Not just a day to hunker down - but a weekend!
It's done nothing but snow since last evening and it is expected to continue through tomorrow. Not a whale of a lot of accumulation but just snow, snow, and more snow coupled with high winds.
What does one do on such a day? We watched some movies and I worked on a small project. Of course, condo living supplies us with the great advantage of having someone else clean us out and we have been cleaned out a few times over the past two days.
With any luck, the snow will dissipate by Wednesday so that we will have no problem commuting to Boston.
I've started another countdown until my first day back at church(February 21st). I admit that 50 days still seems like a long time - but it's only 7 weeks which means that 45 weeks have gone by since my transplant. I guess that time flies when you're having fun!
What's next? I'll continue to while away the hours doing a few more projects. We've got all the supplies to redo our guest bathroom so that task will commence momentarily. What a joy it will be to get that out of the way!
As usual, tomorrow being Sunday, my thoughts will wander off to church and the many months that I have missed. But the end is in sight and I thank God for that.
Until tomorrow...
Bob
January 1, 2010 11:45 PM
I guess that my wife and I are real party types!
We had dinner over at a friend's house this evening with another couple there as well. Come to find out that one couple went to bed at 8:30 last night and the other at 10:30! Our staying up to midnight just blew their minds away. I guess that ringing in the new year just doesn't have the same appeal that it used to for some.
And it was a good day today as well as yesterday. Having friends over last night to welcome the new year was really nice. They slept over, had breakfast here this morning, and went home around eleven o'clock. Not very wild by our standards, but I guess that our standards differ somewhat from that of some of our other friends.
Tonight's friends were church friends and they are ever so looking forward to our return. I feel so blessed that these people feel this way because I really don't feel that I deserve all this hoopla that is beginning to surround my return in a month or so.
But I feel great physically and, as I start to resume more and more activities, all my friends continue to make me feel great both mentally and emotionally as well. I cannot put a price on how valuable that is to me. Not that I have ever had a problem keeping my spirits up, but these people just seem to elevate me over the top.
2010 is starting off real well...
Bob
We had dinner over at a friend's house this evening with another couple there as well. Come to find out that one couple went to bed at 8:30 last night and the other at 10:30! Our staying up to midnight just blew their minds away. I guess that ringing in the new year just doesn't have the same appeal that it used to for some.
And it was a good day today as well as yesterday. Having friends over last night to welcome the new year was really nice. They slept over, had breakfast here this morning, and went home around eleven o'clock. Not very wild by our standards, but I guess that our standards differ somewhat from that of some of our other friends.
Tonight's friends were church friends and they are ever so looking forward to our return. I feel so blessed that these people feel this way because I really don't feel that I deserve all this hoopla that is beginning to surround my return in a month or so.
But I feel great physically and, as I start to resume more and more activities, all my friends continue to make me feel great both mentally and emotionally as well. I cannot put a price on how valuable that is to me. Not that I have ever had a problem keeping my spirits up, but these people just seem to elevate me over the top.
2010 is starting off real well...
Bob
December 31, 2009 11:59 PM
Happy New Year!!!!!!!!
I'm really looking forward to this year in many ways. Instead of being in passive recovery mode, I expect it to be one of active recovery mode - doing more things, getting more involved, and determining how the rest of my life will play out!
As I look back on 2009, the accomplishments were few but far from insignificant. Actually, there was really only one significant event for me - the bone marrow transplant of February 17th. So long ago and yet, at times, it seems like yesterday because it was something that I, very obviously, will never forget. But it has been followed by the ideal recovery period - far from what I expected but right on the money for what I would have ideally wanted.
It has been a year where I have seen God really at work in my life - not that I hadn't before. But I feel that my relationship is closer than it ever was before but that still doesn't make us bosom buddies yet! For 2010, I foresee that relationship translating into actions of some sort. And, with my one year being up so early in the year, I see the quest getting underway fairly soon.
to each and every one of you, I want to wish you the happiest, healthiest, and most prosperous year yet. May your plans all bear fruit and may you be a better person at the end of the year than you are now.
Remember, as I said before, the spirit of Christmas and the holidays needs to live through the entire year and not expire on Epiphany as we so often allow it to happen. As the song goes, "Let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with me."
Only a month and a half to go...
Bob
I'm really looking forward to this year in many ways. Instead of being in passive recovery mode, I expect it to be one of active recovery mode - doing more things, getting more involved, and determining how the rest of my life will play out!
As I look back on 2009, the accomplishments were few but far from insignificant. Actually, there was really only one significant event for me - the bone marrow transplant of February 17th. So long ago and yet, at times, it seems like yesterday because it was something that I, very obviously, will never forget. But it has been followed by the ideal recovery period - far from what I expected but right on the money for what I would have ideally wanted.
It has been a year where I have seen God really at work in my life - not that I hadn't before. But I feel that my relationship is closer than it ever was before but that still doesn't make us bosom buddies yet! For 2010, I foresee that relationship translating into actions of some sort. And, with my one year being up so early in the year, I see the quest getting underway fairly soon.
to each and every one of you, I want to wish you the happiest, healthiest, and most prosperous year yet. May your plans all bear fruit and may you be a better person at the end of the year than you are now.
Remember, as I said before, the spirit of Christmas and the holidays needs to live through the entire year and not expire on Epiphany as we so often allow it to happen. As the song goes, "Let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with me."
Only a month and a half to go...
Bob
December 30, 2009 11:30 PM
At least I got the date right!
For the first time ever, I screwed up the date yesterday when I said that it was the 28th - of course it was the 29th! A senior moment. Either that or I just don't seem to want to let go of 2009. For the life of me, I can't come up with one rational reason why I would want to hang on to it.
Today was a great day. Yes, two of the grandchildren were here all day and my grandson got his house project done for Spanish class. I told him that I thought that those days were over when my own children grew up and moved away. But, in today's world, with both parents working it's tough for the kids to come by that old old-fashioned parental support. And, antway, we had all the materials and equipment on hand for him to do a real top notch job. So top notch that his mother couldn't fit the finished product in here car - it was so big!
Tomorrow is New Year's Eve for all of us and we are having some friends come and stay over for a quiet evening of dinner, champagne, and watching the Time's Square ball fall one more time. Two thousand ten - a year that I would never have seen without the advances of modern medicine over the past 40 years or so. I am so fortunate that things have worked out as well as they have for me. But, I am really bummed out that not one, but two people that I know have been diagnosed with leukemia this year. One appears to have turned the corner while the other continues to need our fervent prayers.
I don't mind so much for me - I can fight my own battles. But I just don't want to see others stricken with this disease who may not have the wherewithal to be able to properly take advantage of all that medicine has to offer.
I look forward to next year being the year the encompasses the greatest changes in my life as I continue to strive toward "normalcy". When will I be cleared to resume my noral activities?What will happen with work? Most importantly, what have I been called to do once I am "back on my feet"?
I know that I am not the same person that I was before, I have been humbled by this experience and, yet, I feel such an obligation to use it to benefit others in some way. It's going to interesting to see how that manifests itself in the months to come.
Here I go again, not having an idea what to write when I sit down at the computer and, yet, not being able to stop writing once I get started. I guess that it's because there are still a number of things bottled up inside that I can't let go of until I can get back out into the real world.
As I write these entries, I can never be sure how many people actually follow them. But, my daughter has said to me that whether or not anyone reads my entries is secondary to the fact that it gives me a chance to "let it all hang out". So, even though there are things that just can't be let out this way - these entries serve as a pressure valve release for me. She's probably right because this really is the only way that I can reach out at this point and, in a way, I look forward to the daily opportunity to do so.
It's amazing how that seems to work for me...
Bob
For the first time ever, I screwed up the date yesterday when I said that it was the 28th - of course it was the 29th! A senior moment. Either that or I just don't seem to want to let go of 2009. For the life of me, I can't come up with one rational reason why I would want to hang on to it.
Today was a great day. Yes, two of the grandchildren were here all day and my grandson got his house project done for Spanish class. I told him that I thought that those days were over when my own children grew up and moved away. But, in today's world, with both parents working it's tough for the kids to come by that old old-fashioned parental support. And, antway, we had all the materials and equipment on hand for him to do a real top notch job. So top notch that his mother couldn't fit the finished product in here car - it was so big!
Tomorrow is New Year's Eve for all of us and we are having some friends come and stay over for a quiet evening of dinner, champagne, and watching the Time's Square ball fall one more time. Two thousand ten - a year that I would never have seen without the advances of modern medicine over the past 40 years or so. I am so fortunate that things have worked out as well as they have for me. But, I am really bummed out that not one, but two people that I know have been diagnosed with leukemia this year. One appears to have turned the corner while the other continues to need our fervent prayers.
I don't mind so much for me - I can fight my own battles. But I just don't want to see others stricken with this disease who may not have the wherewithal to be able to properly take advantage of all that medicine has to offer.
I look forward to next year being the year the encompasses the greatest changes in my life as I continue to strive toward "normalcy". When will I be cleared to resume my noral activities?What will happen with work? Most importantly, what have I been called to do once I am "back on my feet"?
I know that I am not the same person that I was before, I have been humbled by this experience and, yet, I feel such an obligation to use it to benefit others in some way. It's going to interesting to see how that manifests itself in the months to come.
Here I go again, not having an idea what to write when I sit down at the computer and, yet, not being able to stop writing once I get started. I guess that it's because there are still a number of things bottled up inside that I can't let go of until I can get back out into the real world.
As I write these entries, I can never be sure how many people actually follow them. But, my daughter has said to me that whether or not anyone reads my entries is secondary to the fact that it gives me a chance to "let it all hang out". So, even though there are things that just can't be let out this way - these entries serve as a pressure valve release for me. She's probably right because this really is the only way that I can reach out at this point and, in a way, I look forward to the daily opportunity to do so.
It's amazing how that seems to work for me...
Bob
December 28, 2009 10:45 PM
A typical winter's holiday week day!
It's winter, the temperature was cold and the wind was howling - a quite brutal day! Brutal enough that when my car told me that I have a tire pressure issue, I was not about to tackle it today. If it's not flat - then I don't need to touch it!
We did some food shopping for our limited company that will be coming New Year's Eve and we ate out for lunch.
We climaxed the day by having some friends come over for a few hors dourves, some wine, and, most of all - good conversation. No better way to spend a cold winter's night.
Tomorrow two of the grandchildren will be here most of the day as my grandson begins work on his Christmas vacation project.
After a day like today, please tell me again why winter in New England is so beautiful...
Bob
It's winter, the temperature was cold and the wind was howling - a quite brutal day! Brutal enough that when my car told me that I have a tire pressure issue, I was not about to tackle it today. If it's not flat - then I don't need to touch it!
We did some food shopping for our limited company that will be coming New Year's Eve and we ate out for lunch.
We climaxed the day by having some friends come over for a few hors dourves, some wine, and, most of all - good conversation. No better way to spend a cold winter's night.
Tomorrow two of the grandchildren will be here most of the day as my grandson begins work on his Christmas vacation project.
After a day like today, please tell me again why winter in New England is so beautiful...
Bob
December 28, 2009 11:30 PM
Just R & R!
We did a little window shopping today for bathroom fixtures as that will be my next project in a week or so. Then it was R & R, pick up two of the grandchildren, and fight with ITunes.
Needless to say, they both have IPods and my granddaughter wanted to download some songs with the gift cards that she got for Christmas. What a fiasco. Could Apple make this process any more obtuse and convoluted? I don't think so. Having to log in, find the redeeming gift card page, buying the songs, and then downloading them to your IPod.
I think that it's just a plot to have people give up and leave their gift cards unused.
Other than that, I'm feeling well, taking my meds as prescribed and looking forward to going to the doctor next week to see what the improvement has been.
All for now...
Bob
We did a little window shopping today for bathroom fixtures as that will be my next project in a week or so. Then it was R & R, pick up two of the grandchildren, and fight with ITunes.
Needless to say, they both have IPods and my granddaughter wanted to download some songs with the gift cards that she got for Christmas. What a fiasco. Could Apple make this process any more obtuse and convoluted? I don't think so. Having to log in, find the redeeming gift card page, buying the songs, and then downloading them to your IPod.
I think that it's just a plot to have people give up and leave their gift cards unused.
Other than that, I'm feeling well, taking my meds as prescribed and looking forward to going to the doctor next week to see what the improvement has been.
All for now...
Bob
December 27, 2009 9:15 PM
No hugs!
That was the order of the day as my wife and I attended a 50th wedding anniversary party. It was the largest event that I have attended since I was diagnosed 14 months ago and, because I saw so many people that I have not seen for so long, it was extremely difficult to avoid all the hugs and kisses that my many wellwishers wished to extend - but we did do it.
It was great seeing all those people again but I felt bad that I did not have time to talk to all of them. So many stopped by the table to talk that I just could not devote my attention to all of them. I hope that they all understood.
But, selfishly for me, it was a fun time and recognition that I have now taken another step back to "normality". We have no more such parties on the immediate schedule which I suppose is a good thing as we still want to limit my exposure to possible infections.
However, my wife is planning a big coming out party of sorts on February 21st at our church - friends, family, acquaintances, fellow parishioners, etc. are all invited. I am gearing up for that to be my first day back. As such, a friend did give me fair warning to watch out for the hugs and kisses that flow on that day.
It was so nice to see that so many people were so genuinely interested in seeing how well I was doing. It is overwhelming to me because, as I said before, I'm just an average guy who happened to get a not-so-average disease and has been blessed every step of the way so that I can now begin to see that light at the end of the tunnel. I haven't done anything accept to receive so much from everyone else and am continuing to do so.
You have all been so wonderful to me.
I cannot thank you enough...
Bob
That was the order of the day as my wife and I attended a 50th wedding anniversary party. It was the largest event that I have attended since I was diagnosed 14 months ago and, because I saw so many people that I have not seen for so long, it was extremely difficult to avoid all the hugs and kisses that my many wellwishers wished to extend - but we did do it.
It was great seeing all those people again but I felt bad that I did not have time to talk to all of them. So many stopped by the table to talk that I just could not devote my attention to all of them. I hope that they all understood.
But, selfishly for me, it was a fun time and recognition that I have now taken another step back to "normality". We have no more such parties on the immediate schedule which I suppose is a good thing as we still want to limit my exposure to possible infections.
However, my wife is planning a big coming out party of sorts on February 21st at our church - friends, family, acquaintances, fellow parishioners, etc. are all invited. I am gearing up for that to be my first day back. As such, a friend did give me fair warning to watch out for the hugs and kisses that flow on that day.
It was so nice to see that so many people were so genuinely interested in seeing how well I was doing. It is overwhelming to me because, as I said before, I'm just an average guy who happened to get a not-so-average disease and has been blessed every step of the way so that I can now begin to see that light at the end of the tunnel. I haven't done anything accept to receive so much from everyone else and am continuing to do so.
You have all been so wonderful to me.
I cannot thank you enough...
Bob
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