Thursday, December 31, 2009

I talked with the Vet today

The talked with an internal medicine specialist about Kona and his liver. His liver enzymes ae still worrisome, but Kona has been acting pretty normal this week. They think the liver problems are a result of his use of phenobarbital. So the vet wants to titre him off of the phenobarb a little further than we had originally intended. They also do not want to do a liver biopsy yet because his blood protein is low and the vet is worried about his ability to clot. So the plan of attack is to titre him down a 1/2 tablet on Saturday and another 1/2 tablet next Thursday. We also need to double his intake of sam-e, and give him more protein. So in addition to the 4 oz of chicken he gets a day, he also should have a scrambled egg twice a day and 3 tbsp of cottage cheese. And we’re adding another herb for his tummy. He’s quite happy about the eggs and cottage cheese. So we’ll keep working on getting him stable and hope he doesn’t have any breakthrough seizures. He’s gone five weeks, which is great.

December 31st, 2009

It is done
A photo a day for a year
The camera that has taken over 13,000 photos
The quarterly publication with the favorite photos.
It has been quite a year, and a wonderful goal.
It has forced me to stop and look around, and as someone reminded me, see the beauty
Thank you to House of Leaves who inspired me to jump onto this goal
I think I will continue it next year, a new camera is on its way.
Goodbye 2009, Welcome 2010

project 365 1

Wednesday December 30th Laugh of the Day

Mrrad and I were at the car dealership trying to negotiate the price of a new car. The salesman was doing his usual running back and forth to his manager. He comes out with the deal, I ask about turning in my car, he goes back to his manager, and when he comes back they say they will take my car, make the last payment but the deal is the same. Then they say “if you sign today . . .” and mrrad burst out laughing at the guy. It was the “if you sign today” that put him over the edge. It is SOOOO cliche.

FTF Thursday December 31st

Did a little shopping yesterday and bought a new car! Essentially a replacement for my last one, but they’ve upgraded the technology so much I’ve got to relearn how to use the features. Today is a day of errands and then hanging out at home with mrrad. We never go out on NYE-too many crazies on the road. And we’re usually asleep long before midnight. How did we turn into such old farts?

eat fruit
take vitamins
take extra key and manuals back to dealer
Costco
grocery store
take in prescription
pick up prescription
financial paperwork
work on Q4 PAD book
book travel for next week
sign registration form and send back to assistant
read for 1 hour
yoga
put away laundry
pay professional dues by end of year
make charitable donations by end of year
Staples for year end folder

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

December 30th

My new
car
Happy
early
Birthday

new car 1

new car 2

new car 3

FTF Wednesday December 30th

Had a good night’s sleep but still feel like I’m fighting something. Am going to do some stuff around the house today and maybe evens shop for a new car. My lease ends next month. Only 2 days left this year.

-eat fruit- _I’ve already enjoyed two tangerines and am heading for a third, they are so good.
take vitamins
unload dishwasher
put away laundry
finanical paperwork
call DO and try to see him today
shop for new car
read for 1 hour
nap
work on Q4 PAD book
meditate
update ipod _download Brian Setzer, Mad Men, In Treatment, House _
work on advance directives

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Tuesday December 29th

Mrrad always does things to make me laugh. Today we had decided we would order chinese food for dinner. He had a doctors appointment and when he came home he asked if I wanted him to call and order. I said yes. I heard him on the phone placing the order, giving our address and then he hung up. He said, “They said it will be here in 2 minutes.” Then I saw the an arm sticking out of the kitchen, holding the bag with the food. He had ordered and picked it up. Where does he get these things.

Tuesday December 29th

Eyore says
“I’m only
an angel
in Santa’s
sleigh.
Oh my.”

eyore angel

Monday, December 28, 2009

Secured the domain name

This should take a few months to complete. Not because I can’t ge tit done more quickly but because not everyone in the band is on board and I have to get all of the information from them. But at least the domain name has been secured.

Had another appointment today

to discuss end of life decisions. My brother, my mom and I went. My mom is a member of Kaiser HMO and I have to give them credit in taking a proactive approach. We met with a palliative care nurse who was able to give us some feedback on mom’s memory test. For memory and cognitive skills mom was “normal for her age”. Well, she’s 90 so memory loss is not unrealistic. They also tested for anxiety and depression since those can impact memory. Mom tested with mild anxiety but no depression. We were given a form for the advance healthcare directive. My brother and I will meet with mom over the weekend to have her fill it out and then sign and return. I also have a copy for us, which is one of the things that I want to get completed this week. After losing our friend to a stroke last month, it has really driven home the need to be prepared and know what our loved ones want.

I’m going to follow up with her doctor about getting her on aricept or another memory enhancing (or really memory loss slowing) drug.

December 28th

Glass
tress
on a mantle
reflecting
light
for the season

trees

FTF Monday December 28th

mrrad and I did not leave the house yesterday except to take the dog out. I didn’t even get out of my new pjs. mrrad was ill last night with a fever but did go to work today. I woke up in the middle of the night with my shirt soaked. Dont’ know what that is about. Time to do a few things today, but still take it easy.

take mom to KP for appt to discuss end of life decisions
print wills for review
pay time sensitive bills
grocery store
Costco?
read for 1 hour
take vitamins
eat fruit
yoga
work on PAD Q4 book
respond to recruiter

take in cleaning
decide what to cook for dinner
call in last two prescriptions

Sunday, December 27, 2009

December 27th

My favorite
ornament
a Christopher
Radko
orthodox
church

ornament

December 27th Today I am grateful for:

my gratitude lists are generally the same. But its OK with me since these are the most important things in my life.

My wonderful husband
That Kona seems to be adjusting well to his meds and has been seizure free for 4 weeks.
Time off to relax.
A wonderful holiday with my family
Having my brother to share the care of our mom.
The amazing Brian Setzer concert last night.
A fire in the fireplace on a rainy Sunday.
No where to have to go today.

FTF Sunday December 27th

Woke up this morning feeling like I’m fighting a cold. Last night we went to see the Brian Setzer Orchestra concert. It was SMOKIN’! It was so much fun to have a social life. Today we will just hang around the house and relax. It rainy out and we could both use a down day after the holiday.

Secure domain name for band.
Print wills for review.
Schedule meeting with notary.
Read for 1 hour.
Call brother about tomorrow’s agenda.
take vitamins
eat fruit
meditate
cook a great dinner-chicken marsala tonight
order camera
work on Q4 PAD book

Saturday, December 26, 2009

December 26th

My favorite
Christmas gift
a Kindle
the new way
to read and
carry books and other
readying material.

new kindle 2

The wills are drafted.

I will print tomorrow so that mrrad and I can review them. I will also contact a friend who is also a notary to arrange a time to have her come over and witness/notarize them. I’ve also done the durable power of attorney for finance and for healthcare for both my husband and I. After that the only thing I have left is the information for survivors to complete (mostly about where the money is, etc.) I really want to get this done. Everytime I’m on a plane and the air gets bumpy I think about it.

FTF Saturday December 26th

Am generally going to take it easy today. Tonight we go to dinner with one of mrrad’s bandmates and then to the Brian Setzer concert. Will just do some things around the house.

-make vitamin packs-
-take vitamins-
work on wills
read for 1 hour
yoga
meditate
go to Brian Setzer concert
pick up around house
put away presents
order prescription refills
order vitamins

FTF Last week of the Year

I’m off of work for the next week and want to accomplish a lot. I’m going to create two lists today, one for the week and a second for the day. I need to see the big list in order to focus on daily little lists. Had a lovely Christams with my family. Lots of great fun and photos

finish our wills by the end of the year
yoga-home practice and find a new class/studio/teacher for the next year
read at least an hour a day
order a new camera using amex points (my point and shoot has served me well over the last year, but after 13,000+ pictures it needs to be replaced)
meditate each day
purchase domain name for mrrad’s band’s website
start to build website
go to rehersal and shoot pictures
Brian Setzer concert (we met him on our honeymoon, he was honeymooning with his second wife)
water plants
pay bills
clean out files of 2009 and prepare for 2010
return shoes
see movies-Sherlock Holmes, AVATAR?, Blind Side or others
put away presents
take down tree
buy new interview suit for the two interviews I have in January
work on 4th quarter photo a day book
work on Project 365 book
organize photos on laptop
clean-up laptop
shop for new car
mani/pedi
make dentist appointment
see DO
make appointment with eye doctor
spend lots of quality time with mrrad
pick-up around the house
laundry
take in cleaning
pickup cleaning
meeting
talk to bff and schedule her trip here
figure out travel for first week of year
go to Costco
take mom for KP appointment to discuss end-of-life decisions
call dear brother to arrange Monday’s transportation
recover info on external hard drive
ebay or take stuff to Goodwill
grocery store
make some great meals for mrrad and I

Friday, December 25, 2009

This has become much more important.

Things are not going too well at work, perhaps more in my head than in reality. But I do know that I can’t keep doing what I’ve been doing. The definition of insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results. I know in the past, the more connected I was to my spirituality, the more happiness I had in my life and it was really what was going on in my head. Soooo, I could really use some suggestions or ideas on what I can do to get more connected. I am not a church type of person, so that is not an option for me

December 25th Christmas

Father Christmas
in a Doberman
disguise
Dog’s are, at heart,
the spirit of Christmas
loving, giving, loyal

dobie xmas 3

11/43

The tree
at my brother’s house
my sister-in-law
is always so
creative.

judy tree 2

10/43

The Christmas Tree
minature
at the hair
salon

beauty salon tree

December 24th

“I
am
NOT
a
Reindeer
take these stupid things off”
what Kona thinks about his antlers.

antlers 10

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

December 23rd

One of
my three
nutcracker
with a “snidely”
look about him

cheap nutcracker

Back from the Vet

The news is worrisome. There are two leisions on Kona’s liver. And they both look very different from each other. The first one is very clear. The vet doesn’t think its cancer, but perhaps scarring from the meds or he might have thrown a blood clot during one of his seizures. The other is not nearly as clearly defined and the vet really isn’t sure what is going on. One of his liver enzymes is still very elevated. They are sending out a special panel of blood work to get some more definitive answers as to what might be causing the elevation in his liver enzymes. Depending upon what comes back, they might want to do a liver biopsy on him. We are starting potasium bromide tonight. The sooner we can get that into his system the sooner we can taper off the phenobarbitol, which is probably what is causing his liver to act the way it is. However, he will probably go through the “break-in” period with the side effects, which will cause him to be sedated and shaky on his feet. I hate watching that, it is so sad, but it does get better. He has been on phenobarb for 5 years or so, and it can be toxic to the liver. When he first went on it, the vet said that it would probably shorten his life. He’s almost ten and I really want a few more years with him. In one way, the barf fest the last week was probably a really good thing because it brought to light the fact that his liver wasn’t doing too well. We might have gone a while longer before we found out and his liver could have been more damaged. {sigh}

Back to the vet again.

Kona is acting more like his normal self. He has become a picky eater though, he wants his food “chickened-up” before he will partake. Today he goes to the vet for an ultrasound and some bloodwork. We also start him on his new medicine potasium bromide. I’ll start that tonight since he wasn’t supposed to eat anything this morning and we put this on his food. I wanted to be home with him while he gets used to it in his system. He is staring at me know because he doesn’t understand why there is no food in his bowl.

FTF Wednesday December 23rd

I’m on vacation! I don’t go back until after the first of the year. Time to prepare for the holiday.

wrap presents
drop Kona off at vet
pick Kona up from vet
hair appointment
boxes for gifts
finish shopping
call sil to find out what to bring for xmas eve and xmas dinner
call company to ship order overnight
pay bills

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Monday, December 21, 2009

December 20th

Salt and Pepper
shakers
ain’t what they used
to be
These have been around
as long as I remember

mr mrs santa

Sunday, December 20, 2009

December 20th

Catch a
snowflake
on your tongue
make a wish
and see it melt

wish 3

Don't know what is up with Kona today

He’s not eating or drinking. Well, he will eat chicken, but I haven’t seen him drink any water yet. He doesn’t act particularly sick, just a little low energy. Kona has always been a very good eater so I’m concerned. I actually had to force his phenobarb down his throat today which I never have to do. He’s going for an ultrasound and additional bloodwork on Wednesday. Don’t know if he got into something else or what.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Friday, December 18, 2009

December 18th

Banner
for the
San Francisco Ballet
Nutcracker
along 19th Avenue

nutcracker banner

December 17th

Red trimmings
on a holiday
tree
french horn
from the 12
days of Christmas

la tree detail 2

December 16th

Ornaments
golden on the tree
reflecting light
and joy
and the holiday
spirit

tree detail 11

December 15th

Decorations
for Christmas
sophisticated
and beautiful

xmas trees 201 mission

December 14th

Ribbon
golden
trimming the tree
awaiting fellow
ornaments
to be complete

tree ribbon 2

December 13th

Kona
imitating
a christmas tree
wearing lites
“Oy, what my mom
makes me do” he thinks.

kona lights 2

Week-end of December 19th

home for the week-end. Only one more trip this year. Time to take care of Christmas stuff this weekend.

Address holiday cards
Buy address labels for holiday cards
Mail holiday cards
Decide what to purchase for xmas gifts
Massage
Memorial service for Don
Finish trimming tree
Pay bills
Deposit expense check
Yoga

8/43

LAX tree
United terminal

lax tree

7/43

macy tree 1

Los Angeles Mall
Tree
poinsettias

6/43

Lobby tree
in our
LA office

la tree 2

5/43

moving lights tree 2

Our tree in process, only lights and garland.

Mom had her memory test

on Monday. She said she “passed”, that she doesn’t have alzheimers. I never thought she did, but I do believe she has age related dementia. I’ve not talked to her doctor yet about her test results. She is a Kaiser patient and they’ve set up an appointment with her (and me and my brother) to discuss end of life decisions. I have to give them credit to make the effort to address that head-on. We’re going on the Monday after Christmas.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

3/43

xmas trees 201 mission

A different type of Christmas Tree at my office building.

4/43

1901 tree 2

The Christmas Tree in the Lobby of our LA office’s building. 1901 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles

3/43

xmas trees 201 mission

A different type of Christmas Tree at my office building.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Another visit to the vet.

We had an appointment today for Kona to have acupuncture, follow-up with the vet after Saturday’s barf-fest, and to discuss Kona’s medications. His liver enzymes are elevated but not sure if its from his most recent bout, his last few seizures, or his medication. His blood level of phenobarb is as high as is tolerable now, we can’t give him anymore. He was also a little low on protein in his blood. Sooo, we are going to add another anti-seizure medication and titre off the phenobarb a bit. We are adding potasium bromide. We are also to feed him about 4 ounces of chicken a day (he’s sooo upset about that) and a probiotic to his food since he seems to have some gastric upset, probably because of the phenobarb. And we’re adding pepcid. I’ll start him on the other medication next week when I am home to watch him. And he’s going in for an ultrasound and bloodwork to recheck his liver next week.

FTF Monday December 14th

I have the day off of work to take care of running people and animals to medical appointments. Nice to have a little break.

Take mom for memory test.
Take Kona to vet for acupuncture.
Pick up envelopes for christmas books
Buy christmas cards
Finish trimming tree.
Finish calendars and order.
Decide what to buy for the remainder of my christmas receipeints
Pay time sensitive bills.
Phone interview #1
PHone interview #2

Saturday, December 12, 2009

December 12th

A blooming
orchid
at Christmas
unexpected
and beautiful.

xmas orchid 4

Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coehlo

Not quite what I was expecting and certainly an “adult-only” book.

December 12th Today I am grateful

Our friend Don Rothschild died on Monday after having two strokes. It is so sad to lose him. And it reminds me to be grateful for what I do have.

for:
the time we had with Don
that Kona’s gastric upset is probably due to eating something stupid (which comes with being a lab)
mrrad has 23 years today-a miracle
a fire to warm the house while the rain is pouring down outside
only 7 more working days until my next vacation
being comfy cozy inside

2/43 Christmas Trees

Paradise Foods
has a lovely
tree
in the front of the store
red and gold and
green

xmas tree paradise 2

How do you say goodbye to a friend?


Monday morning, at 11:05 am, Don Rothschild left this life in search of his next adventure. Two weeks prior he suffered two massive strokes that severely damaged his brain. He was 6 days shy of his 59th birthday. His family, in a very loving act, decided to discontinue life support. He died about six days after they did so. It was clear that their primary concern was Don's comfort. He was moved to a palliative care unit, disconnected from the ventilator and provided continuous pain relief and oxygen to make him comfortable. I envision Don enjoying the continuous morphine drip and quietly letting go from this earthly life.


I did not know Don well at all. I think I met him for the first time at the 4th of July picnic. He was my husband's friend, a new friend at that. Don joined Tom's band, Beyond the Blues, earlier this year as a keyboard player. He added a certain "je ne sais quoi" to the group. Every Sunday, Don would drive to Novato and he and Tom would then drive up to their studio in Santa Rosa. Throughout the summer he and Tom started to get to know each other. They would golf together and sometimes I would meet them for dinner at the Club after they finished playing. At that picnic where I first met Don, another of the band's member had recorded a rehersal. It was the first time I had heard them play. It was clear that Don could rock the piano.
Don had an interesting outlook on life. He also had a very dry sense of humor. He could make me laugh. He could also set my teeth on edge. But that was the essence of Don. Many of his friends in the fellowship have talked about him, people who knew him better, who supported him during his struggles. In fellowship language, he died clean. That is a miracle, and a tragedy that he had to leave us now. When one enters middle age, finding and building friendships is much more difficult. Don and Tom were building a friendship that Tom enjoyed, and is going to miss.
He will be missed by so many. The members of Beyond the Blues will miss his musical contributions, and as Pat would say, his chops for the music. His friends and family will miss everything about him. And Tom will miss the opportunity to build that deeper friendship with him. I will miss him too, and the opportunity to get to know him better.
Travel well my friend. We will all meet again and you can tell us your stories as only you can.

Friday, December 11, 2009

1/43 Christmas Trees

Century City
Los Angeles
glistening
blue thru
the buildings

tree in the middle

December 11th

Poinsettas
one of my favorite
seasonal plants
red
beautiful

poinsetta

December 10th

Hanging baskets
at Ortega’s
guacamole is so good
lunch there
two days
in a row

baskets

December 9th

Ortega’s
in San Diego
Cross corner
in the restaurant
different and unusual
crosses

cross 2

December 8th

cold morning
sky
on the way to San Diego
Sun breaking
through the clouds
after a day of
torrential rain

cold sky 1

December 7th

Christmas decorations
at the mall
in Los Angeles
red and silver balls
hanging on lights

xmas balls 2

December 6th

Christmas lights
on a dog
not a happy camper
keeps moving
“stay” is not
his strong suit

kona and moving lights 2

Weekend of December 12th

I was gone most of the week, but do not have anything scheduled for this weekend, other than to celebrate mrrad’s 23rd anniversary (big deal). I’m also taking off on Monday to take my dog for a memory test and my mom to the vet, I mean, my mom for a memory test and my dog to the vet. I also have a phone interview as well.

Laundry
Pay Bills
Buy more lights for the xmas tree
Trim the tree
Get envelopes for xmas cards.
Finish calendars and order
Bank to deposit expense check.
Finish online xmas shopping
Figure out what to buy for xmas

Saturday, December 5, 2009