The Truly Lovely Things: Part 3 - Just Around Town

I had another beautiful weekend - trying to soak up all the gorgeousness as spring  arrives.

I'm feeling such an outpouring of love from friends and family.  Thank you all so very much.  People's love and kindness are incredible.

At the end of last week, I spent a lovely couple of hours with my friend Heather.  My birthday is March 12 - and hers is April 12.  So we try to get together somewhere in between to celebrate.  It was so lovely.  Got a great lunch at Forage and just caught up.  Plus I love her to pieces!

 

 

THE FIRST FARMERS MARKET OF THE SEASON

It was the very first Dane County Farmers Market of the season on Saturday - and I wanted to go, because I love it so much.  It was one of the things that first attracted us here - besides the lakes - and the people - and over the years - the list just goes on and on  - why I love living in this place. 

Paul and I bundled up.  My fatigue is very real - so we went early and paced ourselves, sitting on benches along the way, but I made it around.   Everything was perfect.  Stops at my mushroom guy for some lions mane mushrooms plus a tincture of turkey tail that is supposed to have tumor reducing properties (I've loved mushrooms  my whole life, and used to forage with my Oma, I dye with them too -  and its not like I have anything to loose at this point)

I stopped at Mr. Dyes Pies for a slice - They have a Gluten Free "Purple Monster" pie- it's a sweet potato pie made with Purple Yams and pecans  - It was so delicious!   Picked up a few other items and then ended up at Lake City Books - which is a favorite, to pick up some birthday gifts.  We have tons of spring birthdays in our family.

JOY RIDING

And as the temperature rose in the afternoon, Paul and I decided to go for a short joy ride. 

When the boys were a bit younger, they were both kind of mechanical and loved cars.  Next thing, William says  "Hey Dad - look at this - there's an old 1980 Datsun 280ZX out in Neenah, WI, pretty cheap.  What do you think? "  It was barely drivable (we had no trailer) and Paul "negotiated" the price down because he said - there's no plates on this car and you expect me to drive this thing through Rosendale WI???   For those of you that don't know, Rosendale is a famous 1 stop light town where you have a greater than 50% chance of getting a speeding ticket for going like 2 miles over the limit.  Seriously - look it up.  I think they sell t-shirts. 

So he paid cash, got it home and it's been the family project car.  A shared passion for the 3 of them - learning and tinkering and loving it through the frustration of working on a classic (so weird to now call something from 1980 "classic" but it's 45 years old.  Am I a  "classic" now too?

I keep out of it  - except for the joy rides!  Paul and I have a collection of 1980 s era CD's in the glove box and we just drive with the windows down and I pick a CD and I sing at the top of my lungs (as much as I can these days) - songs from our youth.  I was never a cruiser or anything in High School - but MUSIC is my thing - whether I'm playing my guitar or singing.  I'm usually 100% in the moment.  Sometimes transported back in time It's almost like our own personal DeLorean - Back to the future.

Well - we drove and listened to "the Cars" and "Van Halen" - It was a blast.  And didn't require much energy on my part, but that type of thing just hits me in the soul and brings me so much joy.  More joy rides with more MUSIC to come this summer!!!!! - and I'll have to look through my old CD collection - because I still have one - and because tapes and CD's are the only thing that car can play.  Maybe we'll upgrade to a modern stereo, but that might not be authentic for 1980.  Heck - even the CD's are a bit too modern for that.

Sunday was more of a down day for us.  Just quiet - and restful.  To be honest - I was feeling really exhausted, again Paul saying that's "brain healing" hopefully.  The steroids also really mess with getting restful sleep.  I made phone calls, talked to my Dad, and a few others.  Just catching up with people.  

I also tried to get all of these medical appointments on my calendar - Geez there's a lot.  I have several monitoring/shots/educational appointments this week - and have my first  chemotherapy next week if all the labs come back good.  Chemo looks like a pretty much all day thing.  Starting at 9 am - and then going to about 2 pm.   I'm not too sure about this - but I guess I'll have to suck it up and see how it goes.  Maybe I'll finally finish knitting my big color work sweater.

We're also trying to schedule a few fun things too.  My perspective in life went from working like a mad woman, always business first (because I do love it), to living in the precious present moment through love and joy.  It's been amazing in a way - and so unlike me.  And it's a multiplier - for some reason the more love you give out - it feels like its coming back 10 fold!  So thank you so much for the love and support.

I'll keep you posted...Take care and be kind.

Love ya

Laura