying to get him to keep his eyes open for a count of 5.  When I saw him Sunday, he was sitting up in bed and quite alert.  He rained alert the entire day.  He was able to eat soft foods and carry on conversations!!  It is like a curtain was opened!

Let me tell you how grateful we were to spend Father's Day with Dad awake and having conversations.  He was able to get out of bed and walk a little.  He knew who we are.  He was joking with the nurses.  He still has lots of work to do.  He still has some serious medical conditions that need addressed before he can leave the hospital.  He has confusion and is weak and stiff.  We can work with that considering where he started.  I'm not sure what helped him along to be where he is but I am elated and so grateful.  I know there was tons of praying going on and several prayer circles.  Maybe all those positive thoughts made a difference.

Dad's first walk out of bed with PT

Celebrating Fathers Day with Dad.  Nothing better than that.

Just so happens, Father's Day was my birthday too.  I didn't mind sharing it with Dad and I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else but with my Dad, Cindy, and Nola on my birthday.

Rat a tat tat

Wednesday, I woke to hearing people outside my bedroom window.  That is alarming enough on its own but before I knew it, I heard banging and clanking.  I jumped up and took a quick peek outside to realize there was huge scaffolding being put up outside the front of my condo.  I had noticed they were doing some work in the back of the building but what the hell are they doing and why are they doing it so early in the morning??  Well the work men kept working and it was like being in the middle of the Village People.  There were several of them.  Probably 8.

I am a little miffed.  Why didn't the condo association tell us what is going on?  And how am I going to cope with this situation for who knows how long?  I got to work and got busy doing my work thing and feeling pretty irritated with the distractions.  But I went in to check on the kittens in the bedroom and it was curiously dark.  Honestly it took me a minute to figure it out because it is light in there even in the middle of the night because there is a street light outside my bedroom window.  I realized my windows were blocked.  A big deal when I have 1 huge window in  my bedroom.  Here is what I saw.

My entire bedroom window was blocked with cardboard!!!  Now I appreciate they are protecting the window as they work above my unit but suddenly I feel extremely claustrophobic.  It matters when you have limited windows.  From my living room patio, here is what I see. (good think I didn't put plants out there yet)

Not exactly paradise.  So I shot an email off to the HOA Chairman and asked what is going on, how long they will be here and blocking my unit, and asked that they take the cardboard off my window at night.  I didn't hear a peep back.  So Friday, I wrote to the HOA Manager and asked.  He said he had no idea how long they will be.

Apparently, there has been a long standing issue with the open decks and leaking causing significant issues for those that live below.  Luckily I haven't had any problems since I moved in but I know my unit did have problems before.  I spoke to another unit owner that has had problems and found out her condo is full of black mold.  They are removing the exterior walls down to studs and repairing it all.  I guess they are also replacing the decking materials on the open patios.  The job has grown to be a major deal and the scope of the project is far past what they expected.

I'm going to admit I am glad they are finally fixing it but I am really irritated there has been zero communication to the condo owners.  What the hell is wrong with these guys?   This condo living is a significant adjustment I didn't realize I would struggle with.   I have no idea how long it will be impacting me.  On a positive note, the workmen did remove the cardboard from my bedroom window before they left for the weekend....thank goodness.  I'm not sure if it will be up Monday morning or not.  I'll just wait to see I guess.

Myositis Update

Today I saw Dr. D.  She is my neurologist here in Utah that helps me coordinate my care and instructions from Johns Hopkins.  Sometimes I wonder why keep going because with IBM, there isn't much they can do.  But she did check me out and we talked about my recent learning about the Methotrexate shortage.  Interesting enough, she already had a meeting with the pharmacist I spoke to last week about getting it in.  I did ask for another prescription to take to another pharmacy if necessary.

We discussed another drug she heard was helping some.  I will ask about it.  My next Myositis stop is the annual conference in September.  This year, it is held in San Diego.  Mom has offered to go with me which is great.  I hope to see Dr. CS there (my Hopkins doctor).  I will have a chance to learn more and ask questions which is always great.

Interesting enough, Dr. D has another female IBM patient.  She has used my journey to help this other woman with her journey.  It is nice to know it is not all for not.  Dr. D did mention that comparing us, I am "very mobile".  I'll take that as a compliment.

She suggested we meet just annually between my visits with Johns  Hopkins.  She is easy to reach by phone or email so I guess that will do.

Kitten season, the 2017 edition

After coming home from Moab, I promised I would call for foster kitties.  We are in the heighth of kitten season and they need help.  I enjoyed fostering adults but it was time for kittens.  Thursday afternoon, I went and got my first kitten fosters of the year.  They had a group of 2 or a group  of 4.  I took the group of 2.

Meet Thibault and Parkour (pronounced Tebow and Parker).  Thibault is the orange kitty and is male.  Parkour is the calico and is female.  They warned me they hadn't had baths and were really dirty.  So when I got them home, I got busy giving them a bath.  Thibault flat flipped out.  But we made it through.  They had diarreah before I got them so they were in desperate need of a bath.  Parkour was more calm.  But they both enjoyed the drying process.  Kittens get cold very easy and they can get sick from just being cold so you wrap them up in a towel and hold them close while you rub them vigorously until warm and dry.  It is about 20 minutes of cuddling.  They both loved that part.  When I was done, they were clean fluff balls.  So dang cute.

 I left them on their own to get adjusted.  When I came back in, they both wanted held and started purring immediately.  These two have so much power in their purrs.  It is very loud.  Parkour was just wiped out and fell asleep in  my hand.  I don't need to tell you how this melted me.  Okay.  They can stay.  :-)

Friday, I opened the shower door and introduced them to that area.  They loved it.  Before the end of the day, they had learned how to jump on their kennel and figured out that you can't go through glass even though you can see through it.

Saturday, I let them out into the bedroom.  They have to stay separate from my kitties but they just got done with antibiotics so they aren't sick and can come explore more.

Parkour has interesting facial markings.  She is flat gorgeous.
is pretty frisky though and doesn't settle down well....yet.

Taking a King Sheba break from playing.

He already has his "pick me" mojo going.
Look at that sweet face.

It is so fun having kittens in the house.   My kitties can smell and hear them and are less than pleased but they tolerate it.  The kittens are great fun and really amuse me.  These two are sweethearts and will be great pets for someone.  I have them until 6/15 which i s when they are big enough to go get spayed and neutered.

Moab 2017!

This year was the 5th year I've been part of the Moab for Memorial friends trip.  I decided to invite Uncle John to join me this year since I had my cabin to myself and he had no plans.  This year we had 54 people coming.

Tiffany and Philip

John  met me and we headed down to Moab.  I have a routine where we stop for lunch at Big Dons Pizza in Price.  I'm lucky in that John really enjoyed it.  We listened to Pandora stations I made based on John's preference.  Before we knew it, we were pulling into Moab at 3:00.  Several people were there before us and unpacked the car lickity split and we got settled in.  John got busy meeting everyone and finding his way through so many new people.  We sat out front of our cabin and visited and waited for Philip and Tiffany to get there.  They both ended up working so they couldn't come with us.  I don't like to drink until they are there just in case they have road trouble.  Wasn't too long before they pulled in too.  Now the weekend could begin.  John and I decided to have our left over pizza and salad for dinner since there was so much.

Our home for the holiday weekend

Saturday, we got up for a great group breakfast. A bunch of the guys go golfing.  John decided to join the non-golfers at the Moab arts festival.  I was planning to stay around camp and read but after talking to Philip and Tiffany about how nice it is to drive up the Colorado river, I decided to do that as well. So we made sandwiches and hit the road.  It was such a beautiful and day I really enjoyed being out in such beauty.  Before I knew it, I was at the Moab winery.  I decided to go in and do a tasting (it is $1 for 3 tastes) and take some photos.  I found a scenic place to stop and enjoy my picnic before heading back to camp.  I wasn't there long before John called and said he was having a great time and not to worry about him.  We had a delicious group dinner of sloppy joes and jerk chicken.  That night, everyone seemed in the mood to party.  But I wanted to drink closer to our cabin so we set up on our picnic table.  Philip and Tiffany came over to hang out with us.  John and I were enjoying tequila and shooting the breeze.  People would come by and have a shot with us.  Kimberlee, Ella, and Bridger came over with some popcorn and joined us and before you knew it, we ran out of tequila in our bottle.  But never fear, John and I came prepared so out came my chilled Hornitos.  We laughed so hard my sides hurt.  We killed our tequila and  were ready to stumbled to bed.  We decided to  leave our party remnants out so people could see what they missed.  I did share my classic hang over cure.  It is a large glass of water, bread (plain) and 2 Motrin.  So I broke out our sandwich buns and we all sat around eating buns and laughing before we parted.  It really was hilarious.

Ready for my drive

Tasting at the winery

Don't forget the reason for the Memorial weekend

Check out this cool truck along the Colorado.

Nighttime hi jinx

I think I was first one up out of the group on Sunday. Surprisingly feeling way better than I should have.  Everyone teased us about our left over drunken display.  I snickered to myself.  I cleaned it up about the time John was up.  Most the group went 4 wheeling for the day but those left behind decided to do a pot luck breakfast.  So I had cantaloupe and strawberries to cut up.  Philip and Tiffany came to help.  And we headed over for a delicious breakfast.  I did make some pretty good Bloody Mary's that we all swore we couldn't begin to drink but sure enough we did.  Talk about "hair of the dog".  John decided to hang around camp and go for a swim and nap.  I was highly motivated to go into Arches for just a bit.  Philip and Tiffany planned to swim too.

Breakfast with Stacy, Ella, and Bridger

Kimberlee and I.  we've been friends for over 20 years.

Cousin Ryan and Heather (Dad's side of the family) ready for a day of 4 wheeling

They gave Stacy the left over orange juice bottle.
She misunderstood and thought they wanted the left over
cantaloupe in it so she patiently put it in one piece at a time.
Everyone teased her and she blamed it on being blond.
She is so cute.  At least it was easy to store!

I drover to Arches.  While it wasn't as crowded as I've seen, it was 45 minutes wait to get in the park.  Once inside, it was crowded too.  All the popular stops were full of cars and there was limited places to stop.  On the sides of the roads, they had dug deep ditches so you couldn't just pull over for a photo.  It was crazy.  I even got in a "discussion" with a park ranger in the Windows parking lot.  But I got what I came for and that was a nice drive, sunshine, and gorgeous scenery.  But after Windows, I decided that was enough and headed back to camp.  We had decided to head to Pasta Jays for a late lunch.  Pasta Jays is a great Italian restaurant in Moab.  They have THE BEST marinara and different items.  And the servings are huge.  I was in a food coma so John and I headed back to camp to relax (nap) before it was my group's turn to make group dinner.

Is it just me?  This looks like circus elephants to me.

We were invited to join the gang for watermelon and cantaloupe cocktails before dinner.  We planned a pretty easy dinner so we got to relax.  We set up in about 20 minutes and called everyone to dinner.  Everyone wanted to party again but I wasn't sure I was into it again for a 3rd night in a row.  John decided to go for a walk up the Colorado river.  I did go visit with everyone.  Many were 3 sheets to the wind.  I don't think they even noticed I wasn't drinking much.  It was fun to talk to everyone though.

Some of the Sunday night gang.

My sweetie

Ella and me.  We've become close over the years.  She
is Kimberlee's daughter.  We love laughing together.

The Fidelity ladies.  It was our working at Fidelity that brought
 this whole thing together.  These are my very best friends.
Me, Stacy, Julie, Kimberlee, and Lesley.  We've had babies together,
marriages, divorces, and kids moving out.  That is 20 years of friendship that
I cherish very much.

Monday we woke up and it was time to pack up and leave.  Several people stay until Tuesday but alas, we were scheduled to leave.  Sweet Philip came and packed my entire car for me.  We pulled out about 10:30.  We agreed to meet Philip and Tiffany in Price at Grogg's.  It is a funny bar/restaurant that has THE BEST burgers.  We did run into some pretty intense traffic on the way home coming through the canyon.  But we made it home about 4:00.  I unpacked the car on the patio and John headed home.

We had so much fun.  I really do love this tradition with these people.  It has become like family.  It really is 60 of my closest friends. Can't wait to go again next year.  Everyone really enjoyed Uncle John.  They begged me to bring him back next year.  We seem to travel together very well.

I did have some problems with getting around.  I notice a big difference in my mobility between this year and last.  It is frustrating.  But I used my cane loud and proud on the gravel and was able to get where I wanted to go and do what I wanted to do.  It is a little embarrassing but I am trying to stay focused on what I still CAN do.  And I can kick the ass out of Moab from the car!  It is nice to get away and recharge.

I am home for most the summer.  Next trip comes in September.  I have a busy Fall planned.