Saturday's Scribbles

Good Saturday to you from the Dahlen house where we are enjoying chilly weather, although we may reach 70 by Monday.  The squirrels and birds are busy outside and so is my hubby as he works on yet another yard project to add borders and rock to an area on the south side of the house.  

Speaking of projects, this is what he does when something is weighing on him.  Instead of worrying or stewing, he prays, and then does something physical and within his control.  Not a bad way to deal with stress.  It will look really nice when he is done adding the rock under our Linden tree that drains all the water and nutrients out of the soil.  In some ways stress is like that Linden tree........it drains us of our nutrients and energy, bringing drought to our souls!

Speaking of stress, the issues with word retrieval and losing train of thought, or brain fog have continued.  My anxiety over it just made it worse, that whole vicious circle thing.  The anxiety became a real problem for me when the Oncology PA was so intense about me getting an MRI of my brain.  She is a bit of an alarmist which does not help me at all.  Long story short, after sleepless nights and a long wait for an MRI, I had the test Thursday and the results were normal.  Normal.  Nothing found.  Such a relief.  Ruling things out will probably be something I will need to get used to.  Now I need to get my body to realize that all is well........

Speaking of well, it is not quite well since the cognitive issues continue.  The good news is after being off the Arimidex 3 weeks I noticed my word retrieval was a bit better this week.  Not gone but BETTER.  We are still not sure it is from that or anxiety and stress ( the dr. is not sure) so I will try the Arimidex again just to see what happens.  I have done a great deal of research finding study results and message boards that speak to Arimidex and cognitive issues.  I need a hormonal treatment to starve any cancer cells, it is an important tool so the journey is not quite over yet.  Like I said, the good news is there was no cancer or stroke found in the brain.  And my exam revealed nothing new on the chest wall or in the bloodwork.  Grateful.

Speaking of grateful, before going to my scheduled appointment with the Oncology PA I prayed that God would guide her and help her be open to what i had to say.  She has a tendency to brush over and minimize my words.....at least that is how it feels.  I sat in the early morning and visualized Jesus coming in the exam room with me and Joel and standing between us as we talked to the doctor, but as I did so I saw Jesus walk away from Joel and me and go and stand behind the PA with His hand on her shoulder.  I realized that He was telling me He was answering my prayer............and He did just that.  She listened.  She even agreed and was open to our thoughts on it.  Jesus was "in the room".  I decided recently to try taking melatonin to help me sleep longer at night.  The first time I took it, I was groggy until noon the next day.  I then decided to cut the dose in half and took it at 3am.....staying groggy until 1 the next afternoon!  I don't think it is for me!  So my friend Lana told me she drinks Tart Pure Cherry Juice before bed and it is supposed to help you relax to sleep.  I researched it some and sure enough the studies show it helps some people to sleep longer due to the melatonin it produces.....I tried it for four nights.  First two nights I slept 8 hrs but next two only 7 and 5 hours.  The verdict is out, but I will try it again since it does help relax me.  Interesting.....look into it if you have trouble sleeping!

Last week I asked Joel to get me an "old fashioned sponge mop" so I could wash the kitchen and dining room floors.  Joel really does not like to do floors and our Roomba Nora can clean them, but not wash them!  Ha......So he brought home an old-fashioned-easy-to-manage sponge mop and I spent this week washing floors.  I like making things clean and it is good exercise.

Death In Paradise has a new season available on Britbox.  It has been a nice distraction along with Maine Cabin Masters, Finding Your Roots on PBS, and a new series called Atlantic Crossing.  And I confess, we watch American Idol.  Seriously.  We try to stay on the straight and narrow but once in a while we digress and we get hooked on a show......thus American Idol!  Haha  When visiting our north country family, we watched the musical Hamilton on Disney +.  We were not expecting it to move so fast and unfortunately did not know the history of it very well, so after we watched it (with an intermission for a nap) I decided that "Yes, we are getting older!"  It was not our favorite.  What have you been watching?

So, this week we have much to be grateful for........a clear brain MRI, a better functioning mind, Jesus being "in the room", distracting TV, an old-fashioned sponge mop, clean floors, a hard working hubby who loves his projects and me...., for getting older (beats the alternative), for the love and prayers and support of family and friends, for cherry juice, and so much more!

Time to end this Scribbles which seems to be all about me........and my health..........again...........

Enjoy your weekend...

Saturday's Scribbles

Good Saturday to you from our corner of Iowa where seasonable weather has the trees and bushes budding and many shades of green bursting out all over. The birds are singing and the resident rabbits are busy "sunning" themselves.  We get a nice view of them from our living room window.  Gotta love Spring!

Speaking of living room windows, this particular oversized window has given us seasonal views for many years now.  Sixteen to be exact.  We have lived here in Iowa for 25 years this week, but this is our third house in our fair micropolis.  We are movers and shakers, but alas that has changed in recent years.  To be honest Iowa was not on our radar for living or retiring, but this is where we find ourselves now, in the middle of all our kids and yet with no kids in town.  

Speaking of kids we took our first trip last weekend to visit one of our families and got to hug on mom and dad and the three grands.  We always enjoy their peaceful existence and this was no exception.  We did not look at a TV for 4 days, but spent plenty of time visiting and eating some amazing food.  Spoiled for sure!  It was not hard to find things to talk about, but especially when it has been over 15 months since we have hugged on this beautiful family.  Looking forward to seeing more family soon!

It felt a bit strange to be out on the road after so long. We mapped out rest areas to stop at as they are the cleanest and we brought our favorite traveling lunch along........yogurt with all the goodies thrown in like blueberries, bananas, cashews, and for Joel craisens and walnuts.  We just found a cozy spot with a view of nature and ate in our car. After not talking with a number of people at once for days at a time we found ourselves getting pretty tired out!  Seriously, I am suspicious that our age is catching up with us!  Or the isolation.

As we visited with family we shared many old stories of our two years in the Philippine Islands.  One story is about our trip across the ocean bay to Corregidor Island in little Bunka boats.  I grabbed the only life jacket available ~ a kids~  before we headed out with a young Filipino lad who spoke no English but was manning our boat.  It went fine going over but on the way back our motor quit.  The other boats went ahead of us and there we sat in the ocean bobbing in the waves.  Soon the young man was taking a small can and scooping water from the boat because it was leaking.  A couple minutes later he handed both Joel and I cans and motioned for us to scoop and he tried to start the motor one more time.  After what seemed like an eternity of praying and scooping water out of the boat we saw someone coming back for us.  An older man tied our boat to his and towed us back to shore while we all scooped out water to stay afloat.  It makes for a great story, but was very scary at the time.  

Old slide of Bunka boats and Corregidor Island

in background

Getting ready....I am the one with black hair

and sunglasses

Our Boat driver bailing water as

I look back searching for someone to

rescue us!

Today we are heading over the border to help an old friend with some packing as she gets ready to start a new adventure after 5 decades in the same place.  Such a brave woman of God she is!  It will be nice to have a good visit now that we are both vaccinated.  Some of our kids and grands are vaccinated now, so that will be nice.  

We arrived home from our trip on Monday afternoon, so the week went by quickly as we caught up on laundry, grocery shopping, and more.  Like we are sooooooooooooo busy?  Right!!?  Our house is sure quiet.......

Today I am grateful for traveling, for so many hugs, for laughter and tears, stories and good food, for being back in Minnesota, for a grandson's 20th birthday, another grandson's trip to Haiti, for walking through life with Joel, for getting older as it means we are still here!  Yes so grateful for it all, and so very much more......

Enjoy your weekend!

Saturday's Scribbles

Good Saturday to you from Iowa where we are enjoying warmer weather and abundant sunshine on this "in-between" day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  Sunday is a coming!  You can feel it in nature too.  Sunday is a coming........Spring has opened it's arms.............The birds are busy singing their own Hosanna's.  Everything is coming back to life......

Last night we worshiped from home with a local Lutheran Church and then livestreamed a service with Lutheran Church of Hope that was so moving and powerful.  We decided to finish the night by watching two more episodes of The Chosen.  Such a good way to walk through Good Friday.  Tomorrow we will tune in to two services again as we celebrate Easter and the Resurrection of Jesus.  It is a real blessing to be able to just go on Facebook, click on a church service, and watch and worship from home. It would be great to connect with others in person, but we are grateful that we can worship from our living room.  

Speaking of home, Joel has been busy this week insulating the garage cupboards with the hope that it will warm up the kitchen cupboards located on the wall next to the garage.  They are so so cold in the winter.  He loves to have a project going.  It will be a good day to ride again too.  My week was a bit boring ~ an eye shot and a long talk with the nurse about the "wrong word retrievals" and anxiety.  More tests to come of course as they are always looking for the worst.  We took a Sunday walk out to a Nature's Preserve close to town.  It was relaxing.  We have headed out for a couple other walks in the area aso.  I've spent some time visiting with family and friends, and praying.  You don't reach our age without the power of prayer!

We walk down to the river which is a couple minutes from our home.  Just take the association path down to the river road as we call it and you can walk in nature's best.  Unfortunately, this past Thursday our road was lined with at least 8 Iowa Patrol cars, 8 other vehicles, and yellow tape keeping us away as that is where they found human bone remains mid March.  They were back now to do a complete search of the area to look for more bones, etc.  It is sobering.............and the second body in 6 months along that area.  We cannot help but be reminded of Jodi Huisentruit vanishing from here 26 years ago.  She lived in an apartment on the river.  She was a news anchor for our local station ( we had watched her on a Minnesota channel near where we lived way back when) and on her way to work in the early hours she just disappeared never to be found.  We can't help but wonder if it is her every time remains show up.  And in our part of Iowa I think that is way too many times!  Hopefully a family will gain closure once these remains are identified.   

So, here we are in-between Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  I have read a couple of great posts about how we often find ourselves in-between these two days on our own walk. This place of waiting.  The place between.  Having gone through a "dark" time, but not yet getting to our "Sunday" morning.  We just need to remember that Sunday is coming.  Don't give up.  Stay faithful, resting in God's arms and know that your Sunday is coming.  

Today I am grateful that Sunday is coming!  For the gift of salvation, the gift of healing, the hope for better days ahead.  I am grateful for phone calls, prayers, insulated garage cupboards, sunny and warm weather, an amazing Good Friday filled with impactful services and movies, a long talk with old friends, Spring opening it's arms, being able to walk and ride, being able to celebrate Easter, and so much more.

Enjoy your weekend!