Dinner out tonight at Luna Rossa for the last time will be a pleasant treat after many tasks over the past several days. Yesterday, I received a notification from Cleveland Clinic that they set up a file for me which I construed as a good sign that I will get an appointment and have been accepted as a patient.

After another great night’s sleep with no awakening during the night, this morning, I got up early. I started packing the nonperishables in a box, using our cloth grocery bags for the overflow. We’re asked for a full-sized car that Tom is picking up tomorrow morning, and we’ll start loading it right away. Hopefully, everything will fit.

Since we were here for 3½ months and are driving to Arizona, we can pack the nonperishables and cleaning supplies we accumulated during this extended stay. We usually leave unused items to the cleaner, manager, or owner. It feels good not to be concerned about the weight of our bags since we aren’t flying anywhere in the next few months. We’ll drive to Cleveland when the time comes.

It’s a good feeling to be this organized two days before departing. All we have left to do before we leave is pack the laptops and digital equipment, the clothes we’ve been wearing, and the clean laundry, which we’ll wash, dry, and fold tomorrow morning using the remainder of the money left on the laundry app for the laundry room in the condo complex.

I wrote to the owner this morning, asking him to send a link to review this property. We have only wonderful things to say and will give it a five-star rating. As we’ve mentioned over the past 3½ months, we have loved this location and property. Surely, whenever we return to Las Vegas, we’ll plan to see if we can rent this vacation/holiday home again.

Over the past 15 months, I’ve been alternating wearing the same two identical pairs of jeans when we arrived in Minnesota in November 2022. Our bags were lost when we arrived, and we headed to Target to buy clothes. I purchased those two pairs of Lee jeans without trying them on. Surprisingly, they fit, although they were too short for me. At that point, I couldn’t be picky.

Nonetheless, I’ve worn those two pairs of jeans repeatedly. In the meantime, I lost over 20 pounds (9 kg), and the jeans didn’t fit well. A few days ago, I ordered two pairs of Lee jeans from Amazon that were on sale for $26.95 each. I ordered them in three sizes smaller than the jeans I had ordered in 2022, taking a chance.

They fit perfectly, and since I could order “extra long,” they are a good fit and long enough. I am thrilled. I may not be fashionable, but I don’t like those “highwater” pants and refuse to wear them. The only other jeans I have is a pair of white jeans I wore for “White Night” on the Azamara cruise in August. I doubt they will fit now, but I packed them anyway.

Our Easter day won’t be very exciting when we use leftovers from the refrigerator to make sliced ham and omelets tomorrow night. We hope those who celebrate have a lovely Easter Day with those you love, whether family, friends, or pets.

That’s it for today, dear readers, and thank you again for all the warm and supportive messages.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, March 30, 2014:

This morning, I managed to pack my clothes and miscellaneous supplies. Tom will pack his clothes and all the digital equipment in the next few days on Monday before we depart. Tomorrow, I will pack the food supplies and miscellaneous kitchen tools we purchased while here.

We’ve accumulated a lot of non-perishable items while here but knew we’d be driving to Arizona and able to bring them with us. We have several spices and unopened cans, such as tomato sauce, coconut cream, and Mexican and Chinese sauces and flavorings frequently.

It felt good to be packed when I’d anticipated it would take longer than it did. Of course, I have been getting up much earlier each day, and now I am sleeping through the night. My new sleeping plan worked, and I am no longer awake for hours at night. I still have trouble falling asleep, usually not nodding off until midnight or later.

My Fitbit records sleep; I currently get between seven and eight hours. As soon as I wake up, I jump out of bed to begin my day. Getting enough quality sleep feels excellent, although I get a little sleepy around 3:00 pm. Yesterday, I dozed off for about 15 minutes, and wow, that feels good! A short nap is such a refresher!

It also feels good that I sent in my package of documents for Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. It will arrive on Tuesday, and then the clock begins ticking for an answer to my appointment date, which I’ll know within two weeks. That will help us make plans for the next several months.

Yesterday, I perused some vacation/holiday rentals in Cleveland, near the hospital, at VRBO. Countless lovely properties are available within one to three miles, perfect for our needs. The hotels are more expensive than the rentals, and it would be better for us to stay in a house with full facilities.

Oddly, I am at peace, not worrying and feeling hopeful for the future. I was more stressed when I didn’t know my fate. I have accepted this reality and will proceed with optimism and confidence that I will be in good hands.

No words can explain how grateful we are for all the beautiful messages from our readers/family/friends. I spent the first hour when I sat down to do the post, answering many messages we received, primarily email and many online comments. Because we’re getting ready to leave, I won’t be able to reply to everyone.

But I want you to know I have read every single message and will continue to do so. How thoughtful and kind of all of you. Our readers are the best in the world. No doubt, your messages are uplifting.

Dinner is prepped for tonight, and I don’t have much to do today besides walking and exercising. I’m glad I got an early start on the packing. All is good.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, March 29, 2014:

The past 24 hours flew by in a flash. We had a great day, following our usual routine with pleasure and smiles on our faces. The six-pound roasted chicken came out perfectly after being in the oven for three hours. It was much tastier and healthier than the pre-roasted rotisserie chickens found in most grocery stores.

In years past, we’d buy rotisserie chickens from markets, but the list of the most unhealthy ingredients has steered us away from this “convenience food.” Many of these chickens contain wheat and starches that may not be suitable for those with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity. Also, the inclusion of countless chemicals to enhance flavor and preservatives is alarming.

Prepping the chicken for the oven took me no more than 10 minutes, and most of that time was spent slicing white onions into chunks, cleaning whole portabella mushrooms, and peeling carrots to add to the roasting pan. Then, I seasoned everything in the pan with fresh garlic, garlic powder, onion powder, coarse ground pepper, and mixed barbecue spice seasoning.

I set the timer on my phone to preheat the oven and start the chicken cooking three hours before eating. As expected, the chicken was so large that tonight, we’ll have the other half for dinner. We’ll repeat this meal Sunday for Easter dinner using the second, much smaller chicken since that will be our last homemade meal at the condo since we’re leaving Monday morning.

I thought I’d begin packing this morning, but I’m not ready to start the process. Once tomorrow’s cardiac ultrasound and subsequent doctor appointment with the results from the test are done and I have a verdict on whether I need another open heart surgery, I’ll be committed to begin packing.

I don’t know why it is necessary for me to be motivated to begin packing, but this idea stuck in my mind when the appointment was made three weeks ago. It’s been a long wait, and I’m anxious to get this over with. The waiting has been awful since we were in Ecuador, and the cardiologist told me I needed surgery on my valves in the next few months. That was in November, and at that time, I became motivated to get signed up for Medicare with a good supplement plan.

Signing up for Medicare while we were in the US was imperative, as it required signing documents and sending them by snail mail. Now that both Part B Medicare and Aflac’s Plan G supplement are in place and effective since March 1, I have peace of mind knowing this is now in place.

Also, I wanted a second opinion from a US cardiologist to determine if, in fact, I needed more heart surgery, which I dread with more angst than I can describe.

As for tomorrow’s post, since I am leaving for the test and doctor’s appointment at 7:30 am, I will prepare the post when I return to the condo. I haven’t asked Tom to go with me. There was no point in him sitting around for two hours and making the Uber ride up and back with me. I am fine going on my own.

Regardless of the outcome, I will post it tomorrow, but it may not be available online until a few hours later than usual. Of course, I will share the outcome with all of you.

Thanks for all the positive thoughts and prayers from many of our readers and friends. You all mean the world to us.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, March 26, 2014:

We’ve both been working on getting more sleep over the past week. I never knew how much control we could have after we’d exhausted most of the suggestions we’d read online. Our last resort was to change our sleeping and rising patterns to adjust our biological clocks, which had been off for the past two months.

In a way, it was comparable to jet lag without the unusual daytime symptoms. Only our sleep was impacted. Could spending so much time in the US after being away for so long have precipitated this peculiar situation? It’s not perfect yet since we need to awaken a lot earlier than we are, but making the change of allowing ourselves to get ample sleep in the mornings has lessened the middle of the night-awakenings.

Last night, we both slept eight hours, with only a short awakening at around 2:00 am and 3:00 am, respectively. We feel so much more alert today as this process has progressed in the last week. Hopefully, we can continue on this path when we move along a week from today, heading to Arizona.

Arizona’s weather is similar to the weather in the deserts of Nevada. We’ll be traveling from one desert to another. Although I apply lots of moisturizers daily, I can feel the dryness on my skin. I’ve never had a problem with dry skin other than when we stayed in and around Las Vegas. There will be no relief until we get to Minnesota in about two months, which is known for its humidity.

Early this morning, while still in bed, I noticed a call on my phone reminding me of my ultrasound on Wednesday morning at 8:15. I didn’t answer since I didn’t want to awaken Tom, who’s usually up and about by 6:00 am. Once up, I returned the call to confirm I would be there on time. I didn’t want to assume they’d think I wasn’t keeping the appointment. Confirmed, I had peace of mind.

On Wednesday morning,  I’ll set my phone’s alarm to 6:30 so I won’t be rushed getting showered and ready for the day. Getting up so early and being on my way in the Uber by 7:30 will be challenging. Plus, I don’t know how long it will take for Uber to pick me up. I’ll likely contact Uber at about 7:10 since Lake Las Vegas is a less popular pickup location than rides closer to Las Vegas.

When our groceries arrived yesterday, we received the two chickens I ordered. I planned to make one today and the second one on Easter for some semblance of an Easter dinner: roasted chicken with vegetables, rice, and salad. Oddly, I noticed the two chickens were utterly different sizes; one was a little over three pounds, and the other was over six pounds.

With all our meals accounted for this upcoming week, with one night out to dinner at Luna Rossa, this large chicken will result in two meals instead of the one night we’d factored for each of the two chickens. Tom eats white meat while I eat dark meat, which usually results in a tiny chicken for one night’s meal. This upsets our calculations for the week, but we’ll figure out a way to finish the larger chicken.

Sorry for the trivialities of our daily lives. We realize they’re not very interesting at times, and we surely appreciate our loyal readership, every one of you. Also, we appreciate all the positive feedback. We seldom receive “hater’s” comments, making these days of mindless drivel easier to write. Sure, we’d prefer an endless stream of fantastic photos and stories, but this is life for most of us…it’s not always an adventure.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, March 25, 2014:

A guide offered to take our photo in this sunny spot at Jardin Majorelle, a botanical garden in Marrakesh, Morocco. For more photos, please click here.