I was sad to read that Dr. Jerri Nielsen FitzGerald, who diagnosed and treated her own breast cancer before a dramatic rescue from the South Pole, has died.
She wrote a very good book about her ordeal called "Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole." I read this years ago and highly recommend it.
Her cancer went into remission but ultimately returned and claimed her life. She was such a brave lady.
By being the fifth caller at a radio station Jim won two tickets to the annual Garden Tour, a fundraiser for the Idaho Botanical Garden. We loaded up the car with all our rain gear because the weather had been so stormy and it threatened to rain again last Sunday when we toured the gardens. There were seven houses in all that we drove to and toured. Everything looked lush and green because of the recent rains. We got plenty of ideas for our own garden and managed to finish the tour without getting rained on.
Jim and I took a day trip to Silver City which is about two hours from Boise. It is nestled about 6100 feet in the Owyhee Mountains. The last nineteen miles is a narrow twisting dirt road that proved to be quite nerve racking. "I sure hope it's worth it" I piped in. The minute we reached the city Jim announced that he was ready to go. The locals make it pretty clear that they don't appreciate tourists visiting their mountain. The only reason we stopped is because we both needed to use the outhouse and I was told the old cemetery was worth a look. The trip down was a little easier maybe because we were putting distance between us and that strange little city.
After a false start I think I finally have the garden in. Last Saturday on our way home from Salt Lake City Jim and I stopped and bought six beautiful tomato plants. The next day (Mothers Day) Jim planted all the plants for me. Supposedly if you wait until Mothers Day you are safe from them freezing to death. Well, not this year. We had one cold night that killed four out of the six. So today I replaced the ones we lost and also planted eggplant, cauliflower, cantaloupe, and watermelon.
It is so nice to be home and feeling good. I attribute this to the excellent care I received from brother Jim and wife Diane. I could not have been in better hands. Not only did Jim drain my stomach tube like clock work he also encouraged me to walk everyday which helped me regain my energy. Diane did a fine job too changing my bandages, cooking and just providing a comfortable space. And their encouragement did wonders. Jim and I are thankful.
So now it's off to work tomorrow after spending a nice day with my boys. Life is sweet again.
When I got laid off from Alaska Airlines I went into a funk and quit going to the gym. Jim took over my membership and started going regularly. Thankfully not only was I able to find another job, I was able to sign up again with the same gym at a discounted price. Only this time I also received two free hours with a personal trainer. This was nice because they showed me how to work all of the exercise equipment and gave me tips on how to increase my upper body strength. They even did a free body fat test. But we won't go into that.
My goal is to go to the gym three times a week for an hour (40 minutes cardio, 20 minutes weights). I usually feel like a bowl of jello by the time I'm done. I hear it will get better.
We toured the high school that Gavin will be attending next year. It is the typical large confusing array of halls, rooms and stairwells. Gavin is interested in ceramics so we headed to that room first. It was more like a huge garage and had ten or more potting wheels. Our neighbor was sitting at one of them making a pot and it was fun to see her there. Gavin is also interested in continuing his piano lessons which is not offered at the school so we will have to find him private lessons. He is starting to talk about drivers ed, finding a job, and even moving away from Boise when he turns eighteen. Whoa, whoa, wait a minute says I. I'm not quite ready.
