Progress Report 2-15

It was with a lot of reluctance that I headed back to the clinic this Monday; after 3 glorious weeks in California, cleverly escaping the worst weather the east coast has had this year. Relatively speaking It was not the best weather in the bay area either, so our plans of heading south to Palm Desert couldn’t have come at a better time and though we were greeted with a couple of coldish days, they progressively morphed into a wonderful sunny upper 70s week. We could not have had a better week or a better time visiting with my brothers in law and wives whom I consider more like brothers and sisters than “in laws”. They are among the most gracious and generous people I know always opening their homes to us and what else…..cooking a storm. Cooking is a talent that runs in Sharbel’s family, starting with his mom who does not cook much anymore because of her weak eyesight except for a couple of specialties that she knows Sharbel loves such as his favorite Crème Caramel which I guess she can make with her eyes closed. No worry though the 2 sons Naz and Karim (not to be confused with our son Karim or big uncle Karim) have taken over the helm and produce some of the best meals you can eat. Sharbel assures me that he can cook just as well, but with all the traveling, he just doesn’t have the time and I have to give it to him, he does make a pretty good Humus, but I think it will be a few years before he can catch up to the cooking expertise his brothers have already acquired. I am thinking that retirement will be a very interesting time in our kitchen. So to recap; family, friends, good food, shopping on El Paseo Drive with the girls (Barb and Pony), sun and golf, what else can one ask for. I celebrated my 54th birthday on the eve of the holiday of LOVE with a Zumba dance class, a nail treatment at the spa and wonderful dinner with family and friends at a great Mexican restaurant that I have to say serves the best margarita I have ever had. The only thing that would have made it better was if the kids where with us. We overloaded on Golf playing 4 out of the 7 days. No; my game did not improve a bit. Those courses were hard. Two of them were so hilly you had to be a goat, one had more sand bunkers (more like craters) than fairway and the last one was like playing between islands in the ocean loosing pretty much all of our balls. None the less, like I said before I find golf a very spiritual and mindful game. Just like in life I try to practice letting go of the bad shots, missed putts and disappointments. I stop, breathe and move on, focusing on the next shot; and every so often, comes that great shot that makes it all worthwhile restoring my faith and self confidence. Besides, how can anyone complain about spending 4 leisurely hours among nature in some of the most beautifully designed settings.
I was really hoping that by the time I got back to Cincinnati winter would have been over, but alas that is not the case. I really blamed it on the decorations in the clinic. You know they go all out with seasonal decorations just like in a kindergarten classroom. It changes with the holiday and for valentine red and pink stuffed hearts and animals were hanging from the IV poles; but the windows were still lined up with cotton snow and snow flake stickers from winter. That was the problem I declared to the nurses. The snow has to go, this is like a self fulfilled prophesy and they all agreed that we need flowers, so I hope that next week the windows will be lined up with cut paper tulips and daffodils so that spring knows it has been summoned. It was another uneventful session without much to report except that it seems I always leave with some kind of lesson. My attending nurse on that day was Sandy. She was the new nurse that a few weeks ago I was nervous about. Well you know I have learned that quite often my own fear alters my perceptions and that on that day I probably was so opposed to change I emitted enough negative energy to scare her and make her loose her bearings. This time when I saw her coming to me I decided that I was going to trust her; after all she wouldn’t be working here if she was not good. And true to form Sandy took care of me like an old pro, painlessly accessing my port and gently injecting the drug, following up making sure I am not getting any adverse reaction to it. We chatted a bit and I got to know her better and hoped she forgave me for freaking her out the first time. I closed up the place that afternoon as I had a late appointment and the place was pretty empty. Feeling good I headed to Yoga.
Much love