My Week

After writing that I probably wouldn't stay up for the end of the NCAA men's championship game this past Monday, I did anyway. It was quite the finish. Congrats to the Florida Gators!

Long days at work Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I now have two entities to close for the quarter ended March 31st, so I'm busy, busy, busy. I think I'm on track to close both of them by the deadline. Otherwise I will grovel for a couple days extension. (I'm good at that!)

I thought I had finally returned to full health, but a cold set in yesterday. Lew told me I looked as bad as I claimed to feel (it's true love), and I feel even worse today. I'm sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. Hopefully the weather will get warmer soon, which should help.

I named my ukulele Georgia.

Saturday Summary

The water is not on at the camp yet. According to my cousin Robert, the water company dropped the ball on a couple things. So hopefully all we be in order within a week or two. Apparently they need to dig to fix something; Kim was willing to help them dig if it would speed things up! LOL!

My FYE tasks at work are going okay. I anticipate working only my regular schedule (Mondays and Tuesdays) in order to complete everything, so that's good.  I'm taking the week of July 29th off, and I'm looking forward to it already!

We have been watching Wimbledon. Getting down to the round of 16. Yesterday I explained the scoring of the game to Kaelen. The bottom line is that tennis scoring is a strange beast.

Today I watched the Indiana Fever game. Lew watched, too, although some of his watching was done through his eyelids. Caitlyn Clark became the first WNBA rookie to record a triple-double! I'm so glad they won the game, since it would have been a bummer after such a nice achievement. Congratulations, #22!

Saturday Summary

Lew and I have visited Dad and talked with him on the phone over the past few days. He is still in the hospital and seems to be doing well. He especially enjoys ordering his meals -- room service! -- and has a good rapport with the staff. The big "wait and see" at the moment is an MRI; it's been ordered but may not happen for another day or two. The MRI is to see if the infection has gone into the bone in his foot, and we are praying that it has not.

My employer gave me a nice raise in my hourly rate of pay. I certainly welcome that. 😀

Maine will be represented in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA! The team from Gray-New Gloucester/Raymond won the New England Regional tournament. The entire state is looking forward to watching them in the World Series.

I've had some nice visits with Mom. The room change has been hard on her, but she's slowly getting used to the new space. I do think that watching some familiar TV shows has helped, believe it or not! We've also done the puzzles she likes.

I have a big old scratch on my right index finger courtesy of Jerry. It's time to trim his claws! 😼

A week ago today Lew and I attended a get-together at Carole's house. Dick would have turned 75 last Saturday, so Carole invited family and friends to a celebration of his life — complete with cake! We will miss him always.

Happy April!

Last night I was paying great attention to the weather in Illinois. Tornado warnings! Kim and Kaelen were keeping us updated via text message. We are all thankful that our Illinois family got through the storms okay. (Apparently they are expecting more bad weather mid-week. Ugh!)

Speaking of the weather, I have stored my winter boots until next season. Now that it is April 1st, I am counting on NO MORE SNOW. 

This is Final Four weekend for the NCAA basketball tournaments. I stayed up late last night to watch the women's semi-final games. I must say that the women are as fun to watch as the men are. They are SO good!

This is also Palm Sunday weekend. If our church hands out palms tomorrow, I will bring mine to Mom when I visit her in the afternoon.

I just thought, "April 1st! That's right, it's April Fool's Day!" I'm not really much for April Fool's jokes, so I hope your day has been kind and joke-free!

It's Been a Week

Lew is doing much better after his acrobatics of last Saturday. You can read a little more about this in Monday's post. Although I was able to persevere, I'm really not gifted in the "pioneer woman" area!

This week also featured the adventure of getting my computer running properly. I wrote about this in Thursday's post. The computer is still working great, which is a good thing because of Glen's text to me this morning: "Hope it's still working because your installation warranty just expired." Ha ha! (I do love Glen's sense of humor.)

One thing I haven't mentioned yet is that my car wouldn't start on Wednesday! Ugh! Lew got it started by using this battery-pack thingamajig (a technical term), and it's been running okay since then.

How was YOUR week?

😊

Friday/Saturday Rundown

Yesterday (Friday)

Morning: Continued cleaning and organizing the house.

Afternoon: Visited Mom.

Evening: Attended Portland Sea Dogs baseball game with Lew, Debbie, Glen, Josh, and Zack. (Sea Dogs lost, but we had fun.)

Today (Saturday)

Morning: Attended the women's ministry Renew Spring Mingle at church.

Afternoon: Visited Mom.

Late afternoon/evening: Posted several items on my town's "Buy Nothing" Facebook page and then corresponded (a lot) with people that actually wanted some of the stuff I posted!

Now:  Zzzzzzzzz....

Household Update

Yesterday we had a snowstorm, so I didn't go up to the Center to see Mom. I had told her on Thursday that I probably wouldn't come if it was snowing. I said, "Watch the snow out your window and think of me watching the same snow!"

It was just as well to have a day "off" since I was tired and my arm was sore from getting the Covid booster shot. Not as tired today and my arm is feeling pretty normal.

Since Dad can't visit Mom in person, I am staying a little longer than normal during my visits with her. She and I had a nice time today. Before I left for home, I made sure her TV was on the station for today's NFL games. She liked the idea of watching some football.

Dad has cold-like symptoms but said he is feeling better than he did yesterday. He was even feeling well enough to go to the grocery store today... except I wouldn't let him since he's supposed to be staying home.

Lew went to the grocery store to shop for all of us.  😊

Summary Saturday

Zack's college football team, the U.Maine Black Bears, pulled out a win today! In the final minutes of the game, they had to make a defensive stop and then get a couple first downs themselves to seal the victory. The final score: 31-26.  Congratulations, Black Bears!

Lew and I went to a couple football games this morning. First up was Adam's flag football game. That was followed by Eli's football game (full pads and helmets). Both teams came up short, but they were fun to watch. Eli even scored two touchdowns!

I've been going to visit Mom every day for an hour or two. Our visits have the same routine — Ensure, puzzles, Spot It, crossword puzzle clues, TV, etc. — but that's okay. We enjoy just being together.

My big discovery of the week: I have a nightgown that I don't want to remove the tag from (long story), but the tag bothers my neck a bit. For some reason, it felt fine this week. And that reason was I WAS WEARING IT INSIDE-OUT! Ha ha! I was going to fix it, but then I realized it didn't matter since I'm just wearing it to sleep in. Too bad we couldn't do this with all of our clothing.  Perhaps I could start a fashion trend. After all, I have been on the cutting edge of fashion most of my life. (Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!)

Saturday Summary

Dad has no toes left on his right foot. He is behaving (most of the time) after his surgery yesterday by staying off his feet as much as possible and keeping his foot elevated.

After fighting a cold this past week during which I did not visit my mother, I finally felt like it was okay to visit her today. Dad won't be going in to visit her again until Monday (her birthday!) so we did a FaceTime video chat with him. She enjoyed that.

I did make it to work all week (short week because of the Monday observance of July 4th holiday), and it was not the greatest of times. In addition to my not feeling well, it was also crazy with month-end tasks which we had only four days to do instead of the usual five. But we persevered and completed everything.

Lew and I finished watching the first season of The Chosen. We really enjoyed it. The second season isn't as easy to watch on our television, but I figured out how to mirror my iPhone to it. Modern technology is very fascinating and is wonderful if it works the way it is supposed to.

My Facebook friends are already aware that I did a fun LEGO kit last weekend. (A perfect project when confined to home due to illness.)  I had a blast building this typewriter!

Summary Saturday

I unintentionally took a break from writing blog posts for a week.  Did you miss me?

Some of the "happenings" since I last wrote:

Father's Day was last Sunday. Matt, Emily, Eli, and Adam brought Lew and I lunch from Amato's. Kim and Debbie planned a mid-day meal here at our house for my father, so we had quite the crowd! Glen brought his remote cars for Eli and Adam to play with. Eli and Adam also took turns driving the go-cart. Josh also took the go-cart for a spin. (The lawn will never be the same.) Everybody had loads of fun, It was great to have everyone here.

I took Monday off from work. Kaelen and I had a leisurely morning talking over cups of hot chocolate. Lew made a yummy breakfast for us! It was a lovely day.

Worked Tuesday through Friday. Worked hard. Got lots done. Decided I should take this Monday off, too.

We celebrated Kaelen's 30th birthday yesterday! A lovely meal down at Debbie's house followed by some nice family time on their patio.

Lew made breakfast for Kaelen and me again this morning. It was yummy again.

I went to visit with Mom a bit this afternoon. Kim and Debbie bought her some simple puzzles to do, and she loves doing them. She takes it very seriously.

The year is almost half over.... I can hardly believe it!

R&R Weekend

Dad has been behaving! He is doing a good job staying off of his feet. Hopefully his toe (or lack thereof) will look marvelous when he has his follow-up appointment.

Lew and I had a brief window-visit with Mom this afternoon. Lew filled the birdfeeders outside her window while she and I blew kisses at each other. I think I woke her up from her nap, but she is always glad to see us. Dad hasn't been able to visit for a few days (toe), but she seems to understand why.

Other than doing laundry and catching up on my bills, I am intentionally having a weekend of R&R. For me that means organizing my LEGO collection, watching some programs, and reading. Zack's football team doesn't play this weekend, so I will probably watch a little bit of March Madness to scratch my sports itch.

A beautiful day today. I love Spring. 😊

Spring!

Spring is here!

Ken's Place opened yesterday for the season. They've been busy, which is great to see.

March Madness is happening. I'm so glad for the players. It was disappointing when the tournament got cancelled last year due to Covid-19.

Zack's football team (University of Maine Black Bears) had a nice win today.

I sort of finished my big organizing project here at home. I will still tackle some things, but nothing as major as what I've already done. I am looking forward to enjoying some R&R now!

Happy Spring to all!

A Fine Holiday Weekend

Lew and I had a lovely Christmas Day. We visited with family at Matt & Emily's house in the morning, and we spent the afternoon visiting with Debbie, Glen, Josh, and Zack. It was a rainy, windy day, but we didn't care. It was Christmas!

The weather is much nicer today. Still cold but sunny.

Dad and I went up to visit with Mom through her room window this afternoon. She was glad to see us and she held up many of her Christmas gifts to show us. And, of course, there was a lot of waving, "I love you"s, and the blowing of kisses.

The next couple weeks at work are going to be very busy for me, so I am taking the time to enjoy this fine holiday weekend. Blessed!

Saturday Schedule

This is what my usual Saturday looks like, but maybe not in this exact order (although breakfast is always in the morning 😉 ):

• Elliptical machine... followed by a shower, of course!
• Breakfast out with our breakfast buddies.
• Laundry (both mine and Dad's).
• Go with Dad for his afternoon window visit with Mom; try to get her on the phone in order to hear each other better.
• Get caught up on my checkbook and mail that I didn't get to during the week.
• Collect the upstairs trash.
• Collapse at end of day!

Today was a little different in that I had to fit in a few hours of "work" work, which I did from home.

Time to collapse!

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!

Endings

The construction of our shed ended today. It looks great! Will post a photo at some point.

Josh's college football career ended today. His team, the Maine Maritime Mariners, did not have a great year as far as the win column is concerned, but we cheered them on until the end. It was fun to watch Josh play in the games.... #55 in the black cleats!

The ending of today's U.Maine Black Bears football game was exciting. They were behind to Rhode Island pretty much the whole game, but they pulled out a victory by scoring the winning touchdown with only 34 seconds left! Final score was 34-30. The final regular season game is next Saturday at UNH. Let's go, Black Bears! And "Happy Birthday" to Zack, my favorite Black Bear!

Visited Mom this morning (washed her hair with No Rinse Shampoo), did laundry this afternoon (while watching the nephews' football games), and just watched the CMA Awards program with Lew (we DVR'd it when it was on this past Wednesday).

And now this day has come to an end.

Good night!

To Infinity and Beyond

Lew and I stopped to see Mom at the rehab facility this morning. I brought what I call "astronaut shampoo" and washed Mom's hair. She said it felt good. (The "astronaut shampoo" is No Rinse Shampoo, used by NASA.)

Dad, Lew, and I watched some college football this afternoon via streaming. Josh's team (Maine Maritime Mariners) had a tough day, but Zack's team (U. Maine Black Bears) had a good win.

Lew made a nice dinner of beans, hot dogs, and brown bread for our household. It was a meal that was yummy for the tummy.

A few loads of laundry rounded out my Saturday. Exciting!

😊

A Hopping Busy Bustling Day

Done today:

Breakfast out with our breakfast buddies.
Attend Eli's flag football game.
Home to watch some of Josh's football game via streaming. (Lost.)
Go to Eli's birthday party at Happy Wheels. (No, I did NOT roller skate!)
Shop at Sam's Club.
Get gas for my vehicle.
Shop at Walgreen's.
Visit Mom.
Home for dinner.
Watch the U.Maine football game on DVR. (Won.)
Finish packing our Operation Christmas Child boxes.
Write this blog post.

Still to do:

Collapse into bed!

August Wrap

The last day of August already! Although it's not officially the end of summer, I have always considered 8/31 to be so. Schools are back in session, "fall" football has started, etc.

I have been very poor at blogging this year. 2019 started with Dad (a.k.a. Derf) just home from the hospital, with Lew and I assisting with the medicine pump during January. Then I left my job in February, spent March looking for a new one, and started my current job in April. Then summer happened... and now here we are.

I hope to do better at blogging for the rest of the year. I thank my readers that have persevered through this drought. Fortunately my father was consistent with his posts, so that kept the blog from being a total bust!

Four things to wrap up August:

1) My sister Kim's birthday was this past Thursday (the 29th). I won't say how old she is, but the digits are the same. (If you must know, then think about how many fingers are on one hand... and yes, include the thumb!) Happy Birthday, Kim!

2) Last night was the first U.Maine football game of the season. Zack is a redshirt this year, but he does jersey up and stand on the sidelines. The game was streamed online via FloSports, so we subscribed to the service. (Several of the games will be available to watch this way.) U.Maine won 42-14, and we saw Zack several times on the screen. Mom, Dad, Lew, and I enjoyed watching. Go, Black Bears!

3) Last weekend Lew and I went for a walk with Ellen and Paul and their dog, Lucy. Because of Lucy, we met some people on our walk that we otherwise would have just exchanged nods with. Dogs want to meet each other, so their "people" end up meeting each other, too. It's good to meet neighbors, and we probably should make more of an effort to do so... a good lesson learned from a sweet pup. Thank you, Lucy!

4) When we had the entire family over for a cookout a few weeks ago (click HERE to see what night I mean), Lew introduced some water balloons as the evening progressed. I believe the intent was for the adults to throw the balloons at the children, but it ended up with adults throwing entire buckets of water at other adults. The highlight was when Zachariah was coming after Debbie. Kim and I saw what was about to happen and made a mad dash to run inside the house. Debbie was right behind us. Kim flung the door open, I followed her in, and then I felt water on my right leg. Let's just say Debbie got far wetter than I did. Much, much wetter. But Kim and I eventually got what was coming to us: Lew and I went to an outdoor wedding that same weekend, and it rained hard right during the ceremony (and only then); the next Friday, Lew and Kim went to get ice cream for us at Bayley's and got caught in an unexpected downpour. Did you notice who was with both Kim and I? Lew, who started everything with the water balloons. Poetic justice, Lew, poetic justice!

P.S. Regarding #4. I later asked Emily if she witnessed Kim, Debbie, and I trying to make it into the house. She said, "Yes." I then asked her if it looked as hysterical as it felt. "Yes, ha ha!"

P.S. Regarding #3. Lucy!

Weekend Update

Remember my big project at work? And how I was waiting to send out version 2.1? Well, I sent it out yesterday. I didn't really intend to send it so soon, but I happened to mention it at a staff meeting and of course everyone wanted it! (I might be exaggerating a little about my co-workers' enthusiasm, but they really were interested in getting the version with the cosmetic changes.)

Despite feeling a little chilly, Lew and I made it through the entire Sea Dogs game last night! (We even stayed for the fireworks afterward!) It helped that the game was a fun one to watch. The Sea Dogs won, 7-2. They usually lose when we go, so it was a nice change.

Lew and I went out to dinner with some friends tonight. That's two nights out in a row for us. We are not used to all of this social excitement, so we're tired now. I am glad that I have the day off on Monday to recuperate.

Speaking of the Labor Day holiday, our plans are to do nothing. I can hardly wait!