Northwoods Woman

Out With The Old

Dec 312013

So many people decide that on the last day of the year that they want to reflect on what went wrong, what went right, and what they want to change/accomplish in the coming year.

As for me, I’m just sending 2013 off with a swift kick in the backside.

However, given all the tension and unknowns and sadness, I have to think that it could have been a hell of a lot worse.

Sure, it could have been much better, but since I’m more of a “half glass full” type of gal, I’m not going to spend the day reflecting over all the good/bad/ugly moments of the last year. Instead I’m going to do what I do every day: push forward and make it through the present.

There are still a lot of unknowns ahead of us in the upcoming year, but that is what life is about. Whatever life decides to spring on us, we’ll do what we always have and fight like hell to come out the other side in the best shape possible.

Rick & I created some wonderful memories at the end of the year that we can carry forward into the next, and that is what I want to think about when I throw out the old year and welcome in the new.

The Big Escape

Dec 292013

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

As for Rick & I, we escaped the arctic cold of the Northwoods and headed to New Mexico for 7 days.

There wasn’t really a reason for deciding on this state in particular, except that a) it was warmer than home, and b) I could buy more Turquoise for jewelry.

Oh, and the scenery. Fantastic!

We decided to jump right in on our first full day by getting my Turquoise fix. This is all Rick’s fault actually.

When he was in New Mexico a few years back doing some work for the BIA, he came across this shop and bought me a bunch of Turquoise. I have been hording that stuff ever since because I didn’t know if I’d ever get any more of it.

Yeah, well, I got more and then some.

I’m not ashamed of this. I did hold back some because we had more days to go and I didn’t want to spend too much money right off the bat.

Next we headed North to Santa Fe, but got distracted when we came upon the Pueblo of San Felipe.

We were curious as to the warnings of no pictures and drawings, but later on learned that this is typical of these communities. The best way to describe it would be to compare it to a sacred place where privacy is respected.

Unfortunately I don’t follow rules very well and just had to get a picture of the Adobe ovens, or Hornos. They are used as an outdoor oven for baking and roasting, and we found these in many places as we traveled the state.

We also came across a very familiar site:

Just can’t get away from those Casino’s, ya know. We actually discovered that they were all over the state and didn’t hesitate in checking out 3 or 5.

We eventually made it to Santa Fe, and I have to say I was not impressed. Perhaps it was because we didn’t venture off the main road to see what the town was really about, the case for this being the bumper-to-bumper traffic we encountered from the time we entered the city to the time we left.

Maybe a little more research (or some at all) of what the area had to offer would have helped. Lesson learned.

But the drive was well worth it!

Baby It’s Cold Outside

Dec 162013

It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve made any attempt at writing a post. It always seems to happen this time of the year when there are two holidays back-to-back and there are more things to do and not enough time to do them.

Rick’s recovery is progressing really well, and he’s working very hard at eating solid food. Since his taste buds were attacked with the radiation it will take a while for them to recover, which makes food tasting very interesting for him. The habits that he had for so many years with salt and other condiments have been thrown out the window as he yearns to just “taste” the food itself.

It’s ironic that it took cancer to do something that I have been trying for 23 to achieve.

But I must say that it is a pleasure to plan the meals with him and sit down at the table to eat together at night. As always, it’s those little things that we never really thought about before that bring joy to our lives.

He has an appointment this Thursday with the Chemotherapy Oncologist and also to get a blood draw to find out where his levels are at, letting us know if his body is healing and able to fight infection.

In other news, Winter has hit us cold and hard here in the Northwoods.

Snow, ice and bitter temperatures came crashing down on us a couple weeks ago and hasn’t let up much. Temperatures have struggled to get above the single digits for what appears to be forever.

This type of weather is what we would expect in January or February, certainly not in what is officially still “Fall”. This only confirms my sentiments earlier this year that the months and seasons are all forked up this year.

And yet life goes on. We put layer upon layer of clothes on to stave off the icy chill, and hope that frostbite doesn’t set in from the 2 minutes it takes to get from the house to the car.

I only hope that this is not a precursor of what to expect over the next 3 months, or we’re going to have to reconsider how much wood to put up each year.

Or maybe just move to a warmer climate. That might be easier.

Giving Thanks

Dec 022013

The gobbler holiday has come and gone, and it was a quiet one here on the homestead.

Daddy time.

Nichole made a flying trip up here to have some quality Daddy time. We’ve had to put a nix on a houseful of kids/grandkids because Rick’s immune system is still fragile, but one or two people at a time doesn’t seem to be a problem.

Smallest turkey I’ve ever seen.

Considering it was just 2 people that were going to be eating, I decided to scale down the size of the bird to a Cornish Game Hen, which was more than plenty for us to eat.

The big surprise of the day came when Rick took three bites of mashed potatoes, the first solid food he’s had in over a month! Nichole and I almost cried tears of joy. Nobody had to wonder what I was giving thanks for this holiday, because that right there spoke volumes.

Although we like to pretend that Nichole travels all this way just to see her parents, deep down we know that the resident furball holds the top spot in her heart.

Help! Me! Please!

I’m not sure the feeling is mutual, but she’s working on that.

Cause for Celebration

Nov 252013

Things that are taken for granted under normal situations are cause for celebration around our homestead.

Biggest “Hurrah!” last week was Rick’s ability to swallow his meds. For the past few weeks he’s had to crush them between spoons and mix them with water before putting them through his feeding tube, so being able to swallow them whole (as well as drink water) is a major breakthrough.

I’m not counting on him being able to take solid foods for the next couple weeks, but you just never know what he’s going to surprise me with.

His ability to speak has increased to the point that we can actually have a conversation that doesn’t cause him to wince in pain. His throat is still pretty sore, so if he talks too much the pain comes back, and he still has to rely on the pain meds to keep it manageable.

He’s also getting more mobile, so he’s able to get some hours in a work and hauling wood indoors for me.

We have to be mindful that his immune system is still compromised, so being around lots of people is still a no-no until the Doctor’s say his body can fight off infection and nasty germs.

All in all it was a very positive week for Rick, and I hope that we’re on the road to starting the new year off with all of this behind us.

:::

Other exciting news this week is we have another hunter in the family.

Paige is now old enough to get her own tags for deer hunting and wasted no time on opening weekend getting her first buck. This 7-pointer was acquired early Saturday morning when she was out hunting with her Dad.

Congratulations Paige and good luck to all the hunters this week. Please stay safe and fill all your tags!

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