Yes, we were early birds this morning and I wanted to be the earliest in order to catch that worm! Ha! Dean is scheduled to be at Freeman Hospital in Joplin, MO this morning at 6:30 - so that means we should be up by 4:30 at the latest, in order to leave shortly before 5:30 - allowing a little extra driving time due to the deer population we have in this area. We prefer a little slower pace when these animals are out and about. I set my alarm for 4:30, but I woke up at 3:30 and after laying in bed for awhile I decided to just go ahead and get up.
We passed on our morning walk - for obvious reasons but not on the coffee!
After Dean was up and had showered it wasn't long before we were walking out the door. Fortunately, our drive over was uneventful. We didn't need to wait too long for them to call Dean back for his test. I mentioned in an earlier post that his cardiologist told him he was in AFib when he went for his annual checkup last week. He would not have known had it not been for the checkup. He is not having any symptoms, so hopefully it is something they can nip in the bud with some changes either in medication, lifestyle or a combination of both.
While we waited for him to go back for his test I picked up one of the local JMag's - Joplin Metro Magazines. You can always find these quarterly magazines in doctor's offices or at the hospital. They include so much information on Joplin and the immediate area. I always enjoying looking through them. At this time of the year they are full of Christmas activities. I love Christmas and I love all of the activities that go on during the season. I hope we can take in a few of those listed - and all of the activities are within approximately 100 miles, and most are much less.
One that I told Dean I have always wanted to see, and that we have talked about going to for many, many years, is the Grand Lake Christmas Light Boat Parade. It is scheduled for Saturday night, December 9th. This might be something we can do. The grand prize for the entrants is a one year membership to the Cherokee Yacht Club and a $2,000 club credit. Now I understand why the boats are decorated so well. I've seen pictures of the boats over the years in the Grand Lake Chronicle and some of them are just amazing!
Another activity I've wanted to do for a number of years is to see a live performance of "The Nutcracker". I noticed there is one scheduled to be held at Pitt State University in nearby Pittsburg, KS but when I checked the dates I found it was scheduled for December 5 and we will be out of town. Maybe I can find another location - if not, I'll try again next year.
As you can see in the list above there are many light displays in our area, and several of them I didn't even know existed.
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| Another interesting event is the Historic Murphysburg Preservation - Home for the Holidays Home Tours in Joplin. |
Dean was called back for his test a little after 7:00 and he was done by 7:15. We have time to kill until the staff that will fit him with a Holter Monitor show up around 8:00. The receptionist suggested we go have breakfast and return. They said it would not be a problem if we returned after 8:00, so that is what we did. For the past several months I have passed a new little cafe on 20th Street in Joplin, just east of Maiden Lane. It looks like a place we might like so we decided to give it a try since it was not too far from the hospital.
I am so glad we stopped here. We will definitely be back. First of all it's small, the people inside were friendly - and included us in their conversations - which was interesting and enjoyable. The owner of the cafe and his mother are from Honduras and the mother plans to become an American citizen. She was talking to a couple of gentlemen next to us about studying for the test she must take. They looked up questions that might be asked and was quizzing her. Dean and I both wondered if we would be able to pass the test ourselves. I plan to take a look at those potential questions at some point because I am curious to know how much I have retained over the years about our country.
And the food - yes, it was very good. I would not say the best we've ever had, but I would give it a 4.5 out of 5. I had two eggs, 2 slices of bacon, hash browns and biscuit and gravy. I know, I know - it's not on my diet - or at least half or more of it wasn't. The eggs were cooked perfectly and the bacon and hash browns were really good. The biscuit and gravy was my least favorite but it was still very good. The gravy was not quite hot enough and the biscuit was okay. I probably would not order it again anyway - not because of the taste but because of the carbs.
If you are in Joplin and looking for a good breakfast I would recommend stopping at Kevin's Cafe.
We returned to the hospital, but only long enough for them to fit him with the Holter monitor and we were walking out the door shortly after 8:30. Dean has to wear the monitor for 24 hours - so we need to return it after 8:30 tomorrow - which means another trip to Jopliin!!!
We made a quick stop at Walmart where Dean purchased a new watch and I looked for a pair of black jeans - I was not so successful.
We had one last task before heading home. I had scheduled a bone density test at 9:30. It was time for me to have one this year, but my doctor also wanted me to have it because of the prednisone I've been taking. Evidently prednisone is not good for your bones. It took less than 15 minutes and we were on the road home. We were back at Bentley between 10:30-10:45.
The rest of our day was spent changing our address and phone numbers on our various accounts, bank accounts, credit cards, insurance, Interent apps, etc. and ensuring the passwords we have all work fine.......and several did not, which resulted in more steps. It was after 5:00 before I finished up. Whew - I'm so glad it is done. I was mentally exhausted by the time I finished. Not because it was such a hard job - but because of the passwords that did not work and all of the hoopla you have to go through to get those changed. Some were quite easy and others took numerous steps.
I made Southwestern Chicken Salad for dinner - romaine lettuce, topped with avocado, chopped tomatoes, black beans, corn and chicken. The chicken I used was some I had cut up and then frozen in 2 cup freezer bags from a rotisserie chicken several weeks ago. I used 1 of the 2 cup packages, seasoned with 1 T of taco seasoning, 1/4 t cumin, 1/8 t salt, and 1/2 T of olive oil. I cooked it long enough to warm it well. I forgot to buy a lime when we stopped at Walmart and by the time I realized that I had, I didn't want to get out to go buy one. The salad was very good without it, but I think the lime would have given it a nice flavor. The salad suggested a cilantro dressing (1/2 c sour cream - or Greek yogurt), 1/4 cup packed cilantro with stems, juice of 1/2 lime and 1/4 t salt. I did not have the cilantro or lime but I do plan to try this at some point. Instead we used dressings we had on hand - I used Dorothy Lynch Homestyle Dressing and Dean used Ranch and they were both quite good.
Dean turned on a movie but I think I was asleep as much as I was awake the rest of the evening and we finally headed to bed around 10. Tomorrow will be another busy and full day.
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