Nerves, Harry Potter Experience, Creedence & Family...

Monday, October 20th, the days are getting colder. We have brought the ivy from the back yard into the dining room for the winter. 

Household chores filled my morning. I put the flannel sheets on the guest bedroom bed. Yep, it is getting colder. Still need to put the on our bed but not quite there yet.

I talked with our dear friend Betty Dixon from our motorcycling days. She will be 90 in a few weeks. Goodness. I was also able to spend some time texting with Jake, our son. He shared a new recipe he tried on his day off. It is a version of meatloaf. He said the leftovers are really, really good.

We had leftover smoked brisket from Bailey's visit. Claude made soup out of it. There is something magical about soup made with smoked brisket. It was a good finish to this cold day.

Tuesday, October 21st, it was time for another doctor visit. Claude would drive me to St. Joseph Neurology for nerve tests on my feet and legs. Sometimes the medical wheels grind really, really slow. They grind, but they are really, really slow. On July 7th, I visited Dr. Fine, our podiatrist. For the past year I have slowly been losing feeling in my feet. I have neuropathy, but do not have diabetes to cause this. It affects my balance. Time for Dr. Fine to help me understand what is happening and if I can do anything about it. On July 7th, Dr. Fine referred me to get an ultrasound and also a nerve test. Two different places. The ultrasound was done on July 15th. The nerve test didn't happen until October 21st. Long wait for that one. 

This was my first nerve test. It was actually several appointments one right after the other. This was done to save time and trips to Lexington. First a nerve conduction study was done on both legs and feet. This can only test the large nerves. An electrical signal is sent into different places on your legs and feet and a measurement is taken of how fast that current moves. It was not painful and there are not words or other experiences to describe or compare it to. Next a Dr. Everman came in and performed an EMG (electromyogram) which measures the electrical activity in your muscles when you are not using them. an when you contract them. After both of these tests, I was told that, for a 75 year old lady, my nerves and muscles in my legs were in great shape. That is, the large ones are. There is no test for the small nerves. I then saw Kristina Cassmeyer, APRN, for the final physical tests (walking, pushing against pressure, etc.). They are sure it is small fiber neuropathy (SFN). There has been one test developed to try to assess this diagnosis for sure. It requires a core sample taken from you leg. I assured her that, if they have eliminated everything else, we didn't need to take a core our of my leg!! Kristina gave me blood tests she wanted run and a compound cream to be used when I have neuropathy pain at night. She also suggested two supplements that will help, one for neuropathy and one for hot flashes. How we got there from neuropathy, I am not sure. But after 25 years of hot flashes, I will try something natural. Bottom line, I am okay in my legs for now but hopefully the blood tests will rule out other possibilities like cancer or auto-immune disease, etc. I am sure it is neither of those things. 

After all of that experience, Claude took me to Chipotle's for my favorite beans and rice meal. Then to Michael's to get a frame. While in Michael's, I found this Audrey II decoration for Halloween. I took the picture to share with our family on our family Facebook page. Jake, our son, was Seymour in the high school production of Little Shop of Horrors. Good memories.

Wednesday, October 22nd, I got up early and got dressed to go to Georgetown Hospital. I would use the lab there to get the blood tests Kristina had required. When I got into the lab and the tech looked at the blood test results, she had a long strip of sticky papers for the tests and started collecting test tubes for the blood. She said, "She has certainly required a LOT of blood tests!" I said, "Will there be any blood left when you are finished?" Quick as a snap she said, "Enough for you to get home!" We both had a good laugh over that interchange. There were seven vials of blood drawn. 

I went to CVS and purchased two of the supplements Kristina suggested. Then to Bojangles to get Claude and me a biscuit. 

I spent my afternoon working on my Relief Society lesson for Sunday.

Thursday, October 23rd, well, it got cold enough in the house, Claude turned on the heater. 

Claude headed to his appointment with our primary doctor, Dr. Lyon, to check on his A1C. Dr. Lyon wanted to know about out trip to Greece. He LOVES Italy and that is where he goes. However, he had felt he should branch out and try Greece. We both think he wanted the appointment to get our opinion about Greece as a travel destination. Claude had a good visit with Dr. Lyon. 

While he was gone, I hiked to the front of our Church on Paynes Depot Road to get a picture and then back up the hill to our home to get a picture of it. I needed these for my PowerPoint for my Relief Society Lesson. It was nice to be outside walking. 

This is an example of what old age is like. I have a small pill box with a compartment for each day of the week. I needed to add to it the three supplements I bought that Kristina suggested. However, they are large capsules and there was NO room in the little compartments of my pill box for them. I said something to Claude. He suggested his might work. Oh my! Sure enough, his had larger compartments and will work just fine. An that is how old people keep going!! 

I spent a good bit of time working on Relief Society newsletters. The next two months will be super busy. I was able to get November pretty well complete and as much of December and January as I could complete. That felt good. Love it when I feel like I am in control of my to do list instead of it controlling me.  Then I watched the next episode of Northern Disclosure.

Friday, October 24th, was laundry day. I filled time between loads reading Alice in Wonderland. I have to say, I really don't get this book. I know I read it as a child. I am sure there is some underlying meaning. Alice is eating and drinking things and getting bigger and littler and swimming in a pool of her own tears. Then, when she asks the rat to tell her something he said he would, her mind drifts off and the story tells you had thoughts which are not at all what the rabbit it talking about. I told Claude that if Alice was alive in our day, I am sure she would diagnosed as ADHD. I will finish the book. Then I will see if I can find a commentary about the story behind this story. 

In the evening, Claude and I went on a proper date. We had dinner at McCallister's. Then we headed northeast of Cincinnati (about 1 1/2 hours away) to Cub World to attend the 7:30pm ticket time of Harry Potter Forbidden Forest Experience. It was delightful. Here are some things about this experience. 

They were selling wands when I bought the ticket. I truly didn't think Claude and I needed a $50 wand. I did not purchase the wand. If we had children, I would have purchased a wand. They are used to be interactive with the displays. The whole experience is based on spells. You come to a display of one of the spells, there is a stand where you flourish your wand, and it makes the display do something that fits that spell. I was very happy to stand to the side and take my pictures. But if I were or had a child with me, the wand would have been important to the experience.

Next, I purposefully purchased tickets for 7:30pm. Thinking this would be when it was dark but our drive up would be before it got dark. Our walk through the experience was 45 minutes to one hour. If we had stood in the queues to flourish our wands, that would have been a lot longer. By the time we had our hot chocolate after finishing the experience and got back to our car, it was closer to 9pm. By this time, there was a LONG line of cars coming into the parking area. Lesson--Go early, no later than 7:30pm. 

Here are pictures of our Harry Potter Forbidden Forest Experience:

It had not been over an hour and a half since we ate and drank one of those enormous McCallister's beverages. There was a bathroom area on a concrete slab with wood walls surrounding the area. Inside the three walls were lined with porta-potties. It was very clean and well maintained. We entered and picked our porta-potty. Then I started hearing this voice. It didn't take long for me to realize it was Moaning Myrtle who occupies the bathroom in Hogwarts. How clever is that?!

Before you enter the venue, you can be sorted into your house with the sorting hat. Project to the ground in front are the house logos in their colors. The sorting hat is on a mechanism so it really never touches anyone's head. Smart move! We opted to take a picture and not stand in the queue to be sorted.

Entrance into the venue. It actually lets you into the souvenir store! 

Then you go past the places that sell beverages and food. 

When you get to the beginning of your walk, this is before you. Lots of wizards and witches wore their robes.

Hagrid and Fang

At the front of each spell is a sign with the word for the spell on it. This was the mandrake scene. You may want to cover your ears for the little video clip of the mandrakes.

This one has the balls levitate when the spell is cast.

When using the expelliarmus spell, the circles on the chest area of the robes lights up when the spell is cast correctly.

Hedwig

Then we entered the area about spiders. The web was projected onto the ground. Then we saw Ron by the flying car which was covered in spiders. And it finished with Aragon, the huge spider that was a friend of Hagrid.

Expecto Patronum allowed me to get a pictures of the stand that the kids can climb up on to cast their spell. 

Silencio was to silence the playing of the harp. 

The Hippogriffs had you bow before the Hippogriff, then it would bow to you. No one touched the Hippogriffs as Harry Potter was allowed to do once the Hippogriff bowed back. This is probably a good thing for sanitary reasons.

We were treated to a unicorn running on a hill through the forest. 

This Dementor was a mite scary. 

They did a great job with dueling wands. 

The finale is a light show in the forest trees. 

We made our way out and back to the area with food and beverages. There are all kinds of choices. We opted for Hogwart Hot Chocolate. Your basic hot chocolate with whipped cream on top and sprinkled with hot chocolate powdered. Yum! 

We found our car and made our way home. It was a great night to be out in the fresh air. I am always grateful when it is not raining as these kinds of tickets are non-refundable and the show goes on rain, snow, whatever. We were bundled up a bit for the colder air, but walking generates enough heat till big coats were not needed. We both pronounced this a good evening.

Saturday, October 25th, biscuit breakfast to begin our day. Claude would cut the grass. I would fold that last load of laundry, put the finishing touches on my Relief Society lesson for Sunday, and work on my Blog. 

In the evening, we took our hamburgers after yardwork tradition to a different location. We had both hears of a place in Paris, Kentucky called Jerry's. It is the last of what was once a chain of restaurants. The others sold to restaurants like Denny's and Big Boy.

This sign was on the wall going to the kitchen. I had not noticed it as we waited for our seat. Claude did and said, "That sign is about you!" Such a sweet guy.

Sunday, October 26th, was a lovely day. We both awoke before the alarm went off to get ready for Church. We both woke up at a point where we were in a really deep sleep. I was dreaming about sleeping! It took us a while to break out of that mode.

Sacrament meeting was really good. Karen Raulston spoke about temples. Bishop Barber spoke about testimonies. Between Jenny Squire accompanied her daughter, Julianna, on the piano while Juliana played the cello. They played "I Need Thee Every Hour". Simply beautiful. 

I taught the Relief Society lesson. It was based on Elder Ulisses Soares April General Conference talk entitled "Reverence for Sacred Things". 

We had Jimmy John's for lunch followed by a nap. I even took a short nap. 

In the evening, we went to the Lexington Opera House to see Revisiting Creedence. I had pre-purchased parking in the Victorian Square lot where we usually park. When we got there, cars were lining all the streets. We entered the parking garage and it was almost full. We had to go to the 6th floor to find a spot. This never happens to us. What were all these people. As we got in the elevator to go to the first floor, there was a young mother with a two kid wagon and a little child walking. I held the door for her to get all that stuff in the elevator. I asked her what all the cars were for as I was sure they were not all headed to the Lexington Opera House. It turns out they were doing the annual Thriller March down the Main Street of Lexington. This is a big deal each Halloween. Now we understood all the cars.

We got to our seats and there was a couple seated to my left. Claude was in an aisle seat to my right. We were in the balcony on the second row from the front. Excellent seats. A couple of ladies entered and we all stood to let them past to their seats on the other side of the couple next to me. It wasn't long before I noticed the man next to me reaching his hands out to hold the face of the woman with him. He kissed her, which I thought was sweet. Then...he kissed her again and again. Oh My!! This couple was at least as old as Claude and me, if not older. He would break for a minute and then be right back at the kissing. You could feel the people behind us observing this behavior and the ladies to his left were also aware of this 'making out' in the theater. Finally, one of the ladies to his left said in a loud voice, "You two must not be married or you wouldn't be this happy!" Everyone around them laughed. Her comment did not dissuade the behavior. I can honestly say I have never attended a concert where there was a couple making out next to me. I have watched people hug and kiss but not consistently through the concert. 

The other thing at this particular concert was the people hired to show you to your seats. The ladies down our aisle wanted to take video. It didn't take but a few seconds for the lady from the theater to come down and shine a flashlight in her eyes and tell her to not video. This would happen three more times during the show. However, at the end of the show, the band said to the audience, "Tag us in your videos that your post so we can see them too." Hmmmm...there should probably be a bit of communication between the theater workers and the musicians about when videoing is okay. I looked over the balcony and LOTS of people were videoing in the orchestra seats. I did not video this time. I did take a couple of pictures. The last picture was at the end of the concert. The band had their stage hand take a picture of them with the audience behind taking pictures. I thought that was cute.

This was an excellent performance. The two younger guys, vocalist and lead guitarist, traveled with Creedence Clearwater and were hand picked to carry on the music of Creedence Clearwater. That shows a level of confidence in these guys doing the music of Creedence Clearwater. Highly recommend this group. Sometimes it is called Creedence Revisited.

Family Update: School pictures were received for Raelyn, Emelia and Joel Roper. Raelyn is in fourth grade, Emelia is in first grade and Joel is in pre-school.

Andie and Michael attended Bailey's orchestra concert while we attend Visiting Creedence. Andie sent pictures and video. Bailey is wearing the dress she picked out when we were shopping before she headed to college. She is stunning. The music was awesome.

Cross-Stitch Finished, Fall Break, Music and Sermons...

Monday, October 13th, I would continue my cross-stitching through this week. 

Claude did the yardwork which meant a hamburger day. We would have dinner from Wendy's. 

Katelyn called with the best news. It seems the Roper's ministering brother from church contacted them about a trip to the temple to do baptisms. He will drive them over and do baptisms with them. His wife will watch all four children while they do this. It is a 3-hour drive from Muskegon to Detroit and a 3-hour drive home plus time at the temple. This is a very generous gesture on their part. I contacted Steve Gulbrandsen, my brother-in-law, who has been doing the research on my mother's line. He will provide Drew and Katelyn with five family file names each for these baptisms. This is a very important time for the Ropers and an answer to prayer for Claude and me.

Tuesday, October 14th, guess what...more cross-stitch. 

Jake sent us a video of a sermon he delivered for the Community of Christ service in Toronto. It was based on Doubting Thomas (John 20:19-29). I totally enjoyed listening to Jake deliver this sermon. He was honest and it was from his heart. He carefully explained the scripture and connected it with other scripture. I felt a better understanding of Doubting Thomas after listening to the sermon. I sent Jake a message telling him how grateful I was to be his mother. 

In the afternoon, we watched a broadcast from Salt Lake City. Pres. Russell M. Nelson passed away last week before General Conference. This day, the new first presidency would be announced. We all knew Dallin H. Oaks would be the prophet. He is the senior apostle and that is usually who is the next prophet and president of the Church. What we were anxious to learn is who he would pick for his counselors. 

Left to right: Henry B. Eyring (1st Counselor), Dallin H. Oaks (President) and D. Todd Christofferson (2nd Counselor). It is so comforting to see the order in which this process happens. The Lord's house is a house of order. Truly. 

Wednesday, October 15th, yes guess it...more cross-stitch!

We drove to Louisville in the evening with a stop in Frankfort for dinner at Staxx BBQ to see AJ Croce at the Brown Theater. AJ is the son of Jim Croce, a vocalist we very much enjoyed. Jim Croce died in a plane crash in 1973. AJ was born in 1971. AJ also had a period of about 5 years of blindness in his youth. He comes form a long line of musicians and knew at a very early age he also wanted to continue that line. For 30 years, he performed only his own music. Then he decided to share some of his father's music. The evening would be a mix of Jim Croce songs we knew and loved as well as original music by AJ Croce. It was delightful and we would highly recommend him to others. His style of music was mostly blues. I love blues music. He is a master and the piano, organ and guitar. A true delight to listen to. He told stories about his father and his own life. Great show. I have a couple of snippet so his songs for your enjoyment.

The thing that I got a chuckle out of was after getting to Louisville and finding the Brown Theater, we had to find parking. There is a lot directly across the street. You must pay on-line to park there. The last time we were to the Brown Theater, it was a little tricky getting the parking paid for. We were early that night at sat in the car and watched other struggle as we did to navigate this on-line payment. When we pulled into the parking lot this time, I immediately got a text message. The lot recognized the Jeep or my cellphone, not sure which. It told me to park and it would automatically change my card when we exited. Nothing else to do. This digital age sometimes amazes me. It can be a bit frightening to think we are recognized so quickly. But it was nice not to have to fight the on-line payment process.

Thursday, October 16th, Bailey was on her fall break from college. Because the bank really plays during this time, she had Thursday and Friday only to play with. She contacted us and asked if we might want to play. Well...of course! 

We drove to Campbellsville and picked up our girl and her laundry. We stopped at Gosser so Bailey could pick up her flag. She will be doing Winter Guard this year. It will add something different to her resume. Then we headed back to Lexington to attend an afternoon of horse racing at Keeneland.

I told Bailey this was always my favorite of the races. A little slower paced but I love when the John Deere tractor's smooth out the dirt.

We saw one race on turf. There was another but we left before it ran.

Our final race for this day. The horses are finished with their warm-up and are heading to the gates. Then they are out of the gates. And finally they are at the finish line. This race the ran the entire track.

Bailey was tired and ready to go to our home. We opted to drive-thru Taco Bell and take dinner home. I love that when we finished eating, Bailey searched the kitchen for her food treat, made her next on the sofa and was down for the count. She opted to watch some of the Harry Potter movies. Bailey also played some piano for us. How fun it was to see her learning to play. 

Friday, October 17th, we slept in a bit. Then I got up to cross-stitch. I would finished the piece this day. It will be Katelyn's Christmas present. I must now press it and frame it. The quote fits her perfectly. 

When Bailey woke up, we put some more Harry Potter movies in. She would fix some corn dogs for her and Claude for lunch. The plan was to leave our home at 6pm. The final Harry Potter movie was played while Claude fixed the brisket meal Bailey had requested. We actually bought this brisket at Staxx's on Wednesday evening. We ate our meal and finished the movie. Then loaded the car and headed back to Campbellsville with Bailey and all her clean laundry. It was a nice visit. Our girls had the fall break she wanted and was ready to start learning those Winter Guard routines. 

On the way home, Claude said, "I really liked that way of doing a brisket!" You see, Claude usually smokes the brisket himself. Other than being a bit expensive, he may have found a new way to satisfy our family's craving for brisket that he created without having to do the work and clean the smoker. Hmmm....

We learned during these drives that Cordell, Claude's brother, fell while trying to heal from his last knee replacement. He didn't fall on the knee but now the knee is bleeding. He will go in Monday for the doctor to see what has happened. I put him and Kris's names on the temple prayer roll.

Saturday, October 18th, I had a very, bad night's sleep again. I gave up and spent a good bit of time in my chair in the living room. Started reading Alice in Wonderland and worked on quotes from General Conference for the Relief Society newsletters for the next six months. It was productive time but I would really rather have been sleeping.

I was supposed to attend the Stake Relief Society activity on Saturday. It started at 10am. I was finally able to get to sleep at 6am and when I awoke it was 10am. I missed that activity. Ugh.

However, I was able to get ready and go with Claude for a biscuit, a drop-off of hazardous trash at Toyota's annual recycling for Scott County and pick up Claude's prescription. We really appreciate this way Toyota helps the community. We saved and old printer, some paint cans and some other electronic items and were able to safely dispose of them. Toyota always has a little giveaway item as you enter the recycling area. This year it was this cute little recycling bin. Not sure what in the world we will do with it. It could hold pens. Hmmmm....

In the afternoon and I got the November Relief Society birthday cards ready and washed the guest bed linens. I was also able to watch two episodes of Northern Disclosure. 

Sunday, October 19th, has been a rainy day. No complaints. The ground really needs a drink before winter. The Primary children did a masterful job with the Annual Primary Program. At the end Claude said, "That was worth the trip!" He does have a way with words. 

We came home after sacrament meeting. We both took naps. I worked on my Blog and other things. We would heat up a pizza for dinner rather than go out in the weather. It was a quiet afternoon and evening.