My chemo
came and went with expected results from the side effects, fatigue for a few
days and a slow return to what I now consider normal. My “now normal” is me
having to accept the limitations of the effects of old age. After looking at my
fingers the other day, Teresa said I was dehydrated. So, after downing a
Gatorade and plenty of water when my fingers didn’t plump up as expected, I finally
realized that the wrinkles in my fingers were just “old man hands”. Well crap,
when did that happen? Really? Have you looked in a mirror lately? Umm no, it’s
not good news so I’m not looking anymore. Besides, someone may have hung black
drapes over the things and I’m not sure that they wouldn’t be for me.
6-12
Anyway, we
headed to the north forty this past week intending on doing some things to get
ready for the upcoming move. The problem with our plan though was that the
weather had other plans. The only days that it didn’t rain were the day we got
there and the day that we left. In the one week that we were there it rained 13
inches. I had taken my riding lawnmower up there to try to reclaim some of the
area that we claim for yard. To be fair it is a fairly large area and I spent a
fair amount of time over four days mowing in between rain showers. Most of what
I had to mow was over the hood of the lawnmower so it was really slow going.
Once I’m able to get our tractor running it won’t be such a chore, since we
have a brushhog for it. Also, once it’s cut to a reasonable height it doesn’t
take but about a day to keep under control…. and keeps the snakes and other
critters away.
We had taken
the pickup and small trailer full of stuff as we almost always do when we head
up there. So, the day we arrived, since it wasn’t raining I parked the trailer
close to the house. Mistake. At least in not moving it as soon as we got it
empty. When it rains there the ground gets so slick you can’t get enough traction
to get out. The last time we were up there it rained, and not nearly as much, I
got the pickup stuck on nearly level ground. It was on the second day of it
being stuck that I finally got a winch and spent about four hours winching it
out. So, with all of the rain it was too slick to get the trailer out and we
had to leave it there. This was more of an inconvenience since we use the
trailer when it’s here for staging the things we want to take up there.
6-19
So, home
again, home again, jiggity jog. We landed in the front yard for unloading at
2:50 PM and finally sitting down for a minute at 4:30. The suitcases will be
unpacked and repacked, the vehicles switched out and reloaded, and we will be
off for Houston again Sunday. We’ll stop at my daughters Sunday and head on for
Houston Monday. This breaks the trip up so that my boney seat doesn’t cause me
agony. When I lost weight from the first round of chemo, evidently I had a
really big ass and no one was ever impolite enough to tell me. Who knew? Because
now, after about two hours of driving I need to get up and get off of it
because the bones are digging through what’s left of it. For a truck driver who
is used to putting in very long days, this is almost like a handicap. That just
makes long days longer and more tired. I do know that it’s always been easier
on me to drive the big truck than the little one.
6-22
Finally
settled into the room in Houston after spending the night with my daughter and
granddaughter. Last night my daughter made lasagna, one of my favorites, for Father’s
Day.
We have
packing for Houston down to a science now. You would really hope that we would
be capable of that, since we’ve been packing the big truck for over 13 years.
Loading and unloading the pickup takes only about ten minutes. Of course,
dealing with the stuff on either end takes a bit more time.
Tomorrow it’s
off for chemo 2.4
Ok, I’ve
taken up enough of your time, so it’s off to the cloud.
