The Pooperia Panel

Lew and I are making progress on our decluttering project, but I often feel like I'm just moving things around instead of really decluttering.

I say this because today's biggest accomplishment involved adding something.

Lew put together a dividing panel for our back room upstairs. (See picture below.) It provides an extra level of separation from what is in the area underneath the window behind it.

And what is in that area? Well, our indoor cats gotta go somewhere!

The Pooperia Panel

Little Notes

Dad uses yellow paper to hand-write his Derf post each week. Then I get it entered into the blog, making some editorial changes along the way. Dad wrote a little note to me regarding yesterday's offering:

"Do your magic Tracy!"

A couple weekends ago I was sorting through some books and came across an older edition of Streams in the Desert that my grandfather had given my grandmother in the 1940s. I have read an updated version of this devotional book, so I decided to read through this older edition. Look at the note I saw on today's entry:

"Fred, Jr. had appendix out 1948"

Two observations:

My father has been appendix-free for 73 years.

The practice of writing little notes in the upper left-hand corner is hereditary.

Dad 555: Surprises, Streams, Steps

(Lew and Dad just arrived home from Dad's 6:30 appointment. Dad explains below! ~ Tracy)

 

Derf Here! Another beautiful late-winter day. Temperatures in the high 40s.

 

Just got a phone call to schedule a vaccine for COVID-19. I suggested waiting for a different location and refused. Then Lew told me to take the first one offered. So I got back in touch with them, and I'm now scheduled for my first shot at 6:30 PM this evening. Lew knows where the clinic is and will drive me in. Also was given a time for the second shot.

 

Got a phone call from the nursing home yesterday about an inside visit with Spouse. This was a welcome surprise to me. We had a great 30-minute visit with a divider between us. The time went by fast, and no, I can't bring Mary Lou home now as she often asks!

 

Was able to watch Rock Falls, Illinois varsity boys basketball twice in the last week. Zach (Kelsey's husband) coaches them. All teams wear masks and even the officials wear masks. Hope to watch all Zach's games that are streamed.

 

Last Thursday I fell off the bottom step outside. I couldn't get up but I knew Lew was leaving shortly. He showed up about 10 minutes later and he helped me get up. Not easy, but finally!

 

I've had a busy week, but a good one!

 

Until next time!

 

Toodle Pip!

 

Derf!

New Blogging App

I used to have an app on my phone for creating blog posts, but then it was discontinued.

This past weekend I decided to find out if there is a "new" app for this purpose....

There IS!

I am trying it out for the first time right now. It's working okay, I think.

Hopefully this means I will post more often, especially since I don't turn on my PC every day.

Thanks for checking in!

Closed for the Season

"Tracy's income tax preparation service" just closed for the season!

I got an e-mail from TurboTax yesterday telling me the Federal form I needed is now available, so I was able to finish my parents' return this morning.

About 45 minutes ago I e-filed our own taxes.

The only thing left to do is wait for some "Return Accepted" e-mails and watch for refunds. I am pretty confident everything is fine.

If I was able to, I would do a cartwheel right now.... The taxes are finished! Hooray!

Dad 554: One Year Ago

(A year ago today was the President's Day holiday. Dad writes about the significance of that day. ~ Tracy)

 

Derf Here! Enjoying a very sunny beautiful day in February. Hard to believe that we are now in the last half of the month. Please come, Spring!

 

Well, date-wise, this is exactly one year to the day that Mary Lou fell at home while I was at the store. I returned home to find out that Lew and Tracy had found her on our floor unconscious. She was transported to the hospital with a bleed on her brain. She was unable to talk and would just stare at me. I was told by the nurses and doctors she would be "in and out" for a while as she recovered and would hopefully get back to normal. Three days after her fall she was moved to the nursing home where she has been for the last year. After a few more days she was able to do more than just stare at me. But it was agreed that she had dementia and I could probably not care for her anymore. Since March 13, 2020, we have not been able to visit her. After I get my COVID vaccine I hopefully will be able to have a live visit with her. Can't wait!

 

Another big news day today. The most listened-to radio personality has died at age 70. Rush Limbaugh has left the earth. R.I.P.

 

Until next time!

 

Toodle Pip!

 

Derf!

Correction

I was wrong about something I wrote in yesterday's post: Going back to work today did not seem like a break! A good day, though.

😏

My Three-Day Weekend Tasks

I had quite a To-Do list for the weekend....

Saturday

Spent half the day setting up our new mesh wi-fi system:

Encountered problems with the first of the three devices. Persisted.

Encountered problems with the second. Persisted.

No problems with the third.

Connected 24 devices (combination of smartphones, TVs, tablets, computers, etc.) to new wireless network. Only one hiccup. (Persisted, of course!)

Spent other half of day on our big decluttering project. Made good progress. Much more to do.

Sunday

Laundry.

Opened "Tracy's income tax preparation service" for the three returns I do every year:

First up was Matt & Emily's. All done and e-filed.

Monday

Dad's income tax return. Done except for e-filing. Just waiting on a form to be finalized.

Set up 2 more Roku Express devices and connected them to our wireless network.

One is attached to the TV in our bedroom.

The other is attached to our living room TV — a smart TV that isn't all that smart.

(With the new network, we finally have a strong internet connection in the front part of the house.)

I did take some time to do some non-tasky things, too. But going back to work tomorrow will be like a break, ha ha!

😊

Valentine's Day Movie Night

I have tomorrow off for President's Day, so Lew and I decided to stay up late tonight to watch a movie.

I wanted to watch a "chick flick." Lew was willing to watch such a movie, but....

Well....

Anyway....

So I suggested we watch the Pixar movie "Soul" instead. It was excellent! We both enjoyed it. Highly recommend!

Dad 553: Feet Feat

(Dad writes today! ~ Tracy)

 

Derf Here! Another day of losing the sun as the day goes by. The temperature is just below freezing. But in a couple days we will be half-way through February. Spring is in our future!

 

Lew drove me up to see Mary Lou today. He also shoveled a path for us to use outside her window for our outdoor visits. It was the first time in a week I went to see my bride of 60 years. It was good to see her and find out that she had her last vaccine shot for COVID-19 yesterday. Now I must get mine!

 

Tomorrow I go for a yearly check up with our primary care physician. I will try to get on their list as soon as possible for the vaccine. Hope it works out. Could possibly check at the pharmacy for a date if it will be faster. Do want to get it done.

 

My toe is healing well after my surgery. I'll check on both my feet on Friday at my after-toe-amputation visit. I'm trying to use a cane to keep pressure off my feet. I find it a lot easier to move around without the cane. But just following the doctor's orders.

 

See you next week. Cheers for Tom the GOAT!

 

Until next time!

 

Toodle Pip!

 

Derf!

An "Off" Day

I could not get out of my own way at work today. 

I told my boss I was having an "off" day. 

When I asked him if he ever has days like that, he answered, "EVERY day."

I didn't feel so bad after that.

😄😏

Seven Rings

Tom Brady now has as many Super Bowl wins as my father has toes.

Congratulations to the GOAT!

🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈

Dad 552: Seven Left

(Enjoy this Friday installment of "Derf Wednesday!" ~ Tracy)

 

Derf Here! Two days late and a few dollars short. Now I'll tell you why I'm removed from my regular blog time....

 

On Wednesday I had surgery. The middle toe on my left foot was infected. The infection was in the bone. (A couple years ago this happened on my right foot. I went to the hospital then with sepsis and also found out I was diabetic. Was lucky to clear up my blood from bacteria in a week.)

 

Before this Wednesday I had two missing toes. Three toes are now gone.

 

Hope everything is healing properly. I'll find out Monday, February 8th. (Only three weeks left in February!)

 

Mary Lou will receive her second and final vaccine shot on Tuesday. Now I'll try to get mine.

 

Hoping Brady wins his seventh Super Bowl on Sunday. It is only a game. Go GOAT!

 

Until next time!

 

Toodle Pip!

 

Derf!

There IS a Light

Fans of Derf will need to wait at least one more day. I got home from work late (again), and Dad had not written his post yet. So we decided to postpone his weekly post until tomorrow.

Work will continue to be busy, but I'm starting to believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The tunnel is very curvy with lots of twists and turns, so I can't SEE the light yet. But the light is there.... I just know it!

Thanks for checking in. 😊

A "Toe"-tal Success

Dad now has one less toe on his left foot. Since that was the goal of this morning's surgery, I guess you could say the operation was a success.

I got home late from work tonight and told Dad he could wait until tomorrow to write his weekly blog post, so please be sure to check back soon!

Snow Day!

I had a snow day today!

It wasn't like when I was a school kid, though, since I did work. But at least I got to work from home.

Dad is getting another toe removed tomorrow, so I'm not sure if he will be writing his usual Wednesday post or not. He will certainly have something to talk about if he does!

Did the groundhog see his shadow today? I haven't heard. I don't remember what it means anyway....