What a 4 months it has been!!!!

I have started several blogs in the past 4 months but for one reason or another they did not get finished. I just saw the automatic renewal for this website and decided it was a waste of money if not used. I also heard from a couple of people that they missed my blogs so I decided today is the day.

I have been busy living and enjoying my life. Some may have wondered if my silence was a indication that my relationship with Craig that I so publicly shared in the beginning was faltering. It is not – we just celebrated our 8 month anniversary and choose every day to continue our loving partnership. While our relationship has been rock solid, we have had highs and lows in our lives. I will share a Cliff Notes version of the last 4 months and come back to more detailed reflections over the coming weeks.

In late October, Craig and I traveled to Indianapolis to see the Chapin family and original band members in a Tribute show to Harry Chapin for what would have been his 80th birthday. It was a fabulous show with much talent in the next generation. The family has kept his legacy alive.The Palladium in Carmel IN is a fabulous venue.

From Indy, we traveled through Kentucky into NE TN in peak leaf colors. Weather was great and Craig has his first AirBnB experiences. Out next destination was Hendersonville NC to spend a few days to introduce Craig to more of my friends in SW NC and NW SC. Unfortunately after we arrived, Craig found out that his best friend in TN had a massive stroke. We jumped in the car, drove the 5 hours back to Nashville and spent the next 24 hours with his friend’s wife in the hospital. His stroke was not survivable but his kidneys (and many other organs) were suitable for donation. Observing this process unfold, I truly understood that the gift of donation can be a comfort to the family.

In early November my brothers delivered my dining room table, chairs and buffet from my grandparents farm house that Aunt Carol has had for 50 years. Their trip coincided with my birthday and we had a really fun couple of days. I love having the furniture in my condo and look forward to spending more time with it in the coming months as I get back to spending some time in Nashville every week.

Craig and I took a long weekend to Isla Mujeres, an island near Cancun in November. We stayed and a very unique BnB, Villa La Bella that James and Natalie had stayed at and it did not disappoint. We enjoyed the scenery and the food and snorkeled for the first time. I had purchased a full body swimsuit so I was able to be out in the sun in the water without fear of getting burned. Fabulous.

After getting home, we had a week to get the hydraulic lift functional so Craig could start the work of salvaging his 2014 Nissan Pathfinder that had been damaged 6 weeks earlier when avoiding a dog in the road. We planned to spend Thanksgiving week finishing our trip to visit friends in the Carolinas. Unfortunately, the evening after the lift was fully functional, I started to feel unwell – very much like my Covid #2 experience. I tested negative twice but thought it was not a good idea to go visit friends. Wednesday morning I was telling Craig that Thanksgiving was the worst time to get sick when I broke out in a diffuse rash with a low grade fever. I could no longer rationalize this as just being tired from a very busy 5 months so off to urgent care I went. I was tested for Strep, Covid, Influenza A and RSV. All were negative but I did have a “dangerously” low white blood count. WHAT?? I was advised to go the ER for a spinal tap to rule out meningitis. As I had previously had viral meningitis in 1986, I really didn’t think I had it but the low WBC was confusing and concerning. Off to the ER we went. They ER confirmed everything was negative did not think I needed a spinal tap. The rash disappeared 2 days later and my white blood count improved by 2 weeks later.

The early December weather cooperated so we were able to get some much needed driveway maintenance done. After watching how much work it took to get Gilda functional, it was clear that an antique tractor was going to suck up too much time and after alot of careful research, we purchased Katie Kiota on Facebook Marketplace.

Getting an immobile Nissan from its damaged driver front wheel mechanism on the lift was another feat of creative wenching amongst other things. Craig’s creative problem solving never ceases to amaze me. This was one happy day.

Now that this was accomplished, it was time to head to Iowa for Christmas and helping my family get Aunt Carol ready for moving from her house she had lived in for 5 years to a 2 bedroom retirement facility. A planned one week trip turned into almost 2 as it was much bigger task than any of us anticipated. Craig was able to put his handyman skills to good use and stay out of the drama of trying to determine what did not need to be moved. We had some great family time and Craig is now fully integrated.

We got to spend NYE and day out of the chaos and were gifted Hawkeye shirts for the bowl game that did not go well.

We all did our best to take things from Aunt Carol so she could feel better about losing her things. Craig was not quite sure about my vision for the cauldron, but I think we will find the perfect spot for it at the Garden. I am doing my best to make use of all that I acquired most of which was not a need.

I allowed myself a week to decompress after getting back to TN on January 4th. During this time a dear friend in DC died. While I knew she was quite ill, her death came very quickly and was a shock. I made arrangements to go to DC for her services but was thwarted by the winter storm and deep freeze that hit TN in mid January. 8 inches of snow is not a lot by midwest standards but when it is combined with no snow removal on rural roads and side streets it leads to paralysis. Generally in TN quick snow melt makes having a lot of equipment unnecessary but it was sub freezing for 10 days following the snow. As we were down to one car, we were not taking any unnecessary chances on the roads. During the bitter cold, Craig was able to get most of the repair work on the Nissan done. I mainly put a very challenging puzzle together – one I will never try again.

I made a quick trip to New Orleans for a women in urology meeting the end of January. This was a leadership and mentoring meeting sponsored by the Society of Women in Urology. The speakers were mainly women urologists most of whom I did not know as they were much younger than I. Most of the attendees were medical students, residents and fellows – over 300 in total. It was astounding to me as my first Women in Urology gathering in 1985. At that time it was a informal breakfast of 6-7 women at the annual urology meeting. While it is still not an easy path for women (or men for that matter), I could clearly see the younger generations are starting their careers with a higher degree of confidence. It makes a difference. I gave a talk about wisdom gained by seniority. It was awkward for me as u=it is unclear that the sum of my experiences can be considered wisdom but the talk seemed to be well received. Hopefully I am done with this kind of public speaking.

Three days after returning to Nashville, we took off for a family wedding in Denver and a few days in Winter Park. The wedding was beautiful with great family hang time. Craig got me meet my ex and his family. Everyone got along well. it was Craig and my first opportunity to dance and it reminded me of my need for dance lessons. Craig was “forced” to do some lessons as an adolescent and it was clear he had more skills than I did. I am not good a following a lead.

We were able to visit a dear friend of Craig’s who is recovering from a hip fracture. She was doing incredibly well and Craig was able to play her favorite song for her on a borrowed guitar. It was very special for me to get to know Ann.

While the last weather forecast I had seen had not predicted snow in Denver, I learned that predictions are not that accurate. 8 inches were quickly dumped on the city and we naively thought there was no way the Berthoud Pass would be clear for us to go to Winter Park the next day. We were wrong. Both Denver and the pass were back to normal 12 hours after the snow had ended. Equipment, salt and manpower make a BIG difference,

Craig and I are not skiers but I did try snowshoeing. It was not exactly as I imagined – walking on top of the snow but it was fun. At times like these I am so thankful for KP and Ashley and their guidance over the last 6 plus years of strength, core and balance training.

We returned home to getting ready for my reschedule surgery (Feb 15th) for my hernia repair combined with my surgery to fix my urinary incontinence. More to be said about this in subsequent blogs. It was very weird benign on the patient side of the surgery that I did when I practiced. In most ways, it was not as bad as I expected. Craig has been a great care taker and monitor of my activity. There has not been as much pain as I was expecting to limit my desire for doing normal activities. Avoiding lifting more than 10# for 6 weeks is going to be challenging. Only 4 weeks to go. The good news is that I can laugh without leaking now. YEAH!!!!