ArizonaButterfly

Another peaceful picture taken in Oro Valley. Don’t be fooled by the beauty though. The humidity when I was there was in the high 80%s every day, making it not as comfortable as you might imagine.

I’ve been having a difficult time breathing lately. My guess was the increased difficulty was a result of the less-than-stellar air quality we’ve had lately, coupled with the humidty settling in the past few days. After consulting with my doctor, I was sent home with a new inhaler and a nebulizer. Unfortunately, neither of them seem to be helping, nor is sleeping half-sitting up. I find myself coughing and gasping in regular intervals throughout the day and night. And, it’s not worse at night as has been the case with asthma (for me) in the past.

So after calling in late last night, I went in for a CT scan, a scope thing (I can’t remember the name) and full blood work up beginning before the sun rose this morning. Whichever doctor is on call will be giving me a call later today if the results are back. Until then I have my old inhaler back (for emergencies) and no nebulizer (since it wasn’t actually helping anyways). Any other medicine or treatment will depend on the results.

[It's amazing to me that they really "can" get results back that quickly when they push it. Because normally I'd be waiting 4-6 days (at a minimum) to find out anything.]

The picture is from earlier this month when the moon was almost full. I’m trying to learn to take better pictures when it’s dark. I’m leaving for Tucson around 8 p.m. Which is considerably earlier than the original plan of 10:45 p.m., but still later than I wish it were going to be. I’ll be in Tucson until Wednesday afternoon. Lucy was not happy to see the suitcase come out this afternoon.

I have a headache. Some days I really feel like a failure. I like to tell myself that it’s just a “moment” and that things really have turned around, but I’m not always sure.

Since I wasn’t convinced this morning that I’d fully recovered from the flu, I pretty much puttered around the house. Most of it involved cleaning, which generally involves moving furniture in my mind. I just think it’s easier to really clean if the furniture is being repositioned as well. Lucy, as you can tell by the picture, puts up with it, but she really doesn’t like it. Luke and Cotton just hide when the vacuum comes out, although Cotton has gotten a bit braver about it all recently. They were interested when I was cleaning off the top of the refrigerator; however I’m sure it was because that’s also where I keep their dog treats. I’m glad that John and Sarah are coming home today from their vacation in Chicago. It will be nice to have them back. Lucy and I drove out earlier today to check on their house for the last time before they get back.

I could smell it before I heard about it or saw the smoke from the fire burning on this side of the valley. This picture is from yesterday before it got considerably larger thanks to the wind. The news reports indicate a lightening strike started it; we certainly didn’t get any rain along with the lightening. After their experience last week, the boys were very reluctant to go outside this morning because of the smell. I don’t blame them at all.

While he’s happy to be in the house, Cotton still refuses to come near me. He does this everytime I’m gone for a few days. Luke, on the other hand, has been at my side since I returned home.

The burned tree is being removed today. My neighbors were a little irritated that I took a picture of it, but since I did it from my side of the fence, they’ll just have to live. I’m not sure why they waited until 11 a.m. to start it either, but that’s their business. (It was 96F at 8 a.m.)

I watched No Reservations and Juno earlier today while I was doing laundry and cleaning a bit. Since they irrigated yesterday instead of Tuesday as they normally do, mowing is out of the question for this weekend. Irrigation yesterday is also why I’m cleaning “a bit” since evertime the dogs come in they track in dirt with them.

Remember me writing about the neighbor’s burning their tree while there parents were at work? Here’s a few pictures from the fence up.