Farmer's Market Trip.

Our local Farmer's Market goes until the end of this month and since I can finally drive, I decided to take advantage while I can. I went about 20 minutes before it closed down. There weren't many stalls left, but there are never many to begin with. The benefit to going later in the day is that I got two loaves of bread for just over the price of one. Sometimes you can get other discounts like that as well. The con is that everything has been picked over.

In addition to what you see above, I also got a second loaf of bread, more bell peppers and a small bouquet of flowers, all of which I dropped off for my mom at her work. I got myself some flowers too. There's a cute little old guy from the Salem area who comes down with the most beautiful dahlias.

I wish the farmer's market happened more frequently so I could go shopping there all of the time. I love supporting local farmers, bakers, and craftspeople. I also love how flavorful fresh produce is. There isn't much better than taking a bite into a crisp veggie.

Drying Apples.

Since we don't eat a lot of applesauce in these parts, I decided to dry at least one of my 5 gallon buckets of apples. I don't particularly like dried fruit but Jake loves it and it's been a struggle finding snacks that he loves that aren't time consuming to prepare in the moment. I want to have snacks around that he can grab in an instant and keep going with his day.

My mom got us this dehydrator for Christmas last year and this is my first time using it. In the past I've always dried my fruits and vegetables in the oven so having a dehydrator was quite exciting. Let me tell you, it's so simple and easy to use. I would definitely recommend this for someone who is new to dehydrating and/or feels uncomfortable dehydrating in the oven.

So far we've only done apples and bananas but have grand plans to dry some cranberries soon too. I just have to work through all of these apples first. I'm considering purchasing a couple extra trays to take it from a 4 tray to a 6 tray dehydrator so I can do more at once but that isn't really a priority. Oh, and apparently you can also use it for jerky, which I might have to try at some point. I know a ton of people who just love jerky.

What's your favorite dried fruit?

Winter Boots for Men.

There is someone in this household who is really excited over his new boots. I don't blame him one bit, I'm pretty jealous of how nice they are, I wish I had a girl version. Winter is coming and here on the coast that means a lot of rain. Pretty much everyday will be wet, and even on days when the sky isn't falling, the ground is still soaked through, parking lots are flooded and protecting your feet is of the utmost importance. Having never experienced a rain filled winter before, Jake dug out his old Army boots. They probably would work but for one thing, they're really ugly, for another, they smell awful. Wear some shoes in Iraq for a year and then tell me they smell good. No thanks.



We searched the internet for some boots and this is the pair Jake really wanted. He's in love. I'm in love because in addition to keeping him dry, they don't look like redneck/construction/Army boots. He wore them all day (even in the house, he was so excited) and said they didn't hurt at all. It's important to me that his feet stay warm, toasty, and dry. I don't like taking care of runny noses or contracting anyone else's cold. These shoes should last him for years, which is the best part! They were a bit of an investment for us but should hopefully last, as long as he takes good care of them. Sometimes it's better to invest in something than constantly be buying new of the lesser quality item. How are you preparing for winter?

Book Report: The Chalk Circle Man.

When my eyes finally started to get back to normal instead of showing me two of everything, my sweet mother went to the library to get me some reading material. This was back when I couldn't really walk yet. She picked me up a couple Harry Potters and then headed over to the mystery aisle where she dug around for something that looked good. There was a man in the aisle and he suggested trying something by Fred Vargas so my mom took his advice. She checked out The Chalk Circle Man which is the first novel in the Commissaire Adamsberg series.

Vargas is a top selling French author so you kind of have to pay extra attention when reading as the locations are in French, due to the books being set in France. I really enjoyed this first book and so far have read about half of the series. I think there are 6 books but I'm not sure since every time I google it, all of the articles are in French, which I don't speak or read.

The books center around Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg, a detective in Paris who is a little shabby, a little flaky, and completely brilliant. In fact, all of her (Fred Vargas is a woman) characters are quirky and interesting. To be honest, the murder in the first novel didn't happen until after at least 50 pages, but it's the characters that won't let you just set the book aside and decide not to read it. They're all so strange and yet the way they're written is very charming. Vargas is a historian so you also learn a lot of interesting things about the history of France as you read.

I also like that (so far) the crimes in the novels aren't described in a gruesome or creepy way. Sure, some of them aren't particularly nice, but it's not like an episode of some of those cop shows that leave you with nightmares later on. She describes these misdeeds in a way that gets to you, but doesn't leave you wanting to scrub your eyes with bleach.

In this first novel, someone is going around Paris drawing chalk circles on the ground and leaving strange objects in them, such as trombones, dead birds, and other random items. Everyone thinks it's a prank, until one night, they discover a body inside a circle. dun dun dun

If you're into a fairly quick, enjoyable, and different type of mystery, I'd definitely recommend these books, for the characters if nothing else.

A Gift of Apples.

Canning is pretty much my number one mostest favoritest hobby. I canned some pears back in May but then I got sick and missed out on practically the entire canning season so I was really excited today when one of my dad's employees dropped off two 5 gallon buckets of apples. She helped install the floors in our apartment and saw all of my jars of food and it was extremely sweet of her to think of me.

Now I have to figure out what to do with all of these apples. I'll make applesauce and apple butter but that will still leave me with a lot of apples. I've seen some recipes for apple pie filling but I don't like apple pie so I don't know about that. I guess it's time to bust out my canning books and find some interesting apple recipes.

How would you put up the apples?

Plans & Dreams

Every now and again I'll run across a notebook of my writings from childhood and have myself a nice little laugh. I had so many crazy ideas that I now find incredibly entertaining. I bet in another ten or twenty years I'll find my current writings to be pretty hilarious too. For me, it's important to write down my goals and wishes. Committing my thoughts to paper helps me to organize them. I constantly feel like I have a million things flying around in my brain at lightening speed so it is always nice to get a few ideas out of my head and down on paper.

This is the notebook I use to keep track of my goals for life, finances, and sometimes even my blog. I also use it to make dream lists. Things I'd like to experience, places to visit, and the occasional crochet pattern to try. Writing these things down helps them to not get lost in my brain. I have a tendency to come up with great ideas and not always remember them later.

I love going back to older pages and revisiting what I wrote down. Did I meet my goals? Is that something that is still important to me? Have I at least worked toward it? Then I like to come up with ways to accomplish these dreams. Setting goals and not making a plan on how to reach them is a bit of a waste of time. Reaching goals takes time and effort, things don't happen magically - although it would be awesome if they did. So it's best to come up with a plan and execute it but I try to make sure my plans are flexible, life changes quickly so I want to be able to adapt easily to change.

I love writing in this notebook. It's a special place for me. The cover makes me smile and I always make sure to use my best handwriting so that when I open it, I feel like my thoughts are calm and complete. When my handwriting is messy I feel like reading it makes my brain a little messy too. It's weird, I know, but that's just how it is.

Do you keep your plans and dreams in your head or do you write them out too?

Medical Bills are Rough.

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I have strong opinions on the American healthcare system but it would take me all day to type them out and I really just want to talk about my recent experience with how overwhelming hospital bills can be. When I first got sick I put off going to the E.R. because I knew that even though I had insurance, it would still be expensive. When I finally did end up going after about a week of throwing up everything I ate, I was treated very poorly, accused of being on drugs, and sent on my way with no help. When I received the bill with the blood and urine tests they did (which came back clean and then they asked me if I was sick because I was depressed) I was livid. I had tried to avoid going to the E.R. not because I thought they'd be giant a-holes but because I didn't want the stress of the financial burden that comes with an E.R. visit.

I've started getting my medical bills and it's really overwhelming. The stack seems to be a mile high. I talked my dad into giving me one of his filing cabinets so I can try to organize and make some sense of them. I get one bill for the doctor, one for the facility, one for the procedure. Now multiply that by 4 different facilities and about 20 doctors and it feels like a never ending mountain of bills. It'd be so much easier if they just sent one bill per stay but they don't, which makes it really confusing. I have to sort through them and figure out what the heck is going on. Some of them can be paid online but most can't. One hospital has sent me a separate bill with a different patient number for each time I was there. Way to make it easy.

One thing I noticed when going over the bills is the price gouging that happens. The local hospital billed $4,800 for a brain MRI with contrast. Another hospital billed closer to $1,600 for the exact same procedure. How is this allowed? I understand that different places charge different amounts but that is such a large discrepancy and definitely makes me feel like I'm being taken advantage of.

I'm so thankful that I have insurance, otherwise these bills would be stressing me out. I'm also "lucky" that my income is well below the poverty level for my state so there are assistance programs I can apply for. Just last year I was living without health insurance hoping that I didn't get sick. I can only imagine the amount of stress not having insurance would have added to an already stressful hospital stay. It's especially saddening for those who do have the added stress, since avoiding stress is generally part of any recovery. I used to do credit applications at a previous job and there are so many people who have had to file bankruptcy because of medical bills. Getting sick in America is scary.

Jam Night @ Shark Bites.

When I was a wee child my mom used to take my brother and I to see plays at this little rinky dink hole-in-the-wall theater. Usually the plays would star children and be some adaptation of children's literature. I remember enjoying them and that they seemed to take forever sometimes. The theater shut down years ago and the restaurant next door bought the place. Now they have concerts in there and last night they had their once a month jam night. Jake and I love live music and my step dad was doing sound there so we went down with my mom, had an awesome dinner and watched some old people jam and dance to a bunch of songs I've never heard of. It was awesome.

The rainy season has begun. We'll see you next May, Sunshine.

Right across the street is the old movie theatre. It is now closed but I have so many memories of that place. I stood outside for hours for the midnight release of the latest Star Wars trilogy. We saw Aladdin there 5 times when we were kids. I went to my first political debate there where I got to watch Congressman DeFazio be brilliant. After it closed down, it was reopened and showed older favorites like Casablanca and Rocky Horror Picture Show. Now it just sits empty and makes me sad because the city can't afford needed repairs. The coolest thing about the theatre is that it houses a Wurlitzer organ that was installed in 1925.

More Crappy Medical Procedures.

I got a new inhaler last week and some cough syrup with codeine because the cough I've had for almost two months just won't go away. When we were in Portland for my brain scans we had a couple hours to kill between the scans and getting the results so we went to hunt down some donuts for my uncle. We were in the donut shop and I started coughing and then I let out this terrible scream as my rib separated from the cartilage. I scared the guy behind the counter, I think he thought I was having a heart attack. It's amazing the pain I can handle when I'm prepared for it and know it's coming but if it's unexpected pain I'm kind of a baby.

Since we've already tried asthma medication, steroids, and allergy meds and none of it has helped, my doctor wants to send me to a specialist. They are going to stick a camera down my throat. I don't know why but this really freaks me out, a lot more than getting spinal taps did. Please think some good thoughts about my cough going away soon so I won't have to have the fun camera procedure. The codeine has helped a lot with the cough and mostly with the constant pain in my ribs. Anytime I move or take too deep of breath it hurts but the very worst is sneezing. Sneezes are violent and there is no way to stop them. I've been choking my coughs down for weeks because of my rib pain but sneezes are like awful little tornadoes that just do whatever they want.

Have any of you ever had the camera down the throat (technical term) procedure done? If so, how was it?

New Winter Boots.

When we were in Portland I asked my mom to stop by Nordstrom so I could try on some TOMS shoes. Since sensation has changed in my right foot, I have a lot of trouble keeping my flats on. I was looking for some shoes that covered a little more than just my toes. After inspecting the TOMS, I figured they wouldn't work. They were cute and really comfy but here on the Oregon Coast, when it rains, it pours, and there is nothing worse than soaking wet feet. I looked around at some of the other shelves, I considered getting some Chuck Taylors but then I saw these boots and kind of fell in love. I like that they have a zipper, because then I don't have to bend over and tie them. When I bend my neck down it stretches out the lesion in my neck/spine and sends little tremors down my right leg that feel like fireworks. So I kind of like to avoid that.

I see people wearing cute shoes on all kinds of blogs but then when I find the shoes in real life, they are so uncomfortable. Sometimes I wonder if they just wear the cute shoes in the photo and then switch them out. So after wearing these shoes all around town yesterday, I wanted to share that they are really comfortable. My feet didn't hurt at all at the end of the day. I love my new boots so much and I'm glad I talked myself into getting them instead of the Chucks.

Good News!

Yesterday morning I got to wake up early to go to the clinic on the waterfront (so beautiful) and lay in an MRI machine for 3 hours. I swear, my nose never itches until I have to not move for 3 hours, then it just goes crazy. After my morning scans, we killed a few hours and then went back in the afternoon for the results. The bad news is that my lesions are all still there but the super awesome news is that every single one of them has gotten smaller, some of them significantly! I don't have to go back for scans for another 6 months. I'm hoping by then they will have gone away completely. In the meantime, I continue exercising my leg and hope the rest of my symptoms continue to improve.

It's Scan Time.

Today we're heading back up to Portland for Jake's neuro consultation at the VA hospital and tomorrow I get new brain and spine MRI's at OHSU. It's nice we were able to schedule our appointments on consecutive days so we only have to make one trip. My scans tomorrow are at 8 a.m. and then I have an appointment in the afternoon to go over the results. Here's hoping my lesions have either shrank or disappeared!

Pumpkin Patch!

My Aunt and Uncle drove Jake and I up the river on Saturday to go visit the Mahaffy Pumpkin Patch. My mom and step-dad were both there doing fundraisers with various organizations they belong to so I got to visit with my mama when we were out there too. This was my first time going to this particular pumpkin patch and it was so cute. If I had kids I'd definitely bring them.



You can take a hay ride and they'll drop you off way out in the pumpkin field, or you can stay on for the round trip. There was also a corn cob gun you could shoot and bobbing for apples in addition to goats and bunnies to pet.



This is as far as I got with my cane before I looked back and realized I needed to turn around if I ever hoped to get back to that little house alive but I was only about halfway out into the field. We ended up with 3 pumpkins, one of which was around 30 lbs. Isn't it beautiful out there? I just love how green Oregon is.

Second Birthday Girl.

Two weeks ago my mom and I made the 10 hour drive down to my sister's to visit and celebrate my niece's second birthday. I can't believe she's two already. She's hilarious, adorable, smart as can be and gives great little hugs. Also, my favorite moment was when my mom put her cloth diaper on wrong and she proceeded to pee all over my bed. I didn't mind one bit because she got right in and cuddled with me. What else was there to do really? When the top of the blankets are all wet, you better get in and snuggle the bottom blankets.

I think I need to live more like a two year old. I mean, licking the beater is obviously just pure joy.

Awesome Cousins!

One day when I was in the hospital I went online to see that my Uncle had tagged me in a photo on facebook. My beautiful, smart, and sweet as can be cousins made me a get well soon poster. It's hands down the coolest poster I've ever seen, I love everything about it. It reminds me so much of something I would've made when I was their age and it brightened my day up just as quick as could be.

And not to leave out my other set of cousins who live a little closer, they came up between my two stays at the hospital with food! Homemade, healthy, vegetarian, yumminess! My freezer is still full because of them and I appreciate them so much for it. I'm so lucky to have the family that I do.

Cruz the Coos.

My hometown has something called the Fun Festival every year in September. There is a race (Steve Prefontaine was from here), a parade of the high school teams and local businesses, a bunch of vendor booths and food downtown, concerts, and the Cruz the Coos old car parade. My dad took Jake and I down to Cruz and we had such a great time. We sat on the sidewalk as the cars went by. They just keep going for a couple of hours, in a big circle through town, which is nice because it gives you a chance to really get a good look. Some of the cars have cool paint jobs, colored lights underneath, and even hydraulics. If I was mechanically inclined I'd be really into the idea of having an old pickup truck.

My dad is a big fan of Harley Davidson so we parked near their parking lot to watch the parade. It was a great idea, they had picnic tables set up and a live band playing 80s butt rock. I love watching cover bands consisting of old dudes with bad hair and dirty leathers belting out some White Snake. Keep on rockin', old guys!

Heirloom Decanters.

Every time I see my Aunties I return with bags and boxes full of stuff. Jake jokes that I'm not allowed to bring anything back from California ever again. I just can't help it though, their stuff is so cool! I've talked about heirlooms before, and although I don't want to end up as a hoarder, these things are special to me. I love using items that my relatives loved to use too. It reminds me how much I have in common with my family and how much love we have for each other. Even though I may have been born 70 years later, I can still bond with them over things like mason jars and flowers and I think that is so special. I love having those memories with the people who matter most.

My Heart Belongs to the Pacific.

My little brother came into town one day and we went out to lunch at the restaurant I used to work at before I got sick. Then he drove us by the beach. I couldn't go out to the water, my legs were too tired and a cane doesn't work particularly well in the sand, it just keeps sinking and sinking, but it was so nice to see the ocean. I always feel like a part of me is missing if I go too long without viewing that gigantic body of water. Staring at the ocean puts life into perspective for me, it reminds me of how vast this planet and universe are and how small and insignificant my problems are. It takes the stress of life down about 7 notches, and all from staring for just a few minutes. It's magic.