Once in awhile-now and again-this is us

were off to union station

 

thanks for getting us here tony

 

 

 

we spent a lot of time in the dining car. had great food and the best waitress. myrna and jerry got along great. she treated us all as friends.

it’s hard to get pictures from a speeding train. here are a few when the train was going slow.

 

 

we made it to chicago union station thursday for a change of trains. we were on the ‘southwest chief’ and now would be on the ‘lakeshore limited’. ray had some work to do on the computer. we boarded the new train around nine.

 

stay tuned for more, jilly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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well here it is, what we’ve been waiting on for months, our train trip to new york.  we’ve been planning and dreaming of what we are going to do.  karl, ray and martha’s son, made us a spread sheet of all our wishes and desires. we’ve been going over that and discussing what a great job he did for us. looking forward to every single item.

click on these numbers and a url will appear. click on that and our itinerary will appear – hopefully

2483251

 

we’ve said good-bye to all our friends and family. everyone understands this is going to be a short trip this time. we will be back in two weeks. but midas doesn’t know that. we’ve left him for months at a time before. he’s always here when we get home. it’s going to be hard to say good-bye to him. he’s been in our lives every day. for nine years.

 

this is our good neighbors, the ‘mudges’.  mr. mudge has been in the neighborhood as long as us. his kids played with tony and tracy. since he retired he walks everyday with his wife. she loves cats and gives snacks to all the friendly ones. midas is a friendly cat, so he started getting snacks from her (you can see him enjoying it). it’s been going on for years now. midas sits and waits for them every night. he sees them coming from a block away. they watch out for him, as all the neighbors do.

 

we’ve been learning to play pinochle with martha and ray and they have learned to play domino’s – to keep us entertained on the train.  as we have three days going and three days returning. so we will have a lot of time to play, read, talk, sightsee and nap. and to eat.  all our meals are included in the fare.

 

 

 

now all we have to do is pack.

 

i hope to get some good pictures, so stay tuned and comment.

jilly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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well we’ve taken a break from traveling in the coach. the doctors say it takes up to a year for jerry to get all his strength back. he’s doing really good, in fact too good. i have a hard time keeping him from doing too much. i want him to enjoy the drive as much as the places we will go so we’ll wait until next year for that. we’re always up for a short trip though.

so we’ve planned a train trip – to new york again. this time it will be in on amtrack. we’re going with my cousin marty and her husband ray. you know them from all the wonderful comments they give us.

we won’t be going until the fall but the sooner you buy your tickets the better price you get,  so we went to union station last week and bought them.

we got the nicest ticket agent ever. she worked with us for probably a half hour getting us the best accommodations she could and even changing things around when she thought it would be better. all this while a long line was forming. and she was the only window open most of the time. that in itself was a wonderful way to start the trip. (ray gave her a nice tip).

union station is a beautiful building. you’ve probably all been there at some point in your life. they’ve added a lot more places to eat, taken out a lot of the seats in the waiting area and all the tv’s that used to be attached to them. i remember putting quarters in them while waiting for jerry’s grandmother to come in from oklahoma. she didn’t like to fly,

 

this is were we will sleep for three days going and three days coming home. we’ll spend ten days in new york.  ray and marty’s oldest son lives in manhattan and his daughter lives in brooklyn. we’ll have fun with them seeing the city through residents eyes and doing all the touristy things there are to do.

and we topped off the day eating a double beef dip sandwich at philippe’s.

don’t know what will be next. thanks for tuning in.

love, jilly

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it’s interesting what we all take pictures of today. it used to be you had to be so careful not to waste film. now you can take ten pictures of something and not think anything about it. pick the best one and delete the rest. i remember having your roll of film, which  was a luxury back then, developed only to see some were good,  but most of them either bad, or ugly. and you still had to pay for them. but at least they were real pictures. no photo shop then.

anyway, here’s a real picture of a grape.

we like to get our trees trimmed before the winds get too bad. i was telling ted about how much i loved our eucalyptus trees. we planted this one in the front yard 40 years ago. here’s a picture with it’s haircut ted. and another one with the man in the tree. looks like pretty dangerous work. no wonder it costs so much.

and here’s a look at our shutters sharon. have you decided what to do yet?

we celebrated tony’s 51rst birthday march 3rd. at applebees.

 

these are my attempts at a picture of the new moon in juanuary from the back yard.

 

and the recent solar eclipse at 5 am in the morning, from the front yard. and a beautiful sunset that we often see from the front yard.

 

 

i love that my tablet  gives me words that it thinks – it thinks?- that i want to use. this is very handy for emails. just type a few letters and you get a few words to pick from. and they are spelled right too.  recently it started showing emojis as a choice for a word. as i typed – next time we – it chose to show me this emoji???????????.  i was going to type next time we will be there.

what’s on your camera, or should i say phone?

jilly

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i took a very special picture a few nights ago. we are taking care of frank and linda’s cats for a little while. you know feeding, playing, giving treats, keeping company, and cleaning the cat box. they have two very large and beautiful cats. lonnie is friendlier than stuie. he’s very shy and usually spends his time under the bed while we are there.

here they are looking out the front window. stuie is on the left.

 

i keep the cats company while jerry takes care of …… everything else. he called to me to come to the room with the cat box in it. he was holding a urine sample that surprised both of us.

 

 

i keep telling you – hearts are everywhere, if you’re lucky enough to see them.

i’m going to do another post soon, with another unusual heart. love, jilly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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i don’t know how many of you do jigsaw puzzles?????? but i do and have for a long time. i think it started as a kid, even though i can’t remember where we would have done them. now, i keep one on a card table in the living room at all times. it’s kind of like a meditation for me. i can go and sit and not think about anything else but where the next piece goes.

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this is my first 2000 piece puzzle. i had to get a big piece of cardboard (costco) to put on top of the table to accommodate the size – 381/2 inches by 261/2 inches. the first thing i do is put the different colors in a large flat boxes while i get the border pieces separated. i always do the border first. i couldn’t do it how you suggested ted.

i got the border done. it was so big i couldn’t reach the top. i had to move the top down to work on it. it’s complicated don’t ask. then i started doing some of the recognizable items.

i’m making progress. this puzzle was very difficult but so much fun. it’s got cat’s!

above, my next progress picture showed something i hadn’t noticed before i took the picture. do you see what i mean?

i put the last piece in.

finishing a puzzle can seem like such an accomplishment. it brings me little moments of joy. do you want me to save this one for you sharon?

or maybe the one below. i haven’t done it and probably never will.

my next puzzle is only 1000 pieces. look at all that yellow.

i just wanted to share this with you. i have many sources of joy and this is one of my favorites.

thanks for taking the time to check it out. love, jilly

p.s

I’m glad Jerry didn’t kick the bucket too ray

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jerry has recovered so well, i don’t even remember all the anxiety i had when this all happened. having to call 911 for the very first time in fifty five years of marriage. having eight or nine paramedics in the house asking all kinds of questions. (luckily i had all the answers). chris took me to the hospital, enduring a freezing waiting room with homeless people sitting next to us. jose came later and had a jacket i could wear, it was 43 degrees that night.  it turned out to be a urinary tract infection that spiked his temp up to over 100 degrees and caused him some confusion. that’s why i dialed 911. they got that under control but discovered some heart irregularities other than afib in the tests they did. he had an angiogram and was told he needed a stint – or he could choose bypass surgery which was considerably more involved, but much more succedful. he chose the bypass.

so two months later he still has no pain, but still gets a  little short of breath at times. that may last a lot longer.  he is going to rehab exercises three times a week. medicare pays for this for 18 weeks. he is a very lucky man.

 

we went to a heart healthy lunch at st. marys last week. we were served a delicious chicken salad and we learned a lot of important information form the cardiac doctor speaking. i hope we can achieve these important changes. i know a lot of you already have, so wish us luck.

 

 

jerry still has to take pradaxa for the atrial fibrolation. damn. we were hoping since the little sac that keeps blood stagnant was taken off with the surgery he wouldn’t have to. but no luck with that.

my doctor is so sweet and likes jerry so much, he goes with me every time i see her.( for 18 years now). i saw her last week. we talked about the high cost of pradaxa, she listened and left the room for a minute and came back with samples.  you can see how many she gave him,  our cost is $136.00 a month, so she saved us over $200.00.  jerry is looking at all the info that comes in every box. you all probably get the same in your medicine. are we supposed to read all that?

 

does anybody really read it? do you?

 

 

 

 

thanks to everyone for all your good wishes and prayers. you can tell someone has been listening.

love, jnj

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Jerry got to come home last night. Tony helped me once again to spring him out of there and get us home safely.  He also brought us Thuy’s homemade wonton soup and homemade spaghetti. She’s been sending me food with Tony every time he comes in. “THANK YOU” Thuy. You make the world’s best Vietnamese meatloaf.

 

jerry fed midas this morning and gave him his treats.

 

The doctors were impressed with Jerry’s progress. After one day he was just taking motrin. The last two days he took no pain meds. he does have a prescription for norco if he might need it. He didn’t bring home the potty chair, thank goodness. He did bring the walker home but probably won’t have to use it very much, mainly outside. he’s walking very well. his restrictions are no driving, no lifting, and low salt. again i say he’s a lucky man.

well i guess things are getting back to normal. that is as soon as frank and linda get home. they’ve been on vacation since the 18th, and will be home tomorrow. one place they went was chicago, did you see the temps there? in the minus category. tracy has that in north dakota too.

 

 

 

until our next trip or occasion,

love, jilly and jerry

 

 

 

 

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Jerry’s feeling so much better. We took him some McDonald’s hamburgers yesterday, and wallah, he’s ready to come home.

He’s ready,  but the question is,  am I ready??????  I guess we will see.  He is taking his first shower at the hospital this morning so that is out of the way. He was given a walker which I will be making him use.  He was also given a potty chair, which will be at his discretion to use; and clean!

The doctors haven’t prescribed rehab, so we’re waiting to see what he will have to do at home. I know we will start walking again.

He’s a very lucky man.

i’ll add a post every once in a while. jerry still needs wishes to heaven for now. thanks for helping him out with that.

love, jill

 

 

 

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jerry’s had a lot of people praying for him. thank you all.

we saw him this morning as they were getting ready to move him to a regular room. no more  icu.      yay!   he’s looking really good.

he has a new friend in this red pillow. it can be  used to gently put pressure on his chest to ease some of the discomfort.  it comes with a sharpie pen so his visitors can write a message on it. pretty cool.

 

tracy had to go back to north dakota today. i’ll miss her. she’s been so such help to me. “THANKS TRACY”. tony has been here every step of the way. “THANKS TONY”.

Chris and Jose have been feeding me and being on call for anything. all the neighbors have been wonderful. “THANKS EVERYONE”.

 

love, jill

 

 

 

 

 

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