After these horror stories, I have nothing to contribute. Except, I made bread and took a nice fresh loaf all wrapped up i a tea-towel to my very bestest mother-in-law. She was so happy because she hadn't gotten her baking done and--well you know the rest.
We went outside to look at her flowers, came back in and the bread and the tea-towel were gone. There was a mangy old dog hanging around the back door and we followed him. In the garden we found a freshly dug hole--dug it up and sure enough--there was my pretty tea-towel and the remains of my beautiful loaf of bread.
My sweet mother-in-law picked up an egg-sized rock and threw it at that dog. Hit him on the left hind flank and he went yipping away.
This morning while I was getting DH dressed he kept looking at something over my shoulder. Finally he said, Ok, now he is moving his head up and down. I looked up to see that he was watching a shadow on the wall...me, getting him dressed.
Last Wed. my DH harvested my 4 gourds. The stems could have been a bit longer, but at least they still had them. Later in the day, he suddenly ordered me to the table where he'd spread a newspaper and put scissors and cord. He brought in the gourds and told me to get the strings on so he could hang them up in the garage. I did. He hanged them "so they don't touch each other." Then he told me "They're hanging. Just don't bump the garage. You don't want to make them fall." alrighty!
Yesterday we were watching Oprah, and she did a fashion show of current shoe styles for women (over-the-knee boots, stilettos, shoes with ruffles, peep toes, etc.). Somehow, DH kept looking at his shoes and thinking that the styles that were being suggested should apply to him. I had to reassure him that the shoes he was wearing were perfectly ok!
Some of my experiences seem funnier looking back than they did at the time they happened. Yesterday morning, my DW announced that she didn't have any panties to put on. Not just any clean panties, but NONE at all. Now, she has bought these off and on and even recently, and has always had am ample supply. But, sure enough, there weren't any and she didn't know why. My conclusion is that she probably through them away instead of putting them in the laundry.
Well, she goes to day-care on Tuesday, so after I took her there, I simply looked at the size of the one remaining pair we had in the dirty clothes, and proceeded to go buy several pair of new ones. Brought them home before I picked her up, took off the tags, folded them neatly and put them in her drawer. This evening, she put on a pair of the ones, and never knew or asked the difference. Good for me.
But, this was my first purchase of such and I didn't enjoy it. There weren't any sales ladies anyplace that I could find, and I felt like the other ladies that were shopping suspected that I was just enjoying looking thru the mdse and feeling around on it. I hurried, made my purchase and got out of there.
Oh Well what's next? PS: Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can avoid her discarding these in the future. Besides not wanting to buy them again, they are more expensive than I thought they would be.
Dean-- You now know the size, and you know the style she likes. You also know whether they're cotton or nylon. Given the danger of her tossing them, check for packages of Brands like Fruit of the Loom or Hanes. The come in the sizes, styles and fabrics,but are multi-pack--usually 3 or 6 pair, and are less expensive. There's usually a rack with packages hanging. No sorting through garments. Check for the style, suze and fabric, take the pack and walk away. Try to think of it the way you did in the early days when she needed feminine products but was home with the baby and you had to do the shopping. Hope this helps.
Order on line the way most of us do. go to: www.Hanes.com. Less expensive than the stores and the very same product. Bless your heart...you're the man!
I second Nancy's suggestion to buy online, if you know her size you are all set! On second thought, there is usually a link with instructions for measuring for size. It is also a great way to buy on sale too. Most stores such as Walmart, Kohls, etc have great online sales, often with free shipping!
Thanks to all of you ladies for your advice. I wonder if I should have asked for advice before I even tried this. A while back tho, some of the men were asking for advice on this and other subjects inre caregiving for women, and some of them made this purchase sound easy. Just go to the store and explain your circumstances to the sales lady and have them make the selection for you. Then tip them for helping you. Sounds easy, but, I couldn't find any sales ladies.
Marilyn: I think you make a good point. Some way, or another, I've got to find out where these are going.
Carosi: Your comparison to earlier shopping for necesities brings back memories. That was a long time ago, and I didn't like that either. Used to try to wait until no other customer was at the check out counter so no one would see what I was buying. Also remember (a long long time ago) when condoms were kept out of site and you had to ask for them. Never liked that either.
How times change. The young people today could not imagine how things were. They wouldn't understand. Maybe that was a good time of innocence or maybe it wasn't, I don't know.
DW has gone back to bed so I will go rake leaves for a while. Hope all of you have a good day.
Yesterday, I prepared a chicken cutlet for my spouse before I left for work. I put it on a plate, covered it with plastic wrap and placed it on top of my rotisserie. Jack (a personal friend whom I pay) comes at 2 pm every day. I called from work and told Jack, very specifically, about the plate of chicken, where it was, etc. and that he should give it to DH for lunch. Jack said, "Oh yes, I see it."
When I came home, much to my surprise, the plate of chicken was still on top of the rotisserie. I called Jack and asked if DH had given him a hard time about it. He said, "He wouldn't eat it. He wanted no part of it, so I put foil on it and put it in the refrigerator."
Confused, because the chicken was still on the rotisserie, I hung up the phone and looked in the fridge. The bowl he had put in and covered with foil was a bowl that had been on the counter ... that contained flavored bread crumbs with crumbled fried onions, which I was planning to use later on.
Apparently, he gave that to DH, who put milk in it, and decided he wanted no part of it. Thank God. Can you believe it? Now, I feel like I'm going home to two DHs. Alrighty!
I think I'll skip preparing lunch and just keep leaving two fiber bars on the counter.
Dean, we've spent many years buying our husbands' underwear! Turn about, fair play. Maybe you should drop by Victoria's Secret - they're used to men shopping for women's undies THERE! ;-)
(seriously, whatever you buy, don't spend a lot of money on it; sure as you do it will get lost, trashed, whatever!)
I go to the Dollar Store to buy my mothers underwear. They are very inexpensive, like 5 dollars for three pair. They aren't the best quality but if they get thrown out, no great loss. My DH has been throwing his in the trash but I just pull them out and wash them. He will throw them in the can even if they are just wet.
Different subject: I have been putting my peelings and organic materials in the sink in a bag until I'm ready to take out to the compost pile. Yesterday I saw DH at the sink being very secretive and when I went to look, he was eating the saved junk. He had an old onion skin trying to tear it with his teeth. So, no more saving the stuff in the sink for the compost pile.
Dean, you get a gold star! I would have done what you did also. But the advice here is good - now that you know what she likes and wears (since she's not ready for Depends), I would order online in the future.
Briegull, I am uncomfortable in Victoria's Secret!!!!! I can't tell you why, but whenever I've gone in there with my daughter-in-law, who buys her things there, I hurry right back out!
I do my shopping of undies at Vanity Fair's outlet store in Branson once a year!! I get them for $3.00 each and consider myself very fortunate.
DEAN, - I'm the one who suggested that you shop on line at Hanes.com. Just for a drill, I went on line and checked - There are two sections you can click on, one is Panties and one is Briefs. - Most of us wear BRIEFS, the panties are the cutsy little bikini types.
I thought I would alert you to this....because I wouldn't have thought to click on anything but panties if I were a man. so...look at "BRIEFS"...they're the "granny panties". haha.
Weejun - Thanks for asking. Actually, it was going to be an experiment. I bought a large bag of French's Fried Onions and decided to crumbled some and mix into my bread crumbs. Then I was going to use this mix to make chicken cutlets. Nothing exotic.
My main problem is making cookies. The only ones I ever made that were good were from the recipe on the packet of Butterscotch Morsels. I tried them again a while ago and they were like rocks. LOL. I stick with pies and cakes WHEN I bake which isn't often anymore.
I'm having fun using Panko bread crumbs. They make wonderful cutlets and are great for breading fresh fish. I noticed that they come in flavors,(garlic/herb/etc.) but I've only used the original plain ones.
Jean - cookies have to be taken out before they are completely cooked. I do that and let them 'rest' on the cookie sheet a couple minutes. By then they are done to the soft cookie stage.
Lois, I have bombarded Weejun with info on Japanese Bread, their second largest consumed staple. You will find these Panko crumbs will be good in meatloaf or meatballs.. Lots of things, because they don't "pack" like Progresso bread crumbs.
I use Panko because I like my meatloaf to look like all 'meat" without chunks of crackers. I have used finely crushed saltine crackers when I didn't have anything else. I've known people who used white bread, diced into small pieces.
I soak oatmeal in milk (I use vanilla soy milk) add eggs, sage, onions or onion powder and ground turkey then top it with apricot or orange preserves mixed with brown sugar. I put it in a square pyrex, with a shot glass in the center and microwave it for 15 mins. It comes out really moist and delish!
I had an Italian neighbor years ago tell me only crushed crackers, so I have used crushed saltines ever since. I do like to also add some oat bran into and cut back on crackers. I figure then there is something nutritious besides the green peppers, onions and Italian seasons she taught me to use.
I use whatever, like panko for all kinds of things. Lately I've been cutting up my husband's orange for him, and he's thanked me by not eating but half of it. So I was making turkey burgers the other evening, and there were a couple of wedges of orange. I squeezed them in and they really did brighten it. Not sweet, just brighter. Today I didn't cut it. He did, carefully, and ate it all! Shows ME!
Our jet plane When Siem and I drive to visit our son and family, I point out all the familiar landmarks along the way: a building that we like, an overhang, a wide river, a tree-lined canal, a modern sculpture. I do this to pass the time (an hour) but also to reassure him that we are on the right road, because although I've driven this many times, he does not trust my navigation one bit and objects at every exit that I'm taking the wrong road. Our favorite landmark is a jet fighter plane that has been put up near the exit to a former US air force base. The plane is slanting upwards, looking as if it is perpetually just lifting off into the wild blue yonder. He likes to see it first and point it out to me, and then we know it is just ten minutes to our destination. Some time ago it was on the news that the US was abandoning the base. There was no mention of the jet; we worried that it might belong to the Air Force and they might take it with them. But fortunately it has remained on its little hill beside the highway. Well, yesterday when we left home to make this trip the sun was shining but we were not long underway when we found ourselves in a dense fog. Not so bad that I felt unsafe on the road, but most of our landmarks were completely invisible. No windmill in the distance, no Rhine River under the bridge and no jet plane on the hill. But we got there anyway.
By the time we headed home in the afternoon the fog had cleared, and I was battling the low sun that was shining right into my eyes. I could hardly see the road in front of me, let alone any landmarks. But Siem was anxiously watching for the jet. At one point he thought we had already passed the spot, but I said, "No, I think it's just beyond that next flyover." And then there it was, in all its glory, with the sun shining on its silver wings. Siem saw it first and I heard the relief in his voice when he said "Oh there it is, they brought it back!"
This evening while DH was doing his restless walking with his walker he decided to kneel down on the floor. He does that occasionally to "rest his back". I was walking behind him and asked him how he was going to get up, which hasn't been a problem until today. He worked and worked and finally said when he got up he was going to leave. I said OK.
This just happened a few minutes ago. Lately, when my husband goes to bed he forgets to take his glasses off. So I always reach for them and say "Honey, I'm taking your glasses off and putting them on the nighttable." Tonight I just said "Honey, I'm taking your glasses off." To which he replied, "Well, I'm going to need them back." Don't know why this struck me funny, but it did.
Sometimes when we watch TV, I wonder how much my husband absorbs. We just saw a big story on Tiger Woods' multiple mistress problems, and Jay Leno told some kind of joke about Woods not knowing he shouldn't play the 19 hole. Got a really big laugh from Steve--I guess jokes involving golf and sex are still on his radar!
I was out of the house for about an hour this morning. When I came back, DH told me the Army had called! I asked what they wanted and he said he wasn't sure, but guessed they wanted him to sign up again. I asked what he told them and he said he told them he had ALZ and couldn't join up right now! A alrighty moment!
I had applied for Aid and Attendance sometime back; they e-mailed me that they would contact me. Their number was on my caller ID so I called - however, I had to have an extension - which was not on my caller ID. Found another number and called, but she couldn't give me any information on who had called. She did take my cell phone number and put it in their computer with a note that I had called back and to use the cell number. I'm almost glad I wasn't home - at least they know he has ALZ now!