April 1st, my First Light cactus bloomed, the first cactus to bloom in our yard this Spring. My April Fool's joke this year was telling everyone that I dyed my hair red. I even photoshopped a picture of myself. Many people said they liked it and fell for it! Paul told me he does not want me to dye my hair red or cut it short. The hummingbird moths are back in our yard. They like to hang out on our lantanas. They were there every day for a week or two before we got them cut back and before the heat came.
Paul and Nathan went to Cubs spring training game on 4/2. I chose not to go because it was supposed to be hot and I didn't want to sit out in the sun. I guess the seats he got ended up being in the shade most of the time, though. Cubs lost :( I went back to the Desert Botanical Gardens while they were at the game.
On 4/5, I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens, Reid Park Rose Garden, Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens and Pima Prickly Park.
The prickly pears in our yard started to bloom 4/6.
I went to Saguaro National Park and the Desert Museum on 4/7.
4/8, my First Light bloomed again, my white cactus bloomed and my hot pink cactus bloomed. I also saw claret cups in the median in Oro Valley.
I saw some cactus flowers in the median by Oro Valley Hospital on 4/9. More of my First Light cactus flowers opened up as well as another white cactus flower and my June Noon.
I went to see the Oro Valley Hospital cactus flowers in the medians, Tucson Botanical Gardens, Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens and Pima Prickly Park on 4/11.
I went to the Lord's Supper at church on Tuesday, 4/12. We believe Jesus died the next day since the Bible says he died and rose again 3 days later. If we celebrate his resurrection on Easter Sunday, then he had to die on Wednesday not Good Friday. The tomb was empty Sunday morning so he arose Saturday night.
Easter was on 4/17. Nathan and I went to church.
I went to Tohono Chul Park, Tucson Botanical Gardens, Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens, DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun and Green Things Nursery on 4/18.
I went to Pima Prickly Park 4/19.
I went to Pima Prickly Park 4/20.
My hot pink cactus flowered 4/23.
I went to the Reid Park Zoo to see the baby meerkats and Reid Park Rose Garden 4/25.
I went to the Desert Museum and Saguaro National Park 4/28/22.
I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens and Pima Prickly Park 4/29/22.
My First Light cactus bloomed again 5/2/22. I also saw a Great Horned Owlet in the nest in my neighborhood!
I went to Bach's Cactus Nursery and Tohono Chul Park 5/3/22. My June Noon and hot pink cacti bloomed that day, too.
On 5/4, I went to Tohono Chul Park and Reid Park Zoo.
I went to the Desert Museum and Saguaro National Park on 5/6. I also took some more pictures of the Great Horned Owlet in our neighborhood. That night we went for an early Mother's Day dinner at Vivace.
5/8 was Mother's Day. Nathan went to church with me. Afterward, Paul cooked out.
I had one bloom open on my First Light cactus 5/10. That one stayed open the next day and two more opened.
I went to Tucson Botanical Gardens and the Reid Park Rose Garden 5/12.
I went to the memorial service for Belinda Davis at church on 5/13. Afterward I made a quick stop at the Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens 5/13.
On 5/18 my Apricot Glow cactus had 3 flowers, my new flying saucer had 2 flowers and my June Noon had a flower.
On 5/19, 2 of my new Argentine Giant Big Bertha flowers tried to open. The underside (outer petals) didn't look good. I am going to keep this cactus in the shade and hope it flowers better next time. I went to Bach's Cactus Nursery and found a pretty June Noon hybrid cactus so I bought that one. I also went to Tohono Chul Park and the Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens.
My white cactus with the green underside bloomed on 5/20. That evening we ended up taking Paul to urgent care. He hasn't been controlling his diabetes the last couple of years. Lately he has felt very tired and he's been losing weight. He was in the 160s a couple of years ago and now he is in the 130s. A lot of that weight he thinks he has just lost since the first of this year. They checked his blood sugar at urgent care and did an EKG. His blood sugar was 280. She also thought she heard a heart murmur so she referred him to a cardiologist. She gave him one month prescriptions for Metformin and Simvastatin. She told him to stop taking the Trulicity insulin he started again a couple of weeks ago, one because it is expired and two because she didn't want him taking too many meds all at once until he follows up with a primary doctor and endocrinologist.
Paul got an appointment for today, 5/24, to see a nurse practitioner at his former primary doctor's office. They did some bloodwork and took a urine sample. They are going to do a chest xray, a colonoscopy, etc... They are going to be checking for different cancers like prostate and thyroid. He has a follow up appointment with them on 7/1.
Paul has a cardiologist appointment set up for next Tuesday, 5/31. He also has an appointment set up for the endocrinologist on 7/28. They are sending him a lab work order and he is supposed to get that done 2-3 weeks before his appointment.
We are supposed to go to Hawaii 6/14-6//27. We have already paid for most of it, but we are hoping that Paul will be well enough to go. Hopefully, we will find out some more answers about his health before our trip. He has been watching his diet, taking the meds that urgent care subscribed and going to see all of these different doctors. His blood sugar has been fluctuating the last several days. It has mostly been in the 200s. At one point yesterday it was in the 300s. This morning it was down to 180, but then went back up to the 200s after he ate breakfast. His blood pressure was a little high today, too, upper 130s over upper 80s. He's been having trouble going #2, too, only going like once a week. So he has a lot going on and we need to know if it is all related to the diabetes or something more. Hopefully, he can get his blood sugar better controlled and there is nothing else seriously wrong. The pandemic hit a couple of years so doctors weren't really seeing patients. His company got bought out around that time and work has been stressful ever since. So he stopped going to the doctors, stopped taking his medications and ate whatever he wanted. Now he is paying the price. We are praying that neglecting his health did not cause irreversible damage.
Nathan finished the 4th quarter of 6th grade with a 89.6 GPA! He just made honor roll! He needed 89.5 or above. He got a 84 in History/Geography, 91 in Science, 92 in Math, 88 in Latin, 93 in English, E (exceeding the standard) in Art, E in Music and M in P/E. He had his honors assembly today on 5/24/22. Yesterday they had a field trip to the Reid Park Zoo. He said a lot of it was closed off because they are doing construction/expansion. After the honors assembly they went to Harkins to see Fantastic Beasts and the Secrets of Dumbledore. Wednesday they have a Field Day at the school. Thursday, 5/26 is his last day and they have a half day. They are having a classroom pizza party. That night he goes over to the Academy of Math and Science to do a math placement test for next year. My hairdresser and Wendi at church recommended this school. We had applied to Legacy and Twin Peaks Elementary, but he was on a waiting list for both of those. This school is further away on Prince Road, but it is supposed to be a pretty good school. Nathan just wants to get out of his current school. So we will see how he does at this school next year. I hope he likes it and does well.
