The Rest of the Visit, with one perfect sunny blue skied day

Tuesday was just the right weather,

not dripping hot, not cold,

sunny, blue sky.

The Munchkin and I went to NYC and told each other stories

on the PATH, on the walk to Mr Husband's work, while waiting for

Mr Husband to get out of a meeting that went over,

stories involving pizza, lots of Middle Earth via JRR Tolkien and 

later stories were inspired by the Hardy Boys :)

***

After lunch we took the subway to Central Park and walked to the

Central Park Zoo.

We saw a Grizzly Bear, a Snow Leopard, Seals, Penguins, a very 

brightly coloured social Parrot, and many other things. 

Then we had a break and, after some discussion,

as the Munchkin was tired from all the walking

(he was leading the way in the zoo!)

we decided to stick with the original plan,

which was to cab from the zoo to my NYC library,

where we had permission to visit and for the Munchkin to see

the children's library section.

He found, to my pleasure, the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew (the 1950/1970 version)

books as well as the new Diary of the a Wimpy Kid, a series he loves.

I found A String in A Harp and we took these books home.

On our way to the subway, we went to a vintage Luncheonette and we 

split a small root-beer soda in 2 small glasses and the soda was made from 

the syrup and the soda water, really neat.

The Munchkin is really observant and has a strong geospatial ability...

he understood where we were when we were in the World Trade Center PATH station 

underground (it looks like a futuristic space station to me) and saw the

narrow window on top and realized immediately that one could see the

Freedom Tower ... he is a very intelligent boy, beyond his nearly 11 years!

Once we were home,

just after Mr Husband arrived home as well,

I made dinner for us all and then we played our

second game of Dominion.  

We helped the Munchkin at the beginning because he did not understand

how to use the Action cards and in the end he won the game!

Then we did short prayers, blessing the beds for sleep and

that was the end of the perfect blue sky ....

The next day was a grey day and it was 'finish the book report day'

and I worked along side of him, ready to help when he needed it.

I read the rubric sheet (wow kids do a lot of work compared to when I was in school)

and made sure that he completed all the requirements and explained them

if he did not understand them.

I did a lot of quick reading and helped him understand how to find the 

information he needed.  Part of the book report was about

the characterization and part of it was about the plot and at the complications in 

the story. It was a lot of work as the book was a historical novel about

WWII and the Soviets, so not easy reading to say the least.

 I would ask him questions based on the rubric requirements and the book. 

I often asked him what a page meant and talked it through with him in terms of questions

 such as what does that mean? 

And how would you write it? 

And then I would tell him, ok, write what you told me. 

Once he was done,

and of course we had lunch and cookie breaks and he read other books before

he did his school work (he read all of Spyridon's Shoes and finished his Wimpy Kid book)

and we played 2 more games of Old Maid before his Mother came

to pick him up...we had a lot of good talks with him and I was glad

we had that fun day in NYC.... 

After he left, Mr Husband and I went to our local upscale grocery store

near church and got some things.

And then, we went to the last presanctified liturgy at our local church

for Great Lent.

Now we are almost at Holy Week.

May God have mercy on us all!

A full day with the Munchkin

What a full day!

Breakfast, talks, work on a book report,

cookie baking, cookie breaks, lunch,

book report, breaks, playing, cookie baking,

dinner with what the Munchkin deemed

'the best mac and cheese ever and not store bought!'

Mr Husband and I had avocado toast :) 

We played Dominion after dinner, the Munchkin was so excited about it.

While Mr Husband won, the Munchkin did really well for his first time playing it. 

Prayers and good nights and now it is time for me 

to slowly turn in myself.

I did not sleep well last night but am hoping that tonight will be better.

Tomorrow we hope to go to NYC and have a fun day.

So many of my friends (and this world) are having unexpected

and deep suffering.

Praying for God's mercy in all of this. 

The Munchkin is Here

I forgot how fun it is to have our 

now 10 year old Munchkin here; 

we played Old Main 2x after prayers

and the first time we kept giving the 'old maid' card

back and forth to each other until I lost

and the second game I lost as well.

We have agreed to a 'rematch' tomorrow :) 

It was so fun to laugh and play such a fun

simple game. 

I love these times and thank God for them!

tonight it is raining

I had a lot of insomnia last night,

I am more peaceful now and think I will sleep well tonight.

I read Rochester's Wife by DE Stevenson and really

enjoyed it and felt encouraged by it.

We went to the Akathist to the Mother of God tonight

and that was really nice.

Then to the diner for seafood pasta

and now home; 

it is raining steadily, big drops, dripping into water... 

peaceful as we are warm, dry in a peaceful home...

So many are on my heart,

so many with such suffering.

May God have mercy on us and console us. 

I have no idea about my eyes but was touched by the quiet gentleness

The 2 specialists seem to have opposite ideas.

Still pondering them and waiting to talk with

the ones I have known for years.

***

One thing I keep coming back to though, in the new 

specialist I saw, who did confirm that it is not

the one thing I was worried about.

***

The thing I keep coming back to though is this.

The gentleness.  

It's so rare I find.

He had just looked at my eyes again (slit eye test) and my glasses

were on the table that moves that I could not seem them

and here merely said, 'I understand' and gave me my glasses

and it was such a gentle kind action;

my prescription is past -10 and that he understood that I really 

could not see where my glasses were

and got them for me;

the kindness and understanding all in one

movement,

that I keep coming back to.

***

(Picture from the library, where I went afterwards

and got a few more DE Stevenson books out).

And the end of another day

Today was hard on various levels.

It's Lent.

I did get dishes washed, counter clean.

I enjoyed hot oatmeal with raisins and honey after liturgy tonight.

***

Tomorrow I go to the Ophthalmologist for a second opinion;

I realized I confused some of you as I wrote about having

a phone call with my Optometrist.

Sorry about that.  

I have 1 regular eye doctor - an optometrist - who is first rate

he is the one who first realized that I had a retina issue

and is by far one of the best I have ever had;

I also have 1 retina specialist - also first rate, could not be happier;

and tomorrow I see a cornea specialist, who has a very good reputation 

and I hope is a good fit for me. 

***

There is so much suffering in the world; 

so much I see and hear about.

***

All I know is we need Christ and only Christ

can carry us to His holy Pascha, His Resurrection 

and the hope for all the world. 

***

May He so have mercy on us.

Fresh baked bread for Pascha/Easter is one of the best ways to perfume one's home

 I made kulich today! 

I did not think I had the mahleb spice (I am pretty sure I don't)

but I put in a little bit of candied pineapple as a fruit (did not have golden raisins).

I think this bread I made is going to be a simple kulich / Pascha / Easter bread,

one that would be lovely with a nice preserve/jam like apricot... 

I hope to make more if I am given the time, I hope to give a lot away as gifts... 

My Husband had been home just a few minutes before it started pouring rain!

We were so thankful for the rain holding off until he was inside!

 I was glad that I was able to see the flowering trees before the heavy rain!

We had avocado toast (with sunflower oil as the oil) for dinner and 

Mr Husband liked it!

Recipe from Deb Perelman's Smitten Kitchen and is here

(except that I used a different oil because of lent and my Husband's 

preferences during lent) ... but he liked it, I liked it,

it is a win for us and I am really happy to have another quick

meal to make that we both enjoy!

***

Something I have been really happy about this Lent is that

I have, finally, after 6 years of marriage, been able to make more varied

meals for Lent.  One failure though - bought a can of refried beans - never again.

It was awful.    

But over all, I've been able to make more things

and feel really good about that.

***

This is the first summer in 3 years that we don't have the past

unbloggable worry and I am hoping for a summer without 

that stress and let me tell you, if this will be so, 

it will be great...just to have a bit of breathing room again. 

***

So I had a good conversation with my optometrist today.

He's a really good one and was able to explain a lot to me 

about various things.

I have realized how important it is for me to have doctors who

talk to me intelligently, who can explain things but not

'dumb it down' in a way that belittles my ability to understand

technical terms + medical knowledge. 

I am a Masters level trained and experienced medical / legal / research

librarian and a geek/nerd.  I like to read medical things and I have read

lots about eye health in the last few weeks. 

So I am really happy that I have the upcoming appointment and that

I already am getting a plan for how to move forward.

***

Well, tomorrow Mr Husband works from home,

we have liturgy at night, 

I hope to fry potatoes and mushrooms for our lunch...

with onions and garlic :) 

***

Did I mention yet that I have been doing brisk walks for about 3 weeks now?

Hope this becomes a regular habit for me; it's been really helpful.

I go for at least 30 minutes unless I am in NYC which is

often a bit more complicated but more walking....

***

The comments + emails from you, my blog friends, have been 

really uplifting and encouraging as I go through this

time of figuring out personal vision/eye things.

Thank you.

***

I pray that God helps, heals and gives you what you need

for the challenges you are facing.

I know that life (and lent!) can be a time where

things are unexpectedly thrown your way

and figuring out how to deal with it

can take time and be lonely at times, 

to say the least,

and I pray that God will be your Support, your Comfort, 

your Hope when all could seem dark, lost or scary...

God is with us, He loves us....

Thankful to God...

I was able to get a new doctor's appointment for my eyes.

And he takes our insurance. Whew.

My eyes are only getting worse - now I understand what glare means.

A friend was over standing near to me, and the window shade 7+ feet behind her

was up and the light from the window glared out in a way that somehow came

in front of my friend and made her hard for me to see clearly.

The halos are in light and dark now.

I am glad I am getting a second opinion.

My appointment is this Thursday, late morning and is near

to my library in NYC so that's lovely.

Trusting God in this.... 

and trusting in God's goodness, 

His deep, unfailing goodness.... and love...

Mr Husband's 2019 birthday...

Last week we celebrated Mr Husband's birthday!

I made him his favourite cake,

that he was talking about for 2 weeks before his birthday :)

and we went out for dinner before cake!

He is still getting cards for his birthday and it was a really nice time!

I sang to him (Happy Birthday) and he blew out his candles

and we had a really nice evening...

The candles are vintage from our dear friend +Patrick's home...

We still remember and pray for +Patrick every day... 

My Grandma's card is pictured above, it came right on his birthday,

just like she was hoping it would! 

And that was my Sweet Husband's birthday!

I am so glad I am married to my best friend and that I can make him

his favourite birthday cake for his birthday! 

A day with blessings...

A busy but good day.

The Feast of Annunciation (when the Angel tells the Virgin Mary that

she is going to bear the Christ child)...

***

I brought a second cake that I baked in honour of Mr Husband's birthday that he has 

in the first half of April...  even the crumbs were gone from it afterwards :) 

***

My Husband's +godson's grave stone was blessed today...

and memorial prayers for him by his grave...

he died 4 years ago this month...

***

We walked to the diner and had fish for dinner!

I had the first and chips :)

We walked back home afterwards too, walking over 2 miles total...

***

My eyes are not doing well, I feel/sense.

Halos even in daytime around lights at church this morning. 

So it's not just a dark/night vision problem :( 

I hope to find a new eye specialist tomorrow; 

I found one online who seemed perfect...but he may not take our

insurance... so prayers about this would be quite welcome...

***

I am thankful for this day and the blessings in it.

Praying that you have had a blessing seen in today,

even if today is a difficult day for you....

Recovering slowly from the week...

Funny what means the most in a hectic week...

this meal of PB on English Muffin and bananas

(I found it funny that they sliced it for me)

and decaf tea was a real moment that I enjoyed.

***

Well, I went to the other specialist but do not feel 

confident about the results and will keep

asking questions of my other eye doctors.

***

I think a lot of us feel that we are just limping along

in these weeks of Lent and are weary.

We are over halfway through now.

I pray that God will help us all. 

What a week!

So Tuesday I went to NYC.

I talked to my normal eye doctor,

he did not like the sound of the new blurry vision with lights.

Wednesday we were home.

Church at night confirmed dark = light halos and blurry.

Today I went back to my ophthalmologist and in the end,

and because he listens to me, 

he thought my halo-light-blurry issue + bad night vision was

because of a cornea issue.

There is a cornea specialist in the same building/hall and I was able

to get an appointment for early tomorrow morning.

So back to NYC I go tomorrow.

It may be a long morning of tests. 

I really don't know.

Asking your prayers.

I thank God that we have health insurance and that I can go to 

specialist to try to figure out what is happening.

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of my +Aunt Karen's 

falling asleep in the Lord; asking

your prayers for all of these impacted by this loss. 

I am praying that each of you have comfort 

and help from Christ who is with us in all things.

Cookies for Pascha and for Lent! And books read...

I made vegan cookies (right above, picture of cookies on a plate)

***

Cookies for Pascha.

***

Two more DE Stevenson books.  I find I often read more when

I am worried.  Working on that.

***

Doing cold water compresses seems to be helping my eye be less sore.

Will have a second opinion but need the results of the 4 tests I will have in May.

***

May God bless, save and have mercy on us!

***

ps: my goddaughter became a big sister today, they are in TX; we are so happy for them.

One day I hope to finish her quilt...