Pump Bottles

Hello, I have a new bottle of body lotion. I twisted the pump at the top to get it to come up, counterclockwise did not work. I tried clockwise. I made sure I held the cap as I turned the pump, first one way then the other. No success! When Leroy came home I had him try. He did the same steps that I did resulting in the same outcome, nothing happening. It sat out on the counter for about a week and we each tried this and that from time to time. Mostly we were repeating steps that had not worked before. Finally in desperation, the Internet was consulted. There were many sources of advice on this topic. Apparently we are not the only ones who have had trouble. A few assumed that we knew nothing about operating this pump, giving us the same method that we had tried. Looking farther down the list was the best one. It said to unscrew the cap, clean the entire tube of product, firmly grasp below the cap and turn the pump counterclockwise. I took off the cap, pulled out the tube and cleaned it off putting the lotion on my waiting dry skin. I still could not manage to get the pump to turn. Leroy also tried, but he commented, “My hands are still slipping a bit I am going to get one of the jar lid grippers”. What magic! The pump made a satisfying click as I turned it with Leroy holding the tube. Just a couple more turns and the pump came up. After a few pushes lotion came out onto my hand. It was a joyful moment. Paula

Various Activities

Hello, I went grocery shopping this morning. It was quite fine to be in the store because so few people were there. Out in the parking lot, something on the ground was fluttering a little in the breeze. Closer inspection revealed two twenty dollar bills. No other cars were close to mine at all. I picked up the money, but felt a little guilty. A car had been much closer when I came, but it was gone. Leroy and I will decide what to do with it. There are always many places to give cash to help in one way or another. This afternoon I headed out for a long walk in the warm, sunny time of day. As I went on the busiest street I once again noticed trash flying around. Back to the garage for some plastic grocery bags made a different walk goal. I get quite a few steps as I go back and forth across the grassy area between the sidewalk and the street. I filled a bag rather quickly so took it into the garage and deposited it in the large city bag for clean up purposes. Usually I only carry two bags because it can be hard to deal with so much in one hand while the other is picking up. As part of the trash I did find a paper bag with handles that I considered recycling, but managed to fill my two bags before I was home, so I filled that paper bag too. I felt quite satisfied to have picked up four bags of trash. Leroy and I walked this afternoon when he came home and I pointed out the lack of trash. He did think it looked quite fine, but there were some new pieces or things that I had inadvertently missed. With the strong winds it is not easy to know where it is coming from or where it goes if not picked up. It certainly looks better now and that will last for a day or two. Paula

Does Leroy have more sense than I do?

Hello, Leroy saw the temperature on our outdoor thermometer was 21 F. On the “official” report it was 19 degrees F. He decided to drive rather than ride his bike. I washed bedding and hung out the sheets when it was 26 degrees F. on our home thermometer. With the breeze the sheets almost dried. I really like getting them outdoors for some drying time. I made granola today. I use to put powdered milk in it, but since Leroy is lactose intolerant I have not put that in for many years. About a year ago I could no longer get soy flour, so chickpea flour is the substitute. Recently I have had a hard time finding wheat germ. More rolled oats takes the place of that. It is a changed recipe. I checked the spending on the credit card against the receipts. I found a credit that Leroy could not find yesterday. I was happy to see that. I was afraid that it had been credited as store credit, but I did not want to spend more money there. It was cool and windy this afternoon, but I managed to get over 6,000 steps. If Leroy wants to walk when he comes home from work, I will go with him. I might make it to 10000 steps. Paula

Thankful

November 25, 2021 Hello, Leroy and I are grateful for some time of peace and quiet. I did a zoom class of yoga this morning. Leroy joined us and he did a lot of groaning. Definitely it included some stretches and moves he is not used to doing. Don’t know that he was thankful for that. I was glad to get my time in for some good stretches. We are grateful for the instant pot. We used it yesterday for lentils. We were grateful for directions on how to take it apart to clean. I will perhaps go back to doing the lentils in the slow cooker. I am cooking some butternut squash in there now and I think that will be a much easier clean. It turned out very fine. Even though I seldom use it I am grateful for my mama’s china. I like the simple design of it. We used it today and did not break any. We are grateful for the brilliant sun, but not so pleased with the low temperatures and strong wind. Grateful that I can put aside the idea of getting 10000 steps, but I will go back out to get to 5000. We are grateful for legs that work. Our furnace is a comfort on a cold day. What a wonderful invention, there is heat in the rooms without a fireplace. I texted Miriam this morning and asked if she was going to let her husband and her cousin do all the work for thanksgiving. I resisted the urge to say, “Take it easy,” when she replied that she felt quite good. I am sure she will hear “take it easy” enough. Paula

Ignorance or just not knowing?

Hello, I felt totally surprised to come home and see so many bigger buds on both of the Christmas/Thanksgiving cactus. I suppose someday I will learn to change the name because they do bloom early for Christmas and they have those pointed leaves. Some of the buds on the pink one are open. The white has more buds than I have ever seen on it. Neither of these bloomed for their previous owners. They just like our bedroom window. For some reason I am noticing many things in my house that I do not know what to do with. Some of them are things that once belonged to my parents or Leroy’s parents. What to do with them is a big open ended question. Someday before we move again I will try to figure that out for some of them. I suppose some of them are just junk that has become attached to us. The pharmacy let Leroy know that his refilled prescription was ready. I walked up to get it since he rode the bike and does not like to stop on the way home. Today he did not take his bike lock since he can put his bike in a secure stairwell. It was a nice day for a walk. The pharmacist, who recognizes me, asked what he could do for me. I told him I was picking up meds for Leroy Bradway. It seemed to me he was taking a long time to find it. Then he pulled a bag out and asked me for his birthday. I thought carefully before answering. For some reason I never remember whether Leroy’s birthday is Feb. 2nd or 3rd. Leroy’s mother told me that it was close to Groundhog Day. The trouble is that Groundhog Day is not important to me and never has really been in my memory. This creates a struggle to figure it out on the spot. Then the pharmacist with a puzzled face asked, “Harold?” I tend to forget that Leroy’s first name is really Harold as I never use it. That makes it difficult for me in legal situations. I wish he would go by his first name, although now I would be living with some stranger. It is also tricky at the hospital where people talk to him and call him Harold and he does not respond. Such times! Paula

Windy Weather

Hello, This afternoon, we walked with friends. Because of the strong wind we did not make the long planned distance. It was not like this when we walked to church and back. Also with the wind a cold front was blowing in and the temperature was dropping. The warmest temperatures were history by noon. Leaves were flying rapidly away. Most trees will be bare tomorrow. Now who will rake, what yard will they come to rest in? In spite of the wind the workers finished putting siding on the house across the street that was damaged during the August 2020 derecho. Such a long wait, but it now looks very nice. Most of the work was done yesterday. The tallest part was done today. Guess those ladders were steady enough in the strong breeze. We talked to Miriam today. learning that she was able to sleep through the night for the first time since the surgery. Even during the day she is able to lengthen and reduce the amount of pain meds. It seems like fast progress to me even if she did look a bit tired. There is still healing work to do. Leroy will be working four days this week because his boss is taking the week off and Leroy had off last week. It is nice those two manage these things so well. We both have good jobs that give us satisfaction and a sense of purpose. Paula

Beautiful Day

Hello, It is such a nice day here. We hung out three loads of clothes and all dried well. Love the smell of outdoor dried sheets. We both got our ten thousand steps. We went to a hardware store to get a stronger magnet to hang my new pot holders. The pot holders are apparently heavier than the last set because the magnetic hook just slid down the wall of the refrigerator. This magnet was touted as being able to hold twenty pounds. It certainly is a solid hold. I am pleased. In the hardware store, Leroy wanted to look at a good latch for the little free library. On the way to the latches, we walked by some amaryllis blubs. They were even on sale. I had dug up my bulb from its outdoor home only to stab it with the fork because I miss judged the larger size. It does not look too bad, but I am not sure it will live. It was exciting to find these at such a good price. We talked to Brian this afternoon and he sounds quite fine. Such a difference from Miriam a day after her surgery. Brian is a little anxious to get to drive again. This time it was his right leg so he will have to wait a longer time for that to happen. He is also tired of sitting around so much even after just one day. The Instant pot was given its trial run today and it was indeed easy and quick. It is perhaps safer than the pressure cooker that I used to have. Certainly it is easier to operate since it is not on the stove but controlled by the controls in it. Paula

Leaving Utah

Hello, Yesterday we came home, leaving Miriam and family to figure out life. Miriam is up and around a bit. We all yell at her to take it easy, but it does not do much good. Pain or tiredness seems to have more say in the matter. Each day she has been getting better. I just hope she keeps getting better, but not overdoing it. We were leaving on an earlier flight with a long layover in Chicago. Miriam called the airlines and got it changed to a shorter, later flight. We got to Cedar Rapids at 11:30 pm. Lucky for us we were coming from Mountain Time so it only seemed like 10:30. We are grateful for our downstairs friends who could pick us up at the airport at that late hour. In the Salt Lake airport we learned how the TSA struggles to get items out of the scanner. A passenger ahead of us had not managed their things very well; some fell out of the bin and jammed up the conveyor belt. They had some long poles and long handled grabbers. They could get some of it out but not everything so the belt did not run. We finally were moved to another line, but that meant they just worked us in. We did get through in plenty of time, but I was starting to feel nervous. After we were through, they opened another line because it was not getting unstuck. Note to self, be careful how you place items in the TSA bins. Brian had his surgery today and is home already. Guess that is ok. As many of you know hospital stays are short. Apparently the surgery was successful. Paula

Moving around

Hello, We again went for a brisk walk in the morning logging 6,000 steps. It was brisk for us, but tomorrow morning we are going to walk faster since we took a minute longer than is usual for this walker. Who knew that we would slow someone down? We will have to up our game. I guess I have been dragging because my pace is a bit slower. Leroy picked up dog poop in the back yard. He did a lot of walking back and forth trying to survey all the ground. He logged an additional 1000 steps. After lunch we both raked leaves. Then it was time to take the dogs for a short walk. Later we walked to meet Nora after school. I have over 15,000 steps for the day and Leroy has over 16,000 steps. We also spent some time sitting with Miriam and getting her this and that. She woke up with a bit more pain this morning, but that seems to be much more under control now. Since she has been home, she has only had two of the opioids, so I do not think there is any danger of addiction. Addiction is certainly something she wants to avoid. At times it seems a bit of a tricky path to decide which way to medicate. We are grateful for advice from the health care team. It is to be colder here tomorrow, but so far, the weather is quite fine. We are grateful for that too. The guest bedroom was just put back together after a redo, so we are grateful for that too. Miriam’s husband is doing a lot. He works from home, consequently, can do a lot for Miriam. Her daughters have also stepped up and helped when they are home from school. Paula

Getting Better

Hello, Today we have been following the med schedule and Miriam is much better. We have a written schedule and then we record it when we give it to her. She is ready for more meds by the time they are to be given. She has certainly rested much more than she did yesterday. She has had much more of an appetite so that is also good. This morning we walked with Miriam’s friend. Miriam has said this person did not walk so fast, but Leroy and I both commented on the speed later. Guess we have slowed down. We also walked a bit over two miles which is more than we usually do before breakfast. We will have to pick up the pace. We could still talk, but it was a little more effort. Miriam is sure she will be bored with the month of lying around or of limited activity. Today she has had her eyes open. Before she felt like she needed to keep her eyes closed, but they have been open more today. Leroy is doing some dishes. He picked apples from their apple tree, and he cooked them up. He and I are eating them as sauce with the granola that I made. Paula

Visiting Miriam

Hello,

We finally made it to Utah after some delayed, but uneventful flights. Who knew that when a plane has been readied for a longer trip they might offload 6,000 pounds of fuel for the shorter trip? It takes a bit of time.

We got to their house after 11:00 PM mountain time. We were a bit tired, but pleased to be able to talk to Miriam on the phone. /she was slower talking, but good.

This morning, Leroy, Andy and I went to visit her. She was good, but experiencing quite a bit of pain which seems like a very normal thing to me when your head had been cut open. She is very cognizant and is able to get up to go to the toilet with some steadying help on the steps there. I am so pleased that her speech functions are good. As the neurosurgeon said, she should not have many after effects.

He had originally talked about her surgery as being very easy, but on the day of it was put somewhere between easy and medium difficult. All in all it went according to plan with a good outcome. This picture is from this morning.