Ups and Downs

The best way to describe how my mother is doing:  Think of opposites, such as the title of this post. One minute she is able to articulate her words clearly, and then quite suddenly her words will slur or she won't be able to speak at all.

During the "down" times, it really appears like she is having a stroke. But after two visits to the hospital emergency room this week (we were there again yesterday), we have been told that her symptoms are a result of her head injury (a hematoma) from her fall last week. She needs time to heal from this injury.

She had a CT scan again yesterday, and the blood clot is not getting worse, so they are encouraged by that. We are praying the clot will dissipate soon.

Josh is home from school for a week, so Mom was really excited to see him today. Kim also called her room at a pre-arranged time this afternoon; the call was during one of the "ups" so that was a blessing.

I will post updates when I am able to. We are taking one day at a time, and some days are more difficult than others. Please keep praying for Mom... and for us, too.  Thank you!

Dad 503: Please Pray

(Dad writes today. Prayers requested for my mom. ~ Tracy)

 

Derf Here! A cloudy day today, in the 40s. Not a bad winter day. Tomorrow we are to get rain on the coast, but inland up to 10-12 inches of snow. (Keep it in the ski hills!)

 

If my father was still on this earth with us, he would be 108 years of age on Friday.

 

As I write this, my heart is heavy. Mary Lou, my wife, is resting in a facility up the road as she tries to rehab so we can get her home. My request is that anyone who reads this will pray for her healing and pray for the rest of us that are going through this time with her.

 

Pray, pray, and pray. Thanks for your prayers.

 

I'm done writing for today.

 

Until next time!

 

Toodle Pip!

 

Derf!

Updates

My income tax preparation tasks are done for another year. I did my parents' on Saturday afternoon, and then I did ours early Saturday evening. I am glad to have those out of the way!

A new gym opened in our town a couple months ago, and Lew is now a member. He's been a few times and really likes it. As for me, I will try to get back into using our elliptical machine more regularly. (I've been really, really bad lately.)

Yesterday was our fiscal month end at work, so a busy week ahead for me. One day at a time....

Mom's homework for today at rehab: 1) sit up for meals and sit up whenever she can, and 2) drink lots of water. I know that she sat up for her dinner because I was there. (I stopped in after work.)

There is a bird feeder right outside Mom's window, so Lew filled it with food on Saturday. The birds have discovered it! When we stopped in to see her after church yesterday, the birds were the first thing she mentioned. She enjoys watching them.

Tweet, tweet!

Mom's Move

This morning I got a call that Mom was being moved to the rehab facility that is just down the road from us. This was good news!

I stopped in to see her on my way home from work. She told me about all of the workers she saw this afternoon (she remembers many of them from her stay last Fall), and she was looking forward to her dinner. She had me look in her bureau to see all of the clothes that Dad had already brought up for her.

My understanding is that she will be evaluated by the staff tomorrow so they can work out a rehab plan.

In the meantime, Mom is happy to be closer to home. We are all happy, too.

Household Update

I know Dad usually writes on Wednesday, but he is taking this week off. It's been a tiring week so far for all of us.

Mom fell a couple mornings ago (Monday) and has been in the hospital since then. She hit her head and has a small blood clot which we believe is getting better. The first day she was in a Special Care Unit for head injuries, but she was moved to a regular room yesterday. She is now being evaluated for rehab and will probably be going to a rehab facility soon. (We are hoping it is the one down the road from us.)

The nurses all say Mom is "adorable" and very pleasant!

Please pray for Mom's continued recovery. I will try to give updates as we know more.

Thank you for checking in.

One Done, Two to Go

I decided to start getting income taxes done today.

First up: Matt and Emily.

They had given me all of their information, so I just needed to input it into TurboTax and then e-file their Federal and Maine returns.

Sounds easy, right?

Well, it was! 😊

I do make an effort to research any changes from the prior year, so I don't just take TurboTax's results for granted. I look at the IRS forms and instructions and make sure I understand the calculations. Final analysis: TurboTax rocks! 😎

Still to go: Ours and my parents.

Happy Valentine's Day

Lew bought me a lovely dessert for Valentine's Day.
He couldn't remember the exact name of it, but it's very similar to "Death by Chocolate."
It would be a fine way to go.... 😍

A is for Alphabet

I just remembered a post I wrote back in September called An Alphabet "Soup-er" Idea. This was supposed to inspire me to write blog posts more consistently. As the recent saying goes, "Epic fail." But now I have remembered this idea, so let's get started....

A is for Alphabet

When I was in the third grade, our class was assigned a writing exercise: If you could be anything, what would you be? (I'm not sure if this was the exact assignment, but I'm close.)

I chose the alphabet. As the alphabet, I could form all of the words necessary to write about anything in the world! Just think of the books I could make and all of the things I could help people learn.

Sometimes I wish I still had this assignment, but maybe it's for the best. My memory of it might be better than it actually was. But the concept was pretty good for a third-grader, if I do say so myself!

Dad 502: A Fall in Winter

(Neither Lew nor I were home on Friday. Enjoy Dad's post! ~ Tracy)

 

Derf Here! Enjoying another spring-like day in the late winter. Temperatures are in or about the low 40s. A really nice day. We'll take it.

 

Well, I always see on television that people over 65 will fall this year. I think it says one out of three. Well, I have been one that did last Friday. I went out on our porch to empty our basket of recycle items. I was very careful because it was sort of icy. As I attempted to enter our entryway I made the floor in under a second. And I made a large noise. Now here I am on my face in an entryway that is not very large. I closed the door with my feet and managed to finally rise up in about 15 minutes. This was after I answered Spouse's question, "Are you all right?" I said yes. I was able to get a hold onto a door knob to get up. My first family member to see me was Jerry the cat. I've managed to stay upright since then.

 

Tuesday I go to Maine Medical Center for a cardioversion. Hopefully this will get my heart regularly beating again (AFib). Must be there at 7:00 AM and hope to be home by noon. Stay tuned.

 

Until next time!

 

Toodle Pip!

 

Derf!

Remember Remedy

When I'm not sitting at my computer, I think of many great ideas for this blog. But I forget these ideas by the time I'm actually ready to type a post.

This problem is easily remedied by the following tip (an old standard): WRITE IT DOWN!

I am happy to report that I just started a new list on my phone. The list is called "Blog Post Ideas." Not a real snazzy title, but it gets the job done.

Thanks for reading Mainely Tracy!

Pizza and the XFL

Yesterday was National Pizza Day, so getting pizza seemed like the right thing to do. Mom, Lew, and I celebrated the day appropriately. Dad had a "Steak Bomb" sandwich instead.

I was fighting off a cold yesterday... another good reason for getting pizza.

Our household watched quite a bit of the XFL's opening weekend. The games were fun to watch, and it will be interesting to see if this new league makes it past the one year mark. If so, it will certainly help lighten up "the dark period" for sports!

Need More Fiber

I totally meant to write a blog post last night, but our cable/internet was out until later in the evening. The outage was due to a fiber break, which was perhaps caused by some icy weather.

Confession: Our service was restored early enough for me to have posted, but I didn't know until it was too late.

Confession regarding my confession: It wasn't too late. I was just too lazy by then.

Our cable went out again this morning about 11:30. Interestingly, our internet still worked; just the TV was out. According to the cable company, the outage was due to "fiber optic damage." Our cable service was restored by mid-afternoon.

So here I am, finally posting to my blog. You're welcome!

😁

Hobby, Class, Focus... Meow!

After wasting 30 minutes just now by playing Meow Match on my phone, I've come to the conclusion that I need to take on a new hobby, take a class, or just focus better on everything that's already on my plate.

Hobby. Lew and I just watched the first episode of Lego Masters; I would absolutely love to be able to create amazing things like the contestants did! (Another hobby idea is to make pop-up books and cards.)

Class. I recently saw an advertisement for an online Greek class. It would be a lot of work and quite possibly a lot of money if I wasn't diligent. (You pay a monthly fee until you complete the course.)

Focus. The following list is definitely not in order of importance: I have to prepare income taxes, get back into an exercise routine, go to work during the week, attend church and my new women's Bible study group, spend time with my husband and parents, cuddle with my kitties, tackle my reading pile, post more often on this blog, etc., etc., etc.

But maybe I can still play Meow Match every now and then. 😻

Dad 501: Super Wins

(Acquitted on both articles! Enjoy Dad's post! ~ Tracy)

 

Derf Here! Storm coming tomorrow through Friday. Today, however, is another delightful day. Temps around 40°.

 

Well, I believe most of you that read this occasionally would guess that I am a redneck. So I wait here now to hear the voting on the impeachment of President Trump. It is a foregone conclusion that the vote will be to acquit. Now that Romney has said he will vote with the Democrats on one article, my prediction is the vote will be 52-48 at a minimum. So life goes on. I should add that I have a MAGA hat but haven't worn it out in public yet. At 81, I don't want to get beat up by some thugs.

 

I must admit that I enjoyed the Super Bowl and the Kansas City win. I wanted the coach, Andy Reid, to get the Super Bowl win on his resume. Hope Jimmy Garoppolo will get a win in the game in the future. He will be able to add another ring to the two that Brady won for him while he rested on the bench.

 

Done for today.

 

Until next time!

 

Toodle Pip!

 

Derf!

Sports Roundup

🏈

In case you haven't heard, the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl on Sunday. So I did pick the correct winner after all. (Click HERE to be reminded of my previous picks.) Congratulations to the Chiefs and to all of my friends in the Midwest!

🏀

We have now entered what Lew and I refer to as "the dark period" for sports. The next thing of any interest to us is March Madness.

🎳

Does bowling count as a sport? We've been recording bowling, which is really fun to watch! We even saw a 300-game a couple weeks ago.

⚾

The Red Sox equipment truck is on its way to Spring Training. This is very good news.

🏒

We don't really follow ice hockey! 🤪

Tomorrow!

I am so excited about tomorrow.

It will be 02-02-2020.

The same forward as it is backward.

A palindromic date.

What a wonderful day for people who love numbers. (I am such a person.)

I know a lot of people are excited about tomorrow because it's Super Bowl Sunday. (And maybe some are excited about Groundhog Day.)

Yes, I am looking forward to watching the game.

But I'm not nearly as excited about football as I am about the date.

02-02-2020.

I will enjoy it while it lasts!

🤓