Week Four and Holding

Fred, hanging with Mark Twain in the Library District  - Downtown Kansas City.

This would not have happened in LA.

Rough Night Home

It was a rough night home from the hospital.  Apparently, our maintenance man had flipped the fuse to fix the ice-maker and it stayed in the off position.  I did not come home -- spent every night in the hospital with Fred, so I had no idea.  We came home to a stinky fridge and no ice for Fred.  Cleaning a fridge and running out for ice were not what I felt like doing  -- at all.  We reported it to the leasing office and Amy and Vanessa had Kimberly (housekeeping) come by with ice and to help clean the fridge.  Then these sweeties went out and got us a card and a gift card to replenish our losses.  I will continue to say it.  We have been so blessed by the kindness of others.  A big thank you to our 45 Madison Family!

Off-gassing?

Fred is feeling so much better.  Yay!  Me, I have some lupus-like headaches and fatigue.  It makes me wonder if the VOC’s from new carpet in the apartment could be the culprit.  We’ve been here a month (already) and we have not been able to air the place out very well due to the weather.  I feel like it is causing me some inflammation and I am really hoping this is not a precursor to a flare up.  Also hoping it has not contributed to Fred’s incidents.  We are locked into a lease, but did ask if there were any apartments here without carpet.  The answer on that one is “negative.” So, we ordered an air purifier from Amazon and I’m giddy like it’s Christmas.  It should be here today.

MOPACA 2016 – When in Rome…

The MOPACA (Missouri Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association) Alpaca Show was just this last Friday through Sunday.  It was held at the American Royal Hale Arena – a little more than three miles from here.   I can’t remember the last time I made it to an Alpaca Show (try never) so we had to check it out.  We trotted on down to find a small arena housing alpaca ranchers with their make-shift alpaca stalls, a judging arena with ribbons based on fleece and conformation, and some vendors selling woven goods.  Who knew?

The closest alpaca farm listed on the MOPACA website is in Indpendence, MO – about 15 miles away, so it isn’t like we see these beautiful creatures all over the place.  The show had the Suri alpaca (which have dread locks reminding me of a komondor dog) and the Huacaya alpaca (which are like fluffy little camel/llamas).  The animals are quite valuable as they produce a large quantity of fleece which is softer and warmer than sheep’s wool.  Plus, it doesn’t have lanolin so it is considered hypoallergenic.  These guys were the sweetest, cutest things EVER.  Baby left with a new sweater, so the adventure had a double pay-off.

“Finder’s Keepers”

That’s the name of Stephen King’s new book.  It’s on the best seller’s list and Fred decided it’s the next book he has to read.  Why go to the same old library to check out a book?  We hit the Central Library in the Library District of downtown Kansas City, as it came highly recommended by the local librarian.  Built in 1895, this is a beautiful and historic building with a film vault in the basement that has been converted to a theater and a small garden on the roof. 

The highlight was an exhibit, Chasing Weather, that just opened Saturday.  It is a small collection of 17 of photographer and storm chaser  Steven Locke’s best shots along with Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg’s poems about wild weather.  Beautiful.

Side note:  Turned out the Central Library did not carry Fred’s book.  We had to head from there to the local library.  And ironically, once we got the book home, Fred discovered it was the second in a trilogy, so he had to turnaround and head back to the local library to find the first one.  They are transferring it over – hopefully today.  Ha!

John’s Big Deck

We arrived at the library a little early.  It was really too windy to hang around outside and wait for them to let us in so we spotted this place across the street.  We ducked in for a snack that was sub par on a deck that was meh.  All I had was some tater tots and I could not keep them down.  I don’t know why  I am surprised.  It’s a tale as old as time:  if someone broadcasts a big deck, well it’s guaranteed to be unimpressive. 

Signing off for now.  Ending with the hope that this will be Fred’s big week.