New C-Pap

In 2004 I went to the Camden County Women's Conference in Voorhees, NJ, a free all day event with workshops on health, well being, and family life. It is a marvelous event consisting of a keynote speaker and a large variety of workshops to choose from. Over the years I have taken free workshops in meditation, various exercises (yoga, Zumba, jazzercise,) Reiki, self defense, menopause, back pain management, financial planning, networking, and feng shui. Every year I go to this conference and every year I take at least one workshop that has a profound effect on my life. The one in 2004 was no different. I took a workshop on sleep apnea, it's effects and treatment.

I came home with the knowledge that Bob needed to see the doctor. He had always been a snorer, and sometimes I heard him stop breathing for seemingly long periods of time before gasping and taking a loud breath. In the workshop I learned that untreated sleep apnea could cause:

High blood pressure

Stroke

Heart failure, irregular heart beats, and heart attacks

Diabetes

Depression

Worsening of ADHD 

Headaches

We had only been married for three years, and I wanted us to be healthy together for a long time. So Bob dutifully went to the doctor, had a sleep study, and was ultimately diagnosed with sleep apnea. He has had his C-Pap machine for over ten years now. I have heard so many people say they would never get a C-Pap  saying that they couldn't sleep with a mask, they wouldnt like the sound of it, that their spouse wouldn't like the sound of it, etc. All I can say is that Bob sleeps well now, I am not bothered anymore with his snoring and don't hear his machine. It's all good. Except trying to get a new, updated C-Pap has been a real aggravation!

Last August Bob's doctor wrote a new script for a new machine and we picked it up today.  This after months of trying to get all of his records together and thanks to a managing company that apparently has hired a number of individuals who don't really want to do their jobs. The process has been made much more difficult by the fact that we are in a different state each month! But today we drove into Chandler, AZ to get the new C-Pap--yay! It is so much smaller that Bob's old one and automatically relays a report daily to some computer on how it is working. It can even be adjusted remotely by a respiratory therapist if needed. So cool.

Just Another Day in Paradise

Temps today in the low 80's, it was a gorgeous day for a bike ride. So Bob and I took Auggie in the bike basket and rode all over the campground. The golfers were out having fun, and the golf course looked especially nice today.

Later I took a ride to Walmart for some spices for the ribs Bob smoked in our Cameron smoker. Oh, they were good eating.

It looks like we may be going to Disneyland in April after all, to meet up with Kristen, Jason, and the boys. Stay tuned!

Flying High

Today we have a guest blogger, my husband Bob.

Hello folks.  This morning I took a bike ride to the far end of the RV park to check out the remote controlled airplane flying area.  It's an area about the size of a football field and away from the other populated sections of the park for safety reasons.  There were about a dozen guys with their planes set up on the workbenches next to the field but only three or four were actually flying while I was there.

The guys I talked to gave me a lot of information about RC(remote control) planes and their backgrounds.  One man just started flying last year when he was visiting the park and got interested.

Another guy started flying these about thirty years ago in California but stopped when he went on the road full time in 2005.  He got back into it three years ago when he stayed here for the first time.

The last guy I talked with was the only licensed pilot of the group that actually flew real planes.  He still flies occasionally but said it isn't the same as when he was younger.  Back in the old days he was a stunt pilot for a flying circus.  He said "There's nothing like flying fifty feet off the deck, upside down, at 150 MPH!"  The little plane he had today would barely go 15 MPH and maybe get 50 feet off the ground.

It looks like a lot of fun but they all said it can get to be an expensive hobby when you crash on a regular basis and you will probably do that quite a bit when you first start out.

I had a nice time hanging out with these guys and to add to the experience there were a couple of full sized, real planes crop dusting the field right next to us only a hundred yards away!

It was a great day and another one of the new experiences I can add to the growing list of fun things I have seen on our journey!

Super Bowl Sunday

Oh the sun was lovely today! I do hate to complain about recent weather when much of the country had been dealing with snow, but we have had rain for days and today was lovely. And it's Goundhog Day as well as MidWinter Day, as winter is officially half over. Tra loo, tra lay!!

Did you watch the Super Bowl yesterday? People who know me know that I am not a football fan and have no interest in the hype that surrounds Super Bowl Sunday. But I grew up in Massachusetts, so I couldn't help being just a little interested in seeing the Patriots play. So I sat in front of the TV reading my book, glancing up when someone in the campground leaned on their airhorn (which sounded after each touchdown.) I also watched some commercials and tried to watch the halftime show. Seeing Katie Perry dance with a singing shark was just too stupid, though,smo I didn't watch the whole thing. What was the girl thinking???

Our internet troubles over the weekend were apparently caused by a loose connection. Bob tightened the cable and fixed it without a service call.

We took a nice bike ride around the campground this afternoon to the dog park with Auggie. But most of my day was spent with my Diana Gabaldon book. It was a nice day.

House Tour Friday

Friday evening we lost our internet for some reason, and despite a call to Dish yesterday morning it has been out until just a few minutes ago (Sunday morning.) Here's hoping the signal lasts long enough to post this!

On Friday Bob and I went on a house tour of 11 homes for sale here in the park. Prices ranged from $29,000 to $125,000, with cost going up for location (like being on the golf course,) type of home (park model vs villa vs village home) or improvements (adding one or more room, pavers, etc.) Bob drove one of the multi-person golf carts for our group of about 10 people, doing very well with it.  One of the other drivers took a corner took sharply and almost brought down a wall, but no real harm was done except I am sure to his ego!

We did not see anything that made us take out our checkbook.  Having just started seeing the country, we want to stay moving and not tie ourselves down to one place.  I spoke to one woman who had done just that--they got their 5th wheel trailer and immediately bought a lot in Casa Grande so they could drive from Canada to AZ and have their own spot. Her husband likes the regularity of knowing where they will be, but she wishes they could tour the US a bit and see it.

For those interested, the annual costs of living here (you own the house but not the land under it) include an annual rent for the lot of over $5000 and real estate taxes of $1/square foot. The park pays for water and cable but you pay electric and internet. But you can sell it, deed it, and make improvements so it does have some value.  I don't think I want that at this time, but it's good to know about.

I have finished Diana Gabaldon's second Outlander book (Dragonfly in Amber) and hopefully will start Voyager today. If the weather clears up, though, we may actually stick our heads outside!

New Grand Nephew on a Rainy Day

We had a light rain all day here in Casa Grande, AZ. But I spent the day in Scotland with Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser. Have you watched Outlander yet? I read the books almost 20 years ago, but recently watched all eight episodes of season one on TV, based on Diana Gabaldon's book. I found the show to be very well done. The problem is, I wanted more! So I reread the first book in the series. And that's what I did all day.

Before the rain started this morning, Bob finished polyurethaning the two cherry stick shuttles he made for me. Aren't they beautiful?

I am so fortunate to have a handy husband who will make me things! My 28" Ashford Knitters Loom came with one long shuttle, which will not be enough if I weave with more than one color and weave full-width on the loom. Also, since I like to use stick shuttles as pattern sticks for textures and patterns, I will need long shuttles for that as well.

My grandson, Alex, called me today. Unfortunately it was by mistake, when he was showing his mom that he knew how to use the phone. I told him he could call me whenever he wants.  He did play his new recorder for me, doing a fine job with "Mary Had a Little Lamb." The school issued each student in his class one for the school year. Alex told me if he learns five songs he gets to keep the recorder for his very own. I have a feeling he'll get to keep it.

I found out today that I have a new grand-nephew, Oliver. Oliver is boy number three for his parents Lori and Brian. We wish them congratulations, love and joy!

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

I've been looking forward to this trip for a couple of weeks now. Bob and I took a 2 1/4 hour drive down to Why, AZ to the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in the Sonoran Desert.  It's rather a special place because it is the only place in the United States where Organ Pipe Cacti grow naturally.  Here's a picture of one.

As you can see, they get pretty large, growing in clusters of narrow stems that can reach 16' high and 12' across, and take 150 years to reach maturity. They are pollinated by bats.

It was a beautiful drive down to the National Monument, with mountains and plenty of Saguaro Cacti.

Once at the visitors center, I asked the rangers what is the difference between a National Monument and a National Park.  Do you know? A President can declare an area a National Monument, but it takes much lobbying and an Act of Congress to make a National Park. President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared this land a National Monument on April 13, 1937.

We decided to purchase an Annual National Park Pass today so that we can visit as many federal parks as we come across.  It is good for entrance fees at national parks and monuments, national wildlife refuges, national forests and grasslands, and BLM land (Bureau of Land Management) as well as Bureau of Reclamation land. I think we can get our money's worth out of it.

We took a walk on a hiking trail around the Monument's campground, which was wild enough for Auggie.  He didn't really seem to appreciate the desert setting, with cacti all around and hot sand. But it was sure beautiful!

The park is home to many animals, including:

• Mountain Lion
• Mule Deer
• White-tailed Deer
• Desert Bighorn
• Sonoran Pronghorn
• Javelina
• Lesser Long Nosed Bat
• Coyote
• Jackrabbit
• Kangaroo Rat
• Packrat
• Quitobaquito pupfish
• more bird species than can be listed!
• several species of reptiles, including Rattlesnakes and tortoises
• several types of scorpions

We didn't see any of these (and some I was really glad NOT to see!) but the bird calls we heard were really beautiful. It would be a great place to camp, and there is a campground with dry camping (no hookups) that would accommodate our sized rig. So maybe one day we will come back and stay for a few days.