Phone Calls

Hello, I now get more spam and doctor appointment calls, than calls I care about. How did that happen? For a while I was pleased with myself for blocking and reporting spam on my phone calls. That seemed to stop or at least slow them down. Now the pace has picked up. Spammers must be able to generate new phone numbers at will. A few even leave voice messages. Apparently, they think I do not pay my credit card bills because they told me how I could consolidate then just pay a few hundred a month. If any of you want to call and chat, I will listen to you, but you might have to leave a voice message and I could respond to you. If I do not know the number or if the phone says it could be spam, I do not answer. I do appreciate calls from my health care providers, but I have one place that calls to remind me of the upcoming appointment several times. I have to just take it as it comes. Right? I also wonder when I reached the point of thinking that I needed to have my phone with me every time I go out the door. How did I live 20 years ago? What a thing to go somewhere and not have a ready connection with home or life anywhere. Paula

Rain or No Rain?

Hello, Leroy looked at the weather report. According to him there might be a bit of rain this morning and the afternoon should be clear. Dark clothes were washed. We were about ready to go to church to help unload the usual things. I made the decision to put the clothes on the line since there was such a nice breeze. By the time we were half way to church there was little noises on my coat hood. “It might be raining?” I wondered. We were dressed in jackets, warm hats, mittens and I had gone back for a scarf. One of the college kids had on shorts and a tee shirt. I made some comment to him about wearing different clothes. “I wore the wrong clothes,” he said. “I just came from the pool and my hair is wet too. I am cold.” It was nice to learn that we were not just old and cold, but paid attention to the weather. It was windy and still cold on the way home. “I am going to the garden to pick the last of the green beans.” I told Leroy. He came as well. We got enough beans for a good meal, the last of the green peppers, small, but ok. There were two okras, and a few tomatoes that were with a hint of color other than green. It was good to get all of that. I told Leroy I am not going out again after we get home. We did bring in the clothes. They felt cold and maybe a little damp. We spread them out so they could come up to room temperature. I had soaked beans overnight. We will have bean soup and cornbread for supper. Looking forward to that. Paula

My Day

Hello, This morning traffic was again slow shortly after I got on the interstate. By being patient, I learned that they had closed off one lane. Cars trying to fit in a smaller space so they had to go much slower. It was not long and it changed back to normal. I had gotten a text that one person could not come because she had a bad cold. I just hoped the other two people would come for morning stretch. If it was just me, I thought about staying 30 minutes and then going home. Those two came and we had a nice work out, plus they brought some wonderful basil from their garden it made for a nice aroma on my ride home. Having other people there encourages me to get more done. There was some misty rain in the air. After lunch, Leroy commented that we were out of bananas. That would not do. I went to the store, but he slept. He had vacuumed, and washed out the bathroom sink. He said, “That wore me out.” He feels quite a lot better, but is not very perky. At the first store there was just a little mist in the air. I was checking about the availability of some mineral that my health care provider recommended I take. Then it was on to the store for those bananas. There were none in the store. I learned that some had come but they were not good so they were thrown out. I still managed to find a number of items that I bought. There was more rain in the air now, but I still stopped at another store for bananas. Bananas were in my cart along with several other items. How can I always find something to purchase, on my list or not. When I got done here the rain was much more serious. I waited a short while, but just made some dashes. It was not quite so much rain when I got home. I cleared the car windows of rain before I got the items in the house. Our garage is detached so there was a little more rain involved. Grateful for a raincoat. Paula

Expectations

Hello, Maybe one of the big lessons about being an adult is that expectations are not always met. Or met differently than expected. This morning on the way to tai chi, I could see, up on the interstate, many cars in the direction that I wanted to go. They did not seem to be going as fast as usual. Sure enough, when I got up the ramp, many brake lights could be seen. Cars were still moving, but not at the usual speed. The on ramp is part of an off ramp. I just stayed on the ramp, getting off figuring I would cut across town. There was quite a bit of traffic on the streets so it took a little longer than usual to move along. It got better farther way from the interstate. At one point I could see traffic up on the interstate and it looked to be moving normally, but I was not close to an entrance. The street I chose to use to get across the river had almost no traffic on it. I soon learned why, the bridge was closed for repair. Then I had to backtrack a bit. I still arrived ahead of class, but not at my usual time. Is that a picture of life? We expect to be somewhere, but it does not work out so we have to make alternate plans. Experience helps in making those decisions. I was so comfortable on the city streets because I knew where I was and where I wanted to go. Leroy is finding that he is not bouncing back to health so quickly. He seems to have a pattern of good day, bad day. Keeps him humble. I tried to encourage him by saying that soon he should have two good days in a row. He just laughed. Paula

Library Day

Hello, Leroy “had” to go to the library today because he had read all the books that he brought home the last time. We are so grateful for libraries where we can check out ten books at a time if we want. It would be nice if it were a little shorter walk to get there. Leroy is not strong enough to walk fast enough to get there in a reasonable amount of time. It is about a mile and a half from our house. I had to browse and managed to find one more book to bring home along with two DVD’s. I look for those labeled comedy. Generally, I wonder who thinks they are a comedy as I have not laughed or even smiled. I used to think I had an ok sense of humor. I still had three other books at home plus I needed to pick up two more for book clubs. I do not always like those books, but the discussions always are interesting. I had been playing phone tag with the doctor’s office. They needed to reschedule. Actually, most days I did not have time or I forgot until they were closed to call back. This morning I made it happen. it took much longer than anticipated. First, I had an extension number. I got some department that I did not even recognize. When I looked back at the number, I realized that I had switched the numbers around. That is a trick of my brain. It seems that maturity makes that undesired skill stronger. Then when I did get through to the extension, I learned it was the nurse and not the scheduler. This required another call and I should say I was put on hold for several of these calls. I began to wonder if I really wanted to see this doctor. I finally got it all done, but my patience was about at the end of the line. Paula

Iowa’s President

Hello, We had an outing with the senior citizens who are members of our church. We went to the Herbert Hoover museum and library that is not so far from here. We had been there many years before, when our children were small. From classes in school, I had rather a negative view of this man because of the Great Depression which occurred in his presidency. Maybe all presidential libraries give a very positive view of the president they are representing, but this was certainly a more expanded look at his life.

He and his wife lived in many places around the world. He was a geologist who became more involved in humanities. They were both quite committed to the lives of others and their welfare, especially children. He believed that making sure children had enough to eat and education where extremely important for a strong country. He even gave up his fortune for others and the benefit of all. It amazes me too when you see his birth house where he spent the first eight years of his life. It is so small, just two rooms and one of those rooms was quite small. There were five people living there.

He became rich later in life because he was a good mining engineer. He was hired by a British company to take care of all their mines around the world. I should say too that the museum has recently been redone and is very well laid out. After spending time in the museum, we had lunch at a local restaurant. It was good to visit with people there. Paula

Open Wide

Hello, Today, my dental appointment was at 2:00 pm. I was sure of it. However, when I checked today at 10:00 am, the calendar had 10:00 am written on it. I panicked. I tried to call, left a message and raced to the car, got a block away when I realized I had not brought with me the replacement teeth that had fallen out. Turned on the next block, raced upstairs, grabbed what I needed, and hurried back out to the car. In the car, I took some deep breaths and told myself that an accident would not help. At that point, the dentist’s office called me. They said it would be alright to still come. I did not speed, but was at the limit all of the time. At the dentist’s office, he was just ready for me. He assured me that it was ok. He got right to work checking out the situation. There were still some pieces stuck to my teeth that he had to extract. Some came easily and some required drilling. Amazing how we put our trust in the hands of people who care for us. What steady hands. He did tell me that if there was any pain I should tell him. Aside from holding my mouth open for some longer periods of time, there was no pain. I realized when I left that, in spite of my lateness, he still spent an hour and a half with me. That 2:00 appointment is next week for my yearly check at the doctor. Do you think I will want to go at 10:00 am? Paula