Staying busy

 I finished up my Ombudsman training this week. In addition to my CASA cases, I advocate for residents in care facilities. It's been exciting and keeps my brain occupied. For the first time, I don't know how many years I feel like writing about some of the cases. I am considering starting an advocacy blog. I quit writing after I left Pioneer Valley. I am trying to remember having something published when I worked at SLRMC. It's crazy how much has changed. Writing for magazines is not a thing any more; it's all writing for media.

Play day

Steph had some spinal injections for her back pain, which caused an allergic reaction. We picked the kids up and took them out for lunch and to play. Connor didn't come. He had a cough.

Bird would run all the way up the slide. I didn't realize until Alika pointed it out on a video that she was whacking her head on the padded bar. It didn't seem to stop the silly girl.

 

Thanksgiving

 

I really didn't get any great Thanksgiving pictures. Brie came over and spent the night, and she and Sean went skiing first thing Friday on SnowBasins' opening day.

Kids played

We ate!

Random Silliness

Sean makes Vally jealous with his Hello Kitty shirt.

Bird's chapstick art. Alika thought it was a glue stick and told Birdie not to put it on her lips.

Connor dunked Mario. He took Mario and Luigi home, and the next time he came over, he asked, "Where's Mario and Luigi?" I said, "At your house," and he said, "Oh yeah."

 

Christmas Tree

We put the Christmas tree up early. Why? Because I wanted to.

Connor stuck Birdie's bird in the tree and then added his toy corn so it would have something to eat.

This picture cracks me up. They are recharging the bird so it will continue to chirp. Connor plugged the charger into the bird's butt, and he told Birdie, "It's recharging; it's dangerous, don't touch it." I'm still not sure what has happened to make Connor feel recharging is dangerous, but he is looking out for Biride. Connor's parent's don't know why he thinks it's dangerous either.

 

Bird Faces

Birdie is a character. She likes her hats and all things sparkly.

 

My Grandma would love to see Birdie wearing her jewelry. 

Elections

 I don't even know how to talk about this year's election. Over half the country thinks a pussy grabbing, misogynistic, evil felon is the better choice as a president for our country than an educated, scandal-free, proven leader who happens to be a black woman. It sickens me. I knew the election was close but hoped that sanity would prevail. I was wrong, and now I am left to wonder if we are the minority, the insane ones. Is a deranged dictator what we need right now. I do not believe so. Hitler had the majority of the country backing him as well. I did not watch the elections; I took a Klonopin and some THC and went to sleep. I have been no comfort to Carter or anyone else. I haven't wanted to talk about it. I told Alex to call Carter, and Carter texted me and said, "Alex made me feel better than you did." That made me smile. I've quit watching the news because I can't stand to see his face or hear his voice. I think about all the people in Ukraine and Syria who are getting up every day and getting on with their lives, and I'm trying to do the same. Somehow, we must get through the next four years and hope we still have a democracy. I have never had such utter contempt for someone as I do for him.

This is Halloween

We got out the cotton candy machine. We made 30 bags of cotton candy, which lasted about 30 minutes. Next year, I'll go back to popcorn. The kids had fun making it.

I had to send Holly inside because she would NOT quit eating the sugar that fell on the ground, and there was a lot of sugar on the ground!

Connor was Stitch. A couple of weeks ago, he told me he was going to be "shit" for Halloween. He was a cute little stitch.

Tonight, the neighborhood was full of Halloween festivities. There were corn mazes, scones, and jumping spiders—it was crazy fun!

 

Alika and Garret FINALLY closed on their house

This picture does not do justice to the journey "Alika and Garrett buy a house," but it is finally done. They stay with us this week while the contractor repairs some damage and gets all their stuff moved from the SLC house to Ogden. The cost of houses and interest right now is just crazy and there appear to be no signs of housing prices coming down.

 

Alex shoulder

The dogs and I drove to Grand Junction for Alex's shoulder surgery. We stayed for three days. The surgery went well. They did a block, so it didn't hurt for the first 24 hours. I always worry when Alex is on pain meds that, all the opiate cravings will return. It's tough when you have to have them for surgery, but know they come with all their own risk. 
It's funny how Odie has no problems with Alex's big dogs. The Boxers treat her like the princess she is.

 

When little dogs think they are big

I was walking Odie around the block without Holly. I don't think I'd ever taken Odie for a walk without Holly, but Holly hid under the bed when I said it was time for a walk! Odie and I were coming around the corner to Applewood and walking by the fenced yard on the corner. Odie stuck her head under the fence when she heard a dog bark, and that dog grabbed her by the head. It all happened so fast that I didn't see anything until Odie flew out from under the fence, landed stiffly on her back, and blood was pouring out of her mouth and nose. I was confused by what had happened and thought she was dead. I realized she'd been bitten, so I walked home fast. She got a little less rigid by the time we got home. I got her in the car and called the vet's office to let them know I was coming. I told the person on the phone that my dog had been attacked, and I was on my way and gave her name. As soon as I walked in the door, they pointed me to a room and were waiting. For some reason, that made me want to cry. Dr Smart came out, looked at Odie, and said, "That's the dog that was debarked." I said yes, and I saw the "oh crap" look on her face. She had told me when she couldn't intubate Odie for her teeth removal that if she ever needed significant surgery she'd have to trach her. Fortunately, she just had an eye hematoma. The bleeding stopped, but she threw up a massive clot. They did x-rays and checked her over, gave her a shot of pain medicine, and sent her home with pain meds.

Odie is all better, but she learned nothing! Her vendetta towards big dogs has increased—well, all big dogs except the one on the corner. She's scared and crapless of that one. Six pounds and three teeth and she thinks she can take on the world

 

Feeling the spirit at Bullocks BBQ

 

We were eating lunch at Bullocks BBQ in Durham, not expecting entertainment. In the room right behind us, you have a family banquet. (We had Uncle Ed's luncheon after his funeral in that room.) There was a group of people in the room having a healing when the person being healed "caught the spirit." It was very loud and very Southern.

 

 

Char ordered a turkey sandwich for $14 but received just two pieces of Wonder bread with a dollop of mayo. The server was amiable and replaced it with BBQ instead.

My visit with Marjie was tough. Her dementia has significantly progressed, and she has a lot of time when she is just despaired. I can't think of a better word. She says, "I can't believe this is happening to me." She said she stands in the kitchen and screams when she's home alone. We had a lot of joy and fun when I was there in February. Not much joy and fun this time. We enjoyed sharing each other's company and discussing the past and how she feels about the present, but it was not much fun. We did laugh when she set a sausage biscuit on the counter, and her dog stole the sausage. Marjie looked so confused, and she asked, "Where did my sausage go" I looked at the dog just as she swallowed! Marjie and I spend a lot of time discussing her dementia and how she feels about the disease and her symptoms and I feel so sad for Dad. When Dad had dementia I don't think anyone ever discussed it with him. We didn't even tell him he was going to a care center until we took him there. I am glad that the norm is now keeping the person with the condition aware of their condition. 

When I think about the fact that three of my siblings have dementia I have a hard time breathing.

NC with Art and Char

I went to NC for a week to hang out with Marjie and see Art and Char

We rode electric bikes and I fell off in slow motion when I turned into the driveway. I hit the throttle instead of the brake. Char had the courtesy to ask if I was hurt before she laughed. Art just laughed. I wasn't hurt, just a scrape and a bruise. Art rides his bike FAST and I ride SLOWWWW! It's been 50 years since I rode a bike with my brother. We used to ride bikes all over Durham with Suzanne and Brad and Patty Condie. We were crazy with those bikes riding 20 miles away. It was interesting all the Harris/Walz signs around Marjie's and Cary's house next to Duke and Creedmore is Trump country. Interesting that someone who cares nothing about the poor and uneducated gets so many votes from the poor and uneducated

Holly was actually homesick while we were in NC. I didn't know a dog could get homesick. Marjie's dog Bonnie was so excited that when she met Holly, Holly was so scared she jumped on my shirt and peed all over me. Bonnie is only 8 months old and wants to play but she weighs four times what Holly weighs and Holly was terrified.

 

Colorful puppies

 

I found some temporary pet markers. You can color your dog and after two or three washes it comes out.

Khloe was so excited. She said "Gma, this is like a dream come true!"

Women's Services Dinner

For the last year, I've been thinking about having a dinner for the SLRMC staff. I kept procrastinating because there was no way to accommodate everyone's schedule. I decided to just pick a day, and whoever came came.

 

It turned out great. We had it in the classroom, and Charity brought the food from the restaurant, so it was easy to feed everyone and clean everything up. Funniest comment. Ellen has macular degeneration, and Sandy has a loud voice. When Ellen walked in, Sandy yelled, "Ellen, YOU'RE BLIND!" Ellen said, "I am blind, BUT I'M NOT DEAF!" Seriously funny!

San Diego Day trip

 

Dava flew to San Diego for October's wedding, so we decided to fly to San Diego to have lunch with her. She had taken a 30-hour flight, so I thought the least we could do was fly 90 minutes to see her.