My Journey: Normunds

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Normunds

Had my follow up with Dr. T. and Jason yesterday. All my counts look good, maybe the best yet. My fatigue lately is to be expected, according to Jason, who compared my situation now to hitting Heartbreak Hill at the tail end of the marathon (Boston Marathon of course, which will be run this Monday). But then again, I'm almost done, so no complaints here.

We got home yesterday afternoon around 4 PM. Nancy went food shopping while I crashed. Jill and Normunds got in late last night to find the parents sound asleep. Besides being a talented artist, Normunds is a very skilled woodworker whose day job is building furniture. He is also a great guy, a loving husband and wonderful son-in-law. He and Jill would be terrific parents (hint, hint). Normunds loves to help when he's here, whether it's cooking, which he's very good at, or fixing things (there's always a candidate or two for fixing at this house). I knew he'd want to help me repair the damage to the house from the tree but I really wanted them to just relax and enjoy themselves. Plus we hadn't seen them in a long time. Normunds had different ideas. According to Jill he talked all the way up about the projects he wanted to do when they got here, basically fix everything that was damaged. Well, needless to say I didn't win that argument. Jill and Normunds went out after breakfast and bought a new post and four new rails. Normunds then spent the next three hours rebuilding the fence with my sort-of help, while Jill and Nancy worked on cleaning up the yard. Jill also took pictures of the work in progress (she works several nights a week as a photographer for Madison Square Garden, shooting Knicks, Rangers and Liberty games; her day job is in publishing). The fence looks great, and is more solid than it was before the tree hit it.

After the tree hit

Normunds wields the chainsaw

Getting a good fit

Almost done

Tomorrow Pete and family arrive for a visit and we'll say goodbye to Jill and Normunds. But only for a week. We'll see them next weekend at my sister's for Easter. Can't wait.

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MY ASSISTANTS

This blog, as well as this whole journey, would not be possible without my dedicated and highly capable team of assistants. To wit:

Editor Nancy This lovely young woman is responsible for checking my posts thoroughly for misspellings, syntax errors, omissions, or just plain bad writing. Any complaints should be addressed to her.

Nurse Nancy Though she is not really a nurse, she is always willing to research any problem that arises and to make a diagnosis. She is particularly good at contradicting a doctor's diagnosis if she doesn't like it.

Chef Nancy I'm very lucky to have a personal chef who is expert in a number of different cuisines that I love. In addition to Armenian food, which she learned from my mother, she makes wonderful Italian, Mexican and Indian dishes, as well, of course, as traditional American fare. She is not afraid to try cooking something new, though she always complains about how it came out (in spite of my protestations to the contrary).

Chauffeur Nancy One of the advantages of being sick is that I can kick back and relax on long journeys, while my trusted Chauffeur Nancy does the driving. Also, I get break from being back-seat driven.