Day: December 14, 2023

14 December 2023

Sorry about the delay in yesterday’s post. I thought I posted it but didn’t. I seem to be doing a lot of that lately – forgetting things like appointment times.

Yesterday’s massage was very relaxing. My back felt better than it has in a long time. Tom also does some leg exercises with me and I was surprised at my flexibility. I usually have pretty good flexibility but since I’ve been laid low with chemo, I haven’t been exercising.

The weather last night was windy and wild. You could hear it beating against the house. Looks like we are in for tropical force winds sometime around Saturday. Rain is forecast for the rest of the week.

Today I visit the dermatologist. Hopefully, I’ll get a clean bill of health. This will be the first time he’s seen me since my surgery. I hope the scar doesn’t scare him.

12:48 pm
Back from the dermatologist with a clean bill of health. His waiting room is a hoot. It’s full of junk art by Al Wadzinski of Minneapolis.

All of Wadzinski’s work is from scrap heaps. In addition, he has sets from Jim Shores from Rome, Georgia that is similar in nature. I remember having a conversation with him years ago how much he liked the stuff and how he thought he would try his hand at it. He was working on a piece with a saw and his hand slipped. He realized he made his living with his hands and that ended his artistic expression.

My dermatologist has quite the background. Summa cum laude from Yale, Yale Medical School, Harvard Medical School Residency, and numerous awards and publications. It’s always nice to know your doctor knows what they are doing.

It’s a hot chocolate kind of day – wet, windy, cool. When I got settled at home, I made a batch of home made hot chocolate. It’s the recipe on the Hershey’s Powdered Cocoa can, the same recipe Mother used to make for me and Archie.

Mother put marshmallows in ours but I use whipped cream. It hits the spot on a day like today.

Here’s the recipe.

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup Hershey’s Powdered Cocoa
pinch of salt
1/3 cup hot water
4 cups milk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix the cocoa and sugar and salt together in a pot large enough to hold 4 cups of milk. Slowly add the 1/3 cup hot water while stirring (I use a whisk) to form a slurry (this keeps down lumps). Then add the milk and heat until warm. Add the vanilla extract and continue to heat until you reach your desired temperature.

Enjoy!

Stay tuned!

13 December 2023

Overcast, windy, and raining – everything you expect for a December day – in Mississippi. This is South Florida, our dry season. Normally, I would be adding water to the pool now. I’ve done it only once so far this “dry” season. Looks like we have four more days of this.

Christmas in Mississippi when I was growing up was either cold and wet or sunny and warm. Mostly cold and wet. I can’t ever remember a white Christmas. Perhaps some were ice Christmases – they were more likely.

I made the chiropractor’s appointment just in time. About 30 minutes before the appointment, I foolishly called ADT about obtaining a new key fob to allow me to turn the alarm on or off from outside the house. My old one gave up the ghost upon a spin in the washing machine. I understand they need to be super careful about sending a fob out (I opted for two in case the washing machine eats another) but it took forever to (1) get to the right person and (2) get the clearance. I had to hang up just to make the appointment with the chiropractor.

They will send the fobs and then I’ll have to contact them again to enable them. All for the low, low price of $64.20 (a discount buying two).

The chiropractor did a couple of manipulations to my back. I don’t know if it is working but I haven’t had nearly the pain. I go back again Friday. There’s definitely something peculiar about their reservation process. I had already scheduled a Friday session for 10:40 am but when I went to check out, I was not on the schedule – yet the appointment time was open. Who knows?

I left there and headed to Walgreens to pick up some lancets and test strips for my glucose meter. Medicare will only pay for the lancets and test strips three days before the subscription is done and even stranger, you have to go into the store to obtain the prescription – no drive thru for you.

After the pharmacy, I headed to Winn-Dixie to buy some fresh fruit for my breakfast. Of course, I forgot to add yogurt to go with the fruit.

While I was stretched out on the Cox table at the chiropractor, my watch notified me of an incoming call. My phone was on silent but apparently my watch wasn’t. It was Tom, the massage therapist calling. After I left the chiropractor office, I noticed he left a message. The last time he called me was a butt dial. He wanted to know if I could shift from a 1:30 appointment to 2:30. Not a problem.

After I leave the massage, I’ll stop at Publix on the way back and pick up some yogurt for tomorrow’s breakfast. I do try to eat healthy but my sweet taste buds have really dominated lately. Add that to the season where they go into overdrive producing sweet things and my sugar level is red lining.

It’s these type of days that I crave comfort food. I still have some beef stew left over so that may be my dinner tonight. It’s a good probability I’ll curl up with a book tonight.

Stay tuned!