and the beat goes on...

Hiking around Hot Springs, Arkansas

Another busy week with the kids in town and everyone coming and going at different times. Oldest son and wife flew back in Wednesday morning to have the sutures (or staples) taken out from her hip replacement surgery. They were able to come by after the doctor appointment and have coffee with us before flying out again the same afternoon. 

Then daughter and husband returned that afternoon from their hiking trip around Hot Springs with other family members. They spent the night and took off for home Thursday morning. 

Today (Friday) youngest son and wife both had to work and it's still Spring Break, so youngest granddaughter came and spent the day with us. We had hot chocolate at the Mall, walked the Mall for exercise, and came home to Eataly's Pizza, games, and a movie. 

I didn't go to Hot Springs with them, but they sent lots of pics. Here are a few of the group.

The first pic is a selfie of the whole group (first row: SIL,oldest granddaughter, youngest granddaughter  2nd row: daughter, DIL, and oldest granddaugher's boyfriend) 

2nd pic is daughter and oldest granddaughter and 3rd is oldest granddaughter by herself.

If I haven't commented on your blog, do know that I'm playing catch-up this coming week.  

...and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hugs (virtual), 
Rian

An update on my week... such as it was

Good Morning!

Actually, today is a good day. It's Saturday morning and daughter and hubby will be in soon. They will spend the night here before heading off to Hot Springs to do some hiking during Spring Break. Oldest granddaughter and her boy friend will meet them there.  I thought about going with them, but with this bp spiking and new meds, thought I'd better not... not this time anyway. We are going to visit them in April - and that's not too far off.

Update of bp and Rx Propranolol: Took the pill Thursday night for the first time (before bed at 10pm). Woke up at 5 am with bp spiking to 174/103 bp and heart rate 73.  So, it did lessen the racing heart, but didn't do much for the bp. 

So... I sent a message to my PCP as well as my Cardiologist and the PCP called me back Friday morning telling me to continue with it. Take the pill at bedtime or in the morning. So... since my bp was 94/57 and heart rate 77 on Friday night, I didn't take the pill. It woke me up at about 5am Saturday morning with a bp of 150/85 heart rate 85 so, I took it then. That seems to work out better... 

Sorry to bore you with all this, but some of you did mention things that were helpful last time. Thank you. One interesting fact was that this particular meds is also sometimes used for migraines. Since I get those, it would be great if this also helped keep those at bay. 

Sunday morning:  As it turned out, daughter, son-in-law, as well as youngest son, daughter-in-law, and youngest granddaughter were all here yesterday. We ordered pizza, and had salad, and cheesecake for supper - easy peasy.  And we all retired by 10 pm since they were getting up at 6 in order to leave for Hot Springs. But first DH and I made them bacon, eggs, biscuits, and coffee for breakfast (and some home-made banana nut bread and granola). 

Now it is 10:30 Sunday morning  and DH and I are both exhausted... as we don't normally get up that early... and we forgot about the time change. But we did enjoy having them here! (and most likely both of us will nap this afternoon)

Also... on one of the blogs I read, the person asked what/where would we like to live if we had our druthers... our dream house or place? 

It didn't take me long to say that I would choose  an old 2-3 story house with a widow's walk or cupola (or both) on a cliff overlooking the ocean...  (this of course would be if neither money nor other people's choices were involved). This is where I go in my minds eye. (It might also be filled with books and cats) Where would you go?

Hugs (virtual) 

Rian

semi-serious post...

this is how I feel in the morning
 after a bp occurrence

I'm posting this because I've noticed that sometimes fellow bloggers have interesting and helpful information in their comments. I wouldn't put this on Facebook, but I think because most of my blog readers are 50+, that this would be a safer and more accurate demographic. 

Those of you that read my posts may remember that a while back I posted about occasionally having strange occurrences... I would wake up during the night or early morning with my heart pounding, headachy, and high bp. I was tested for sleep apnea and that was negative, I wore a heart monitor for a month and outside of a few quirky readings, the Cardiologist found nothing serious. I do have what they call Grade 1 Diastolic Dysfunction, but apparently that's not unusual for someone my age (77). And I have a few leaky valves, but they do an Echocardiogram every 6 months or so to keep an eye on them.

Well, these occurrences have started happening again with more frequency. Last night I decided to check my bp before bed (around 10pm) and it was 118/68 heartrate 74 (normal).  When I woke up between 5 and 7am, it was 170/99 heart rate 107. I got up, made a cup of tea, and did my breathing exercises (breathe in through nose to the count of 5, then hold breath to the count of 24, breathe out long breath through mouth) This usually lowers both my bp and my heart rate. 

So I got up around 8 am, took bp again around 9:30 and it was down to 130/79  heart rate 77.  Later at 12:30 it was up again to 151/83 heart rate 76, but down at 1:30 pm to 120/77 heartrate 80. My normal bp runs low-normal to normal (94 - 118). 

Anyway, I'm thinking nocturnal hypertension? The Cardiologist gave me some Rx Propranolol 10 mg to take in 2021, but I've never taken any as my breathing exercises seem to control it. I'm not into meds unless absolutely needed (due to the fact that I've had some strange reactions to many). I do intend to call him tomorrow. He will probably tell me to take the Rx Propranolol, but if it lowers bp, I wouldn't want to take it at night when my bp is normal, but possibly just in the morning when it spikes??

Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions or comments, I'd love to hear them.

Sorry this is such a bummer of a post.

Hugs (still virtual),

Rian

Thursday, March 2nd... Tornado Watch Alert!

We just got a "Tornado Watch Alert!" for our area. It's weird as although they have been predicting severe weather all day, it's been unusually quiet, no winds, very still... and very warm (80 F). 

We were supposed to go have dinner at a friend's house this evening, but with all the warnings (even schools cancelled all after school activities), we rescheduled our get-together for tomorrow.

Our daughter-in-law had her hip replacement surgery Tuesday and was discharged from the hospital yesterday. She did well, but is having a bit of pain (which I guess is to be expected).

If I remember correctly, when I was growing up in New Orleans, whenever a hurricane was coming, I remember the sky turned a strange green color before it hit. Don't know if that's real or something I just saw in my child's eye... (but look at 1st sign here!)

and lastly:

Nature can be scary. When lives are lost, it's nothing to joke about. But I find that it does help to lighten the worry when things get tense. Hopefully nothing too severe will happen, but it's been a long stressful day. I hope the weathermen/women are just over-reacting. Signing off at 4 PM.

Hugs (virtual),

Rian 

(Something else noticed: Feral cats seem to have disappeared. Haven't seen any all day...???)

March 1, 2023 Rabbit! Rabbit! White Rabbit!

 

Rabbit! Rabbit! White Rabbit!




Hugs (still virtual),

Rian

Hugs

another busy week coming...

Sunday morning breakfast

This was my Sunday morning breakfast:  over easy egg, sourdough toast soldiers,  and my allotted butter coffee... not that different from my every morning breakfast if you take away the egg (and sometimes add tea instead of coffee). We are not big breakfast eaters although we do have lunch around 11:30... so perhaps that makes up for it.

This past week was busy with 2 doctor's appointments. Both went well... annual Mammogram (which I normally hate but due to a very good technician and new type machine was the least painful I've ever had) and annual Dermatologist (nothing needed to be frozen or cut off) DH didn't fare as well as he had something on his hand frozen and something on his face cut out and biopsied.

And this next picture is the fisherman's afghan that my friend made for my daughter. I love it! (actually I have one that she made for me several years ago - but am still tempted to keep this one) I won't though as I've already told my daughter that she was getting it. However, my friend is in the mist of doing several and asked me if I minded doing the tassels. So, if you look closely, you'll see her beautiful knitting and my so-so tassels. I've just completed one side, but will do the other today. 

Fisherman's afghan

Oldest son and his wife are also coming into town this week for her hip replacement surgery. Please pray that all goes well. It's going to be another busy week as there are several appointments crammed in this week along with her surgery... and Spring Break starting March 11th with daughter and her family coming in that Saturday. (Will also update you on the bunny mystery next time)

And I will close this with a pic of youngest granddaughter in her Taekwondo class. Apparently she put 3 young boys down and was asking for 'bigger' opponents. She is in the red vest.

Oh, and I forgot that DH's younger brother had surgery this past Thursday. He has always had pain in his back with nothing working to relieve it, and finally decided to have some sort of spinal stimulater implant put in. We'll see how that works. It's only been a few days, so hard to say much yet. 

Going to really close this now as I have to work on finishing those tassels. Hoping all of you have a wonderful week... good weather and maybe some sunshine!! 

Hugs (still virtual),

Rian

Sunday morning thoughts... on Tuesday

It's Sunday and I'm not planning to post this today. Granddaughter is coming over to spend the night tonight and I've got a few things to get done before she arrives. I have a roast in the oven and although at 10, that isn't her favorite supper (probably pizza is), it is what it is. 

eye of round roast with garlic,
onions, carrots, and potatoes!

No, this is something that came to me after reading DJan's post Sunday morning. It's about trying to stay optimistic in a world that seems to be going downhill (and is it really? - or is it that we 'know' too much these days?) Knowing the possible state of things and realizing that there's little one can personally do to change the situation is frustrating... which is stressful. Add our own age related problems and... boom! sleepless nights and anxiety are the result.

How to overcome this? Not sure, but as cliche as it sounds, taking it one day at a time seems to help me. I think, what can I do today that will make the day more pleasant for someone (or myself)? Even something as simple as a phone call, a text, a batch of brownies could help. In my own case, if I can simply clear out an area that needs clearing, I've made my day. It's a small thing, but it works.

I know that at 77, life could end at any time and no one would be surprised (well, your family and close friends might be, but not the general public)... and it's something that until you get to a certain age, no one thinks about seriously. But once you're there, the thought affects all your choices. In some ways, it's like the song, "Live like you were dying" by Tim McGraw. 

Anyway, I just wanted to say that we may all want to 'contribute' in some way to making it a better world, but we aren't all capable of doing the big things. So maybe, just maybe, Mother Teresa's words, 

"Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love" is something we are all capable of doing. 

That's it... my thoughts on Sunday morning. 

It's already Tuesday and I'm finally posting this. We spent Sunday evening playing games and watching movies with Granddaughter. She's teaching me how to 'trade' on the game Roblox... and then we watched Narnia on TV, went to bed, and both of us read until sleepy. Monday morning meant chocolate chip pancakes and more 'trading' instructions, then my son came by to pick her up. 

DH and I had plans for Monday afternoon to take lunch and visit with my friend who had surgery about 2 months ago.  She lives about 45 minutes away. And luckily it turned out to be a beautiful day...  sunny and fairly warm. We ended up eating, talking, and touring the little town where she lives... very enjoyable day for all of us. Here's a pic of the old train that is by the Historical Center in that little town.

My friend is the one who helps me edit and proof my books and she is also part of the Historical Society for this town. They just published a book about this little Texas town and are now doing research on some of the surrounding areas. 

And...   

today is Mardi Gras 

back home in New Orleans!

Hopefully my cousins will send me pictures of the parades and any family participation... which I will share with you if applicable.

Hugs (yes, still virtual),

Rian