Less Owie now

Thank you for all of your kinds words and thoughts and gifts! I especially love the padded ring finger cozy that someone (who shall remain nameless)(particularly since it was an anonymous gift) sent me.  I can almost type without worry again. Yippee and huzzah!

Day three of my juicing experiment. Only 87 more days to go! And I haven't started trying mom on it yet. I want to get a formula working that tastes decent for me before trying to get one that tastes decent for mom. Lemon juice helped a lot. Someone else suggested trying golden beets - I am going to look for them at Wegman's when I go food shopping today. But I digress, which is perfectly normal. No exciting changes that I can tell so far. My hair isn't falling out, or growing faster or anything. At least I have not reached the cousin it resemblance stage yet...

A-Smithing I will go! Today is getting ducks in a row for October movies! Yay! Updating the website and then adding the movies to our pre-event slide show. Fun and exciting times are had by all.

Oh, we found the nature videos again. Mom watched a lot of them back a while ago. The main problem I have with them is that there is no "auto play" feature. So I have to try and check on her after each one is over. Not something I can put on and go about my business with. I hope she continues liking Doc Martin. She is, unfortunately, over the "As Time Goes By" series. Sigh.

Anything with an "L" in it hurts

Yes, my owie on my right hand ring finger still hurts. I never thought I would envy two fingered typists. Ow. Heck, typing "ow" can hurt if I don't move my fingers over and use my third finger more. Ow.

Did I mention that mom has started to forget who I am? That is a nice thing. She often asks me know if I am her son. And if she has other children. Everyone once in a while she thinks I am her parent. Yay.

Oh, one thing that happened during my hiatus was I got to miss my eldest niece's wedding. That sucked. I had lots of warning. I just couldn't manage it mentally, emotionally and fiscally. Well, I could manage fiscally, but it would have been a lot of money that I am hoarding for when things get really bad. Or just worse. I would have liked to have shared Kristen's big day. I just couldn't see taking mom. And I couldn't find a reasonable method of having her looked after by anyone I trusted or wouldn't have minded having to put up with her for however long I would have been away. See, it is a two edged sword, this caregiving thing, at least for me. I do long to not do it, but I also do not want anyone else to do it. They aren't me. I know that I am not always the nicest or most patient, but Mom is my mom. It might be a trust issue. Who knows? In any case, missing the wedding was not a good thing, but surprisingly the world did not end! Huzzuh!

Getting Started Again

Hi All! (Or both) It has been a while since I have posted. Mostly because I haven't felt like it. I am sure that there are little things, medium sized and maybe large sized things I could have written about, but I just didn't feel like writing. I didn't want to sit and write. I wanted to sit and do other stuff. Like play bridge on my phone. Or play on my xBox. Or stare off into the distance. Or watch Star Trek or Pan Am. I have also been working a good bit. Actually the next two weeks are going to be busy at The Smith. And I have a bunch of stuff to do to get ready for that. In fact, I am putting that off right now and writing this instead.

Quick catch up since July. Mom - deteriorating pretty well - she has some puffy leg issue that we are trying to fix. The doctor has given her medicine and wants her to go back on the c-pap machine - mom doesn't want to go back on the c-pap machine. Mom isn't doing the other things she is supposed to be doing - like drinking lots of fluids and exercising (ha) - and keeping her feet elevated. One of her new behaviors is to sit on the edge of the bed and read. For hours. So I am not surprised that her ankles are getting puffy. I am hoping to try the ABC miracle juice thing with her - more on that in a bit. She has been on a kick of watching Doc Martin a lot. And I recently got us the existing Downton Abbey DVDs. Those we have been watching together. I don't know yet if she will want to watch them multiple times or not. Yesterday we voted. Could well be her last time voting. She could barely sign her name - even with help from me and from the check-in person (who's daughter - Mary Van something went to school with Juliet apparently). Sigh. We shall see what happens come November. So, the long and the short of mom is - she keeps moving forward slowly and so far we are both managing her being here in the house. Huzzuh. Oh, we went to the dentist too - well, mom got her teeth cleaned.

On my end - I am working a lot at the Smith. I have an owie on my right ring finger. My bankruptcy is all through. I am starting to work on my beer vlog. I went on two dates with a nice person and then she stopped writing back. I am playing too much xBox (well, other people would say that was the case). I am not getting out much. I do hope to get mom and me to Maine in October. Ah, the miracle juice thing. I have read stuff about what drinking beet (ick) apple and carrot juice can do for one's health. They say a minimum of 60 days to see real results. I drank some this morning and felt nauseous for the first four hours afterwards. Sigh. Maybe some lemon juice will help. I'll try that tomorrow.

Burned the Brussels Sprouts

Sigh city. I really do like brussels sprouts. I didn't mean to burn them. I made a batch for dinner and then cooked a second batch to be eaten like popcorn or tossed into other dishes. Sadly, I left them cooking for five hours. That wasn't good for them. No one noticed the smell, I guess. Mom, for one, wouldn't have been able to figure out how to turn the toaster oven off. Then again, I am not really sure that is true. She does seem to be able to figure out how to turn things on and off. Though that is about the limit of her acknowledged cognizance of things technical.

Speaking of mom, I plan to take her to the race track again. I know that she has fun there. It is a pleasant way to spend a nice afternoon. Maybe sometime this month. Still haven't figured out what to do about Kristen's wedding. My guess is that we will just not go. Finding someone to watch mom for a few days is not an easy task. And I haven't gotten my ducks in a row regarding mom. Sigh. I really need to do that too.

Carrot or the stick? I tend to work better with the carrot - or even better with carrot cake. How about you? When you have things you would like to do, do you beat yourself up and take away things? Or do you promise yourself a treat when they are done?

A package I ordered finally arrived. Yay! Mom has been watching a lot of Doc Martin lately - I mean at least 10 times through the whole series. Not that she really remembers it, but I think it is beginning to sink in, that she has seen it before. Oh, that reminds me of a funny - well, not funny, but interesting perhaps - there is a DVD of Victor Borge that she loved to watch, until she found out that it was a recording of a show he had done. Some part of her brain thought that she was watching a live performance of his, right then, right there. Anyway, I bought her a set of DVDs of As Time Goes By - starring one of her favorite performers - Judi Densch. I hope this goes over better than the NCIS series I got for her.

Tic Tac Toe

Three days in a row. Are the "x" days or "o" days? Hmm.

So, I was thinking that I would see if the bike place downtown does layaway. If they do, I could start paying for a new bike now and have it in time for next Spring. I like the idea of layaway. Better than buying something on credit in my opinion. Teaches one the happiness and satisfaction inherent in delayed gratification. We shall see. Thursday I will inquire.

I found myself noticing bikes all over the place today. Silly of me, I know, hoping to see mine just sitting out somewhere. Still, it is a small town and anything is possible (though most things are unlikely). I also looked at The Smith to see if perhaps I had hallucinated and not ridden my bike home the other night and had just left it there. Another bike was there, not mine, unfortunately. Sigh.

The bright side - they didn't take my bike/car rack. Nor did I attach the rear-view mirror! Hurrah for small blessings.

Right now I am sitting at the Smith babysitting for a band that is rehearsing for an upcoming East Coast swing of a tour. It reminds me of the times I have hung out with bands in the past. Back in college I was sort of briefly the band manager for a group of guys I knew. Rockford, I think was the band's name. I recently reconnected with a few of them on Facebook! The other was when I was living in the Bay Area and was briefly the lighting guy (when they played gigs where there was a lighting rig set-up) and lugger for a band called Hobo. Not as glamorous as people think it is, the life of a musician. Or any artist for that matter. A lot of time is spent just sort of sitting around. It does have its cool bits. And this time I am getting some work accomplished - which is more than can be said for those days gone by.

Mean People Suck

This is just a quick post to say that mean people do indeed suck. I came back from a morning meeting to find that my bicycle - my new to me bicycle into which I had put a decent amount of time, money and energy, was stolen. Off of my enclosed front porch. Yes, the door was open. Yes, the bike was unlocked. But it was on my front porch. On. My. Front. Porch. What kind of crap is that?

Since Geneva is a small town, I do hope that I will see someone riding my bike one day and I will be able to ask for it back.

I don't think I will report it to the police. Why bother? Really, they are too busy giving people speeding or j-walking tickets. And what would they do in any case? Stop everyone riding a bike and ask if it is mine? They aren't about to do a house to house search. And I haven't put anything particularly identifying on it.

I think I will wait until next summer to get another bike. I can't face buying a new one at this point. And I will probably do things differently. Like put it in a vault whenever I am not using it. Sigh.

Has it really been weeks since my last post?

How the mighty have fallen?! It has been two weeks, at least, since my last confession. Mea Culpa. Mea maxima pulpa! (Not sure what pulpa is, but when has that stopped me?)

So, how are things with you? Let's see, since you asked, things with me, for the most part, are pretty great. I have a bunch of first world, middle (ish) class problems, but you know, in the grand sweep and scope of reality, things are dandy. Yay.

That being said, let's get our kvetch on. Starting with mom. I must admit to having been remiss in my duties on July 4th. The last two years I dragged mom out to fireworks. This time it just seemed too daunting. But I guess I need to give a bit of background.

A couple of weeks ago, mom took a tumble. This is nothing new. Lately at least. Since coming back from Maine mom has gracefully kerplunked at least four times. Well, three of them were graceful (ish). The one she remembers was the one where she took out a box of cassettes (what the heck are those things and why do they still linger in this house)(I really need help letting go of stuff)(seems like an oft repeated sentiment - heck, a refrain even - if we were singing). Just this morning she was complaining of owies received in her latest loss to gravity only to attribute them to her collapse atop the box of cassettes. I never did like that box anyway. But the one where the owies came from necessitated a trip to the doctor's for a look-see. She bumped her head and her chin - I think on a chair in her room. I can't be sure because I was downstairs actually doing something - making dinner or lunch or cleaning the kitchen. For once I wasn't playing on the xBox - when I heard mom's "I'm falling" sounds. I came upstairs and found her sitting on the floor at the bottom of her bed. Her head had a bruise - it is still visible - and it took me a minute to notice that her chin was bleeding. Of course this happened on a Friday - must have been around dinner time - because I recalled thinking that my only recourse was to go to the Emergency Room - except there was no emergency. She seemed ok, for the most part - a bit bumped and bruised but not in dire need of medical assistance.

Why do things like this seem to happen on the weekend. Why couldn't she take a fall on Monday at 11 in the morning? Whatever. Anyway, that flavored my entire weekend (and is still flavoring my mental space) - waiting for Monday to roll around so we could visit with a medical professional. Said MP didn't do much, really. Nice enough - and mom's GP popped in for a quick consultation. We also checked on another issue - mom's feet and lower legs were swelling up - the aide and I both noticed it. So, she is taking pills, supposed to drink a lot of fluids and go to the bathroom a lot to get rid of the swelling. It would be nice if she exercised. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Ha. Haha.

I really need to get some ducks in a row. First, it would be good to know what ducks I need or what ducks I might already have. Sigh. I am thinking of aiming for a post a day at some point. Perhaps. Maybe. When my brain seems less cluttered. As if.