Newsletters are done

Hello, We finished delivering the last of the neighborhood newsletters this afternoon. It seemed like a short walk, just a few blocks and back. Leroy was tired and so was I when we finished. Too much heat! I then counted and it was four blocks up and then four more back. No wonder Leroy was dragging. Leroy is doing quite well today, but gets tired easily. He did help me a little bit with the window in the back porch. I finished the two windows in the house and then decided I wanted to clean the one on the porch that I see as I come down the stairs. It has had some bird poop on it for some time. Today was the day that disappeared. I had thought about washing the valance, but just put it outside for a while for the wind to blow through. It is much cleaner now. I feel so good about getting that done. I thought about doing the other porch window, but there is too much in front of it. I simply was not ready to do so much moving of things. With so much sitting time, Leroy is reading even faster than usual. We will go to the library tomorrow to get him resupplied. I might look for something too, but I have quite a few at home to finish. Paula

Quick Update

Hello, Leroy saw the oral surgeon today. A very young guy according to Leroy. He was back there for about an hour so I was beginning to think it might have been a big deal. When Leroy reappeared, he looked fine. It took a while for him to be seen. The actual deed only took about five minutes. He does need to take it a bit easy for two or three days. Full healing will take longer, but it should not be any problem. He does need soft food for three days. It is amazing how much crunchy food we eat on a daily basis. We can do soft, but it takes a bit of planning and thinking. Because it is a back molar they are not going to do an implant. Medicare and our insurance supplement do not cover this expense so we are happy that we have to money to pay for it I washed two more windows this afternoon. There are still two yet to be cleaned. I hope to finish it tomorrow. Paula

Hot and Dry

Hello, We seem to be entering a new season of hot and dry. I have to remind myself to drink a bit more water. I delivered neighborhood newsletters this afternoon. I was quite tired by the time I was done and I had only done a portion of the route. I was too warmly dressed. There are a lot of steps that I must climb and that is a challenge from time to time. Later I will be in better shape? I still figure it will take me two days to get the job done. Leroy went to work today and will again tomorrow. He takes all of his pills and sets the alarm on his phone so he can take them at the proper time. He is taking four antibiotics a day. That seems like a lot to me. Guess that is seriously fighting the infection. His oral surgery appointment is not until 1:00 in the afternoon. He is not to eat or drink six hours before that. I suspect he will find that difficult. He is getting better at mashing his food to the proper consistency for ease of eating. We get notices of deposits pending for our bank account. I am curious as to how long something is pending before it is deposited. Seems like a longer time than expected. The mysteries of the modern banking world. I am still short a bit over 1000 steps today. Since I have had a number of days with the 10,000 steps, I will try to do that before I go to bed. Paula

Easter and Following

Hello, Easter, when I woke up, Leroy said, “I did not have a very good night last night. I have an ear ache. I took some pain pills in the night so I could sleep.” He dragged around at breakfast. I wondered if he should go to church. He felt well enough to go after some more pain pills. He even seemed to perk up. On the way home from church he commented that he was hurting again, but it seemed to involve his jaw. He wondered, “Maybe it is a tooth. There was one the dentist filled and he told me that I might have to have a root canal someday.” At noon he had trouble eating, helping him to decide to call the dentist rather than the family practitioner. He left a message hoping that they would get to that first thing. This morning he called before the office was open and then after they opened. He was offered an appointment at ten which he gladly took. He learned the tooth that was filled five years ago was abscessed. The dentist said, “You could have called me yesterday.” Leroy replied, “I did not want to call you on Easter Sunday.” “Thank you, but you still could have called and I would have prescribed an antibiotic.” this kind dentist replied. After considering the options, Leroy has decided to have the tooth extracted. Unfortunately, no oral surgeons were available until Thursday. Leroy is living on antibiotics and pain pills. There are times he feels good and times the pain comes back. Apparently, the bone is also deteriorating a bit. If it can be done with a local, they will do it that way, otherwise he will be put out. We are grateful for health care that is so available. Paula

No Storms at this house

Hello, We have had no serious storms at our house, just small arguments. Really the weather has been serious around us, but we have been missed. We are seeing winter onions that are ready to eat, but I have so many purchased onions that we have ignored those outside. We also see a few flowers around here and appreciate the color. I like those spring time surprises. I remember going in the woods when on the farm and looking for early blooms. It was always fun and uplifting. Now city lawns are so manicured that there is not the element of amazement. Leroy has been going to work early so as to be prepared for the accreditation review. It seems he has enjoyed learning about this process. If he does retire in the near future, I know he will miss many things about the job. I went to Ely for the in person Tai Chi. Because the leader was not yet in person, I was the only person there. That gave me plenty of room to move around and I had a nice visit with people in the library after. That is certainly the part of the job that I have missed the most, visiting with others. I was trimming off dead leaves when I cut my finger with the scissors. How is that for demonstrating skill and ability? At least the plants look better now. It was a very small nick in my finger, easily covered by a band aid. Paula

Time Off Today

Hello, We watched the Iowa Women’s basketball game yesterday. We have not seen any other games. I wondered was I, or were we, a jinx. Leroy said, “I do not think you have that much power.” I was sorry to see a loss, but that is the way games go, up some and down others. How is that for a pithy thought? I had another deep thought, but cannot retrieve it from the recesses of my brain. Leroy is at the library working on stamps and I have some time by myself. That is so nice. That is what I call time off even though I washed and hung out a load of clothes. I have taken a little time to work on two sudoku puzzles and read a bit. That should truly be called time off. I am not sure what we have been doing since we returned home, but I have felt quite scheduled. Even though Leroy does not have responsibilities at the church, we will be at church Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings along with Sunday. I will also be there Thursday noon. Is church still my home away from home? On our recent travels we saw, many hawks, two pheasants, a beautiful red fox, and some horses. Paula

Interesting visit

Hello, We went to an escape room. This was a combined effort with eight people over 70 years of age and only one of us had ever been in an escape room. We were instructed to not damage the room. It was not hard for us to follow that rule. We seemed to make little progress at first, but figured out a few things as we struggled, laughed, and sighed. It was interesting because some of us have brains that work with certain types of puzzles that some of the rest of us did not understand at all. The woman who was a great helper managed to give us a multitude of hints and tips. Escaping took us almost the entire hour. One group managed this feat in under half an hour. Surely, they did not have as much fun as we did.

Perhaps the most interesting thing we did was to see the bible that had been commissioned by St. John’s University. The bible is entirely hand done with calligraphy and illuminations. It was not quite what I had expected as it pulled in symbolism, inclusiveness, text, and modern times in the illuminations. The half hour lecture before viewing was informative to say the least. One man was a serious force behind the work, but several artists joined him to create the whole. The book is not yet bound and may not be. At the moment, only a limited number of pages are on display so the rest can be put in darkness and a controlled environment.

What a lot of learning! And to think it was in the snowy, frozen land. There are treasures everywhere. Paula