A Marshmallow World

Beth and I were sitting at the kitchen table last weekend looking out the front window and I told her it looked like a picture postcard.

She said, "A marshmallow world!"

 Last weekend we got about 10 inches of snow. This doesn't happen very often in Seattle, usually just a trace to 2 inches each year but this much snow? Not very often at all!

It snowed for 3 days straight and Beth and I were more than happy to hunker down at home and just look at it through the windows. I did venture out a little to take some pictures but Chuck still had to go to work.

After a few days the temps warmed up and Beth and I ventured out to the grocery store.

She was glad to finally wear her snow boots but even so, she was being very careful walking around in the snow but she did really good. She went slow and steady! When she got to the end of the car, she took my hand and we walked into the store. "Whew!" She was ready to shop!

Got our groceries and made our way home. This is quite exciting stuff around these parts!

 Here's a spring picture from almost the same angle

 

As I write this, it's completely melted and life is back to normal. And I can't help but think about everyone in Texas who is dealing with such extreme weather right now. We have friends who lost power and had to go stay with family members until things begin to improve there. We're praying for you Texas!

Have you been impacted by the weather in Texas? Do you have family or friends dealing with it?

Just Beginning

I decided I was going to sit down and write about our trip so I got my phone and uploaded a few photos. Hahahaha!! More than 250 pictures later... I figured I should probably just start writing! 😂

There were so many surprises.

So many beautiful moments.

The flight down... the views were spectacular. 

 Exploring the resort was so fun and sometimes took my breath away!

 We celebrated Chuck's birthday while we were there. Restaurants were open and we found one that served steak, his favorite! Plus Diana had some cheesecake delivered to our room.

 Sunset Cliffs! We hadn't been there in forever and while I was walking around I came across this arch. It was beautiful!

There's so much more but I'm going to stop for tonight. 

As I type this the snow is falling. We're expecting anywhere from 3-8 inches tonight, it all depends on if the storm stalls over us or if the winds pick up... so I'll be awake most of the night, getting out of bed every so often to look out the window. I absolutely love the snow! As long as I don't have to drive in it. Which unfortunately is exactly what Chuck is doing right now. Driving a large city bus. Until 12:30am. 😬 Every time I look outside I pray for him. And you can bet I'm looking outside a lot!

Have you flown anywhere lately?

Do you like to fly?

Are you getting snow this weekend?

A Quick Post

 Chuck and I got to get away for a few days and we surprised my sister for her birthday! We had such a good time and I can't wait to tell you all about it but it's getting late already!

I'll write a real post later.

Things Have Been Pretty Quiet

It hasn't been a very exciting week so far so there isn't a whole lot to write about. I decided to go through my phone and see what pictures I've taken.

Look at these 70's sleeves! Takes me right back to Jr. High

Work. 

Our maintenance guy is out for a few days and wouldn't you know it, everything breaks!

A toilet kept gurgling like it was continuously flushing. I looked at it and fiddled with a few things but nothing worked. We turned the water off and will just wait for him to get back.

One of our trees lost a massive branch and was blocking the driveway. I called one of the custodians to help me drag it over to a corner of the lot. (Actually he dragged it, I took hold of a branch and just looked like I was helping.)  😁

The elevator fire service light came on so it shut itself off. I put out an email to the staff then called Thyssenkrupp. Thankfully they were able to send a tech out that afternoon and he fixed it right away.

We had a power outage a couple weeks ago. Beth hates the dark so she came upstairs, we brought out the flashlights and hung out for a while. It was out all night so we ended up sleeping in the living room. We were SO thankful for that fireplace! I heard some people didn't get their power restored for days! 😟

Diana survived another Nor'easter. This was their second big snowstorm this season and she's had enough. All done with snow, now it's time to move on to spring! I wish they'd share a little with us. Seattle is ready for a good snowfall!

We're celebrating Chuck's birthday tonight (it's actually on the 6th) so I should close and go buy some cake. Or pie. He hasn't decided yet which one he wants. Sharaya and Ally are coming over. Maybe I'll get both.

Have you had a lot of snow this year?

Do you want a lot of snow?

Have you had a power outage? 

What was the longest time you went without power?

Medical and Electrical Updates

Chuck's doctors have all met together and they decided to just remove the lymph node instead of using the T-vec injections. They're hoping they can get all the cancer in that one surgery instead of months of injections, which we're totally okay with. The surgeon is booked up a few weeks out so the surgery will probably take place the end of February. We're just waiting for the nurse to call and set the date.

The electrician came out and was able to change the socket with no problems. He said the wire was overheated but the heat didn't travel anywhere. The damage was only in the one socket, thank goodness! I threw away the power strip and bought a surge protector - a real one! and we're making sure Beth doesn't plug her cpap machine and her portable heater in the same outlet. So everything has it's own place now and all is well again.

I can't believe it's Saturday night and January's about over. This month has gone fast for me. I'm so glad the days are getting longer though! It's still light out when I get off work at 5:00!

"It Blew Out"

Chuck went to work at 11:00 this morning and I got home from work around 3:00. I went for a walk, brought the trashcans in from the curb and then I went downstairs to tell Beth what I was fixing for dinner.

She very calmly points to the wall and says, "My thing blew out." I turned around to see this...

 

What?!? "Oh my gosh Beth, what happened?!?"

Silence. She came over to the wall and just stood there. I'm sort of beginning to panic as she just stares at it. "Beth did you see a little fire or something??

"I dunno." "Well, when did you first see this? When did you notice it looked like this?" 

Silence. In moments like this she doesn't have the skills to think of the step by step process of what happened and explain it. We've learned over the years that she will agree to whatever explanation you give so we try to be patient until she does answer.

But I was well on my way to panic mode and I anxiously asked, "Did you see that your alarm clock wasn't working and so you came over to check and that's when you saw this?" 

With a tone of, 'I like that answer!' she said, "Yeah!"

So honestly, I don't know if we'll ever know what actually happened. What I DO know is that a power strip was plugged into the socket. And it's fried as well.

 

I've checked the wall around the plug and it's cold. The other electric sockets are cool to the touch and seem fine. I've told her not to plug anything else into those two sockets until we get it fixed.

Her cpap machine and alarm clock were plugged into the power strip and I plugged them into a few other sockets before they finally worked. I'm a little nervous about leaving them plugged in because I don't know if they've been damaged. Can they be damaged if they were plugged into something that does that??

I feel horrible now because all this time I thought she was using a surge protector but after looking at it today, it's not. It's just a power strip. But I'm so, so grateful she was protected here today!

Every time I pull out of my driveway I pray for protection around our home, the property it's on and the neighborhood we're in. And I believe with all my heart, today the Lord answered that prayer!!

Results of the Scan

I had one of those days today. Let me just say my day ended with me dropping my water bottle into the toilet at work. Thankfully, THANKFULLY! I had not used said toilet yet!! Now I'm home and relaxing. Whew!

Now on to the good stuff!

Chuck's scan showed absolutely no cancer from the neck down!! I was so concerned that it had spread but it hasn't! He examined the spots on top of Chuck's head and they don't look suspicious, just like left-over pigment. He's not concerned about them at all. 

The scan and blood work show the cancer is only in the lymph node behind his left ear. That's it! 

Since the cancer seems to be isolated he decided not to give Chuck the infusion this time so that his immune system would begin to calm down and allow the psoriasis to heal. 

He's looking at changing the treatment from a full-body immunotherapy to a localized injection that will only target the cancer.

It's like we've got it cornered and will hit it with a knock out punch! This is such great news! I'm so relieved and excited and at peace...!!

SCCA Visit

 We just got back from Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.

Chuck had a CT scan today to see what the cancer is doing. He drinks a bunch of 'contrast' that highlights the areas being scanned. I'm not allowed to go back with him for this procedure so I just hang out in the waiting room.

Lake Union - My view for today

We go back tomorrow to get the results. Thankfully I'll be able to go to the back room with him, meet with the doctor and sit with him while he gets his infusion. I'm anxious... well, not anxious like nervous just... I can't wait to get the results. I want to know what that mean ol' cancer is doing!!

Old Photos

Friday was a difficult day at work. I had to confront one custodian about... inaccuracies on their time sheet. They assured me it was just a misunderstanding. Another custodian is going through some personal things so after we talked for a while I prayed with them before they left.

Beth and I left there late, and we stopped at the grocery store on our way home. After dinner I was sitting on the couch and suddenly my face felt flush, like when you have a fever? And I felt like I was getting a headache. Oh no.

I cleaned up the kitchen and decided to get ready for bed, even though it was only 8:30. I puttered around the house a while and finally took some ibuprofen and headed to bed. Thankfully I woke up Saturday morning feeling so much better! (Thank you for your prayers!)

I spent most of Saturday working on a picture frame that I fill with Christmas pictures every couple of years. I hang it in our hall every December and I put in current pictures we took on Christmas Day, plus pictures from when I was little, when the girls were little... it's fun to look back year after year and see how things have changed!

That's me in the blue, my sister and her husband, and my mom's back is to us. This looks like 5th grade, around 1967. It looks like I'm holding something but I have no idea what. 😊

Our girls in 1994

 Do you display Christmas photos during the holidays?

Do you have family photos throughout your house in general?

Still Here

I planned to write a post tonight but I had a tough afternoon at work and am just feeling weary. I'll try to post something this weekend. 

God Bless you ~