Birthdays and Greens!

You'd think after the last week, with the art sale eating most of the time, I'd be laying low. And in some ways, I would have liked to. But there was too much on the agenda -- the fun and the not-so-fun.

 

The fun was a belated birthday party for Rick and me and our friends Mark and Jan. Jan's birthday was in May, Rick's in July, mine in August and Mark's early this month. But we hadn't celebrated a one of them! So I decided to have a birthday party for us all.

I'd wanted to do a soup party for a long time and a cold November evening is a great time for it. I prepared a wonderful Indian-style butternut squash soup and a chili with ground pork instead of beef (who tastes the meat anyway?), while Rick did a split pea and ham soup. Jan brought salad and dessert and we enjoyed wine and cheese before dinner.

 

The food was good. The conversation was even better. There is nothing nicer than sitting around a table with dear friends, sharing stories of vacations and "what's happening." 

 

That week was packed with multiple doc appointments -- infectious disease on Tuesday, the foot doc and dentist on Thursday. There was some good news on that front -- at least some. My MRSA infection is back but when that's kicked out, he Okd me to go on a new drug to curb my bronchiectasis flares. There are some potential side effects (increased upper respiratory infections, skin and dental issues) that may or may not motivate me to rethink that choice after I've given it a try, but it's exciting to think that while nothing can cure this disease, there  may be something that can make some of its challenges a bit easier.

The bad news came from the dentist. There is a cracked tooth under my crown and it looks like I'll be needing a bridge. Since one of the side effects of the new bronch drug is dental issues, and because we don't know how stable the existing tooth is, they want me to do it prior to going on the meds. Which means that may be delayed until March. And I have to remember to chew on the other side -- especially crunchy things!

 

As for the foot, I was hoping to be cleared for physical therapy but the doc said there was still inflammation and she wants me to wait another four weeks, come back and check it out then. But she did say as long as I taped the foot, I could dump the foot brace. This is good, because when it is on, my regular shoes won't fit and so I've been wearing sandals. That's fine when the weather was good but it's been pretty cold here and I'll be glad to have shoes with toes! And, it will help the other foot that needs those orthotics. So at least that was a plus. Oh, and I'm in AFib again. Swell. The hits just keep coming.

Then, Jan and I made our annual pilgrimage to the Northville Greens Market. I consider this my official start to the holiday season! We listened to Christmas music all the way, trying to pick our holiday song of the year (a tradition of exchanging gifts related to a specific Christmas song we've chosen.) Then we made our first stop, one of our favorite restaurants, for lunch.

 

I brought home half of my chicken and sweet potato fries to add to dinner leftovers. Then on to the market.

 

It felt smaller than in years past. More food and craft booths than greens.

 

But after some deliberation, Jan found her wreath and I found a couple of Christmas gifts.

 

Northville was getting ready for its Christmas parade and it was fun to see chairs and coats laid along the sidewalk, people staking out their seats!

 

As always, it was a wonderful day.I leave you with a few smiles --  my girl Lizzie, once again chasing her rainbows!

 

Checking it out, then going for the kill. (She missed. Again.)

Even though I don't put up one Christmas decoration in the house till after Thanksgiving, the greens market means the holidays are here for me. But first, there is another Cork Poppers gather. Stay tuned for more on "Wines to Get Us Through the Winter!"

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