UPDATE ...JUNE/JULY

 

What’s going on?? Well not much these days..I am still recovering from my battle with bronchitis and COVID. The test was positive but I am NOT convinced at all that is was right. I had NO, I mean NO similar symptoms to Covid at all. I have been away from people and it has been a long road getting strength back to normal. I guess I will not know for SURE unless I have the appropriate testing done. The doctors have told me that the test for that is very expensive and not covered by insurance. So I won't have it, but I sure am changed since being sick. After affects are being more tired than I was before and my way of thinking about things is slower and I am more forgetful. I am so grateful that I did not have any other bad side effects. 

Does it seem to anyone else that the hot months are just longer that they used to be? Is it just me?? I could not wait until winter was over and warmer weather set in. I was hoping that after all the push for vaccinations got  over we could come back to some kind of normal. I wonder if that is ever possible? It surely will be a new normal. We will always be on guard as to someone near us that is contagious and maybe don’t know they are. 2020 was hard to get through.. 2021 is 6 months in and the summer is here. Here’s hoping that families can get together safely and we can go without masks and find some kind of “normal”.   The news and professionals say we can but the new Delta variance is running rampid in the country already. I , for one am still using my mask. I am used to it now anyway and feel funny NOT wearing it. I NEVER thought I would say that. Having covid the first time around.. I sure  DO NOT want anything else. The heat in the whole country is making it harder to wear one I confess. I have been limiting my time outside when it is very hot. Hope you all stay free of illness and have a great summer. 

                                                                    

                                                                  

TROUBLE...

I had trouble getting back into the blog. The browser kept saying it was unsecured so I had to use some other tactics to finally get back here. 

March was a month to beat all. It started out a great Spring with wonderful warm weather and all the snow GONE. The snow did not show up again either. I was busy getting my spring cleaning in order, while the weather was good. Seems the flowers and leaves are out on the trees really early this year. The whole month I spent trying to get into a place to get a covid shot. No matter where I went I hit a snag. I managed to get on several lists to be called IF and WHEN they got the supplies. Seemed like everyone was getting their shots at the same time. Our clinic called and said ONE AND DONE shots and that made me happy as I would not have to go back again. Not driving it is not easy to go anywhere.

WE got a date of APRIL 14..what a relief.  AND THEN TROUBLE HAPPENED.

I TOOK THE BUS to town on the 26th and two days later I came down sick. The bus informed the public they were shutting down next week for a COVID problem. I immediately called them up. Should the public be concerned since I rode on Friday? They said NO.. I will always wonder,,

AS the days went on I got sicker.. it felt like bronchitis, which I have had at least 50 times in my life. So I did everything I usually do. Seemed to work some but the fever would not pass. The weakness was incredible. I got a call and they would be able to give me a covid shot early.. being sick.. NO WAY I could do it. So disappointed. 

WELL by APRIL 1st I was tired.. I no longer wanted to fight the fever and congestion I decided to go get some antibiotics to help out. 
I THINK YOU KNOW WHAT IS NEXT.......

THEY DID A RAPID TEST AND YES INDEED I HAVE COVID. OR DO I??

I CONSIDER MYSELF LUCKY NOT TO HAVE IT SO BAD I AM HOSPITALIZED. MY horrible lungs due to asthma all my life probably helped the condition along. 

SO I was told to take the meds and go home and sleep and rest. The meds make everything taste horrible and are pretty bad. I have a recheck in 10 days to see how I am progressing.  I have been inside my tiny place for 13 days now. Only time out was the dr. The wiping and spraying of my sisters car and the double masks help. I sure don't want any one else getting it.  IT IS NO JOKE...

I HOPE TO UPDATE IF AND WHEN I GET BACK HERE. I AM NOT POSTING ON FB ETC ONLY HERE, 

STAY WELL GET YOUR SHOTS AND WEAR THE MASK.. IT MIGHT SAVE YOU A WHOLE LOT OF MISERY. 

2021 HOPEFUL AND SPEECHLESS

 

                                      

I had such hope for 2021 knowing that the election was over and all but done and all the upset over who won was done. It was decided. OVER. but what happened on the sixth day into the month of January left me stunned and speechless and tearful. I had come in the house from grocery shopping  and turned on the tv for the local news. What I saw took my breath away. OUR nation's capital building being over run by rioters and protesters determined to get into the building and they did. Hundreds of people rampaged into the building destroying as they went. It was a scene I hope to never see again. If you lived in another country it might be normal to see such a thing. The talk of revolution and riots are normal. The world is dealing with a pandemic now though and things are calmer than they used to be. 

It is now FEBRUARY...Biden is president and Trump has been impeached and is on trial. It's a process I know. They are all reliving the nightmare that happened that day in the Capital building. Clearly as the senators etc. give their testimony you can see what the whole ordeal did to them. They were so very close to being in real life threatening situations. The guard is still standing around and so are the gates that were installed around the building. Life is still going on inside the Pandemic that we are under. They put speed on vaccines to help us fight. Some are getting shots others are still waiting and some refuse completely. Some people in the  United States of America don't  seem to be the ones though that are sure of the whole virus thing they believe it is not true even though hundreds of THOUSANDS are dying. 

I shake my head and wonder just what they are thinking. They just cannot see the dangers that are evident. The winter goes on..the whole country it seems is now in really cold temps. Spring will come in less than 40 days and with it the hope that we turn a corner into getting back our lives. 

TWAS COVID...

 T'was 3 sleeps before Christmas, and all through the town, people wore masks, that covered their frown.  The frown had begun way back in the spring when a global pandemic changed everything.  They called it corona, but unlike the beer, It didn’t bring good times, it didn’t bring cheer.  Airplanes were grounded, travel was banned. Borders were closed across air, sea, and land.  As the world entered lockdown to flatten the curve, the economy halted, and folks lost their nerve.  From March to July we rode the first wave, people stayed  home, they tried to behave.  When summer emerged the lockdown was lifted, but away from caution, many folks drifted.  Now it’s December and cases are spiking, wave two has arrived, much to our disliking.  It’s true that this year has had sadness a-plenty, we’ll never forget the year 2020.  And just ‘round the corner - The holiday season, but why be merry? Is there even one reason?  To decorate the house and put up the tree, who will see it, no one but me.  But outside my window, the snow gently falls, and I think to myself, Let’s deck the halls!  So, I gather the ribbon, the garland, and bows, as I play those old carols, my happiness grows.  Christmas is not canceled and neither is hope. If we lean on each other, I know we can cope!

DECEMBER 2020

DECEMBER 2020

                                         

What a year it has been.. I have so many feelings about 2020.

I put angels on this post because we as a country and world have lost so 

many souls this year due to this horrible virus COVID. Angels were

here one minute and days later gone. Families in shock and just 

left empty. I pray that in 2021 we will begin to heal and come back in some way

to a more calm life. I know some will be changed forever. Our service workers and 

medical doctors and nurses have had a very hard year. May 2021 be better for us

all.  

 

SEPTEMBER 2020

 SEPTEMBER

                                               

                                            What A MONTH.... It seemed at times like it was never going to end. Full of hurricanes and earthquakes, fires, pandemic and upheaval all over the country and world. I was afraid to even see the news on tv each day because it just got worse. Certainly not like any other September I have lived through. Remember those days???  The ones where all you worried over was the winter to come and how bad it might be? Did you get all your leaves raked up etc. Simple days of no worries about the world and its problems. 

I sure miss those days. Will it ever ever get back to those days. My opinion is NO. Things have changed the world is all different now and we will never see those days again. That sounds so negative but it's what I think. We will someday get back to NOT having to wear masks. Might take a year or two. I just don't think that our days of violence in the streets will be over for a long time. The winter weather might stop some of it but it will not go back to the way things were before. 

For me, I am grateful I have not been sick. I got my flu shot and was told it would maybe help but they have no idea how effective it will be this year with Covid around. We are smarter now wearing masks and keeping cleaner.. so maybe FLU will not be as bad. I guess we just wait and see. 

One of my best friends has NOW moved outside the state of California and I am ever so glad. Living in the fire zones was so stressful. Now that it is yearly and not seasonal.. it just was so scary every single day there. One of our tenants moved this month and we will miss him here. He was here 3 years. Sad because he said he did not want to move but HAD to. They increased the rent and he needed to be in a place he could afford. I totally understand where he is coming from. I hope it never happens to me. Moving around as much as I have in my life and then being without a home for 3 years.. well this is home now and I do not want to move again. 

Well must wrap this up.. another month down. Where ever you are I hope you are well and safe. 

                                            

AUGUST UPDATE 2020

 

                               

 YEP things have changed here at Blogger. They have made it more difficult to do a blog. Sad to say there will be a lot of people who will just stop blogging. I am down to once a month so I will stick it out I guess. Time will tell. I sure wonder who makes these decisions to change things that work. 😒 

NOTHING much going on here.. I am staying home a lot more than I used to. No need to risk getting the virus. I know flu season will be worse. When I do go out I get as many supplies I can. At least I know I am prepared as much as I can. August here has been HOT the AC has had very few days off. Sure different from years past. It's been a real challenge to go out in the heat and humidity with a mask on for sure. Mandated by the governor here in Michigan to wear one in the stores etc. I have had a lot of trouble breathing. Just glad I do not live in the southern states. No way I could handle it. 

Relatives are okay so far. Fires in California are making them evacuees. Horrible worries that there will be no home to come back to. I am so grateful that I moved from that state YEARS ago. Saw that people are moving from the state more and more now too. People in big cities do not want to be where there is a lot of rioting and looting etc. Seems the whole country is in upheaval. 

ELECTION time is growing near and so much political arguing going on. I stopped watching a lot. It was giving me such anxiety. I have never had in my old life such a mess going on in the country. 😖😕 Find myself watching old shows that I saw when I was a kid. Much better than what is on now days. Brings back good memories too. Biggest decisions here now are whether to send grade school kids back to classes. I know that older kids can handle things but seeing reports that even high schools that opened were not safe no matter what they did. A neighbor said not letting their grandkids who are kindergarten and preschool age go. It is just not worth them getting sick over. Colleges here opened..students moved in and a week later.. sent home. So if not safe for grown kids.. why risk it for grade school kids?? Parents have big decisions to make. Kids are not learning what they would be in school for sure. They are not sticking to scheduled lessons and lose interest fast. No clue if they will be passed on to the next grade.. have a feeling they will have to take the school year over again. What a big mess it is. 

SO where ever you are.. hope you are staying well and safe. 

                                 

JULY 2020

                                             


So here we are. July.. it came in hot here in Michigan. Many straight days of 90 degrees or more and it continues for the whole month. Summer for sure. We are surely living in a COVID world now. So many rules and regulations and there are more everyday.Good news we can find toilet paper more now after all these months. Antiseptic wipes and masks you can find but in some places the prices are crazy high. So scary when stores are now limiting cash transactions. Some places will not except anything but CARDS. Are they afraid the germs on coins will last? No one has said. They talk about a shortage of coins..hmm what's the real story? Will we ever know?  Now I ask ahead of time before I even purchase if they accept cash. Do they give change or round it off? Crazy!! 😕

I have a feeling it will be a long time before we all are able to get away from wearing MASKS everywhere we go. On a recent trip to our local hospital for tests, I encountered the routine of temperatures and screening before entering inside the building. A sticker was placed on my shirt telling all that I was CLEARED. I felt somewhat okay knowing that for a moment I was OKAY. 😊 I have on several occasions  lately had to tell people they are too close to me, something I never would have thought to do months before. It is hard to deal with such big changes something I hate to do.

Speaking of changes, my niece has a 9 year old going back to school, well that will really be something. The smaller kids, they do not distance or do what older kids do.

So many parents may opt to not send them to school at all. Will that be against some law.. who knows. This whole Covid world has us all in a crazy place. 

Sad to say I heard a lady in a  grocery store talking to her daughter about how she was not buying a lot because she could get sick and die in a week from the virus. Her daughters face said it all. There is a lot of fear out there in the world.  

So five months into this new world of Covid..our lives have sure changed..each month and day that passes there are changes it seems. Let us all hope that in the months to come there is great progress on finding out what cures it and keeps it from coming back. 

JUNE 2020

   
                                   

                
                             
WHAT to say??  
 Everyday we were bombarded with updates on CORONA virus. The news got worse
and then some better. Many protested about the strict regulations and went against them anyway. Businesses learned that if they tried to get people to wear the masks inside their stores.. there would be backlash. Some died because of it. We were warned that if we did not take precautions to be "safe", the next round of virus would be worse. Some states lifted their regulations earlier than others. CORONA left the news very fast. People were still dying by thousands, and recovering, but corona was not what it was. Then MAY 25th happened. 

 A black man who went into a store, just a routine day..happened to get a phony 20 dollar bill from a machine. Police were called and what transpired was the most horrible thing one could imagine. A young woman filmed it all on her phone. WE as a collective WORLD saw what happened. A man lost his LIFE at the hands of a
policeman and not in a easy shooting way.. a hard long 8 min begging for his life kind of way. Within days the WORLD responded to this death. Everyone now knows his name. GEORGE FLOYD.  So then protesting in such magnitude that the world had never seen before, took place. YES it was global, destruction and death took place. 
Burning, looting and lives and businesses were destroyed. The White House was under attack, so they called in troops and fortified the gates. The president of our country had little to say really. There was NO leadership.. no calm voice to try to get people together. It was very sad indeed. He did photo ops and acted as if nothing much was happening. 

So all this happened in a period of maybe a week or so and then 4 days of funerals for George in many towns. Thousands stood and attended along the way. His poor family endured the loss in the public eye. The protests turned more into peaceful marches and want for change. CHANGE took place. It is June now and change is still taking place. Police are being charged in many cities for undo violent behavior toward black people. On August 28 a million people are expected to walk to the same place where Martin Luther King made his famous speech back in 1963. He had a dream..I do believe that his dream may finally finally take place. May GOD help our country to make the changes happen. It's time has come. 

                               

MAY UPDATE 2020

                                               

WELL May is here. Michigan has finally gotten some warmer temps and the grass is so green.  I am really enjoying it. I still have my air conditioner covered but that won't last long. I got out this week after 13 days inside. Boy were my eyes opened. First off NO hand wipes and NO ONE wiping off carts. Instead I saw a spray bottle and a large roll of brown paper towels. I sprayed my cart good and wiped it off  best I could and then used my own hand sanitizer I had  carried afterward.  Since the last time I was out, things really changed. Meat  and eggs were hard to find in some places, and stocks of pasta, breads, soups and chips and snacks on the shelves were in on the way to empty. The prices were higher than before. Supply and demand I guess. The truck came in the day before according to a cashier guess only certain supplies come on certain days. Just happy to find some items on my list.  Blue arrows on the floor told me which way to go, but I noticed that not everyone was observing it. NOT everyone was wearing a mask either. It is mandatory here, signs tell you, but really no one is stopping you or telling you to leave. I made sure that I stayed away from people anyway. It sure seemed odd. 

We are STAY HOME until MAY 28!. People are NOT happy at all about it.  As of today the 16th we have lost almost 5,000 people here in Michigan. We made national news and our governor has been interviewed many times on news networks. She was called "THAT WOMAN" by Trump.Many protesters showed up at the state capital in Lansing with guns and flags. Many of them were Trump supporters. The governor did not back down much.  She is on  Joe Biden's list for Vice President.
I sure hope he does not choose her. I just think she has enough on her plate here to do and is not the strongest person. So many other choices. People seem to think it is too severe to have so many restrictions. Well they seem to work for some states to keep things under control. Some states have already lifted so many restrictions so we wait to see what the consequences are.

 I do look forward to the "OLD DAYS" when we can now get haircuts, go to stores to shop and see movies and go to festivals and fairs etc. They are all cancelled this summer. It will truly be a long one with no events to go to. Hoping that my next blog in June will have much better news than May. 

P.S. I DID buy a hat.. I bought TWO!! 
                
UNTIL THEN>. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELVES AND STAY SAFE. 
                              

BUY A HAT!!

SO it has come to this. Stuck in Virus limbo like millions of others unable to get a hair cut. A simple trim, buzz cut, whatever.. no deal. So I trim my own pretty well in the front but the back is another nightmare. I usually have a pixie cut so it doesn't matter but this stuff is grown out 5 inches. Not wanting to have a mullet, I asked Sis to trim it off in the back. What the heck,..it is just straight across right???? 😕😨✂✂

NOPE...the dreaded word..OOOPS.. came across her lips..I knew I was in for it. She said.. well I am sure you can FIX IT..😱 ME...I asked her to fix it. Soo she says.. 
better give up.. just BUY A HAT.. everyone else is in the same boat. YES they are.
I am not and never really have been a hat person.. this will drive me to it for sure. 
Right now you cannot shop freely much here in our little town. The GOODWILL closed and most all other shops. It's a ghost town. My next trip out I will check the Dollar General again for another scarf for a mask and a hat. By the time I get done I will look like the baddest bandit  around...we all are becoming the shady characters our mothers warned us about.  Smiles covered up..who knows who is lurking around the corner. 😅

Stay well my blogging friends..WE are in it together...it will end eventually and a whole new way of living will be what we will be grateful to have. 😷

HELLO DEAR FRIENDS...

               C O R O N A  V I R U S   I S    H E R E .... 
  

                                 THIS IMAGE FROM THE CDC shows what it looks like under microscope.

   I  am blogging from my apartment..self distanced from the population.
There are 8 apartments in my building. They have steam cleaned the  hallway carpets and twice weekly they come in and clean the doors and surfaces. We talk to each other from across the hall or outside away from each other. I don't allow anyone in my apartment. I hope nothing needs fixing until this passes.  I spray my door way and door knobs outside so that I know I try to keep things away. Am I paranoid? NO.. just careful. 

One hyphenated word that has changed our whole world. Like 9-11..one day we were fine living our daily lives and the next a whole new way of living was upon us. Words like quarantine, self distancing, and Pandemic are now the norm. Daily briefings, school and business closures updated hourly. All countries involved world wide. What I thought would happen has happened. My fear level went from 3 or 4 to 10.
I mean..going outside into the world of people and germs. We know not where it is .. it is different from any other virus we have been in touch with. I wear a mask when I go outside and carry a wipe in my hand at all times. After 10 days I am still coughing from the cold I caught. Neighbors asking me questions. NO I DO NOT HAVE IT! My lungs are just weak and when I get a cold it hangs on and goes into my chest. 
WHAT chance do I have against a virus that ATTACKS the lungs that requires people of health risk to be on a ventilator? NOT much. So it seems I will be here for a long time into the summer. I just cannot imagine it but I guess it will happen. WE WILL GET THROUGH IT. 

I feel that when this gets a vaccine that works and they can make enough to help us all.. life may go back to a sort of normal. I say sort of.. because we all will be changed because of it.    I spray my MAIL.. when it is delivered.. I have no idea how many people have touched it, breathed on it.  
I use gloves to touch it. EXTREME.. not in my mind. When I go out it is an ordeal. I only stay in stores a short amount of time as possible. I like others have been stockpiling all the items I think I need. So far so good. I am used to NOT FINDING things in the stores when I go. When I get home I spray my coat and leave it near the open door. I wash myself all over and change my clothes. YES I DO.. it makes me feel better to know I am doing my best to help myself. YES life has changed.. We had a family member pass away and NO services will be held. The family has to distance itself because the elderly. Just life changing. We will have a service later.. but who knows when that will be. 

So that is what I am doing.. things to help myself get through these times. I listen to what DR FAUCI says and he tells it like it is. When he or the experts tell us it is time to relax a little.. I will..until then I remain
on guard. 

PLEASE dear blogging friends. I wish you well and hope you and your family stay away from this horrible virus. 

CORONAVIRUS....

          
               HELLO AGAIN....

       So lets address the elephant in the room.. CORONAVIRUS.. In my opinion only.. I think it will get a lot worse for the whole world before it gets better. When the CDC came out and said “NOT IF but WHEN we get it bad”, WELL that put me into being prepared MODE. Living in a small town and having little access to a vehicle I have to make plans to buy supplies. When you get most of your cheaper goods from a country that is NOW in lock down it will be hard on the stores to replenish themselves here. It won’t be all of the sudden..it will be a slow process but it WILL happen. I guess we AMERICANS have depended so long on imports that it will be a shock to some. BUY AMERICAN.. Yes they cost more but at least we are helping our economy and our citizens with jobs. Do I buy  only American products.. NO I don’t, so I am not perfect. I spend plenty in the dollar stores because my budget makes me. Most of the products there are imports.

  There is a lot to this virus that the country of origin is NOT telling us. A  L O T. I am scared of the regular flu much less one that is even worse. I get my shots every year and take an OCD approach to trying to keep clear of illness. Having asthma my whole life, when I get sick, I really get sick. I pray the USA gets more prepared and keeps its citizens safe as they can. Seeing the reports of CHINESE cities all but empty..scary. People made to stay in place, schools and businesses shut down for MONTHS not weeks or days. I dread that to happen in our cities here. F E A R is a terrible thing to live under. 
Enough of my ranting.. I do hope we all stay as well as we can and get through this whole virus situation and see an end to it.  UNTIL THEN…. 


                          

WINTER FINALLY APPEARS!

                                                                                          
Sooo Winter finally made it to our little city. We have seen green grass most of the
whole month of November, and December. I know folks are happy that love the cold and snow but me.. I prefer it to come and then GO not stick around. After the polar vortex last year, this is welcomed.

I made sure all my doctor appointments were BEFORE flu season hit hard. Good thing seems everyone is down with something or another. My reports are excellent. My glaucoma is under control with very good numbers and no return visits until Spring. My cardiologist visit went the same. That dreaded AFIB did not return after 2 separate 2 week monitors. Praise the Lord.. I am soooo blessed. NSR or normal sinus rhythm is a wonderful thing. So 2020 started on a good note. My sister moved into my building in August last year as she prepares to sell her home. She is not all that happy living in a small place after a big house and that is to be expected. She is closer now to her daughter and grandkids and me so that is a good thing. Hope it will get better in time when things settle more.   Life moves on in my world.

I wish you all happiness and good health in the new year.   Happy Winter..


                               

                       

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY 2020

                             

             TWENTY years ago.. were we even thinking about getting to 2020? I mean it seemed so far away and now we are almost there. I was not even blogging in 2000.. Hard to believe but I had just been introduced to the computer at the local library and was learning the ins and outs one hour each day as they would allow. I made some nice friends there. Sue Lehman visited Michigan for a class reunion and was with me at the library as I sat up my first e mail account at Yahoo. It would be awhile before I would get a computer from another friend so I could use it at home. Oh how far I have come and how many wonderful people have come into my life. 

There have been so many changes. I have lived in so many places, met people, experienced life and death and learned to cope with what life throws at me and adapt along the way. As we go into another decade..can we even begin to imagine what changes there will be then? We can only hope and pray we all have wonderful lives with good health and much prosperity. 

             MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND HAPPY NEW YEAR 2020!! 

                                     

NOVEMBER 2019

                                             

WHAT??? Something happened to FALL here in Michigan.. we got blasted with snow and some trees were still full of leaves. Coldest temps on RECORDS.. another polar vortex? Not sure what is happening, but we are used to winter, just not used to it so early and not much fall at all. What we had was beautiful to see. Ours was late this year, lots of trees had green leaves even at Halloween. The above photo is the Brooks fountain the middle of our town. A round about was built around it and it is lit up and water flows until October. Many gather there for photos and just to rest and hear the fountain. The link will take you to a little video of what we see in the summertime. Everyone loves it. 

ANYWAY...Thanksgiving is coming and shoppers are making choices already for Christmas. Today I heard that our little town has the LAST KMART in the state of MICHIGAN. WOW..we are sure glad. It gets lots of use and the nearest shopping stores are 20 min away. Those of us who have no transportation other than the local bus are grateful. We know eventually it will close. Just hope something comes in to take it's place. Only so much is sold in the dollar stores. 

On the health update.. the cardiologist ordered another 2 week ZIO monitor to make sure my AFIB episode was just one time. Waiting to see what it says..not too worried as I monitor things pretty well. The glaucoma is under control also. All is well..😃

Hope you all are doing well also..

                                

OCTOBER 2019

                                

October is almost a memory.. It went pretty slow around here. The leaves refused to turn until about ten days ago. Several storms and a couple of nights of 30's temps and WHAM we are into the great release. Leaves everywhere. The crew was mowing lawn last week and the grass was high, at this rate they may mow into November.

This month Sis still making trips to her home and moving things over. Hard to believe it but the clock is ticking and it all needs to be done before the snow flies and the time change takes place. Slowly her place is beginning to take shape. The house getting emptied. The cat was taken to the vet..that is just heart breaking, she misses her every day. She is trying to get used to apartment life,the people, the noises and the HEAT..We have free heat here and when it is on ...it is ON..no matter how warm it might get outside. I told her so, but she had to learn for herself that she would no longer need sweatshirts and heavy blankets living here. It's a wonderful warmth all winter long. She will love it , you just dress warm when you leave home.
                                           

Thirty plus years of helping seniors, I learned a whole lot. One thing I heard over and over again was ....." Never get old..it's awful."  In the past few years I have begun to see what they were talking about. All of the sudden, I have glaucoma, AFIB, and aches and pains I never had before. My skin is thinning, my love of baking and cooking has vanished and I am making changes in diet and lifestyle. I got rid of things I will or never use, cleaned up my closets and shelves. I think 2020 will be a way more simple life for me.  A sort of brand new start. I am looking forward to it.

I am sending many prayers to those in the fires in California. Terrible loss there and afraid more is to come. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

SEPTEMBER 2019

OH MYyyy time just flies by...so much has happened. Grateful that the AFIB has not returned. Done everything I can to keep it that way. Visited my GP and that went well also. I won't have to return for awhile unless something else comes up. News that an apartment in my building was available, so my sister decided to move to my town.
That was a shock.. she had been thinking about it awhile.. her home just way too big..and all the relatives are living here in my town. So we spent most of August moving her over here and going through nearly 40 years of stuff. You just cannot take it with you, so a sale will be coming. She is hoping her home will sell before winter time. 
Worst part is she is having to leave her cat. Cannot take it here and it is too old to bring anyway. Rules here they have to be declawed and have papers from Dr. in order to keep it. The cat is too old to go through declawing etc. Feel bad, hope she finds someone who can take it.

 Looking forward to late Fall so it will cool off and my allergies will slow down a lot. Leaves are just beginning to turn here, sorry to see the days grow shorter though..makes the winter seem so much longer. Saw the first woolly worm and boy 
it was more black than brown. Scary..he is usually pretty accurate around these parts. The squirrels are active gathering nuts too. Guess we wait and see what we get..after the Polar Vortex last year.. I am hoping it will not be as bad..

Well where ever you are ..hope you are healthy, happy and your fall season is a good one. 
                                       

HEART UPDATE

                                                 

The Zio lasted until JULY the 4th. At 3 AM I figured the day had come why wait all day long and I took it off. The two weeks were up and it was time to mail it back to the company. I copied the shipping numbers and prayed it got to them. In the meantime another trip to the cardiologist lined up more testing. It included a chemical stress test with a nuclear scan. Way better than a cat scan, and ultrasound of the heart. It took about 4 hours. I saw the cardiologist the next day. A very healthy heart..All tests were great.. including the blood tests and the chest x-ray.  WHAT A RELIEF...😃 

Why the AFIB started who knows. I have heard it is very tricky and will just pop up whenever it wants to. I prefer to think maybe NEVER again. I have not had any symptoms since that day in the hospital. I will learn what the ZIO recorded in a report this week. It takes quite awhile to get results back. I am not worried since everything else was good. So July became a whole month of testing and doctor appointments. 
Glad they are almost over. 

When my friends got here this is the sign they saw when I opened my door..

                                                    

I found this in the Goodwill three years ago. I bought it and was holding on to it just in case I got a visit. It was in the garden center, so I think it was to go outside but on the wall was a much better place for it.  Until later..Have a great August. 😃

JULY UPDATE....

                                             

 We finally made it to June. It seemed like May would go on forever. It was cold and then hot and then frosty. Typical for Spring in Michigan. I had my laser surgery and to say it was nothing.. that would be false. I was a nervous wreck, I had nurses holding me and telling me to breathe. Somehow I thought that if I held my breath and did not shake or anything it would go faster. God bless my Dr. she talked soothingly to me and encouraged me. I have to say it did hurt some..even with the gel that numbs you, I did feel it. I went back to a waiting room and shook for at least 10
min. 
They came and checked on me, and then she had to check the pressure in each eye AGAIN..I hate that part.. I wanted to see if any problems would come up and gather what questions I might have when the next appt comes.  By the time I got home I was exhausted.. all I wanted to do was eat and take a nap. A very long 24 hours.  I had my second surgery and much better than the first. The numbers were lower. That made me happy. Now I just have check ups to see the pressure levels. 

JULY came in and with it  something called AFIB..it is also called TACHYCARDIA..
Sue Lehman came to visit me along with my other lifelong friend Anita.I had not seen Sue in at least 10 years.  We sat and talked and boy did my heart race. I did not feel well before they came and pushed myself to join them in at least a dinner out. Guess that was not a good idea. The next day I spent 5 to 6 hours in the ER with a heart that just was beating all over the place. I could not take my pulse at all. 
Talk about scary. They tested me upside down and every way possible in that 5 hours. I felt bad as my friends sat and waited with me for results. There is nothing worse than just sitting waiting in a hospital. They would not let me go home unless my heart rate was lower than 100 and with meds it did go down. So I went home
much to the disagreement of the gals. I slept well and was feeling soo much better the next day. Heart rate back to normal and just a little weak. By that time Sue left and my visit with her was over. I felt and still feel cheated. I am dealing with it and trying to move on. 
I went to the cardiologist, who promptly put something called a ZIO on me.. a two week heart monitor. I must say it was not intrusive at all and I would not have any problem doing it again. I sure hope I don't have to though. Anxious to know what the results of that are. I am still going to have other testing done to check out the heart further. The unknown is scary sometimes but I guess it is my time to now...deal with it.   
MORE LATER>>

MAY THOUGHTS....

                                             

What's going on?? Well.. hmm I finally got my eyes tested again and low and behold that old word GLAUCOMA is back. I am on the border. Readers here might remember that a few years back a dr. told me that I had glaucoma already and gave me drops. I was so upset I got a second opinion and that dr. said NO glaucoma. So my numbers dropped low enough to not need anything. 

 Anyway a procedure is needed to laser zap my ducts so that fluid will not build up and cause more pressure there. Never heard of this but my doctor is a specialist/ surgeon  so I am guessing she knows what she is talking about. So I had the procedure and it was NOT fun for me at all. I hate anyone messing with my eyes. Talk about nervous for days before. So now I have to have the second eye done. I love how the dr. says "oh it will only take 30 seconds".. yep.. maybe for her. It felt like 30 min.  I was so tense about moving I practically held my breath. The nurse kept saying BREATHE..When it was over I was so dizzy and relieved. They put some drops in and let me sit in a room for at least 15 min. I still was not too steady leaving the office but I did not have to drive so that was GREAT.  I will know next time what to think but I still am leery of anything EYE related. I will be glad when this whole thing is over. 

SPRING is finally here in my neck of the woods. We have had some decent wonderful temperatures and rain, but now the first 80 degree days are soon to come. About time I have waited for a long time. The winter was very cold and LONG.. 
Hope things are well with you all.. Have a great SPRING..