October has arrived

 October and fall temperatures have arrived in St. Louis. It is nice to have the windows open. Lately, Steve and I have noticed a lot of train horns sounding throughout the day. We thought it was because we had our windows open. But, when we attended a Holly Hills meeting Monday evening, we learned that it is because St. Louis failed to comply (for many years, mind you) with the Federal Railroad Administration requirement of updated signs and pavement markings at crossings necessary for a quiet-zone designation within the city. So, the horns are tooting until the city fixes the issues. Wow, this city's government disfunction continues to baffle me. Now, this problem was ignored by the previous mayor (who was a disaster) and our current mayor is terrific and a go-getter. But, it is hard to repair decades of bad management all at once.  Well, enough about the city of St. Louis....

Joe and Vicki pulled away early Monday morning to drive back to Massachusetts. We fed the sister missionaries that evening. 

Steve had a colonoscopy Wednesday afternoon. The doctor reported that Steve's colon looked good. 

I had the opportunity to substitute teach a middle school orchestra class on Thursday. Here's how it came about....Jayne is a cellist in Civic Orchestra and she has an exercise class with Bonnie, the director of Fine Arts at a private school in Ladue. Bonnie knows Jayne plays cello and she asked if she knew someone who could substitute teach an orchestra class. Jayne suggested me so Bonnie reached out and, because I had free time Thursday afternoon, I agreed. Imagine my surprise when I learned that the teacher I would be substituting for was Ethan, a former Rock Bridge high school orchestra student of mine who I also taught private cello lessons to before he headed off to college! Pretty crazy. It was a fun teaching job - I enjoyed being behind a baton again - and I agreed to fill out the paperwork to substitute again (although, I hope it is not very regular!) 

I finished my round of antibiotics last Saturday morning for my UTI and all seemed well until yesterday (Saturday morning) at 2:00 am when I was awakened from a sound sleep with another UTI! And this one was definitely more "assertive".  I was very much looking forward to a quiet weekend watching General Conference sessions and now a UTI threatened to derail that plan! But, as soon as I woke up and showered, I went to my medical portal and set up an e-doctor visit right away for 7:30 am. She prescribed an antibiotic and put in an order to get a urinalysis at Quest labs. As soon as I signed off with the doctor, I logged on to the Quest website and set up an appointment at the closest lab that was open on Saturday. Appointment times were either 8:00 am or times in the afternoon so I clicked on 8:00 and dashed out the door to make the 15 minute drive down to the lab. I got there at about 8:05 and tried to log in at the kiosk but my appointment was not in the system!? Then, a lab tech came out to the waiting room and informed everyone that, unless they had paper orders, they could not process any lab appointments because their computers were down (all around the country!!!). Ugh! So, I went back to my car and set immediately up an appointment to go to an urgent care near the house. I drove right there, saw the physician, peed in a bottle (they did a quick check and it was definitely a UTI). Then, I drove home to pick up a portable breakfast and left again for Walmart to pick up my antibiotic. I did all this before 10:20 in the morning! And, phew, my Saturday was NOT derailed and we had a lovely, peaceful Saturday listening to conference talks. I worked on marking 60 tea towels with our new Christmas design. 

I did a lot of movie watching this week. I watched In The Blink of an Eye while preparing tea towels earlier in the week. It was an interesting, kind of quiet film that featured three families spanning millennia and tied them together. I also watched Big Hero Six (seen it before) as I waited for Steve's colonoscopy procedure.  He and I caught two episodes of Star Trek Strange New Worlds this week. We watched Flight of the Phoenix Friday night and Edge of Tomorrow Saturday night. Two pretty intense movies.  Steve had never seen Edge of Tomorrow  but I had. However, with our memories so bad these days, it is like watching a new movie!  Steve and I pumped up our bike tires and took a bike ride around the neighborhood last night. With more agreeable temperatures, we hope to do that more often in the next few weeks. 

Happy October, everyone!

 

To the dogs in our life

We lost a grand-dog this week - Sarah's Bones died of lymphoma Tuesday. He was fourteen years old and he went peacefully at the hands of a gentle and kind veterinarian. Here are some photos of him through the years:

He got along so well with Trissy and Sadie and I have many photos of all three together.

Here they are waiting for a treat from Steve - a nightly ritual.

And here is one with all five dogs belonging to assorted family members: Sadie, Trissy, Bones, Lily, Bacon. Only Lily remains, now.

It seems anticlimactic to continue writing....

And, it was a rather uneventful week. Well, I take that back. On Wednesday morning, Steve had the ablation procedure on his lower back. It is too early to tell the full effects but we are hopeful that by next week, he will have significantly less pain. 

I sent five dozen embroidered tea towels to the Missouri History Museum on Friday. The Afghan Artisan project was so delighted to get that second, larger order. I guess they sell well in their gift shop?

The stake Relief Society had an activity Friday evening at Tower Grove Park. The pavilion was decorated so beautifully with hanging lights and battery candles scattered among mums and small pumpkins on the tables. The meal was delicious and there were accommodations for gluten free, including for s'mores. I brought along Tabitha and her seeing-eye dog, Tory. The weather FINALLY broke Monday and it was a perfect evening and Tower Grove Park was a beautiful venue for the event.

We made an all-day trip to Columbia on Saturday. Steven joined us on our Amish shopping and for lunch at Culvers. I acquired a new virtual cello student in the afternoon and we enjoyed a picnic supper at a park with Elise before driving home. It was a nice, if tiring day. 

Vicki and Joe Southerland have been our houseguests all week as they worked on plumbing repairs on Emily and Joe's house in Ballwin. 

However, aside from their truck parked in the backyard turnaround and an occasional "bye" or "hi" as they left in the morning or returned in the evening, we hardly saw them. They always came home so weary that they went right downstairs to shower and go to bed. But, today, Sunday, was everyone's day of rest so, after church meetings, we all gathered in our backyard to eat grilled hotdogs and brats and all other kinds of picnic-y foods. Emily had a photo shoot this evening so we held the meal at 12:30. And, because it was at midday, the deck was not yet in the shadow of the huge oak tree so we ate on the driveway. It was nice to have everyone together. Weather was perfect.

 

September stuff

It has been a week of UTIs. Both Steve and I were diagnosed with ones on Monday and we drove Sally down to the vet at Open Door on Wednesday to see if she had one. Of course, she wouldn't pee but we were sent home with a round of antibiotics regardless. There were several kitties roaming around the reception area of Open Door and one little tuxedo cat got up close and personal with Sally. And, surprisingly, Sally was very tolerant of all the kitty overtures. Maybe she was raised with cats in her former life? It took a great deal of willpower for me to NOT take home a half-grown tuxedo kitten!

On Friday, I started a new piano student, we had the elders over for pizza for dinner, and we played games next door at Mona and Ed's well into the evening. The second game was a new one - a combination of trivia based upon the United States and chutes and ladders - and we kept getting the chute sending us down and some of the questions were extremely difficult and yet others were stupidly easy. We finally ended at 9:30 in a draw because we all needed to take dogs out to go potty and we are all old and needed to go to bed!

Saturday morning, Steve and I drove down to the Gateway Arch where we met Emily, Joe, Quinn and Larkin to view the Paint Louis graffiti mural wall. Every Labor Day, graffiti artists from around the world are invited to come and create on this hugely long wall along the Mississippi River. Emily has taken senior photos with that backdrop for years and I saw it when Kirsti was getting her senior pictures taken. It was quite impressive!

Afterwards, we brought Larkin back home with us for some grandparent time. She painted her own bottle gourd, she organized my two doll houses, and she helped me get the guest bedroom prepared for her other grandparents who are arriving later today. Papa Joe will be spending the upcoming week doing some work on the Ballwin house and they will be staying with us. As Larkin helped me dust, she found the wooden shoes that Steve bought in Minnesota while he was on his mission. He was stationed in Sioux City which was across the river from the little Dutch tourist town. Larkin had to try them on and she declared them to be quite comfortable.

We took Larkin home around 3:00 and, as we drove out of Holly Hills  and towards the snow cone shack where we bought a treat for each of us, we noticed the cute little hedgehogs that have been recently placed in a grassy median inside the neighborhood. We stopped to take photos....

The rest of the week was pretty  average. It is still very hot and dry so I spent one morning moving the sprinkler all around both the front and back yards. I am almost finished with cropping photos from 1979 through 1981. I have been practicing the music for our first civic orchestra concert. And, Steve and I watched Seven Years in Tibet in snatches over three days. And, of course we watched Strange New Worlds (two episodes). 

Today, Steve and I attended Emily and Joe's ward because I played my cello along side Quinn in a special music number that featured Emily and Lucy singing Be Thou My Vision. It was a beautiful arrangement and Emily and Lucy sounded so good! And, Quinn and I did a good job, too! 

 

Arkansas Adventure

 Because the St. Louis temple is closed for four months (August through November), Steve and I are taking short trips to nearby temples. Last month, it was to Kansas City and last Friday and Saturday we visited the Bentonville, Arkansas temple. We set out early Friday and drove first to visit Bennett Springs State Park. I've seen photos of the place in the Missouri Conservationist magazine, particularly on opening day of trout season, and I've always wanted to see it for myself.  The water comes up out of the ground cold enough to sustain trout so there were many folks out there fishing. 

A butterfly liked Steve's hat....

We didn't stay too long because it was close to lunch time and we had decided on going to the Golden Corral in Springfield which was an hour's drive away. But, we HAD to stop at Buccees along the way. It is quite the gas station!!!! Truly a destination...

We hit the Golden Corral at about 1:45, well past lunch time, and the parking lot was packed! We discovered that was because it was full of senior citizens taking advantage of the senior lunch special from 1:00 - 3:00. SO many old people clogging up the lines. 😂But, you can't beat the price and the variety. Plus, each food item lists allergy and calorie information, which was very helpful. 

Then, we drove the final two hours down to Bentonville, arriving around 5:00. We had to quickly check in and change for our 6:00 temple session. Thankfully, the temple was only a ten minute drive from our Hampton Inn. It is a gorgeous temple and we had a nice evening. 

Saturday morning, after our complimentary breakfast at the hotel, we checked out and drove about ten minutes to the Crystal Bridges Art Museum. It specializes in American art, it is free, and it was so lovely! We could only give ourselves an hour to visit so we just went to two galleries and the gift shop (of course) but it was a very enjoyable time.  

Then, into the car we climbed and off we went through the Ozarks of southern Missouri. We drove (and drove and drove) through through beautiful woods, through a rain storm, through small towns and, four hours later, we arrived at Big Springs. Yes, another spring. The Ozarks are full of them and this one pumps out almost 286 million gallons of water per day! It is one of the largest springs in the world. It was so "cool".

This is where it emerges out of the ground

 

Notice how the water is turquoise as it comes out of the ground...

Back in the car we went and we drove another two hours to Rolla where we met Noah who is a freshman at Missouri S & T and we took him to dinner at a local pizza place. It was so great to visit with him and to learn ALL the things he is already involved in at school. 

And, then, we drove the hour and forty minutes back to St. Louis pulling into our driveway at about 10:20. Whew! Steve and I were exhausted. Sally (who was cared for by Beckie) was glad to see us. 

The rest of the week went pretty well. The ward had a Labor Day picnic on Monday and we took Jair and Tabitha with us. Neither one of them can drive. The weather had finally cooled down a bit and it was a well attended event. 

The Afghan women's group resumed Tuesday morning (which used to be on Mondays) after a three week hiatus and civic orchestra had their first rehearsal that evening. I drove to Ballwin early so I could rehearse a musical number with Emily, Lucy and Quinn which we will be performing this coming Sunday, the 20th. Emily and Lucy will sing and Quinn in playing cello with me. Julina Hokensen is playing the piano for us. 

Steve had two doctor appointments Tuesday. One was with the pain doctor who gave him his second set of shots and declared him a good candidate for the ablation scheduled for the 23rd. His other doctor was a gastroenterologist and he now has a colonoscopy scheduled for the 30th. Lucky guy!

I spent much of my time preparing and distributing 65 tea towels for select Afghan women to embroider. The History Museum liked the first 24 we did for them and ordered 60 more!

Steve and I caught an episode of Strange New Worlds but didn't watch anything else during the week. and, we finally got some rain Wednesday into Thursday. That is our news for the week....