Late Check In. I finally got my new microwave and fridge. What a mess from the older fridge...it would not stop dripping water. I had towels all over the floor and tried to shove them in the places it was leaking. After they got it out I had a load of towels to wash!!!! We are going out for dinner because there is no way I am cooking. My back aches and I am tired. We will have to go to the store after eating so I can stock up again.
Therrja - that is great news. Hearing is so precious. Many baby boomers are finding out the price for the loud music. I have tried and tried to impress it on my son to no avail. He has the music loud even with his little kids in the truck. You can hear the bass as they come near. When we lived in a small town we could hear him as he entered town blocks away (this was before kids when it was louder). He just laughed it off. They were born with a congenital hearing loss (too much background noise they can't hear what is being said), his was not as bad but he still does not treasure his hearing.
Marsh - don't you wish you had known the benefits of massage when you were practicing medicine? I am so glad you finally got to get one and the benefits were so good. Keep getting them - you deserve them.
I am working on getting things listed and figured out for our trip to NH. We have the motorhome set to go in for the a/c, oil change, etc. next week. I would like to leave in a couple weeks. It will be twice the cost of flying but he wants to take it. It is a wise move as we have no one to leave the cat with for a couple weeks. My brother could let her out/in and feed her. We will see how the repairs go - that need done anyway.
Marsh, a relaxing massage? Good for you. I'm go glad that worked out, with the therapist coming to you. I hope you take advantage of the opportunity whenever you can.
Therrja, I was taken aback to find out how loud my big dogs sound when urinating in the yard, after I got the most recent pair of hearing aids. Shocking to think what we've missed. (-:
Good friday morning to all! i have been reading and catching up some but seems so many tasks occupy time now. i got my new blackberry phone finally mastered and can take/send pics, text and get online.. boy that was a hard little sucker to learn. my brain cells were spent on that one for over a week. then i got my new HP laptop. omg another round of fustrations just to learn to move the mouse!! hah. its so wonderful to see all the updated advancements no wonder we have so many techies here (G)
DH has good days/bad ones. mobility is nil and i am in constant vigilance over bedsores and skin issues now. i am so glad i have the male aide to bathe him now. things are moving and losses happen with lightening speed these days. sigh..
on a lighter not, miss squirrley continues her handouts and now has competition from scooby her own son.. haha. he got a taste of his very own peanut butter sammich and hes back to stake claim every afternoon much to squirrleys disgust. she is non receptive to the idea of anyone claiming her handouts. son or not. haha.. she scatters them off the balcony with precise energy and they know whose calling the shots -:) i think she has her boyfriend back as well. that cant be good.
it does seem as though we have a rash of sudden losses among our friends again. lots of * cropping up lately. hugs to all of them and to all my friends here as well. have a lovely friday and days to follow!! divvi
Need your prayers and thoughts today. Just got a message (I wasn't home) from my son who is on a flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Atlanta, to Emery Transplant Center- for his transplants! Since I haven't talked to him, that's all I know, but would appreciate your prayers. Don't know if I will get to go or not.
My husband's book is officially due out tomorrow, and here is one essay from it. (I may have sent it before, when I was first typing it up, but it has my favourite illustration in the book):
WIND WATCH In regard to air quality, there are several dangerous emissions, but none more life-threatening than farting during your own wedding ceremony. I deny that I speak from experience. But I have attended other social occasions where atmospheric conditions suddenly worsened, to accelerate departure of guests. Not my fault, I insist. I wear a deodorant strong enough to take on any uninvited gust. If I am required to attend some event at which other people are present, I restrict my diet to grub even blander than usual. Before a driver’s licence test, I may not eat at all. I have found that there is a fine line between being inoffensive and fainting from hunger. The frivolous fart is one of the strongest reasons for the older person to have a house pet. A canary may be too small to be a plausible source of an ill wind. A dog is more culpable, especially a large dog like The Great Dane. But the feed bill may blow you away. “That darned cat!” my elderly grandmother would exclaim. The feline learned to accept the libel. Even though it had been lying fast asleep at the time of the alleged crime. The wayward wind may help to explain the enormous popularity of the out-door cafe in cities like Paris, where the food is spicy and highly charged with potential to commit a major offence. As a student in that broad-minded metropolis, I still had difficulty accepting the fart as being a compliment to the chef. This reticence may be a Canadian trait. Strange, though, as we are blessed with the great outdoors. There have been one or two isolated cases of an outhouse being projected skyward. But we are better known for being withdrawn, rather than being effusive, at either end. Now, what about that relatively harmless effusion, the BURP? (Sorry about the capitals. Beans for lunch.) Okay, first we must distinguish between the burp and the belch. Belching is totally unacceptable, unless one has clear evidence that there is no other person, or sensitive wild life, within the immediate area. The burp, in contrast, is quite tolerable, socially, and may even help to break an awkward silence at a funeral. Much more horrid is the HICCUP. A spell of the hiccups can totally ruin a person’s air of insouciance. It may terminate an opera contralto’s career, if they take over the voice box during an aria. This though few in the audience would suspect a problem. Bystanders always rush to the aid of a hiccupper, fearing damage to the environment. These measures include: Slapping the face Pounding the back Punching the stomach Any or all of these responses may aggravate the hiccups into a full-fledged vomit. This will cure the hiccups but create a painful clean-up bill. It is wiser to allow the hiccups attack to subside of its own accord, even though this may take hours, days or quite tiresome weeks. Be prepared to change your vacation plans. The safest workout is to exercise caution. In moderation, of course. A couple of hours a day should keep the ill wind down.
Vickie, I have sent a prayer up for your son and you. I hope the transplants are a complete success and his health is restored. I am sure it is stressful for you waiting to hear something and it will be on your mind until you do. Blessings for all of you.
Vickie, hopefully this works well for your son and he comes out fine.
Mary, your husband was such a creative man with his words. Thank you for sharing them with us.
Today is Friday, the last work day of the week. I am looking forward to the weekend and hope to squeeze some real "me" time in there.
It has been difficult to see my husband lately. I am very sensative to people's energy levels. His does not feel right. I have a picture in my head of a person who is lying down with his soul half in/half out of his body with the soul reaching for another soul. A couple of weeks ago, I had a picture in my head of a group of people in an oval picture (deceased friends and family members) with several animals in front of them waiting. These pictures may be the result of a very creative mind and overactive imagination but it is very strange carrying them around in my head.
A nurse friend of mine (from training school days, 1948) took me to the symphony yesterday afternoon (Bach to Beethoven), and by closing my eyes, I was transported to a land of sunrises and sunsets, snow on the mountains, and small boats on the ocean. So, therrja, I find your pictures very interesting. It is wonderful for you to have that gift. Dear Divvi,I loved your posting and your word pictures of your squirrels. You are in my thoughts daily, and it was reassuring to hear how you are managing, which is, as always, magnificently.
We were posting at the same time, Divvi. He writes a few sentences every once in awhile, and still comes up with some quips that make me splutter my soup, but he's definitely on the slippery slope. Oh, by the way, my final mark in Philosophy 102 was "B', which is fair enough. I think you are supposed to present arguments in your essays, and somehow, I don't seem to be able to do that with these great men, Plato, Seneca etc. I'm more inclined to say, "All right, I'll go along with that." It would be like arguing with a teacher. However, I do argue with the teachers - maybe I lack the knack of writing a philosophy paper. Anyway, I did enjoy it and learned a lot and loved being with the 143 19-year-olds in the class . The prof. was great. Not keen on T.A.'s though. Will try to avoid large classes again because of them.
Mary75...SUCH a funny man!! About four years ago, my husband, John, put together his memoirs. Bless his heart, I can barely read his hand writing and one daughter (and an ex-wife) tried valiantly to type it all. I know a lot of the missive (about three hundred pages of stories over a 30-some year period of Ob-Gyn practice) is a bunch of hooey...not true. But the stories are so funny. I think I'll make an effort to do a little editing, substitute fictional names for the real ones, etc. and make it available at least to his children.
Today is so beautiful (S.Western Virginia)! Breezy, not too hot. I went to see my doc at the University of Va. My neighbor that helps me so much drove me and afterwards, we went to lunch at Michie Tavern (just down the hill from Jefferson's Monticello). Sat outside to eat from the lunch buffet, had a glass of wine, watched the tourists. I got so sleepy from the good food (and lots of it, the wine and the sunshine) that when I got home, I found it VERY hard not to go take a nap. BUT, lots to do before I leave tomorrow to visit my mom and dad. Hope everyone's day is going as well as mine....hopefully, MORE PRODUCTIVE, though. Wow, the birds are singing!!! Glad I can still look around and see, hear good things.
"Thank you all. He went to OR at 8 a.m.; called at 10 to say they are proceeding with surgery which should be completed between 4-6 this afternoon. All looks good so far! Thank you God!"
Son is out of surgery! Didn't have to go to ICU - is in his room! Everything working okay as of now, pancreas and kidney!! We will go down Monday and hopefully, we can spend more time with him then.
Thank you all for your prayers and support. Don't know what I'd do without you. Now just pray that DH will do okay on this trip. We haven't been on a trip in 2 years - but I'm going to try it! I need to do this.
WHY PAIN HURTS “Whom the gods love dies young.” (Menander, 342-292 B.C.) To prove his point, Menander died at fifty. His trenchant observation suggests that he probably had a back problem. Today, an aging population, afflicted with back pain, has made the fortune of the pharmacies that are a second home to seniors. We may have forgotten the name of a family member, but we keep our pharmacist’s name on the tip of our tongue. With a back-up tattoo on our wrist. Some of us supplement our pharmacist with a faith in God and Aspirin. Prayer and Bayer. Leery of multi-syllable medical terms. (For years I thought an analgesic was a painkiller you put up your ass. My doctor once suggested I have a colonoscopy. “How about a semi-colonoscopy?” I countered, spraining our relationship.) Thus encouraged to practice self-medication, I frequent the clinic formally known as the liquor store. Where I can purchase a therapeutic Australian wine without a prescription from my doctor. Alcohol kills germs, and they die happy. It may rough up my liver, the organ that produces bile, the disgusting source of bad temper. Good riddance! However, wine as a palliative is not indicated in certain situations, such as operating a vehicle or cleaning a firearm. Hence the genesis of the most prevalent palliative of our time: THE PAIN PATCH. I, personally, have done exhaustive research on the effectiveness of the pain patch and its relationship to premature aging. I have learned -- at some expense to my nervous system -- that applying the pain patch can put your blood pressure in orbit the original problem. The safety rules: 1. Never attempt to apply a pain patch to any part of your body without the presence of another adult, preferably someone with training in panic suppression. 2. Remove the plastic sheath from the pain patch. This should never be done in the presence of children, Reason: the delicate operation requires not only a cunning fingernail but the steady hand of an eye surgeon. NO ALCOHOL consumption for 24 hours prior to applying the pain patch. 4. Discard the sticky sheath. This is impossible, of course, unless you are three-handed. Most pain patch users park the sticky sheath on their forehead, where it may remain unnoticed for weeks if they lead a sheltered life 5. Apply the naked pain patch to whatever part of your anatomy hurts. Usually the back. The dorsal outback. The small of your back, which was never smaller. The maneuver requires exquisite timing. Indeed, the strongest argument for having a partner in life is to attend to our back, long after our front stops whining. To sum up: guys who have married a nurse have, statistically, a better chance of surviving their pain patch application. So long of course, as she doesn’t develop a drinking problem. Now, about the news of a birth control patch. Applied directly on a guy’s fly?…
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL THE MOTHERS IN OUR FAMILY!!!!
May each of you have a wonderful day and remember the good times...of pregnancy, childbirth, potty training, bike riding, starting school, homework, teenage years and driving and ...... did I say GOOD times???? <VERY BIG GRIN> (I enjoyed it, anyway!)
Mother's enjoy the day! We're mothers again. Today was a first: HB wasn't ready to leave for church on time. I'd told him it was time to get ready, and I thought he just planned to go casual. Since he can dress himself, I try not to interfere too much w/that. Our congregation is small and everyone knows him and situation. I got myself ready, and found him sitting in his chair dozing. Told him I'd bring the car to front door when he said he wanted to change shoes. WAITED. Went in house, he had a suit out and was slowing changing clothes. I told him it was too late; so he wouldn't need to put his suit on. Planning to attend a caregivers seminar at Purdue University next Wednesday. Daughter or granddaughter will stay with hb. He told granddaughter last week when she was with him that he doesn't miss me when I'm not there, but he feels better when I'm around.
Another one from husband's book. Hope you enjoy. SCRIPT TEASE
Computer use powers better writing skills (newspaper headline). Well, maybe so. But not in my experience. For me, computer use powers my swearing skills. I’ve learned several new words and phrases -- none of them publishable -- thanks to my computer. That is why this piece is being written first in longhand. With a low-tech pencil. A study in obsolescence. You, dear reader, may not be old enough to remember the pencil. Well, without going into leaden detail (ha-ha), the pencil was a pen with a cil. It was usually more portable than a laptop. Often carried behind the ear -- a visible token of literacy. Anyhow, this story elaborates on the writing virtues of the laptop, citing a group of British Columbia school students whose English scores improved by 30 percent, thanks to Bill Gates. I fear that this technological triumph spells the demise of handwriting, buried under the avalanche of email. Surviving only as crude notes taped to the fridge. A pity, this. Me being old enough to have suffered through elementary school periods of instruction in The McLean System of handwriting. Now, computer illiterate, I am stuck with an antique method of communication. Hunt-and-pecking my way to a reader. Lotsa luck, Pops. However, I have a more general concern about the evolutionary dominance of the laptop. Beyond the fear of its creating sexual impotence in males. The concern is this: Handwriting says more about the writer than the words it creates. It is involuntary revelation. The best kind! Perhaps not one that the mature writer would choose. But, for the reader, what revelation of character lies in the way his words’ letters lean forward (bespeaking a spunky nature), or his putting tippy tops on his tees (emotionally insecure). I’m not sure what my handwriting says about me, but I suspect that this ignorance is, if not bliss, benign. My script certainly lacks the generous aspect of my mother’s, with its curlicue capitals. My father’s hand was graphically constipated (no loose vowels), as he was an accountant by trade. Nobody in the family has written with the visual eloquence of Shakespeare, whose surviving personal documents (mostly legal) verify the flowering of the English language in his time. Can we imagine anything so elegant, so glorious, had Shakespeare written his plays on a laptop? (First he would have to get rid of the email spam. Which might put him in a mood to write Richard the Third, but we could forget about Romeo and Juliet.) It is my firm belief that a writer should put nothing on top of his lap except a secretary. If she looks creative. Yes, the piece you are now reading was first written in longhand, before my being obliged to transplant it in the computer -- a delicate operation during which it could die. I am much more comfortable writing out our household shopping list. In longhand. And really making a meal of marzipan.
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to every caregiver here. Male or female. Children or no children. I gave a card Mother's Day card to the staff of the nursing home today. They feed our loved ones, they bath them and dress them. They work hard to keep them safe and make them feel loved. If that is not a definition of a mother, I don't know what is.
Well, my daughter got over her 3 months silence and emailed me That made it a nice Mother's Day. Here's another one from my husband's book:
WHOSE GLOBE IS IT, ANYHOW? Okay, so global warming is going to desiccate the planet for future generations. Tough titty! Does anyone really believe that I am going to give up my gas-guzzling coupe, or replace my air-conditioning with a windmill, just to provide a livable environment for people to whom I haven’t even been introduced? Surely you jest? And what is this nonsense about deforestation being bad for trees? Defenestration, yes. I worry about being thrown out a window. Probably by a green activist. But forests and I have never been intimate. One tree, okay, I can relate to that. But if you get a whole lot of trees together, first thing you know you’ve got woods. Which -- and here I speak as a person often lost in one -- can be a frightening type of vegetation. I am also being urged to be concerned about the thousands of other species dying out every year, because I am not riding a bicycle. Dammit, I do not use an electric toothbrush. My teeth are green. Saving juice. Yes, yes, I can believe that thousands of other species are dying out every year. But none of them is man. Our species is more numerous than ever, as anyone knows that has to take the elevator to the office.
Just had a book collector (also UBC prof) come and take all my extra copies of Eric's books from over the past 60 years. (I think there were about 50 different titles.) He is going to sell the surplus books and donate the money to an organization for books for children in third world countries. In the process of cleaning out the cubby hole, I came across two large cardboard boxes of his newspapers columns (since the 1950's) - a real find; we've been looking for them for years. I'll ask Special Collections at UBC if they'd like them for his fonds.
I've gotten rid of all but about two shelves of math books, finally, Mary, about 800 books. Boxes going every which way. There are still journals that no one wants to take to recycling (sad) not to mention philosophy, history, type design, etc.. but the bulk is GONE!!! And after donating to three colleges, any number of charter schools (through one man), and selling a couple of hundred to a dealer in Iowa or somewhere, it's great to have them out of here!
mary75 and briegull-You have both inspired me to do something about the hundreds of books in my husband's office that he used for research. They are just taking up space and I swear the floor will collapse some day under all the weight. Some books he had ripped or cut up in a prior stage. That just depressed me. It would make me feel better if they found a home and I would have alot more room!
About 4 years ago, I overheard a phone conversation made by my husband to an escort service, and he was asking if they had special rates for seniors. He told me later that they didn't, and that the girl had just laughed. He said he was doing research. Here's something he wrote instead:
WHORE HOUSING Our exemplary welfare society, which provides so generously for other seniors’ housing, doesn’t seem to include a retirement home for prostitutes. Not all of whom can find a place in Canadian politics. This surely is shoddy treatment of ladies of the evening, whose calling spares untold numbers of “nice” girls a sexual assault that their freedom of movement and association would otherwise incite. Yet we provide for the pasturing of persons found in the bawdy house we call parliament. (From the French word parler, meaning audible issuance of hot air.) However, our parliament has given talking a bad name. One unsuitable for text such as this that may find its way into the school classroom. Suffice it to say that the operative word has the first syllable bull, then gets excretory. Now, it was once believed that, if people were allowed to express their dissatisfaction with their government by means other than holding their nose, they would eventually rid themselves of all forms of government, in a utopian state of anarchy. Why would so many men subject themselves to humiliation by the golf course, except to escape tyranny, by state, job or spouse? The rough is relatively smooth. I myself have never availed myself of the services of a prostitute. Not knowingly, anyhow. This despite a year-long residence in Paris, France, where so many of its admirers have experienced The Eiffel Tower as not the only memorable erection. Today temptation is much reduced, not only by my age but inhabiting a middle-class neighborhood where no one walks the streets except the postman. And he doesn’t appeal to me. However it does seem that virtue depends highly on one’s neighborhood. For a time I lived in a boarding-house area of London (England) where morals were pliable. This did test my sturdy Canadian inhibitions, founded on the notion that that foreplay was a tennis doubles position. But I must have been on the wrong floor. Rectitude was rampant. So I moved to a lodging in Knightsbridge, where knighthood was no longer in flower, having been eroded by the kind of profligacy that now threatens Toronto. The boarding house taught me that it is bad policy to be having separate sex with two women living in the same building. Unless the building is The Empire State. I saw myself as a good egg waiting to get laid. But soon found that natural charm was not enough. Men are such romantics! It is women who have both feet on the ground. Just because they are wearing spike heels doesn’t mean that they are a pushover. A physics lesson that should be taught in high school, at the latest. It is argued that it is morally better to hire a whore than to despoil a virgin. This is a hard choice that can make a man hesitant to wink even when he has grit in his eye. Fortunately, today there is less chance of a guy’s hitting on a virgin, unless he is hanging around a kindergarten. Anyhow, it seems a shame, in our welfare society, that there is no state-funded retirement home for old whores. Where they could buy drinks at a reduced price. But this is one crusade I am reluctant to embark on. A discretion endorsed by my wife.
I'm blessed! Last night our daughter and 3 of our granddaughters took me to see the documentary "Babies" showing in a town about 45' away. Then we went out to eat. Son-in-law, granddaughter w/great-grandson, grandson and granddaughter w/profound disabilities stayed w/hb. Everything went well! Tomorrow, if all goes as planned, granddaughter w/great- gs will stay w/hb while I attend at caregiver's seminar. Two outings in one week!!!
My husband did not collect much in the way of books but he did do it in the way of tools. I have been working on finding homes for the tools as most of them I don't know how to use and have no interest ing using. Clean-up and clean-out will be an ongoing thing for a while. I keep finding things in some very strange places.
Mary - he certainly has an interesting way of expressing his ideas. Thanks for sharing them.
Zibby, it is so good you can see both of the outings as a blessing. I am always so much on the go, that I sometimes forget that the simplest things can be a tremendous gift and blessing.
I have no children but do have a godson. I love cook & serve butterscotch pudding and it is an item that is not in all grocery stores. I had told my godson's mother about that one day. My mother's day gift was 2 packages of Cook & Serve butterscotch pudding and a lovely Mother's Day card filled out by my godson. It cost my girlfriend all of $5 but the value of that thought was priceless.
I am taking one of the dogs and two of the cats to the vet tonight. It always gets interesting when I go in with some of my four legged critters. Like a lot of us with very limited time, I find it easier to try and coordinate the vets visits among multiple animals - one at a time would be just such a hassel. So, 1 80 pound dog, 1 17 pound cat and a 6 pound cat who always throws up in the car and I will be going this evening.
Beautiful day in PNW today - not too hot, just right. We took the MH in to get and oil change (last one was in NH in 2006) and fix the dash A/C. After they fixed the a/c they found another problem with the electronic switch that stops hot water from going thru the a/c -- ka-ching, ka-ching!! Then the service guy told me he could do manual bypass that will cost half as much. I said go for it, so we will have to take it back next week. We were blowing time while they were working on it so went out to lunch. We tried a chinese buffet our son recommended. The food was OK but when Art bit into a sesame chicken he broke a tooth. It must have been a portion that got over fried on the edge - I know they can get hard as a rock. They gave us our meals free but now we have to pay for the tooth to be fixed. An expensive day.
I followed him in the motorhome but when it became apparent he forgot where we were going I had to get in front of him and redirect to the right direction. He drives fine but I found out last week that he doesn't remember how to get to many places. What he does is look for landmarks he recognizes to know how to get there. I am not sure how often this happens but probably quite often.
Sorry for all you who are having rain and cold. We are finally getting some warm weather this week. by the weekend the mid 70s.
therrja - how special. We all have our love language. Mine has always been action. Words mean nothing to me as my abusers used words. For me actions have always spoke louder than words.
After several days of nice weather here in Lancaster,PA.today was cold and damp.Had to start up the coal stove.But our farms are spectacular,one farm will be shades of greens and browns like a patchwork quilt and some have contoured fields,browns and greens and golds,As I come down the mtn,to get to a main hwy the sight is uplifting. Thes amish and mennonites sure know how to farm,we are so lucky to have them(sometimes).They also have such large families that Older relatives never have to worry about old age or sickness.They live with a different family every couple months,are very cherished.Must be the subject of the AARP article.
I have always enjoyed driving thru PA. We would try to take roads other than the interstate to see more of the country. I will say the southern part we have seen less of.
My girls are going through cupboards sorting things from a lifetime ago to donate to hospice or our temple. Life for me will be different now. Entertaining will be more simple and I no longer need pedestal cake dishes and silver trays. I did move on a while ago but didn't know how to get past my former comfort leval. I am finding it is easier to put things out in the trash-but instead am making appropriate donations which is very time consuming-but the right thing for me to do.
Good morning, I am still smiling after reading Nikki's Post on "Here's Your Sign" Grandson Dylan moved home yesterday. We had a little party, just us and a very messy cake :o) Off to a drs appt for him today. The Maine Sun is shining and it's a beautiful 60 degrees at aonly 9am. Yesterday I pulled out the John Deere, attached the mulcher piece MYSELF and got the lawn cut. Had a wicked frost the other night, lost several plants. That's what I get for planting Before Memorial Day. Oh well.
Susan, I hope Dylan does well now. I hope your house is finished with the repairs too!
Our weather was in the 60s the other day, and then yesterday it almost reached 90! It's supposed to be in the lower 80s all week with rain this weekend. I never understood why it rains on weekends when you want to be outside, and is pretty during the week when you are at work!