Monday, July 22

Good afternoon.

Best friend's 18 year old cat is very lean even though he is a free feeder.  His vet gave him some appetite stimulant that worked very well, but didn't keep him on it.  Otherwise is healthy.

Dianah, I am indeed off today.  Yes, no bowling until the end of August.  I wish they had a Summer league, but there isn't enough interest and I'm interested enough to find another league that fits my work schedule.  They sent out a survey asking us to move the time up 30 minutes.  I said I'd go with the flow but that means worse traffic for me coming from across the bay.  

Our weather is typical low 90's with daily storms somewhere.  Not much going on today.  I got woken up because I forget to turn my phone off and best friend was texting me pictures from the beach at 6:45 AM.  He's an early riser and takes a three mile walk before the heat kicks in.  I'm surprised the girl dog let me sleep that long but she was awake staring at me, willing me to get up and feed them so I did.  

Dianah

That's awfully hot

Tweety glad you have today off

Drive down was delayed by a traffic jam but otherwise uneventful.  Was tired after driving for 5 hours.  My nephew was there briefly last night but then returned to college

Did lunch and a hike today with family.  Did breakfast in the town nearby and later checked out some of the shops by myself.  A rather touristy town

This afternoon my cousin from NY and his son are supposed to be here, although they're frequently late.  Family is thinking we'll order pizza and sit around a fire tonight.  Tomorrow I and several others will leave

Weather has been in the mid 80s, no rain so far

Cloudy and hot, sunny and hot; the only thing unchanging is the 95% humidity. I had to take Nannie out to walk the driveway because she kept insisting she wanted to go out. One loop and it was "too hot" for her, which was good for me. She has on one of her ("tapestry knit") favorite jackets and did not want to take it off.....wanted to sit outside after the walk, but everything was in the sun, so I said "No." Not good for a wrapped up 94 y.o. to sit in the heat and humidity. She grumbled and tsked and I said, if she was so set on getting heatstroke she could sit down, but then she decided she needed to go to the bathroom AGAIN, unsuccessfully. So I made her walk another loop to the end of the driveway and back. First she wanted to sit back down in her chair, but after about 45 seconds of getting settled....."Oooh!" she said her bottom didn't feel very good. I asked her what she meant....were her buttocks sore from sitting or what? I finally took her back to the potty, ? rolling my eyes all the way!

So part of my birthday was spent trying (3x!) to get her disimpacted..... w00t? I made her walk the driveway again, hoping to stimulate what is sitting just inside her rectum. After that she did get a little more out (actually it was ME getting it out while telling her to "BEAR DOWN!") I hope, although the poop wasn't the size of a blue whale, like the last time, (several days ago), that she is done with it for the time being.

Another part of my birthday has been spent trying to kill 2 flies that have scared Momo so bad she went up to our room and burrowed under the covers. Poor thing. I got one of them, after a half-hour of stalking it. I keep trying to zap the stubbornly remaining fly with ZEVO spray, as my aim with the swatter (or maybe it's the swatter itself) hasn't hit a home run YET! I used to be a real dead-eye fly killer, but not so much today! STUPID FLY!

It's almost time for supper. Haven't heard a thing from SiL about my birthday cake. Mail has not run yet, so I don't know if I will be getting your card today or not, dianah.

Soon it will be time to nuke a chicken pot pie for Nannie. That's about as much 'food prep' as I feel like doing!

I hope upon hope that the doc removes her cast this next time she goes. She has been pulling her sleeves down so the pink wrap part isn't showing. I told her that her fiddling with her sleeve's wrist was driving me crazy, but she is OCD about it so I will just have to try not to look!

Happy birthday, stars. I am sorry you are spending on bowel duty. I don't care to have any fuss about my birthday, either. At my last job, it was a big thing to post employees' birthdays, but I always asked mine to be left off. I appreciate the thought, but I don't care to be the focus of attention. Some years I will treat myself to a little sweet. My kids will usually call, and the eldest will take me to dine at my favorite restaurant (that dh doesn't care for). 

Cool day here in the 60s, overcast until afternoon. I did a short jog, then home to pull some weeds in the vegetable garden. Eldest sis had her MRI today, I took her because she had xanax in anticipation of issues with the MRI. She was a little loopy, but she said the MRI wasn't as bad as she anticipated. Her PET scan is tomorrow. 

dh took the littlest dog in for a recheck of her scratched cornea. It has healed well, without sequelae. I have a couple pork chops thawed to be grilled. dh heated up a flat bread pizza from the grocery store on the grill last night. It turned out pretty good: Caprese pizza with mozzarella, basil, and tomato. I loved the crunchy crust. 

Happy birthday, Stars. I'm sorry it revolved around Bowel Duty.

I've been madly studying with occasional breaks. My poor old brain. I grilled pork chops last night and used some hickory chips to add some smoke. 

Hubs says the generator is missing, presumed stolen. He's blaming the boys, thinking they got it out while we were in Indiana. But I don't think they did. Still, someone would have to have left the shed unlocked in order for someone to steal it. And there is almost always someone here. 

I must get back to the books. Wish me luck!

yowie, YOWIE, YOWIE, YOWIE!  ❤️

I got the mail ?.....Thank you so very much dianah! ?

You know, that artichoke-white bean dip would be good as a salad, instead of it being blenderized. Maybe add some kalamati olives, and some crunchy things, celery pieces, and I dunno what else!   I'm not sure of the caloric effect....though I don't really worry about calories. My 'diet' is noshing small amounts of everything, here and there, now and then....grazing, so to speak. I just don't overeat anymore, and the wonderful thing about grazing is you can eat almost anything that you LOVE, and don't have to worry about it plastering fat on the hips because .... it's not that much, altogether. A handful of this, some pinches of that, a few cold leftovers, and just a taste of whatever strikes my fancy when I feel hungry.

Got Nannie to go to bed 1/2 hr early, so that's another 'gift' to say Hoppy BirfDaze to ME!

I go to have my eye exam tomorrow afternoon. I've already picked out the frames. I wonder how long I will have to wait before the glasses come in for me? I am chomping at the bit to get them! I may get my nails done tomorrow as well.

SiL is taking Nannie out for the afternoon tomorrow, after giving her a shower and shampoo.

Each of four different doctors have diagnosed SiL's hip/back problem as various different things. ALL of them have recommended an MRI, but her insurance says she has to have 6 weeks of physical therapy before they will pay for an MRI for her. Seems to me that if they'd just pay for an MRI, there would be fewer charges and costs for all she has to go through before they will approve! Guess they want to diagnose by elimination. Kinda stupid if an MRI would reveal something that is important to know about her hip/back, and she wouldn't have to go through all the aches and pain. 

By the way she apologized (again) for not giving me more time off or to myself, and said that one day soon she hopes she can make that difference in the schedule for me.  But she is soooooo busy taking care of so many things for so many people, I don't know how she could manage to squeeze in another 12 hours into a 24 hr day! All things considered, this too shall pass. I just hope I get lotsa nice, quiet time to myself before my time on the planet is up. Hubby going early took away our retirement and travel plans. Ah me, oh well. I am lucky to have a good house to live in and not have to pay rent or a mortgage. But I am paying out more for it than I am taking in. I always loved nursing and the cases I had and most of the patients I took care of, but I am tired of taking care of others instead of taking more-beddah care of myself. And, Tweety, I am prolly the only one here who spends more time 'at work' than you do! {I don't recommend THE ENDLESS SHIFT!!}

 I have been watching Boys Town on TMC. I don't get to watch many movies on TV because Nannie doesn't understand them "worse" than she doesn't understand the news or a baseball game. I hate to ruin a good old movie by having to hit the mute button to say "What?" and all the explaining that goes on. It's easier to 'DON'T watch no movies', than put myself through all of that!

Oh well, time for me to go to bed, because Momo sez so! She's taking care of me!

dianah said:

  After shopping, as I was wheeling my cart to the car, I got within 4 feet of the car and the cart's wheels locked up!  It's a system to prevent shopping cart theft.  However, when we park farther away due to the resurfacing, and need to walk farther, and then the cart's wheels lock up?  

Hi Dianah - Sorry for the late reply - this made me think of when I had the exact thing happen - and a man and his son saw me struggling with the loaded cart / locked wheels .  They showed me how, if you can manage to tilt the cart onto just the right front and rear wheels, and ( carefully) steer it, the wheels will roll with no problem !   I have used this "trick" many times  , since this particular grocery store has carts that lock up waaaaayy  before many shoppers reach their cars!  I have also passed this knowledge on to other shoppers,  just like that kind man and his son did for me !  Hope it works for you, if you ever find yourself in that situation again.  ?  

Abbnurse