Rainy Day Thoughts
It’s early on Saturday, and I’m sitting downstairs with a cup of tea and the back door open, because it’s not cold and I love to listen to the sound of the rain. Once anyone else wakes up, I will have to close the door because it will be too cold for Ted and Maya (I do have my robe and slippers on), but I’ve been here for almost 2 hours and I’m loving every minute of it. Mulder just came downstairs about an hour ago, and he refuses to go outside and have a pee. Not sure how long he intends to hold it, but I guess time will tell. At least he’s eating his breakfast, which is not guaranteed a couple of days after his chemotherapy. I made him some chicken and rice, more chicken than rice, and mixed it with some kibble. It looks like I should have skipped the kibble, he’s picking around that.
OK, I’m back now. I picked all of the chicken and rice out of the kibble bowl, put it in another bowl with more chicken and rice. He’s not a picky dog, a few days ago he ate plain kibble. But when his tummy doesn’t feel great, he is smart and eats carefully. Fine by me, I don’t really like cleaning up his barf.
Speaking of Mulder and his chemo, he is losing his undercoat. That is part of what makes him look so very fluffy. So now he looks even smaller, between that and the weight loss. This spring he was a little overweight at 53lbs, and now he is on the thin side of healthy (but not underweight) at 43lbs. The protocol he is on is called the CHOP protocol, and it is 19 weeks of (almost) weekly treatments. If at the end of the 19 weeks, his bloodwork shows that he is in remission, we will stop chemo. I think we are pretty close, and that he has 2 more treatments coming up. I am very hopeful, and I know we are all tired of seeing him go through this. It hasn’t been horrible, but it hasn’t been fun either.
OK, back to me and the rain. Today is my birthday, and I’m feeling my age. I don’t mean pain or dizzy or anything like that. It’s the number. I’m 57 today, and a lot of our conversations revolve around trying to figure out retirement and if we can afford to stay in California once we are no longer working. And then, where would we move? We have friends who have moved to upstate New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Idaho, Kansas, etc. I don’t really want bad weather, I don’t love the idea of moving to a red state, and somewhere more affordable would be a bonus as well. My family is in Portland and Juneau. Juneau is a no, though if you want to get away from drought, that is a great place to go. I love Portland, but Ted’s not so sure.
Speaking of family, this is the beautiful necklace that my step-mom, Julie, gave me. It’s a combination Christmas/Birthday gift, because she sent me money for both holidays (separately) and I went out and bought it. Looking at this picture, I see wrinkles and skin damage and I could use to lose 20 lbs. But this is how I look, and I like the necklace and I bought the sweater in France and at least my black eye is gone, right?
The lovely peonies are from Julie as well. She asks Ted to buy me flowers for my birthday, and sends him money to do so. He told me this the other day, so I went with him so I could pick them out. It’s a win win.
Update – Mulder ate his chicken and rice, eschewed his kibble, and went back upstairs to bed without going outside to pee. No one else is up, I’m still enjoying the beautiful sound of the rain, and I think I’m going to have another cup of tea. We are having friends over to celebrate birthdays and New Years tonight, so that will be fun. Matt and Casey are close friends, Matt is Ted’s best friend actually. Casey’s birthday was on the 29th, and for years (before kids) we used to get together and celebrate our birthdays together. Then kids came along and things got complicated. Now the kids are older (ours is an adult, 2 of theirs are in college), and we can manage it again. Should be fun! We’re having steak (sushi for Maya) and ice cream sundaes, and after dinner we will play ‘Cards Against Humanity’. Oh, I hear someone stirring upstairs. Going to hit publish and see what’s next.
24 Comments
Margaret
I do like those morning moments with (in my case) a hot mocha, my cat on the recliner next to me and some geography and word games on my phone. Morning routines are nice. Not super rainy here right now but there has been flooding elsewhere. I wouldn’t move to a red state but blueish ones are expensive too. (probably not as much as CA but close) There are some areas of Oregon and WA that are affordable and fairly close to Portland.
J
Thanks Margaret, we’ve thought of Vancouver, Washington, which is right across the river from Portland…
Elisabeth
I love mornings like this! Thanks for describing it and making me feel all cozy in my little corner of the world.
The flowers are gorgeous – and so are you. Seriously, I saw that picture and thought: she is so beautiful!! Happy Birthday. I hope you have a wonderful time this evening with your celebrations <3
J
Elisabeth, you made my day! Very kind of you. <3
Suzanne
Happy happy birthday! What a beautiful photo of you. I love the necklace and the peonies. Hope the rest of your day is full of celebration and love!
J
Thank you Suzanne! So far the day has been lovely indeed!
Ted
It’s a really rainy day (atmospheric river), which means no outdoor activities that we usually do on your birthday. However, it was fun to see the look on your face when you opened your “big present” this morning. I thought you were going to get teary ‘cause you had no idea what it was. ?
Happy birthday!!!!
J
It has been a lovely rainy day, since we don’t have to be anywhere! But no nice hikes for us this year. I LOVE my new iPad!
Beckett @ Birchwood Pie
Happy Birthday! You look great and cash is always the perfect gift, especially when you turn it in to a beautiful necklace.
And Happy New Year! I spent the day doing pretty close to nothing and the hubs and I are about to see the new year in with a bottle of wine and the TV.
J
Thank you! I’m looking forward to the doing nothing tomorrow!
nance
Happy Birthday, and I think you look terrific. You haven’t changed one bit since I saw you years ago.
I love my mornings alone, too. It’s such a peaceful and relaxing time–the part of the day that truly belongs to only me.
Dear Mulder! I hope this chemo is the difference maker and that he is soon well. He’s been a good sport throughout.
J
Thank you Nance! I appreciate the compliment, and yes, mornings alone are lovely. Regarding Mulder, sigh. Yeah, he doesn’t have much appetite lately. We are really, really hoping that after these next two weeks, he will be in remission and we’ll have a long time with him.
Nicole MacPherson
Happiest of birthdays! I think that is a beautiful photo of you.
Mornings are my favourite time of the day!
J
Thank you Nicole!
NGS
You look lovely and the first thing I thought was that was the perfect sweater to wear to show off the necklace!
Our dog had a spinal infection and was in pain and on lots of antibiotics and getting her to eat was quite a process, so I feel you on trying to get Mulder to eat something. I’m also amused that he’s all like “nah, man, it’s raining, I’ll just hold it until I won’t get rain in my eyeballs.” What a character.
J
NGS, you made me LOL with your comment on Mulder, that is EXACTLY what he was thinking.
Lisa of Lisa's Yarns
I think you look lovely and beautiful! Happy Birthday! I hope that you had a fun celebration with friends. I love to have the “where would we retire” conversation with my husband but he is not a willing participate. He is not a planner and doesn’t like to think about things that are so uncertain. Whereas I can really enjoy imaging where we might live. I do not think we can handle living in MN when we are no longer working. It’s a lovely state from Jun-Oct, but horrible in the winter with the dark and cold. So I would rather live elsewhere for at least part of the year, but we’ll see where our kids are at that point.
Waking up to a quiet house sounds so wonderful, though. What a gentle start to the day. We are on the other end of the spectrum with a toddler and preschooler. I can see it does get easier but we are a long ways from quiet mornings! 😉
J
Thank you Lisa! I think I am more like your husband. For some reason, it stresses me out to think about things that are so uncertain. But not planning is not going to help at all, so I guess I need to start in on that. I do enjoy a gentle start to the day when I get it. I mean, I am far past the toddler/preschool days, and my daughter’s alarm doesn’t mean anything to me other than she is up. But a slow quiet morning like we get on the weekends, that is truly delicious.
Stephany
Happy (belated) birthday! I hope it turned out to be a lovely day. A rainy day with a cup of tea and writing… that sounds like the perfect way to spend the beginning of your birthday!
I will second/third/fourth/whatever everyone who said that is a beautiful photo of you – it truly is!
J
Thank you Stephany, that is very kind of you. 🙂 It was a lovely birthday, I really enjoyed all of it.
Meike
Happy belated birthday and yes, it is a beautiful photo of you! Those flowers and your necklace look great, too!
I am crossing my fingers that the Chemo will help Mulder get better. Sounds like a dog who knows what’s good for him and what he wants.
I am curious: is Portland still more affordable than the Bay Area. I heard it’s getting close to where we are. We are not quite there yet having those conversations and I am hoping we can go back to Germany but then again after living in another country for that long not sure what we will go back to – time will tell
J
Thank you Meike!
I THINK that parts of Portland are still less expensive than here. We also talk about Vancouver, Washington, which is across the river from Portland. That would give us a better tax situation, but still be pretty close to my family. Time will tell what we ultimately decide.
San
Be kind to yourself, Julie. You look beautiful on your birthday!! And the necklace is lovely and goes very well with your sweater. Oh yay, and an iPad from your husband. What a wonderful gift.
I hope you had a great start into your new year of life and 2023 🙂 And I am sending good vibes for Mulder’s recovery!
J
Thanks San, that’s sweet of you to say! I am loving the iPad that my husband and daughter bought for me. I may want to give it a name, I love it so much.
And also, Thank you for your words regarding Mulder’s recovery! His last chemo treatment is this Wednesday. LAST ONE. We are all SO HAPPY about that.