No Treats---Just Tricks on Halloween

Our internet went out on Halloween, and it was just restored late last night.  R has had multiple doctors' appointments in the last two weeks, and we have desperately needed to do some medical research online, as well as health insurance and Medicare changes needing our attention, but we were reduced to pacing the floor (me) and bemoaning how much we needed to do and couldn't do with the DSL out (R).

We had an appointment with the Vascular Surgeon last Friday (11-9-18), and he said R is not well enough to withstand the aneurysm surgery at this time.  He set up an appointment with a Cardiologist in the same group for today (11-15-18).  Leaving the Heart Center last Friday for another appointment at another location, R had a hard fall on the concrete sidewalk.  Was sent for CT of the brain to make sure there was no brain bleed.  There wasn't, thank goodness.  At the second appointment, they told us he was on the verge of his kidneys completely shutting down.  His blood pressure was way too low, and he was severely dehydrated due to Lasix.  He was given IV fluids and then released to come home.  It was a long, harrowing day.

Today, we see the the Cardiologist and have lab work again to see how his kidneys are doing.  This is the scariest journey I have ever been on in my life.  And Winter is setting in.

Update on Randy

A quick update on  Randy...got a call from the vascular surgeon's office this afternoon saying they've changed his surgery date AGAIN  from November 5 to November 8.  This whole mess is so bizarre, and I don't know what to do with my anger, fear, and loss of all trust in this doctor.  Randy is totally resistant to going to another doctor.

The Passage of Months

From March through today has been full of challenges, mostly for my husband, who has a rare vascular autoimmune disease which has been progressing for about 4 years now.  Their best medical guess is Giant Cell Arteritis and Polymyalgia Rheumatica, or worse, Wegeners Disease.  They all have similar or overlapping symptoms.  There seems to be a new issue every day or two that we have to deal with. Scary, scary shit.

This year has been particularly challenging as he was also diagnosed with an abdominal aortic aneurysm which doesn't have normal parameters and is getting close to a size that would be in danger of rupturing.  The surgery, which is a 6 to 7 hour ordeal even without complications,  has been scheduled twice now, and then canceled by the doctor for varying reasons.  The surgery is now back on for November 5.  However,  his health is so precarious due to the autoimmune disease that the surgery scares me to death for him, and I struggle every day to hold myself together, and to keep him up, both mentally and physically.  He really has no choice but to go through with the surgery.   Where we live is a difficult place to be with serious health issues and heading into the Winter months.  We live in an isolated place prone to power outages and road blocks from downed trees during winds, or heavy rains, or snow, as Winter deepens.  And there will be numerous follow-up appointments.

I miss my blog, and the blogging community , so I've decided to try to record our journey here.  I am relatively healthy, thank goodness , and Marlee is my constant little sidekick.

Have been MIA

Life has been hurtling at me and my family at a dizzying speed.  I truly don't accept change with even a speck of grace.  I bow up like a cat hissing, and dig my heels in like a stubborn dachshund.   Just not in my DNA to do it gracefully.  Makes it hard to get out of bed a lot of days. 🙄 

Happy Solstice Blessings

Clouds

Embracing leaves shivering in the breeze cold trees

No-Bake Avalanche Cookies

With love from our simple kitchen to yours. 

RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM

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Check out some of our favorite fabulous desserts:  Click on the image or the bold recipe title and it will open each one in a new tab.

Crockpot Candy is the easiest and most impressive homemade candy ever.  A rich chocolaty, peanutty 4-ingredient recipe that you simply toss in the slow cooker, stir a few times and scoop it out. It doesn't get much easier than that!

Reese's Peanut Butter Fudge is luscious and creamy, made with chunks of peanuts throughout the fudge to give it the perfect crunch. This Reese's Peanut Butter Fudge is a simple recipe with just 4-ingredients! It comes together in just 10 minutes.

Crockpot Turtles Candy is an incredibly simple and impressive candy. A rich chocolaty recipe with perfectly roasted pecans and creamy caramel that you simply dump ingredients into your slow cooker, stir and scoop. Then garnish and gift (or serve).  It doesn't get much easier than that!

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No-Bake Avalanche CookiesMAKES 18 LARGE COOKIES

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
16 ounces vanilla-flavored candy coating (Almond Bark or CandiQuik)
1 (15-ounce) jar creamy peanut butter
2 cups Rice Krispies cereal
1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

Prepare 2 cookie sheets with a Silpat mat or parchment paper. Set aside.

Place chocolate chips in the freezer, until ready to use.

Melt Almond Bark in a heat safe bowl, microwave at half power for 30 seconds at a time until melted and smooth. Meanwhile: Add rice krispies to a large bowl. Set aside.

Add peanut butter to Almond Bark. Stir to combine. Pour vanilla candy mixture over rice krispies. Stir until combined. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature (or until barely warm). Add marshmallows. Mix until combined. Add frozen chocolate chips. Stir to combine.

Use a 2 tablespoon scoop to portion treats onto prepared cookie sheet. Allow to set in a cool place, until firm. You can pop them in the fridge if your kitchen is too warm.

Serve and enjoy!

Sometimes by David Whyte

Sometimes  if you move carefully through the forest,
breathing like the ones in the old stories,
who could cross a shimmering bed of leaves without a sound,
you come to a place whose only task
is to trouble you with tiny but frightening requests,
conceived out of nowhere but in this place beginning to lead everywhere.
Requests to stop what you are doing right now, and
to stop what you are becoming while you do it,
questions that can make or unmake a life,
questions that have patiently waited for you,
questions that have no right to go away.
                                                                  David Whyte  from Everything is Waiting for You

Song for Autumn by Mary Oliver

Song for Autumn

By Mary Oliver

 

In the deep fall

don’t you imagine the leaves think how

comfortable it will be to touch

the earth instead of the

nothingness of air and the endless

freshets of wind? And don’t you think

the trees themselves, especially those with mossy,

warm caves, begin to think

 

of the birds that will come — six, a dozen — to sleep

inside their bodies? And don’t you hear

the goldenrod whispering goodbye,

the everlasting being crowned with the first

tuffets of snow? The pond

vanishes, and the white field over which

the fox runs so quickly brings out

its blue shadows. And the wind pumps its

bellows. And at evening especially,

the piled firewood shifts a little,

longing to be on its way.

November

Welcome November

Happy Halloween!