I can understand that. At some point you just want to do it before you get older and a recurring episode might expose more risk and make you weaker...physically and mentally. I have to think this is a decision women often make.
I wanted a double mastectomy when I had the first one but with IBC it is "not recommended" because they want to avoid any possible surgical complications and whisk the patient to radiation as soon as the surgery is healed enough. Then after going through it all I had no interest in returning for more torture so I let it rock along. I guess it has been long enough so that my "surgical memory" has faded. Plus I'm convinced that a lot of my back/neck pain is because I am "lopsided." I often notice that my surgery-side shoulder is slightly higher than the other side.
Today was a routine day... just putzing around. I did a little laundry and made 2 quarts of bread and butter pickles with cukes from the garden. We finally moved the window air conditioner back to the garage storage and I somehow got my finger mashed when placing it on the shelf. Since I recently had the biopsy I wasn't supposed to lift anything over 5 pounds for a week but I figure this was close enough. I told my husband (for the 43rd time this week) that "we are getting too old for this sh#t." I finally moved stuff back to the kitchen refrigerator freezer from the garage freezer. It was just too jammed full since we moved everything in there during the power outage. So things are finally pretty much back to normal around here. When I got my last grocery order, they included two bunches of fresh organic beets that I didn't order. I called them but they always say to just keep the stuff. Anyway, I decided to roast the beets today. I trimmed them, washed them off, and placed them on a baking sheet in a 375°F oven for about an hour. I peeled and ate one earlier and it was yummy. I forget how much I like beets, but I never buy them because I'm the only one who will eat them. I think I will start buying them, though. I've been thinking about our grandson, the 17-year old Marine. His birthday is coming up soon; he will be 18 and so far away from home. I wonder if he regrets rushing into the Marines, but he was determined. It was all he could talk about during his last year of high school and I hope he's not regretting it. He just seems so very young to me. He was just toddling around and suddenly he's wearing a uniform.
Things are pretty hum-drum around here lately, which I suppose is a good thing. Husband is finally wrapping up clearing out stuff from his mom's place, cleaning and painting. The last big chore was emptying her attic which was jam-packed. His siblings and a bunch of the grandkids all worked to finish clearing it out. MIL absolutely loved Christmas and had enough decorations for a mid-size city. So the final touches of paint and cleaning have been pretty much wrapped up and we expect to put it on the market next month. I spent the morning pulling up tomato plants and vines; by tomorrow I will have all of this year's vegetable garden totally removed. The garden was pretty much a disappointment this year with the invasion of bugs ruining everything. Plus, I'm getting too old to take care of so much stuff; I need to stick to a couple of tomato plants or just my Aerogardens in the dining room. I'm actually glad that I didn't get a lot of tomatoes and stuff because I don't feel like canning it. I managed to step in an ant bed so that pretty much ended my outdoor activities for today. I have managed to get back to regular exercise and feel better because of it. I walk a couple of miles a day, do a little bouncing on the mini-trampoline, and spend some time in the pool. My resting heart rate has dropped by at least 10 bpm in the past 6 months. My low-carb venture isn't going so well but it is what it is. I don't have blood work again until next February so I don't know if my glucose levels have improved at all. Not really concerned about it either. Man, I'm boring.
...and from the "It's Always Something" department, the refrigerator in the garage has died. RIP, Kenmore. It's a small-ish top-freezer fridge (18 cu ft) that we use for soft drinks, beer, bottled water, and the occasional watermelon. Also handy for holiday "main fridge overflow" so it is useful to have. I jumped online and ordered a low-end replacement Frigidaire from Lowe's; it's supposed to come tomorrow. The new one states "garage ready" whatever that means. We have always just put low-end (i.e., cheap) fridges out there and they do fine. We think the recent power issues (several days of power blipping on/off) finally did the old one in. It is still cooling but just barely. We checked the coils to see if they needed cleaning but they were pristine. Popsicles in the freezer are now slushies so I transferred ice cream to the big freezer. Lowe's is charging $29 to deliver and $50 to haul off the old one. That's annoying but necessary.
We have our old fridge in the garage as well. In the past we have obtained garage fridges from people who want to change but want to avoid the haul-off fee, usually because they are changing the color or style of their kitchens. We hauled them away for free. When they died, I cut them into small pieces with a Sawzall and put the pieces into trash bags rather than pay the disposal fee. My bad behavior.
I told my husband that I am not buying meat until I have used up all I have stashed in the freezers, which will be several months. I have always been a "buy it on sale" person and I have a ton of meat in vacuum freezer bags. I want to get down to a manageable amount of food in the freezers because it's silly to have so much for the two of us. Plus it's a real pain-in-the-butt each time we have a power outage to have to shuffle all that stuff around.
We can't put a fridge in our garage. It's located about 40 feet behind the house. Which makes it About a 150 feet from the street, the Ice Man Refuses to carry a block of ice that far. (giggle giggle)
Looks like the new fridge is "4 stops away." Supposed to be here before 7:30 p.m. We've got the old one ready to move out. It had some stuff stored on top and several things to be moved out of the way to clear a path. Our homeowner's insurance is due on Monday so I have it set to "auto pay" on Sunday. I hate paying them even one day in advance. The premium went up another $300 but from what I've been reading on Reddit we are lucky to still have insurance. Many people in the Houston area are having their homeowner's policies canceled and/or their carriers are "pulling out" of this market. We have had Allstate homeowner's for nearly 40 years but apparently they have no regard for customer loyalty. This insurance mess is certainly worrisome, particularly for home sales. I'm sure mortgage companies aren't going to hold mortgages on uninsured properties. Seems like things I've always taken for granted are on shaky ground these days.
We finally found An agent who has an insurance company that's willing to insurance after the fire. The Insurance company we were using Cancel our policy by the end of this month. I can understand if it was from Neglect that started the fire, It was an electrical fire That we have no control over. The house was gutted it's all new wiring and power box. The house is over 90% new.
Life seems to just be chugging along on autopilot these days. Nothing of interest to share; just the usual day-to-day. Today is our oldest grandson's birthday; he is almost finished with college and it seems like only yesterday that he was holding out those little chubby arms for "Gwannie" to pick him up. Grandchildren certainly are the icing on the cake of life. Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary. Thirty-seven years now... doesn't seem possible. I guess when you marry your best friend the time just seems to fly. I suppose we'll go to a steakhouse or maybe a seafood restaurant to celebrate. We are planning to finally take the trip to see my sister and some family in south GA, probably around the first of July. I hope we get there during peanut season; I will be thrilled to have some boiled peanuts!! I'm sure it will be hot and the gnats will be swarming. You can always count on "gnat misery" during a Georgia summer. I went to Walmart earlier today; just putzing around. I haven't been to Walmart in months so it was nice to wander around the "super center" and see what's new. Naturally I ended up spending $100 on stuff I had no idea that I needed. They had lots of nice fresh fruit and I picked up a fresh deli pizza to put in the freezer. The woman ahead of me in the checkout line left a bag of her groceries on the round-about thing. I told the cashier that the bag was not mine so I hope it was put aside for when the (pissed off) woman returns.