Didn’t need to get up quite so early, finished packing, had an uneventful trip to the airport and car rental return, got through security no problem, and didn’t have too long to wait before we boarded. Sorry to say we weren’t thrilled with this flight either. Our flight attendant only offered us water or juice before takeoff (and the people behind us could only get water as I took the last juice and he didn’t bother to get any more) then we waited for more than an hour after takeoff to finally get our first real drink. We had a crying baby in the first row for a while before it finally sent to sleep, and lunch came so late I was having to rush to finish it before we landed in DFW. The only positive things was when I finally did get my drink, he brought two extra bottles, since one in the bottom of this glass looked like nothing and wouldn’t have lasted five minutes with the meal. The rest of the trip went well, but it was quite a shock going from the 70’s in SoCal (supposed to be closer to 90 by the afternoon!),to near freezing when we got off the plane in Nashville. Then, not too surprisingly, when we got out to the truck, it wouldn’t start. I had known the batteries were getting a bit old, and I even brought along our little jump starter, but unfortunately that wasn’t enough to get it started, but thankfully, Nashville posts an emergency phone number on every shuttle stop, and they sent someone out to help, and we were started dup pretty quickly, at no charge! Of course, I gave the guy something for his troubles anyway, we were just thankful we weren’t stuck for long! An uneventful ride home, where I discovered that Lola was quite comfortable laying on the couch in the wood-stove warmed Tack Room, which is a kind of gathering place in the barn, with one of the other dogs on a chair nearby. I left her out there so that we wouldn’t be disturbed in the morning, and headed straight into the trailer. It wasn’t long before the exhaustion caught up with us, despite the time change from California, plus gaining another hour with the end of Daylight Savings Time overnight tonight.

Another early start, another day with our bright group of students made the day pass quickly. Hubby gave it his all during the morning, but then started not feeling well just before lunch, so I took him to the room so he could rest for the afternoon while I completed the workshop on my own. He slept most of the afternoon, getting up just before I returned after the class, and we sat together and had a few snacks and a glass of wine for me while we got caught up on the day. After awhile I took a trip to Walmart to return the tripod (I already have two, and didn’t need another!), but kept the video camera, as my old Canon is really a still camera, and the video feature isn’t that great, and I’d rather keep one dedicated to the job anyway. Did some preliminary packing, but still ended up going to bed nice and early so we would be well-rested for our long travel day tomorrow.

Discovered that the workbooks that our client usually produces didn’t get produced, so I got up extra early and managed to persuade the hotel to make them up for me in time for the workshop. Nothing fancy, but they’ll do the job. Had another bright group for the day, broke up at about 4:00 so I could get Hubby over to his dialysis center again, managed to arrive in good time, and once again achieved a good stick and an uneventful session for him. Rather than stay for the whole session, I drove back to the hotel, got into my swimsuit and hung out in the hot tub as the sun went down, which was truly lovely, and really helped to relax my muscles and sore feet after standing up for most of the day. Met an interesting couple and had a nice chat for awhile before redressing and going to pick up Hubby. Both of us were tired by then, so early to bed again!

Thank goodness we have a day between our cross country flight and our Workshop, or we’d never make it! We both had an on-and-off night sleep, but ended up sleeping a bit later, which was good, as it let us readjust our time zone better that way. Once we got moving, we headed out, first to Walmart to pick up a new video camera and tripod (I realized I’d forgotten to bring my camera, but we really need one dedicated to business these days, as my other one is getting pretty banged up in my saddle bags on the trail!), and a few other sundry items, then dropped Hubby’s dress shoes at a shoe repair place for new heels, then breakfast at a quaint little diner with a 50’s motif and fabulous food, then back to the hotel for a bit, where Hubby sat out by the pool in the sunshine and Santa Ana winds (there’s several wildfires around, so there’s smoke billowing out of the hills) while I ironed our dress clothes for tomorrow and set up the camera, realizing the memory card I thought I had was non-existent so I would have to pick one up. We retrieve his newly-heeled shoes, stopped at Target for the memory card, then finally set off again to his dialysis clinic for the first of two in-center treatments he’ll need while we’re here. Unfortunately, it’s necessary to go through a whole intake process, so even though his chair time is 4:30, we had to be here at 3:00 to sign paperwork and watch a less-than-thrilling video on what to do in case of emergency. In insisted on doing the cannulating (sticking the needles in him so that he can be hooked up to the machine), because last time we were here, they wouldn’t let me do it, and it ended up with 5 different technicians trying to stick him for 45 minutes. It was torture to watch, not to mention torture for Hubby, but evidently, for some non-sensical reason, California’s policy is not to use buttonholes, which is the standard everywhere else. This time I INSISTED I do it, even bringing my own needles, but they wouldn’t let me use my needles, though they had some for me to use (last time they told me they didn’t have any, so I guess that information wasn’t exactly correct, either). Anyway, when we finally got done with all the paperwork, they took us into the treatment area and I had him stuck and ready to go in five minutes. It was a good stick, too, thank goodness, with a terrifically low arterial, which sometimes gives us problems, but today it was good as gold! Afterward, they said I could sit with him if I wanted, so they pulled up a chair for me and I got my computer out while Hubby watched TV. That always makes the time go faster, so it wasn’t long before we were heading back to the hotel for what was left of the evening, with an early morning to look forward to tomorrow!

Well, every once in a while Hubby and I have to have a hiatus from all our fun and do something to pay for all this excitement, so today we had to fly off to Southern California to conduct a corporate workshop later this week. Got up nice and early, got the horses taken care of and out in the pasture, which may be one of the last days this week as there’s a rainy cold front coming in, and since we’re trying to prevent the horses from getting too much of a winter coat, I left instructions to leave them in the barn if the temperatures get into the 40s, and it’s supposed to get near freezing later in the week. Anyway, we finished packing and headed out to the airport, and were halfway there when Hubby suddenly remembered he’d forgotten to pick up his carry-on bag, which contained all of his medicines and dialysis equipment, so we had no choice but to run back and get it. Fortunately, I tend to overcompensate on time when we’re flying, so instead of getting there two hours ahead of time, we arrived an hour ahead of time, though we skipped picking up breakfast, which had been the plan. It was a bit anxious for awhile until I did the math and realized we’d be fine, and actually ended up sitting at the gate for a half an hour after getting through security and all that nonsense. The first segment of the flight was great, purser Michelle kept us stocked with drinks and snacks, but the second segment had bad service, the attendant Muriel had no personality and every time I ordered a drink, it was only about one or two fingers deep, so I had to keep asking for another one, which got to be really annoying. The dinner was terrible, too. We had pre-ordered the fruit and cheese plate, because last time Hubby had ordered one it was very nice, but this time it was not good. The cheese was dry and looked like it had been cut and left out for a few days, the fruit was a few fresh grapes, but all the rest was dried, like figs and apricots. I was expecting melon, and apple and strawberry, but we got none of that. Mine looked like it had picked at and resealed, as I only had three pieces of cheese to Hubby’s four (I got no BRIE!!!), and only had half the grapes Hubby had. Very disappointing! I watched a movie on my laptop, but other than that, there wasn’t much else to the flight, except we were delayed getting out of DFW, so my plan to arrive in daylight didn’t happen, it was dark by the time I picked up the rental car and got the luggage and Hubby from the baggage claim area and to the hotel. We were both pretty tired, so we weren’t long out of bed. Thank goodness for a comfy mattress!

Yet another day with a doctor’s appointment, this time for Hubby’s back problem. Last time we saw this doctor he managed to fix one side of his back, but not the other, so we’re hoping he can do a better job this time. We did some quick shopping first, saw the doctor, who unfortunately was running a bit late, which meant by the time we got back we got a late start on dialysis, but it was thankfully an uneventful session that allowed me to do some prep work for our travel day tomorrow. Once again, my horses were brilliant and came to me when I called, quietly working their way around the pack in order to prevent a stampede, and then running right up to me at the gate once they were clear. They are SO GOOD!! Managed to finish dialysis at just about 7:00, which gave us a bit of time in the evening to relax. Haven’t started packing yet, but our flight isn’t until early afternoon, so I figure we have time. Heading off to bed to make sure we’re bright and ready in the morning!

Hubby had to get up a couple of times during the night, which meant neither one of us got the best night’s sleep, unfortunately. I had planned to go up to the house because I had someone coming to look at some furniture, but that was canceled, so I opted to do a little house cleaning and then take the rest of the day off. It’s going to be a busy week, and I need to get a little rest before it starts, so we spent most of the day watching old movies and just doing the laundry. When it was time to bring the horses in from the pasture for the night, I was gratified that my two guys came straight to me when I called, circling the entire herd of about 20 other horses all standing around eating out of a large round bale of hay, and breaking into a trot and canter to arrive at the gate, eager to come in! None of the other horses moved, and I was so proud of my guys! I hope they are as cooperative when it’s time for our hostess Rosie to call them in. I’m hoping to try that out tomorrow if she gets back from work on time. Meanwhile, off to bed!

Both of us slept long hours, but Hubby was still feeling not so great when he got up this morning, and that only worsened during our dialysis session, unfortunately. I let the horses out in the pasture this morning, since it finally quit raining after a long night of rain, and they needed to stretch their legs. The dialysis session ran long because we had a lot of problems, finishing up shortly before dark. It started to rain again during the afternoon, but stopped just before dinnertime, and the horses were waiting by the gate for me at the right time. I don’t know if they heard my voice or if they’re just getting into a routine, but I was glad they were there. Rosie helped me get them into their stalls, and we settled down for the evening. Hubby went to bed early again, still not feeling too well, and I was ready to follow shortly thereafter.

Decided I needed to check on the house, so I gathered some cleaning, kissed Hubby good-bye and headed up the mountain. Was happy to see that it hadn’t collected too much dust, but there was some mildew on some of the furniture and the refrigerator, so I cleaned that up with some nice smelling Pine Sol Lavender, which left a nice smell throughout the house. Had the collected mail delivered, so I had a stack of that to go through when I got back, stopped for fuel on the way back, but otherwise an uneventful day. Hoping to sell a few items in the next few days, but I can’t seem to pin my buyers down very well, looks like another trip up here on Sunday. Rained all day, supposed to rain again all day tomorrow, so I never bothered to let the horses out, they stayed nice and comfy in their big dry stalls. I managed to get most of the downloading done on the iPad, a necessity having changed clinics, and I got it all done except the PIN number, which I’m hoping my nurse can provide me with, even though she went on vacation today. It’s all new to everyone, this being able to wipe out the iPad remotely, so it’s a work in progress. Hubby felt really tired really early tonight, headed off the bed by 8:00. Hoping it’s just that he didn’t sleep well last night, he’s been feeling really good the last few days. We’ll know in the morning!

Once again we headed out to the clinic in Tullahoma after I did my chores and let the horses out in the pasture, grabbing some breakfast at Burger King on the way. Spent the required hour plus talking with the doctor, the nurse, the dietician and the social worker, all of whom confessed that we were an inspiring story to them, that most of their patients don’t have anywhere near the determination to keep living life to the fullest after a diagnosis of “end stage renal disease.” We told them half the problem was the name of the dang thing, it sounds so final! Hubby explained that he just views dialysis as a few hours spend with an artifical kidney that does the job his real kidneys used to do, and that it’s no big deal. Again, the staff were rather astonished at his positive outlook. Anyway, after that, we did a little bit of shopping, then headed back to camp where we did a dialysis session and chilled for the day. Glad to say the horses are starting to get used to this routine, coming when I called them from the pasture, and no trouble getting them into their appointed stall. After all, dinner was waiting for them in there! Settled down for a quiet evening.