Five on Friday

I couldn't come up with ten things to write about on Tuesday, so I thought I'd do five on Friday instead.

1.  I've been busy getting ready for Easter.  Though we won't have the whole family here this year, all of my kids and grand kids will be here so I'm still decorating, and I'm doing the baskets and eggs for the hunt for the family brunch.

2.  I've been getting out a bit here and there.  I get tired much more easily, but the weather is gorgeous and I have to get out of the house.  I went grocery shopping last Thursday, my first time out, and it was hard.  About half way through Dierbergs I felt like my insides were falling out.  This morning, after a doctor's appointment, I went to Sam's and it was a little better.  I did come home and take a two-hour nap, but it was good to get out.

3.  I went to my pulmonologist this morning for my yearly appointment, and my breathing has improved.  My lung capacity went from 54% last year to 62% this year.  The doctor said it's probably because I lost 40 lbs. in the past year and it's like I'm not carrying that weight around any more.  I guess there is an upside to my ovarian cancer.  Not the best way to lose weight, however.

4.  I bought my plane ticket for Boston this week.  I'm going for Jack's First Communion from Thursday, May 1 through Monday, May 5.  My son John is also going, with his ten-month old baby, Julia.  I think Patrick will come from New York, so it will be a small family get together.  I think my sister Susie will come to the party; she lives in Marblehead, about an hour north of Boston.

5. Wayne has been busy working in the yard--getting it ready for spring.  He repaired some boards on the deck and stained it and has been busy cleaning out the flower beds.  Our tulips are about half way up in front of the new porch,  We're still trying to decide what to plant after the tulips are done.  I want hydrangeas and Wayne wants azaleas.  When he's not busy working outside we've been watching Doc Martin.  We got through the first five seasons earlier this week, and ordered season six from Amazon.  It came yesterday and we were thrilled  It was kind of funny last week when we were trying to watch an episode.  It was raining and storming outside, and all of the sudden all of our smoke alarms went off.  When they put the addition on they put in nine alarms and they were all hard-wired, which means when one goes off they all go off.  We couldn't get them to stop, so we called our contractor and figured out that the one in the front hall had water in it from the storm.  There was a place in the new roof that was not sealed tightly enough and the water blew in and started the alarm, which started all of them.  John, our contractor, came the next day and fixed the leak.  He's' the nicest guy--I highly recommend him to anyone needing work done on their house.