Michelle has been as cool as a Lollyfish this week. She went in twice for a PET scan. The first time she was rejected because she had food 5 ½ hours prior. Everything would have been fine if the instructions were read to the fullest. She should fire her caretaker. The second time it went smoothly. She was positive afterwards and said, “It wasn’t that bad”. What is a PET scan? Positron emission tomography (PET) is a functional imaging technique that uses radioactive substances known as radiotracers to visualize and measure changes in metabolic processes, and in other physiological activities including blood flow, regional chemical composition, and absorption. Plain and simple, it is a fancy scanning machine to look for cancer. We will have results next week.
Michelle also had a meeting with the nutritional oncologist this week. Her last meeting with specialist Brown was in February, so this was a follow-up, and she had some questions on possible future treatments. Michelle is still struggling with balance and makes me nervous when she walks sometimes.
Highlight of the week This week’s highlight was getting out and walking around Luck Ranch. Michelle enjoys watching the turtles this time of year, so she had the monocular at the ready. She was eye spying on the 20 or so turtles sunbathing on the manmade peninsula. I asked her if she had named them, and she looked at me like I had lost my mind. No response was warranted, I guess.
Random Fact of the Week The Lollyfish is also known as an Atra Sea Cucumber or a Black Cucumber. Sea cucumbers use Cuvierian tubes as a defense mechanism. When threatened, they thwart attacks by creating a sticky network composed of elongated tubules within which the potential predator is entangled in a matter of seconds and thus immobilized.
Did you know? Michelle likes to poke bruises. If you are here and she sees you have a bruise, she will poke it.
Throwback Love Story Michelle’s PET scan was in the Northcross area of Austin. I was told it was going to be 90 minutes giving me plenty of time to stop by the grocery store and the post office. On my way to the post office, I noticed a familiar store front, Petticoat Fair. Some of you may know, this place is famous for it’s renowned for service, fitting expertise of women’s bras and swimwear. Some people say it’s the best in the country. Driving past it reminded me of a time when Michelle asked me to come along to “help” her decide which bras to choose. I was all in. I as thinking half naked women and I am getting a free pass from my wife to tell her what is best for her, man, I was so excited.
30 seconds after being there, I was bored out of my gourd. Michelle disappeared behind a back door somewhere, the parking lot was full, the place seemed to be busy, but nobody was up front with me. The people were nice enough, it was not what I expected professional bra shopping to be. I had to get out of there, I needed some air. Without telling Michelle, I just disappeared. I walked out and looked around and there was nothing but a half empty strip mall. There were 2 shops to explore, a secondhand kid store called “Once upon a child” and an art gallery. I walked into the kids store and looked around, uninterested I decided to check out the art gallery. There was some cool art. One booth intrigued me, so I hung out there and talked with the artist for a long time. Valerie had some great pieces that I fell in love with. She had one that was a 3-part piece, painted like a storm. The first picture was the storm coming in, the second was the storm as it hit, and the 3rd was the storm leaving. I had to have it, that was until I found out how much she wanted for it.
I made my way back to Petticoat Fair just in time to let Michelle know I approve of her selections and yea yea they look wonderful yup uh huh, great, lets go. They really did look nice; she did not need me there after all. It turns out you hire superior people to run a top-class institution. On the way home I told he about Valerie and her art. I begged her for the triptych I saw, which after she heard the price she laughed.
We went back to the art gallery so Michelle could see the paintings and they were gone. Replaced with other beautiful paintings. Some other Lucky soul got to see those every day. Six years passed and every time she wore one of her bras from Petticoat Fair, I would think of the paintings from the gallery. I knew they were too expensive, but I really wanted them. I would mention them everyone in a while throughout that 6-year time. One day when Michelle and I decided to go to the Austin Art festival in Downtown Austin. Lo and behold one of the vendors was Valerie and on display was “The Perfect Storm”. The price went up $250 of course. I was beside myself. I could not believe it was there and it was still available. Not wanting to be an impulse buyer, we were in need of a discussion about this. We talked about it on the way home. We slept on it. The next morning, over coffee, Michelle gave me “the nod”. I was stoked. I immediately called Valerie. She told me the painting was sold 5 minutes after I left her booth. She had a feeling I was going to call. I told Michelle the news and we were both devastated. Later that evening, Valerie called us back and told us she would paint us a duplicate painting. Now in our living room we have hanging above the French doors leading out to Luck Lake – “The More Perfect Storm”.
Deep Thoughts I made some mashed potatoes this week. I was watching the water boil and I thought that same water that is softening the potatoes, hardens eggs. It’s not the circumstances, it’s what we’re made of that changes it all.
Daytime Fridge “RED” (Hulu) After surviving an assault from a squad of hit men, retired CIA agent Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) reassembles his old team for an all-out war. Frank reunites with old Joe (Morgan Freeman), crazy Marvin (John Malkovich) and wily Victoria (Helen Mirren) to uncover a massive conspiracy that threatens their lives. Only their expert training will allow them to survive a near-impossible mission -- breaking into CIA headquarters. I love that it stands for retired and extremely dangerous. It was a good show. There is a part 2. We will watch that at some point but decided to wait for the rain to come.
“Big Brother” (Paramount +), “Station 19” (Hulu)
Primetime Cooler “The Diplomat” (Netflix) We Binged the entire season this week! Amid an international crisis, a career diplomat juggles her new high-profile job as ambassador to the United Kingdom and her turbulent marriage to a political star.
“The Wheel of Time” (Prime) We just started this series. The jury is still out. Moiraine, a member of a magical organization, takes five young people on a journey, believing that one of them might be the reincarnation of the Dragon, a powerful individual prophesied to save the world or destroy it.
“Severance” (Apple TV) This was a rewatch. We liked it even better the second time around.
“Special Ops: Lioness” (Paramount +) This is a weekly watch for us.
“Icebox Icehouse”
The Menu
Starters
Dark Chocolate Bars
Cinnamon Bears
Assorted Fruit Slices
The Mains
Chicken Spaghetti
Meatloaf
Filet Mignon
Chicken and Gravy
Spaghetti
Salmon
Classic Chicken Sandwich
The Crispers
Peas
Mixed Veggies
Corn
Tots
Rice
The Freezer
Ice Cream
Cookie Dough Blizzard
Mint Cookies
Quick-chill zone
Lemonade
Water
Apple Juice
Love you
Brian
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