1. Tara, the transplant nurse coordinator, called me today, wondering what I learned from Dr. Bieber when I saw him last week. I told her things hadn't changed. Then I asked about whether I could remain listed as "inactive" on the transplant list. It sounds like I can. Tara told me that the program has decided to monitor inactive list members more closely and so I will be heading to Sacred Heart on Feb. 2 for blood work and possibly, that day, some other tests. I think I'll get to meet Tara. I wonder if I'll get to talk with the social worker again (I've enjoyed this) and, likewise, whether I'll meet with the financial person (another enjoyable appointment in the past).
I'll be tested for some other things off site - we hope at Shoshone Medical Center, but I might need to be tested in Coeur d'Alene. In the past, I've had pulmonary testing done in CdA and a heart test performed in Spokane Valley. We'll see.
So, starting Feb. 2, I'll have a stretch of time to busy myself being poked, imaged, velcroed with wires, and tested in other ways. It's not a terrible process, but one I'm always grateful to complete.
2. Out of sheer generosity, Diane brought Debbie and me some dinner tonight. Debbie will eat some it for lunch at school on Thursday and we'll decide when Debbie gets home whether she'll lunch on the rest of it on Friday or if we'll polish off Diane's food Thursday night.
Tonight, at dinner time, Debbie, who is not feeling well, didn't have an appetite.
Unrelated to Debbie's appetite, I had, earlier in the day, cooked the carcass of a small chicken in a quart of boxed chicken stock. I then boiled a handful of frozen boneless chicken thighs, removed them when they were thawed and cooked, and added the stock I'd made earlier to the broth I created with these boiled thighs.
Once the thighs cooled off, I put them in the augmented chicken stock and added chopped onion, carrot, baby Yukon golds, and celery along with some frozen green beans. I seasoned this uncooked soup/stew with salt, pepper, garlic powder, marjoram, oregano, and thyme, brought it all to a boil, turned the heat way down and let the vegetables slowly cook until tender.
I enjoyed a bowl of this soup/stew. Soon Debbie decided she'd like to try it and when she said it was "really good", well, I felt a surge of joy.
3. I'm enjoying this evening routine of watching Columbo and Perry Mason. Especially on these days that Debbie is working while not feeling a hundred percent, she finds these shows restful and a great way to clear and relax her mind.
Tonight, guest star Robert Culp played the arrogant, elegant, intellectual, highly organized cold-blooded murderer, a perfect foil to disheveled and scatterbrained persona Lt. Columbo presents himself as. Columbo might act the fool, but he's far from it and watching him spar, in his own way, with Robert Culp's character and figure out a way to exploit the character's own brilliance and expertise was exquisite, deserving of a chef's kiss.
All I'll say about the Perry Mason we watched is that for Della, Paul, and Perry -- and for Lt. Tragg -- it was an evening out at the circus, but believe me, once Perry dug his teeth into the murder he witnessed under the big tent, he did not clown around and he stunned the court room with how he figured out who actually committed this episode's crime, apparently with the greatest of ease.
Oh! One other thing. The other episode we watched featured a guest appearance by Stephen Talbot whom I immediately recognized as Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver's longtime pal, Gilbert Gates. Stephen Talbot always knocked it out of the park as Gilbert and continued his masterful ways in this episode!
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