Scenes From a Baseball Weekend Trip

We had a truly great time this past weekend, when we travelled to Baltimore to go to the Orioles vs. Phillies baseball game. My Liz (aka LaLiz) and her husband Greg and their son Zach moved into a new house - their first home as owners! - this past December and it was also a chance to see the house, and also meet the two kitties they adopted last year.

We didn't actually get to see Zach, since he was in Ocean City, Maryland, with a bunch of his friends. They all graduated from high school last week, so they were celebrating Beach Week, which is apparently a thing.

But it was great to visit with Liz and Greg. We see them when the family gets together, but seldom get to see them "all to ourselves," so to speak. And they are major sports fans - particularly Greg, who lives and dies for his teams.

Look at their adorable house!

It has a wonderful front porch that is great in the morning, and then in the back there is a deck that gets shade in the afternoon into the evening. Perfect. The whole house is lovely, they are so excited with it and enjoying it so much.

You can see they are Orioles fans as soon as you get to the front door. 😀 We met the kitties, Twisti (a tuxedo - The Tim kept thinking his name was Shifty 🤷), and Chanel, a calico. We finally got them to trust us enough to sniff our hands, but I was never able to get a picture.

Saturday afternoon we made our way to Camden Yards, where the Orioles play. It was the first of the "New/Old-fashioned" baseball stadiums, but it was our first being being there.

Remember Boog Powell?? When I was a kid, I just absolutely LOVED that there was a baseball player whose name was something like BOOG! Greg said that every once in a while he'll show up at the games here, and loves talking to fans and signing autographs. He wasn't there on Saturday, but I got a charge out of seeing his BBQ place.

Our seats were great - we had a good view of everything on the field, and we were in the shade the whole time. Also, more than half of the people in the stands were Phillies fans - much to Greg's dismay! - and so it was really fun during the game. Sadly, the Phils lost, but it was a good game, and  we truly had a blast. Greg was SO excited that the Orioles won, and enjoyed talking trash to us for the rest of the visit. 😂

We spent the rest of the evening sitting on the deck, eating and drinking and just enjoying the visit. We lucked out big time, because the weather was lovely - hot days but cool evenings, and no humidity. We were all relieved, since this coming week is supposed to be so miserable - we'd all been afraid it was going to start over the weekend, and none of us are heat lovers.

Yesterday morning we made our way home early, so they could enjoy the last day of their weekend. We were lucky with no traffic either way, and we got home in plenty of time to watch the Phillies lose to the Orioles again - WHAT?? But on the other hand, Greg got a nice Father's Day gift, right??

We had so much fun. Liz and Greg are hilarious, even when they don't mean to be, and they are marvelous hosts. They were extremely annoyed with Zach that he wasn't coming home early to see us, but seriously, what 18-year old boy wants to come home early from Beach Week to see their great-aunt and great-uncle? We told them to tell Zach that we'd just come and visit him for a LONG weekend once he's in college, since he'd probably like that even more, LOL.

Baseball tickets are not cheap, but with the weekend we had, it was worth every single penny.

Now we're just working on surviving the heat wave ... 

Animal of the Day

 California Quail

Every once in a while, I like to look at "____ of the Day" things. Today was one of those days, and I found this photo of the Animal of the Day, the California Quail. 

Look on the top of the head - is that not perfect? I love it when birds have something going on at the top of their heads, for some reason it just pleases me. And I always enjoy learning about and seeing photos of animals I will likely never come across in my daily life.

If you are so inclined, you can learn more - and look at other Animals of the Day - at this site. 

I hope you have a good day, and manage to put a little bit of your own  flair into it, even if you can't pull off a "hairstlye" like this!

I Think This Will Work. I HOPE This Will Work.

You may or may not remember that not that long ago, the doctor that I had been seeing for about 10 years decided to become part of MDVIP.

I did some research based on the information she gave to me, and there was no way I could afford it. And to be honest, it bothers me on principle. I get it from her standpoint, because it supposedly gives doctors more control over their patient loads, and their time, along with being able to know their patients better, and lots of other stuff. My doctor has a young child, so I could appreciate that she wanted to feel more in control of her life and her schedule. 

And there are plenty of things that are pluses for the patient too, but it's yet another example of people who can afford things having access to better care than most people in the country. I don't blame those who can afford it for signing up, but like I said, even if I could afford it, I would not be likely to enroll, because that kind of thing just goes against what I think it should be.

But that is another topic altogether. For this post, I wanted to talk about how hard it is to find another doctor that you feel in sync with after so many years. Sadly in this area, a lot of doctors, nurse practitioners, etc. have had to stop taking new patients because they are already overloaded. So that's the first thing. 

Also in this area, because there are so many teaching hospitals, there are tons of residents who are building their skills and experience. Which is actually a plus, because you can feel that you are not just helping them learn, but they are generally very thorough because they are learning and don't want to miss anything. The only problem there is that in 2-3 years, they move on and you are starting over again.

So when my doctor left for MDVIP, I first thought I would just "sign up" with another one in that practice who was taking new patients. The problem was, that doctor and I did not click at all. He was an old-school type, and not interested in answering questions, because the only important thing to know was that he was in charge.

I finally found another doctor somewhere else. She is/was lovely. Very personable, willing to discuss things and answer questions, and spent time explaining things to me. But except for my annual checkups, I never go to see her; instead, it was always a different nurse practitioner, some wonderful, some not so much, but it seemed that there was no real continuity. And when you have my medical background, continuity means you can save at least 20 minutes each time you meet a new healthcare provider because you don't have to do the Litany of Medical Issues.

So a kind of perfect storm of things happened recently. You may recall that I had a respiratory infection, and the particular nurse practitioner that I saw the day they had me go to the office was less than helpful, and seemed to think that I was just looking for drugs.  About a week prior to that happening, I got an e-mail from my original doctor's practice saying that four new nurse practitioners had joined the practice and were accepting new patients. 

Now, excepting the old-school guy in the practice (who I think has since retired), anytime I had to see someone else there (which was infrequent), they were clearly of the same overall philosophy and vibe as my doctor. And I have no problem seeing a nurse practitioner, if there can be continuity - meaning no repetition of the Litany each visit. So I made an appointment to "sign up" with one of the new people, and had an appointment scheduled for yesterday. I was a bit nervous as to how things would go.

Well. It was such a good experience! The nurse practitioner who is now my "doctor of record" was just wonderful. She was so kind, so personable, and extremely proactive and ready to discuss things. I was thinking on my way home that I had the same initial feeling after my first visit with her as I had years ago after my first visit with my original doctor. 

So, I'm feeling that I may be in a pretty good place again. I hope so. 

Now, if I could just get The Tim to sign up with someone there. His doctor he had seen for three years was one of the residents who has since moved on. He was "assigned" to another resident who was already booked for 1 1/2 years as far as appointments were concerned. So he didn't make an appointment, and now has not been to the doctor for going on three years. This concerns me. He is overall very healthy, but he's not getting younger, and he had a couple of issues before that need to be watched. Every time I bring it up, he says, "I'm OK don't worry about it." And I know if I bug him too much, he'll dig in and it will be worse. I considered making an appointment for him, but he would likely cancel it. So I have to think on that some more.

Hopefully before too long, both of us will be set. But in the meantime, I'm kind of relieved, feeling that I might have that part of my medical care resolved.

++++

We have no real plans for the weekend. Sunday is the Odunde Festival, so it's not worth trying to leave the neighborhood and then try to get back into it later. I'm guessing that a lot will depend on the weather. If it's a decent day on Saturday, I'm planning to try and fit in a nice long walk. Regardless, I have plenty to keep me busy at home, so it's not a problem. The Phillies are playing the Mets in London, so I'll probably watch those games to see what happens (Go Phils!). 

I hope your weekend is a good one, I'll see you next week.

Personal Space On a Hot Day

Yesterday it was pretty warm and humid around here - much more than you would expect this early in June. At least before global warming.

I do love to cuddle with our cats all year long. But in the summer, with our basically non-working air-conditioning, it can be uncomfortable. Of course, that's apparently because I am a human. It doesn't seem to bother them at all.

Almost every day, there is some combination of cats close together on the couch or the bed. Sometimes, they will even be under the bedspread on the bed in a sun spot. You lift up the bedspread to make sure they are still alive, and they look at you as if to say, "What? I'm trying to sleep here."

Fortunately so far, most days have been comfortable with the windows open and a fan going, so everyone has been doing OK. But their desire for the most heat possible all of the time is one of the four million things I will never understand about cats. 

Somewhere, a cat is writing the same kind of post about people.😉

Clarification and Pretty Yarn

Hello all - I hope you had a good weekend. Mine was productive - well, at least for me lately. 

Today was bill-paying day. Which is fine, I know that if you are alive on the planet, even if you are not someone who buys a lot of stuff, you still have at least a couple of bills to pay. And I don't mind it if I am organized, but today was not one of those days and it took a lot longer than usual. Plus, I had a really big medical bill to pay, and I thought at first that it must be a mistake - surely they had not yet submitted it to my insurance/Medicare. But then I checked online and they had submitted it, and the amount was what I owed AFTER that! Yikes. And after spending a stupid amount of time on the phone with my prescription insurance over another ridiculous amount, I was wondering if I could just go live in a hut somewhere. It would have to have indoor plumbing though, so the whole cycle is just a circle in the end. 😉

Anyhoo, I wanted to make a clarification before I go any further, related to my time at the yarn store. A dear friend pointed out to me that I may have led some people to think it is/was a terrible place with awful people in charge. I reviewed what I wrote and realized it did kind of sound like that. 

I'm here to say that it is an absolutely fabulous place, with more nice, fun, and cool yarn that you could imagine being fit into such a small physical footprint. One of the best things about working there was that you would walk in, see all the colors, and just feel better - even if you had felt OK before! The owners/managers have kept it going like that for nearly 20 years,  and I've known them for that long. You can probably imagine, with so many yarn stores closing, that it's no easy thing to not just stay in business, but make it a place where people want to keep coming back. 

Did I like/get along with/make friends with everyone else that worked there? Nope, but that's never been the case in any job I had. Some of them I will miss terribly. Others I have kinda sorta already forgotten about ... 

So please do not think it's a terrible yarn store with terrible people. Far from it. Some of the issues are the kinds of things that happen everywhere, even when the staff is small - heck, maybe you notice it more when there are fewer people working with you.  But for the record, I have every intention of shopping there when I decide I absolutely positively must have yarn* for one thing or another. (Yes, if you are wondering, I will miss the employee discount!) So you should as well, either in person or online. 

And if anyone had their feelings hurt, I do apologize. It was not my intention.

Onward.

+++

Speaking of pretty yarn, every time I work on my Anker's Summer Shirt, I think the colors in the yarn I'm using are so very pretty:

I don't care how you slice it, that's just pretty yarn! (And you shouldn't slice yarn, to be clear.) I bought this last summer at an end of season sale at Loop. It's Noro Kakigori, which is cotton, silk, rayon, and nylon. (I will regale you with the colorway next time, as currently there is a cat on my lap, and we all know you can't move until the cat does.)

With such pretty yarn, and the fact that I made this pattern a couple of years ago, I'm enjoying it more this time around. Still not a huge fan of 1 x 1 rib, but now I "get" the way the pattern works much better than I did in my first attempt, meaning there is a whole lot less ripping back and re-doing things. Which is nice when you have 200+ stitches. My progress this time around is much better. In fact I may finish while there is still some warm weather. Not that I currently have anywhere to go and wear it, other than to Dr appts and at least for the first wearing, that would be a waste. 

I worked on this project yesterday for about an hour, and about every 5 rounds, I'd say out loud "This is looking so pretty!" Since I was home by myself, and the cats were all elsewhere, no one disagreed with me, which is always nice. 

That's it for now. Now that I have sent all of our money to other people, I think I'll read for a while and try to figure out what to have for dinner tonight. I have a sneaking suspicion that it may be pasta, because when I don't have something already in mind, 9 times of our 10, pasta is the answer. 

Enjoy the rest of your day, and I hope that whatever you fix/eat for dinner is something you enjoy. 😊

*No, in reality I do not actually need any yarn. I'm sure you understand what I mean there ...