Just an Ordinary Day

Hello, It is hard to know what to write about when the day seems so ordinary. Leroy has been sick, is that ordinary? He did not feel well on Sunday with respiratory issues. Yesterday he woke up, declared, “I feel so much better.” About half an hour later, he said, “I am so tired. I could go back to bed.” That is about what happened again today. I have heard of many people who have had some illness, comment on how tired they were for days afterwards. He is still doing some things to help me, but I have tried to step up for myself. My mouth is still delicate. I can do some of the tasks of other kinds. I too do not feel as peppy as I sometimes do. It is probably from too much sitting around. Seems to me that pulls a person down. Movement is energizing. Now if I just felt like dusting, the place would look better. One thing for sure we know some who have serious health issues and they are much younger than we are. We are grateful that what we are dealing with is something that will be resolved in time. Plus, we both had some time outdoors even if the wind was a bit strong. Paula

New Way of Eating

Hello, I am eating much slower with more care in placement of food. It seems to me I do not have as many green veggies in my diet, because many of them are rather crunchy, at least the way I serve them. Leroy has been very good about fixing meals and washing dishes. We do not have a mechanical dishwasher. I often say, “I have a dishwasher and I call it Leroy.” Yesterday I was eating the evening meal for almost half an hour after Leroy was finished. I usually eat nuts for my snacks or even in a meal some way. I had not had a nut for three days. Peanuts aren’t really a nut, but I have had peanut butter. This morning, I cut the apple quite small and enjoyed it immensely. Absence can make the heart grow fonder. Just a side comment. Spell check does not know what to do if I have the first letter of a word incorrect. It goes off on tangents that are not it. Leroy is more of a help. If he had not been here, I might have searched my mispellers dictionary for immensely. That miss word is wrong according to the checker, but the dictionary itself knows what I want to do. What do people do who do not have that dictionary or Leroy? Wow, today is son Brian’s birthday. Can he really be as old as he is? I know I am not so old to have a child that age, ops then there is his older sister. My children age me more than my age. Happy Valentine’s. Paula

Tooth Extraction

Hello, Yesterday, I had a lower front tooth extracted. I had not been given a time expectation. It took longer than the five minutes when Leroy had his abscessed tooth taken out. It seemed that it was at least five minutes and the dentist was still working. Finally at some point he stopped and said, “The tooth broke. There is still some of the root in there. I will get it, but it will take a bit more.” I was ready to be done before it was out. Such a relief to have him say, “I got it.” After a little cleanup of the area, two stitches were put in. I wonder if the procedure only took 30 minutes, but my mouth was tired from being open so long. I one point I did ask for some rest time. I have decided my teeth want to stay in my mouth. The first time I had a wisdom tooth extracted, the dentist was shaking before it was over. The next time the oral surgeon figured it would be about 20 minutes, instead I was there two and a half hours. Course some of that time was going under and coming out of the anesthesia. Today I got a temporary to block the hole so I do not look bad. The dentist commented that the healing looked good for just being one day. I have had little to no pain. I did take some over the counter pain pills but have stopped that now. I even, very carefully, brushed my teeth. I am missing the crunchy food that I often eat. I have another appointment next week. Seems I am spending more time with the dentist. Paula

Small Run Around

Hello, After tai chi we were out with the car so drove to the pharmacy to find out why I had not been contacted about a prescription that the Dr. office told me they sent in a week ago. I went in person because I do not like to use the phone, always avoid it as much as I can. The first person I talked with found my records, but did not know why it had not been filled. She called over someone else. They told me, “We called the office, but have not had a reply. This medicine is quite expensive and we want to order a generic.” I called the Dr. office. Where I was told, “There is no record of them trying to reach us. I will call them.” The office called back to tell me that the pharmacist wanted to know if I had taken this medicine before. Which I had done. I guess now the medicine is ordered. Life is full of many little mix-ups. Patience, patience is key to feeling good. Since we were in the neighborhood, we got my car washed. It is so nice to be much cleaner than it was. Paula

Where are my slippers?

Hello, This morning after we had done our exercises, Leroy was walking around muttering, “Where are my slippers?” He struggled for a while, before I asked, “What are you looking for?” “My slippers!”, he exclaimed. “I will help look,” I said as I headed to the bathroom. Nothing. Then it was on to the kitchen, again nothing. The living room also had no slippers. The spare bedroom has also clean. The office was barren. Then I went to our bedroom and there was a pair of slippers! But they were my slippers. However, I had slippers on. Oops! I had on Leroy’s slippers. I had put them on in the dark they felt a little different, but they were in my spot. We do have the same size foot. Paula

At Church Again

Hello, We had a nice walk to church. A little cold, but not bad. Leroy carried the backpack which had a bit of weight in it. I walk in different shoes than I wear in the services. So, there was a pair of shoes in there. We also brough three boxes of granola/protein bars. Plus, I brought an opened calamine lotion that we did not use much of. There is a person who volunteers at a health care place. They can use medicines that have been opened. I am pleased about that. We have not use this, but once. I do not feel good about throwing such things away. The choir sang so we had practice ahead of time. That is always good. After the service there was a light meal followed by the annual meeting. They kept to a fairly strict schedule so people could get away to watch the super bowl game. Neither Leroy nor I watch it. We noticed that help was needed for clean-up. We helped get papers, etc. off the tables. We then spent some time washing all of the tables. Before long another woman joined us. We made short work of that task with three of us. I like to write stories from my childhood for our grandchildren. It is getting much harder to think of new ones to record. I have moved on to college times for the two girls who are in college. Then I am trying to think of some high school stories. I have always enjoyed telling them stories about when I was little. My suspicion is that I do better telling then writing about it. Paula

At Church Again

Hello, We have both been at church for one reason or another for three consecutive days. Leroy is planning to go to a funeral tomorrow. I might go, I did not know the family as well as he did. There are services on Sunday. You would think we have some connections there. We don’t even have plants to water. Someone else takes care of the plants in the church. One time she told me that she has 100 in her care. That is a lot of walking and watering. We helped unload the reduced cost food again. We also put just a few of the things away. Often there are 54 half gallons of milk to put away. That has become my job. In part because I am comfortable squatting to get at the bottom shelves of the refrigerator. Today the woman who coordinates all of this made the comment that she has five meals to get together by Sunday. How she manages all of this, I have a hard time imagining even though I see much of the prep. I feel like a wimp. After putting the milk away, I packaged plastic silverware for her to use for some of the meals. I am glad to be able to save her from doing some of the work. She always has to be in charge because she knows the big picture. On a side note, I connected with one more college friend on the chat program so we can all meet. It takes a little while for people to get on. When we do it soon as a group, it should work quite well. I have had the pleasure of connecting with all of them individually. Paula