WINTERS FURY

Wow a blizzard!  We got one and it lasted all night long. Sometimes the snow was  coming sideways and sometimes one to two inches an hour. When all was said and done..about 10 inches or more. The drifts were more like 14 inches in my driveway.

It wasn't a silent night that is for sure. Usually when we get a snow storm everything is pretty quiet except for the snow plows. This storm was noisy.. wind blowing and knocking around everything not nailed down. That is the view last night out my front door. Scary looking and not any vehicles on the road either.

After the snowplow guy came and moved all my snow out of my driveway you could hardly see the neighbors who walked by next door. They are standing up behind that pile.

The porch wasn't too bad itself but my steps were completely snowed in. Took me quite awhile to dig them out. Snowblowers are working overtime this afternoon now that the sun is shining. The groundhog did NOT see his shadow.. SPRING cannot come fast enough for me.

QUICK UPDATE..

THINGS are happening sometimes here at lightning speed, at other times at a snails
pace. Hard to tell what will go on from one day to the next. Have had little on line time to catch up with everyone. This I truly miss a whole lot. I miss all my blogging family.
Mom's condition has deteriorated lately and we are continuing to speak to counselors and doctors,. therapists and Hospice workers. The whole process is mind boggling. What will be paid for and what isn't covered is sometimes shocking. I have years of experience under my belt with elderly care and their concerns and tribulations. I sure am glad now, because it is really coming in handy.I would hate to be traveling down this road without some prior knowledge of how things work. The things that happen daily could be written in a book...in fact... I have been documenting Mom's whole

journey from the beginning. No wonder I completely wore out one computer and one camera. They sure did the job admirably. Above is the long hallway to the end of the  building. Many times I have found mom rolling down that hallway to look for deer out the doorway windows. The handrails on either side of the hall help the patients by them reaching and pulling themselves along. Probably the one of the most germy places in the building as they rarely are cleaned. The floors and walls and bathrooms etc are always done but the railings not. I avoid them like the plague. 
Well just wanted to catch you all up on what is going on.. lack of time, energy or wifi at home make it extremely hard to get computer time. January is grinding down and
February is at hand..Spring can't come soon enough for me.

TO EAT OR NOT TO EAT...

THAT is the question! We continue to struggle every day to get Mom to eat more. I have asked just about everyone I know for help and advice. The recent health problems that Mom had caused her tongue and taste buds to be so bad that she doesn't have much desire to eat anything. Mom always loved her coffee but doesn't even drink one cup now. Yesterday we did the happy dance because she actually ate

a cup of pudding. I said "What does it taste like Mom?" and she said "White!" I guess there just was no flavor at all. She has the desire..she asked for a cheeseburger without the seeds on the bun. When she got the burger, she took one bite.. that was all. We were crushed. Best I can do is keep trying everything I can. If it were not for those high protein supplement drinks like ensure etc., I just don't know what we would do.
We did find out that some medications do cause things to not have the greatest taste for her so maybe that was the problem..time will tell. The latest thing is, that a side effect of the antibiotic was that she broke out all over.. now her skin is peeling like
a sunburn. It is the talk of the center.. no one has ever seen anything quite like it. The doctor and the surgeon were really surprised. Leave it to Mom to be different from
anyone else in the place.

WINTER VIEW

Took a  pic the other day of this snowman.. it's the only kind we have here now and
he is pretty lonely. There is a promise of some light snow over the next few days,
but nothing that would make a nice partner for him.

Those greens are real. The city provides real garland every year. It's the city that has our county buildings so they have money there to use for decoration. This cold weather will make the garland stick around for quite awhile. It takes them a long time to get the whole city decorated no wonder they wait until middle of January to take them all down.

HEARTBROKEN...REALITY

Sobbing, I walked into the cold, windy afternoon air. I looked into the blue sky and wanted to scream that it is just not fair.. moments before, I watched my mother settle down for a nap. Her words echoed in my ears..

"You get old and then you die a long, hard, slow death."

It was not like anything I had heard her say before to me. I think that in a lucid moment she just could see the reality of what she was going through all these months.

I sat in the car a good long time, trying to clear the frustration out of my system. I have to be able to see to drive my way back home the two miles to my
house.  I started the car and slowly drove out of the long driveway, when something
caught my eye in a sudden motion.

Bounding across the road at least 10 deer running at full gallop.

I was so glad I had stopped for a few minutes and not traveled that

road or something bad could have happened.

2011 came in here with blue skies, green grassy fields and

many thoughts of what the year will bring.

My father died on New Years Day

seventeen years ago.

WE MISS YOU DAD!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

HERE'S HOPING YOU ALL HAVE A HAPPY,HEALTHYAND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!!

OUR TREE 2010

Last year we didn't have a tree here at home because Mom was at the Tendercare  rehab center during the holidays. This year I dug out our four ft tree and Mom helped me decorate it. Mom loves the holidays, even though there are so few of us around.

HOPE YOU ALL HAVE YOUR TREES DECORATED FOR THE HOLIDAYS!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

I will be updating here again soon..until then..

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL FROM
OUR HOUSE TO YOURS!! MAY GOD BLESS YOU!. 

ISN'T THAT THE WAY??

YOU are minding your own business driving down the road when all of the sudden you see those red and blue lights behind you. That sick to the stomach feeling comes over you and you think.. "what the heck did I do?".. You slow down only to see the public safety car pass you by. (They don't call them police or cop cars around here
anymore.) What a RELIEF!! You speed back up and in no time here comes another one moving fast. Now you get curious as to the reason. My mind really goes to car-deer accidents first in pretty good weather. I was wrong on that one though. Coming over the hill into the flatter part of the freeway, I see a long line of taillights shining and know that this cannot be good. No way out. No roads to turn off of and go another way. Mom panics right away because she will MISS her time to go on for her treatment. I tell her that "this is why I take the back road..more ways to go." We move ever so slowly..
it seems like it takes hours to go only a mile down the road. The clock says only 10 minutes have passed. By the time we reach the accident, state police and sheriff cars are they helping assist. One car is headed toward us in the median strip, the other in the ditch on the other side. Someone had really made a bad mistake at trying to enter the freeway and have no place to go. We get to where we can leave the freeway and I do it gladly. We cannot miss treatment..it just cannot be done.  I dread the winter, with life sustaining treatment, that has to be given, you cannot get stuck anywhere, you get there "any way" you can. There is a saying by John Lennon. "Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans." We make plans now around what is most important and everything else can just go on the back burner. The back roads will get you there eventually..Mom laughed..slow going but safe.

UPDATE...

Will start this by posting that we still haven’t seen anything but a few light flurries here and I am surely grateful for that. I don’t look forward to shoveling this year at all. The wind is sure cold though and anytime it gets up to 40 I rejoice! Our Thanksgiving here was quiet. I baked and cooked for two days so that we would have tons of leftovers. I went shopping for new boots and found several I liked. Got mom a pair too. She hasn’t worn boots in probably 10 years now. This year if she is living here at home she will be out in the cold and snow so they are really a must. I used that word “IF” in the sentence because starting next month she will undergo another surgery if all goes well, and hopefully it won’t be as hard on her as the last one was. One person can only do so much with the help of nurses, aides and such who visit for a short time 2 or three times a week here at home. Mom hates all the running back and forth to doctor’s appointments, especially in the winter time. They have to be done though, so we grit our teeth and get through them. I hope to be able to take care of her at home, because that is where she wants to be. She thrives here, and does not do well anywhere else. Will let you know how it all goes.







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On the washing machine subject..ours went out and we are still without because it has been a real chore getting to a place out-of-town to order a replacement. The warranty we had was GREAT. They replace, remove the old one.. with no charge at all. The amount they gave us will more than cover a top of the line machine. I have done the homework on-line and decided that the type we had before is no longer an option and we are going to go MAYTAG this time. Hopefully they will hold up to their promise and that old repairman will never see our door! They came today and replaced the old washer…however some of the fixtures were leaking and it needed a longer drain hose.. so it STILL doesn’t work. When they took the old washer out, some water was still inside the lines that did not drain out…you guessed it.. water all over the basement floor… : ( Will be trying to get someone to fix this mess this week when they can arrange to come. I just have the feeling, another trip to the laundromat will be called for. Hate that thought with a perfectly good NEW machine in my basement. Not a happy customer..but it is NOT the job of the delivery person to fix my old plumbing. The saga goes on…..






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Update on the computer problem. The company is covering all charges, once again, because I bought an additional warranty on it. After being on the phone for almost an hour, the technician said he would FED EX me an adapter and I should try that first and they will Call Me to see if it worked. He swears there is nothing wrong with the computer, it is just a faulty power adapter and it was not charging the laptop.He is not living in my house, but he assures me HE IS RIGHT! Will be sure to let you all know what happens. I hate this slow dial-up but at least it is better than nothing! My access is extremely limited though. I spend more time waiting than visiting or commenting or anything else.. and to THINK we all started out that SLOW!






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I send out my sincere prayers and thoughts to Chip Allen and his family at the loss of their beloved furry family member SAM. Greater love have no man that the love of his devoted, faithful, dog. Hugs to you all, I know you will all be reunited one day.






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Will wrap this up.. Hope you all have a great week!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

IF you haven’t heard from my Facebook page, I am having computer issues so posting here will be limited for awhile. My laptop crashed and with no power source available on it, it will have to be sent back to the company where I have the warranty on it. This will take time..precious time for me to say the least. I at least hope for them to resolve the problem or replace the whole thing. I have had issues once before with this same laptop, so maybe it was just time. Given the holidays and such, I expect it will be some time before they can get it back to me. I will be doing the best I can to keep up at least at Facebook with all of you.

HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT AND SAFE THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY!

p.s. KATE AND MAGGIE will return.. they are still on the road and having a ball!

KATE AND MAGGIE Part Two

Kate, being a person who did over the road work most of her life, knew all too well that this trip would be expensive. Gas, lodging, and Maggie's newer vehicle would be a major road block in the whole trip idea. They agreed to meet the next day though and look at used vehicles. Kate was sure that Maggie would balk at seeing how costly a newer vehicle would be. Little did Kate know that Maggie was already aware and had plenty of resources for the trip. Sure enough, before the sun went down, Maggie had a newer used van all insured and ready for a road trip. Kate helped by letting the dealer know that she was very knowledgeable about used vehicles. They agreed to pack up and leave as soon as Maggie could get things together. In two days time they were headed down the major highway bound for all the excitement a trip could be. Kate knew the roads like the back of her hand. She knew the speed traps, the great places to eat and stay over. It was an exciting time for Maggie who hadn't been out of her hometown in at least 25 years.


 They got about 700 miles down the road when the van began to make noises that Kate didn't like. Perhaps it was a hidden thing that she just didn't catch when looking the vehicle over. Kate pulled into a major truck stop and proceeded to check the van out herself. An 18 wheeler pulling into topped off his air horn and made Kate and Maggie both jump. Behind the wheel was a scruffy guy wearing a Detroit Tigers baseball hat, with a cigar stuck in his cheek. He parked his rig and jumped down and sauntered over to the gals standing over the disabled van. Kate knew this fella, his name was Tom, but all the truckers called him "Detroit" because of his love of the Tigers baseball team. He was divorced three times, had one child with each wife. Maggie was  surprised when he opened his mouth and a southern accent came out. "Howdy young ladies..what's up with this van?" Kate introduced Maggie and she and Detroit checked out the van. "Well, Detroit said..looks like a crack in the distributor cap.. easily fixed, but it will take some time to get to it". Kate knew they were going to have to stay at least overnight to find a mechanic. Maggie was excited,, to her, the whole thing was a new adventure. Kate, on the other hand, would rather be on the road driving to their first destination. Kate had never spent this much time with a person over 70 years old before. She had no idea how talkative and repetitive Maggie could be. She began to wonder if she really had taken on more than she had planned on.


If this was such an adventure for Maggie why was she sleeping so much of the time on the road?