• Sunday Snippet: The Heart Update Edition, Rev. 2

    I think this is update 2, but if it’s number 3, well, sorry about that, and thank you for being patient with me processing this whole thing with y’all. I won’t update you every time I go to the cardiologist because that would be major TMI for you guys. That said, you’re kind to come along and I always appreciate all the good wishes. Right off, the good news is things are improving. I’m way less tired and can pretty much make it through a whole day and not lose steam. I still get breathless when I walk too fast or uphill or exercise too strenuously, but my cardiologist, Dr.…

  • Sunday Snippet: The I’m Dawdling Edition

    And so I am…it’s been a lazy Sunday so far, to the extent that I’m just now writing my Sunday Snippet for this week. Truthfully, the week has been… well… busy, so a dawdle or two is in order today. Right off, happy birthday to darling Husband, who turned 74 last week and is still the hottest guy I know. We celebrated with the neighbors on Wednesday night with spice cake and wine and then again on Thursday with the kiddos. I made beef stew and we had the best Italian bread and more spice cake and wine. All in all, turning another year older was mostly painless for him,…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Travelogue Edition

    Okay, the start of a travelogue. As you’re waking up and reading this, I’m on a plane with Son headed to Hawaii. Seriously. He’s going for a work thing, I’m tagging along because when your 40-something kid invites you to go along with him to Hawaii for a week, you get the okay from your cardiologist and then you say, “you betcha!” (I actually did that the other way around, but our secret, okay?) Darling Husband (who is no traveler by choice) will stay home and hold down the fort, and DIL and Grandboy have work and school, plus they’ve already been to Hawaii, so this was a perfect opportunity…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Hello, Gorgeous Edition

    “Suddenly, I thought, This is my body. I live in it. I play in it. I can’t deny it anymore. This is my fat body. I’m standing at the corner of Life and You Better Get Going. I stepped off the curb and I never looked back.” ~~Camryn Manheim, actor “Hello, gorgeous!” That is what I’m practicing in my mirror every time I pass it. “Hello, gorgeous!” This whole I’m old, I’m fat, I hate my body, I need to lose weight thing has become a common topic of conversation among me and my friends, in women’s groups on FB–just everywhere women of a certain age gather. And I think…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Heart Update Edition

    So many kind folks have been checking in with me about the whole heart issue, I thought I’d fill y’all in on the latest. I promise not to belabor the heart thing, but I confess, it’s pretty large and looming here in Reinhardtville. January has been a month of doctors, labs, stress tests, new meds, and a whole new heart clinic and new cardiologist. Right off, I’m crazy about the new doc and her PA. They are kind, smart, understanding, and positive–all good qualities when one’s heart is failing. My diagnosis of HFrEF (Heart Failure with reduced Ejection Fraction) is one they work with almost exclusively, so they know their…