Life Changes

Hello, I learned yesterday that I have a balder infection. Could that be true even though the symptoms were not at all typical? Anyway, I am taking antibiotics and I seem to feel better after just two pills. Can that be true as well that it matters so quickly? Certainly, seems an easy cure to my pain, discomfort. On a totally different subject: we have lost/misplaced a two-inch hitch plug. We have both done some serious searching. Nothing has turned up. Today we drove to the place where we took our bike ride on Sunday. No luck there either. We found a relatively cheap replacement at a store in town. As Leroy says, “We can afford it.” Leory likes to tell me how to park when I back into a parking spot. I groused at him for that and accused him of “back seat driving”. He insisted he does not do that, just for parking. However, on this little road trip, he learned forward, blocking my view to tell me a car was coming from the right. I was upset and almost yelled at him, saying, “You can look too, but do not block my view.” That hurt his feelings. It is not the best to solve such things when driving down the road. We managed and it is settled now. It seems that after almost 55 years together we should be past all of that irritation. Life still has its moments. This morning I went to qigong an hour late. I participated in just the last things. I can go in person now and I somehow thought that meant I could go an hour later since I did not have the meeting afterwards. It was just slightly mixed up in my mind. Paula

A Tree gone, Plus and Minus

Hello, I am happy to have the tree gone, because now I do not have to think about it falling on my stuff or me. The tremendous weight would have caused a lot of damage. However, I miss it and it has only been a number of hours. Leroy and I were gone first to tai chi and then to volunteer at the church so we did not get to see this great transition. It was almost shocking to come home and look over the yard and not see branches. I wonder about the squirrels who were living in it. Birds were on it a lot, but I was not aware of any nesting there. The birds seemed to enjoy the bugs that had their home there. Leroy and I just liked looking at the activity in the tree every day. The center of the tree was quite dead. It is amazing how the outside held it up. Our friend figures it was well over 100 years old. What history it has seen with people coming and going. Already I notice the lack of shade that it graciously provided. Since it was somewhat over the clothes line, I suspect there will not be any bird poop on the clothes. So, it is all a bit of plus and minus. Paula

What a Morning

Hello, I have had some bowel issues so I needed to collect four samples. I was not excited about doing it, but instructions were clear. I soon had two vials filled to the proper line and in the refrigerator. There were little jars and in bags so nothing was exposed, but it felt a bit vile anyway. Oh, the new learning that can happen. The next little bottle had a stubborn cap that popped open all at once. Oh no, it had liquid in it that I had not noticed. On the floor a bit of it went. Should I continue? Would it matter. I suspected it mattered since instructions were so dictatorial. But I put in the required amount anyway and moved on to the last thing. Those two vials were to be stored at room temperature. The splitting tree is still standing and taunting us with its vigor. Someone is to come today to look at it, but the rain was coming down quit strongly now. How much weight does that add to a tree? The lab opens early so I aimed to get there around 7:30. The front desk opened the door. When I got to the lab, I found the lights to be off and no one there. Back to the desk where I learned they were to be open at 7:30. She called around to find them. They came a bit later. I turned the collection in, confessing my goof. They did not know if the spill would be usable as the amount of liquid was required, but would call to check. They sent me home with more correction materials, but said they would call if it was needed. They did not call back so hoping I am good. Later we learned that the tree had moved a little bit more. The tree guy said that the position of the split holds it for a while longer. He is looking for a crane high enough to be safe taking the tree down. On the plus side. I have felt better today than I have for days. Although, I still want to know what is causing my discomfort. Paula

Exciting Times

Hello, Just when I think everything is the same stuff, something happens. Leroy and I went for a bike ride this afternoon because we are going on a CROP bike ride tomorrow. It is only a little over three miles so we should be able to handle that. Leroy finds that if it is too hilly, he is bothered and might have to walk up the hill. There is only one short hill tomorrow. There was a bit of hill today and he managed. I have only ridden my bike one other time this spring, but I think I too can make it just fine. After we got home from the ride, I was getting a snack and looked out the kitchen window. I noticed a light-colored streak in the neighbor’s large old maple tree. Leroy came to take a look too and he agreed the tree is splitting. It was not like that before we went on the ride. I ran downstairs, and out on the deck for a closer look. It was indeed split. I pounded on our downstairs friends’ door. I was wondering if they had the neighbor’s phone number. They did not come quickly, in a panic remembering when a branch had come down from this tree in the past, I ran to the front of the house and rang the doorbell. Again, they did not come quickly enough for me so I ran to the neighbor’s and rang their doorbell. This time I waited long enough for them to come to the door. I think they thought I was a bit excited when I told them about it. They did go out and look. As of now they are trying to locate a tree service. It does not help that this is a weekend. We moved our cars out of the garage and put them on the street. Then we moved the bikes onto the back porch. We also took pictures of the things we have in the garage. Hopefully, the tree will not hit the garage if it comes down before it can be removed. It looks very possible now. I like those big old trees but they are a bit of a risk. The picture is to give you an idea of the size. The split is almost between the two large branches or trunks.

Paula

Trying to Remember

Hello, I heard a master garden speak. She talked about cutting back the fall sedum so it would regrow and remain upright in the fall. I remember those words, but cannot remember how low to cut it or when to cut it exactly. Today I decided it was tall enough so I cut off a good bit of height. We are getting rain now. Seemed to me that should help it recover. It looks a bit short and pale. Then I have been trying to remember how long I have been taking one of my meds. Previously I had written it down. I am glad to have that record, but have not added to it since we have been here. I took it for a while and then stopped for a while before starting it again at the urging of my primary care giver. I am not sure how to “wade” though the electronic records that I find. When I go to the office again I will have to ask how to navigate on that web site. I learned of the death of one of my high school classmates. It shocked me a bit. We are not that old. Paula

Mirrors Everywhere

Hello, Usually, I spent little time looking in mirrors. After all I do not care to see how much older I look by the minute. I can pretend it is not true. It was nice when I had cataracts and could not see my face clearly in the mirror. Blurry was a fine illusion. Today I was in a room that had mirrors on one wall. I did not notice my age, but my posture. I was slumped over a bit. Shoulders up and back improved my look considerably. Maybe I should be surrounded by mirrors. Would that help my posture? Certain more regular moves for strengthening the core would make a difference. I usually get my steps, but not the stretching or strength work. Strange that I used to do moves with great regularity and Leroy would do almost nothing. Now we have switched roles. He does them when he gets up, but breakfast takes my attention and then so does the rest of the day. Only later do I realize that I have not worked out. Mirrors would remind me to get at it if nothing else to move my shoulders into the proper spot. Paula

Storm or Not

Hello, Leroy did not walk to bible study this morning because there was a light rain when he left the house. It stopped soon after he left and stayed away until after he came home. When I left for church, for my study, there was no rain so I walked. People came in after me and asked, “Did you walk?” “Yes,” I replied, “it’s not raining, is it?” “It is raining and quite a bit.” was the reply. “Hopefully it will be done when we are,” I rather confidently said. Well, it was raining and quite seriously. I jumped in the offered ride. It is supposed to be a strong storm when we go to choir so I suppose we will drive just to be on the “safe” side. Because there is to be hail, we might park in the parking ramp to protect the car windows, etc. It is fairly close to the church. It is good to get the rain as it has been dry, but it would be nice if it did not come violently all at once. Sometimes we forgot that the weather is one thing we do not control very well. Paula

Still Not Understanding

Hello, Leroy and I will have been married 55 years in June. As of yet we can still have misunderstood conversations. Sometimes I think Leroy reads my mind and then again, I think he does not have a clue about how I think. Today we have had two convoluted conversations. The first was about AA batteries and whether they were good or not and where said batteries had been placed. How this can occupy ten minutes time I do not know, but it did. I, of course, was perfectly clear and understandable. While Leroy’s talk was a mystery. In the end we figured out what the other person was trying to say, but it was a struggle. Later we talked about knives. Guess we should just give them names so we each know to which knife we are referring. At least we did not stab each other. I know some people name their cars although that seems to be out of affection rather than the inability to tell them apart. We do not do that, but we know when we say, your car and my car which we are talking about. Or we might use the brand name. There are times when we have a very clear conversation and I guess that keeps us at it for a bit longer. Paula

Picture Taken

Hello, There was a “photo booth” set up in church on Easter Sunday. We did not have our picture taken. I did not say it, but thought it was a bit silly. Today someone our age, came up and said, “I just had my picture taken. It was so easy. You should do that.” Leroy and I have not had a picture taken of the two of us for some time. We were dressed decently and my hair looked fine It was really all done with computer. There were just three instructions. How to get started, that three pictures would be taken, and how to transfer them to our phones. With help from onlookers we got arranged in a good way. Then Leroy was even laughing because of comments. I think they all turned out quite fine. There is someone standing too close so we have the side of their arm. On the app that these photos are on, I could not find a way to crop the pictures. When I uploaded it to FB, I could crop it so I like that photo better.

Sometimes people complain about technology. It can do amazing stuff if one just knows how to use it. Paula

Binge Watching For sure

Hello, I had my second tooth extracted two days ago. Yesterday I watched TV for about five hours. The idea of taking it easy is not easy for me. I got tired of reading books. So, the shows came on, but they were spread out a bit. I certainly feel better than I did the last time. This tooth popped right out. The last one had to be dug out. That made me tired and the stitches meant more healing time. Now I am rather ready to move on and get some things done around here. Course I should confess that yesterday we washed four windows and put on the screens. Leroy did a lot of the work of cleaning the screens and the window wells. I just washed and dried the window panes. I was a bit tired after that and sitting for a while felt quite good. I also got my 10,000 steps yesterday. That was spread over the day. I see my regular dentist in two weeks for the work to begin on putting in the permanent bridge. He tells me it will be much easier with that tooth gone as they were so crooked. I joked, “Is this the new way to straighten teeth?” It was not recommended. At the oral surgeon’s office, I asked about the reabsorption of a tooth. It seems strange to me since I have not found another person who has ever heard of the reabsorption of a tooth. The woman who was prepping me did say it is rather rare. But then you people have always known that I am rare. Dentists seem to know about reabsorption, but few others have ever heard of it. Paula

Binge Watching

Hello. Is it binge watching if I watch three hours of TV in one day? I have decided to watch All Creatures Great and Small as well as Downton Abby. I was planning to watch it on the TV. Because we contribute to the station that airs it, we can watch older programs. For some reason that ability stopped and it says we need to contribute again. I could still get it on the laptop. Don’t have a clue how to resign in on the TV. For a while we were casting to the TV from the laptop. That worked just fine. For unknown reason we can no longer find the TV listed to cast to it. So, the library was the next solution to the issue. The only thing is that the shows are in season packages. I like to return things on time hence more watching than I usually do. We can renew, but some of the packages are from other libraries so they cannot be renewed. I might get used to a lot of screen time. Leroy is ok watching All Creatures, but prefers not to watch Downton. There is not a lot of room for him to go else where with a good reading light. It means when he is not home, I spent a bit of time. It has doubled or tripled my screen time. I will have the other tooth extracted tomorrow. That will mean some quiet days. More screen time? I do have about three books to read. I started one of them and I am not sure that I really like it. Paula

Does a Nap Help

Hello, When there is a lack of sleep in the night, is the sleep need rescued by napping? I am not sure. I almost never take a nap. Today’s nap almost helps me feel a bit more rested, but a bit groggy as well. It seems to me night sleep is the best. Volunteering was good this morning. I like being busy and feeling like there is a purpose. I helped put some things on the shelves. One person said, “I knocked a couple boxes of macaroni and cheese on the floor at the back of the shelf. Someone else will have to get it.” I squatted down to look under the shelf. Then I needed to get to hands and knees. I found several boxes of the mac and cheese. There was also a box of mashed potatoes in packages along with several cans of things. Someone was quite surprised to see me down on the floor. It is all the moves that I do during the week that help me be able to do this with a certain amount of ease. I have done it for much of my life. I should rest easy at night. but if we have been out for anything it seems to get my sleep pattern off. We have church choir on Wednesday nights and those nights are always hard for me. Paula

Volunteering

Hello, We volunteered at the Saturday evening meal at church. The team was a bit different. A boy was working for his Eagle Scout Badge. He recruited seven other scouts to help him. Only three of us were part of our usual team. That was a clean up crew. It seems to be a bit more specialized. As it involves running the dishwasher. Leroy and I scraped trays put dirty glasses and cups in the proper trays, and sorted the silverware, I guess it is still called silverware even though it is not silver. I will admit to being a rather tired. Leroy did eat a bit of ham and some bread when we were mostly done. I am not much of a ham eater so I did not. I dragged behind Leroy on the way home. Perhaps it was because I was hungry. If any salad or vegetables had been left, I would have eaten some of them. There were more than 150 servings tonight. I have 14,218 steps. Leroy only has a bit over ten thousand. In the morning, I got some groceries since we were out of bananas. Leroy stayed home and did some cleaning which does not get so many steps. We have had a bit of rain the last couple days. It was nice to be able to walk tonight without that. The wind made it rather daunting at times. Paula