Clothes Drying

Hello,

I was happy to wash rags this morning. With the sun already shining it predicted a drying day. I like to use rags instead of paper towels. I have a rag bag in which I put the dirty rags while we all wait for a bigger load of laundry so I can do them all at once. With Leroy’s nose bleeding on the floor our usage increased. With the help of rags, the floor now looks good, no stains. Today was the day when the bag was full and overflowing. Some of the rags are old towels. I figured my hands would not become too cold hanging them up. The smaller things seemed like they would go on the racks in the house when my fingers protested too much. Somehow I just kept going and hung them all outside.

I also did a load of two of my jackets. Those jackets were an addition to a load of two bolsters that I got at a second hand store. Leroy and I use “knee pillows” for sleeping. Ours are quite tired and needed to be retired. These new pillows were a good deal and seemed clean, but I am more comfortable after washing them. Because I got my haircut today, one of the jackets needed washing. I am always a bit concerned about hair falling on my collars. Now I am more comfortable with that. The jacket wrists also look much brighter.

The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck is the book I just finished. It was thought provoking about Germany after and some during WWII. The straight path is not always easy to find. It sounds good to try to do the right thing, but even knowing or discerning can be difficult. There are many forces pulling a response from a person.

Paula

That Leroy

Hello,

Leroy found out this morning that his appointment on Thursday is to see the Dr. rather than get a colonoscopy. Both of us are sure that we heard one of the people talking about this appointment in the hospital say that it was for a colonoscopy. Leroy moved some of his responsibilities to accommodate the preparation process. It is nice not to have to do that but he is not going to change things back. I will work the full day Thursday and not come home to take Leroy to his phantom procedure.

It is probably good to have a visit with this Dr. and get his take on the colon inflammation that was spotted in the scan.

Leroy looks and acts so good that it is hard to believe that this happened just a few days ago. He has not even gotten black eyes. Many people wonder if his nose is really broken because it looks fairly normal. They told us it was broken and it is still quite sore and tender, other than that we do not know the inside story.

My violets, that I had thought were never going to bloom again, are blooming. Two are in full deep purple color and the third is sending up a bud stem. I feel blessed to see this beauty. When I have more time I will post some pictures.

Paula

Cool Morning

Hello,

It was cool this morning, but Leroy still rode his bike the three miles to work. First he checked to make sure that his helmet did not put pressure on his glasses which might hurt his nose. All was good so he went on with his riding plan.

Because it was so cool out, I finally unscrewed our hoses and pulled them over the porch railing to force the water out. It was still dripping when finished so I left it hanging there. Maybe Leroy can help curl it up and put it away.

I also took three tomato cages out of the front garden and pulled the unproductive tomato plants. I am not sure why, but the front gardens were vigorous producers of beautiful marigolds and not many veggies this year. We were both quite disappointed. The brussel sprouts are still out there. They do not mind the cold, but growth might not happen much. It seems that pea size is their goal. We are sad. I bought some and they were wonderful size with good flavor.

Leroy is even planning to go the community garden tonight, if he feels peppy enough. He was talking about gathering the green tomatoes that are left on the vine.

Paula

Walking Day

Hello,

Leroy walked to church this morning. We got there in plenty of time so the pace was good. After church, he decided he was tired and would not stay for Sunday school even though the topic was very interesting to him. He dragged a little on the way home, but just kept moving.

He rested some before we drove to the start of the CROP walk. It was a cool day, but little wind so quite pleasant. Leroy was the “official” photographer as he had brought a camera. Before the walk he was busy taking pictures of all the different groups that were represented. Therefore he started walking at about the end of the group. I barely stayed with him as he set off at a fast pace. We passed others. Finally we visited a little with a couple that we know. It was not long before the two guys were 200 paces ahead of us women. That seemed to be a good set. They waited for us at the turn around place, we started back in a group of four, but it was not long before those two men were marching out of our range.

I really do enjoy being in a place where I know people and enjoy visiting with them. I am so much more comfortable. We were fortunate that the rain did not start to come until we were almost done with the walk and then it was really just a light mist. I passed 10,000 steps before we finished. So Leroy got in a lot of stepping as well.

After we got home we had popcorn and fruit smoothies while we played kings in the corner. It is a nice little card came. Leroy beat me three out of three games. I did not like that very well. Next time we will have to play boggle so I can beat him.

As you must know by now Leroy is feeling quite fine.

Paula

Leroy is home

Hello,

Today, I got to the hospital at about one o’clock. When the nurse saw me going in his room, she asked, “Are you his ride home?”

With my yes, she proceeded to say, “He will be ready on about an hour.”

I was pleased with the timing.

On the way home from the hospital we stopped at the church so Leroy could bring that laptop home. He needs to prepare a sermon for a funeral tomorrow. He had started that sermon, but not done much work on it.

At home, he fussed around with this and that before he announced that he was tired. So he took a nap followed by a snack. His watch battery had stopped. It took both of us, serious persistence, and luck to get it changed and working once more. Neither of us had seen such a complicated watch insides that needed to be removed and set aside just to get the battery out. As you might imagine getting it back together was another trick. It works but the display is a bit askew.

Leroy will have a colonoscopy next week as well as a visit with his primary doctor.

We have talked about all of the things that were lucky about this episode. I was home to help him. The hospital is only about two miles away. He did not break many bones. He was not wearing his glasses. He did not hit anything on the way down, but the floor. He was not hitting cement. We have insurance. The view from Leroy’s eighth floor window was spectacular. He said the sun rise this morning was especially nice. He liked the food. He tolerated well being woken during the night to have blood readings and maybe something else assessed. We are fortunate.

Some negatives are. His glasses hurt on his face/nose. He had to pull off many sticky testing circles that grabbed on to much of his hair as they came off. The hospital staff had him do most it because they knew it would hurt. Where the needle was in his arm had to be done by a staff person. Leroy lived through it.

Paula

Leroy's Condition

Hello,

Last night Leroy did not go to choir because he was tired and he had lots of stomach pain. In the night he got up to go the bathroom. He reported later that while there he felt dizzy and lay on the floor for a while. He then got up and walked down the hall to the bedroom. I heard a loud bang, called, “Leroy”, and he did not answer. I hopped out of bed and called again, asking, “Where are you?”

Leroy muttered, “Here.”

I followed the sound and found him lying on the floor in the hall face down. He then told me, “My nose is bleeding.”

I scurried around getting a hankie and then an entire box of tissues. He sat up and got into a chair while we discussed should he go to the hospital. In the end we decided to have him checked.

At the hospital we were fortunate that they were not busy and took care of him right away. The check in woman asked, “Do you want a wheelchair?”

“No,” said Leroy.

A little later I thought he looked quite tired so I pulled a chair over behind him and he sat. When the check in woman was finished, she announced, “I am getting a wheelchair.” Leroy docilely sat in it.

They did an abdominal scan for the severe pain he had been experiencing as well as a scan of his head. There is inflammation in the abdomen. He also has a broken nose. Then the carotid artery was checked because the broken bones were quite close to it and they wanted to make sure there was no bleeding inside. All was good there.

Wouldn’t you know, he has had no abdominal pain since he has been in the hospital? This happened about 12:30 last night. I stayed until about 4:15 and have returned two times since then taking books, his phone charging cord, his tablet, and great conversation.

He looks and feels quite fine now and we were both hoping that he could come home tonight but he will spend the night.

Paula

Getting Lost

Hello,

With the time and address of the invitation to lunch in hand, it was an easy job to put the info in the GPS. My phone seemed like a possibility, but I have not driven with the phone giving directions. Before leaving the house I also checked on Google maps so it seemed that all of the bases were covered.

All went well until I got into the neighborhood with hills and tangled streets. The names are even confusing with trail, court, or drive attached to several of the same words. At this point my GPS lady informed me that there was no satellite service there. Now you must know that last year it all worked just fine.

I started up one street but it did not feel right, turned around and tried another that said it was a dead end. I did not remember any dead ends last year. I wondered if I were in the wrong area, drove out to a more main street, looked for a place to pull off and try my phone instead. At least I had the address and phone number with me. I have only used my phone for directions once; usually I know where I am. I do not know if I pressed a wrong button, but it would not work.

I tried calling the person I was going to see, but she did not answer. I tried several times. Then I called Leroy, but he did not answer.

Weeping seemed like a good release of tension, but I held it in and wondered about going home. I headed off that direction, but it seemed they (others were there too) would wonder what had happened. I tried calling again, no answer. The GPS still did not work. I called Leroy and he answered. “I do not know where I am,” I wailed, “would you call my friend and tell her I do not know where I am and I am going home. I will wait to hear from you.”

I then tried the phone map once more and it worked immediately. With the phone lady giving me instructions I headed off to my original destination. Perhaps two minutes later the GPS lady was back with me. So between the two of them I was good. Then Leroy called back asking where I was. I told him since those two friendly ladies had just informed me. He then told me where to turn next because he was on the computer using Google maps. I made it to my lunch about fifteen minutes late with two ladies and Leroy telling me where to go. This time no one faded away until I was at the door.

Paula