Life on the High Plains

Last week my brother had a post about FOOD on his blog.  Isn't it amazing how life revolves around food? Irv and I love to eat and we probably eat out way more often than we should...but it's so much easier now that it's just the two of us.  Lately, we have been getting better at eating at home more often though. Saturday we tried a new Mexican place--thanks to Jillian and Brian.  Jillian mentioned that they had been wanting to try a new Mexican restaurant in town, Carlos Miguels.  Well, Irv and I decided to give it a try (sorry we didn't call and invite you guys, Jillian and Brian). You can always tell how good a Mexican place is going to be by the quality of their salsa.  This salsa was quite good and the margarita wasn't too bad either. Then the entrees arrived. Irv had the chicken chimichanga. I had the Enchiladas Rancheras with cheese enchiladas.  One thing you may not know about me is that I LOVE cheese enchiladas.  N...

What do you blog about when you have nothing to blog about?  My daughters, Dana and Jillian, have their own blogs, but they rarely update them.  The other day I asked Jillian why she never updated her blog.  She said her life was too boring and there was nothing to blog about. I tried to explain that a blog entry doesn't have to be exciting, it can just be about every day life. For example, what did you have for dinner this week? Sunday night I made my first ever prime rib roast.  Google provided lots of ideas for how to prepare it. I started with a rub made of kosher salt, course black pepper, lemon pepper, and garlic.  To cook it evenly, it had to sit at room temperature for a couple hours before going into the oven. I placed it in a heavy weight baking pan, fat side up and baked it for 20 minutes at 450 degrees followed by 1 1/2 hours at 325 degrees (for medium rare). It sure looked pretty. I served it up with a baked potato, asparagus, and a gl...

Irv was home from work one day this week and noticed some commotion in the pasture. Apparently, this flock of birds of prey was enjoying a prairie dog lunch. Irv walked out to take a closer look, but only this guy hung around. Then he took off.  Not because he was afraid of Irv.... ...he knew there was an even bigger and more majestic guy who wanted to share the meal. Can you believe it?  A bald eagle right out in our pasture! It's kind of hard to see, but after he flew away he perched on a fence post on the other end of the pasture. I sure wish I had been home to see this.  I hope he'll come back and enjoy a few more prairie dogs!

from HGTV.com Tomorrow is the final day to register for the HGTV Dream Home giveaway. I'm pretty sure I'm going to win so I'll be packing up and moving to Park City next week.  I'm sure there's room for a barn there somewhere. I love Colorado, but I'm pretty sure I can learn to love Park City too.  We've vacationed there a few times and it's beautiful. Wish me luck!

For Christmas Brian and Jillian got me tickets to the Four Continents Figure Skating Championship.  Last night Jillian and I had a girl's night out and went to dinner then the World Arena to watch the Ladies Free Skate. We had really great seats with an up close and personal view of the skaters. Even though we had close seats, my pictures didn't turn out very good.  I could kick myself for not bringing my zoom lens. The ladies were from Thailand, the Philippines, Korea, China, Chinese-Taipei, Australia, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Japan, Canada, and the United States. Apparently the Europeans and Russians aren't invited. This is Ashley Wagner, the American who ended up winning.  What a beautiful young woman and a very talented skater. Mao Asada from Japan was there, she was the skater I was the most familliar with.  She just floats over the ice and her jumps look effortless. She came in second place. Next time, I nee...

My boss just gave me these two club-level tickets to the Colorado Avalanche vs. Carolina Hurricanes game in Denver tonight. Woohoo! My first ever professional hockey game!

Yesterday I got my new coils installed.  It was a much more pleasant experience than Friday.  Probably because I came prepared.  iPod iPad iPhone The three necessities for a long stay in a hospital bed.  Plus, the procedure was quick and pain-free.  This time I didn't make the mistake of telling the anesthesiologist to give me as little as possible so I could stay awake to watch.  Give me as much as you can! Plus I already knew everybody in the OR, so it wasn't quite as uncomfortable (NOT).  And they didn't make me feel like the spectacle with the really odd veins.  No extra bystanders and everyone remembered to pay attention to the patient. Anyway, everybody at the hospital was REALLY great.  They even gave us videos of the two procedures.  I thought twice about sharing them on the blog, put what the heck...everyone has veins. Here's the before shot.  It didn't look like much to me either, but it's my iliac vein a...

Tomorrow is Mary's 32nd birthday.  Wow!  How did that happen...where have all the years gone? Thirty-two years ago we were living in Graham, Washington outside of Ft. Lewis.  My mom arrived on February 2nd.  She was going to help me with Dana and the new baby.  On the evening of February 6th I made meatloaf for dinner.  (I felt like everyone was just waiting for me to pop.)  After dinner I felt like something might be happening, but I thought it could wait until morning.  Around 11 p.m. that night I told Irv that maybe we ought to go to the hospital. A little over 4 hours later Mary made her entrance into the world.  She was the only one of my three daughters that was delivered with an epidural...no pain.  She was a big baby--9 lbs. 10 oz., but she was also an easy baby to take care of.  She joined her big sister, Dana, and our little family grew by one.  My dad flew up after she was born to help celebrate her birth...

Whoops...I messed up.  Diesel's birthday isn't until Feb. 8th.  What kind of a dog grandma doesn't know her granddog's birthday?   Sorry Diesel. My granddog, Diesel, celebrates his 1st birthday today. Earlier this week he had a party at this daycare complete with goodie bags and cake. They also took this picture of him. Kind of ridiculous, I know. I love this dog and he loves me back--I'm his third favorite person after his mom and dad.  I hope you get to go for a long walk or to the dog park to celebrate your birthday, Diesel!

Today was a very interesting day. I had to be at the hospital at 8:30 for my vein embolization.  We had a winter storm move in last night and the forecast was for 1-3 inches of snow. No big deal, but the forecast wasn't quite right. It took me forever to get home last night.  There was already several inches of snow on the ground, the wind was blowing, and cars were stuck everywhere on the road.  My little Rogue and I just plowed through it all and we finally made it home even though there were times I couldn't see anything. Then I started worrying.  How are we going to make it to the hospital tomorrow?  Maybe they will call and cancel.  No such luck. We left about 7:30 and even though the road was a sheet of ice, we made it on time.  Others weren't as lucky.  I was very impressed with the fire department because they were driving from one car to another that had slid off the road to make sure nobody was trapped inside.  Way to go...

a diagnosis! Pelvic Congestion Syndrome Interventional Radiology Ovarian Vein Embolization Three terms I never heard until a couple weeks ago. Yesterday I met with Dr.. Z, he's a good friend of Dr. M. (my most favorite doctor).  Dr. Z reviewed my CT scan and thinks it's highly probably that I have Pelvic Congestion Syndrome.  A condition that is most common in women who have had three or more kids. The veins in my pelvis are about twice the size that they should be.  Apparently, I have leaky valves that are causing the blood to flood backwards and pool.  That's what is causing this horrendous pain. So how do they treat it? Friday morning I'm going to the hospital and they're going to do a test with some contrasting dye to confirm that my blood is flowing backwards. Once that diagnosis is confirmed they're going to use a catheter to insert a coil into the affected vein to block the blood from flowing through it.  See the coil in the right side...