Looking Forward, Friends, etc.

We have several good news items to report, and this is a ‘catch-up’ blog because I’ve procrastinated when I should have been writing and publishing more often.

First, we’re very excited that the way is paved to go to Quartzsite in January! Don’s dialysis center admin guy Paul arranged for a chair at the dialysis center in Blythe, CA during the period Jan. 12-24 so we can leave Tucson on Jan. 11, return Jan. 25, taking 2 days for travel each way so we don’t get tired. We reserved a FHU site at Rice Ranch North, near the Too Crazy Ladies retail booth/RV.

Don’s fistula was examined by the surgeon and nurse practitioner on Dec. 2, and it received an A+ and a gold star! The dialysis center nurse Michelle was the first to use this new port for dialysis the following day. Don said he felt a little sting, but otherwise it wasn’t painful. The downside is that he can’t move his right arm at all during the 4 hours without risking pain and unwanted punctures. He needs help eating his snacks/lunch, and has to manage his Kindle, headphones, TV, etc. with his left hand. The upside is the permanence of the fistula, ability to shower without daily waterproofing the catheter (which we’ve done every day since August 12) as soon as it’s removed in about a week. The fistula is also a vital and important step toward home dialysis in a few months.


We finished our Christmas decorations and entered a contest in the RV park (at the encouragement of the staff). It’s nice to have our little tree on the dash again…we missed it last year when we were in Florida.

Don had a clever idea to hitch the motorhome to a couple of reindeer. I had trouble getting a good picture of the lights. The flash washed them out, but they looked fuzzy with no flash.

  

Gigi is pretty well settled in her new home. She now claims the space on the sofa as her own, but doesn’t mind if others share it with her. It’s just the best place to nap, as well as turn flips, burrow under the blanket, and sit on the back to look out the window.

On Wednesday Dec. 9 we had plans to meet Bill & Jan Mains for lunch. It suddenly dawned on me that morning that it was the day for the Escapees monthly luncheon in Benson. We’ll miss it in January due to going to Quartzsite, and we didn’t want to miss this one. I called Jan about 7:20 am and was delighted that she said they could be ready to go early and would love to go with us. They met us in the Safeway parking lot nearby, and had a nice ride in our new truck (Don’s really loving it!). It was nice to see lots of friends at the luncheon. (Note: I finally got a hair cut, and am enjoying having it easy to manage with just fluffing it up – no more time spent with the hair dryer.)

It’s been a long time since we saw Ron Chojnacki (talking with Don) and it was nice to meet his friend Mike, a solo RVer (next to Bill).

Don DeMent and Betty Dawson have enjoyed some traveling lately, so it was nice seeing them again.

Stu & Sandy Dutcher have been in touch with us during all of Don’s health problems, and Sandy is recovering nicely from her recent hip replacement.

 

Lynn & David Cross are staying in the Benson SKP park now.

More attendees appear in the group pictures below.
 

Later we stopped by our lot in Cochise Terrace and dropped off my sewing machine. 

It was a really nice day, but we still weren’t done. After returning to Tucson and bidding “See ya” to Jan & Bill, Mickey Waite called to see if she and Lynn could stop by for a visit. Mickey’s one of Gigi’s pals, so she got more petting and cuddles on the sofa.

My last note is to share a picture sent to Don by Pennye at Martin Accordions in Scott, LA, where we visited in February. Don helped her get some Koa wood from Hawaii through his brother Dave. Pennye ordered enough Koa to make 7 accordions, one of which is shown in progress below.

A final comment: I just spent the last 50 minutes transferring the text and pictures, piece by piece, to Blogger in order to publish this post. If I can't get the problems with Microsoft Live Writer resolved, this may be my last entry to the blog. I thought I had them resolved with the last entry, but new problems have appeared and I'm tired of fussing with them. Sometimes technology just sucks!