In Which I Knock on Wood...

Oh, right, the kidneys. I wanted to catch up on all departments so I should probably update this one as well. Um, no news is good news?
This time last year I wasn't eating, I had visited the ER on the 2nd day of school, and I was going to the dialysis education class and making decisions. BIG decisions. My kidney function was hovering between 16 and 20%. We had followed the pattern and that pattern said in 6-9 months something would flare up again and my function would drop another 10%, putting me in the danger zone. That was 12 months ago.

Despite weird symptoms from time to time, like that lingering back pain that makes me nervous, and a new intolerance for large quantities of greasy foods, I'm actually doing really well on the kidney front.
My last lab results (September 14) showed creatinine at 2.1. This is the same number I had several months ago that was so low we thought it was a fluke. So if this is another mistake, it's a mistake on the right side of the curve. My current kidney function is at about 33%. Woo hoo! (Ok, that's crap, but to a much lesser extent than before.)
I feel good and I have had my blood pressure medicine dosage reduced twice this summer since I'm just doing so awesome. I intend to finish out this school year and then head to Houston as planned. I'll become the Mama Bear for Sexy Lawyer Man's firm, and we'll deal with transplants and such when I'm eligible, which right now I'm not.
It's really weird to be this sick on paper and feel so good. But I'll take it as a blessing and enjoy the healthy time I have while I have it. Whee!

Summer Garden

It has finally cooled down slightly, and we have had a good rain, but this summer was the most brutal one I have lived to tell about. Our trips to Houston were our only relief from the extreme heat, which says a lot. With zero rain triple-digit temperatures for a record breaking 90-ish days, keeping the garden going was a miracle. I did have a few guys who survived all the way through. My chives are still going strong after a 2nd summer and the aloe vera is happy. That's about it.

In July I added a bunch of new plants. Some were cuttings from my mom's tropical paradise of a garden, and some were purchased.

Fig tree from my parents' yard. Strawberries.

Plumbago. Wandering Jew. 

These all croaked. 

Speaking of croaking... I wondered what kept knocking over the seedlings and found this little guy in the pot one evening. Also, impressively, that plumbago seedling in this picture is doing quite well now. I thought it was a goner. 

In September, I added a bunch of new plants to the garden to get my autumn kitchen garden going. So far so good, I think. I just hope that I get a good harvest before we get a freeze.

The July plantings are coming along well. 

Roma tomatoes

Grape tomatoes, oregano, and purple bell peppers. Also some little yellow tomatoes that didn't take so well to the heat. They are "not quite dead yet!" so I'm keeping them in to see what happens. 

My Summer in Pictures

So I took a bit of a summer hiatus and thoroughly enjoyed the time to relax and regroup. I can't say I did a whole lot. The highlight of the summer was probably my cousin's beautiful wedding, but beyond that I was  a bit of a homebody. I do have a few things to share, and here goes.

Granby adds her magic touch to the new-fangled self-churning ice cream maker. 

Dad approves of the homemade peach ice cream.

Good old American dinner for the 4th!

Playing tug-o-war with Berwyn. Turns out a dog is a lot of work, but lots of fun! 

Potato Cheese Gnocchi (Moosewood Low Fat Cookbook) 

Justin teaches a bunch of concealed handgun courses.

I spent about a week and a half before inservice began preparing my classroom. I started from nothing and made it look pretty good, if I do say so myself. (After photos to follow.)

Berwyn practicing his "I kill you" eyes.