Wow, I'm actually doing a post before the first month of the year is over! I've been trying to enforce a decent bedtime for myself, in my quest to overcome fatigue. Not succeeding too well, so far. On Monday I did get to bed by 6:45a, though and rehearsal went better for me.
Skittle has rediscovered the fun of her polyester cube, it has round openings in all but 2 sides and she'll come flying in and leap into it, sometimes skidding it across the floor. Or she'll hide in it and wait for some unsuspecting person to walk by. What's really cute is when she does an 'up periscope' move, popping her head out the top to see where everyone is! I threw my big green kooshie ball at her the other day and she was stalking it from inside the cube, just her paw stuck out to whack it and try to get hold of it. She's not limited to one spot, she takes the cube with, it's hysterical. When she gets bored, we'll put it away for another while, till she finds it fun again. Best $5 investment we ever made!
I have a car again! Well, I paid for it and essentially also paid for the repairs, since I was owed $$ for the septic pumping a couple of months ago. Randy and I will share it. It's old, a '93 Ford Taurus; I don't know how it is that Don & Randy always seem to find Ford Tauruses, but they did again. It wouldn't have been my first choice, but it runs and we got its engine mounts replaced yesterday. What Don was thinking was the transmission clunking was literally the engine sliding back when you started up from a stop! He can do a lot of the minor maintenance on it and eventually we'll get the bad rack and pinion fixed. That's making the steering wheel do some pulling to one side right now, but I've dealt with that sort of problem before and so has Randy. I actually think that Don has replaced a rack and pinion himself before, if memory serves me right, but that is always iffy nowadays. The car is silver and has these weird oriental seat covers on the front seats. If the upholstery isn't shot, I'll be removing those. I am planning to go to the Joyce Meyer Ministries conference in Long Beach in March, so I'm happy that I'll have transportation. I'm a little torn between inviting a friend to go with and taking a vacation for the solitude. I will try to have dinner with my Dad at least one night, while I'm there; he lives there in town.
Being mobile feels so good! I can go to B&N if I want, or the library, and I don't have to arrange to borrow the car for my appts. all the time. One car for three adults was hard to manage! This will also stop the need for renting a car so much. If this car still seems unreliable, though, I may rent a car for the convention. Oh yeah, I just remembered that my aunt wants me to visit her in Phoenix this winter, if I can. And my other aunt is wintering in Apache Junction. Hmmm, maybe a road trip is a possibility? Something to think about, anyway.
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Post-its*TM Anyone?
I wanted to explain why I've decided to blog more. I'm blogging for the little details. Earlier this month I went to a movie with Don and Randy. Then I got one of those "Getting to Know Your Friends" emails and one of the questions was, "what is the last movie you saw?" I sat and thought about it and realized I didn't even know which movie we had gone to see. I asked Randy what movie it was and she said we saw the new Raiders movie. I had wanted to see that and I can honestly say that I don't remember a single scene from it. I remember Don lending me his jacket because I was cold and my adjusting it to better cover my shoulders; I can remember turning down popcorn from Randy, but I literally don't remember anything about the movie itself!
This memory thing is likely due to the fibro, which magnifies my pain. Some of the pain is from fibro, some is caused by other problems; besides the fibro I have osteoarthritis in my neck and back, as well as the cyst that is displacing the nerve at S1 and spinal stenosis. Oh, and at least one rotator cuff tear, we are setting up a 2nd MRI to check the other shoulder, which also hurts at the approx. same place. The way it was described to me is that the pain engages your brain and you don't take in the surroundings or events that are occurring during that period. This all came to a head earlier this week, when my bff wanted to know why I wasn't returning her calls anymore. So we discussed my memory problems and I told her I'd send her an email, based on my blogging, a minimum of twice a week and call her every week or so. Hopefully this will give the rest of my friends a better chance to keep up on my life as well!
Anyway, I guess I'm consistent in my opinions, because I'll make a comment and Randy will tell me that I've already said that a number of times. Usually I do remember it after she says that. But I'm sure it's as frustrating for her as it is for me and, potentially, for other friends as well. So I'm trying to remember things by writing them down. Thus more blogging and I have a little notebook -plus- I gots post-its!
We finally got ahold of the vet and it turns out that what was described to Randy as pain medication is also an anti-inflammatory. She hadn't been giving it to Skittle because Skittle didn't seem to be in any pain. So hopefully that will make a difference, the poor thing looks like a cartoon character with a bee sting, it sticks out and has an almost pointy look!
Besides running late with Taylor's story, I am just now getting around to a Father's Day gift. I didn't call either, but he keeps forgetting my birthday, so I don't think he'll mind. I got him a little digital photo frame with temp, time, date display and I preloaded it with family photos for him. I know his gf won't let him have pictures of Mom in the house, so I guess he'll have to keep it at work. To me that is just another sign of how heartless that woman is. He had a 26 year marriage with Mom and of course he still has feelings for her, whether or not he has pictures. It doesn't keep him from caring for his gf. He can't bring Mom back and she's been gone for over 20 years now. But it's a part of his life, whether the gf likes it or not. Hopefully that is as acrimonious as I'll get about this situation!
I decided to change my blog's look. Hope you like it. Greens and blues for the summer, besides which, I want it to remind me of my commitment to living green. I was already trying to live green, all three of us have been. We usually only put one barrel of trash out a week. We recycle paper, tin, glass and plastic. We donate our returnable plastic bottles and aluminum cans to the chorus, that program makes about an extra $1,000 a year for the chorus' treasury! I also compost our food scraps. If I were healthier I would probably set it up for worms, but my back barely tolerates the composting I do now. I don't know why, but activities that require me to stand and reach forward really, really hurt my back. I dropped a few things in there yesterday and my back was spasming so bad! It's why I can't do dishes and sometimes it affects me when I do the laundry too.
I'll post again in a few days, hasta la vista....
This memory thing is likely due to the fibro, which magnifies my pain. Some of the pain is from fibro, some is caused by other problems; besides the fibro I have osteoarthritis in my neck and back, as well as the cyst that is displacing the nerve at S1 and spinal stenosis. Oh, and at least one rotator cuff tear, we are setting up a 2nd MRI to check the other shoulder, which also hurts at the approx. same place. The way it was described to me is that the pain engages your brain and you don't take in the surroundings or events that are occurring during that period. This all came to a head earlier this week, when my bff wanted to know why I wasn't returning her calls anymore. So we discussed my memory problems and I told her I'd send her an email, based on my blogging, a minimum of twice a week and call her every week or so. Hopefully this will give the rest of my friends a better chance to keep up on my life as well!
Anyway, I guess I'm consistent in my opinions, because I'll make a comment and Randy will tell me that I've already said that a number of times. Usually I do remember it after she says that. But I'm sure it's as frustrating for her as it is for me and, potentially, for other friends as well. So I'm trying to remember things by writing them down. Thus more blogging and I have a little notebook -plus- I gots post-its!
We finally got ahold of the vet and it turns out that what was described to Randy as pain medication is also an anti-inflammatory. She hadn't been giving it to Skittle because Skittle didn't seem to be in any pain. So hopefully that will make a difference, the poor thing looks like a cartoon character with a bee sting, it sticks out and has an almost pointy look!
Besides running late with Taylor's story, I am just now getting around to a Father's Day gift. I didn't call either, but he keeps forgetting my birthday, so I don't think he'll mind. I got him a little digital photo frame with temp, time, date display and I preloaded it with family photos for him. I know his gf won't let him have pictures of Mom in the house, so I guess he'll have to keep it at work. To me that is just another sign of how heartless that woman is. He had a 26 year marriage with Mom and of course he still has feelings for her, whether or not he has pictures. It doesn't keep him from caring for his gf. He can't bring Mom back and she's been gone for over 20 years now. But it's a part of his life, whether the gf likes it or not. Hopefully that is as acrimonious as I'll get about this situation!
I decided to change my blog's look. Hope you like it. Greens and blues for the summer, besides which, I want it to remind me of my commitment to living green. I was already trying to live green, all three of us have been. We usually only put one barrel of trash out a week. We recycle paper, tin, glass and plastic. We donate our returnable plastic bottles and aluminum cans to the chorus, that program makes about an extra $1,000 a year for the chorus' treasury! I also compost our food scraps. If I were healthier I would probably set it up for worms, but my back barely tolerates the composting I do now. I don't know why, but activities that require me to stand and reach forward really, really hurt my back. I dropped a few things in there yesterday and my back was spasming so bad! It's why I can't do dishes and sometimes it affects me when I do the laundry too.
I'll post again in a few days, hasta la vista....
Friday, August 10, 2007
Is there a Carlton Sheppard in the House?
I just wanted to follow up on my bridge collapse worries. I did get in touch with both sides of my family in St. Paul, MN and everyone is accounted for, no one I know was on that bridge that day. Calling my cousin Cheryl may result in my setting her up a website, so that's good! But the Twin Cities Police Dept. has called me repeatedly, at least 3 times now, even though I have assured them that my family is all accounted for, because of a glitch, I guess you'd call it. They wanted all the names, but that would have been 7 or more names to go through. So I gave them last names: Carlton, Sheppard, MacDonald, and Neisch. Although I have explained that, they keep calling me to see if Carlton Sheppard has been accounted for yet! Maybe I should use that name in one of my novels, it seems very believable, LOL!
Finally, Some News That Would Make Robert Fulghum Proud and Some That is Making Catholics Cringe
Remember that great book, Everything I Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten? Well here is a medical blog entry that upholds one of its premises. Napping Makes You Smarter! Who knew? I do remember that when I was in 1st Grade a family friend took care of me after school and she wanted to do the right thing, so she would try and get me to practice my printing and spelling. It would just put me in the worst mood! I complained to my mom and she asked the sweet lady not to push me. See, if I'd just taken a nap, it would have been all better. I think I should write and tell her so. Yes, her name is Iris; she has outlived my mother by more that 20 years and I still write her when I can. So, she did get me to write, and spell well, after all!
A few years after that, while I was in 3rd grade, my mom came into possession of a 6th grade reader, because she worked for the church and, by extension, the parochial school I attended. I started reading it with perfect comprehension and my love for reading was born. Not much longer after that I began running out of reading materials, but not before I read all the way through the sex education book my mom had bought to read to me. She had paperclipped the more explicit pages together, but I read those too. Soon she had to declare even the Reader's Digest Condensed Books in our book cupboard okay for me to read. She would caution me, after a trip to the library, to ration my reading, but once I got started I couldn't stop.
Speaking of sex education at a young age, Fox 25 News in Boston announced that the city has a problem with a billboard too close to the Catholic School in Dorchester. You can see the piece they did on it here...Condom Billboard Placement Leaves Residents Shaking Heads. I have mixed thoughts on this one. For one thing, the last I heard the Catholic Church was still not condoning birth control, but these kids will have to face that reality sooner or later. With kids experimenting with sex earlier and earlier, maybe it's not such a bad idea. The lady who runs the nearby daycare center says she doesn't want to have to explain it to her 8 year old son, though. And, obviously the Church has some clout, because the last thing the reporter says is that the billboard will be gone by the time school starts!
A few years after that, while I was in 3rd grade, my mom came into possession of a 6th grade reader, because she worked for the church and, by extension, the parochial school I attended. I started reading it with perfect comprehension and my love for reading was born. Not much longer after that I began running out of reading materials, but not before I read all the way through the sex education book my mom had bought to read to me. She had paperclipped the more explicit pages together, but I read those too. Soon she had to declare even the Reader's Digest Condensed Books in our book cupboard okay for me to read. She would caution me, after a trip to the library, to ration my reading, but once I got started I couldn't stop.
Speaking of sex education at a young age, Fox 25 News in Boston announced that the city has a problem with a billboard too close to the Catholic School in Dorchester. You can see the piece they did on it here...Condom Billboard Placement Leaves Residents Shaking Heads. I have mixed thoughts on this one. For one thing, the last I heard the Catholic Church was still not condoning birth control, but these kids will have to face that reality sooner or later. With kids experimenting with sex earlier and earlier, maybe it's not such a bad idea. The lady who runs the nearby daycare center says she doesn't want to have to explain it to her 8 year old son, though. And, obviously the Church has some clout, because the last thing the reporter says is that the billboard will be gone by the time school starts!
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Bridge Collapse
I have spent a few hours now, watching the Minneapolis bridge collapse coverage. I have a lot of relatives there, mostly in St. Paul, but they certainly might work in or have been on errands to their Twin City. I called the Red Cross number, but they don't have any names at this point. Scared me pretty bad, because I got a call back very shortly afterwards. They wanted to know first names, but we're talking whole families here! Anyway, they said to check on http://www.safeandwell.org/ tomorrow. By then I can call relatives, too. If they are safe and well, I don't want to disturb their rest. Good chance they have lost friends and maybe relatives on the other side of their respective families.
A few good things that may have saved people. Yes it was rush hour, but traffic on the bridge was down to 2 lanes on the collapsed side because of the roadwork. Also, as Randy pointed out, it was summer, so the river wasn't frozen, plus some people may have had their windows down, so if they hit the water they may have been able to get out the window. On the other hand, it may have been the jackhammer activity that caused the collapse and, we're thinking, the freight train below may also have contributed. We think it may have been harmonic resonance that caused it. I'm wondering how many went into the water and if they were on top of one another, that could have complicated getting out of cars. Some people were so in shock that they couldn't immediately understand what was happening to them. There'll be no more news until it's morning there, which would be around 4 or so our time. All I can do is leave the situation and the people in God's hands.
A few good things that may have saved people. Yes it was rush hour, but traffic on the bridge was down to 2 lanes on the collapsed side because of the roadwork. Also, as Randy pointed out, it was summer, so the river wasn't frozen, plus some people may have had their windows down, so if they hit the water they may have been able to get out the window. On the other hand, it may have been the jackhammer activity that caused the collapse and, we're thinking, the freight train below may also have contributed. We think it may have been harmonic resonance that caused it. I'm wondering how many went into the water and if they were on top of one another, that could have complicated getting out of cars. Some people were so in shock that they couldn't immediately understand what was happening to them. There'll be no more news until it's morning there, which would be around 4 or so our time. All I can do is leave the situation and the people in God's hands.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Mini-brainstorm
I had a brainstorm yesterday. Nothing earth-shaking, but it solves a problem in the household. When I have my laptop in the living room, I need the light on to see the keyboard, but using the overhead light bothers Randy and the only lamp in the room is next to the couch she stretches out on. I have been waiting to get to Borders, because the chorus gave me a $20 gift card as my 'retiring president' gift, but today we decided to go to the mall, because Randy got a little massager that was perfect for doing acupressure points, but it had stopped working before 2 days had gone by and she wanted to return it. (Wait for it, I'm gonna connect these in a minute! ;) Today is her birthday and I wanted to get her a gift. Anyway, I also realized that Borders and Waldenbooks are the same company, so I went to the one in the mall and got...Tah-Dah...a book light, a well as another Pern book by Anne and Todd McCaffrey. The book light clips neatly on the laptop, the LED should never burn out and it uses AAA batteries. I can see what I need to without turning the overhead light on, we save electricity and Randy will be happy that it isn't shining in her eyes! Oh, and her gift is very cool, I found a commuter mug that plugs into the lighter socket! She will love it, if the bottom of the mug fits well into the cup holder; which it looks like is should!
Went to CVS. You may have read my previous rant on that subject; things have improved some, although the one pharmacist continues to make things more difficult when he can. Anyway, I now have become chatty with the pharmacy asst. whom we have nicknamed 'Fishface' (although not to her face) and I mentioned that I will be transferring to Medi-Cal once the SSI kicks in and asked if the RX coverage is better. Turns out they only cover 6 RXs a month and the rest have to be done as TARs (Treatment Authorization Releases)! Eek, that will be 6 or more TARs for my Dr. to write up. I thought this was going to be better and now come to find out it may be harder to get the meds I need! I will try and not stress out about this until I have confirmed this as a fact and see if my Dr. is bothered by it. I'm sure she has other patients on Medi-Cal.
Yesterday I actually got my annual letter written. I always have great intentions of writing to my friends and family more often, but it rarely ever happens. Huh, kind of like my novel writing. Right now I am waiting until I get the desk in my room, because I feel very self-conscious about talking to the computer in front of Don & Randy. Silly, I know, but there it is, it's a problem. I have emailed the link (I publish it online for my web-savvy friends and family) to a bunch of people and now have to sit down and figure out whose emails have become defunct and whether or not I have alternate contact info for them. Next I begin printing it and mailing it out to those holdouts who still use snail mail. That reminds me...I need to add to that letter that my cell phone is not working right and I need people's phone numbers. Dang, I loved having all my numbers in the cell phone, because I used to have to carry a sheet of my most often called numbers. We'll see what kind of a settlement I get; I may just replace the stupid thing. I also saw a cute little Dell laptop (the Dell XPS M1210, to be precise) at the mall that I want to check out, it is way smaller, which would be an advantage; this one is heavy and bulkier than my old ThinkPad, which surprised me. Oh the plans I have for that money! I'm guessing/hoping that it will be around $9,000. I'll have a whopper tithe, most of which will go to the little Costa Mesa church I had to give up going to when the drive became too much.
Tomorrow I plan to start the South Beach plan. I only have to give up bread and potatoes and after 2 weeks whole grain bread is allowed. Yams are allowed, but the baked potato will now be relegated to an infrequent treat, sigh. Tonight we are going to D&B's with Eben, since it is his birthday this week also. Must go check my email now.
TTFN
Went to CVS. You may have read my previous rant on that subject; things have improved some, although the one pharmacist continues to make things more difficult when he can. Anyway, I now have become chatty with the pharmacy asst. whom we have nicknamed 'Fishface' (although not to her face) and I mentioned that I will be transferring to Medi-Cal once the SSI kicks in and asked if the RX coverage is better. Turns out they only cover 6 RXs a month and the rest have to be done as TARs (Treatment Authorization Releases)! Eek, that will be 6 or more TARs for my Dr. to write up. I thought this was going to be better and now come to find out it may be harder to get the meds I need! I will try and not stress out about this until I have confirmed this as a fact and see if my Dr. is bothered by it. I'm sure she has other patients on Medi-Cal.
Yesterday I actually got my annual letter written. I always have great intentions of writing to my friends and family more often, but it rarely ever happens. Huh, kind of like my novel writing. Right now I am waiting until I get the desk in my room, because I feel very self-conscious about talking to the computer in front of Don & Randy. Silly, I know, but there it is, it's a problem. I have emailed the link (I publish it online for my web-savvy friends and family) to a bunch of people and now have to sit down and figure out whose emails have become defunct and whether or not I have alternate contact info for them. Next I begin printing it and mailing it out to those holdouts who still use snail mail. That reminds me...I need to add to that letter that my cell phone is not working right and I need people's phone numbers. Dang, I loved having all my numbers in the cell phone, because I used to have to carry a sheet of my most often called numbers. We'll see what kind of a settlement I get; I may just replace the stupid thing. I also saw a cute little Dell laptop (the Dell XPS M1210, to be precise) at the mall that I want to check out, it is way smaller, which would be an advantage; this one is heavy and bulkier than my old ThinkPad, which surprised me. Oh the plans I have for that money! I'm guessing/hoping that it will be around $9,000. I'll have a whopper tithe, most of which will go to the little Costa Mesa church I had to give up going to when the drive became too much.
Tomorrow I plan to start the South Beach plan. I only have to give up bread and potatoes and after 2 weeks whole grain bread is allowed. Yams are allowed, but the baked potato will now be relegated to an infrequent treat, sigh. Tonight we are going to D&B's with Eben, since it is his birthday this week also. Must go check my email now.
TTFN
Monday, April 16, 2007
This is one of the first pictures we took of Skittle, she was so small when Don brought her home! Now her head is about the size of all of her at this size. She is very energized, our million mile an hour cat. We are still debating what her breed(s) could be. I'm leaning towards Bengal/Egyptian Mau mix. Her ears have small tufts of fur at their tips and she doesn't have spots or stripes, but a cross between.
My SSDI hearing is this Thursday. I can't believe it's finally going to happen, It's been about 5 years since there was any activity on my case and they have combined both cases together, so it's win or lose. I'm praying hard!
We have been without a second car because a rock took out the oil and transmission pans on the station wagon. Don ordered parts, but only the oil pan has come in so far. Besides that, Randy was double-booked for next weekend, so there is a good chance I will miss my niece's birthday party for the first time. I am just waiting too see what happens. That lucky kid has had a party every year so far. I remember one for my 5th and one for my 7th. A slumber party at 13 or so. None for a very long time, except a cake a few times. We always had a cake when Mom was alive, but neither Tam or I are that talented at baking. Of course, Mom used to put them together with toothpicks if they fell apart! I think I might want to celebrate 50. There was a long time there that I didn't think I'd live that long. Especially when I was working! Living past the age that my mother died at was sort of surreal.
I'm off to do a few tasks before I go to bed. TTFN
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