How Much? $4.79!

I was up at o'dark thirty so that I could get all of the household chores done before we had to leave the house at 7:30. And, at 7:25 on the dot , we were ready - beds made - bathroom tidied - dishes done - blog written and Mr. Indi all clean and scrubbed up for his scheduled medical procedures.

Our first stop was the lab where we had an 8:am appointment for a blood draw. Most people don't know that you can make an appointment either on line or on the phone and so we got lots of sneers and jeers as we went to the head of the queue. But, there were a few nice souls around who fell in love with Mr. Indi's walker with the Christmas lights and wished us Happy Christmas! The blood draw took a little while as Mr. Indi's veins are very difficult for the lab techs to find - the result of years of chemo. But, the lab lady was very kind - and after digging around for a little while she finally got a stream going. By the time we left, the line had grown even longer and so I waved and wished everyone Happy Holidays! I wasn't trying to be cruel - honest.

We had 1/2 hour to kill before the 9 a.m. appointment for Aredia so we stopped in at a nearby coffee shop for a quick cup of coffee and a bite to eat. I had the most delicious coffee cake that was topped with crusty cinnamon flavored brown sugar while Mr. Indi had a sausage and egg burger! Healthy, no? Well, maybe not.

We were the first to arrive at the cancer center and Jen got Mr. Indi hooked up to his IV in double quick time - I told her I don't have all day! She laughed! Mr. Indi worked on the daily crossword while I wrote some Christmas cards AND drank some more coffee - Yikes - no wonder I was wired all day! The chemo room became very somber with the arrival of a young chap - maybe 25ish - who had just started a 7 day course of chem0 and was very sick. He had been up all night with nausea and was crying and begging them not to do any more chemo as he couldn't carry on. Oh dear, I wanted to take him in my arms. The kind chemo ladies got one of the docs to give him an injection of something that made him drowsy and they covered him with a warm blanket and let him rest. Imagine! Cancer at 25.

We left the cancer center at 10:30 and headed out on the freeway toward Los Angeles and the imported British shop - about 20 miles down the road. Man, that shop is a total rip off but it's the only place that I can get certain things. I went to buy some imported Irish sausages for my sausage rolls that I'm going to make on Friday - and while I was doing that Mr. Indi picked up a bag of Blackcurrant and Liquorice sweets - Wow! I haven't seen them for years - so I just HAD to have them. I didn't notice the price until I got home. I paid $4.79 (that's 3 pound 50 p) for a packet of sweets that sells in the UK for 79p! They had better taste good!

Our next stop was at the Indian joint (the one with the waiter from Nepal) where we had the delicious lunch buffet. Mr. Indi really enjoyed his food and washed it down with a lovely cup of Indian tea. We got back home at 1:00 p.m. and had a little rest before I tackled the job of getting the Pontiac back from the mechanic 3 miles away! After a couple of phone calls, they sent a chap to pick me up and take me to the auto repair place. Well, this chap (about 19) came in a MONSTER truck and I needed a step ladder to climb up the side of it! Good thing I had jeans on! I finally got in - I was so far above the rest of the traffic that I felt like I needed an oxygen mask and off we went at about 90 mph down the freeway! The kid was so cute - the first thing he said to me was "You have the most amazing blue eyes - are they real?" I was going to say "No. I take them out every night and put them in a glass of water with my teeth!" His next question was, "How old are you?' (Cheeky!) I said 65 and he said that that was the year that his mother was born! OK - I think I get the connection! Anyway, I got the Pontiac back home by 4:30 p.m. and was thoroughly knackered!

Today's picture is one I took the other day outside a shopping center in Riverside. The Orange is the official symbol of Riverside (I think) There used to be nothing but orange groves here - now it's mostly repossessed houses! I like this big round thing; it's similar to the one outside the Riverside museum.