Christmas 2022

This year, Tammy and I decorated our house for Christmas after a couple year hiatus.  We bought a new artificial pencil Christmas tree that fits our living room much better. We decorated it with a lot of our previously purchased vintage ornaments.  I also brought all my singing Hallmark snowmen out of storage - just three more left to complete the collection. 

Christmas was at our house this year.  Lizzy and Stas came over Christmas Eve to open our presents to each other followed by our traditional ham dinner.  The next day, Christmas, Tammy and I opened our presents from each other.  Later that day, Jaclyn FaceTimed us so we could see the grand kids open the presents we sent them.  

Tammy and I both had the day after Christmas off.  She went out shopping for post-holiday deals.  I stayed home and put all the decorations away until they come back out next year.

Friday, December 30 after work, Tammy and I along with Charlotte drove to VT for the New Years weekend and the fourth White Elephant party.  In attendance on Saturday were all the VT Beauchemins, the VT Grandparents, the NY Gangwers, Stas and Lizzy, and all the Mattaos.  The menu was homemade lasagnas and dessert lasagnas.  It was a quiet New Years Eve with mom starting a puzzle and Tammy and I going to bed by 9pm. 

Sunday we went to church, ate leftovers lasagnas, and worked on the puzzle.  In the evening we played games with the whole crew and then Lizzy, Stas, and the nephews.  When everyone, left we continued on the puzzle some more. 

Monday afternoon, we packed up for home after a few hours of working on the puzzle that we never got to finish.

Pictures https://photos.app.goo.gl/MUCatqVQ8um8umT9A

Taking the Shots

One of the things I never thought about when beginning my treatments for Hodgkin Lymphoma was the number of shots I would be receiving.  During my first round of ABVD chemo treatments, I recall getting the flu shot along with two variations of the pneumococcal shot.   Half way through the treatment, I developed clots in my calf requiring a twice daily shot of lovenox in the stomach for 30 days.  

When I had my recurrence of Hodgkin, I was slated for a stem cell transplant.  After two rounds of ICE chemotherapy, I began a course of granix shots each day for about a week and a mozobil shot right before the stem cell harvesting process.  Once in the hospital, I received a lovenox shot each morning for about a week until my platelet numbers bottomed out.   

When the stem cell transplant process was over, and I was home for awhile, I received two shots of monoclonal antibodies followed weeks later by my first then a month later second covid shot.   Several months later, it was time to begin redoing all my immunizations.  I began in August with four shots - two in each arm.   In December, I received seven more immunization shots - four in one arm and three in the other arm.  According to my immunization schedule, there are still a number more shots to come.

Thanksgiving 2022

 Thanksgiving kicked off early this year with the arrival of the IL grandparents on Tuesday afternoon and a charcuterie board dinner.  Grandma Kelly came over on Wednesday and cooked some apple pies.  I arrived home from work, and the VT grandparents arrived shortly thereafter.  Lizzy and Stas came over that evening for pizza with AJ and Vania arriving a little later.  

Thursday morning was filled with preparing the green bean casserole, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and cream pies.  We packed everything up around 1 o'clock and headed to Stas and Lizzy's for thanksgiving dinner and NFL Football with his mom, sister, and brother.  Tammy's brother, who was vacationing in VT, also came down for dinner.  Picture of the festivities below.

Stas, Lizzy, AJ, and Vania did some early morning Black Friday shopping.  The VT grandparents left for home.  Tammy did some Black Friday shopping later in the morning.  I had to run to work to fix an issue with our automation system.  (This was the first year that we have been given off for holidays as the new manager allows us to automate the station during these times.)  Everyone meet in the afternoon at Stas and Lizzy's to help eat the Thanksgiving leftovers and watch the World Cup.

AJ and Vania left Saturday morning.  Tammy, Grandma Kelly, and Lizzy did some ceramics while the guys just stayed home for the day.  Sunday we went to church before going to Stas and Lizzy's house for some turkey pho and Christmas tree decorating - a last afternoon spent together before the IL grandparents returned home Monday morning.

Pictures  https://photos.app.goo.gl/8nEgfjB1uGVCB4g57

Oregon Fall 2022 Visit

Day 1 - Uneventful trip to Portland, OR through Chicago, IL.  Good drive from Portland to Albany.  Quick visit to the local park with the grandkids as there was a spotting of some sun.

Day 2 - Attended church services.  Celebrated Jaclyn's birthday with a gathering of the whole Laberee clan.

Day 3 - Did some crafts.  Went family trick or treating and made a stop at a local church's trunk or treat.

Day 4 - Drove to Salem for a visit to the Gilbert House Children's Museum and lunch at Dairy Queen.

Day 5 - Rode the Albany Carousel and painted some ceramic gnomes and unicorns at Sure Fire.

Day 6 - Headed to Portland for a celebration of Jaclyn's birthday.  Started at Fogo de Chao for an all you can eat lunch.  Followed up by an afternoon at the zoo with hardly a person to be seen and most animals out for viewing.   Ended with an overnight stay at a hotel with indoor pool.  

Day 7 - Complimentary breakfast before going to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.  Lunch at HK Cafe. Goodbyes said as the kids headed home, and we to the hotel.

Day 8 - Arrived home after a 19 hour day of travel due to several delayed flights because of weather and VIP's in Chicago, IL

Pictures - https://photos.app.goo.gl/3H7sktDnFSmYqegVA

Fall 2022

Saturday, September 10th, Tammy and I went to the Brimfield Flea Market.  We arrived early in the morning and covered a section of the fields that we normally don't get to because we tire out before getting to that area.  We shared a Pilgrim sandwich for the first time.  It was also the first time we did not purchase any merchandise.  Lizzy, AJ & Vania, and Jordan went to Brimfield on their own but didn't stay long before heading to Manchester for some store shopping.  Everyone did come over later in the day to the house for a lunch of Poke Bowl and playing of Nintendo Gamecube MonkeyBall.

Saturday, September 17th was a workday at the East Windsor Sportsman Club to which I belong.  As a new member, you are required to attend two workdays to complete your membership.  It was my second thus fulfilling my requirements.  The next day, I drove an hour to Franklin for a small game hunting course.  It went from 9am to 2pm.   The course ended with some partridge stew.

Saturday, September 24th, Tammy and I took a three hour tour of the Scitico area of Enfield.  Afterwards, we had dinner our way at Burger King.

Friday, October 7th, Rachelle and Alan came down for some apple picking.  Lizzy was dropped off early Saturday morning, and we all headed off to Johnny Appleseed for the annual apple picking extravaganza.  We picked enough apples (six varieties) to make 10 pies and four apple crisps.  We also froze enough bags of apples to make 16 more pies plus apples to eat everyday for lunch for three weeks.  But because man cannot live by apples alone, we had Five Guys burgers and shakes for dinner that day.  Sunday was our church's first harvest festival.  Tammy manned the bouncey house from 1pm to 5pm landing her a cameo appearance on a local newscast of the event.

Thursday, October 13th,  Tammy and I took an evening cooking class at the local high school.  It was for Pho and Ramen.  Unfortunately, I mistook the salt for sugar making our chichen pho quite salty.  Since, the class was scheduled to end at 9pm, I took the next day off and used it as on opportunity to get in some pistol practice.  

Sunday, October 16th, Tammy and I went to Friendly's for lunch after church.  We then took a three hour tour of the Enfield Street area of Enfield.

Down East Summer of 2022

We took another Maine vacation this year (August 13-20).  We left 4:30am Saturday morning to avoid the absolute worst part of Maine vacations - the travel traffic.  We arrived at our first stop for the day at 8am -- Freeport, ME.  We ate breakfast at Isabella Sticky Buns Cafe and Bakery.  We then browsed through the massive LL Bean store and stopped by a few of the other outlets in town.  We got back in the car and headed to our second stop of the day, Fairfield, ME.  Here we perused through one of the largest antique stores we had ever been in.  Getting back in the car, we headed for our final destination - the rented Airbnb in Gouldsboro, ME for a 4pm arrival with a stop at Tracey's for  a Captain's Dinner for two which could have feed double that.  Stas and Lizzy arrived a little later that evening.

Sunday morning we headed to Bar Harbor for a 4 hour bus tour of Acadia National Park.  It was a great way to see the park's highlights without having to worry about finding a parking spot at each stop.  We had breakfast at Jordan's Restaurant and dinner at Geddy's Seafood Restaurant.  The next day, Stas chauffeured us around Schoodic Point stopping at many of the pull-offs and main stopping areas.  We did the little Sundew Trail after visiting the Schoodic Institute.   Our day ended with a hot dog dinner and root beer float at Me and Ben's Dairy Creme.  Tuesday we ventured to Southwest Harbor for our next scheduled activity of sea kayaking.  We had lunch at Eat-a-Pita & Cafe, kayaked the Mount Desert Narrows where we saw some seals, then returned home for some homemade hamburgers with mac n cheese.

What's a vacation without some rain?  We got some on Wednesday - a coastal Nor'easter that brought heavy rains and winds all day.  What better way to enjoy the day though than with some reading of a 300 page book on the history of Winter Harbor, a surf and turf dinner-Maine lobster, hamburgers, and pasta salad, capped off with an Exit Escape Room game that took us an inordinate 2 hours to finish.  Thursday, Tammy and I did a self-guided walking tour of "downtown" Winter Harbor venturing over to Grindstone Neck to check out some of the sights there.  We ate at the Pickled Wrinkle in Birch Harbor for dinner followed by an ice cream cone dessert from Me and Ben's.  For our final full day of vacation, Stas took us back to Bar Harbor.  We arrived early enough to walk the Bar Island Land Bridge.  Tammy and I then began a self guided audio tour of Bar Harbor.  About half way through the tour, we stumbled upon a scheduled organ concert at the Episcopal church in town and enjoyed an hour of "cultured" music.  Our day ended with dinner at Paddy's Irish Pub and Restaurant.

As an almost daily side adventure, Tammy and I hunted during the week for sea glass.  Many an evening of low tide were spent at our rental scouring the rocks for this "prized" object.  Time was also spent at Grindstone Neck and Bar Harbor searching.

Saturday 4:30am found us back in the car heading home to beat that vacation traffic of returning Maine vacationers.

Photos galore can be found by visiting the following link https://photos.app.goo.gl/viAnKk5xRSnfBT7b6

Some Midsummer Weekends

Weekend One - June 25th - Visited Vermont for the weekend with the same cast of normal characters in attendance and special appearances by Gabriel Raffa and his wife. (Pictures - https://photos.app.goo.gl/gVPhamHLHKmqv69m8)

Weekend Two - July 3rd - Viewed last year's East Longmeadow July 4th parade (one of the largest in Western MA) online.  Had a new refrigerator delivered.  Watched neighbor's fireworks display as I had the actual July 4th holiday off because the station automated that day.

Weekend Three - July 10th - Rode the shuttle bus to the Enfield Town Green to catch the July 4th parade.  Ate some soul food for lunch at Cindy's Deli.  Enjoyed a Flavor Blast at Smyth's Dairy for dessert.

Weekend Four - July 17th - Toured the Gillette Castle in East Haddam.  (Pictures - https://photos.app.goo.gl/hcMQ4sdJmonQMELDA)  Attended the WIHS Family Barbecue.  

Weekend Five - July 24th - Avoided the summer heat by staying indoors in the AC.  Wrote this blog.

Summer Plants

As a follow up on my Spring plants post, here are all the plants that have bloomed within just the last month or so this summer in our yard.

Exploring around Home

Whenever Tammy and I visit a new place, we like to try to take historic walking tours of the area.  If you have been a reader of this blog, you may have seen them listed in our travel itinerary summaries.  

Well, this past weekend, we took our first ever walking tours of the place we have called home for 22 years.  On Saturday, June 4, we took a two and a half walking tour of the North Thompsonville business district up to Longmeadow, MA.  Then later that same day, we took a three hour walking tour of the two southern cemeteries in our town and ended it with a tour of the local family-owned dairy farm.  

A Spate of Visits

Recently, we have had more visitors to our home in three months than we've had in quite some period.  We had our nephew Dom drop by on a Tuesday for an overnight visit on his way home from a job interview near Boston.  Tammy's college friend from PCC and her youngest daughter stopped by on a Thursday for an overnight visit on their way to visit her new grandson in Groton.  Rick and his family came on a Thursday and visited for several days as noted in the earlier Staycation blog to attend a Christian concert in Springfield.  Rachelle and Alan were here for the Memorial weekend to attend the Broadway production of Stomp with us in Hartford.  We all enjoyed the high energy show then went to eat at Parkville Marketplace.

Unfortunatley, now it's time to say good bye to Ron and all his kin.  And they would like to thank you folks fer kindly droppin in.  You're all invited back any time to this locality  To have a heapin helpin of their hospitality.   Set a spell, Take your shoes off.  But Y'all come back now, y'hear?

A May Get Away

              Pictures (Link Below)

     GelatO (Gelato Fiasco)

  HistoryRy Tours (Friday and Saturday 2 Hour Walking Tours)

         VicToria House (1 Hour Tour)

        Longfellow's Garden

 Duck FAt (Friday's Dinner)

    Air BNB (Third Floor on Tate Street in West End)

Becky's Diner (Saturday's Dinner)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/NPYmpdZRdzD1EEkbA

Spring 2022

 

Nature's Way

© Heidi Campbell  Published: July 2007

Upon a nice mid-spring day,
Let's take a look at Nature's way.
Breathe the scent of nice fresh air,
Feel the breeze within your hair.

The grass will poke between your toes,
Smell the flowers with your nose.
Clouds form shapes within the skies,
And light will glisten from your eyes.

Hear the buzzing of the bees,
Climb the tallest willow trees.
Look across the meadow way,
And you shall see a young deer play.

Pick the daisies as they grow,
Watch a gentle cold stream flow.
Know the sounds of water splash,
Catch its glimmer in a flash.

When altogether all seems sound,
Lay yourself upon the ground.
Take a moment to inhale,
And listen to Nature tell her tale...

Birthday Week Staycation 2022

I took the week of April 25-29 off from work for a staycation.  Much was accomplished on my first day off - took Tammy to work, took Charlotte to the vet, bought and mulched the flower beds, placed summer decor outside, cleaned out garage, and had the Subaru's 90000 mile service done.  Tuesday I went to the sportsman range to shoot my pistol at 20 feet.  I did very poorly and came home to watch videos on proper grip tips to improve my shooting.  Wednesday I returned to the range and applied the tips resulting in a better showing.  I also shot my .22 and did well with the scope at 60 feet.  That afternoon, several of my birthday gifts arrived by Amazon and FedEx which I immediately setup outdoors.  Thursday was a busy day with morning cleaning and laundry in preparation for the arrival of the NY Gangwers around 2pm.  At 4pm, we left for dinner at Red Rose in Springfield where Tammy met us.  After dinner, we walked to the Mass Mutual Center for a three hour concert by For King and Country.  On Friday, we drove to Mystic Village for some shopping.  Unfortunately for our wallets, Tammy and I did most of the purchasing.  Lizzy and Stas joined us that evening for Chinese and Saturday morning for French toast, sausage and fruit after which the NY Gangwers began their journey home.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/TMoVRBa24ChfL414A 

Easter 2022

 On Friday, April 15, after work, Tammy and I headed to Vermont for Easter weekend.  This would be our first visit to VT since April 2021.  On Saturday, we (CT Gangwers, VT Beauchemins, and NY Gangwers) all went bowling.  No one was great, but the VT Beauchemins did the best.  Bowling was followed by a pizza lunch and Rachelle-crafted charcuterie board of Easter sweets at AJ and Vania's house.   After eating, a GoSports Shuffleboard challenge was held.    Again, the VT Beauchemins came out on top beating all competitors.  On Sunday, we went to church to celebrate the risen Lord and left for home after a lasagna lunch with  desserts of Mississippi Mud and Apple Spice cake.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/BQqZBATcfXwHt7AN6

PET Scan Results

On Thursday, February 10, 2022, I went for my eighth PET Scan.  This scan was to see how the late summer ICE treatments and late fall stem cell transplant had worked and how the many prayers offered would be answered concerning my relapsed Hodgkin's lymphoma.  The results on that Friday were that all the previous areas of concern were clear.  Prayers answered and treatments a success.  Now it's a matter of my body repairing itself from the treatments - waiting for cell counts to normalize, avoiding large gatherings, taking an assortment of pills three times a day, avoiding certain foods for a varying length of time, and getting all my immunizations over again.  

Returning to Some Normalcy

On Monday, January 10, 2022, I returned to work on a full-time basis from my medical leave of absence.  I had last been at WIHS in person on Friday, October 22, 2021 - 11 weeks unemployed - the longest I have ever not worked.   I say in person, as I did receive the occasional call while out from my fellow co-workers with problems or issues they needed help in solving.   Physically, I have had no issues in returning.  I did return while the omnicron variant of Covid-19 was surging.  While there was the fear of catching the virus, it also was a blessing in disguise.  Each room at the station was stocked with disinfectant wipes to clean the audio boards, computer keyboards, and mice I would be using.   There were hand soaps in all the rooms for frequent hand washing, and the wearing of a mask around people was common.  As for my actual work responsibilities, no issues there in getting back in to the swing of things.