Monday, February 25, 2013

Ho-Hum

One day has been pretty much like the next recently.  I noticed it has been just over week since I last posted anything, and lest anyone think I was missing, I decided to type something.

The big news lately has been the weather.  A cold front is moving through, and it appears we might get a little bit of snow.

Gail came over for our weekly practice today.  We usually play at 10 am, but this morning Gail came over at 2 pm.  She had a visit with her oncologist in the morning.  She got a good report from her doctor.

Tomorrow I will get the results of the scans (MRI & CT) which I had done about two weeks ago.

Yesterday, we had lunch at the Cracker Barrel.  We had a gift card we needed to use.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

This and that

This past week was a washout, from my point of view.

Things started well enough with Gail coming over for our Monday piano rehearsal.  I had scans scheduled for Tuesday at 7:40 am.  I needed to be there at 7:10.  That meant we had to get up early to get over to Tulsa.  I had both an MRI and CT scan done.  About halfway through each procedure a contrast agent was inserted into a vein.  I have had this done before, but this time a contrast agent was introduced with both the MRI and CT.  I wasn't feeling at 100% prior to going to the hospital, I might add. 

We ate breakfast at the Crescent Cafe afterwards.  Then we came on home.  This was Tuesday the day Pres. Obama gave the State of the Union speech.  Being the political junkie that I am, I was looking forward to watching the speech; however, by that evening I was in bed feeling miserable.  I skipped hearing the speech in favor of trying to get more rest.  As the week wore on I regained strength.  I curtailed my activities and stayed inside to get rest.  Here it is Sunday, and I am back to where I was prior to getting the scans.  I was unable to make the Wednesday morning appt. to get the results of the scans.  That will have to wait another week and a half.  The scans are done to see if the tumor which was removed from my brain in 2007 is growing back.

On Saturday, I heard Dr. Stanley Rice of Southeast Oklahoma State University give a speech on Charles Darwin and Oklahoma.  While Darwin's ideas have been accepted throughout the world, here in Oklahoma he is still thought of as controversial.  There were around 40 people present to hear Dr. Rice.

Contemporary U.S. history was the topic for discussion in R.E. today.  The service was led by Rosemary Powell.  After the service three of us talked about chapters 7 and 8 of Zinn's A People's History.  Edna told me she would have to be absent on Mother's Day and asked me to fill in for her at the piano.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Another update

Last week we drove to Springfield on Tuesday and came back on Wednesday.

On Friday we attended the Tulsa Town Hall at the PAC.  Ann Compton of ABC News spoke.  She told about being with President Bush on 9-11.  She was the only news correspondent with Bush on the trip.

Friday evening at 7 pm was a meeting of the poetry group.  We are using the book How to Read a Poem by Burton Raffel.

Saturday I spent several hours reading The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak.  That is the next book we are reading in the Methodist Book Club.  I finished the book today.

Today was Sunday.  Normally I attend Church of the Restoration; however, today I stayed home since I was not feeling 100%.  I drank lot of orange juice, hoping that it might have some salutary effect on me.

This evening we went to the Family Life Center (Methodist) for a chili competition.  Many kinds of chili were available as well as desserts.

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Back from Springfield

Last Saturday night we were set to go to Randy's for Movie Night.  Randy called about an hour before the movie was to start and said he was at work and would have to stay there until they got a problem resolved.  Randy is a computer programmer.  I called Marilyn to let her know Movie Night was cancelled, but she had apparently talked to Randy and was aware of the cancellation.  She invited J and I to go with her to see a play being performed at the Heller Theater.  The play was Time Stands Still by Donald Marguiles.  The theater is small with seating for about 100.  The play contains much shouting and quarreling.  It was not my cup of tea.

The next day was Sunday.  We had RE at 10 and then the service at 11.  It was Humanist Sunday and the message was delivered by Larry Roth.  He gave a brief history of Humanism in the U.S.  There were about 15 people present.  Gail and I played "Cleopha" by Scott Joplin as the special music for the service. Afterward we shared a potluck dinner.  There was a young man there who played a drum that is often kept in the sanctuary.  I struck up a conversation with him and told him I used to play in a drum circle.  He expressed interest in getting into a drum circle.  I told him I would talk with Vanessa about starting a drum circle at the church.

On Monday, Gail came over and we worked on "Simple Gifts," a Shaker hymn.  That will most likely be our next selection to play on Humanist Sunday in March.  We also worked on Dvorak's "Slovanic Dance, Op. 46  No. 4" and Brahm's "Hungarian Dance No. 5."

Monday afternoon I went to St. Andrew Lutheran Church where a blood drive was in progress.  I donated a unit of blood.  They were short by two people and had to double up on the tasks.  It took longer than it usually does to donate blood.  After making the donation, I drank three small cans of cranberry juice.

Tuesday we drove to Springfield.  Dad's macular degeneration has affected his eyesight to the point where he does not get out driving like he once did.  I drove Dad to the barber shop.  Paula needed to be driven to a few places, so we took her around to those places.  We came back to Sand Springs today.