Irises

Irises are the show stoppers in our yard right now, blooming in three large circular beds, along the backyard fence, and in the arbor. Other flowers are blooming as well, such as a couple of varieties of clematis, two different types of roses, daisies, and others.

We picked a bouquet of daisies today for the dining room table to enjoy over Mother's Day weekend, but the next bouquet will definitely be irises.

Exercise and More Exercise

Water aerobics is a great way to start the day. I always feel energized after an hour in the pool. The water was cool this morning when I first got in, but felt wonderful after a few minutes. This was (boo-hoo) the last day of the sessions until June 2, since the college will be on a break.

After I got home, I took Mother for a walk at the college lake. The young woman with a baby in a pink stroller was there again, as was a guy fishing from the wooden bridge, a man walking his two black dogs, and a female jogger. Other than the ducks, though, the only wildlife we saw today were three large carp hovering close to the surface near the bank, and some turtles lined up on a log.



Got back home just in time to put lunch on the table. Hubbie and I enjoyed a variety of lettuces and green onions (early veggies from the garden), together with whatever I could find to add...like sliced fresh strawberries, tomatoes, California navel oranges, mushrooms, Craisins, sliced almonds, baby Swiss cheese, cottage cheese, and Raspberry spritzer dressing. Hubbie had a sandwich made from cold leftover pork roast with his, and I rounded mine out with a cup of hot tea.

Later, we visited the farmer's market to pick up another flat of strawberries for the freezer, along with new potatoes, tomatoes, and summer squash. We'll be so glad to see tomatoes from our own garden. They are always the most delicious.

Yesterday evening, we attended ballroom dancing, where I wore a new pair of flat, lace-up, jazz shoes I'd ordered online. They are built for easy foot movements, but they are very flat...almost like dancing in socks or bare feet, so I might try getting some shoe gels to put in them to give them more support.

We had a good time at the dance, except we could have used a little less line dancing and more ballroom dancing, so we could practice our routines. Guess we'll just have to practice more at home.

Busy but Pleasant Day

It's been a busy, but pleasant day so far. I had a good workout at Cardiac Rehab. The exercise physiologist set the treadmill at an incline to help me work harder. I could feel the difference in my calves, though so far I'm not sore in that area.

My oxygen saturation continues at 100%. Another participant asked the exercise physiologist how many people have that rating, and he said he's only seen a couple of others in the time he's been working there.

At 11:30 a.m., Mother and I joined the "Water Babies" for lunch at an Italian restaurant. I ordered a grilled shrimp salad, but was surprised at how salty the shrimp were. I don't know if the cook over salted them, or if I'm getting more sensitive to salty tastes.

Mother ordered meatless spaghetti. Both of us had more food than we could eat, so we brought half of it home with us.

After lunch, we shopped at the worldwide discount chain store, and then stopped by a clothing re-sale shop. After losing so much weight, I have several really nice outfits that I thought the shop might take on consignment, but the owner said she gets her clothes from another state.

I'd never been in the shop before, though I've been promising myself to take a look at it someday. The shop is neat, with attractive displays. The clothing looks clean and pressed, but we didn't stay long, because the whole place has an unpleasant "previously worn" smell.

Hubbie's day included a Master Gardener meeting and a tour of a beautiful private local garden. He said the garden is lovely, but not many flowers were in bloom today. The garden is terraced on a hill below the owner's home, and includes a large gazebo and a waterfall.

After lunch, I met one of the other Master Gardeners as she was going into the Italian restaurant, and she said that after last night's rain, the downhill paths at the garden were slick, so she was glad I didn't do the tour today. Hubbie said he'd arrange for me to tour on another, more suitable day.

Infestation

Despite windy, slightly cool weather, Granddaughter and children wore summery clothes to a local festival last Saturday.

After a while, Great-Granddaughter said, "I'm infested."

"Infested?" Granddaughter asked. "What are you infested with?"

Great-Granddaughter pointed to her arms. They were covered with goose bumps.

"J" Names

At the baby shower last Sunday, I learned that one of our new great-grandsons will be named James. That got me to thinking about all the "J" names in our family: James, James, Jim, Jennifer, Jennifer, Jacob, Josh, Josh, Jared, Jason, Joseph, Jay, Jayden, John, and John (Charles). I think that's all...at least that's all that come to mind at the moment.

Water Aerobics

This morning, for the first time since February 19, when I had my cardiac episode, I was able to go to water aerobics. The ladies enthusiastically welcomed me back. I was glad to see all of them, too.

Unfortunately, there will only be one more aerobics session, on Friday, before the pool closes while the college is on a three-week break. We'll return June 2. Even then, I'll only be able to attend sessions on Wednesdays and Fridays, because I have cardiac rehab on Monday mornings until July. But I love the pool so much that I'm grateful for whatever time I can get.

The pool felt wonderful this morning, as did the aerobic workout. I really missed it.

Tomorrow, the ladies will gather at a local Italian restaurant for lunch. I want to go, but I'm not sure I'll be able to, because the Master Gardeners will be meeting to tour a fantastic private local garden, and I promised Hubbie that I'd go and take photos. There is a threat of rain tomorrow, though, and if that happens, I won't want to risk my camera. So...if the weather's nice, I'll go tour the garden; if not, Mother and I will join the "Water Babies" for lunch.

Stroll at the Lake

Mother and I just got back from our walk around the college lake. It's not quite as pleasant a day as yesterday, since it's overcast and a bit cooler, but it was nice enough for a walk.

Others were already on the walking path when we arrived...a young man jogging, while his wife or girlfriend walked briskly, and a mother walking fast and pushing a baby in a pink stroller. Just as we were leaving, another mother with a baby in a stroller, accompanied by an older woman, asked if it'd be okay to feed the ducks, and I said it'd be fine.

Today, friend carp was lazily floating close to the bank again, and a school of fish, maybe smaller carp, bobbed for flotsam on the water's surface. A male duck charged another duck, with both of them tripping over their pigeon-toed web feet and falling beak first down a grassy incline.

We didn't see a king snake today, but we did notice a healthy crop of poison ivy growing alongside the path and up the trees in the area where we saw a snake yesterday. Mother is super allergic to poison ivy, so I insisted that she keep to the side of the path closest to the lake.

Mother is walking twice around the lake now, the equivalent of a half mile, but maybe soon she'll be ready to add another round to her walk.

Education Tuesday

The muffins were a hit at Cardiac Rehab this morning. They are a yummy low-sodium, fat-free concoction of wheat flour, crushed pineapple, golden raisins, applesauce, shredded carrots, and various spices. Hubbie loves them.

Today was education day. The registered nurse spoke about warning signs of heart attacks and how the symptoms differ between men and women. Women, she said, are programmed to physically withstand a lot of internal pain due to childbirth functions, while men are programmed to withstand external pain more easily. Therefore, women often don't recognize heart attack symptoms, which can include pain in arms, back, and jaw, and chest, as well as nausea, sweating, rapid heartbeat, sense of impending doom, etc. Any one or a combination of these symptoms can be warning signs and should not be ignored.

We were advised of the absolute importance of chewing a couple of aspirins at the first sign of a heart attack, and then immediately calling 911 for an ambulance. It is better to travel to the hospital by ambulance, she said, than in a private vehicle, because paramedics are equipped to stabilize a patient before he or she arrives at the emergency room. She also noted that as soon as an ambulance has been ordered, we should make sure our front door is unlocked. Many times, paramedics lose valuable time just trying to get into a house.

As usual, I gleaned new information today: the differences in the way men and women perceive pain, and the fact that it's better to call an ambulance at the first sign of a heart attack. When I had my episode, Hubbie drove me to the emergency room. I wouldn't make that mistake again, though I hope I'll never have another heart emergency.

Busy Monday

Cardiac Rehab was first on the agenda today. I got there right at 9 a.m., though we are asked to arrive 15 minutes early to weigh, and get our blood pressure and oxygen saturation checked. As a result, my BP was high, and I had to rest for a few minutes and have it checked again. This time, it was 117/65. The reason I was a bit late was because I lost track of time while I was at my computer this morning uploading and then tweaking photos from yesterday's baby shower.


The workout went well, though. Today, we were shown an educational video on smoking cessation. None of us at the 9 a.m. session smoke, but we were told that we might learn something to help others we know stop smoking.

One of the regular attendants was absent today, so a registered nurse was there to take his place. In our conversation, I mentioned that in scouting for low-salt and no-salt recipes online, I'd turned up several that we've tried and liked. She asked me to print copies to share with others. So when I got home, I typed the recipes to reflect personal changes we'd made to them, and then I made a batch of muffins for the crew to sample tomorrow.

After lunch, I took Mother to stroll for exercise around the college lake. It was a comfortable sunny and mild day for a walk. Only a few people were at the lake today...a teenage boy fishing, and a couple with their two black dogs that prompted a pair of ducks to waddle-scurry into the lake.

As we walked, we heard rustling in the undergrowth, and saw a king snake slither down under a big, flat rock. He blended well with the gray of the rock and the shadows of the undergrowth, but we could still see a couple of inches of it curled around a smaller rock.

A robin worried an earthworm out of the ground. Small fish swam in shallow water near the bank, and a large turtle sunned on a stump in the lake. We see this turtle almost every day. For the first few days, it dove into the water as soon as it saw us approaching, but now it ignores us and continues sunning.

Later in the day, Hubbie and I ran errands, including picking up another flat of strawberries for the freezer. We also used free tickets to pick up three Rotary Club chicken dinners at the Methodist Church. Mother and I indulged in the chicken, but passed our slaw, baked beans, and cookies to Hubbie. We ate leftover sauteed new potatoes and homemade slaw with ours instead.

Cartons of fat-free chocolate milk came with the dinners, which we all used as snacks later in the evening.

Baby Shower

Two of our granddaughters are expecting baby boys in June (another is expecting later in the year, but we don't know yet if it's a boy or a girl). One of the granddaughters was honored with a shower yesterday afternoon.

It was a beautiful Sunday for a two-hour road trip. Red clover, interspersed with ox-eye daisies and evening primroses bloomed along the highway. Cattle grazed in fields of bright yellow bitterweed. A half dozen paint horses grazed in another pasture. A flock of gray, humpbacked guinea fowl pecked at the ground in a pen just off the highway. A groundhog popped its head up on the shoulder of the road and sniffed the air. A hawk gracefully glided down for a landing on a utility pole wire to survey the ditch for prey.

Unfortunately, other animals had met their demise on the highway...a half dozen or so armadillos, a deer, a rabbit, and countless small, furry, unidentifiable creatures.

We arrived at the shower ahead of the appointed 2 p.m hour, so we'd have ample time to visit with children and grandchildren, and hug, cuddle and photograph the ten great-grandbabies in attendance. Husbands were invited, too, so it was a lively, outdoor gathering.

I added sandwich makings, cupcakes, sliced and sugared strawberries, and topping to the variety of finger foods offered. There were spicy meatballs, ham roll-ups, yellow and white cheeses, a vegetable tray with dips, and of course a decorated cake.

The guys gathered in groups to talk, while the ladies played shower games...each lady drew tiny scraps of tissue, folded like diapers, and the one with a dot in it won a prize. In another game, participants rolled off bathroom tissue to the size we felt would exactly fit around expectant Mom's middle. I tied with two others for the win, and got a photo frame that I gave to Granddaughter. I tied with two others again in a game that required us to look at eleven baby items for 30 seconds, and then try to list them on a piece of paper. The three of us who won correctly listed nine of the eleven items. This time, I won a decorated pill box, which I also gave to Granddaughter.

As usual, I took lots of photos of the gathering, including a group shot of the ten great-grandchildren, and of the two expectant granddaughters standing together, tummy to tummy. We also got a traditional shot of Granddaughter with female relatives gathered around her, hands reaching out to touch her tummy. Unfortunately, a few relatives left before we got this shot, but there was still a bunch of us available for the photo.

We were enjoying ourselves so much that the hours flew by, and before we knew it, it was time to head home.