Saturday, May 30, through Thursday, June 5, 2015: Spring Is Finally Here:

The weather improved markedly on Saturday.  The temperature was in the 80s and the sky was clear.

We took advantage of that to do a number of projects around the house.  Among other things:  we (Becky, that is) hung the re-wired chandelier; 

I dug out of the trailer some old but rarely used BBQ tools, cleaned them up, made two trips to the hardware store to get the parts necessary to mount them on our BBQ, and mounted them on the BBQ (we had previously replaced a lot of rusty BBQ parts and the thing now looks quite spiffy);  and I mounted the steel sculpture on our mantle.

Sunday was a lazy day with just a bit of puttering, and Monday we returned to our normal routine---including my daily trip to Flagstaff for a radiation treatment.  The Monday redbox movie was 50 to 1, a predictable but pretty good film about an obscure race horse that entered the Kentucky Derby.



Tuesday was again a normal day, but we accomplished a lot of necessary paperwork and initiated a lot of phone calls regarding proposed work on our house.

Wednesday, after my radiation treatment, we went to High Mountain Diesel Service in Flagstaff to see if we could find out why we're getting an oil drip on our garage floor.  (The local auto repair guy in Williams didn't want to touch the issue.)  The assessment was the we needed to get our lower pan gasket replaced, then inject some dye into the oil to see if the dye shows up in an odd place. 

All this will take place after this weekend's trip to southern California for a Shelton Trustees meeting.   At 260,000 miles, I guess we shouldn't be surprised that something like this would occur.  We had dinner at Kicks on Route 66, again.  I had the Mongolian Beef stir-fry, again.  It was delicious, again.  Becky had her usual filet mignon.

Thursday was spent mostly getting ready for our weekend trip.  And I made a solo journey to Flagstaff for my radiation, of course.  Otherwise, is was an inconsequential day. 

Saturday, May 23,through Friday, May 29, 2015: It's Still Not Much Like Spring:

Saturday was cold and wet, which has become the norm this spring.  Fortunately, though, the rain did not start until a few minutes after the Memorial Day Parade in Williams was over. 

This town is so cute, with its occasional parades down the old Route 66 and its nightly (fake) cowboy shootouts in the middle of town.

Since it's Memorial Day Weekend, we mostly laid low, doing a little puttering with small projects, walking the dogs, and watching our favorite TV shows.  The redbox movie on Monday was Selma, which was better than I thought it would be.  The star, David Oyelowo, did a very good job, but I thought he sounded more like Jesse Jackson than Dr. King.

Tuesday was another cold and blustery day, but I was at least able to paint the seats on two chairs to match the piece they accompany.  The chairs came from Becky's dad's house; the piece came from Goodwill.

Tuesday night we had another House of Cards binge.  We've now finished last season and eagerly await the current one---which will be available to us non-Netflixers in July.  Wednesday was a day for errands in Flagstaff, the "highlight" of which was my first radiation session.  The session took a long time due to the need for last-minute adjustments, but the actual radiation was very brief and uneventful, although it was weird having my mask on for a half hour.

Thursday was a great day all around.  Lynn from Goodman Electric showed up to install a traclight in our bedroom.  It turned out to be a bigger job than I anticipated for a number of reasons, but Lynn was a champ and did a great job. 

On the way out, I had him take down our chandelier so I can add some chain (and of course rewire the whole thing at the same time) so we can hang the light over the center of the dining room table.

And I had my second radiation session in the early afternoon.  And we had Panda Express for dinner.  Always a big yum for that.

Friday involved another trip to Flagstaff for radiation, of course, but we joined that with a stop at Kohl's for some new sheets, and lunch at Chipotle. 

Back in Williams, we stopped at Colors Of The West to buy a metal sculpture we've been thinking about for some time.  The rest of the day was pretty ordinary, involving a little puttering.

Saturday, May 16, through Friday, May 22, 2015: Focusing On The PET Scan Results:

Saturday morning was clear and cold.  We had originally planned to be in Washington, D.C. on this day to join in the celebration of the graduation from George Washington University of our granddaughter Meghan.  She majored in Theatre and minored in Art History, and is graduating summa cum laude.  Well done, Meghan! 

We were going to make a week out of the celebration, to include a side trip to Maryland to visit out friends Linda and Scott Hamilton.  But all that changed due to my involvement with what seems like the entire medical profession of Flagstaff.  Life does not always allow us to follow our plans, but I have no complaint.  Today I assembled a storage cabinet for our garage, something in which I take a bit of pride. 

And we mapped out the installation of the trac lights in our bedroom.

We chose Sunday to go to Flagstaff to get Becky a new smart phone.  The Verizon store was remarkably empty when we got there and we got immediate attention from a fellow named Josh.  For the 45 minutes it took to complete the deal, we connected our personal computers to the Verizon store "hot spot" and updated a lot of things. 

That way we didn't have to use any of our usage allotment, which was already at 90% with four days to go in the current billing period.  (Becky hates to go over the allotment.  We could increase our allotment, of course, but that would be giving up the challenge.)

Before we left for home, we stopped for lunch at Oregano's, one of our favorite Flagstaff restaurants.  We always order the "small" Pablo Picasso Mexico Salad, which is more than enough for two and we had enough left over to take home for dinner.  It's really tasty.

I had bought a miter box and a vise at Home Depot on the way into Flagstaff, and, after we returned home, I used the miter box to help me make the necessary modification to my tiny work bench to be able to install the vise.  The rest of the day was just plain relaxation.

We had two doctors' appointments on Monday, first with Dr. David, followed by Dr. Mathern.   Dr. David immediately began explaining the PET scan results---which were terrific.

The scan showed NO cancer anywhere in my body.  No machine is perfect, though, and things can change, so Dr. David recommended radiation treatments on my neck (where the lymph nodes last revealed some evidence of cancer) and we agreed.  The treatments will probably start next week, and will be a five-day-a-week affair for six weeks.  Because it is necessary that my head not move during the treatments, I was fitted with a mask, formed to my own head, that will hold my head steady.  It's pretty amazing.

Dr. Mathern then went a little deeper into the subject and we discussed having interferon treatments, as well, to help ward off a recurrence of the cancer.  We decided to defer that decision until after the radiation treatments were finished.

Becky and I were thrilled with the scan results and celebrated for the next few hours.

Tuesday, Becky's birthday, was clear and bright, but still cold.  We puttered our way through the day.  Our destination for a celebration dinner was the Mountain Ranch Resort, ten miles east of our home.  We'd never been there before but had heard great things about it.  It's a very nice place, and suitably expensive.  The menu was interesting and varied, but we stuck with our favorite---Filet Mignon.  The food was outstanding in general and the filets were magnificent. 

Oddly, the wine was very nice (a Bonterre Cabernet Sauvignon) but its service was bizarre under the circumstances.  The bottle arrived already open and the server (Anjelica) simply plopped it down on the table and walked away.  Also, our courses were served out of order.  (The appetizer---stuffed kumquats---was served after the entrée.)  We will let the management know that a little training is in order.

Wednesday, we had our final checkup meeting with Dr. Boettcher.  He pronounced everything to be OK with my head surgery.  Yippee! 

At Becky's insistence, I had my first haircut in several weeks.  The barber was very careful around the hole in my head and did a good job.  I am no longer shaggy.

We also stopped at The Lite Company to get some parts to enable me to move our dining room chandelier a foot or so to better locate the table underneath, and we stopped at an optometrist and Becky ordered a new lens for one of her several pairs of glasses---to replace one that got scratched when the glasses fell off while she was chasing the dogs a few days ago.

Altogether, it was a successful day.

Thursday was Ramsey's day to get his teeth cleaned. 

Becky gave him a pill to start the process of calming him down.  It was only partially successful and the doctor had to do some magic to get Ramsey in the right condition.  But it all worked out and Ramsey now has shiny, clean teeth.  We took a large quilt (it's more than seven feet wide) that Donna made for us many years ago, and hung it in one of our bedrooms.  It's dazzling. 

Late in the day, the UPS man showed up with our six-bottle Spring selection from the Justin Winery in Paso Robles, California.  Other than that, it was a hum drum day.

Early Friday morning, the FedEx man showed up with a new dog bed for the living room.  Now the two almost match and we were able to toss the old one that was rather worn out.  During the day I changed some electric switches to dimmers and fixed a couple of chairs we took from Becky's dad's house.  A normal day. 

Saturday, May 9, through Friday, May 15, 2015: Another Week in Williams:

Saturday started with a slight blanket of snow on the ground.  It was pretty, but it was gone within an hour. 

On the first walk of the day with the dogs, Becky noticed a yard sale a couple of blocks away.  We dropped by to see if anything caught our eye.  We walked out with a set of TV trays, for no known reason.

We then attacked a project involving solar-driven walkway lights for our back yard.  We installed one set (of three lights) and decided to install the second set later, after we have seen what the first set looks like after dark.  We also rehabilitated a couple of older solar-driven walkway lights that had fallen into disuse.  That night, they all looked pretty good.  We're debating whether to return the second set of new lights.

Sunday was mostly a day of rest, and of celebrating Mothers' Day.  A few projects here and there got attention.  I had a long phone chat with my brother Sunday night.  I brought him up to speed on my melanoma issues.  Monday was clear and bright. We met with Dr. Peter Mathern late Monday afternoon. 

He’s now the primary melanoma doctor on the case.  The conclusion was that I need a PET scan to determine whether the cancer has spread anywhere else in my wonderful body besides the upper lymph nodes on the left side of my neck.  That should take place this week.  If there is no other spread, as is supposed, we will likely start an Interferon regimen for the next year to (it is hoped) prevent a recurrence of the cancer.  We may also do a bit of radiation therapy on my neck if Dr. Andrew David, the one who did my prostate cancer radiation in 2013, so advises.  The bottom line is that, for now, everything looks good and the prognosis is very positive.

We celebrated by picking up a typically yummy dinner at Panda Express.

Tuesday, I finished You're Only As Good As Your Next One.  It's an interesting description of the intricacies of both the business and creative sides of movie-making, from the perspective of the author (Mike Medavoy) who has spent four decades in Hollywood as an agent, producer, and executive.

I also started making contact with some contractors, since we have decided it's time to start a few minor upgrades around here.  And I erected some shelves in the garage to help with the clutter.  It's amazing how much stuff we still haven't dealt with.   

On Wednesday, the main projects were to meet with an electrician (Rick Rice of Goodman Electric) about adding some lighting to our master bedroom and to transfer some stuff from the garage to the RV barn.  We're making slow progress on getting the garage shaped up.

We also met with Troy Mortenson, the landscaper, to investigate why Becky has to add so much water to the waterfall every morning.  It seems the problem is that she is overfilling the waterfall and the excess is just running off into the surrounding area.  Oops!

We had planned to have ribs for dinner, but the cooking instructions looked too complicated so I was dispatched to the Pizza  Factory instead.  So tasty.  And no dishes to wash.

Thursday was a day of miscellaneous chores for me.  Becky attacked the rib project, and we had them for dinner.  They turned out to be excellent.  The redbox movie was Still Alice, which was good but a little creepy---perhaps a little too close to home for comfort.  (I have "senior moments" occasionally, of course, as does everyone else I know who is near or past my age.) 

It was very cold and quite windy all day Thursday and even windier Thursday night.  Our satellite reception was spotty overnight until about 7:00 AM, when normalcy returned.  But I was able to record only a part of Fox's Red Eye at midnight.  Bummer. 

We woke to another thin blanket of snow Friday morning.  The snowfall quickly turned to a drizzle.  We dropped off Ramsey and Kelsey at the Grand Canyon Railway kennel, and headed for Flagstaff.  We had four primary things to do:  Becky's haircut, my PET scan, lunch at Pato Thai, and picking up trac light parts for the bedroom project.  On the way to Flagstaff, the drizzle turned to real snow. 

At the Arizona Summit it was about a foot thick on the ground.  Flagstaff was dreary but very manageable.  We accomplished all of our tasks with alacrity, except that I didn't realize until we got home that the trac strip was the wrong color.

We'll get the PET scan results in a day or so.  It is supposed to tell us if there is cancer anywhere in my body besides what we already know about.  It will be interesting to see what the results say about the prostate cancer we dealt with in 2013.