Saturday's Scribbles

Good Saturday to you from our corner of the world where we are heading for a high of 92 degrees!.  Such unusual weather....first cold, then really hot, then cold again, then hot. As I write this I hear lawn mowers outside as this weekly or bi-weekly task officially starts.  People are digging in their gardens and spraying chemicals on their weeds as they seek the perfect lawn.  To me, looks are deceiving, as those chemicals seep into our water and poison our bees and butterflies.  But, alas, for most it is easier than taking out the dandelions one by one.  I often think if we lived in the country the dandelions would be left alone, but we do not, so I do wonder how Joel will get rid of them this year since he is nursing a sore back and the instrument of choice to rid the lawn of them is hard on the back.  Of course right after I wrote this I looked out and he was plucking dandelions from the ground with his special tool.

So, my hubby decided last week that he would lay edgers around a large area of the south side of the house and lay rock in the areas.....I mentioned it before.  Seems that doing all that heavy work in only 2 1/2 days was a little bit too much for a guy who will soon be 75.  Besides laying many many edgers, he loaded, unloaded, and put out 83 bags of rock.  By Saturday night he felt a "bit sick", and by Sunday night he found himself playing musical beds, moving from the bed, to the recliner, to the wicker sofa as he attempted to find a comfortable spot.  Monday's aches and pains sent him to the chiropractor where he was helped, but the back muscles are still talking.  He is able to ride again though, so he is on the mend.  It was not his week with his hearing tests revealing a 40% loss in one ear, 15%  in the other and to top it off his eyes quit tracking together so an early last minute morning appointment on Wednesday ruled out anything major, they believe it is ocular migraines.  New glasses are ordered in the hope it will take care of the issue.  I told him, he has had no real issues for years and now three in one week?  Seriously.  Stop.  I prefer when you walk in full health, buddy!

Bundled up for a walk

Speaking of walking, last Sunday morning we watched early church and then headed out for a walk at Lime Creek Preserve on the edge of our town to walk in the rain...I love walking in the rain.  Luckily I wore a winter coat since by the time we got there it was snowing big flakes!  The temperature dropped to 31 but we still decided to walk the mile trail.......we had the place to ourselves. Here we are bundled up....and today 92!

You know that saying, "When I get old I will wear purple?"  Well, I have modified it to say, "When I get old I will wear leggings".  I know.  I'm 73.  I am no slim sister.  I just find them so comfortable at this stage of my life and with my body's complaints.  Leggings....with loooooong tunic tops of course.  Theystarted out as my COVID isolation clothing and now they are just my "when I grow old I want to be comfy" clothing.  Can anyone relate?  Do you have your own comfort clothing?  The past 2-3 years have mostly taken from me the need to seek the approval of others when I dress.  I still struggle with my body image, but I'm working on it.....

I was in the mood for baking earlier this week so I made Joel 7 dozen ginger cookies and a loaf of honey whole wheat bread from scratch.  My mixer has a bread hook so that is nice! I made myself some almond butter bars too.  We also got out the grill Friday night to officially begin the grilling season.

This past week was my sister Jo's 88th birthday which she celebrated in Heaven!  She loved to be with her family on her birthday and go to one of her favorite places for a meal.  This year she was with other family who have died and I am sure Jesus stopped by to say hi!  I expect every day in Heaven feels like a birthday celebration!  We miss you Joey!

So today I am grateful for walks in the snow, birthdays in Heaven, Joel's back being better and his eyes and ears being taken care of, leggings, growing older, texts from family and friends, phone calls, our electric grill, baking, warm weather, and so much more.........

Enjoy your weekend~

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!

Saturday's Scribbles

Good Saturday morning to you from our corner of Iowa where a quiet steady rain is nourishing the earth, giving the birds a bath, and bringing us to the porch for a little enjoyment.  Soon we will go for a walk in the rain, one of my favorite things to do.  We have been watching the birds right out our window as the neighbor put up a new feeder and I just need to glance to the left from our sofa to enjoy the birds as they feed.  Delightful.

This past week we have walked more outside, making our trek to the river......in doing so we cannot help but think about the remains of two bodies found months apart along the banks of this river right where we walk.  We never know where life will take us.......or death at times.  This has me scribbling back to this past week's massacres and from my mouth comes the words, "Lord have mercy...........Christ have mercy."

Speaking of words coming from my mouth, I have always tried to be transparent here when it comes to myself.......what I am dealing with, what comes our way....at least within reason with the hope that someone else will be strengthened by my journey.  Let me start by saying that all my reports have been good news so far this year.  The Mayo radiology oncologist....good news.  The oncologist here in town....good news.  The dermatologist for melanoma check....good news. The other dermatologist for lichen sclerosis......good news.  The last eye appointment.....good news.  And this past week the urologist......good news.  (For a person who used to hate going to the doctor I sure see my fill of them).  Well a couple of things have come up lately that have been giving me a challenge.  Anxiety has been high this past year for several reasons, mostly dealing with the old spirit of fear and lack of trust........but the past six weeks I have noticed that I sometimes retrieve the wrong word when speaking.  I might want to say something about an x-ray and the word haircut comes up in my mind......yeah.....I know it is the wrong word and stop myself.  Also the wrong names of people. It is like the mind is throwing out the wrong word to me or I am losing my train of thought.   I have never had issues like this.  Joel?  on a daily basis as long as I have known him!  Me?  never.  It has given me high anxiety which is turn has made things worse.  Of course.  I did some research after this went away for a couple of weeks and then came back and I discovered a couple of studies that said the hormone inhibitor I am on, Arimidex, can cause memory issues like this which usually resolves when you go off the drug.  It is connected to lack of estrogen for 30-35% of women who take it.  This helped Joel with his understanding of what is going on but of course I just want it to go away.  It is nothing serious yet and from the message boards I went to on the site, breastcancer.org some had real big issues while on the drug.  These seem pretty minor in comparison but I still can use prayers as I stand firm for this drug to NOT be a "weapon formed against me" but a weapon formed against the cancer returning!  Since the cancers I had were estrogen fueled, I am to stay on it for five years ~ one down and have four to go so will discuss it with my oncologist in April while still believing it will leave.  

As I always do I asked God for a word about this and He was gracious enough to send me some.  First a scripture and then a phrase I have said often over the years to others.

The scripture is from 2 Timothy 1:7,  "I have not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind."  

The phrase that came to me is "This too shall pass".  Thursday was an especially difficult day and that night my sister Jan sent me a text where she said, "This too shall pass".  Friday morning Joel came to give me a big hug and said to me, without knowing about Jan, "This too shall pass".......He told me to go down stairs and read the notecard that our son Matt had given us last April when the pandemic was in full swing....On it Matt had written a scripture for us and the words,  "This too shall pass".  I had taped it to the cupboard door and read it once in awhile.  So there it was.............three times.............a word from God.  "This too shall pass".  I hope and pray today as I write this that someone else takes comfort in this.  I feel like I am to share all this because someone needs to hear it, embrace it, believe it.  This too shall pass.  

Along with these words above, God gave me a vision while meditating a few days ago.  In my mind I was taking off these old sandals that were worn, no soles left, and difficult to walk in.  Jesus came up and bent down and when He stood up I had on new shoes woven of gold.  I asked Him what these were and He said, "Shoes of Peace".  He then took my hand and said, "Now walk with me through life".  It was short but powerful.  Shoes of Peace..........in today's world we all need them don't we.  Shoes of Peace and who is the One who IS Peace?  Our Jesus.  We can walk through life wearing the old worn shoes of worry and fear, or wearing the Peace that passes all understanding with the God of Peace.  Shalom, friends.  Shalom.......

Today Joel and I have been cleaning the main level of the house...dusting, vacuuming, dust mopping..  I don't think I am alone in enjoying a clean house!  I just love to get things all "spiffy" and am so grateful for the energy to do these things.  We also have a roomba we call "Nora" after the maid we had while living in the Philippines.  She is working right now upstairs as I type.  I find at times I talk to her.....okay maybe I should not be sharing that with the world!  She just seems to have her own mind at times like...ummmm Alexa??!  Haha   

We have now been fully vaccinated two weeks and yesterday we headed out to Target and to HyVee grocery store.  I had not been to HyVee in about a year we think.  Target 3-4 times in 14 months?  We still wear masks but it is nice to know we can go places with a sense of protection from a deadly virus.   

Well, my scribbling seems appropriate more than ever today with my brain "toots" !  So with gratitude I give thanks that I can write and share my story, for doctors, pills that work to suppress the estrogen that feeds cancer, for rain, for walking outside and getting fresh air, for texts, words and scriptures given by God through others, Nora the cleaning robot, the neighbor's bird feeders, hugs from my hubby, being able to go to the grocery store again, shoes of peace, and so much more!

Enjoy your weekend!

".....And He Believed In Jesus Christ"

This has been a tragic week for America.  Two mass killings ending the lives of 18 people. It is a never ending scenario that plays over and over again in our country.  Discouraging, disheartening, and so disturbing.  The last shooting happened when one lone man purchased a weapon created for war, and walked into a grocery store with the intention of taking the lives of complete strangers. 

Soon after the mass shooting in Boulder Colorado, the newscasters honed in on the officer that was shot and killed when he responded to a 9-1-1 call. In the early hours no one had any information about the victims or suspect but they had the name of the officer.  It was not long before someone talked to Officer Eric Talley's father who told them a bit about who his son was.  A second career officer, age 51, with seven children, etc......As I read the NPR article on Facebook about Officer Talley, I saw five words that stood out for me as if they were in bold print.  At the very end of the father's description of his son he said..........."And he believed in Jesus Christ".  

Later I watched a few stories on the TV about Boulder and the officer, but never heard those five words that the father had shared. I saw it in print, but I did not hear it come from the mouth of a newscaster.  These words shifted the atmosphere when released.   Officer Talley believed in Jesus Christ. He believed and he lived out His faith.  I hope his family finds comfort in knowing that Jesus welcomed him home.  I don't know anything about the victims lives, but I cannot help but believe that they were welcomed "home" too.  That is my prayer. 

The hatred, violence, and evil that has a grip on our country must end.  We need to know we are safe when we step into a grocery store, go to church, just walk down the street or answer the door.  Jesus must weep over the state of our nation and the suffering and senseless deaths of His people.  He asks us to reach out with love to others.  It is His command and our hope..........Love one another so another father does not have to speak with sadness about his murdered son..............

But Boulder's massacre is right before us and I cannot help but ponder what Officer Talley's father said about his son..........in doing so I hope for myself, for all of us, that when the day comes that we have breathed our last on earth, someone says,  "And she/he believed in Jesus Christ".  How many people have been welcomed home by Jesus this week?