Celebrations 2-9-2020

Thoughts and Quotes: How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
                                                      Elizabeth Barrett Browning
I love you because -

You share my life by returning to read about it each time I have a new post.

You don't complain that I'm too blabby and my posts are too long.

You never tell me I talk too much about X.

You actually use my recipes (I can tell when something has been accessed).

You send me emails and leave comments sometimes.

If you're local, you offer to drive me when I have cataract surgery. And thank you to all who offered and a BIG thank you to Brother Bill who was selected. He even stayed with me after I got home until he was sure I was okay.

Time to Celebrate Love: So here's my group Valentine to everyone who's reading.

Time for More Celebrating: My niece, Brother Bill's daughter Sarah, recently became engaged. In place of a wedding shower, she wanted a Super Bowl Shower. And what a party! Her mom helps a caterer sometimes, so she arranged for all the food and made sure everything went well in that department. Sarah and Josh (the lucky groom to be) arranged everything else. She's a very clever girl, as you will see.

The party included the kids and was held at an event center at a local college. The event room is in the same building as the college basketball court and stadium. The kids could go down on the court and shoot baskets.

 or they could come up above where there was a bouncy house

a football toss game

a training course for remote control helicopters (built by Sarah and Josh)

a bean bag toss, also built by Sarah and Josh (my niece got a skill saw for her birthday - she's amazing)

there were coloring sheets and crayons in the event room

There was a giant screen at one end and a big screen behind the food table.

There was a photo op screen (which Sarah made).

With props to hold (yes, she made those as well).

No gifts, but contributions to the honeymoon fund were welcomed.

Everything fit the theme. This is the sign to direct you to the restrooms.

And oh my, the food! A nachos and taco bar with homemade flour tortillas or crispy corn tortilla shells, fajita chicken or taco ground beef.

For toppings, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cheese, sour cream, salsas.

Plus queso

Buffalo cheese dip

refried beans

raviola kebobs

guacamole and chips, crudites and artichoke dip

plus pizza rolls for the kids

The forks were in cans decorated by (you guessed it) Sarah.

The napkins

For dessert, a half chocolate, half white cake.

Also trays of cookies, brownie cupcakes with cheesecake dip, apple slices, and strawberries.

For drinks, lemonade, iced tea, water, and a root beer keg (right before I mopped up).

I wish I could show the room filled with people; laughing, talking, eating, but you know my policy - no faces - and it just seemed too weird to show a crowd that size with headless people.

Happy Marriage, Sarah and Josh. Great Party!

Time for Another Celebration: We celebrated (belately) Mim's birthday with lunch at Relics. Sadly, maybe Margaret was right when she said, "Everything changes, and never for the better."

Before

Now - we were the only two guests.

Before - my lunch

My lunch now - notice the paper dishes and plastic forks. The cardboard soup cup had a false bottom, so very little soup, and the chicken salad sandwich used to be on a croissant with lettuce - and the price hadn't changed.

My dessert before

My dessert now - notice the size compared to the fork, which is the large size fork.

And Mim's coconut cream pie looked like the pies at Walmart in the freezer case.

 PLUS - we had to go to a table set up at the back and order from a chalk board with limited selections and pay as we ordered. When I went back for the desserts, I had to order and pay again. At least  we were served when the food was ready and didn't have to go up and get it when they called our number.

The change came at the first of the year when the minimum wage was raised. Why didn't they just leave things the same and raise the price a little?

So for all you locals, may I suggest the Market House Cafe on the square in Ozark?

Time to Celebrate New Sight: I just had the cataract removed from my right eye, and I hope you'll have cataract surgery, too. I say that because if you do, it will mean that you've lived a nice long life. I once asked how you could avoid them, and the answer is that you have to die before you're sixty. My left eye is coming up on the 18th and I recommend that you never have both eyes fixed at once. I'm not sure the doctor will even do both eyes at once anymore.

I want to tell you about it so you won't be anxious when your time comes. I had to have a driver (mentioned above), and I had to start an eye drop three times a day, three days before surgery (antibiotics). The only suffering was my loss of dignity, because you have to shower with antibacterial soap the night before and the morning of surgery and wash your hair, then no makeup, no hair products, no lotions, not even deodorant. No food or liquid eight hours before surgery, but you can brush your teeth if you avoid swallowing the water. If you take medications in the morning, just a sip of water to get it down.

First you get prepped: No clothing removal, not even shoes. They cover you, put a cover over your hair, and footies over your shoes. You're on a rolling bed. The IV is started, pulse, blood pressure, and temperature taken. Lots of drops in your eye. You're asked at every stage: name, birthdate, which eye. They even put a Sharpie pen mark over the eye - no mistakes here. The doctor comes in and talks to you to see if you have any questions. A temporary bracelet with your name, etc. and another with any allergies are fastened on your arm. Bill was with me during this stage. After a bit, you're rolled to surgery, and Bill was sent to the waiting room with my purse, sweater, etc. 

Here you're transferred to a reclinging chair (like at the dentist). Instruments to monitor pulse and blood pressure are attached, as well as the little pronged thing for oxygen which has a hose which goes around your head. I guess the mild antisthetic is administered through the IV. It's called Twilight Sleep. Then they put a blanket over you and another blanket with a window in it over your head. This is probably why you need oxygen. Lots more drops in your eye to deaden it. Then the doctor goes to work and you see lights, sort of like a kaleidoscope at times, and you don't feel a thing except a feeling of something cold in your eye. You're never asleep; I wasn't even dizzy; I remember the entire thing from beginning to end; I was talking to the doctor during surgery; and the surgery part took only minutes.

Then back to the rolling bed, and off to recovery where they taped a clear hard plastic patch over my eye. I could see through it and it had holes for air. They brought me coffee and water, and I could have had juice, cookies, crackers, etc., just like when you give blood.

I met my brother, put on my sweater, went down in the elevator. Bill went to get the car because it had started raining and he was wearing a rain jacket. Otherwise, I could have walked to the car. I could see fairly well, but it was like looking through a heavy fog, but of course, I could see with my other eye.

We went to lunch (another blow to my dignity because I had added an eyepatch to my uncurled, unsprayed hair and no makeup face), and then to the other eye location where I had my check up. I had to be there two hours after surgery. My eye pressure was tested with a little gun that clicked but didn't touch me. I tried reading the charts, just like when you go for an eye exam. I was out in minutes, the rain had stopped, and I walked clear across the parking lot with no trouble.

I have to continue the eyedrop three times a day for three weeks; no heaving lifting (like 30 lbs) or bending the first day. Just take it easy for a couple of days. Shower as usual, but only a wet cloth lightly over the eyelid. No eye makeup for two weeks. Try to avoid falls and wear the eyepatch at night for a week. Oh, and no scuba diving or contact sports for a month. Drat! I'll miss that.

Everything was cloudy that day, but started clearing around the edges the next day. When the nurse called to check on me, she said that it's caused by the swelling and would improve as the swelling went down. It did. 

I've been cussing those new light bulbs, but it was my cataracts instead. If you can imagine the difference between sepia tone photos and black and white, but with color, that's how it seems. It was if I had a light beige filter over my eye, and I guess I did. So much more light now.

Next Tuesday, a week after surgery, I go back for a checkup, and then the next Tuesday, my left eye and repeat, except that the second checkup is back to my regular opthamologist because I might need reading glasses now. 

And I told my daughter that by the time she needs the surgery, they'll probably have it so advanced that they'll send her some eyedrops in the mail with instructions to use them for two weeks and the cataracts will dissolve. Think of the advances in the medical profession. Not too long ago, people just lived with the cataracts, some even going blind.

So kudos to Dr. Seagrave and the staff at  Mercy Eye Clinic. See you soon.

WORK ON YOUR FEBRUARY LIST

MAKE A WISH ON THE FULL SNOW MOON TONIGHT

START PLANNING YOUR GARDEN

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

THANK YOU FOR SHARING MY LIFE