Surviving

Some days are so perfect you just know they were specially made for you. Yesterday was not one of them. I was very nearly late to work because my dad needed help about 30 seconds before I was leaving to go to work, which put me behind by at least 5 minutes. The day at work was fine, busy, and somewhat painful. Any day I am on my feet most of the day takes a huge toll on my back. Then last night dad made at least four trips to the bathroom, which I have to help with between 8 and 10 pm. Needless to say (but I am saying it anyway) I was tired, sore, and cranky by the time I went to bed.

Add to yesterday, this morning. (Have I mentioned how much I hate mornings?) I was awakened from a deep sleep, on the one morning I try to sleep in, by an incessant beeping. Somehow dad had turned the alarm on his clock on AGAIN!!! It is such a high-pitched beep he can't hear it, but believe me it is irritating. It starts with a little slow beep, increasing in intensity and frequency the longer it beeps. I HATE IT!!! Oh well, I had to get up sometime, right?!!

Hoping for a "normal" Sunday at work. I will try to be in a better mood by the time I get customers. Oh, and dad is back in the bathroom again. Anyone who knows us knows what that means. I am not excited, but I am surviving.

Still coughing, but outlook better

Well, another night of coughing coming from dad. He is finally starting to "break up." Or at least the chest congestion is. Even he said he is feeling better, so I am feeling much more optimistic, too.

Still having withdrawals from Wet Canvas. Can't believe it is going to take them until Monday OR LONGER to migrate to the new server. I guess they found some corrupted files in the old database, so who knows what fixing that will entail. I just know I want my wearable arts forum back. I miss my friends: Barrie, Pam, Maggie, Gwen, Andee, Claire, Fiona, Angela, Dawn, Liz, Carrie, Lisa, Debbie and the rest!! I miss seeing your awesome jewelry, but more than that I miss the daily connection with you all.

Lonely Rita in Oregon waving goodbye for today.

Colds, Coughs and Withdrawals

Well, the stupid cold is getting better, but the stupid cough is hanging on. Dad woke me up several times last night with the coughing. He said it was only fair since I had done the same to him. I guess he has a point there. I have been giving him an expectorant so he will cough some stuff up, at least it is nice to know it is working. He is definitely feeling better. I am at least holding my own. I know until my lungs get their capacity back I am about as good as I will get until the cough is totally gone, and based on the last cold I had with a cough, it will just take some time.

We are up and moving around. Hoping for the best. His bathing aid will be here around noon, so I am taking it easy now, will get busy later. Have to get my shower out of the way so the hot water can recover for his shower. I guess I will have to get moving pretty soon. Have to finish my infusion of caffeine first, though. If I don't the withdrawals from that include lethargia and a king-size headache. I don't plan on doing that any time soon, thank you very much.

The other type of withdrawal I was referring to in the title was missing my jewelry / wearable arts group. The server that hosts our website has been bogging down since there are so many users, and there are so many images, and older searchable forums with tons of information useful to old and new users alike. The site is being migrated this week, and of course it started in earnest last night right in the middle of me posting to the wearables forum. So the thread I was posting to was there when I started typing my response, and gone when I clicked on publish. Not very friendly do you think??!!! So I checked for the site again last night, and have checked this morning, too and it is still down!!! That is what the withdrawals comment meant. It is my home away from home, my group of friends, and my support group. We give each other a chance for free therapy, suggestions for improving our jewelry work, and the support we need when bad things happen to us. We also cheer each other on when great stuff happens. This is a group of people from all around the globe: Singapore; Canada; Washington; California; Oregon; Texas; Colorado; North Carolina; Florida; Pennsylvania; Connecticut; Great Britain; Germany; South Africa; Australia; New Zealand; well, you get the idea. I love the site, and I certainly miss it when it is down. Sometimes you take things like Wet Canvas for granted, but when it's not there you realize just how much it means to you. Whether you are looking for subject matter for a painting, or how to knit, some instruction on how to make a lampwork heart, or just a daily dose of show and tell in a variety of artistic subjects from pastels to silversmithing, you can find it on WC. If you are artistic you owe it to yourself and your craft to check it out. It might be down today, but it will bounce back once it gets done migrating bigger and better than ever. Faster, too.

VA, Teeth, Kids and more . . .

While I was off taking my cousin Nick to the VA, his brother Marty was taking Tess to the dentist. She finally had her tooth pulled, and is scheduled for another set of x-rays and another extraction in about a month. The dentist who was so mean to her last time was very kind and gentle and finally realized she wasn't a druggie, just someone who had bad teeth and little dental care for a long time. I think he also realizes she is trying to prevent the same problems in her girls. All in all yesterday was a very productive day, however with Tess being medicated for her dental appt. she wasn't very able to look after dad or even the girls, so Athena brought Cassie to visit dad and really wore him out. She even left Cassie with him and ran home to ask her mom how to make Cassie stop crying. Jeez, kids. Dad said he could go at least 3-4 days without seeing either of them. He was really tired by the time I got home. He had spent the entire day in his recliner and his butt hurt. So today he is starting out with a couple of hours in his wheelchair, after having walked to the living room. I will have him up several times today to keep from having his rear end get worse. I think his coughing is better today. I got him and expectorant and cough suppressant and he slept better and so did I. Of course I think we were both exhausted. His cough sounds like it is finally breaking up, too. So we may be better by the end of the week. (hoping)

Dad’s occupational therapist just called and is making a visit today at 1, so at least I have time to prepare for that. Not only did Athena bring Cassie over here to play, but they left the house looking like a bomb had gone off. I always tell Athena she has to clean up before she goes home, but she only remembers it if I am there to remind her. When I got home last night it must have been at least 85 in here and there was stuff everywhere. I could barely get through the front door. Dad had barely had dinner, and was just finishing it . . . At 7:30 pm. Athena had told Tess she would feed grandpa, but really didn’t. Then when she finally took Cassie home, after trashing the house and wearing grandpa out, she told her mom she hadn’t fed grandpa. So Tess, totally out of it on medication, stumbled to our house and gave him a sandwich and something to drink and stumbled back home. I came in about ½ hour later. He was exhausted, and doesn’t remember to get up and move around if I am not here to remind him. So he was really sore from spending the entire day in his recliner. I was tired and cranky from traveling most of the day, and then the trashed house and 85 degree temperature was enough to push me right over the edge. Tess called about 2 minutes after I got home and wanted me to get her some antacids, and I guess I was a little cranky. I told her I would go get them, but I had just come in to a 1000 degree trashed house and crabby dad from no food and three hours of the girls, and I was not happy. She said, jeez mom, you don’t have to go to the store, I thought I would catch you before you got home. I said, no, I would go, but needed to get the windows open, the floor cleared so I could actually walk, and make sure grandpa was okay. She kept saying no, I told her I was just cranky because I was so tired and it was so freaking hot in here, and why didn’t someone open the danged windows???? So I ended up taking her to the store so she could pick out her own antacids and something she thought she might be able to eat. She settled on creamed corn, cup-o-noodles, and some soy milk. She couldn’t have her usual cereal or chocolate milk, so had to get soy. Her stomach is touching when she is medicated, but she also hadn’t eaten. The dentist said no dairy, which is her primary food group, and no food that would be stuck in her “socket” or irritate her mouth. Haven’t heard from her yet today, but expect to in an hour or two.

Hope to post more soon!!!

On being sick and tired!

I know the last thing you want to read is about how sick I have been, but that is what is on my mind right now, so here it comes.

Dad and I both have had a bad cold, followed by another week of coughing. Or maybe it only feels like a week. I feel like if it doesn't stop soon there will be a lung lying on the floor in front of my computer. Dad is doing about as well. Even though our rooms are separated by the bathroom I could hear him coughing off and on throughout the night. I think I must have slept through it the night before. We are both beyond exhaustion, and sick and tired of being "sick and tired." When I woke up this morning I told him I was so tired I felt like I needed at least a good four hours more sleep. He asked, "Four days?" I admitted he probably was closer to right than I was. He smiled and said, "Me, too." I actually have hope we are on the upswing. I think he is finally starting to cough some stuff up, so it is finally breaking up. I have been feeling marginally better since sometime yesterday afternoon. I still feel like sh*&%, just a better grade of sh*&% than a couple of days ago.

I am going to make a wonderful journey to Vancouver, WA, tomorrow to take my cousin Nick to a VA appt. Neither one of us has been to this clinic / hospital before. I know the general location, but not exactly where the parking structure will be, or where in the complex the office is located. The main thing I do know is how much I hate getting up early. I think I estimated the drive time to be 2-1/2 to 3 hours. So figuring we have to be there to check in at 10, and we might want to do a drive by on McDonalds on the way, we have to leave about 6:30 am. Have I mentioned I hate mornings? Well, I really hate getting up any time before 8 am. If we are leaving at 6:30 I have to be totally ready to go the night before and roll out of bed at 6 to be at his house by 6:30. On a good day I can make it there in about 15 minutes. When I am fighting sleep deprivation make it more like 25. I also have to figure out if I can leave dad in bed and hope Tess can get him up, or if I have to take care of him before I can roll out the door. He is getting stronger every day, and can go to the bathroom pretty much on his own now. He also got himself sitting up from bed this morning, and can walk a bit in his walker. I just don't want to leave him in the lurch, stuck in bed or stuck without some assistance. I know his bathing aid will be by around 11:45 tomorrow, so she could help with something if he needs it. My cousin Marty is supposed to be taking care of his lunch, and if all else fails driving Tess to her dentist appointment, too. She has some major work scheduled tomorrow and had to wait a month for the appt. so she can't miss it. This was the emergency appt. she got a month ago.

I am hoping to find a little time for some thing creative sometime this week. I need to paint and I need to make jewelry. I don't know when I will find time, but I am determined. I was hoping to do some of that last week, but felt so crappy I just didn't have the energy. Oh, and I had Jury duty, too. The art class I had intended to go to was on the day I had to go for jury selection. Of course I didn't get chosen, but it was interesting to sit there waiting for an hour and a half in the hallway while the judge took care of some "surprise, last minute, unexpected" business. Then we filed in for the selection process. The judge said, unfortunately the delay had turned what should have been a one day trial into a two day trial, so if anyone was unable to be there the next day they needed to tell his why they couldn't be there. There were at least 4-6 people who said they either couldn't get another day off, or it would be a hardship on them due to them owning their own business and it would put them behind. Then the selected 12 entered the jury box and after an hour of questioning they had eliminated five of them. That left 6 for jury and one alternate, who has to stay and listen to the trial along with the others in case they have to replace one later in the trial. It was interesting watching this process, made more so by watching David Ogden Stiers, seated right in front of me. It made me wonder if he was a bored by it all as I was, or if he was studying everything thinking of how he could use the experience in a future role he would be playing. He is so nonchalant about his being a "big star" that it makes it really easy for most folks to not even realize who he is. I have been around him so much I recognize him just from his posture and from the back. He has lived just south of Newport for a long time, and is one of the conductors of the Newport Symphany Orchestra. One of my best friends, Dan, was his personal assistant during the production and performance of "Love Letters," with Patty Duke, several years ago. It was really fun hearing about the various things that happened during the rehearsals and preparations. It was fun getting to talk with them both after the performance, and seeing them in person.

More soon. :)

Dad is back home!!!

I am starting off this post with a photo of the latest necklace I made and the one Athena made for a friend at school. We had a good time, and I didn't change one thing she had put together in her piece, so it would truly be hers. I never use silverplate always use sterling so doing this one with the plated materials was kind of liberating because I didn't have to worry about how much each inch of wire or chain was costing me. I could just play with it and have fun. Hope you like it. Mine has a beach theme, and Athena's is fun stuff she took from her personal bead stash.
I think I already overdid it!! My back is really hurting today. But I toted Cassie around for the past three days. Then I was in charge of getting her and her wheelchair in and out of the car several times yesterday. Tess, Athena and Cassie went home last night and dad and I kicked back in the living room watching the news. The first thing that happened after Tess dropped dad off and helped me get Cassie situated with her second lunch, dad's urostomy appliance popped loose and we had pee going everywhere. They were using a totally different type of appliance in the rehab center, and it was not very secure or very easy to use, as far as I could tell. So I replaced it with one of the type we had been using before and got him all cleaned up, clothes changed, and back in the recliner. Of course I had to call Tess to come and stand by to make sure he didn't fall. I think he can do transfers on his own, just hasn't been told to stand up. He seems to be doing fine.

I wasn’t at all sure what to fix for dinner and we were both still full of Chinese food so we ate kind of late. I made what Tess’s SO refers to as “Crack chicken.” It comes from Schwan’s and is actually chicken breast meat stuffed with broccoli and cheese. It is so good you could just sit there and eat the entire box in one sitting. Instead I added a nice salad of romaine, cucumbers, tomatoes and raspberry vinaigrette and a baked potato. It was really great, and I think dad was pretty happy to be eating actual food again. The food at the rehab center has improved since my mom was there, but it is still institutional in preparation.

Dad stayed up until nearly 10 pm. I was amazed since he used to go to bed by 9 pm at the latest. I don’t know if it is a change in bedtime habits, or if he was just so happy to be in his comfy chair he was just savoring the moment. I figured if he could stand up he could transfer himself to the wheelchair and then to the bed, without me having to call Tess. I was right. Mostly he just needs encouragement. I don’t think they worked very hard at getting him to stand up or straighten his legs. The therapist who came with him on Tuesday said the same thing. She couldn’t believe how little they had improved his legs since he arrived there. She thought my approach to getting him to stand more often and work on straightening up his torso was exactly what he needed. So we are going to work on rehab at home. She said I couldn’t do any worse than they had. (She had just come back after a sabbatical so wasn’t involved in his care.)

Hoping for success all the way around. And if not, at least he is in his own home.

Dad is coming home Thursday!!!!

Well, yesterday was the day of the "visitation." Wasn't sure what the heck that meant, whether they were examining my housekeeping skills, or just making sure it was going to work once dad came home. Turned out to be a lot more of the latter than the former. Whew!!! Just so glad it is over.

So tired I think I will pass out before Athena. She is spending the night at grandma’s since grandpa is coming home on Thursday and she can sleep in his bed one more time before then. The “inspection” thing went very well, aside from the fact the rehab people obviously don’t talk to each other. I hustled around to get the last things done for ease of movement through the house. Athena and Tess helped me with the last minute stuff. Athena had overslept and really didn’t want to go to school anyway, so she came with Tess and Cassie went to school. At about 10 after 10 dad called and asked what was going on. I said I thought he was coming to visit. He said he thought so too, and where the heck was I. At the meeting last week they said, "We will bring him down about 10," and proceeded to ask him if he could direct them. He said of course. So naturally I assumed they were bringing him. Of course what they neglected to mention was they never transport anyone. The PT gal who came said the social worker folks probably just don’t know that. I thought what a bunch of boobs, obviously they communicate really well with each other. She was amazed we already had so many accommodations in place to assist him, and the only suggestions she had were installing a grab bar in the shower / toilet area and getting a transfer seat in the shower. We had a regular shower bench. I had no idea what they would be looking at or what they were looking for. Come to find out she just wanted to know if we were equipt to take care of him 24 hours a day. She wouldn’t approve him to be at home without knowing he had someone here 24 / 7. Later I stopped at the Elks and donated the shower bench we had. Fortunately they had a transfer bench which is really nice, and let us have that one. So he is coming home Thursday around 11:30 am. Tess had to go pick him up and will bring him home. He can easily get in and out of her car. The physical therapist says he may move around better in his own home, and if we work on the standing thing a bit he may pick up some of his lost skills. Or he may not, but his attitude will be better any way. Athena and Tess made pizza for both households last night while I videoed them with my digital camera. It was very funny and Athena wouldn’t stop watching it. I hope to have the new beading area all set up today. I will try to take a picture to post. It isn’t great, but it is sure better than working on a footstool in the living room. Athena and I worked on using the bead spinner and seed beads before bed. I think I am going to try putting a few bigger beads in it and see what happens. Turned out the seed beads wouldn't fit over the eye of the bead spinner's needle. Good thing we weren't counting on it to help us right away.

Tess and I stopped at a friends house Sunday night and her dog was very amusing. The dogs name is Peaches. She is really hyper and very sweet. If you don't mind a dog who runs around like crazy and jumps on and off your lap faster than lightning. Actually I thought it was pretty fun. I really needed a doggy fix. It was just what the "doctor" ordered after the stress of the past few days.