Jennifer Apodaca's Blog, page 16

Weekend Round up!

Wow last week was a wild ride! So I know I did a quick Friday Five, but this round up covers the weekend and some of last week.

Most important is Baby Girl — our new granddaughter!! (I’ll come up with a nickname soon).

She was about 6 lbs 9 oz when born, and I think 20 inches. She small but mighty! She’s super engaged when she’s awake and either looks into our eyes or follows voices. This pic she’s obviously sleeping And no they don’t leave the necklace on her in case anyone is worried. She makes the most hilarious faces, including one dubbed “Grandpa Face” by her dad (he’s evil — he gets it from his dad, LOL) I love her so much! I’m waiting for a chance to get a pic her of her and Turbo together. Her parents are doing great. My son took the week off from work and is not looking forward to leaving her to go back. My daughter in law’s mom will be staying with them for the week and that will help my daughter in law. I’ll be available too.

Then the fire: As of yesterday afternoon, it’s 19% contained and we are safe enough for now. Cooler weather with overcast mornings and evenings has helped too. But also — fire crews are amazing! They are inserting Hot Shot crews deep into the terrain to help with the fire lines too. Here’s a couple pics:

This is a picture a few days ago from my back yard.

And this pic below is one I took when we were coming back into town after storing The Mustang at my sister’s house. Our house is a mile up the road, and then we turn right to weave into our track of homes. Also notice the sun behind the smoke in the upper right side of the screen.

And a fun break — this is Phoebe when I watched her. Keep in mind, she’s 14 years old!! And very happy that I came over to hang out with her

 

Over the weekend, we took food out to Middle and his wife so they didn’t have to cook while taking care of their baby girl. Then we spent the rest of the weekend cleaning up and catching up from the wild week. I did manage to get out to Trader Joe’s but going anywhere requires getting around road closures and dealing with traffic from a major highway closure. But that should ease up this week or early next week and it’s all for a good cause.

Oh and in the middle of all the chaos, UCI scheduled my endocrinologist appointment for this Friday. I was amazed they got it approved and scheduled so quickly! I know my surgeon wanted me to get in somewhat urgently just to make sure I’m adjusting well, and due to some genetic markers, but I didn’t think it would happen this fast. I was happily wrong!

How was your weekend?

The post Weekend Round up! first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Late Friday Five

Sorry I’m late! We are fine, just a lot going on. But lets dive into Friday Five, just in case any of you would like to share yours.

We’ve been safe from the fires so far, and things are improving. We’ve been “downgraded” to warning level. Wizard and I unpacking today and cleaning up where we can.The fire is still only 8% contained, and has burned more than 24k acres. And there’s more fires burning. One we know was started by an arsonist and that’s infuriating.Yesterday, I went out to help with my new grandbaby! OMG she’s totally adorable and I love her so much!! She’s tiny, about 6 lbs 9 oz, and amazing! Her parents are doing great — I’m so proud of them! they had some rough but they handled them and all is well. I had planned to stay the night last night but ended up coming home late at night because I’m tired and plan to make food to take back this weekend.Also #3 is my reason for not posting my blog when I should have. I don’t have access to the site on my phone, and everything else was packed.I’m so tired, but even more happy. But have so much to be thankful for. Baby girl’s birth wasn’t easy, but she’s here, happy. Now I have to run to the store and unpack stuff!!

That’s my quick five, and I’d love to hear yours if you have time to share!! Have a great weekend!

The post Late Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Fire Watch Wednesday

For the record, this isn’t fun. We have been under an evacuation warning from the Airport Fire in the hills (it’s the huge Cleveland National Forest) behind us since Monday night. I desperately wanted to go see our new grandchild, and help the brand new parents. Because of the warning, I was afraid to go so far and not be able to get back in if they issue and evac order. But others are in (at this moment) worse danger than us, so I need to not whine too much. My son, his wife and their two day old daughter are fine. They have people around then who can offer support, and a brother near by. So my  griping is really more about me just missing out

I’m writing this Tuesday early afternoon. We are basically in wait and see, and we’ve made some premilitary preparations so we can move somewhat quickly if needed.

The firefighters are awesome! If you have extra prayers, send them for their safety as they fight multiple fires, please.

How’s your day going?

The post Fire Watch Wednesday first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup

First up, as I type this late Sunday afternoon, the baby is not quite here yet. But Mom and baby are under excellent care so when the time is right, we’ll celebrate.

The weekend was good, if a little scattered. It’s nothing wrong, just constantly pivoting plans as a reminder that I don’t always get to control life when I plan my days. That’s always a surprise to me Which basically means I didn’t get to do some experimental baking stuff for my imaginary bakery…yeah…don’t ask. It’s a mental thing I do when I’m resting — think about and sometimes research cookies and brownies. I don’t actually ever plan or even want to open a bakery. My mental one never gets dirty, had equipment failures, rude customers, missing ingredients, or any problems at all. Real life…not so much!

Friday, I saw my surgeon. She’s very happy with my progress. The news was 95% good, and we are relieved and happy! The nodule was bigger than expected, and super close to the margins — which was validating in a way. She does not believe I’ll need more treatment, but due to a genetic mutation that was found in the biopsy, she wants me to see another specialist to confirm that. And I’ll do a six month follow up with her.  Overall good news.

Oh and the healing scar looks great! I am collecting them in that spot there with two surgeries there, LOL (My neck surgery years ago is right there).

Saturday and Sunday were days of pivoting plans, and it all worked out. On Saturday, I did get to go spend an hour and a half with my grand dog, Phoebe. That was actually good, because I just sat with her, played some toys, and we both watched some Youtube on my phone. But Sunday, I’m super tired. I have more good days than not, so it’s just my body reminding me it hasn’t been even three weeks since my surgery (and so totally normal), and I’m listening.

Today we are, well, still in pivot mode (first babies!) and also, I get to go hang out with Phoebe again. When I get home after that, I usually get a 3rd degree sniff examination by Maggie

How was your weekend?

The post Weekend Roundup first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five

TGIF! Time to jump right into sharing five random things about our week. Here’s mine:

It’s brutal hot. It was 111 degrees and humid here yesterday. Today is supposed to be the same and last through the weekend. Thankfully we have A/C and I’m grateful for that.No baby yet as I write this about 8pm on Friday. My daughter-in-law saw her doctor and they tried to nudge things along. First babies are stubborn! But all that really matters is that everyone is healthy and when baby girl arrives — mom and baby are in good shape. Well, dad too, but you know what I mean Today (Thursday) totally got away from me and became exhausting. I had my day planned to manage all the tasks I hoped to do while still recovering — but the heat, Maggie having another episode of bladder accidents for a few hours (these episode come and go in serious weirdness but her vet is trying to help her), and a dead car battery ended up crowding the day and making us both tired. Probably I shouldn’t have tried making sourdough just yet…but…well…I did So I shall take a bit of blame. I wasn’t lifting anything heavy though!In an upside to yesterday, I ran over to Youngest’s house to pick up an extra watermelon they had, and to go over instructions to pop in a couple times over the weekend to play with my grand dog and give the dog sitter a break. (She’s way more than a dog sitter, she’s a family friend, but dog sitter describes the situation. And yet I feel bad calling her a dog sitter and I had to add a parenthetical to point that out….maybe I’m really tired!) This quick visit on my part should have taken five minutes but Youngest and I got to talking and we lost an hour and a half! As I was driving home, Wizard called and said, “Did you lose track of time?” Um…yeah? But it was a great break to a long day! Also Wizard finds me losing track of time hilarious because it’s so rare.Today is my follow up with my surgeon. I hope she has the biopsy results to give us the best information. But we have had no reason to expect anything other than good news. As for the rest of the day and the weekend — it’s baby watch and checking in on my grand dog when needed. And resting a bit more than I have this last day or two

That’s my five, now I’d love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend filled with all the things that bring you joy!

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Wednesday Reading

So I’ve been reading a book for weeks. I know…what happened to the voracious reader Jen who used to consume several books a week? Yeah, I’m wondering that too. However, I do like the book I’m reading — “The Lying Game” by Ruth Ware. It’s a mystery about a group of girls in a boarding school who played a game of lying…until something happened that changed the game of lying into real life survival. The book starts when the women are all adults living their lives and must come together because something has washed up on shore that can expose the lie and threaten their lives. I’m not very far along but it definitely has me intrigued.

I’ve listened to two old books, “The Bride” by Julie Garwood (love her!), and The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah (one of my all time favorites), because they were easy and familiar, making them perfect to listen to in the first days after surgery.

Now that I’m improving so quickly, I’m looking for new books to catch my interest.

What are you reading or listening to?

The post Wednesday Reading first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Round

Happy Labor Day to all the U.S. witches! And Happy September to everyone! I love fall and look forward to cooler weather…eventually as it’s going to be 100+ all week here. However the rabid pumpkin spice love in fall is something I don’t really get. I mean, pumpkin is okay but it’s not chocolate people, okay? Let’s not get confused, Chocolate Rules All The Seasons! 

No grandbaby yet as I’m writing this on Sunday afternoon She’s taking her time, planning for just the right moment to make her debut. I’m happy to wait, but I’m not sure her parents are as patient as her Grandma, LOL.

Otherwise, it’s been a decent weekend. Friday, we saw my primary doctor. He was very pleased with my progress and gave Wizard and me an extra level of confidence. I am getting rest, but also moving as much as I can and he was fine with that. That helped Wizard to relax a bit more and let me do things if I feel up to it. While Wizard has been great, I recognize that in a lot of ways, this has been harder on him.

Saturday we did stuff around the house, then went over Youngest’s house because Turbo and his family were going over there to swim. It gave us a chance to see him as it’s been a long time. We enjoyed that then came home. I can’t swim until I’m cleared by my surgeon and Wizard is tired, so it worked out well. OH!! guys, I forgot to say, my oldest son and daughter-in-law had gifts for us from Italy. Long story but the gifts ended up at Youngest’s house, so we were able to retrieve them. One item is some olive oil that smells amazing — better than any olive oil I’ve ever had in the states! I can’t wait to try it! And some balsamic too, which is also cool!

Sunday, we went to breakfast. The restaurant was having a bad day, but it was nice to get out. Then after lunch, I decided to do some errands as I’m just starting to drive comfortably now. I picked up some fresh made sourdough since I’m not up to making it myself yet (but soon!). The sourdough is to dip in the olive oil and balsamic Then I ran by Trader Joes. ‘There I got some regular and dairy free parmesan cheese to make a gluten free pasta dish with the olive oil, my fresh basil leaves and the parm because it sounds yummy. And I bought a bunch of random stuff because that place has a spell over me. I asked the very nice girl at the checkout if she could pack the bags super light and she was happy to do it. I normally hate asking stuff like that, but she made it easy and I so appreciated it. She offered to me help out to the car, but she did such a great job of packing the bags light, I didn’t need it.

This week is another week of light duty for me, but hopefully on Friday, I’ll get clearance to do more.

How was your weekend?

The post Weekend Round first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Friday Five

TGIF!! And it’s a long weekend since Labor Day is Monday and many will get the day off work in the states. Let’s get right into sharing five random things about our week. Here’s mine.

As I’m writing this early afternoon yesterday — no baby yet! I talked to my DIL on the phone, she’s doing fine. They’re just waiting with no idea when baby girl will arrive. Could be anytime or another week or 10 days. Babies arrive when they are ready I have a surprise doctor appointment with my primary doctor today. When I tell you all my surgeon and the entire staff are efficient, I’m not kidding. I got an email two days ago informing me of this appointment with my primary doctor. I think it’s so he can refer me to an endocrinologist (they specialize in endocrine system, and will help balance my hormones now that I don’t have a thyroid). Plus I know my regular doc and surgeon talked by phone about me because my surgeon told me that before the surgery. I’m just stunned in a good way at the level of care I’ve been getting after lack of care from a previous provider.I’m bored, eating, restless and crabby. So, yep, recovery is going as it should Wednesday was a bright spot as my youngest daughter in law’s mom brought Wizard and I lunch. That was so nice!! We loved and appreciated the food (plus a plant and a bottle of wine for when I’m better!), and for me, it was more just seeing her that helped break up the days for me.I took Maggie for a walk yesterday morning — it’s on my approved list of things I can do as long as I don’t pick Maggie up. I’ve been doing well walking a little farther each day. But yesterday there was a dog loose. I was not up to tangling with a big dog, and headed back into my track. Normally I’d have tried to do something, but yesterday was not that day. I don’t even know how many layers of stitches are in my throat, and I didn’t want to find out the hard way I imagine we’ll be sticking close to home this weekend. But then again, maybe our new granddaughter will arrive. Who knows what surprises the long weekend will bring!

I don’t have much this week But I’d love to year your five!!! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

The post Friday Five first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Roundup / Update

Hi All! First up, I’m good and recovering well. The whole thing was pretty easy (for surgery!) for me. We got up at three, and were at the center by five am. I was in surgery by a little after seven, and there were, thankfully, no complications. She did grab a few lymph nodes while in there strictly as a precaution to make sure there’s no spread, but overall, everything looks good.

They kept me overnight as expected. The interesting thing is that because the center is brand new, they aren’t set up with patient rooms, so they kept me in recovery. I have never had such care in my life! I had two amazing nurses, and I am grateful to them both. Normally staying in recovery that long would be miserable, but for the first night after surgery, I actually felt safe and comfortable. I’ve had minimal pain, which apparently is unusual, but for stuff like this I sometimes have a high pain tolerance. However paper cuts and mosquito bites me me whine incessantly, LOL. I have some pain, mostly in the left side where I guess she dissected the lymph nodes in the afternoon and evening but it’s easily controlled and much less than I had expected. Overall, I think I’m healing as I should and my only complaint is an occasional cough. It feels like a lot of drainage and irritated throat which is all normal after having a breathing tube but we’re watching it. Each day I’m doing more, but I need to be careful until my fallow up on September 6th. I have internal stitches in a few places, and external steri-strips. It’s a small incision but we definitely don’t want it opening up. I’m not great at remembering to be careful and not lift things, however, Wizard is excellent at reminding me And I’m glad he does. Sometimes I’m just doing what I always do without thinking, so it’s a good thing to have a watcher

Guys, when the kids were young, youngest would just pop up in the weirdest places. Like I’d close the refrigerator door and he’d be standing there. Middle could do that too, but youngest did it more often. The kid can move quiet as smoke when he wants too. So I’m resting in recovery after I’ve sent Wizard home and I think I’m listening to a conversation in the next bay. Then I hear, “Mom are you awake?” I opened my eyes and Youngest is sitting all comfortable in the chair. He said he’d been there ten minutes. He said he thought I was asleep for a bit then I moved in a way that told him I’d come awake. He’s probably right, but I’d have sworn I was awake. The whole thing was such a throwback to when he’d catch me by surprised as a kid. By the way, he didn’t startle me into jumping. I knew he was on his way, I just didn’t realized I’d dozed off and he’d arrived. Plus drugs — I was pretty much just going with things.

And then, I kid you not, he did it AGAIN later that night. He came back and sat there until I woke. A couple days later he said he’d only been gone an hour when he and his wife got something to eat, but I wasn’t tracking time and thought hours and hours had gone by. I believe him. Anyhow, I found it funny. His wife also came and I loved seeing her. She helped me with some stuff which was great. Oh and they were only letting one visitor in at a time because I was in recovery not a patient room, and they were monitoring me for calcium levels and other things. So in my memory it seemed like everyone was a separate visitor even if they came together — if that makes sense. And Oldest came by, it was great to see him and catchup on everything Turbo is doing. I enjoyed talking to them all. His wife had a mild virus so didn’t want to get anyone sick. Middle called, but I did not expect him to come to the hospital.

Then yesterday Middle and his wife came to the house. Umm…she’s 39 weeks pregnant! And they drove an hour or more away from the house and hospital! She assured me it was fine, she wasn’t having contractions. She looked amazing and the baby was moving all over, so she was right. But still!!! Middle looks great too, and very happy. Oh and this daughter in law had offered to bring Wizard food while I was in surgery. I love that. Wizard said no (we didn’t want her in the facility where she could pick up a virus), but it meant a lot to him that she would do that for him. While I was in surgery, Wizard did as I asked and left to go eat. They had his cell phone, so it was fine.

Anyway, all is going well. It’s probably all been a lot harder on Wizard. I hope to keep healing quickly.

Now I’d love to hear how all of you have been.  I may or may not answer right away, but I will read it. If I don’t show up here Wednesday, I definitely plan to be back on Friday.

The post Weekend Roundup / Update first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.

Weekend Round Up

Let’s hope I don’t screw up posting this blog like I did on Friday when I put in the wrong date

So we had a good weekend. Lunch on Friday with my sister was awesome, and I got my chocolate cake! That was exactly what I wanted, it was so good. I brought what I couldn’t eat home for Wizard, so he was happy too. I really enjoyed a day out with Biker Witch.

The rest of the weekend was pretty quiet, we just did normal things. Youngest stopped by on Saturday, and Maggie lost her mind with joy. Then after about 10 minutes, she went to bed in another room. She’s fickle like that, LOL.

I talked to middle son, and they are now playing the waiting game. Their daughter is due in two weeks, and who knows when she’ll arrive. The joy of hearing how excited he is — it’s everything to me. It makes me smile all the time. I also video chatted with Turbo to find out how his first week of 1st grade went, and it’s all good. He’s adjusting to a new school quickly and making friends. I’m proud of him! These are such important steps in a child’s life.

Sunday we’d made plans to meet friends for lunch at a winery, but we cancelled that. I was disappointed, but I wasn’t feeling my best. And…mosquitos! The LUUVVV me. Sigh.  Most of the bites have been mildly annoying to me, and amusing to Wizard to watch how my body overreacts. This last one, however, had a mean streak and bit on my ankle over my bad joint. The swelling is not pretty and makes my ankle stiff. It’s not really painful, but the ankle looks terrible and the swelling makes flexing or bending the joint a little harder. I didn’t think being out in the heat would help that.  So we asked for a raincheck with our friends and they graciously understood.

And a programming note: Assuming nothing changes the date, I’ll have surgery on Wednesday and I don’t plan to be back on the blog until at least Monday, maybe longer. If I feel up to it in that time, I will try to send a quick update, but I can’t promise. Just trust that all went well and I’ll be back as soon as I can.

Now I’d love to hear how your weekend was!

The post Weekend Round Up first appeared on Jennifer Lyon.