Saturday Six

1. Margaret said Bobby had a good day today.

2. Matt was there for the weekend.

3. We finally got the results from duplicate yesterday. We were high for the six tables. Amazing.

4. It was chilly here all day.

5. We went to the ballgame (UTC 71, Mercer 59). There is such a draft in the arena - I always have on layers, including a turtleneck, and sometimes a hat.

6. John “cooked” tonight - Bojangles chicken (Yum!).

Friday news

We did the usual YMCA and coffee this morning, and then went to play duplicate. The scores haven’t been posted, but I think we did pretty well.

It was windy and chilly today, but with bright sunshine. They using that four-letter word starting with “s” for Sunday night. No accumulation predicted for the valley areas, and certainly nothing like the amounts that have covered New England, but it still always panics folks around here.
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Update:   I talked to Margaret tonight. She said Bobby had had a good day, and was resting comfortably. He’s been having some welcome visitors and has enjoyed talking with them. Also his brother has been here from Texas to spend time with him. He’s been able to walk short distances in the house using a walker. She was most pleased about having found a sitter, well recommended and well experienced. The sitter spent some time there today, and will start on Monday. Margaret will be able to go back to work - at least part time. They’re settling in to a routine, and we can all hope this will work for a while.

Miscellany on Kate's birthday

I finished Alison’s sweater last night, and got it blocked this afternoon. I’m looking forward to seeing it dry and really finished. I’m working on a hat out of the same yarn.
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Good news for granddaughters! Sarah has a job. Now she just has the South Carolina bar exam coming up in February.
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Margaret says that after a rough night, Bobby had a good day, talking with visitors, etc.
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Best of all, it’s Kate’s birthday! Happy Birthday, Sweetie!

Wednesday sunshine

Swim, coffee, massage.

Who needs more? Maybe a nap?

Catfish for supper.

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Margaret said Bobby had several visitors today, and was more alert and enjoying the company. Also that she's learning more about being a caregiver. I think she's been very pleased with the hospice folks. I've told her that she needs to be sure to take some time for herself and get enough rest.

Thanks

Thanks for all the kind words, thoughts, and prayers you have sent. All are greatly appreciated.
Bobby came home from the hospital Monday night. We had gone to the house that morning to clear space and to be there when Hospice delivered the bed and other equipment. We spent the night and stayed until midday today. Some of his family came to the house this afternoon. Margaret is coping well with all that needs to be done. We’re just trying to do as much as we can to support her, without getting in the way. I’m sure we’ll be going there frequently to help when we can.
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It’s been chilly here - it IS January, after all. But I’m SO glad we’re not getting the terrible storms they’re getting in New England and other parts of the country (and world). Be safe, wherever you are.

Home

Bobby is home, and

Hospice is here for set-up.

Things should be calmer.

Hospice

Please think good thoughts for

Bobby, Margaret, the boys.

Now with Hospice care.

Sunday Stealing

Easy A-Z Meme

Stolen from: FYeah Surveys



A. What are your favorite smells? New rain, bread baking

B. Can you go a whole day without caffeine? I probably could, but I wouldn’t like the withdrawal headache that ensues.

C. Who knows more about you than anyone else? John

D. What song did you last listen to? I had the “light classical” channel on Music Choice.

E. Do you wear socks to bed? No

F. Can you change a car tire? At one time I could. Now I belong to the Auto Club.

G. If you could choose one color to wear for a whole year, what color would you choose? It would probably be blue or black or purple.

H. Do you cook often? Almost every day - at least one meal.

I. What’s your least favorite season? Summer

J. Can you sew? Yes, but I don’t any more. I made all the girls’ clothes when they were little, plus my own and all of John’s sport shirts (before the days of knit shirts).

K. What is your favorite fruit? Tough question - I don’t have a favorite, I love almost all of them. Fresh and local, preferably.

L. Are you health conscious? Probably not as much as I should be

M. Do you think you’re very conscious of the feelings of others or more self oriented? I hope a good balance of both.

N. Do you curse a lot? More than I used to.

O. Do you remember lyrics easily? No

P. Can you roll your tongue? Yes

Q. Is there a certain food you often crave for no reason? Not usually, but I do on rare occasions.

R. What was the last book you purchased? Being Mortal by Atul Gawande - an excellent book

S. Where was your last vacation? A river trip on the Queen of the Mississippi, up the Missippi River from St. Louis to St. Paul.

T. Last movie you watched? Did you enjoy it? The DVD of Saving Mr. Banks. We liked it a lot.

U. Think of your oldest friend. If you met them now do you think you would still become friends? We’re such kindred spirits, I’m sure we would.

V. Paris, London and New York… which one would you live in, which would you visit for a day, which would you visit for a fortnight? I could visit NYC for a day (probably wouldn’t want more); I’d like to visit Paris for a couple of weeks; and I guess I could live in London. Since I don’t really like big cities, I probably wouldn’t like to live in any of them.

W. Do you usually sleep with your closet door open or closed? The closet door is always closed unless I’m actually getting something out of it. It’s not a phobia or anything.

X. Have you ever broken a bone? If so, how did it happen? HA!HA!. I slipped off one step and broke all three bones in my ankle (pins in that one) (1983). I fell going up a step to my front porch in 2012 and shattered my upper arm (three surgeries, pins & plate, partial repair, and total reverse replacement of shoulder).

Y. How do you like your eggs? Any way but raw.

Z. What was your last argument about and who with? I don’t argue much - it just doesn’t accomplish anything.

More of same

It was another cold, dreary, rainy day today. We skipped the Y, but went to coffee with the swim gals. Haircuts were absolutely necessary today, too.

We played duplicate and ended up in the middle…again.

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Bobby spent another day in ICU. Margaret hopes he’ll be moved to a telemetry room tomorrow so they can start the testing and therapy. We hope all goes well.

Tough stuff

Bobby got moved to Chattanooga this morning, and he’s in the hospital here now. We got to see him for a minute and spend some time with Margaret this afternoon, and she‘s staying here. He is stable. They’ve seen the liver specialist. He’ll be doing three days of intensive testing and trial therapies, and then will make more decisions about the future. Tough things to deal with.

Hugs

Please keep Bobby in

Your thoughts. He’ll be moved to a

Hospital here soon.

Sneezy Tuesday

I have no idea what blew in this morning, but I have sneezed and blown literally all day today. I sneezed probably 25 or more times just while I was trying to eat breakfast. And it’s continued all day long.


We’ve had temperatures in the 60s for a couple of days, so there is probably something out there thinking it’s spring and putting out pollen. I haven’t had this much trouble with allergy in years.


The sneezing let up during the day, but has returned this evening. My poor nose is just raw. I’m just hoping for some sleep tonight and for it to go away tomorrow.
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Please send good thoughts for our son-in-law who is having some health problems.

The Swim Team

Swim class was a little strange this morning. We wound up with about 14 or so - a big group. There were two relatively new gals, and two brand newbies. We love getting new folks to come in. But then the instructor didn’t show up. Oh, dear.

Well, we manage on our own. I got us started. Renna, Johnny, and all the other “old timers” kept us going. We give ourselves a pretty good workout.

What a great bunch this is!

Fun weekend

It was a lovely day today, in the mid 50s. The new yard guy finished cleaning up the leaves - plus the roof and gutters. There are still some on the trees, so he'll come back next week for a touch up. I don't know when the city leaf-pick-uppers will be by, though.

Sue, Margaret, and Carol went to a glass show in GA yesterday, and came here afterwards. John and I went to the Lady Mocs game with Stephen (UTC 83, WCU 52). We all met here for pizza for supper.

Sue and Margaret stayed here overnight. It was fun to have them here, even for a little while. They left about 10 this morning, but not after they had found some photograph albums to go through. Lots of laughter and "do you remember"s. They also found an album with photographs from my trip to Ireland back in 1990 (with an artist group - not John). I'll be going through that for memories and thinking of places for us to go see this spring. We've also started talking with Ann & Al about our trip to the Canadian Rockies with them in late summer. So travel plans for the year are progressing.

No bridge tomorrow - the Civic Center will be closed for MLK Day (city holiday). But two basketball games for John to watch (Lady Vols vs Notre Dame on TV, and the Lady Mocs vs ? on the computer). Then there will be lots of in-person games the end of the week and weekend. Busy season for us.

Sunday Stealing

Name Your Favorite…

Place - home or Canyon de Chelly
Person - John and our daughters
Color - blue or green
Food - almost anything that somebody else cooks
Smell - I don’t like “scents”. Maybe bread baking or new rain or freshly cut grass
Book - Monte Walsh by Jack Shafer
Movie - To Kill a Mockingbird, The Wizard of Oz
Music artist - Andres Segovia
Thing to do when bored - I don’t get bored. There are always books to read and knitting to do.
Genre of literature - Mysteries, nonfiction
Magazine - Smithsonian
Texture - It depends on what it is that has texture. I like all different textures I can think of in one place or another.
Time of day - Mornings
Day of the week - When you’re retired, they’re all pretty much the same. I like the days I go to swimming.
Thing to learn about - I like to learn about almost anything and everything.
Thing about yourself - Curiosity
Lifehack (a time saving, efficiency technique for life) - Live life in the present, enjoy and love what you have.

Friday Four

1. We didn’t accomplish much today, except for the morning trip to the Y and Panera.

2.Attendance was down at the pool. The overnight temperature was about 30, and the folks on the higher elevations were afraid to drive in the dark because of possible black ice. It’s a reasonable concern.

3. We made a decision about another trip for later this year. No reservations made yet - we’re gathering more information.

4. It’s looking to be a busy travel year, though.

Sleep, etc.

I didn’t sleep well at all Tuesday night. I did get a good nap yesterday afternoon, and was afraid that would keep me up again. But, I got a good 8-hour night last night - the usually potty breaks, but always back to sleep. It’s amazing how that brightens one’s outlook.

I had only two things on my agenda today. To my surprise, getting my lab work (preparatory to my physical exam next week) was accomplished in a timely, painless manner. And I got to my massage appointment a few minutes early.

A good massage therapist is a wonderful thing to have. I often thank the friend who recommended her.

I’ve deliberately not napped today - hoping for another full night’s sleep. We watched two more episodes of Newsroom. We have just one more episode of Season #2 to watch. It was due back to the library today, but I think we can afford the overdue fine. Then I can put in a request for Season #3. What a fabulous program this is!

The sweater for Alison is coming along quite nicely. It’s interesting to work on, doing the usual things with different techniques. And it’s going to be SO gorgeous!

Let’s all sleep well tonight.

Breaking up is hard to do

Habits are hard to break. Smoking, overeating, not exercising, drinking, shopping, playing video games, etc. Well, at least I don’t smoke or drink alcohol any more. Nor do I shop or play video games.

It’s just such a teeny, tiny habit. I go to the grocery stores (which I hate) every Tuesday morning. Is this something I could actually stop? Let’s face it - when I go to two grocery stores and spend less than $75.00 total, a bunch of which includes a half-dozen birthday cards and a $10.00 sweater - I’m obviously not buying a lot of groceries.

Our freezer is crammed full of food. There are only a few perishable things (eggs, milk, etc.) that I might need on a regular, if not necessarily weekly, basis.

Do you think I might need to stop going to the store weekly? Do you think I COULD stop?

Monday night

The Lady Mocs won.

Rain continues. Football on

TV. I’m to bed.

A week's worth?

I thought I’d pretty much done a slug day, but when I thought about it, that wasn’t the case. I did a whole day of house-wife-y things.

I fixed our usual big Sunday breakfast (bacon, scrambled eggs with chorizo, toast and cinnamon toast); did the week’s laundry; and fixed a supper of pasta and Italian sausage.

That might even be a week’s worth.

Sleepless in Chattanooga

The incredible itching I've been having on my feet and ankles has been waking me up about an hour or so after going to bed.  Then I'm up for an hour or two, taking Benadryl and applying astringents and various lotions and oils.  I have my physical exam scheduled in ten days, so maybe the doc can help with this.  I hope we can find out what's causing this and what I can do to alleviate the itching.

Second Friday

It got up to 38* this morning. Our swim class instructor was out sick this morning, so we had to “teach” ourselves. We give ourselves a pretty good workout - just don’t want to do it all the time.

Grandson Matt got a screen shot of John and Margaret at the basketball game last night. It finally got forwarded on to us. I had recorded the game, so we’ll have to look for it. They don’t get on camera often, but I do see them occasionally (their seats are in the 7^th row, behind the visitor’s bench). I don’t know that I can do the technology enough to show it here. Maybe some day.

We went to play duplicate this afternoon and felt like we did pretty well. We were in the middle, but played some good defense. We still need to be a little more aggressive.

Missy “cooked” for us tonight (Bojangle’s chicken). She and Tina came over to share with us. Lots of good food and laughter.

Thursday Thirteen

1. Brrrr!  9 F when we got up this morning.
2.  No frozen pipes, though.
3.  Bright sunshine
4.  Braving the cold, I went out for my mani/pedi.
5.  Went to the post office to mail sweaters to Kate - the one I finished for her friend and Randy's that needs some mending.
6.  Went to the library to pick up our reserved copy of Season #2 of The Newsroom.
7.  Home for lunch and no nap.
8.  Three robo spam calls on my cell phone from New York area codes purportedly from the "IRS", threatening me with a law suit if I didn't give them some personal information.  Needless to say, I hung up on them.
9.  We watched episode #1 of The Newsroom.
10.  Margaret and John left to go to Knoxville to the Lady Vols ballgame.
11.  Lady Vols beat Texas A&M.
12.  Most of the news today was about the awful terrorist attack in Paris.
13.  They had some delay getting home from K'ville because of road repairs on I-75.

BRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

Predict 10 degrees.

Already down to 16.

Please stay safe and warm.

One of those days...

One of those days when I have nothing to contribute.  Better luck tomorrow.

Monday, Monday!

After an unusually busy Monday, with no nap, it’ll be nice to hope that I sleep through the night (except for potty breaks, of course).


I had to skip coffee this morning to go to the orthopedist. He said the shoulder is doing well. I had asked him last visit about my knee, so x-rays were done of the knees, too. He said basically my knees were shot to hell, and that there were some docs who would encourage me to have both replaced. He said I should get more weight-bearing exercise, i.e. walking, bending, etc., and lose weight. Well, of course. The trouble I have is only with the left knee, and it just hurts with some lateral motions, and I don’t have pain with weight bearing. So I think I’ll not even think about knee replacements any time soon.


I was going to go to see the PA at my family doc’s office for the swelling and itching problems with my feet, but the wait would’ve been more than an hour. So I put that off until tomorrow morning.


Bridge was okay. Nothing spectacular in the way of scores, but some interesting hands. And the annoying loud-mouth of the group was unusually quiet.


The Lady Mocs beat Harvard and the and the Lady Vols beat Vanderbilt. Basketball was good today.


And all this with no nap. I’m off to bed, hopefully to sleep.

Sleepless in Chattanooga

Not much sleep last night.

Staying up, no nap today.

Hope to sleep tonight.

Lazy Saturday

It was almost 1 a.m. when John and Margaret got back from Knoxville, then we took a while to unwind. So it was nearly 2 when we got to bed. We were all up this morning by a little after 9. Margaret went "antique-ing" (junking?)with Tina, then went home.

It's chilly, dreary, and raining all day. We stayed in and read/watched football/napped/computered/knitted/whatever. After supper, the rain came in heavy - and there was even thunder. It’s supposed to get very cold later on in the week.

Five for Friday - a good day

1. Swimming and coffee- it felt good to get back in the pool, then have coffee with the gals.

2. Hooray for haircuts.

3. Mmmmm for massage.

4. UT Vols 45, Iowa 28.

5. Lady Vols 63, Missouri 53.

Welcome 2015!

It's hard to believe we're 15 years into the 21st Century.  Amazing!


I hope your football team won today - or at least had a good game to finish the season.  (Unless your team is playing Tennessee, of course.)