On The Downside...

It's been three weeks since Christmas and it's been a whirlwind of activity for me.    I announced my retirement at work and will officially "retire" on January 31.  I will, however, be working very reduced hours going forward for some length of time.  

In conjunction with my working schedule and getting ready to retire, I have had several doctor's appointments.  My primary care doctor ordered a stress test for me and told me that my "efficiency fraction (EF)," or the way my heart is pumping blood in and out is at 30%.  It should be at 50% (low) to 75% (normal.)  He sent me to a cardiologist and I had my first appointment yesterday.  He is  not so sure that the EF from the stress test is correct, so he has ordered another echo cardiogram and a test that measures my heart calcium level.  My primary care doctor wants me to have a 3D mammo and I am doing that on January 26.  Finally, I have been seeing a therapist for a few weeks, mainly to gain some behavioral self insight and address my depression,  and have my next appointment on February 22.  So, as I said, it's been doctor, doctor, doctor, work, work, work, stress, stress, stress.

In the middle of all of this, yesterday, I found out that I don't have Part B Medicare, which I need to have before I retire. I have spent a few days on hold with Medicare/Social Security ("your estimated wait time is one hour and fifteen minutes....") trying to get everything nailed down before January 31.      

I think I am finally on the downside and have my ducks in a row so that in February, I will start drawing my social security benefits and will have supplemental and drug insurance in place.  At any rate, come January 31, I will not work full time any longer.  That statement is both exciting and scary for me.  Ever since Bill died, I knew I would have to work full time and for the most part, I have.  Now, I can think about yoga, reading books, hanging out with Tony or whatever I want to do.  There are days when I'm not sure what that is, but I will find out. 

On a happy note, Donna and Bob are down from Cleveland and will be here through February.  Donna and I had our first shopping trip last week and had a blast.  We will again, be celebrating Tony's birthday in February, but this time, his other sister, Rose and her husband, Joe will be down, too.  The older he gets, the bigger the celebration is!!

Tony and Marie's third son is due February 3, so I'm guessing that a trip to Charlotte is also on the horizon.  Brenda went back to work recently, which means that she and David will soon be enjoying the germs of an entire day care class. 

Dixie is the same--funny, cute and entirely in charge!  Tony got her a set of steps for Christmas.  Actually, they are more for us than they are for her.  We can put them up against whatever chair she wants to be in and she can climb up instead of us having to bend down and pick her up.  She sleeps contently in my office chair as I write and every once in a while, I get the impression that my typing is getting in the way of her "nap!"  From time to time, she gets locked in my closet.  She likes to go in the back corner where my wedding dress is and sleep on the lace.  She blends right in, so I don't see her and I shut the door and turn out the light.  After a while, Tony will hear her barking and set her free.   Actually, now that I think of it, he is setting my wedding dress free!

And so, I end on a hopeful note...hopeful that my Medicare/Social Security mess will be cleaned up by February 1, hopeful that all of my doctor's make me well and whole again and hopeful that it gets warm down here soon.  We didn't move south to have northeast weather!

Sleep well, Dixie!

"Excuse me, a little piece and quiet would be appreciated here..."

Trees

Wow, Christmas is over...where did the time go?  One of the best things about Christmas is decorating our tree.  This year, we had not one, not two,  not three, but four Christmas trees.  We had our little green tree by the front door, our regular tree that we put on the Lanai every year and then Tony decorated one of our large trees in the backyard. We got a surprise from sister in law, Joyce, from Florida. She sent us a small, real tree with decorations.  That was fun to put together.  

We went to Charlotte to see  Tony, Marie and kids for Christmas.   They had two trees--one where Santa Claus left his gifts for the family and one for where the relatives sent gifts.   Both were really pretty. 

Coleton and Anthony got lots of fun things from Santa and I got some nice pictures.  

Tony and I will celebrate our Christmas on the 27th.  I'm working the 26th from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., but I'm off the 27th.  

Tony, Dixie and I hope that everyone had a nice holiday and will celebrate a safe, healthy and prosperous 2018.

The trees:

Our front door tree

The large tree in the back yard with 500 lights

Our Lanai Tree

The Tree from Florida

This is me explaining to Dixie that this is not a  Dixie-sized "pee tree!" 

The Charlotte Swegle's tree

Christmas stockings

Charlie Brown celebrates in Charlotte

Tony and his boys

  

Whatever Dixie Wants

What is it about a cute, little face, soft, silky fur and a quizzical look that melts your heart?   Why does it only take a few weeks for a new puppy to train her humans?  Why do we just roll over and give in when our animals do something cute?  

Who knows?  All I know is that Dixie has Tony and I wrapped around her little paw and we are happy to be there.  She is part of our family--the cutest part and she knows it.  

Tony and I react  to her antics like new parents do to their first child rolling from stomach to back for the first time.  We are proud, we laugh and we encourage her to do it again.  

Dixie will sit in Tony's suitcase when he is traveling; as if to say, "don't leave without ME.  She stands on her two back feet looking out of the small window panes by the front door to warn people not to walk on her sidewalk.  She gets in the middle of games that Papa plays with the kids in Charlotte and steals the ball or whatever it is that they are playing with.  She has taken over Tyson's huge dog bed, leaving him to huddle on her small one and she loves to stretch out on our bed and sleep with us during the night.  

I often say to Dixie, "have you written your birth mother to tell her how good you have it here?"    And she does have it good--whatever Dixie wants....

Tony was trying to read the paper....Dixie wanted to help him....

She read one article.....

...and promptly fell asleep

Tony examines the "Dixie crumple..."

Then it was my turn....

Mommy takes a nap...and so does Dixie

Our chair....

Dixie after her spa day...haircut with bandana

A Christmas bandana

OK, take it off...she's had enough....

A blanket, a chew stick and the couch...life is good

Bed head!

She likes the foot stool too!

Daddy's girl 

In her car seat

Geez, I'm cute

Being this cute is tiring!

59 Days And Other Stuff

I feel the anticipation like children do at Christmas time.  One day at a time and it's getting closer every day.   

Tony bought me a retirement clock so I can count down the days until I quit working.  Today it says 59.  Tomorrow it will say 58...slowly, ever so slowly creeping down until it finally gets down to single digits and then no digits at all--retirement, February 1.  My best Christmas present.

Instead of exchanging presents, Tony and I decided to take a long weekend and go to the Outer Banks sometime in the near future.  I love it there--it's so pretty.  

Last night we went to a neighbor's Christmas party and had fun.  We were a sorry lot, talking about medication, aches and pains, walkers and doctors, but we enjoyed the evening and the food and the people.  We even met people who used to live in Parma, Seven Hills and  then Strongsville.  They moved down here from Charlotte.  

Jan and Stu, Dixie's Godparents, were there too.  Turns out they are "Godparents" to several dogs in the neighborhood.    They are such nice people.  Stu has a woodworking mini studio in his garage.  He told us that when he can't sleep, he goes out to the garage and works on his creations.  He laughed and said it was peaceful out there, the only drawback was getting wood shavings in his underwear!  He was working on a huge salad bowl yesterday and had spent hours on it.  About 5 minutes  before the piece was finished and it got caught on the machinery and broke into a million pieces.  He just laughed.  Now that's retirement--spending hours working on something you love doing.

My list of things to do is growing longer--I have a ton of books that I haven't had time to read, I want to improve my photography, I want to write again, I want to take yoga classes at the Wellness Center.  I want everyday to be a day I enjoy.    

Speaking of enjoying....we're going to have a clam bake soon--one of our favorite things.  It's a ton of work for Tony, but it is so good.  

It's a beautiful day here--not much like December in Cleveland.  We have blue skies, yellow mums and red roses just outside the window....and 59 days until I retire!

The best clock I own!

Stockings, NOEL and nudes!

Yellow Mums!

Our outside Christmas Tree!

Dixie is getting to be a regular fixture in my chair!

  

Welcome to the 21st Century......

I've always said that I didn't want a "smart" phone.  I didn't want a machine that was smarter than I am.  And, from a "need" perspective, I just need something that rings when someone is calling me and allows me to call out.  Bingo...that's it.  And, that's pretty much was I had for about 10 years.  I had an LG flip phone that not only had the calling features that I wanted, but I could text, too.

I got the phone when I worked for New York Life.  You had to be a big texter to work there.  Messages flew back and forth from New York City to Lakewood and many times as I was typing on my tiny little keyboard, I wondered why we just didn't call each other.  The "Lifers" used to tease me because I texted with perfect grammar and punctuation.  I didn't use the "R" for are or the "U" for you. They explained that using abbreviated word forms was more efficient than typing everything out.  Hmmm....more efficient maybe, but sometimes hard to understand.  The first time my boss texted me LMAO, I spent hours trying to crack the code (laughing my ass off....)  That did NOT seem more efficient.

Well, a few days ago, the light on my phone dimmed and went out for the last time.  It died.  I guess after 10 plus years, the battery was fried.  So, I found myself in a Verizon store with Tony picking out a new phone.

Geez, the sales lady was asking me about using "the cloud, having a blue tooth," and all kinds of stuff in a new phone language.  

"I just want it to ring," I answered.  And so, I got the most basic of basic models.  It "only" has:  Google, a camera, a calendar, a clock, a place for contacts, email, a photo gallery, messages, the ability to play music, a play store, Samsung notes, Samsung gear, voicemail, ebay, a Final Fantasy XV" app, Chrome, Yelp, Wish, News Republic and a  Bank of America app.  Oh, and you can make and receive phone calls!!  How in the world did I survive without all of these things?

I am slowly getting the hang of this.  First, the sales lady said that my existing phone contact list would not transfer over--but it did--sort of.  As I looked it over, I realized that the phone list that transferred over was from when I worked at New York Life (but NYL did not purchase the phone.)  I had phone numbers for people I haven't spoken with in years, but I didn't have Brenda or anyone at the hospital.  So my quest for the next few days is re-collecting phone numbers and deleting New York Life.  

So, I have made my way to the new technology front...or as Tony said, "Welcome to the 21st Century."  I'm guessing that my phone will be a dinosaur by January!

On the holiday note, Tony put up the Christmas tree last night and we are going to decorate it today while we watch the Carolina Panthers play.  I don't think Dixie was thrilled to have the tree in front of "her" sliding glass door exit to the Lanai, but just like last year, she will get used to it.

What do you think?

"Seriously, if they had that tree on the floor, I'd pee on it."

The Christmas tree under the beach sign, yep that's the way to do it. 

The tree under the lights that Tony put up for me 

"OK, explain this to me again...WHY does the tree have to be in front of MY Lanai door?

The old and the new...so long, old friend...

We decorate, Dixie supervises

"The tree blocks my exit to the Lanai, I take Daddy's chair."

Tony puts the star on top

And it looks just right

Even Dixie thinks so

I think she sees herself in one of the ornaments

Remember the Little Shepherd Boy who carried the lamb?  Tony carried Jack like this when Jack weighed 42 pounds....in the summertime!

Santa likes Dixie....

Dixie, isn't loving Santa back

Ornaments that Tony's grandmother had

The finished product!  Perfect!

Sharing With Dixie

For a long time, Tony has shared his reclining chair with Dixie.  It's their morning routine.  First, Dixie is sleeping in her bed and then she hears Tony sit in the chair and recline it.  She knows that once that happens, she can sit on the back of the chair and look out the window--happy to bark at who ever walks on her territory.  After a while, she will relax and take a nap up there.  

Sometimes, she will sit on the foot part of the chair, leaving Tony a small portion of the stool for his feet.  Other times, she will squeeze next to him, pushing him left until she is comfortable.  And that is the most important thing...that Dixie is comfortable.  Just ask her.

Recently, she has started to share my spaces.  A few days ago, my legs were bothering me, so I stretched out on the couch to read a book.  She came over to me and indicated that she wanted to be up on the couch, so I put one of her towels on it and lifted her up.  

Slowly, but with singular purpose, she got comfortable.  Me, on the other hand, not so much.  Take a look:

"OK, so I took over the couch...what's the problem? 

First, she gets rid of the towel....

We negotiate...the towel comes back, but she gets the pillow.  

Notice I'm not stretched out any more

Now she has part of her tail in my lap while I hang over the cushion and arm rest...

Victory....no towel and the couch to herself.  I give up and go to my red chair in my office....

And guess who has decided she likes that chair too?

She likes to stretch out...

...and keep an eye on the foot stool, just in case someone might 

get any ideas about sitting on it!