Thirty-nine years....

This is us 39 years ago. Steve grew a beard while we were on our honeymoon. I am wearing a prom dress which now is in my closet. Good luck fitting into it.

A dozen roses

He knew I liked these clocks and got me one. The cupcake swings back and forth once a second

I jazzed up my anniversary cactus with some lights

He is waiting on the tree near the suet feeder for us to leave the bedroom so he can eat

A snow day for almost everyone yesterday

Maya came here

We got married in December because I could combine the few vacation days I had with the holidays to have enough time for a honeymoon. Steve had been working for the company 4 years so he had more. I was not a great believer in walking down the aisle with my father giving me away, dressed in white. I was all for finding a secular officiant but this did not sit well with my grandfather, not that he offered his minister. I knew the professor I worked for as an undergraduate once was a minister. I really liked him. Would he marry us? Alas, his license had lapsed but his friend would do it, a member of the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints.. Mormons!

Things have worked out for the most part. We got into a fight on the honeymoon (he smashed my car!) and I thought the marriage was over before it really begun. That was by far the worst fight we ever had. He jumped out of the car in some slummy neighborhood in Tampa. I thought he would return after walking off steam. I  waited and waited but he never came back though I thought there was a possibility that he was lost (he has no sense of direction). I had no money. What to do, what to do?

He had made it 5 miles or so to where we were staying.

We are going out tonight with Josh and Julie though Josh has no idea it's our anniversary. He can't remember his own.

It will be a while before I can resume running in the woods (the dirt road is covered with  snow). Meanwhile the shoulder of the big state road is fairly clear so that's where I've been running. It was 16 when I ventured out today but tomorrow and the nest day, it will be close to zero no thanks to the polar vortex. I wish we had last year's El Nino winter here. Warm and relatively snow free. After much fussing around, Steve messed with the spark plugs and got the snow blower to kick in. Will need it again Friday. Sigh.

Snowed in

backyard through the back windows

A bit clearer from the porch window

A pair of Carolina wrens have been showing up at the feeder

I thought wrens migrated in the winter but not this kind. According to my bird book, this is the northern most edge of the range but birds keep moving northward no thanks to global warning

Allie and Santa

I moved the pink cactus to the dining room

I ran into this red cactus in the basement where it was being hidden for our anniversary. Goes better with the red pot, though it doesn't quite fit

Today I was supposed to host The Moms Christmas party but the snow is making that impossible. Too bad. We can't reschedule it until January due to conflicting travel schedules. All my decorations should still be up. Hate winter. I did bake the Brussels sprouts in a mix of sugar, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and lots of garlic. I ate the little ones but am freezing the big ones for when we have the party later. Some of the stuff I will serve at the family X-mas which I am also hosting.

When we only had 3 inches on the ground, I went for a run running on the few tire tracks in our neighborhood. Fortunately cold snow is not slippery and I was well bundled up. Extra bonus, no wind. Will we have enough gas to run the snow blower? I sent Steve out on unplowed slippery roads for some. Of course this should have been taken care of yesterday. But a moot point as he can't get the thing to start. Too much gas? Old gas gumming up the carburetor? Bad plugs? Who knows? We mechanically inept people have no business being out in the country dependent on all these devices. Josh will come by and help in a couple of days but in the meantime, I guess shoveling will be my aerobic activity if we want to leave our house. I think we will get around 10 inches.

I put out some more feeders as the snow is too deep for the squirrel to raid things and the birds need them. I have a flock of 20 juncos here but only one pair of cardinals (had 3 pairs last winter), a pair of  downies, a single red bellied woodpecker, numerous chickadees and a pair of nut hatches.

Three months until spring.

Harvesting my Brussels sprouts

I planted 8 plants: I had previously harvested 3 of the stalks and now three more. I assume the others are under the snow. I tried to keep them further apart so they would get more light. However soil conditions are not equal. Look at the differences in sizes between the stalks

This mahogany chair was in the trash along with a perfect mahogany mirror and the Santa Claus photo I previously posted. Not really my style but looks OK in the den

more blooms on the Xmas cactus

the red bellied woodpecker spends a lot of time here. I haven't seen the female. There is hardly any red on his belly

Before the snow got too heavy, I went out to grab some of my Brussels sprout stalks equipped with a saw.. I got a work out just trying to saw through the largest stalk. Today I spent at least 2 hours cutting them off of the stalk and cleaning them. I will roast them for The Chosen Sisters aka The Moms Sunday. Due to meat aversions, I will keep the bacon off of them. More snow is scheduled to come but it is not clear whether it will happen Sunday or Monday. Please hold off until Monday!

We had the first significant snow. Not too much but it was very slippery causing numerous accidents. I stayed put. The shoulders were salted on the big road near me so once the traffic cleared, I ran in strong winds along that. It will be a long winter. Meanwhile the so-called polar vortex will come next week. My plants can survive in the garage as long as it is 20 outside. At 6 degrees, I don't know.

I went more than a month without hearing from my dentist demanding to be paid. No news is good news? But yesterday I got a big bill with a note that the insurance still hasn't paid. Of course I thought this, after ten phone calls was settled. I begin another set of annoying phone calls. I got word that it will be settled in 7-10 days. We will see. Twenty times burnt; twice shy. I've wasted so much time dealing with the insurance

Our reverse osmosis machine works again! When the filters get clogged, they need to be replaced. Too many systems to go wrong here.

Steve's suspicious skin lesion he had on his ear turned out not to be cancer but pre-cancer. The dermatologist wants him back to do a thorough body scan. Why couldn't they do this before? Despite being Jewish, Steve's skin is similar to that of a redhead's being light and freckly. Despite my Celtic background and a red headed father (who had lots of skin cancers), I don't have the very pale skin.

And how is that diet going? Who tries to diet around the holidays? Well it is a 6 month plan .I am down 24 pounds. Every morning I hop on the scale hoping for lower numbers and get depressed when I don't find them.

There was a study recently comparing Fitbit wearers with those with no tracking devices. Guess which group gained more weight despite doing more exercise? They felt entitled to eat more. They burn off 200 calories and then eat 300 calories extra. I will keep this in mind next week when the weather will make it much harder for me to be out there.

La Bocca della verita

Maya was with us for awhile last night but then demanded to go home. Not sure if she wanted to hurt our feelings or really wanted to be home. Naomi came and got her

The original Bocca della verita is a 1300 kg marble disc in Rome. Somewhere I have a photo of me sticking my hand into it. If I tell a lie, the hand gets bit. I found a miniature one at my favorite resale shop

Who would throw away this enormous smoking santa in an ornate frame? My neighbor who is moving would. Maybe I will make use of the frame. Oh well, the price was right. Included in my trash diggings is a beautiful mahogany mirror

This triptych of the Brooklyn Bridge hangs over my TV in our bedroom. I like it.

I was playing around with the low light feature of the new phone Note lit up Hanukkah house 

color changing trees on mirror

snowflake lights through the stained glass

and through the other one

As I was standing in line at Treasure Mart with my few treasures, I see a beautiful iridescent turquoise vase behind the counter. How much is that?

Prepare to faint..$395

Turns out it is antique Steuben glass, their so called aurene glass because it contains gold. They were a competitor to Tiffany though their glass is allegedly superior. That made the aurene glass between 1902 and 1933. Steuben glass is a subsidiary of Corning Glass so this was made in my home town. Is four hundred dollar a good price? Probably assuming this is not a forgery and is in perfect condition. I have never paid more than a hundred for art (and I can't remember when I did that though I am sure I did). The vase is so, so pretty.

I could hear the coyotes howling as I ran today though the sun had been up for at least an hour. Running will become less pleasant for the next week or so. The 30 degrees today will feel tropical. Can't wait for spring.

Bromeliads

my very own bromeliad i.e. air plant. No one could tell me if it will bloom. It is suspended over my Jacuzzi which should provide humidity. According to the instructions, I am not to use city or softened water on it leaving reverse osmosis water

I've had air plants in the past, one with beautiful pink and purple flowers. I had attached it to the wooden fence that surrounded my patio at the old house. A bird ran off with it.

At the Botanic Gardens yesterday, along with their X-mas displays, they had a local art show and a craft sale. This was my favorite art

lots of orchids in bloom in the green house

And bromeliads

Our first snow hat stuck at least overnight and into a few hours of this morning. I could barely make out  two pairs of tracks across our yard. Two deer or two coyote?

I stopped during my run yesterday morning to investigate a woodpecker tapping away. It was fairly large, about the size of my red bellied woodpecker though a different shape plus it didn't have the tiny checkered back. As it was the east side of the road, I had to squint to get a good look. A young woman stopped to see if I were OK. Just trying to id a bird. She said she could see a red Mohawk on its head. Could it be a pileated woodpecker? Probably not as they have all black backs. I narrowed it down to a hairy woodpecker or maybe a yellow bellied sapsucker, which would be more colorful. They have more red that a hairy woodpecker, who only has a red dot and only if it's a male. The woman was about Josh's age and very friendly. She had recently moved from an urban area to this wild road I run on. Why do people dump deer carcasses up and down the road? Um, they don't. They hit them accidently. Surprisingly she never has seen live deer cross the road. I had just seen one a few minutes before stopping.

The Botanical Gardens was a nice break in the bleakness that Michigan has become. Aside from my air plant, I bought a homemade tile for my living room. Later a visit from Josh and Allie. Less than a month now before the baby comes. Then a visit from a good friend.

I should be wrapping presents.

Spanish moss is also a bromeliad. This stuff hanging from the trees in coastal Mendocino county looks like it but I've been told it is a moss known as Old Man's beard.

My girls one year later

The artist down the street had an open  house today featuring bird art. I had bought a watercolor she made years ago at a thrift store for a dollar of a house finch. She is selling similar paintings for about $70. I did buy the above ornament featuring a red bellied woodpecker that I now hang over my back door. Mr Red bellied woodpecker finally came back yesterday after a 6 month absence to my suet cake. His mate hasn't shown up yet. Included in every purchase was a little gift. In my case, a miniature whooping crane with bittersweet. Also she had lots of treats..not good for yours truly. Seven layer bars..who can resist?

My cat sugar and cream set. Cream comes out of the raised paw. Above are the blooms from my Christmas cactus that Shanna gave me a year ago after my surgery. The plant has doubled in size

Finally loaded everything successfully to my new iPhone. Its camera is supposed to be superior in low light situations. I was trying it out here. The only light in the room is supplied by the light strips along the tray ceiling

A year ago today I underwent reconstruction surgery for my 'macromastia' i.e. mega boob. Several surgeries plus radiation left me with one hard miniature breast and one massive, soft breast. It was hard to hoist the one up to the same level as the other resulting in a Picasso-esque effect. The plan was to whittle the big one down to size and plump up the other with tummy fat (suck away, please). However during surgery, he found the latter would be impossible as I had absolutely no breast tissue left to graft it onto. A dead zone, he called it. Recovery consisted of sleeping upright with the girls girdled away for 3 weeks and no lifting more than 5 pounds for 2 months. Running was out of the question too. When I was finally cleared to run, I tripped ripping my mouth to shreds with my broken teeth. More inactivity ensued probably resulting in the extra ten pounds on top of a bunch of fat I had already gained over the past ten years with lots of excuses for. According to the pathology report, 150 g of breast tissue (about a third of a pound, did they test all of it?) was examined for cancer. None was found. My scars are still reddish purple though who sees them. Originally the new breast was quite hard but it has since softened. Still is on the same level. I could still go braless as I pass the Ann Landers test (breasts will not support a pencil if tucked beneath).

What can go wrong if one insists on burying ones head in the sand to avoid unpleasant news.

I didn't weigh myself for the past ten years because I didn't want to be depressed. I do know that I gained 10 pounds since last year as my weight from the presurgery visit was on the charts. After I finished treatment, I did lose about 10 pounds or more. The steroids I took for chemo made me into a water bag and increased my appetite. Chemo also destroyed my red blood cells making me too weak to move much. Butt once I finished treatment, no steroids and returning red blood cells made it easier to exercise so I did lose the chemo weight. Should have kept going. But now I am down 23 pounds. Yay! Still a long way to go.

Not dealing with finances. I just sign our tax returns with out looking at them trusting Steve to do it right. The other day we get a note from the IRS warning us the penalty for NOT having health insurance will go up dramatically from the fine we paid this year. What???! Somehow Steve failed to show we had health insurance so the IRS subtracted $1500 from what it owed us. Ugh! But I assume we will get this back once they received our amended return. What other mistakes has he made?

The other day, a big package is left on our porch. Early Xmas present? Nope addressed to the former home owners who, once we contacted them, want it saying they will pay the $20 postage. Still a pain.

Our warm November is no more. I biked today when it was 30 degrees though windless. Despite two pairs of sox, my feet were numb. A good friend came yesterday to keep me company. I added a bit to my family tree though lots more to do there. I guess I will have time as I am no longer gardening.

Blue Angel

My friend made me a wreath

complete with lights. I have it hanging over my fireplace

I have my blue angel hanging in my bedroom window

I am currently trying to transfer the stuff on my old phone to a new one. It is stressful. I would have happily kept my old phone but find I have to reboot it more and more to make it work. We took the phones (new and old) to the Verizon store. They weren't too helpful other than to tell me to buy more storage to back everything up in the cloud and then switch the sim cards. So I bought more storage (why does Apple provide so little?) and backing things up. Two more hours to go.

I had to wear my oldest article of clothing, an Icelandic wool hat, to keep me dry in the ran/snow mix I ran in this morning. I dare not wash it lest it shrink. It is probably dirty but I am alone when I wear it.

This has been a low key week. One night, Shanna and the kids came over for dinner. Maya was here too and stayed the night. She wanted another 'cacuzzi' pretending to be a mermaid splashing all over the place. Not too relaxing for me.

Today my friend came over for an early lunch. She leaves soon to be studied by the NIH to hopefully give her some answers regarding her host versus graft disease. Her stem cell transplant was a success in that her new bone marrow is producing healthy red cells but the lymphocytes that came with the stem cells are attacking her body. Some of the damage is irreversible. How to keep it from progressing is what she hopes to find out.