FINALLY. SWEATER WEATHER.

 

OK TUESDAY. YOUR TURN.

 

OK, MONDAY. LET'S DO THIS.

 

SATURDAY

Hello, on a beautifully sunny Saturday, Dearies!  My JB is over on campus doing his "Welcome to Notre Dame thing"...ushering the football game, and I'm freshly showered and in clean clothes contemplating a big long list of things that I'm just going to ignore today.

I sincerely thank you for your lovely outpouring of Spinster love for my test. The truth? The worst part of it was going 24 hours without any damn good, and then the claustrophobic dread that had me in a flop sweat panic attack for a month and a half.

The test itself takes just about thirty seconds. You close your eyes, put your hands over your head, and zip in and out of a CT machine before you have time to wonder if you remembered to shave your legs that morning, or if you had officially entered Winter Legs mode instead. The techs were brilliantly kind, and took pity on me with reassuring pats when I burst into the ugly cry because I was just so damned terrified.

Silly, silly Spinster.

But...

It would appear that I am, indeed, my father's daughter, because exactly like every single other member of the Rich clan I have inherited the "Rich heart". Full of love, and usually reliable, but the absolute poster child for all things coronary-related that are going to involve having a cardiologist as a new member of your family.

The test that I had was called a Cardiac CT/agatston scoring test. Apparently, this test measures the amount and density of the calcium (and presumably other gunk) in your arteries. Normal/optimal levels would be a score of 0-400. For a woman almost 60, the ideal is anything within that range.

My number was 2648.1

If you're a frequent flyer here at Batshit Crazy Spinster Airlines, you know that we live in a world of talking dogs, hyperbole and exaggeration, and enough Starbucks cold brew to float a battleship. (See what I did there with the exaggeration?)

But that score of 2648.1 is real. And it's on a piece of paper that was sent from a radiologist to another radiologist to a head of radiology and then on to my family physician, who said..."Double your statin and start taking a baby aspirin immediately and we're going to get you scheduled for a treadmill stress test". 

According to Dr Google, I am just one big fat (yet impossibly cheery and well-meaning) heart attack waiting to happen, and if there are four major roads leading to Heartsville, three of mine are closed. There were a whole lot of other statistics in Dr Google's office, and I was viewing them with horror and big fat blubbery tears until JB told me to put the damn thing down and stop going to the worst case scenerio.

(This from a guy who's had two heart attacks, eats Big Macs three days a week, and just got a "for a 70-year old big guy (*) you're in pretty good shape" from HIS cardiologist.)

(Meanwhile...Yours Truly over here lives like a nun on an organic kale farm and gains forty pounds when she Door Dashes the TastyKakes that her Lovey has to have in his cookie jar for his after-dinner treat or he pouts worse than Stewey being told to take off his wiglet.)

But I regress...

Today I am trying not to think about any of this, and am staying positive and healthy by doing things that bring me peace, comfort, and joy. The shower was a good start, and I've just finished my breakfast/lunch of cottage cheese with melon and berries, and now I'm going to settle in for the Notre Dame vs Boise State game with some stitching and a nice cold brew.

Thank you for listening, Dearies. I apologize if all of this is just TMI, but I honestly feel so much better now that I've shared it with you and have put it in a better perspective. I'm going to continue to do my thing and will try to be more mindful of making good choices in terms of all things health, and will remember that there are a TON of things going right inside this pudgepot exterior...Belly Bean is doing his thing with numbers better than ever, and Mr Liver looks like his little department is improving, too.

So. I hope that you will enjoy your weekend with impunity and do whatever it is that makes YOUR heart sing. Be well, please, because I just flat-out cherish you in ways you cannot imagine! Do something fun, eat something spectacular, and stitch something wonderful and come tell me all about it!

(*) Rich will turn 70 on the 19th of this month.
 

OH....DEAR.

Dearies...I thank you for all the love yesterday! I let it wash over me again and again, and I just floated around all day long on a cloud of happiness and gratitude.

JB and I took a little drive over to the Grotto on campus, and as I said my prayers, you all were included in the huge basket of things that I thanked God for delivering. Then, as we sat on a bench and enjoyed the peacefulness, I looked at my favorite tree and thought about the fact that my dear dad probably loved this same tree when he visited the Grotto over 70 years ago during his student days here. He always reminded me that this place is my anchor point in life, and that whenever possible I should come here when I'm happy, sad, frustrated, scared, or just need a minute to re-center myself.

Now for the bad news.

I have a cardiac CT tomorrow morning, so I am not allowed to have any damn good today. No damn good! For an entire 24 hours!

I'm really trying not to think about it, but if you've known me for any little bit of time, then you are aware that damn good and damn good culture plays a huge part of my everyday existence! Huge! I look forward to my first sip, my second cup, my cold brew, my "just a little boost to get the laundry done" or my "it's only 6 o'clock" shot that gives me strength to finish my book.

But I'm nothing if not compliant, so I will be doing everything I can to distract myself today.

But...

This too shall pass, and before I know it I'll be on my way home from the hospital hitting up the Starbucks drive-through for a Trenta cold brew with two pumps of sugar free syrup, a splash of creamer, and salted caramel cold foam....which I now understand comes in a protein option!

Now if you'll excuse me, there's laundry to be folded, books to be tidied, showers to be taken, and dinner to prepare. I am determined to stitch a bit tonight, but methinks "First I drink the coffee...then I do the things" might have to stay in her project bag for a bit. Maybe "Hoity Toity" instead? We'll see...stay tuned.

 

 

HAPPY FOUR YEAR KIDNEYVERSARY, BELLY BEAN

Four years  ago, a man I never met gave me the gift of a new life. I don't know his name, or his age, or his hometown, or his favorite color, or whether or not he was a husband, a brother, a father, or an uncle...but I know that he was loved, and I know that he was extraordinary.

In my heart I've named him Angel, and his is the first name I mention when I ask God to watch over those that have gone before me, and his gift is one of hundreds that I hope to be worthy of by living a good and grateful life.

Thank you, Dearies, for all of your love and support and prayers and encouragement and good wishes, and for a constant reminder that this life of mine is very blessed, indeed.

And thank you, Angel, for giving me a chance to live it to its very fullest.

 

IT'S A GOOD THING I CAN'T FIND STEWEY'S OLD CHECKBOOK

This estate is currently for sale. It's an historic home in LIGONIER, INDIANA....the birthplace of the late Mr Stewey Angus Willowswamp and his little cousin, the late Mr Bosco Oliver Willowswamp. Despite their more humble lodgings at birth, I suspect both boys would be proud to own such an impressive piece of local renown.

(I can only imagine the arguments over the exterior paint color, as well as the insistence (on Bosco's part) to convert the sunporch into a bouncy castle.)

Time for a Sunday nap, a big a$$ cold brew and The Count of Monte Christo.

Cheers!

I'm sorry for my absence lately, Dearies, but the level of out of whack-ness here at CS2 has reached levels heretofore not seen before. I'm fine and JB is fine...we are both happy, healthy, and managing not to get ourselves into too much mischief...but Yours Truly is just schlumping around like a schlumpadink on schlumpy steroids.

I can't seem to get out of my own way.

I'm reading and cooking and cleaning and journaling and doing the things that need doing, but I haven't picked up my needle in weeks, it seems, nor have I played with any diamond painting or coloring...or anything, really.

So if you'll bear with me for a minute, I'll get my act together and will come back with a big cup of fresh damn good and more tales to tell.

In the meantime, what's new with you?

IN WHICH WE ARE DEFINITELY HAVING A MONDAY

Happy Birthday to my puppytot nephew, dear Baby Bosco! He would have been 20 years old today. I miss him like crazy! 🥺

 

OH....REDFORD.

 

 

 

 

THERAPY

I hope these images bring you as much peace and happiness as they do for Yours Truly. (The middle photographs are of Oxford....where I am a doctoral candidate in English Literature in my pre-sleep fantasies every night.)

(No need to explain what kind of fantasies the beefcake photos are for...this is, after all, a family show.)

God bless and keep every single one of you and all the people on the planet. I hope wherever you are today brings you joy...both loud or quiet. If you need me...I'll be right here.

Happy Weekend! Go Irish!

 

HAVE I ALWAYS BEEN THIS DRAMATIC?

LIGHTS!

CAMERA!

ACTION!

WOOOOHOOOO!

 

 

TAKE YOUR SPINSTER TO WORK DAY

"One Adam Twelve...we've got a nerd in the building"

Rich is ushering the volleyball at Notre Dame tonight, so I tagged along for my monthly outing (i.e. I'm out of pajamas and the apartment whether I want to be or not.)

Of course....I had to bring my book. Do you think I'm taking this whole "pretending to be a student" thing too far?

(I had stitching in the bag too, but chickened out at the last minute,)

Cheers, Dearies!  Go Irish! ☘️

BEST THURSDAY AFTERNOON MOVIE DATE. EVER.

A few weeks ago I saw an ad for tickets at Cinemark for Hamilton tickets and thought "This would be kinda cool to see".

Holey Schmoley! Rich and I both enjoyed this immensely.If you were fortunate enough to see this live on stage...I can only imagine how wonderful it was! We saw a recording of one of the first live performances in New York with the original Broadway cast, and it was fantastic!

Dinner has been finished, the kitchen has been cleaned and tidied, and now we're going to settle in for a little football.

E A G L E S!

Ciao, Dearies! I hope you have a delightful evening!

OK...SO...I'M A NERD

 

I totally geeked out this morning, Dearies! Today was my first day of Spinster School, and I started it with a new Bed Coffee set up. I really wish I could adequately tell you how stupidly, ridiculously happy this little tray makes me. I mean...the level of my total excitement over this is positively absolutely just not normal, and you know what?

I'm just too happy to worry about it. 🤗

I started with my Morning Pages, which is just a fancy way I saying I wrote in my journal. Then, I spent a fair amount of time studying my three little subjects...History of Philosophy (*), Shakespeare (The Tempest), and Art History.

(*) I do have the heavy-duty Coppleston from my college days, but I decided to start with a lovely little book by Ralph McInerny. Prof McInerny taught at Notre Dame and authored several academic books, as well as created the Father Dowling mystery series.

I've had my breakfast, took a shower, organized my planner for the week, and have sausage, peppers, and onions ready to go in the oven for dinner.

Whew!

Now it's time to settle in with a nice tall cold brew damn good and do a little stitching:

Not a whole lot of progress last night due to the football game. My Irish, alas, lost to Miami 27-24. (Insert a lot of naughty swear words here.) As I was telling Robin from Virginia, when I was at ND, we had such a huge rivalry with Miami, so this loss really skinned my heiney. 🤬 

But it's just a game, I know, and there will be plenty more to come.

Happy Monday/Labor Day! I hope your corner of the world is wonderful! Come tell me all about it!

GOOOOOOOOO, IRISH! ☘️

A NIGHT AT THE THEE AY TER

Wow. King Lear did NOT disappoint! JB and I went to one of the last performances of it in the Shakespeare Festival...the 25th annual...that has been on campus at Notre Dame for the last ten days. It was fantastic, but can I tell you a secret?

I would have been completely lost without my pre-month of studying. 🙄

This was, believe it or not, my first live performance of a Shakespeare play, and I was THRILLED to be able to follow along and understand what was going on and recognize the characters and understand some of the nuances and such. My JB went into it cold...not having read or seen Lear before, and he said he was able to enjoy it as well, but let's face it....his brain is a lot bigger than this little thing in my head that keeps me from walking into traffic or pushing when I should pull.

(But only occasionally).

So a night out followed by a good long sleep and now another beautiful day. It's cool enough for a Snoopy sweatshirt, but sunny and perfectly swell out there in Hoosierville, so I think I'll take advantage of it and enjoy a few stitches before making stuffed peppers for dinner.

Happy Friday, Dearies! If you're here in the US and heading into the Labor Day holiday, what's cookin?