There are rules for uncertainty, aren't there?
First, a quick catch-up from Monday. Nothing too exciting or out of the way to write about. Jenny, mom's aide, did not come, which was a mixed blessing. Mom was not eager for a shower - which is nothing new. I called the service provider and discovered that they somehow thought our being away for a week meant we were still away two weeks later. I know, working with a calendar can be challenging. I also know that I could have called them last week to tell them we were back. But I didn't. Because I thought we had an understanding. Which we apparently didn't. Which is not surprising. Nor exciting. But it is uncertain...
I also spent part of the day watching rehearsal for the Opera at the Smith. Don Pasquale has a fairly straightforward Commedia plot - young lovers thwarted by Pantalone (Don Pasquale) who are aided by Dottore in this case (who is more like a Harlequin character than a Dottore). Rah. I could direct this. Heck, I could direct anything. I miss directing. Sigh. Maybe I will get back to it one day.
Meanwhile, back at the homestead, two papers I was looking for turned up in exactly the place they were supposed to be. I am not the most organized person on the planet. I hope for either a helper or for stripping my life waaaaaay down so I don't have too much to keep organized. I don't really want a stripper (combination of stripping and helper...) - though that might not be a bad thing...
Which brings to me to this morning's contemplation: what will the future - the larger future - have in store for me. I wish we could shop for our futures. Sigh. Anyway, I do think about it once in a while. At this point, my options are pretty much unlimited in terms of choice. Sure, I doubt I will choose to become a concert pianist or an opera singer. Both are possible, both are pretty unlikely. My thoughts vacillate between sticking it out here in Geneva - trying to cobble together a life and livelihood - or taking to the road either here in the US - buy an energy efficient/alternate energy vehicle of some kind - preferably a Type whatever the small type of RV is - and drive around a lot - or head abroad - I have never been to South America and I must admit to a fascination with Brazilians - what better place to find Brazilians than Brazil...Or maybe a trip to Asia - Russia and India are both high on my list of places I wouldn't mind visiting/living a bit before I exit the world. Yippee and yay for possibilities!
Today is another day, apparently.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Monday, July 8, 2013
Oops, I think I didn't do it again...
Here it is Monday and it looks like I have neglected my posting duties. I think I just needed a break. That and, well, not much really happened in the intervening days. Or maybe a lot happened but none of it too darn exciting. Or unmentionable stuff happened, so I didn't mention it. Hmm. I guess we will see as I sort through my memories and see what pops up on the page. No, mom and I haven't died or we didn't have a terrible accident or anything like that.
Drove to Rochester Friday, not for fun. Suffice it to say that a ball has been set rolling which will hopefully help me to breathe (metaphorically) more easily. Yay!
I, Clavdius was not a winner here in Geneva. As a communal, shared event it might have gone over better, but I had no desire to subject myself to the many hours of the series just to enable mom to watch it. She tried one episode and said it was too much for her. But we tried. It goes back to the library today.
Rango was good fun! I rented in hopes that mom might like it, but after watching it by myself, I think it would have been too confusing for her. The story really zips all over the place. I loved the singing owls/mariachi band and lots of other bits here and there, but way too much for mom, I think. I am still thinking we might go see Monster University, if things work out that way.
Of course, we have eaten lots of food over the past few days. On Saturday, I made pizza and was going to make some chicken wings for dinner. I was shocked to find that chicken wings were hard to buy. I remember buying a huge bag of them for next to nothing. The only ones I could find readily at Wegman's cost $3.50 a pound! About as much as boneless chicken breasts (how the chickens walk around without bones has always been something I have been curious about)! So I got us some drumsticks instead - at $1.70 a pound. I offered hot sauce to mom but did not make her have it - she has lost her taste for hot/spicy foods. I had some though - yum!
Yesterday, Sunday, my nephew Sam, his son Lewis and his fiancée Abby came for a drop in on their way from Buffalo to Ithaca. It was lovely to see them and to catch up on their news and lives. Sadly, mom had a hard time with the visit - mainly because she couldn't wrap her mind around who they were. She mostly got who Sam was, but Abby and Lewis kind of escaped her ken. Sigh.
Which brings me to my latest soul searching. I read a(n) FB page's posts about alzheimer's and caregivers. (Quick aside - when using an abbreviation, like FB, do you use an article for the expanded work or for the abbreviation - is it a FB page or an FB page?) Recently there have been a few posts about people being very happy about having placed their loved ones into assisted living facilities. The facilities they mention sound idyllic! Memory wards or areas of care abound with trained staff who seem to really care about their patients. Though I do recall lots of the other kinds of stories as well. I think I know my mom. At least I hope I do. And I just can't see her being happiest someplace else. Then again, I don't really know how far gone she is. Is her reality built up each day as she wakes and finds her way? Does she know where she is? Does she feel safer here than she would someplace else? Am I being selfish keeping her at home? Glarg.
Ok, sorry for the rant. I do question myself sometimes. I find waterboarding especially fruitful...
The opera is in town. I went to help out a bit yesterday. Got the clown van (which I mean in the most bestest way) partially unloaded - only the things that were actually needed for rehearsals - and the costumes (so they could be sorted and such) came out - there is still a good bunch in there - Al does an amazing job packing his van-let! Later, I went and watched an hour of rehearsal. Most of the case are people I have worked with before. Yippee! I didn't go to their inaugural dinner/grilling thing. C'est fromage.
And there we have it. Not the most exciting post, but it catches us all up. Which was the intention.
Drove to Rochester Friday, not for fun. Suffice it to say that a ball has been set rolling which will hopefully help me to breathe (metaphorically) more easily. Yay!
I, Clavdius was not a winner here in Geneva. As a communal, shared event it might have gone over better, but I had no desire to subject myself to the many hours of the series just to enable mom to watch it. She tried one episode and said it was too much for her. But we tried. It goes back to the library today.
Rango was good fun! I rented in hopes that mom might like it, but after watching it by myself, I think it would have been too confusing for her. The story really zips all over the place. I loved the singing owls/mariachi band and lots of other bits here and there, but way too much for mom, I think. I am still thinking we might go see Monster University, if things work out that way.
Of course, we have eaten lots of food over the past few days. On Saturday, I made pizza and was going to make some chicken wings for dinner. I was shocked to find that chicken wings were hard to buy. I remember buying a huge bag of them for next to nothing. The only ones I could find readily at Wegman's cost $3.50 a pound! About as much as boneless chicken breasts (how the chickens walk around without bones has always been something I have been curious about)! So I got us some drumsticks instead - at $1.70 a pound. I offered hot sauce to mom but did not make her have it - she has lost her taste for hot/spicy foods. I had some though - yum!
Yesterday, Sunday, my nephew Sam, his son Lewis and his fiancée Abby came for a drop in on their way from Buffalo to Ithaca. It was lovely to see them and to catch up on their news and lives. Sadly, mom had a hard time with the visit - mainly because she couldn't wrap her mind around who they were. She mostly got who Sam was, but Abby and Lewis kind of escaped her ken. Sigh.
Which brings me to my latest soul searching. I read a(n) FB page's posts about alzheimer's and caregivers. (Quick aside - when using an abbreviation, like FB, do you use an article for the expanded work or for the abbreviation - is it a FB page or an FB page?) Recently there have been a few posts about people being very happy about having placed their loved ones into assisted living facilities. The facilities they mention sound idyllic! Memory wards or areas of care abound with trained staff who seem to really care about their patients. Though I do recall lots of the other kinds of stories as well. I think I know my mom. At least I hope I do. And I just can't see her being happiest someplace else. Then again, I don't really know how far gone she is. Is her reality built up each day as she wakes and finds her way? Does she know where she is? Does she feel safer here than she would someplace else? Am I being selfish keeping her at home? Glarg.
Ok, sorry for the rant. I do question myself sometimes. I find waterboarding especially fruitful...
The opera is in town. I went to help out a bit yesterday. Got the clown van (which I mean in the most bestest way) partially unloaded - only the things that were actually needed for rehearsals - and the costumes (so they could be sorted and such) came out - there is still a good bunch in there - Al does an amazing job packing his van-let! Later, I went and watched an hour of rehearsal. Most of the case are people I have worked with before. Yippee! I didn't go to their inaugural dinner/grilling thing. C'est fromage.
And there we have it. Not the most exciting post, but it catches us all up. Which was the intention.
Friday, July 5, 2013
Some interesting title
Toothpaste tubes are weird. I swear that the one I am using is empty. Really. Yet, whenever I go to brush my teeth, I do the tube-squeeze dance and low and behold another toothbrushful comes out! Maybe I have a never ending tube of toothpaste?! Anything is possible.
I had a minor epiphany yesterday. In the past, I have given mom a large mug filled with coffee. When she asks for more, I tended to balk a little and maybe gave her half of the large mug filled up again. Yes, I am evil, I am trying to limit my mom's consumption of coffee. And none after 2 especially. Anyway, she often complains that she didn't get enough coffee and sometimes forgets that she had any coffee at all. Yesterday, I realized (for the umpteenth time) that her perception is her reality. So, I decided to use a smaller cup and to fill it twice. And boy was she happier! Yay!
Kind of a quiet Fourth of July for us here. Mom watched a show on TV - A Capital Fourth - which she said wasn't very good and that the fireworks weren't as good as the ones at the Legion. I napped. Sadly, I didn't tell mom (not that she would necessarily have remembered) that I was going to nap. So she thought I had gone out - and fretted a little about that. I am sad that she frets when I am gone.
Though I did have a scare myself yesterday along the same lines. I had been playing for a little bit and came upstairs to check on mom. I called out and heard no response. Initial thought, she was in the bathroom. Or dead. (Yes, I think about this happening now and again.) I checked in her room - not there. I called out again - no response - so not in the bathroom either. I know that mom went out once without telling me - she went to cut some flowers in the garden. So I thought - this is it, she has started to wander - I guess I will need to do all of that stuff to keep her locked in the house. Then, I realized, that she sometimes sits on the porch to read - not frequently, but every once in a while. This was one of those occasions! Yippee and phew!
Dinner was corn on the cob, asparagus (a little less cooked than last time, but still over done for my taste) and fajita flavored chicken tacos. Yay! Easy and tasty. And hopefully mostly nutritious.
As I said, not the most exciting July Fourth - but it had its share of eventful occurrences!
Oh, I dreamt that I was in a romantic relationship. One can dream, right?
I had a minor epiphany yesterday. In the past, I have given mom a large mug filled with coffee. When she asks for more, I tended to balk a little and maybe gave her half of the large mug filled up again. Yes, I am evil, I am trying to limit my mom's consumption of coffee. And none after 2 especially. Anyway, she often complains that she didn't get enough coffee and sometimes forgets that she had any coffee at all. Yesterday, I realized (for the umpteenth time) that her perception is her reality. So, I decided to use a smaller cup and to fill it twice. And boy was she happier! Yay!
Kind of a quiet Fourth of July for us here. Mom watched a show on TV - A Capital Fourth - which she said wasn't very good and that the fireworks weren't as good as the ones at the Legion. I napped. Sadly, I didn't tell mom (not that she would necessarily have remembered) that I was going to nap. So she thought I had gone out - and fretted a little about that. I am sad that she frets when I am gone.
Though I did have a scare myself yesterday along the same lines. I had been playing for a little bit and came upstairs to check on mom. I called out and heard no response. Initial thought, she was in the bathroom. Or dead. (Yes, I think about this happening now and again.) I checked in her room - not there. I called out again - no response - so not in the bathroom either. I know that mom went out once without telling me - she went to cut some flowers in the garden. So I thought - this is it, she has started to wander - I guess I will need to do all of that stuff to keep her locked in the house. Then, I realized, that she sometimes sits on the porch to read - not frequently, but every once in a while. This was one of those occasions! Yippee and phew!
Dinner was corn on the cob, asparagus (a little less cooked than last time, but still over done for my taste) and fajita flavored chicken tacos. Yay! Easy and tasty. And hopefully mostly nutritious.
As I said, not the most exciting July Fourth - but it had its share of eventful occurrences!
Oh, I dreamt that I was in a romantic relationship. One can dream, right?
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Had a good title and forgot it
Sigh and double sigh. I hate it when that happens. But it is likely to happen again, I am sure. Thinking of a good title and then forgetting it, that is. Maybe it will come back to me. Maybe not. C'est fromage.
Yesterday, for all intents and purposes in Chez Schoen-René, was the Fourth of July. But it was a near thing. Part of mom's disease is the inability to make decisions easily. Or at all sometimes. I do my best to limit her choices, so that choosing becomes either/or or yes/no. Even those decisions can be trying for her. And for me. I don't mind choosing and making decisions for her, yet, I am eager to have her make as many decisions for herself as she can. I think that choosing is important in life (life is, after all, choice in my universe). Only she can tell me if there is some small part of her that actually knows what she wants. Sometimes it is like pulling nails from hardwood with a pair of tweezers getting it out of her.
Over the past few days mom has vacillated between wanting to go to see fireworks to wanting to watch the fireworks on TV. On again, off again, on again, off again. And so on. The last flop, flip, whatever on Wednesday morning was in favor of staying in and watching fireworks on television. So around 4, I went to run errands: bank (new teller), library (audio CD and I, Clavdius DVDs and a sullen librarian), and food shopping at Wegman's (momma's got to have her pistachio ice cream). I also stopped in for some deliciousness at Leaf Kitchen - Southern Tier's Crème Brûlée Stout. (I don't know if they use all of the diacriticals - but if one uses one, I guess one must use them all...) My goodness that beer is so yummy! I hope they get it at Wegman's soon. Had a lovely time hanging with Tatiana and a new to me guy named David.
I got home, ready to start thinking about cooking dinner and mom asks about when we are going to go and see fireworks. What? Again? Really? Well, I had learned last night (Tuesday while drinking beer at the FLounge) that our localist fireworks at the American Legion were happening on Wednesday, not on the Fourth. I guess so that they had a rain day available? Who knows? That being the case, I told mom that if she wanted to go, she needed to get dressed and shoed (shod?). I put out some great stretchy red pants that Juliet had purchased for her, and a dark blue, warm (but short sleeve - which I didn't hear the end of for a couple of hours) shirt for her to wear. Typically it takes mom about an hour to get dressed. Most of that is time taken to get herself motivated. I wandered off thinking to check back in about half an hour. Barely had I started my laptop to check FB and DC and OKC and such when mom asked where her shoes were! Who is this person? What had she done with my mom?! Dressed in less than five minutes from me putting out her clothes! Eeeek! She found her shoes, I gave her a shoe horn and she was ready.
There might have been a schedule posted somewhere about what time things were happening at the Legion. The last time we went, we took the three young women from Turkey and I didn't remember what the deal was at all. But I like to be early and not rushed, so we left almost immediately. Turns out we probably could have stayed home and watched the BBC news first. Who knew?
Early is good. One gets a decent vantage point from which to watch the fireworks, one gets to scope out all the food and rides and such. And people watching opportunities abound. Since I was with mom, we utilized her handicapped placard and parked really close to the hill where people sit for fireworks gazing. I carried her big heavy folding chair (which I bought at Big Lots a couple of years ago) and a blanket and staked out our place. Fearing wetness seeping through the blanket, I went back to the car and got out my emergency blanket (bright orange on one side, silver on the other) that is water proof and put that under the woolen blanket. Yay for having too much stuff in the trunk of the car! (Later, when mom said she was cold - trunk yielded a hoodie that helped immeasurably!)
And then we found we had about four hours to pass waiting for the fireworks. Four. Hours. First off, food for mom - she ended up eating two hamburgers, some french fries, some fried dough and some popcorn over the course of the evening. I had two beers (maybe three - it was a lengthy four hours) some fries, some popcorn and a sausage. Yay food. And yay for getting up and having to get food. My favorite part of the experience was all the people watching. I was not tempted by the rides that had been set up, at all. Ok, the slide ride looked kinda fun. But I didn't do it. And I liked one of the games - the spray the water into the mouth of the clown game always appeals. But I didn't do it. Too abstemious. And no one to impress really. Mom has enough stuffed animals for the time being.
We mostly sat and stared at people around us. Mom got nasty whenever someone sat to her right or in front of her. And that is not pleasant for me or anyone. Especially the people who are the focus of her vituperation. She generally isn't very loud about it, but still, it is not pleasant. I did point out to her that the fireworks were going to be up in the air and no one in front of her was going to block her view. But as she has pointed out to me frequently, and as I have learned through trial and error and observation, logic really doesn't work with her at this stage of her disease. Not that it actually worked all that well earlier in her life either...
Finally, at 10, kaboom! Nice set of fireworks! I still maintain that I could do a better job designing a display. It seems like fireworks are musical when people are as close as we were where we could here the fwump of the fireworks leaping up and then all of the sundry explosions and whistles. Designing for just light would be a different thing - but still I could do better. Though these were pretty good. Yay fireworks!
Home again. Mom was exhausted and went almost straight to bed. I played for a while and put out the recycling. As I was putting it by the curb, I realized that the recyclers might not come since it is a holiday. Then again, they might - we shall know after noon - if they have come it will be gone - if they haven't come - will they come on Friday? I can call on Friday and find out. Maybe they will just skip this week. In which case, will they charge us less for recycling? Hmm. What deep and pithy speculations I share with you all...after the recycling was out, I went to bed. Yay sleep!
Yesterday, for all intents and purposes in Chez Schoen-René, was the Fourth of July. But it was a near thing. Part of mom's disease is the inability to make decisions easily. Or at all sometimes. I do my best to limit her choices, so that choosing becomes either/or or yes/no. Even those decisions can be trying for her. And for me. I don't mind choosing and making decisions for her, yet, I am eager to have her make as many decisions for herself as she can. I think that choosing is important in life (life is, after all, choice in my universe). Only she can tell me if there is some small part of her that actually knows what she wants. Sometimes it is like pulling nails from hardwood with a pair of tweezers getting it out of her.
Over the past few days mom has vacillated between wanting to go to see fireworks to wanting to watch the fireworks on TV. On again, off again, on again, off again. And so on. The last flop, flip, whatever on Wednesday morning was in favor of staying in and watching fireworks on television. So around 4, I went to run errands: bank (new teller), library (audio CD and I, Clavdius DVDs and a sullen librarian), and food shopping at Wegman's (momma's got to have her pistachio ice cream). I also stopped in for some deliciousness at Leaf Kitchen - Southern Tier's Crème Brûlée Stout. (I don't know if they use all of the diacriticals - but if one uses one, I guess one must use them all...) My goodness that beer is so yummy! I hope they get it at Wegman's soon. Had a lovely time hanging with Tatiana and a new to me guy named David.
I got home, ready to start thinking about cooking dinner and mom asks about when we are going to go and see fireworks. What? Again? Really? Well, I had learned last night (Tuesday while drinking beer at the FLounge) that our localist fireworks at the American Legion were happening on Wednesday, not on the Fourth. I guess so that they had a rain day available? Who knows? That being the case, I told mom that if she wanted to go, she needed to get dressed and shoed (shod?). I put out some great stretchy red pants that Juliet had purchased for her, and a dark blue, warm (but short sleeve - which I didn't hear the end of for a couple of hours) shirt for her to wear. Typically it takes mom about an hour to get dressed. Most of that is time taken to get herself motivated. I wandered off thinking to check back in about half an hour. Barely had I started my laptop to check FB and DC and OKC and such when mom asked where her shoes were! Who is this person? What had she done with my mom?! Dressed in less than five minutes from me putting out her clothes! Eeeek! She found her shoes, I gave her a shoe horn and she was ready.
There might have been a schedule posted somewhere about what time things were happening at the Legion. The last time we went, we took the three young women from Turkey and I didn't remember what the deal was at all. But I like to be early and not rushed, so we left almost immediately. Turns out we probably could have stayed home and watched the BBC news first. Who knew?
Early is good. One gets a decent vantage point from which to watch the fireworks, one gets to scope out all the food and rides and such. And people watching opportunities abound. Since I was with mom, we utilized her handicapped placard and parked really close to the hill where people sit for fireworks gazing. I carried her big heavy folding chair (which I bought at Big Lots a couple of years ago) and a blanket and staked out our place. Fearing wetness seeping through the blanket, I went back to the car and got out my emergency blanket (bright orange on one side, silver on the other) that is water proof and put that under the woolen blanket. Yay for having too much stuff in the trunk of the car! (Later, when mom said she was cold - trunk yielded a hoodie that helped immeasurably!)
And then we found we had about four hours to pass waiting for the fireworks. Four. Hours. First off, food for mom - she ended up eating two hamburgers, some french fries, some fried dough and some popcorn over the course of the evening. I had two beers (maybe three - it was a lengthy four hours) some fries, some popcorn and a sausage. Yay food. And yay for getting up and having to get food. My favorite part of the experience was all the people watching. I was not tempted by the rides that had been set up, at all. Ok, the slide ride looked kinda fun. But I didn't do it. And I liked one of the games - the spray the water into the mouth of the clown game always appeals. But I didn't do it. Too abstemious. And no one to impress really. Mom has enough stuffed animals for the time being.
We mostly sat and stared at people around us. Mom got nasty whenever someone sat to her right or in front of her. And that is not pleasant for me or anyone. Especially the people who are the focus of her vituperation. She generally isn't very loud about it, but still, it is not pleasant. I did point out to her that the fireworks were going to be up in the air and no one in front of her was going to block her view. But as she has pointed out to me frequently, and as I have learned through trial and error and observation, logic really doesn't work with her at this stage of her disease. Not that it actually worked all that well earlier in her life either...
Finally, at 10, kaboom! Nice set of fireworks! I still maintain that I could do a better job designing a display. It seems like fireworks are musical when people are as close as we were where we could here the fwump of the fireworks leaping up and then all of the sundry explosions and whistles. Designing for just light would be a different thing - but still I could do better. Though these were pretty good. Yay fireworks!
Home again. Mom was exhausted and went almost straight to bed. I played for a while and put out the recycling. As I was putting it by the curb, I realized that the recyclers might not come since it is a holiday. Then again, they might - we shall know after noon - if they have come it will be gone - if they haven't come - will they come on Friday? I can call on Friday and find out. Maybe they will just skip this week. In which case, will they charge us less for recycling? Hmm. What deep and pithy speculations I share with you all...after the recycling was out, I went to bed. Yay sleep!
 |
| Mom rocking the 4th of July! |
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Umbrellas are a good thing
I was on Facebook briefly before walking downtown to get a beer at Red Dove and a friend mentioned that it was raining hard in Western New York - which is West of where I live here in Geneva (Central) NY. So I took my umbrella, just in case. Sometimes I can walk and balance it on one finger - usually only for a few steps - sometimes as many as ten. It is a huge umbrella - not the hugest but pretty big - one I have had for 20 years maybe? Can it be that long? 1993 perhaps? Anyway, thank you Rosanne for giving me the umbrella from your basement so long ago! It saved me from getting wet, and also altered my evening - for the better. But I am way ahead of myself. Stepping into the way-back machine, we find ourselves waking up to a new day Tuesday...
We are experiencing a lot of overcast and drippy days here in Central NY. The overcast is pretty normal actually, but the drippiness isn't. But I am ok with it. All things considered, I would rather live a little damp than extremely dry, arid, desert-like. Just sayin! So waking up was more like sidling into wakefulness. I did have a plan for the shape of the day - like many days in the past and perhaps many days in the future. Get up, work on the computer (like writing this blog - yes, although I enjoy it, it is still work - work in the force times distance sense - my fingers are working - my brain is working - functioning...), get mom some lunch, do business-y things (I don't know why I like to do businessy things after lunch - around 2, but I do), food shopping, cook dinner and then, since it was Tuesday, head out into the world and see what minor adventures I can have here in the mini-metropolis of Geneva.
Everything went according to plan. Yay! I like it when that happens. Especially when the planned events are better/other/more different than I had envisioned. Starting with dinner.
As some of you know, menu planning gets challenging now and again. Last night, I really had no idea what I was doing for dinner until about 10 minutes before I drove to Wegman's. I decided we would have bbq ribs with home made bbq sauce. I checked the recipes and found we had most all of the ingredients in our larder. Yippee! All I had to get was the ribs. And some vegetables. I had thought about doing french fries with the ribs, but we already had corn lying around, so I opted for green beans, which mom likes a lot. I am beginning to run into more people that I am acquainted with at Wegman's. Mixed blessing. Anyway, food shopping accomplished, back to the domicile to do the actual food preparation.
Post dinner, I headed out to the newest restaurant in the Geneva area - they smoke meat and serve beer - eventually they will have 26 taps apparently. But for now, they are only running ten or so. I went because of the beer, primarily. I was hoping for, well, I don't know what. Maybe a place that shouted out to me to be the place I wanted to hang out a lot. This wasn't that place. It has been open less than a week. I was surprised to find a person I know as one of the bartenders. She and her boyfriend are out and about a lot so we have chatted on many occasions. That was a good thing. Their beer selection was pretty poor, considering. And the one bottle of beer I requested they were out of - Dogfish Head 90 minute. Sigh. I hung out for about an hour and will probably go back again sometime. But I am not in any hurry to do so. Not terrible, but nothing that was that huge a draw for me. Decent scenery, the food looked ok, and the beer was ok. OK?
Since that was a decent experience but short, I decided to pop back to the house for a minute and then to head downtown for a known quantity - the Red Dove. Jessica would be bartending since it was Tuesday. During my pop in I put on a movie for mom (which she thought was really bad - another Fred and Ginger movie - Swing Time or Shall We Dance - I don't remember which I put on for her - I think the latter) and checked my messages and such which is where I discovered the potential for rain.
Walking downtown is great. It is one of the things I like best about living here in Geneva. Yay! Saw a guy I know who works at the Smith. And later - after the rain had started, I saw David coming back from trivia. Another couple, who I had seen at the restaurant, acknowledged me, connected me with the restaurant and told me that Red Dove was closed. I figured I would walk there and see what the note on the door said, but never made it. As I was walking near the FLounge, David and Wendy were huddled in a doorway - so I gallantly offered them to share my umbrella - which is almost big enough for three. They were going to stop in at their place - the Flounge - for a bit before heading to dinner and invited me in! We had a nice time talking about all sorts of things - politics and religion too - and having some beer. Naked Dove Porter! Yay and yum. I hope I didn't overstay my welcome, but it was nice to chat with two intelligent adults for a change! People near my own age - mostly.
See, so, umbrellas are a good thing!
We are experiencing a lot of overcast and drippy days here in Central NY. The overcast is pretty normal actually, but the drippiness isn't. But I am ok with it. All things considered, I would rather live a little damp than extremely dry, arid, desert-like. Just sayin! So waking up was more like sidling into wakefulness. I did have a plan for the shape of the day - like many days in the past and perhaps many days in the future. Get up, work on the computer (like writing this blog - yes, although I enjoy it, it is still work - work in the force times distance sense - my fingers are working - my brain is working - functioning...), get mom some lunch, do business-y things (I don't know why I like to do businessy things after lunch - around 2, but I do), food shopping, cook dinner and then, since it was Tuesday, head out into the world and see what minor adventures I can have here in the mini-metropolis of Geneva.
Everything went according to plan. Yay! I like it when that happens. Especially when the planned events are better/other/more different than I had envisioned. Starting with dinner.
As some of you know, menu planning gets challenging now and again. Last night, I really had no idea what I was doing for dinner until about 10 minutes before I drove to Wegman's. I decided we would have bbq ribs with home made bbq sauce. I checked the recipes and found we had most all of the ingredients in our larder. Yippee! All I had to get was the ribs. And some vegetables. I had thought about doing french fries with the ribs, but we already had corn lying around, so I opted for green beans, which mom likes a lot. I am beginning to run into more people that I am acquainted with at Wegman's. Mixed blessing. Anyway, food shopping accomplished, back to the domicile to do the actual food preparation.
Post dinner, I headed out to the newest restaurant in the Geneva area - they smoke meat and serve beer - eventually they will have 26 taps apparently. But for now, they are only running ten or so. I went because of the beer, primarily. I was hoping for, well, I don't know what. Maybe a place that shouted out to me to be the place I wanted to hang out a lot. This wasn't that place. It has been open less than a week. I was surprised to find a person I know as one of the bartenders. She and her boyfriend are out and about a lot so we have chatted on many occasions. That was a good thing. Their beer selection was pretty poor, considering. And the one bottle of beer I requested they were out of - Dogfish Head 90 minute. Sigh. I hung out for about an hour and will probably go back again sometime. But I am not in any hurry to do so. Not terrible, but nothing that was that huge a draw for me. Decent scenery, the food looked ok, and the beer was ok. OK?
Since that was a decent experience but short, I decided to pop back to the house for a minute and then to head downtown for a known quantity - the Red Dove. Jessica would be bartending since it was Tuesday. During my pop in I put on a movie for mom (which she thought was really bad - another Fred and Ginger movie - Swing Time or Shall We Dance - I don't remember which I put on for her - I think the latter) and checked my messages and such which is where I discovered the potential for rain.
Walking downtown is great. It is one of the things I like best about living here in Geneva. Yay! Saw a guy I know who works at the Smith. And later - after the rain had started, I saw David coming back from trivia. Another couple, who I had seen at the restaurant, acknowledged me, connected me with the restaurant and told me that Red Dove was closed. I figured I would walk there and see what the note on the door said, but never made it. As I was walking near the FLounge, David and Wendy were huddled in a doorway - so I gallantly offered them to share my umbrella - which is almost big enough for three. They were going to stop in at their place - the Flounge - for a bit before heading to dinner and invited me in! We had a nice time talking about all sorts of things - politics and religion too - and having some beer. Naked Dove Porter! Yay and yum. I hope I didn't overstay my welcome, but it was nice to chat with two intelligent adults for a change! People near my own age - mostly.
See, so, umbrellas are a good thing!
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Charley Horse - Still
Sunday morning I got the first leg cramp that I have gotten in a long time. I think it was because I was a bit dehydrated. Can't many dis-eases and illnesses be traced back to a lack of enough hydrangeas? I mean, hydration? Flowers are cool, too, but a bit off target just now. Anyway, I have been drinking a lot of water over the past few days to get my sogginess quotient raised but I still feel a knot in my left calf. I really do need to get a massage. Soon. Hopefully, some time this month.
Butter was the movie last night. Darn fun, weird, quirky film. I had "Butter" dreams all night. I thought the casting was good and the content was enjoyable. Yay!
The first full day back in Geneva, home after a week in Maine, was very relaxing. Yippee for relaxing. I think mom was very happy to be back, safe and sound in her home and own bed. Neither of us did a lot. I went shopping and ran a few errands. Mom lay around and thought deep thoughts. Or maybe she read. Or both. Or neither. I cooked dinner after mom husked the corn. She watched Antiques Roadshow while I played on the xBox. I wish there was great excitement to share, but there just plain wasn't. And no major or minor epiphanies. Just a nice day of kicking back and relishing homeness.
So, come visit! We will be here all summer! There is still plenty of it left to go around. Summer, that is.
Butter was the movie last night. Darn fun, weird, quirky film. I had "Butter" dreams all night. I thought the casting was good and the content was enjoyable. Yay!
The first full day back in Geneva, home after a week in Maine, was very relaxing. Yippee for relaxing. I think mom was very happy to be back, safe and sound in her home and own bed. Neither of us did a lot. I went shopping and ran a few errands. Mom lay around and thought deep thoughts. Or maybe she read. Or both. Or neither. I cooked dinner after mom husked the corn. She watched Antiques Roadshow while I played on the xBox. I wish there was great excitement to share, but there just plain wasn't. And no major or minor epiphanies. Just a nice day of kicking back and relishing homeness.
So, come visit! We will be here all summer! There is still plenty of it left to go around. Summer, that is.
Monday, July 1, 2013
Post Travel Day
Finally home again - one of the things mom remembered this week was the rhyme: To Market, to market to buy a fat pig - home again, home again, jiggety-jig. Turns out that isn't actually the wording. I thought it was too - but it is "dancing a jig" apparently. I thought there was one about buying a fat hen. But no, not the case. Memories continue to be strange and wonderful things.
Yesterday was a travel day. We got up really early - well, I got up earlier than normal for me - around 7:15 I think. Packed my room up first - took apart my game, put my clothes back in the suitcase, stripped the bed. Then I headed for mom's room - woke her up and started to pack up her stuff. She had more than she came with - Juliet provided lots more clothes and a lovely Thermos bag for mom for late birthday presents! How generous and thoughtful! Mom was much better dressed over the week than I usually put out for her! Anyway, that went quickly enough. Getting mom moving was slow going, but eventually she got up and got ready to go. I really didn't want to leave anything behind - so did a good job of looking in closets and drawers and under the bed to gather all of mom's stuff together. One thing had been missing for a few days - mom's angora "chest" sweater - a sweater that she typically uses to place on her chest at night for a bit of extra warmth. A search of the house revealed nothing. As I was packing, Juliet mentioned that one of mom's sweaters was drying in a room on the first floor - I went to get it and discovered mom's chest sweater on the back of a chair in there. Yay! I do hope that nothing got left behind.
We got out and on the road around 9. It took a while, a few stops and 2 of my mix CDs to get us home around 7 pm - through a bit of a deluge near Albany, over hill, through dale, a teeny bit of traffic and a good amount of clear sailing. Yippee!
The day before - Saturday - was definitely not a travel day. My last day of semi-autonomy for a long while, I got up and got out and drove to where we were meeting later in the afternoon - when I am not familiar with a place, I like to check it out, when I can, ahead of time so I am not unpleasantly surprised. Found the place - in the middle of nowhere - and then stopped to figure out my next move. I guess I sat there a little too long as some guy came up and asked if I needed help. Not in a mean way, but I could tell he was not pleased with my sitting in the parking lot of his (closed) establishment. Whatever. I moved to the parking lot of a building that was under-construction. Only to find that the beer place I wanted to check out was only open on Fridays. Ooops. So I decided to go get a bite of lunch.
On my travels I finished my audio book - Seabiscuit! Great stuff and very glad I listened to it. Now I think I might want to see the movie again...
For lunch, I chose a place I have visited in the past - The Whale's Tooth. Good food - some local beer. I had an Andrew's beer - the place I had wanted to visit. And I had a ham and cheese melt with house made chips. Wow! It was really, really good! The whole schmoo. The house made chips were about the best I have ever, ever had. I wish I could make home made chips like they made those. Sigh.
Then off to rendezvous with my mom and sister at Hope Elephants, in Hope, Maine. I had read a little about it on the internet, after Juliet mentioned that we were planning on going to visit. But it didn't really prepare me for the experience. The deal is that there are two ex-circus elephants being looked after by a one-time circus worker who later became a vet in order to continue a life taking care of elephants. It is a small place - with a decent sized enclosure for the elephants to wander in and a specially built building for their indoor use. The main man, Jim, had worked with these two particular elephants back in a circus many years ago. He had done various elephant related activities in his life and then chose to help one particular elephant, which meant - for her health, that he needed to have two elephants. He told us all sorts of interesting facts about elephants in general and the two he had in particular. Fed them lots of carrots and some sticks (which they actually do a decent job of digesting apparently) and answered questions. We got to hold one of their old molars (wow - they have huge teeth - only four of them at a time - but still huge)! All in all, good stuff. Then a short visit to the inside building and suddenly we were done. I would recommend the visit to anyone who likes the idea of pachyderms. I think they ought to reverse the order of the experience because I, for one, would rather end up with viewing the elephants...
I think mom enjoyed the experience a little. Hard to tell recently. She is not doing that great. I know that she was eager to leave Maine starting about Wednesday. Sigh. I don't think we are going to be doing much traveling ever again. Double sigh.
Anyway, our next rendezvous was at 7 for dinner. I said "ta-ta" and headed off - ending up at Front Street Pub having a happy hour beer. Played a game of pool with a nice young woman, gave her a ride back to her abode and zipped back down to Lincolnville for dinner with Juliet, Paul and Mom.
Chez Michele is open only during "the season." Good food, decent atmosphere - I can see why Paul and Juliet like the place. I had duck and ordered a seafood combination dinner for mom. Lots of food! I felt way too pudgy at the end of the meal.
Good day - and a great way to end our week's visit to Maine! I have posted pictures on Facebook of the whole trip. Yippee!
Yesterday was a travel day. We got up really early - well, I got up earlier than normal for me - around 7:15 I think. Packed my room up first - took apart my game, put my clothes back in the suitcase, stripped the bed. Then I headed for mom's room - woke her up and started to pack up her stuff. She had more than she came with - Juliet provided lots more clothes and a lovely Thermos bag for mom for late birthday presents! How generous and thoughtful! Mom was much better dressed over the week than I usually put out for her! Anyway, that went quickly enough. Getting mom moving was slow going, but eventually she got up and got ready to go. I really didn't want to leave anything behind - so did a good job of looking in closets and drawers and under the bed to gather all of mom's stuff together. One thing had been missing for a few days - mom's angora "chest" sweater - a sweater that she typically uses to place on her chest at night for a bit of extra warmth. A search of the house revealed nothing. As I was packing, Juliet mentioned that one of mom's sweaters was drying in a room on the first floor - I went to get it and discovered mom's chest sweater on the back of a chair in there. Yay! I do hope that nothing got left behind.
We got out and on the road around 9. It took a while, a few stops and 2 of my mix CDs to get us home around 7 pm - through a bit of a deluge near Albany, over hill, through dale, a teeny bit of traffic and a good amount of clear sailing. Yippee!
The day before - Saturday - was definitely not a travel day. My last day of semi-autonomy for a long while, I got up and got out and drove to where we were meeting later in the afternoon - when I am not familiar with a place, I like to check it out, when I can, ahead of time so I am not unpleasantly surprised. Found the place - in the middle of nowhere - and then stopped to figure out my next move. I guess I sat there a little too long as some guy came up and asked if I needed help. Not in a mean way, but I could tell he was not pleased with my sitting in the parking lot of his (closed) establishment. Whatever. I moved to the parking lot of a building that was under-construction. Only to find that the beer place I wanted to check out was only open on Fridays. Ooops. So I decided to go get a bite of lunch.
On my travels I finished my audio book - Seabiscuit! Great stuff and very glad I listened to it. Now I think I might want to see the movie again...
For lunch, I chose a place I have visited in the past - The Whale's Tooth. Good food - some local beer. I had an Andrew's beer - the place I had wanted to visit. And I had a ham and cheese melt with house made chips. Wow! It was really, really good! The whole schmoo. The house made chips were about the best I have ever, ever had. I wish I could make home made chips like they made those. Sigh.
Then off to rendezvous with my mom and sister at Hope Elephants, in Hope, Maine. I had read a little about it on the internet, after Juliet mentioned that we were planning on going to visit. But it didn't really prepare me for the experience. The deal is that there are two ex-circus elephants being looked after by a one-time circus worker who later became a vet in order to continue a life taking care of elephants. It is a small place - with a decent sized enclosure for the elephants to wander in and a specially built building for their indoor use. The main man, Jim, had worked with these two particular elephants back in a circus many years ago. He had done various elephant related activities in his life and then chose to help one particular elephant, which meant - for her health, that he needed to have two elephants. He told us all sorts of interesting facts about elephants in general and the two he had in particular. Fed them lots of carrots and some sticks (which they actually do a decent job of digesting apparently) and answered questions. We got to hold one of their old molars (wow - they have huge teeth - only four of them at a time - but still huge)! All in all, good stuff. Then a short visit to the inside building and suddenly we were done. I would recommend the visit to anyone who likes the idea of pachyderms. I think they ought to reverse the order of the experience because I, for one, would rather end up with viewing the elephants...
I think mom enjoyed the experience a little. Hard to tell recently. She is not doing that great. I know that she was eager to leave Maine starting about Wednesday. Sigh. I don't think we are going to be doing much traveling ever again. Double sigh.
Anyway, our next rendezvous was at 7 for dinner. I said "ta-ta" and headed off - ending up at Front Street Pub having a happy hour beer. Played a game of pool with a nice young woman, gave her a ride back to her abode and zipped back down to Lincolnville for dinner with Juliet, Paul and Mom.
Chez Michele is open only during "the season." Good food, decent atmosphere - I can see why Paul and Juliet like the place. I had duck and ordered a seafood combination dinner for mom. Lots of food! I felt way too pudgy at the end of the meal.
Good day - and a great way to end our week's visit to Maine! I have posted pictures on Facebook of the whole trip. Yippee!
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