Wednesday, November 19

I went to see Cowboy on Sunday and then again today.  On Sunday he seemed very surprised to see me and asked me why I was there on a "Sunday?"  Since I often go on Sunday can't say where that came from.  It was cold and wet so we stayed in and spent some time in the common area and watched some TV.  He was restless but cheerful.

Today he was in a really good humor. For some unexplained reason traffic was light and it went well going and coming home.   Still cold so couldn't get out.  We looked at the newspaper, walked around and just hung out. He spent some time looking at the grocery ad and got all wrapped up in the customer loyalty requirement on the sale items.  I tried to explain it but he just couldn't comprehend what I was talking about.

 I bought him two pair of jeans on Sunday after my visit and I brought them to him.  They fit fine.  Some of his jeans seemed to have "left the building".

The dentist was there Monday did the impression to modify his bridge.  He looks kind of funny with no teeth on the bottom in front.  He can still eat but with some difficulty.

I made arrangements for a podiatrist to visit and to order him a pair of shoes.  His current shoes are 3 years old and I think we are supposed to get new ones every year.  I have been a bad girl letting it go like this.

My roof is still not fixed.  Am in a "kerfuffle" with the insurance company.  A new adjuster and my roofer were here Saturday to reinspect it and I am waiting to hear from them.  The roofer seems to think they will approve replacing the whole roof. Here's hoping.........

I had a handyman here last Thursday and he finished the guest bathroom and painted a little bit of the ceiling where my grandson had accidentally got some green paint on the white ceiling.

Yesterday the pool man told me there is no electricity to the pump for the pool.  Geez !!  I swear it is always something.  Called an electrician and he will be here tomorrow.  I have a son-in-law who is an electrician.  Unfortunately, he is in upstate New York.

Won't be long I will have this place in good shape (I hope).

A friend of mine and her husband are going with me on a trip in January.  She plays accordion with the group I used to be in and is a retired nurse.   Her hubby is a retired Lutheran minister and very nice.  They used to help me out with Cowboy when he was still at home.

I am so excited.  I am going to Peru and will see Machu Pichu and Lima.  Then I will go to Chile, landing in Santiago.  Don't have all the details handy at the moment but will make a stop in Patagonia then on to Argentina.

After that not sure what might want to do.  My daughter wants to plan a trip to Australia and to start putting money aside for that.  Since she travels all the time she has lots of airline miles and wants to accumulate enough for the flight for both of us.  Will take about another year, she thinks.

I can't complain.  Am sitting here in my easy chair in a warm and attractive house and have talked to several family members over the course of the day.

I have this neat recipe for salmon that I am going to try tomorrow.  It calls for bourbon so had to make a stop at the liquor store but will be fun to try.  Working on Thanksgiving dinner in my head.

Thursday, November 13

The days just seem to fly by.  I always have a list of things to do.

I spent this morning going from Dollar General store to other Dollar General stores trying to gather up enough Santa wall hangings to put one on each residents' door.  It took 4 stores but I have them.  The idea came from one of the other wives but they will look pretty cool I think.  We are going to put up the tree and decorate the day after Thanksgiving.

I made a visit to Cowboy on Saturday and we walked quite a bit.  He was fretting about the bird seed issue.  Ran into the activity aide and she said she has some, not to worry.

I went to the home Tuesday in the afternoon.  At 5 we had a special dinner with tablecloths, cloth napkins and centerpieces.  We celebrated Veterans day in style.  There were a group of soldiers from Ft Hood that came around and visited with everyone.

Cowboy had already been shaved, showered and dressed before I got there.  He had on a rose boutinere and looked really nice.   I put on a dress up top and patent dress shoes and jewelry.  It was a nice event.

Because it was late when it was over I stayed over at a hotel and then drove home yesterday.

Yesterday afternoon I had an appointment with the gastrenterologist. (how do you spell that anyway?)
 He wants to do an upper GI.  I have never had one and have a lot of trouble with acid reflux so is time to make sure there isn't damage in there.  It is scheduled for the 15th of December.  The medicine he gave me last month for my colon is working wonders for the irritable bowel issue.  Modern medicine is a wonderful thing.

My daughter and I are going to host Thanksgiving this year and I have been picking up things that we will need when I am out.  I found some place mats on sale at the dollar store.  who knew?  They will be great for the little ones.

I have a handyman here and am finally getting the guest bath finished.  He is also doing a little patching on some of the painting that my grandson did.  We had green paint on the ceiling and we dabbed white on it.

I also talked to a landscaper this morning.  I have decided I couldn't keep the weeds out if I pulled them everyday so I going to turn it over to an expert.

Tuesday, November 4

I can't even tell you what I have done this week.  I certainly didn't accomplish much of anything.  My daughter was home from Saturday til this morning and we did get some time to chat.  Grandson #4 was over as well.   I also spent quite a bit of time catching up with my favorite TV shows.

I  went  to see Cowboy on Friday and he was doing fine.  We had their wonderful catfish and spent a lot of time looking at an old atlas.  I would ask him where in South Dakota he lived as a child.   He couldn't tell me.  We looked at a map of Arizona and New Mexico and he told me there used to be another state in between them.   We looked at some of the places in Europe we visited when we lived in Germany many years ago.  I showed him where I had been on my trip.   It was nice because we were actually conversing even though he was having a little trouble remembering things.

I was going to see him today but it is raining very hard here today and I didn't want to drive in it.  I35 is enough of a challenge on a good day.  I will go tomorrow.  I called him and told him and he was fine.

There is another good reason to wait until tomorrow.  He is to see the dentist to get an impression made so they can modify his bridge.  He likes for me to be nearby when he sees the dentist.

I have started a menu for Thanksgiving.  We are going to have folks over.  Don't know how many yet but will probably be a houseful.  Then I can build a shopping list.

I need to carve out some time to go through the several hundred pictures I took on my trip and print out the best ones.

I will be staying in today for sure.  I can hear the rain beating down.

Wednesday, October 29

Got home Sunday eve.  Terribly jet lagged and with a mild cold.  Lots of sleep was in order.  Spent Monday doing laundry, going through a ton of mail and generally putting things away.

I went to see Cowboy yesterday.  He was happy to see me.  He was fine.  They were listening to a fellow play the guitar and sing western songs.  He always enjoys that.  I joined him.  When that was over we walked around a bit.  Beautiful day and lots of birds were feeding.  Nice visit.  He didn't say a word about my being gone.  His inability to keep track of time helps in that regard.

I went out today and bought underwear and socks for Cowboy and got some groceries.  My cold is about gone and I feel rested.  Another very nice day.

We are having a Halloween party at the home Friday so will make some pumpkin pies tomorrow  to take.

I had a wonderful time on the trip.  There were several single ladies to hang out with.  They were from Maryland, California, Florida and Idaho.  About all we had in common was our age.  They were fun and friendly.

The ship was very nice and comfortable.  The food was amazing.  I enjoyed every bite.  They had some sort of entertainment every night.  I liked the folk dancers the best with the gypsy band a close second.

I probably learned more history, geography and cultural details than on any trip I have ever made.  Listening to the citizens talk about the communist years and the Baltic wars makes you realize how fortunate we have been in this country during the past few decades.

We made several stops between Budapest and Bucharest. The weather was nice for most of the trip.  In the 60's for the most part. Then the last two days the wind blew terribly and on Saturday we had rain, then sleet and then snow.   To top it off the bus had a flat driving from the coast of the black sea to Bucharest.  We sat on the road for over an hour while another bus came to rescue us.  Needless to say between the delay and the weather didn't have much time to see Bucharest.  All part of the adventure I suppose.

Sunday, October 12

This will be my last post until I return from my trip.  I leave on Tuesday and fly to Frankfurt and then take a second flight to Budapest.  We will take a look around Budapest before sailing down the Danube.  Several stops in Hungary, Serbia, Croatia and end up in Bucharest, Romania before flying home.  Will arrive home on Sunday the 26th.

I hope I have covered all the bases.  The kids have my travel information and have promised to call Cowboy a time or two to check on him and the home has their numbers.

I bought a backpack today.  Have never used one but am told they make the job of carrying things around a lot easier so here we go.  One of our stops will include a dinner at a local home and as suggested, I bought a little gift.  I bought Texas wildflower seeds, a magnet and some pictures of the area to give them.

I went to see Cowboy yesterday.  Some of the ladies had brought in fixins for fajitas.  Cowboy didn't want any.  They did serve their regular lunch so he ate good, fried chicken and trimmings.  Then he ate a big piece of cake.  That ought to raise his blood sugar.   He was fidgety.  It was raining and he couldn't go outside.  It quit after lunch and so he went out when I left.  I explained to him that I was going to be gone for a couple of weeks but I suspect he will forget.  This is the longest I have ever left.  Hope he does well.

Tomorrow I pack and I have an appointment with the gastrointerologist at 3PM.  Just to find out what he already told me I suspect.

Thursday, O9ctober

All was good with the colonoscopy.  Hope he will tell me  can wait another  10 years but won't find out til go back to see the doc on the 13th.  Such a pain in the you know what.

Went to see Cowboy yesterday.  He was doing OK but got really upset with this new resident that is a bit like "Billy", always talking and bothering everyone.  We went to see the dentist and he had 3 teeth filled.  When I get home from my trip we will go back and get a tooth pulled and his partial modified. It frustrates me no end that they do such a poor job with oral hygiene.  It just doesn't seem to be on their radar.  A lot of the residents don't have any teeth and some of the rest of them have no one requesting or paying for dental care.  Talked to one wife and I get the impression a lot of it is just how difficult the whole process is and how unwilling the patients are to go through the process.  

Had a nice lunch and then I headed back.  Met with the insurance adjuster on the roof and he doesn't agree that the whole roof needs replacing.  I called the roofer and he wants to come out and take pics and address it with the insurance company  Can't do much until I get back so agreed to let him do that and we will do some negotiating.  Not a big hurry since the roof has been temporarily fixed so will address when I get back;

I went to the primary physician today and learned that my labs show I am pre-diabetic and my cholesterol is borderline high.  Am going to have to get serious about my diet.  Bone scan was good and labs were otherwise good.  He suggested I use a stool softener, add more fiber to my diet and that I should be fine.

I got a haircut and a pedicure today in preparation for the trip.  Tomorrow I plan to catch up on correspondence, bills, etc and start laying out my clothes for the trip.  May try to hit the mall and look for a backpack, although I have a nice satchel could use.  

Grandson #4 worked yesterday and painted my bathroom.  Still needs some touch up but looks pretty nice.  He left and went back to stay with his girlfriend.  I worry about him and the whole situation.  More later.

Sunday, October 5Fri

It was going along as a pretty good week.  I had gone to see Cowboy on Wednesday and he was doing fine.  He continues to spend a good deal of time outside.  We walked around and he commented about the bird feeders and fretted that very little of the feed had been consumed.  It is possible that the aide refilled them because I saw lots of birds last time was there, but not today.

On Thursday we had a terrible storm.  High winds.  They said up to 90 MPH.  Anyway the sun came out about five and I went outside and my yard and pool were filled with shingles off the roof.  I went to the front of the house and you could see rows of shingles standing straight up.  One shingle was lodged between two of the slats in the fence.  You think of tornadoes when you see that but it was just straight wind.

I immediately called a roofing company off of Angie's list that same evening and he came out first thing Friday AM.  He took about 5 minutes and said I was going to have to put on a new roof.  I was really hoping they could fix it for a few hundred but no such luck.  I called the insurance company while he was here and they will be out on Wednesday.   I feel really dumb but I don't know what price they use to determine the value of the house on which the deductible is based.  1% of the value of the house.  We will see.

They sent some fellows out on Friday afternoon to put some covering on the roof to prevent water from getting in the house.  Supposed to rain again.

Friday afternoon I went to pick up my daughter.  My tummy had been bothering me all day. Lots of gas.  Too much of something.  (Lordy, I hate this getting older stuff).   At the last minute they had changed her gate and I had to backtrack from one area to another.  DFW is a nightmare on a good day and right now it is all torn up with construction.  Between worrying about soiling my clothes and not knowing where I was going I was a little distracted.  Found the turn but was in the wrong lane, went to move over and sideswiped a hotel van.

There was little damage to either vehicle but the driver called her manager and was told to stay there and call the airport police.  The next thing that happened was I expelled more than gas.  We got our business taken care of and waited at the very busy airport for the policeman.  He comes, takes a quick look, asked if we exchanged info and left.

I was a bit late picking up my daughter and she had a Dr. appt to get to so they could release her from the crutches, etc.  She called the doc and let them know and off we went in a rush.  I drop her off, go home to clean up and then return to pick her up.  She is distraught.  Two more weeks of crutches.

So now I call my insurance company for the second time in one day.  That has to be pretty uncommon, hah!  I was kicking myself all the way to Timbuctu and back.  I can just imagine what this is going to do to the already high insurance rates.

I went to see Cowboy again yesterday.  He was cranky for some reason.  There was a birthday party for two of the residents and the staff and there had been food brought in and a huge cake.  Lots of visitors, noise and confusion.  Maybe that was it.  The home has a room for that sort of thing.  I think maybe they should have gone there.

Came back home, picked up my daughter and headed to grandson #2's for a birthday party for his youngest.  I did not realize she was turning 1.  What on earth has happened to the time.  Great party but noisy.  Lots of little kiddies.

I would like to say I am spending the day today in my easy chair but it is not to be.  I have a colonoscopy scheduled for in the morning.  That means drinking all that awful liquid and spending a lot of time running to the bathroom

My days should improve after that.  Have a bit more shopping to do for the trip.  I am going to buy a backpack.

Grandson #4 is coming over to take me tomorrow and then is going to help me clean up the mess from the storm.     and so it goes..........