Blog | Gibby's Girl

There’s A Fungus Among Us

Where have Chucklebutt and Jiggle Puff been?! It’s been one wild and wacky summer full of MRSA, Valley Fever, kidney problems and atrial fibrillation. I can’t believe that September is upon us. I had such high hopes for the summer of 2011 — where does the time go? Actually, we are experiencing a pretty intense heat wave (115-118) so I think the summer of 2011 will probably last well into autumn. We’ve been staying pretty close to home ever since Chucklebutt was diagnosed with Valley Fever. For those of you who don’t live in the Valley, it’s not nearly as exotic as it sounds. It’s a fungus that lives in the dirt and effects the lungs. During the big haboob (God I love that word!) we were outside admiring all the chaos. Needless to say, that is NOT where one should be during a haboob. Sure enough, a week later Chuck was diagnosed and has been suffering ever since. He’s on anti-fungal meds and coughs consistently. Sometimes I just want to smother him with a pillow. He’s doing a lot better and the fungus is all but gone. Alas, he is still having breathing issues and now has a pulminologist. He’s on more inhalers than my residents and I think he’s developed asthma. A diagnoses is still up in the air and we should know soon.

Here’s Chucklebutt pre-fungus! Isn’t he cute? This was our one trip this summer — West Clear Creek Wilderness.

We drove up to Payson the Saturday before Memorial Day and hiked in Sunday morning. It was a perfect weekend.

I love the hike in — it’s the hike out that’s a ball buster!

This was our sweet camp site. There was absolutely no one around. We saw a few folks hiking out and they were jealous that they weren’t staying the night. Incidentally, when Chucklebutt and I got married six years ago, we registered primarily for camping supplies. This trip was the first time we had ever been camping together.

We had such a good time cooking freeze dried food and the best chili EVER!

Doesn’t it look wild? The one on the right is lasagna and it tastes just like lasagna. It’s magic I tell you!

The scenery is gorgeous in the canyon. Unfortunately, the water was ice-cold and took your breath away. Don’t worry, we still got our swim on. 😀

Can you tell I have MRSA in this picture? You know — the nasty staph infection that is immune to most all antibiotics? Yeah that’s what I thought. My dermatologist wasn’t too excited about me going camping, but I told him I’d wear some water proof bandages on my neck and it would be alright. It was. 😀

This was the path leading to our camp site. Dr. Livingston I presume?

I took this photo with the timer setting. It was hilarious trying to run with my pack and get in the picture on time.

Like I said, climbing back out is always a lot more difficult. We’re smiling on the outside, but crying on the inside. Super fun!

We encountered these cuties on the drive out.

Mooooooooo! I love that baby!

As far as the kidney problems, my sweet Scooter turned 13 in August. She has been getting thinner, and to make a really long story short, her kidneys are not functioning properly. She’s on a special diet and takes lots of liquid meds. Tomorrow she is having surgery to insert a “gift tube” into her back so it will be easier to give her fluids. She is feisty as ever and we are hoping to have her for a few more years. She is still beating up on the new cat (Mz. Kitty) and is bossy as ever. That’s what I use as a barometer — is she still willing to swat around the other members of the household.

In regards to atrial fibrillation, Mom has a surgery date of November 10th at the Cleveland Clinic. It’s been a slow process and Mom has gotten a bit discouraged. It’s as if we’ve all sort of put things on hold until her surgery. I’ll be sure to post pics soon of the Cleveland Clinic. If you got heart issues — that’s the place to be. We all went up in June for her consultation and the facilities are amazing!

Anyhoo, we’re plugging away as I’m sure most folks are. Hugs and Love!

Lazy Sundays

One of my residents recently turned me on to hibiscus tea. It’s not really a tea, per se, since it’s made from dried hibiscus flowers, but it is perfect for lazy Sundays.

It’s so good that even Chucklebutt enjoys drinking it. He stays far away from regular tea and is convinced that by the time I’m 60 I will have a plethora of kidney stones. I tell him it will be well worth it and to pass the lemon and sugar. 😀

Regular grocery stores don’t sell the stuff, but it you have a Latino market nearby, you will be able to find it there. They call it jamaica — pronounced ja-MIKE-uh, not like the country.

That’s what it looks like in the above left teacup. It’s super easy to make. Simply fill a medium sized pot with water and bring to a boil. Once the water starts to boil, turn off the stove and dump a handful of flowers into the water. Let steep for approximately 10 minutes. Unlike regular tea, you don’t want to leave the flowers in too long.

Before the mixture cools, I strain out the flowers and sweeten it with honey. My most recent batch, I got a little carried away with the honey so when I make a glass, I add about 1/3 a cup of cold water to the mixture and stir.

A special thank you to my sweet friend Jan for the super cute pitcher. She sent it to me a about year ago and I love using it. I love the style and the weight and of course the color — PINK!

You can’t really tell from this photo, but on the stem of our crystal ware is lily of the valley. These were Chuck’s mother’s and I adore them. Her sterling and china are also lily of the valley. I never got a chance to meet her – she passed away before I met Chuck – but I always feel a little closer to her when I use her dinner ware. Her crystal is perfect for a glass of hibiscus tea!
I hope that everyone had a nice weekend. Ours was pretty uneventful, but it was nice just hanging out and doing mundane things. We’re watching the new sci-fi series on TNT — Falling Skies. It’s the pilot, so the verdict is still out.

Thank you baby for the pics!