Surprise Breakfast on Saturday

On Saturday morning, I woke up to the sound of daughter moving around in the kitchen.  At first, I thought she was making her coffee.  Then, I thought that maybe she was making herself some oatmeal.  When I went to the kitchen to see what she was doing, this is what I saw:

Breakfast!

She was brewing my tea and making me breakfast as a surprise!  Scrambled eggs and pancakes.  She said she would have fried bacon, too, except she didn't know if I had any and if so, where it was kept (I had a package in the freezer).  She said she thought that if she was going to spend the day helping her friend prepare for his party, then, she could at least make me breakfast!  Of course, she left me the dishes to do, as she hates doing the dishes!  But that was fine with me, as I don't mind doing the dishes and, in any case, I was planning to run the dishwasher, today.

Daughter left shortly after breakfast.  Her friend came to pick her up and they picked up another friend who was going to do the cooking and then they were going grocery shopping and so forth.

I spent a relaxed morning watching some TV shows now that the TV is working again.  I enjoy the Saturday morning shows on the public television channels - quilting, knitting and crochet, sewing, cooking, etc. 

Later, I did a load of laundry and ran the dishwasher.  Then, I attached new elastic to the waistband of one of my skirts.  I was getting ready to alter the waistband of another skirt, as well, but then, I noticed that there was a tear in the fabric of the skirt.  I could have darned it, but it was an old skirt and I decided to toss it, instead.

I also renewed a pillow.  I had two small pillows, bought a couple of years ago, which had an inner covering that had deteriorated.  I pulled the fiberfill out of both pillows, stuffed it all into an old pillowcase, and sewed the opening closed to make myself one new pillow:

Renewed Pillow

 Later, I watered the front garden.   These pictures were taken a couple of days ago:

Dusty Miller and Gladioli

Gladioli Close Up

Baby Pomegranate

After that, I cooked rice, green beans, and a meatball curry using some of the frozen meatballs I had bought earlier.  Half an apple for dessert.

Daughter came home later in the evening and we chatted for a bit before she went to bed.  I should be going to bed, too, as soon as I've finished this post and cleaned the litter box. 

On Saturday, I was grateful for:
- Daughter cooking me a surprise breakfast
- Daughter is able to spend the weekend doing fun things with her friends
- Machines that do the work for us - washing machines, dishwashers, sewing machines, etc.
- Cooking and sewing shows on TV
- Phone calls from friends and aunt

How was your Saturday?  Have you woken up to a surprise breakfast being cooked for you?

Summer Joy List

The Spring Joy List worked out quite well and I decided to do a Summer Joy List, as well.  Some items on the list  remain the same, as they do bring me joy no matter how often I do them.  Others have changed and I've shortened the list a little. 

This summer marks the second year since my cancer diagnosis.  It will also be the summer when the follow-up mammogram will confirm if I am in remission or not.  I want to make sure that each day I am blessed to live is filled with as much joy as it possibly can.

Here is my Summer Joy List:

1.  Daily prayer and contemplation
2.  Continue to drink my tea or coffee in my favorite cups
3.  Continue to interact daily with my daughter
4.  Invite aunt and cousin to a meal
5.  Go out to lunch or dinner with a friend
6.  Visit a neighbor
7.  Do a craft project or two
8.  Do more gardening
9.  Bring more fresh flowers and greenery into my home
10. Play with fabric
11. Visit the farmers market
12. Visit the library
13. Music - listening and singing
14. Indulge in summer fruits
15. Declutter the house/decorate for summer
16. Strawberry lemonade

Anyone else making a summer joy list?

Spring Joy List Review

Time to review my Spring Joy List, which was for the period between March 21 to June 20:

1.  Daily prayer and contemplation: take time to appreciate this time of renewal - Have been saying my prayers daily.
2.  Continue to drink my tea in my favorite cups - I've gone back to drinking coffee, but I have a favorite cup for coffee, as well.
3.  Continue to chat daily with my daughter - We've been doing this every day.
4.  My daughter's next visit home (in April or May) - She visited over the Mother's Day weekend, which was lovely and is visiting again, this weekend!
5.  Savor my last jar of homemade apple and pomegranate jam! - The jam is just a memory, now!

Flowers from the Garden

6.  Visit the temple - Visited the temple and made donations
7.  Do a craft project: make a birthday card for my sister - I made a thank you card for my supervisor, instead
8.  Do more gardening: plant a vegetable garden, scatter some flower seeds - the flower seeds didn't do anything, but the vegetable garden was planted and at least one zucchini has been harvested!
9.  Celebrate Sri Lankan New Year (April 13) - Celebrated it in spirit.
10. Bring in more fresh flowers and greenery - Did that several times

Zucchini Growing in the Garden

11. Play with fabric - Not to the extent I would have liked.
12. Visit the farmers' market - Visited it regularly
13. Visit the library - Visited the library several times; even borrowed some books to read! 
14. Read a book or two (or more) - Read a few
15. Do more sketching - Doodled a bit, but that wasn't really sketching, as such.

One of the Books from the Library

16. Naps on the sofa! - Oh, yes!  Several!
17. Take in the sunsets - Almost every evening.
18. Music - listening and singing - Quite often.
19. Arrange to video chat with a friend - Video chatted with my friend
20. Indulge in strawberries!  - Did so several times, included the one strawberry my one plant bore before it died!

The Single Strawberry Harvested!

Did you do a Spring Joy List?  If so, were you able to do some of the joy-inspiring things you wanted to do?

Thursday: Farmers Market and Daughter Comes Home

On Thursday, I went to the office.  During my lunch break, I went to the weekly farmers market.  This time, I remembered to take my cell phone with me to take some pictures. There are stalls set up along the sidewalk and in a courtyard area:

Breads and Other Baked Goods

The sellers offer a variety of items from fresh produce to cooked food and hand crafted items such as homemade soap.  I bought a croissant from my favorite French bakery stall (but forgot to take a picture of that!)

After work, I picked up the Thai food my daughter had requested for dinner - beef fried rice and chicken satay with peanut sauce.

Then, I stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few items: milk ($1.99), bread ($1.99) and bananas ($.59/lb).  My total came to $5.18.

June 22 Groceries

(Yes, Mr. Nosy came to see what was going on, as usual.)

After that, it was time to go to pick up daughter.  Her flight was delayed, so she arrived an hour later than scheduled, but she's here, safe and sound!  We had dinner, chatted, and looked through some photo albums/scrapbooks, together. Daughter "fixed" the TV so now it works again.

One of my friends had called and left a message, so I called her back.  One of my neighbors called, too, and I chatted a bit with her.

On Thursday, I was grateful for:
- My daughter had a safe flight home
- Daughter is home for the weekend
- Weekly farmers markets
- Safe driving to and from office, etc.
- A working TV

Thursday's To Do List:

- Office - DONE

- Bank

- Farmers Market - DONE

- Change bed sheets - DONE

- Laundry

- Grocery store for milk - DONE

- Pick up Thai food for dinner - DONE

- Pick up daughter from the airport - DONE

- Hug a daughter! - DONE!

Friday's To Do List:

- Bank

- Pharmacy

- Pet supplies store for kitty litter

- Laundry

- Spend time with daughter

 

How was your Thursday?  Did you have a good day?

Wednesday - Sorting out the Dental Situation and the First Day of Summer

Thank you, all, for being so supportive of me as I went on and on about the dental situation.  I believe I might have over-reacted a bit.  I had felt overwhelmed by all of the recommended procedures and the costs, especially.  I had taken a quick look at the detailed list of recommended procedures the dentist had given me, that first day, saw numbers like $2,600, $2,000, etc. per tooth, did a quick mental tally, saw that it added up to at least $10,000 and felt stunned.  I just clutched the estimate and my antibiotics prescription and practically ran out of the clinic! Later, I added up the costs with a calculator and it came to $10,890.  I wondered if the dentist was just trying to get as much money as he could out of me!

The bit about bone grafts needed for the implants and my radiation oncologist voicing his concern about bone necrosis got me even more worried.  Then came all the drama to get the medical clearance.  The last straw, in a way, was the appointment for the deep cleaning ahead of the extractions.  I wasn't expecting that, at all.  I felt very confused and didn't know what to do. 

Earlier, when I went to see the dentist for the second time for additional antibiotics, I did tell him that I only wanted the extractions done, now, and wanted to wait on the implants until I can change my insurance coverage.  He said something to the effect that he had given me his recommendation and left it at that.  At the time, I was still dealing with a tooth ache, so I wasn't thinking too clearly.

Last night, when I said my prayers, I prayed for guidance on this matter.  Today, I felt calmer.  I called my insurance and I verified what was covered and what was not (some of the deep cleaning is covered; what dentist has listed on his estimate was the part that was not covered - mostly medications, apparently); extractions are covered for $15 per tooth (but I am also being charged $15 by dentist - perhaps the difference between his regular charges and what insurance covers?  But $15 per extraction seems reasonable to me and I will not quibble about that).  What is not covered are the implants and implants-related procedures and the crown listed for one tooth.  I will have to pay out of pocket for those (and they are the more expensive items).

I asked the insurance customer service person about getting a second opinion and what I needed to do if I chose to change dentists (I have to ask new dentist if his clinic accepts my coverage, first of all, and then, call the insurance to have them transfer me to new dentist).   My one cousin's dentist is out of the network, so any work he does won't be covered at all.  I also got another cousin's dentist's information (he's a new dentist for her, too, assigned to her by her insurance and she hasn't had any work done by him, yet).  I didn't call yet, though.  Maybe I'll call and see if he's in the network or not.  

 

But now that I've calmed down a bit, I think I will go to my currently assigned dentist for the deep cleaning appointment, ask him why the deep cleaning has to take place before the extractions (maybe it is to ensure I'll do the deep cleaning as opposed to getting the extractions done and then, disappearing!) and take it from there.  If I can get the deep cleaning and extractions done for now, it will all come to under $1,000 and I can manage that.  In October, when it is open enrollment again, I can look into a different dental plan with more coverage.  It won't go into effect till January, however.

In other news, I went to the office again, today.  There was a cultural festival in the courtyard of the building where I work to celebrate Caribbean heritage with music, limbo dancing, and a catered buffet lunch to which we were invited.  My supervisor and I went together and stood in line to be served rice and beans, chicken, fried plantain, cole slaw (don't think that's very Caribbean!) with a slice of caramel frosted cake and a coconut tart for dessert!

Caribbean Lunch

It was very good.  Not spicy hot, but very nicely flavored.  Especially welcome because I hadn't taken a packed lunch, today, only an orange.  I had intended to eat a chicken salad and crackers snack kit that I had at my desk.  Free Caribbean food was better.

To make up for that big lunch, I had a salad for dinner:

Salad Dinner

Lettuce, roast chicken breast, grated carrot, and some canned mandarin segments with bottled dressing.  Just right for a warm summer night.  Yogurt for dessert.

 

Daughter said there was an earthquake near Berkeley this afternoon and she felt it while she was at a meeting.  Fortunately, it was a relatively minor quake of 3.0 magnitude.   But it was centered on the Hayward fault which goes directly under Berkeley, so I worry any time there is an earthquake in the area. 

Today, I am grateful for:

- Getting my dental situation sorted out, somewhat

- Free lunch!

- Today's earthquake near Berkeley was relatively minor and daughter is OK

- Emails from a friend

- The pharmacy refilled one of my medications without any problems!

Wednesday's To Do List:
- Go to the office - DONE
- Call cousin's dentist to make an appointment for a second opinion  - NOT DONE/Changed my mind

- Call dental insurance - DONE

- Call the oncologist's office - DONE
- Go to the bank - Thursday
- Put away laundry - DONE
- Water the garden - DONE
- Change my bed sheets and remake bed - Thursday
- Laundry - Thursday

- Pharmacy - DONE

I didn't get all of my to do list done; I went to the Caribbean festival instead of going to the bank during my lunch, today.  

Thursday's To Do List:

- Office

- Bank

- Farmers Market

- Change bed sheets

- Laundry

- Grocery store for milk

- Pick up Thai food for dinner

- Pick up daughter from the airport

- Hug a daughter!  :)

How was your Wednesday and first day of summer?

Warm Tuesday and a Spam Alert

Today, I went to the office and spent the day in air-conditioned comfort.  I don't know how warm it got today, but it was 95F when I got home at 6:30 p.m.  I had an early dinner, changed the bed sheets on my daughter's bed, did a load of laundry, and put away an earlier load of laundry.  One of my friends called and I chatted to her for a bit.

Earlier in the day, I had texted my cousin and got the name and phone number of her dentist.  He is not covered under my insurance, but I thought I will call and make an appointment to see him to get a second opinion.  I haven't called him yet, though.

Spam Alert:  Recently, in the past week or so, I have been getting a large volume of spam comments, which has been unusual.  They have all said "Anonymous" and I have opened some because I know I've one or two regular readers who comment as "Anonymous".   All of these spam comments seem to be links to various sites, but really, I am not interested in learning how to enlarge certain body parts and so forth.  Therefore, in these last couple of days, I have been deleting all Anonymous comments without opening them, because I am afraid some might contain a virus or something, and I will continue to do so for a few more days.  So, this is to alert those of you who are regular readers who comment anonymously, I might unknowingly delete your valid comments among others.  I do apologize in advance if I delete your comments.  But, for the next few days, at least, be advised that I will not be opening any anonymous comments. 

Today, I am grateful for:
- Air conditioning at the office
- Fans at home
- Phone calls and emails from friends
- Video chatting with my daughter
- Safe commutes

 Tuesday's To Do List:
- Go to the office - DONE
- Bring the trash cans in - DONE
- Change bed sheets and remake beds - DID Daughter's bed
- Laundry (bed sheets) - DID one load
- Freeze the overripe bananas (too hot to bake!) - DONE


Wednesday's To Do List:
- Go to the office
- Call cousin's dentist to make an appointment for a second opinion
- Go to the bank
- Put away laundry
- Water the garden
- Change my bed sheets and remake bed
- Laundry


How was your Tuesday?  Is it hot where you are, too?

Monday: Doctor's Appointment and Medical Clearance

Today, I received a call from the clinic at 8:00 a.m. to confirm the afternoon appointment with the doctor.  They had called me on Friday and left a message, but by the time I came home after jury duty, it was too late to call them back.  I confirmed that I will be there in time for today's appointment. 

My appointment was at 1:00 p.m.  I was at the clinic with 15 minutes to spare.  But, by the time I was checked in, weighed, blood pressure checked etc., and seen by the doctor, it was past 1:30 p.m.  My pressure was good and I gave them the record of daily readings I had been keeping, as well.  The doctor checked me and signed the medical clearance form.  It was close to 2:30 p.m. when I left the clinic. 

I came home and had a late lunch.  There was an email from my supervisor, so I called her back in response. 

Then, I called the dentist's office to tell them I received the medical clearance and to make an appointment.  Next week Wednesday was the earliest they could give me and, according to the receptionist, it was for a deep cleaning!  Um, what about my extractions?  I would have thought the deep cleaning could wait until after the extractions were done!  The receptionist said that that was something I'd have to discuss with the dentist, once I see him!    Oh, dear!  As if things weren't stressful enough!

After all that, I felt sleepy!  I tried to stay awake, but gave up and took a nap!  From approximately 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.!  No doubt that is going to mess up my sleep patterns even more! 

Later, I watered the garden, front and back, took the trash cans to the curb, handwashed a few items of clothing, and put away the laundry I had already done.  A few hangers have now been put back the normal way, indicating those garments have been worn. 

One of my cousins called to tell me about the passing of a family friend and I called her daughter to sympathize with her.

Later, I video chatted with my daughter.  She'll be home in time for dinner on Thursday night.  She asked for take out from our favorite Thai food place, so I'll pick up our dinner on my way home from work, that day. 

It has been another fairly warm day with the highs in the low 90s.  It will continue to be in the upper 80s and low 90s for the next 10 days according to the weather forecast.  No rain, of course.  0% precipitation, according to the forecast.  Summer is here!

Today, I am grateful for:
- The doctor's appointment went well.
- My pressure was good.
- I received my medical clearance.
- The dental appointment has been made, even if it is for a teeth cleaning and not the extractions!
- Early evening naps.

I have not been posting to do lists, lately; time to start posting them again, I think.

Tuesday's To Do List:
- Go to the office
- Bring the trash cans in
- Change bed sheets and remake beds
- Laundry (bed sheets)
- Freeze the overripe bananas (too hot to bake!)

How was your Monday?  Did you have a good start to your week?