What's the best thing that's happened to you today?

[jbeany]

Yummy!

My best thing - I fell asleep almost as soon as I laid down last night.  Yay!  Hopefully this is an end to my pain-killer-withdrawal insomnia.

[Chris]

Just curious, is there a thread for the worst thing that has happened to you today? or something to that effect? Or  is that more for a rant of the day?
 
Today I got a free latte after my blood was drawn. The hospital cafe makes a better latte than Starbuck's too!

[gothiclovemonkey]

I found out i will be listed as Active, in October, afte my hysterectomy!!!

[jbeany]

I found out i will be listed as Active, in October, afte my hysterectomy!!!

 

[Jean]

My GFR went from 21 to 23. Not much, but, hey, at least it is not going down!!!

[cariad]

My GFR went from 21 to 23. Not much, but, hey, at least it is not going down!!!

Great news, Jean. Every little positive step should be celebrated!

We have an entire week of 'best things'. We went someplace new this year for our holiday, a place I would honestly never guess I would willingly visit - Eagle River, WI. We stayed at this lovely, lovely place by the name of Wild Eagle Lodge. Not luxury, but a nice little two bedroom place with a camp for kids run by employees at the local children's museum. We enjoyed it so much that we extended our stay an extra night. The kids spent most mornings at the camp, which was totally free!! They would do a craft, play some sport, then a nature instruction activity and finally go to the lake or the pool to swim. We gave them a room key and they could come and go as they pleased through the morning. Then there were 3 other programs through the day, an hour session mid-afternoon, an hour session late afternoon, and finally an evening program.

Among our adventures - at the lodge we raced on plasma cars, the boys made their own shirts by spraying them with paint through a water pistol, we played 'are you smarter than a fifth grader' at the on-site pub, had two s'mores sessions round the campfire down by the lake, and went fishing (catch and release) using the complimentary row boats down at the dock. The place was self-catering, so we brought a load of food up, and they had a film library that we were able to borrow from, so we watched a few pics while cooking and eating.

Off-site we visited a local restaurant that boasted over 200 brands of bottled soda, and Gwyn and I tried a Tamarind soda. (Not really worth it, the flavour was too subtle and overpowered by the sugar). Also went hiking in Ottawa National forest (technically in Michigan) collecting rocks (Liot is obsessed with them) and got to see a few deer skipping along. We went to a wild animal park/zoo thing that I expected to bore me to tears, but was actually delightful, although I probably enjoyed it so much because the kids were so excited they could hardly breathe. We bought crackers to feed to the deer, pet rabbits, goats, tortoises, enormous pigs, ferrets, a skunk, a hedgehog, a porcupine, hundreds of parakeets and a variety of other exotics. We also each quickly pet a zebra and the boys fed bottles of 'bear juice' to a pair of black bears (inside cages - I would never have allowed it otherwise, I don't care how tame a place claims an animal is). Gwyn gave half a cracker to an Emu - don't think we were supposed to do that, so we all went running out of there when the thing snapped it out of Gwyn's fingers and swallowed it whole. We could see the shape of the cracker going down the Emu's throat - eep! The most horrifyingly amusing moment came along when Aidan told me that a tortoise was "standing on the other tortoise" and making this really loud noise and peculiar movement and I thought 'Uh-oh. That sounds like...." and my suspicions were confirmed. The kids did not understand what was going on and kept telling the one to get off its 'friend'. I could not compose myself I was laughing so hard because this creature was so LOUD and I guess tortoises do everything slowly because it seemed to take forever. Afterward, the male kept eating crackers from the kids and the boys kept remarking how hungry he was all of a sudden. Huh! Isn't that curious!

Oh, and they were doing this Festival of Flavors in town and we decided to go to the tasting Saturday. There was a children's section where the boys played all manner of games and won prizes, then for $40 the four of us were offered more food than we could possibly consume, plus loads of wines for the adults. It takes a lot for me to refuse cheese samples, but I was ready to pummel anyone who offered me anything edible by the end. It was divine! The local Y had a Zumba Fitness demonstration and I so want to try it. Heaven knows Gwyn and I need to tone down the rampant eating and bring a lot more exercise into our lives. Perhaps I will buy it for the Wii....

[jbeany]

So, cariad, you're sayin' the reptile kingdom gets after-sex munchies, too?   

I celebrated my 2-yr kidneyversary at my sister's cottage this weekend by doing very little at all.  We cruised around on the pontoon, watched the kids swim and fish, and sat around the bonfire for hours, just talking. It was perfect!

[RichardMEL]

Finally the stars aligned for me and my kitty paid off dividends

A week or two ago I was listening to a UK race and heard CELESTIAL GIRL come from nowhere to win a race. I was thinking, yeah I have to keep note of that one, given my kitty approves of that horse!!!  Well, last night I happened to see by chance it again was running around, this time at Epsom. Well, it was considered a reasonable outsider in the race, starting at 11-1, and finishing up at 16-1 by the start of the race. The form of the field was mixed and I figured she had a chance, so I put on a little bit for fun, to back my kitty

Started off poorly, running dead last (of 10) for most of the race, then ZOOM!!! straight through the crowd, took the lead and won by 2 lengths !!! WOOOHOOOO!!!!! So, one happy kitty who earned her food for the next week from another beautiful four legged friend on the other side of the planet!! 

[kristina]

Well done, Richard 

[Riki]

Last week, I bought Mario Kart for the Wii, second hand.  I hadn't had a chance to play the game, as the Wii is in the living room, on Mom's tv, and when my nephews were here last weekend, they lost the remote for the VCR, which I need, because my brother set up the Wii through the VCR, and I need to change the input.

So, I spent a half hour flipping couch cushions, crawling on the floor on my belly, looking under couches, the entertainment centre, and a couple other tables in the living room.  I even pulled my brother's toy tractor trailer out of it's berth under an end table to see if it was in the trailer.  No remote, but there was a car in there.  I finally found it behind a stack of dvds on the entertainment centre.

So, I got the game on, then played a few of the characters, and I don't think I've laughed so hard, especially when I fell of the edge, and the characters screamed all the way down, then breathed a sigh of relief when they were lowered back onto the track.

it felt good

[cariad]

Congrats to you and Miss Celeste, Richard.

We are having such a great time playing Disney's version of Dance Dance Revolution. I bought it for the kids years ago for Christmas and they never really understood it and we just had it collecting dust on the shelf. I want to be more active so Gwyn and I tested it out yesterday and wow are we uncoordinated, but it's great for a laugh. I am getting much more skilled if I do say so myself. The boys are in the great room competing right now. There is even a workout mode that will estimate calories burned, but that rather saps the fun in my opinion. I have also started my low glycemic diet, and two days into it I do feel a bit more energetic. Hoping to lose a few pounds and tone up before the meet.

[cariad]

Hey, that's wild, Riki. We both posted about Wii games. Mario Kart is a riot, although I haven't played it in ages. I do find it all a tad stressful when I'm in the midst of a race - but a fun stressful, I guess.

Enjoy!

[Riki]

I have it for the DS and I played it on SNES when it first came out.  I had no idea how hard it would be to keep the cars on the track while playing with the Wii.  I also found Baby Mario and Baby Peach hilarious

When I want a workout, I tend to go to Wii Sports.  I like some of the Tennis training, and I'm not too bad at the Home Run Derby

[cariad]

Wii Sport may be too much of a workout for me. That boxing game - yeow.  We do have the Wii Fit but so far I have not got into that. That thing is like that friend everyone has who doesn't realise how insulting they are being, but you sort of suspect that they do realise it but you can't prove it. It has told me that my balance sucks and that my 'true' age is older than my chronological age (not in a good way!)

God I sound paranoid tonight....  The machines have it in for me!

[Riki]

Brain Age tells me the same thing, that my brain is 30 years older than I am, so it's tired.. *L*

[Chris]

I did a mile of walking totally blind as part of my training and surprisingly did very well using my cane. Odd thing was I developed pain in my blind eye that was not covered. The guide dog I most likely will go to got a hold of my trainer so hopefully she will do more training each week than every other week.

[Riki]

I would love to have a dog, but I've been told that you need to use a cane for a year before you qualify.  As it is, if I go somewhere unfamiliar, I have to have someone with me.  I don't really need a cane.  I need radar to tell me where the curbs and parking meters are so that I won't walk off or into them.  The amount of times I've fallen off sidewalks is so not funny.

[Chris]

Here you do not need to use a cane for a year, just be trained to use one because you may need it on rare occassions with the dog. Then there is the visual field that you must meet to qualify a person. Some only train for totally blind people while others will work with visual impairment if your visual field warrants a dog. Each facility has different admission requirements just like a transplant center.

[jbeany]

Stopped at a farmers market I'd never been to before on the way home from class.  I had a tenner on me - figured I could at least get a little bit of fresh fruit to munch this weekend.  They sold tokens at the front that you could put on a Bridge card (what they call the food stamp card here).  Sweet!  They sold them in packs of 20 $1 tokens if you wanted them - and if you took 20, they doubled it, and gave you another $20 worth of tokens.  So I brought home $40 worth of home-grown, organic produce that was picked fresh and local.  I'm going to pig out tonight!  I got raspberries, blueberries, heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes in assorted varieties, sweet corn, peaches, an assortment of fresh greens, and two kinds of eggplant - one batch of baby, one batch regular.  I'm taking some to my sis tomorrow too - way too much to finish by myself!

[RichardMEL]

I'm going to put this as a positive, since I reckon it must be some kind of record. Certainly is for me. LOL

Before work I put in 3 bets at som races here. I had a day of work, training etc and only came to check the results later. all 3 horses in 3 different races, came... FOURTH!!! but wait, there's more... so I knew there was a greyhound running last night, so I decided, no I will not put any money on it, because clearly it's not meant to be. I watched the race though for fun. Little Tiger Cotchin burst out from the box, flew down the track in front of everyone else... ran.. ran.. ran!! WOOT.... until the last part of the race, overtaken by a couple of dogs and ended up in a photo for 3rd place with 2 other dogs. When the photo was sorted out yes, you guessed it, the pooched finished FOURTH!!!! I nearly fell off my chair laughing so hard. And yesterday's date? The 31st - 3+1=4. Yep, I'm reaching. Given that today was sep 1, I had a fun bet on race 4 figuring hey I might actually get a winner..... nope.. not even a place... but NOT fourth!!!

 

[jbeany]

My 12 year nephew and I went to the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan yesterday.  It's an airplane museum combined with a number of fun rides and really fun education presentations on how flight works. He rode the flight sims in circles and barrel rolls repeatedly.  I had a lovely time looking at all the restored WWII planes.  The whole back "hanger" is nothing but working trainer planes lined up in a row, followed by the fighters like the Hellcat and the Corsair, and with a transport plane taking up a giant chunk of the middle.  One of the planes went down in Lake Michigan during a practice run and was pulled up after 50 years and completely restored. Totally awesome.

 One of the volunteer docents came up and started chatting with me.  Lovely gentleman in his 80's, who had been volunteering at the museum for ages.  He started talking about how a lot of the planes they had on display had been made in Michigan, some of them at the Willow Run plant by Dearborn/Detroit, that cranked out a fully operational plane ever 50 minutes at the height of the war.  I was telling him about my gram working at Willow Run on the ball-bearing machine, and we were talking about all kinds of historical things.  I'm not a huge history buff, but I do find it all interesting, and I do read a lot more than most.  As we walked back into the hallway to the main building, he pointed out a display of pilot uniforms.   
"I don't tell most people your age, cause they don't know who I'm talking about, but I bet you know.  This uniform here was donated by a friend of mine.  He was wearing it when Marlene Dietrich sat on his lap during a performance.  Her autograph is on the inside of the hat still.  Do you know who she is?"

Oh, yeah!   

[okarol]

Besides being able to tell everyone that Jenna is finally on the waitlist (I am feeling a ton of weight lifted from my shoulders and she is very relieved too!) I just got a call that my new camera was delivered to our house! I am working at the Renal Support Network and won't be home until after 6 PM but am SO EXCITED to try it out. I have been saving for nearly a year, and finally made the leap to get it!!
 

[boswife]

hearing of tye's getting "thee" call

[cariad]

Liot seems to be taking to Spanish immersion and if he is homesick while at school, he does not show it nor mention it. It is worlds away from his afterschool program where he spent all of his time for K4, but this school has very involved and extremely friendly parents, and has the 'it takes a village' mentality that I think is so vital. I found out that the mother of Liot's best friend is also vegetarian! Those are a rare breed in Wisconsin, it's nice to have a friend who understands the unique challenges to being a veg in the midwest.

Oh, and the transportation issue - the fact that I am being told that it could take an hour. Another friend seems to agree with me, which after my one friend's tone deaf lecture over it, was quite refreshing. As we passed each other on the way to our cars, he said "Last year it was only around 20 minutes. We're paying for that time they spend sat on that bus." Oh, yes we are, and quite a lot. The afterschool program is going to intervene if necessary.

Liot finished his gymnastics course today and he got to select what to do for free time since he was the best listener. This is unbelievable progress for him. It's been a good few days.
 

[jbeany]

About 4, I wandered downstairs to get my Sunday paper, planning to read it while having brunch.  One of my neighbors had fired up his grill.  He asked me if I liked steak.  Ummm, yeah, of course!  He works for a food distributor and gets free samples all the time.  He gave me a Kobe beef filet mignon steak. I wasted no time whatsoever in firing up my own grill and preparing my brunch.

Oh.My.Heavens.  It was divine - tender enough to cut with a fork.  All I did was rub a little sea salt on it while it warmed up a bit before I grilled it.  (Never put cold meat directly on the flame.  Bad, bad, bad!)  I also had a few roasted baby potatoes and some fresh steamed broccoli with cheddar-bacon sauce.  Yummmm!

The best part was gloating to my brother in law.  He is a raging steak-a-holic and prefers his steak so rare it's nearly still mooing. I sent him a text asking him if it was sacrilegious to cook such a treat until it was well done.  I could hear him whimpering in distress from 30 miles away. (I didn't cook it that much, really, but it's fun to torment him.)