Scattered Thoughts . . .

The grandkids had dinner with us last night and, as always, it was a nice time. A couple of days ago, Lukey took a tumble down a set of stairs with his mom... all appeared fine except for some minor swelling in one area of his leg. The following morning he still wasn't putting any weight on that leg so it was time for a doctor... then the hospital... then after some x-rays, it was determined that Lukey had indeed broken his leg! For now, he has his full leg in a splint. He will, however, be getting a cast shortly (the hospital had computer problems while he was in the ER so they could not view the imaging so they just splinted it for the time being.) So... what does a three year old boy do on a hot summer day when his leg is in a full leg splint? He plays with Papa's trains! Of course, he would probably be doing the same regardless of his broken leg but now his activities are a bit limited. (It is a good thing we already spent time at the lake!) Sitting on the floor and

This morning, I wrote about how I missed a dose of medications yesterday... then missed some more medications last night... then missed a medication this morning... and how this sort of thing snowballs into something out of control...  This snowball has indeed enlarged and gotten out of control! This is a dangerous sequence of events for anyone struggling with Systemic Mastocytosis. Today was a "down" day for me... trying to recover from the missed medications... rest up... avoiding the heat and humidity (which trigger anaphylaxis and miserable health)... so, after lunch I laid down on the couch in the air conditioned living room to try to catch up on much needed sleep and to, hopefully, recover. The good news is that I had no problems whatsoever in falling asleep... The bad news is I was awakened very abruptly. My chest was pounding in palpitations... I was groggy... although I awakened suddenly, I was still groggy...  and feeling weak... I still wasn't thinking cl

Those of you who follow this blog know that I've been excited about getting our outdoor kitchen grilling area completed. Unfortunately, this project has been put on a back burner. About two weeks ago, I found that the roofing material I need/want for this grilling area is out of stock. This is what happens when the building season is extremely short and places to buy supplies are even shorter. So, I need to wait until this product is back in stock. Who knows how long that will take?  In the meantime, I decided to do a "quick" project in Adam's old bedroom.... While he was home on leave... for a whole month... he was supposed to pack up all his stuff, toss out whatever he does not want anymore, and clean up his room a bit. Everything he owned fit into this tiny bedroom so this was by no means an overwhelming task for him nor was it an unreasonable task. Sheila reminded him a few times that he needed to get started on his packing... he chose to just sit in front

Doing any sort of work on any of my model railroad models is just about impossible nowadays without getting some sort of help. I can no longer focus on anything up close even when wearing my progressive lens eyeglasses.  A week ago, I was working on my largest locomotive. It is a very large locomotive measuring 18 inches long and seven inches tall! That is just the size of the locomotive without the tender. Even considering how large this locomotive is, I still cannot focus on anything on this model when it is in my hands.  I can focus just fine (on most days) when the model is at greater distances. It is just close-up focusing that is a problem. Although, some days I cannot focus on anything... near or far... due to complications of Systemic Mastocytosis.  Honestly, I'm not sure if it is my medications which hamper my vision to this extent or if it is the disease or a combination of both. Although, my ophthalmologist has found signs of some retinal problems, my emergency med

Sometimes... you make a stupid mistake and then it somehow snowballs into a series of mistakes.  Sometimes... these mistakes are really nothing worth mentioning in the big scheme of things and sometimes they are pretty significant mistakes. Right now, I am paying the price for a pretty significant mistake which snowballed into a series of mistakes. When Sheila and I were getting ready for bed last night, I quickly realized that I had missed my dinnertime dose of medications. This alone is serious enough to cause anaphylaxis and a myriad of additional debilitating, nauseating, disgusting and dangerous symptoms. On the positive side, my health hadn't crashed yet as it usually does when I make this mistake so this was good news. (...probably because of the additional medications I took over the weekend so we could safely travel to Burlington for a short cruise...) This means I had time to correct this stupid yet potentially dangerous mistake.  I took out my nighttime dose of medi

We had some hazy but rather nice weather yesterday so we decided to head to Burlington and Lake Champlain for a short afternoon cruise on the "Spirit of Ethan Allen". We headed northward with Sheila's parents for an afternoon in Vermont's little quaint city on the lake. We always enjoy an afternoon roaming around Burlington... hopping from bar to restaurant to bar... so it was nice to get to do some of the same this weekend. We happened to be first in line to board the boat so this allowed us to get a prime table. The sun was blazingly hot while we were standing in line so we opted for choosing a table at the stern of the top level of the boat which was under cover. It turned out to be an exceptionally wise choice! We had a few drinks on board and then walked up toward Church Street after the cruise. The heat and humidity were enough to prompt me to request a table under cover rather than out on Church Street in the sun. Usually, everyone wants to sit ou