Too Good to Go?

The day after we arrived in Chicago, our daughter, Tiffany said she needed to go out to get her bag of unknown pastry goodies from the Great Harvest Bread Company. She explained that the bakery would give out assorted day-old bread or pastries for just $6.00 to prevent food waste.

I thought that was a really fun idea. Tif liked the mystery of never knowing for sure what you'd get and yes, you sure can't beat the price.

Off she went and returned with this assortment of interesting items.

We tasted the Monkey Bread which reminded us of their Apple Scrapple which we used to love when the kids were growing up.

I asked if they sold these bags every day and she said there was an app called Too Good to Go that would post when things would be available.

Well....

I wondered if Hawaii had a Great Harvest Bread Co. and WOW! We do have one in Kahala and one in Kailua.

However their menus are very different. There's no Monkey Bread or Apple Scrapple in Hawaii.

Ah well...

We'll wait until we're back in Chicago again.

Then again, I'll bet Art would like to try that kulolo muffin.

A Million Roses? Seriously?!?

I noticed this rather eye-catching floral display on my daughter's coffee table but it wasn't until much later that I asked how she'd gotten it. Tif told us that Ed had bought it last September to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary. 

Wow! 20 Years already!

 I remarked that they looked really real.

"They are," said Tif. "It's called a Million Roses."

I touched it and yes, it did feel real. But how is that possible?

I looked it up and yes, I guess it's true. It's... uuummm... pricey, but perhaps my son-in-law was able to find a discounted price. 

Whatever the case, I do love knowing how sweet, thoughtful and generous he is.

POSTSCRIPT:

I just looked up how long a Million Roses last. They say it will keep for up to 3 years. It’s not forever.

A Time of Pride and Happiness

Although our sudden trip to Chicago was for a very sad reason, it also just happened to coincide with a celebration. Our granddaughter, KC belongs to a dance studio. She is also part of a high school dance group and was asked to audition for a special fall show written, performed, choreographed by students with a teacher advisor. We'd never been to one of these performances.

They told me that all 7 shows were completely sold out. Tiffany put out a call to her friend who she knew had purchased several tickets and asked if they would be willing to sacrifice a couple of their tickets so we'd be able to see it in the week we'd be there.

It's been almost 4 years since we'd been back to Chicago. We hadn't seen any of KC's performances except on video links that Tif emailed us of websites that showed all the dance competitions.

I was therefore thrilled that we'd be able to see an actual performance in person. Art suggested that I make a candy lei for KC since we certainly couldn't bring a flower lei with us. (Yes, I added a little cash. I wonder which KC liked more.😂)

We had such a short time to pack for this trip that I had to make the candy-money lei in Chicago the day before the performance.

KC was worried that we might be shocked at the more revealing costumes they would be wearing as well as the topics the skits would be covering.

Puh..leease... 

We're much more broad minded than that.

Indeed, the costumes were a bit tighter and slightly more revealing than 4 years ago, but it was all OK for their older age group. 

There were skits about vaping, killer blackbirds?, a little sex, AI, human-like androids, etc.

I can't remember it all because I was focused on the 6 dance sequences that KC was in.

And was she absolutely awesome and the best dancer there? Definitely! And am I biased? Of course! I'm her grandma, for goodness sakes!

However, later... Tif asked me if I caught all the references to people like the Kardashians, etc. Really? Oops! Missed it! 

Still.... It was all wonderful and a ton of fun. KC is attending the same high school her uncle and mom attended so it was nostalgic for us to be back there again.

And yes, we were filled with pride and happiness.

Saying Goodbye

The day after flying in from Hawaii and arriving in Chicago, we went to visit Peggy's family. We were able to spend time with her husband and two sons. We talked about her last days and the gift she was to everybody in her life. We talked about the times our families spent together since the kids were very little.

One of her sons went into her bedroom and brought out a framed photo of all of us together when they came for Tiffany and Ed's wedding so many years ago.

Peggy's funeral a couple of days later was very small. It was mostly family and the few friends they notified.

There was a slideshow being played of her life, many I recognized as photos we'd taken. 

When we entered the funeral home, there were two women who were watching the slide show. When they turned around and saw us, they walked over quickly and identified themselves.

Oh my gosh! Ann was a neighbor from perhaps almost 40 years ago. She'd left our village and moved to Florida with a new husband. Diane reminded me that she was the mother of our son, Keola's best pre-school buddy. 

Uuuummm... Seeing as we were the only Asians there, I imagine we were easy to pick out. 

I asked Diane what her son was doing now since our son was living overseas with his family. She told me her son had passed away 6 years ago. 

I could not believe it.

So young.

This is a photo of the two of them from the first of their pre-school days together.

I felt her loss as Diane tried to hold back tears. I was in shock.

We then spent time with Peggy's husband and three sons. After more hugs and a sad farewell, we returned home.

It was a sad, nostalgic, loving time and I was glad Art had made the decision to fly to Illinois so I could say good-bye. 

Backing Up Your Blog

It's always been a worry that my blog will suddenly disappear into the cyber nether-regions. I've written 4,010 blog posts since 2008 and that's 15 years where I've recorded everything I could possibly remember. 

I even tried copying what I write here on Blogspot to Wordpress but that eventually got to be too much of a chore.

So I looked up how I could back up my blog.

You are supposed to go to Settings and under Manage Blog, click Back up content.

I did it and got this wave thing which I saved to my computer. I hope this is how you're supposed to do it. But the thing is, it's only 187 MB.

Will that really work? I sure hope so.

Happy Halloween Everybody!

Unlike in Illinois, we haven't had many trick-or-treaters in Hawaii. I don't see a lot of homes decorated for Halloween here either. Then again, I know other neighborhoods in Hawaii do take Halloween more seriously and it's fun to see what sort of decorations they put up.

I've seen a lot of  pretty amazing costumes for sale at Sam's Club or Costco. I know my grandchildren have been dressed up in some pretty awesome costumes too. It's so much easier now to just go out and buy a ready made costume.

However, when our children were growing up, many of the kids (or parents) made their own.  Tiffany and Keola started out as rice bags. Yup. Nobody knew what they were supposed to be, but it didn't matter. Tif wore the rice bag first. No, we didn't eat that much rice. I think they came from Art's family restaurant.

And Keola was next.

He didn't care. The treat was the most important thing.

When they got a little older, they had their own ideas so the rice bag was put into retirement.

What were your kids' favorite costumes?

POSTSCRIPT 1:

I wrote earlier that I don't see many homes being decorated for Halloween here in Hawaii. Well... a friend of mine just texted me this photo from her neighborhood. OK... I'm impressed.

POSTSCRIPT 2:

Correction: My brother tells me that when we were growing up on the sugar plantation camp, my parents did buy 50 lb bags of rice. 

Teal Pumpkin Project

Have you heard of the Teal Pumpkin Project?

I noticed this blue pumpkin in front of Tif and Ed's fireplace and asked her about it.

Our town was known for trying to be inclusive and understanding. I guess that's why our kids liked it so much.

Apparently, you can leave a teal colored pumpkin out on our front stoop so children with allergies would know they could stop by for some non-food toy or fun thing.

I asked Tif if any child did stop by for that sort of safe treat but she said she didn't have anyone ask for it last year. Our little neighborhood was known for being a safe place. There were parents at Halloween who would stop by at the entrance of our little "village" and drop off their children knowing they'd be safe. 

We did love our neighborhood back then. It was close knit and you felt your kids would be safe to run around without your watching them every second because so many neighbors would keep an eye out for each other's children. 

I wonder what it's like now.

POSTSCRIPT:

A friend just told me that there's also another meaning for a child who is carrying a BLUE pumpkin. The blue pumpkin would signify that the child has an autism spectrum disorder. It would alert people to show some kindness and understanding for a child who might not be able to say, "Trick or Treat" or behave as other children. 

Acorns and Pine Cones

We bought our Illinois home (built in 1950) in1975. Our daughter and husband then bought that home in 2006 when we moved to Hawaii and we bought my mother's home in Hawaii after we renovated it. Tiffany wanted to move back to her childhood home because she'd always loved the neighborhood and had friends here.

Art and I were happy that we'd now have a familiar place to go back to for our visits. This is all just a prelude to this post about our trees. 

Art LOVES trees. That's why he's not happy that we don't have many tall trees in our neighborhood in Hawaii.

When the kids were in grade school. I think Keola might have been in 4th grade. Maybe. The school had passed out little pine trees for Arbor Day. This seedling was very little. It must have been about 9 inches tall. We planted it together in the little area between our house and the neighbor's. I was very dubious that it would grow much. I thought it would get trampled by raccoons or skunks or whatever.

Well... I guess it survived. On several visits since we noticed it had grown a bit.

But what a surprise when we went back this time! And the most amazing thing we saw? Two pine cones!!!

Tif told us that the swamp oak tree had also produced acorns for the first time this year. What is it about 2023?

She sent this photo of the acorns that had fallen on the ground.

She also sent this photo the week before we came to show all the acorns on the tree. There were a few left on the tree when we got there, but the army of squirrels from all around town had raided just about everything that could be gathered.

I guess 2023 is the year of the nuts, acorns and pine cones. We did see other neighbors' trees absolutely loaded with chestnuts and all kinds of other nuts. I did read that 75-200 years is the prime time for the swamp oak to produce acorns. So... I guess this is about right.

What has it been like in your neighborhood? Do you have a lot of large trees?

Using Online Check-In for the First Time

We've never done the online check-in for United Airlines. Something about doing it from my cellphone kind of spooked me. There was comfort in doing it the old way from the kiosk and so on and so forth and getting a hard copy paper ticket.

But this time, when the United app sent a message that I should do the online check-in, I held my breath and tried it. If my kids were here, they would have held my hand through it but I had to take the risk on my own. So I did it.

Gosh.... It was easy.

The tricky part was finding the "Bag Drop Shortcut" which was a bit of a walk but there were helpers who pointed the way there.

The cheerful attendant took our bags, labeled them and sent them on their way.

We left at 5:15 in the afternoon.

This was supposed to be a red-eye flight, but I can NEVER sleep. The flight was totally FULL.

And then... there it was below us. 

Chicago.

It was 6:15 in the morning. The flight was ON TIME! How amazing is that?

We had not been to Chicago since February of 2020! 

Can it really be that we hadn't been back in almost 4 years? 

It was a nostalgic, weird sort of feeling to be walking again through the familiar corridors of O'Hare Airport.

We saw that the longest lines were at McDonalds and Starbucks.

Our daughter, Tiffany came to pick us up before going to work. She had the guestroom ready for us along with toiletries, towels, extra blankets and even breakfast food. (Extra blankets? It was sweltering in Hawaii!)

Our granddaughter was off to high school and then an hour later, our son-in-law was off to O'Hare for his week long job in another state. Tif told us we'd come at a crazy time for all of them.

Once everyone was gone, the travel exhaustion hit us. We fell asleep for about two hours and then spent the time unpacking and etc.

This was going to be a very short trip because we can't leave mom alone for long. My brother comes to stay with her, but I feel bad having to rely on him to stay at our house for any long period. 

Tiffany returned from work a little early and she prepared chicken shawarma for dinner. It was wonderful! 

KC then left for her dance rehearsals and we spent the evening with Tif catching up and just talking and talking until around 10:00 at night when we welcomed KC home. (It was 5:00 PM in Hawaii.)

And then we crashed...totally exhausted. Our circadian rhythm would need several days to adjust itself. 

Sad and Happy Hiatus

I'm afraid I'm taking another two week hiatus. 

We're leaving for Chicago to attend Peggy's funeral. Her husband is expecting us and I was touched that her son posted the photo of the time they came for Tiffany's wedding and sat with us. My brother is dropping everything to come and stay with mom. Thank goodness for awesome brothers and sister-in-laws!

This is a bit stressful because I usually need 2 weeks to think, create lists and pack before a trip. 4 days was hard. Luckily, Tif said, "You're coming to Chicago. If you forget something you can certainly get it here." She then sent all the Fall/Winter clothing we have stored in their attic. 

Incredibly, we are coincidentally going to be there for my granddaughter's special high school performance. We can hardly believe the timing of it. We've only been able to see her dance in videos since COVID started. The tickets were all sold out so my daughter asked a good friend if she'd be willing to let us have one of her tickets so we could see KC on stage. I told Tif we didn't want to take away her opportunity to see KC dance. She chuckled and said she and her friend had actually bought tickets for two shows.

So it will be a mixture of tremendous sadness and happy pride.

Tif has warned us that the costumes will not be the modest, pretty outfits we've seen so far in videos. The girls are older now and it will be more revealing. 😮

"Uhhhhhmmm..." said KC. "You might not quite understand the dialog too."  

I guess this is an artistic performance incorporating acting, dance, etc. I suppose I'll find out more when I get there.  

Why do I suddenly feel a bit older? 

Well, now I'm curious. 

Always in My Heart

I've been dreading the time when I would write this post...

When we first moved into the Chicagoland suburb, I was a tad bit nervous. Our small area of about 100 homes had only one other Asian family for a long time. When we bought the home, we didn't know what the neighbors would be like. Coming from Hawaii and a sugar plantation camp where everybody was some Asian mixture, learning that the community we were moving into was almost all white was.... well...a spooky shock. I'd heard about racial prejudice on the mainland. (Art had spent quite a bit of time going to school in the Midwest and being stationed on the East coast when he was serving in the Air Force so he was used to it.)

There were two other families that were moving into the community that same year.

Peggy moved in with her family two doors down from us. I can't remember who called who on the phone that first time. However, Peggy and I talked and talked. I remember looking out the window and seeing the sun set and we were still talking.

A couple of years later, her daughter and my son were born 8 days apart. Peggy encouraged me to learn to drive so we could carpool together. She even took me to the Department of Motor Vehicles to get my license.

We went to lots and lots of garage and house sales together just for the fun of it and dragged all our kids with us.

We told each other everything that was going on in our minds and hearts. We were "Aunties" to each other's children just like in Hawaii.

When my son broke his arm on the school playground, she insisted on us corralling all our kids into her station wagon and driving us the long distance to the Great Lakes Naval Hospital. She didn't want me driving. It was a shock when X-rays showed how bad the break was, so she took Tiffany home with her while I stayed with Keola late into the night for the surgery. Art was in D.C. at a meeting at the time.

Life went on. I went back to work teaching first graders and she moved away with her family for her husband's new job. But we always kept in touch.

We were able to visit through all their moves. 

When our daughter, Tiffany got married, Peggy and her husband drove all the way to Chicago from Ohio to attend the wedding.

I wish they could have come to Hawaii too after we moved here.

Peggy gave me this wall hanging to go with the others she's given me through the years. 

Peggy has had health issues throughout the years but she never let them restrict or get her feeling down. She loved everyone unconditionally and was loved in return. Her family knew what a treasure they had for their wife and mother. 

The years flew by, but we made it a point to get together whenever we could, along with our husbands and kids.

I knew three years ago just before COVID hit, that her health was declining but she reassured me that she was getting better.

I clung to that. I couldn't accept anything else.

Then last week, her loving husband called to tell me Peggy was in hospice.

No.

No.

On Monday night, I couldn't sleep. I laid in bed and started talking to Peggy in my head and eventually fell asleep.

The next morning, Peggy's husband called to tell me she'd passed away during the night.

I'm looking at Peggy's wall now with the wall hangings she's given me in the past.

I've been very blessed with many amazing friends in Illinois. 

But Peggy was the first.

And yes, she'll always be in my heart and always a part of me.

DeCluttering

 A friend recently sent me an article about decluttering from Consumer Reports.

We actually decluttered a LOT when we moved from Illinois to Hawaii. We had to because shipping things from Illinois to Hawaii was considered an International move. I guess it's because it's over an ocean. That was in 2008. So it's been 15 years.

Since mom had her older (maybe antique) things and we had our newer things, there's a lot of stuff we don't use at all. And in those 15 years... well... we did get a few more things that seemed as though we needed them.

Some of the kitchen drawers have gotten so full that I either can't close it easily or fit anything else in it. That's been annoying but I wasn't motivated to get rid of anything. However, this article was just the push I needed.

This was originally the knife drawer. But things got really messy. So I decided to get rid of some of those knives and figured I'd just donate them to Goodwill.

However, Art stopped me and said mom uses the big one to cut the hard kabocha.

OK, back in the drawer.

OK...

So that went back in the drawer. Well, anyway, the drawer is neater now. I'm sorry I didn't do a Before and After photo which would have really shown the difference.

Once that was done, I took out several scoops and spatulas from the large utensil drawer. The drawer doesn't get stuck anymore.

I was also in the bathroom and noticed this top drawer between Art and my sink was SUPER cluttered so I found a container and a small box to organize it. AND I tossed out a whole bunch of old band-aids, etc.

So now I'm walking around the house looking at what else can go into the donation pile.

Hmmm... I just got a message that the nearby Buddhist Temple is having a Rummage Sale. I will have to start seriously looking for things to pass on to somebody else.

But then the other day, my brother (who used to work at the Honolulu Police Department crime lab) said, "Hmmm... if you donate those knives and someone uses them for a crime, you know your DNA will be on it right?" 

I think he was joking. Right? 😏

POSTSCRIPT:

I'm making progress. I'll be donating these things to the temple. OK, not the salad bowl though because my sister-in-law remembers mom serving her famous macaroni salad in it when my nephews were little.

Chinese Lantern Lily

When we were in Tokyo in June, we passed through a shopping area and I saw a display of flowers that caught my eye. I thought they were artificial flowers at first because they seemed so unusual.

Maybe it was the lighting or whatever, but I had to take several photos of it.

I did read on Wikipedia that: 

The corms of Sandersonia aurantiaca contain levels of the toxic alkaloid colchicine comparable to those in Gloriosa superba, another very poisonous plant belonging to the family Colchicaceae.

I think that sign for the flower says Sandersonia with a Japanese accent.

Have you ever seen this flower? I know I've never seen it in Hawaii or any of our travels.

You Know Who... and Happy News About the Lahaina Banyan

I saw this comics in the Star Advertiser and had to 🙄 roll my eyes. It's so true isn't it?

And You Know Who is still the Republican frontrunner. 

Now... for some happy news.

Whenever we've flown to Maui and visited Lahaina, we've always stopped at the Banyan tree. It's one of Maui's most famous sites. And it's the largest banyan in the US, planted on April 24, 1873 which makes it 150 years old.

It's so huge that I could never get a photo of the entire tree.

So after the horror of the Lahaina fires and the lives and famous town lost, we did wonder about the tree.

This is how it looked after the fires.

Seeing this article gave us a glimmer of hope. Could it be that Lahaina could come back again? Would local people and businesses come back again?

I hope so.

Staying Safe

I don't know if you've already seen this on CBS News, but I thought it was interesting. I was wondering about getting the flu, RSV and COVID that are now available this fall. 

I've had this weird thing twice now where I've gotten that plugged ear feeling followed by vertigo in 2021 (after flu shot in October) and this year (after COVID bi-valent in May).

I've had several friends who took the flu and RSV together and then the COVID a week later. They were absolutely fine. I thought I'd do the same thing but decided to ask my primary doctor just in case.

He said juuuust in case, I might want to skip the RSV this time (since I haven't had much of a respiratory problem) just because of that possible past history with the plugged ears and vertigo. OK. I had the flu shot last Friday and I'm fine so far. I'll get the COVID next week and keep my fingers crossed. There's a LOT  of COVID walking around right now according to friends and relatives.

Then I saw this CBS News article which I thought was very interesting. 

"Some people are saying, 'Well, could I get RSV, COVID and the flu vaccine on the same day?' Yes, indeed, you could. But honestly, I might not," said Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. 

Instead, he said he intended to get the COVID shot right away and the flu shot in early October.

Marks, who was speaking during a recent call with FDA stakeholders, stressed that he did not disagree with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which allows giving multiple different routine shots during the same visit. Doctors refer to this as "coadministration" or "simultaneous administration" of vaccines.

However, he acknowledged that getting up to three of the different vaccines at the same time could lead to more side effects — like stronger fatigue or a small fever — in the days after getting the shots. 

 Spacing out the shots by around two weeks could "minimize the chance of interactions, and minimize confusing side effects from one with another," he said. They might be a good option for people who did not mind multiple trips to the pharmacy or their doctor's office."

Luckily, we live quite close to the CVS pharmacy. Not everyone has that luxury. I recently asked my brother and another friend about the RSV vaccine and was told they absolutely intended to get the RSV just because they've had a lot of respiratory, allergy, asthmatic, etc. problems in past.

Stay safe everyone.

Testing for Vertigo

OK, I had my vestibular testing last Tuesday and it was not fun. Not fun at all. The definition for vestibular is " relating to a vestibule, particularly that of the inner ear, or more generally to the sense of balance".

I went to Audiology Associates to be tested both for my hearing and my vertigo. The ENT doctor at Tripler had told me not to worry and that the Audiologist would just be putting me through some tests that would show my vertigo triggers.

OKKKKKK....

It started fine. The doctor was very kind, explaining first what she would be doing. She said my ear canal was unusual because it went up instead of ..... (I forget).

After that, it was more of an in depth hearing test which was more comprehensive than what I had at Sam's Club some 8 years ago. Art took a photo from where he was waiting for me. It looked like my right ear was better than my left. And it did look like my hearing had deteriorated, somewhat.😕

I was feeling OK.

So far.

But then she said Art would probably want to go into the other room because I was going into a dark room to be tested for my vertigo.

Uh oh...

She put infrared goggles on me (to record my eye movements) and had me follow some red dots on a long bar. It didn't feel great, but it was OK. So far.

I was then told to lie on my right side and then my left side.

OK. So far.

Then she said she would be blowing cold air into my ear. It was a very strong stream of cold air. And it was OK until it wasn't . I got hit with vertigo.

Then she did the left ear and it was worse. Yikes! She had me look at her finger and take deep breaths until I felt a little better.

If that wasn't bad enough, she shot a strong stream of hot air into my right ear. Awful. I asked if she had a bucket or something because I was definitely nauseous. (Good thing I was told not to eat anything 4 hours prior to the test.)

Then the left ear and I heard her say, "Whoa... that was a good one. Uuuummm... I mean strong one."

I felt sick leaving the office and still nauseous on the way home. The doctor said I'd feel better once I took deep breaths, etc.

The following day... I was still not feeling great. I had to take a meclizine.

I'm doing relatively OK now after 5 days, but still not 100%

I have an appointment with my ENT doctor at Tripler in a couple of weeks and he is supposed to explain what I will have to do.

But gosh! Is there a cure for this? My 95 year old aunt told me she's had it for 60 years.

Sigh...

REusing #2 HDPE Plastic Bottles

Art likes to reuse plastic bottles to carry water when he goes jogging. It's because they're lighter to carry and smaller in size.

When mom had her digestive issues I noticed that these bottles were a great size for him to use. I looked under the bottle and saw it had the #2 rating for HDPE. 

I was nervous because you often see water bottles that advertise no BPA. But I didn't even know what BPA was that could be leached from plastic into your drink. I just looked it up. It's bisphenol A and linked to disruptions in the endocrine system which regulates your hormones.

So then I looked up if plastic bottles with that #2 rating were safe to use and found the following on WebMD. I copied the information that were most important to me.

https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/is-it-safe-to-reuse-plastic-water-bottles

...High-density polyethylene (HDPE).  If your bottle displays a “2,” the plastic is high-density polyethylene (HDPE). HDPE is a more sturdy, durable plastic. This makes it a good material for detergent bottles, soap bottles, and gallon-size liquid containers...

 ...Concerns with type-2 plastics (HDPE plastics). If you happen across a water bottle marked with a “2,” you can reuse it as long as it’s washed well and not cracked or otherwise damaged. This type of plastic is a low risk for chemical leaching.

...Plastic Bottles and Bacteria Growth

Plastic bottles can harbor harmful bacteria, which is why most manufacturers recommend you use them only once. In truth, bacterial growth in water bottles is a much bigger concern than chemical leaching.‌
Bacterial growth can happen quickly from the ordinary use of touching your mouth to your bottle. Even unfinished beverages left at room temperature can have startling bacteria growth throughout the day. It’s best to reuse plastic water bottles sparingly and wash them thoroughly because germs spread so quickly.
‌Whether you want to reuse plastic water bottles for convenience or to help the environment, you might be better off choosing a reusable stainless-steel or glass bottle instead.‌..

OK, So I've washed them out thoroughly and will wash them carefully after each use. 

Granted, maybe I'm saving too many plastic containers around the house. I keep trying to reuse things instead of sending them to recycling or landfills.

My son-in-law did once mention to me that perhaps... uuuummm... I could be overdoing it a bit. 😁

Dolly and Arnold

I enjoy looking at Buzzfeed on my iPhone occasionally. They have a lot of funny, happy, exciting things that people do or experiece.

A recent post had food service workers telling about their experiences with celebrities. I guess they do this topic a lot. I couldn't find the one I saw, but this is one of their posts.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/kristenharris1/restaurant-workers-celebrity-encounters

The post I saw a few days ago told about Dolly Parton.

It's quite wonderful to know that she really is as cheerful and kind as she appears in talk shows, etc.

I wrote something about Dolly in 2009 and my cousin, Arnold.

"He's a Captain with Hawaiian Airlines (rated #1 recently). Here's a photo of Arnold with...guess who?

It was taken in 1990 or so. He says the cabin crew were all making a fuss over her and he went back to welcome her and say he was one of her fans. She insisted he sit on her lap for a photo and would not take, (I'll bet it was a weak) "no," for an answer. He says Dolly really is as nice as everyone says. Well, Arnold's a sweetie, too! Isn't this just the coolest thing?"

So yes, that confirms how nice she is. 

As a retired teacher I can't help but love that she promotes reading for all children. 

I'm Baaack

It's been a heck of a couple of months! I've written how I had an attack of vertigo (with a visit to the ER) in June a week before our trip to Tokyo to celebrate our 50th anniversary with the kids. With my bottle of meclizine to keep dizziness at bay, our Tokyo trip was wonderful. 

However, July had vertigo attacks constantly happening with a horrendous one with vomiting and diarrhea at the same time (Don't even try to imagine this. It was awful!). It happened a couple of days before Art left for Tanzania with our friend, Dave on August 1st. He had to do the trip. He really did. They'd planned this since 2020 and already paid for half of it. My brother reassured us that he'd be around for any emergency and he certainly was. That's why he's my favorite brother. OK...He's my only brother but, he's still my favorite.

It wasn't easy. I was doing the Epley maneuver three times a day and taking meclizine daily to prevent a worse attack while Art was gone.

Art returned after the two week trip, tired and full of stories about their fabulous adventure. They'd traveled to Tanzania and then spent a couple of amazing days in Dubai. He had a runny nose and what seemed to be a post nasal drip which he does suffer from occasionally. When he tested himself, yes... he was positive for COVID and had to be quarantined... IMMEDIATELY, but not before mom and I were exposed.

So then, there I was going up and down the stairs carrying his meals, laundry, medication, fluids to his closed door.

I was fanatical about this. I had windows open, fans blowing, etc. I couldn't afford to catch it and I had to keep mom safe.

I tested myself and mom constantly and miraculously avoided catching the virus.

The Paxlovid for Art did not work as quickly for Art as it did for others. I suspect he caught the virus earlier than he thought. (Someone told me you have to take the medication 5 days after symptoms show.) Whatever the case, he was quarantined for almost two weeks. He tested negative after about a week and a half but needed another 3-4 days to regain his energy and appetite. (Amazingly, Dave who was with Art for the entire time never caught COVID!)

And then...

Oh gosh...

I thought we might be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel when Art was beginning to feel better. But then, Mom started to develop some kind of digestive disorder. My brother and I took her to Urgent Care and they put her through a battery of tests. They couldn't find anything drastically wrong. I was now having to worry about what kind of meals I could safely give mom.

Sooo... I needed to encourage Art to eat a lot more and had to now limit what kind of food I could give mom safely.

After three weeks, mom seems to have recovered and her appetite is back to normal. She and Art now just have to regain the weight they'd lost. Me too, actually.

I have an appointment with an audiologist this week. She will test my hearing and then give me a series of vestibular tests for vertigo.

One of the questions I had to answer before my appointment was if I'm under stress.

Hmmmm.... you think?!?