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| Cynthia is the shorter one |
30 Dec: Rise and Shine! We are headed out for a long walk on this glorious day. It was a surprise to see the markets drop so much. Ron completed his required minimum distribution (good thing he called Fidelity - that avoided a mistake and possible penalty), and he is nearly finished with his asset allocation. Cynthia treated herself to a mani/pedi cure, feeling fully recovered from bronchitis. Ron walked to the lake again at dark thirty.
29 Dec: Another quiet day putting walnuts in their proper place. (That is an in joke.) Ron was downloading and recording financial statements into his spreadsheets all day and walked just before dark
28 Dec: Worn out, guess what we did today?
27 Dec: Worn out, we slept late again!
26 Dec: Worn out, we slept late. Ron mailed more cards late. He walked to the lake after dark as usual.
25 Dec: The family Christmas gathering at Paul’s with his siblings, replete with a British Christmas dinner, was fabulous. Paul and Cheryl tempted us with food that was just too good. Ron succumbed to chicken Wellington (divine) and cherry pie (delicious). Everyone behaved themselves, and Fyn (ten years old) played a Christmas tune on piano that she had taught herself in only two hours by watching a video. Roxanne and Julie gave Christmas presents to Ron & Cynthia; they gave us healthy foods !! Kiira brought one-month-old Hayden Grace but kept her in the library away from potential colds & flu. Son Jon drove us to and fro, so we were entirely relaxed for the whole time.
24 Dec: Cynthia, after much internal debate and soul searching, is well enough to go to the family gathering tomorrow. Ron mailed more cards. This might be the day Ron decided to do trail maintenance to fill in the holes that have jarred his back while walking after dark. Interesting that so many people use this trail, but no one maintains it.
23 Dec: Ron mailed Christmas cards; we shopped for groceries and picked up a prescription at Lakeside Pharmacy. We will decide tomorrow night if Cynthia’s cough has improved enough to attend the family gathering with a newborn present. Ron walked at 5:16 PM
22 Dec: Ron walked before breakfast today, i.e., 9:30. He walked again at 5:30 PM, and he recorded receipts the rest of the day. Cynthia’s cough continues to improve.
21 Dec: Today Ron is walking right after breakfast, i.e. noon. Late in the day, Ron realized that Cynthia's use of the inhaler was not providing the relief that it should, so he asked Cynthia how she uses an inhaler. She neglected to breathe out forcibly before inhaling deeply while squirting the inhaler. These inhalers squirt a mist that immediately penetrates whatever it hits, i.e. usually the back of the throat where it does no good for the breathing. Cynthia is improving after a good sleep. The wracking cough stopped wracking and is down to hacking. It still is exhausting. Ron walked twice!
20 Dec: MEDICAL 8:50 AM we left for Cynthia's annual retina specialist appointment. This was strictly a routine exam to make certain dry AMD has not turned into wet AMD. All is stable. We decided to go to ER next since Cynthia's cough is worser and worser. Besides Ron was not confident that the Urgent Care nurse practitioner was competent. Four hours later, after blood pressure, EKG, X-Rays, blood work, inhalation therapy with steroids, we were able to eat at Jason's Deli, our favorite hereabouts. After dark, Ron walked to the lake and back.
19 Dec: And we are awake early today. Cynthia's cough sounds more normal today, and she is feeling better. Ron has thought of another couple of people to send cards. Cynthia needs to get the car license numbers to send to EZ pass. Turns out the message from TxTag was a scam. Last thing in the evening Ron walked to the lake and back. Cynthia's cough is still fierce at times.
18 Dec: MEDICAL; Cynthia had a miserable night coughing, so we are visiting Urgent Care first thing. The first Urgent Care doesn't take Medicare or medical insurance, so you are expected to pay out-of-pocket. We didn't. The second one was a couple of miles further away, near the marina. The nurse praticianer said that it is either a cold or allergies. Cynthia was given a steroid shot and anti-cough pills. Pills, not syrup for the diabetic. We fell back to sleep soon after getting home. The meds are helping. Ron is writing more Christmas cards! And Volume I is completed. Thank you Smooch! Last thing in the evening Ron walked to the lake and back.
17 Dec: We again arose late and walked after noon, 4.44 miles. Ron then finished addressing Christmas cards and rode to the post office to buy stamps, and Eureka, the cards are in the mail. Now he is working on a few more, but has decided upon the Christmas annual letter; the brief note he sent to cousin Kamie will do nicely. Cynthia's runny nose and drainage suddenly turned into a dry cough before bed time.
16 Dec: Ron planned to mail Christmas cards to family and friends. Oh well, maybe tomorrow? We enjoyed sleeping late. Now, onto the big 4.30 mile walk.
15 Dec, Sunday: A hard freeze last Wednesday ushered fall into SE Texas. Leaves are turning bronze, orange and gold, are now falling; golden sunlight filters through the treetops and casts a magical glow. Christmas worship was lovely; children and tweens performed the Christmas story and the congregation did our part by adding on cue, “Do not fear!” We had brunch at Magnolia Diner, followed by a Rip Van Winkle nap for Cynthia while Ron corrected a mistake he made in the manuscript. Cynthia watched the Reagan movie reaching the conclusion that Ron Beatty is like Ron Reagan in amazing ways. We walked 3.2 miles.
14 Dec: promises to be rainy? Ron was relieved to sleep until 10 AM after his late bedtime last night. Then he worked on the index a tiny bit and wasted more time on basketball videos of Marques Haynes (6') and Lance and Lawrence Cudjoe (5' 5" twins), whose three short guards college team won 112 games while losing only 3. They even beat the Harlem Globetrotters, but the next year all three joiined the Globetrotters.
13 Dec: Oh, what fun! Oh, what fun! Oh, what fun! Indeed! We worked on the index. Ron again wasted much of the day watching basketball videos. We walked 5,33 miles; Cynthia thought she lost her cell phone until she discovered it right where she left it on the kitchen counter. We enjoyed baked acorn squash, baked potato, and baked salmon. The Lea Book index edits are updated. Volume II is waiting in the wings until after Christmas. Fooey, Ron found more things needing fixes throughout the index and stayed up until 1:30 AM working on them.
12 Dec: Today Ron WILL get Christmas cards written and into the mail. (or at least written.) We walked to the lake and back about noon, and we drove to Walmart to get groceries, including coffee and oatmeal. Now Ron is back to work on Christmas cards - after adding Cynthia's index fixes.
11 Dec: Tomorrow. Ron enjoyed frittering away the entire day watching U-Tube basketball highlights of Pistol Pete Maravich, Dr. J, and Larry Bird. He still thinks that Wilt Chamberlain, the Big Dipper, was the greatest of all time, and Wilt said that Meadowlark Lemon was the best player he ever played with or against. We listened to a couple of KISS songs when Cynthia thought that Bill O'Reilly was going to interview one of those guys who dated Cher, and that led to another distraction finding out how much Cher has done in her life and that she wasn't so disrespectful of Sonny after his death.
10 Dec: Without snow it doesn't feel like Christmas, despite all the adorable photos of great-grandchildren with Santa Claus we are receiving in emails. Ron has Christmas cards on the counter to send. The Smooches walked four-plus mile. The attendant at the Fitness Club calls us “The Lovebirds.”
9 Dec: It was a cloudy and then a sunny day in Montgomery Town. We walked five miles, which is a good thing. Cynthia went the weekend without her hand brace and paid the price of the pain.
8 Dec, Sunday: It is a rainy Sunday in Montgomery, Texas, but our brunch guests brought laughter and sunshine into the Cafe on the Green. Cynthia forgot to take photos of her son Jon, granddaughter Samantha and her three-year-old son Noah, and grandson Steven. Noah is a delight to be around. When he was ready to leave, he walked around the table to pleasantly tell everyone goodbye, it was time to go. We are very proud of granddaughter Sam who is the Director of Counseling at a school for autistic children. Her husband Adam is an engineer with Forde Construction. They are expecting new baby Theo in six weeks. And wow for grandson Steven who teaches science and chemistry to eighth graders at Cy-Fair. Fifteen rahs for you Steven!
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| Lunch with Jon (photographer) |
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| Cynthia is the shorter one |
5 Dec: We had a lazy morning and went for our walk at noon. Ron spent the day indexing; only 280 lines left to finish. What a relief.!! We are back to eating popcorn in the evenings to avoid calories.
4 Dec: We did it! We were up at five AM, exercised, oatmealed, and in the car by 7:15 for the 1.5 hour drive to the ophthalmologist in Brenham, Texas, arriving with three minutes to spare. The Dr. dilated Ron’s eyes, but won't do the cataract consultation until 6 February. Bummer. It is likely he will have more lab and measurement appointments prior to surgery. This postpones departure and scheduling indefinitely; we will know more 6 February. We had lunch at Magnolia Diner, where the waitress remembered us and greeted us cheerfully, and we slept the afternoon away.
3 Dec: Ron indexed; we walked four miles, brought home a load of boxes from the storage unit, and shopped for groceries, After some popcorn, it will be an early bedtime because we leave at seven AM tomorrow for Ron’s dilated eye exam, a prerequisite for cataract surgery.
2 Dec. There are only 23 days until Christmas. We enjoyed sleeping late and having a lazy morning, although Ron continues working diligently on the Lea index. We walked almost four miles on a lovely, warm, pleasant day. Cynthia is re-reading Bonhoeffer’s book, The Cost of Discipleship. A significant chapter deals with denying self by forgiving others.
1 Dec: Ron completed his PACEMAKER test - again. He also announced the December blog title: I love you! Cynthia spent the day going to the Nutcracker Ballet again, but this time with her two sons, Jon and Paul, plus Paul’s two daughters, Zoe and Fyn. Zoe received highest honors for her MA dissertation from University of York.
