Hell to get old

Boy it's just plain hell to get old................but compared to the alternative...............I'll take it!....So far!
Yesterday Lee survived a colonoscopy and a cyst removal from his chest.  Other than the colonic cleansing ( so nicely put), the huge hunger pangs and the wait as the Dr's was delayed...all went well.  We have have colored photos to commemorate the occasion...WTF.....These are the times I'm thankful that I've geared back a bit from scrap booking.... Only so many things should live on for pictorial posterity.
Today I'm heading to my Dr. (PA) to get a new script for my blood pressure meds....and a check to see if women can, indeed, suffer from gout.  My heel has been killing me and unable to bear weight for a few days and last night I was awakened by a pain n my big toe....fortunately (and thankfully) the pain in my ass was sleeping soundly next to me. I'm sure women can suffer from gout, they just never complain about it so we didn't know......time will tell!!
November will bring cataract surgery....Thanks Dad... I've always been so proud to have genetically acquired things from you....this one...not so much!  I've always been fine with knives and needles as long as I could close my eyes.....Houston, we have a problem:-)
My arthritis is in full gear and a few allergies have facilitated random sneezing attacks.  Other than that ... We're good to go.  As I said...it's hell to get old but at least we're around to bitch about it...That really is a good thing !! So far!!

Football FANatics!

Ahhh.. Football's back.  I thoroughly enjoyed 12 hours of football and football programing yesterday. My favorite hour of TV is Sunday noon... I love that hour spent with 5 very different men...They make me laugh, they help me with my Fantasy Football and I look forward to spending time with them all week!  Week # 1 provided me with a conundrum...( my big word of the week).  My Buffalo Bills were pitted against My NY Jets.... It seemed I would win big and lose big in the same game !!  My second round pick, Freddie Jackson of the Bills got hurt, two of my other FF teammates were out with injuries and/or just returned from them and my hopes for a big FF opening day win were slowly heading to the locker room before the games were

 over.  Oh well....that's sports.  The brightest spot of my day was watching Bailee enjoy the sport I love so much.  She's already mastered the 4 tries for 10 yards, she asks which team is ours and immediately becomes a loyal fan.  She instinctively knows when to yell "push 'em back" or "run like the wind!"  I have my own yellow, ref's penalty flag and she loves to throw it out and ask, "Is that all you've got!!"  She's lately been studying a book of texting abbreviations (it was for Lee but he still hasn't mastered calling on his iPhone so his texting skills leave a whole lot 2 B desired)  She asked me yesterday about how they got 7 points when she knew that a TD was worth 6.  I explained about the PAT.  A few minutes later our team scored and she remarked, "I just love this game!  In fact, instead of calling it a first down or a TD, I'm going to call it ILY...(to me that was I love You)." I had to ask........."Well Grandma, it stands for International Love Yards!"  Thank you Lord, she really does love the game!!!!

Quality vs. Quantity

Went to visit Mom this morning................................................................NOT the best visit in the world.  I walked in with the local undertakers....that doesn't really perk up your morning. Assuming Mom was finished with breakfast and "lounging" in the hall, I thought it was a pretty good time to stop in.....Once again, second visit in a row, she was still in bed.  She wasn't there because she was asleep, or under the weather or even just chilling..... They're "a little short handed!"  I pretty much became a little short tempered!  I explained in my indoor , I'm a little pissed off, voice that this was the second visit in a row where she had not been up, dressed and had breakfast.  When offered the reason of being short staffed I then offered my explanation  that with Mom's donation of nearly $9K a month, they should hire a bit more help.  Just an observation.... Now to give the devil his due....everyone was a bit emotional over a resident's passing and one aide was particularly upset and allowed to go home but the living were still lying in bed waiting for some breakfast and clean clothes!!!! I really am not being critical of the facility or it's employees.... I personally could not be an elder care provider.  It takes a certain breed of human to perform these duties day in and day out with a smile on their face and urine on their hands:-(....I see it as a take off on the saying, Those who can..do, those who can't..(in my case) bitch!!!  When I left, Mom was up and on her way to the shower and would hopefully be given some nourishment before lunch was served.  Shower time is not the highlight of her week and presumably not the staff's either but those are the breaks my friends!

For the most part, I'm very happy there and I think Mom is too.  I guess I'm just whining a bit through today's epistle and thinking a lot about  there but for the grace of god go I! I may just ask the kids to sit me in the woods with a pair of horns on my head and wearing Mom's old fur coat....... As Bailee always tells me.."It's just the circle of life Grandma!"

Sneak Peek (CC)

Here's the rug, a piece of wall art and the lamp for over the game table....I'd say the art and lamp are a pretty good match.  The tile samples arrived this morning so I'm working on the inlay design for our table.  I even found chess pieces that teach.....They have all legal moves etched into the base so you can learn as you play... I'm pretty sure Miss B. will be teaching ME!! She asked her Papa if he knew how to play chess....he remarked, "Nope, I just know how to play chest!"  He's such a Hatfield!  Luckily I think she thought he was speaking pirate and she took the comment with a grain of salt! Arrr!  The CC builder was just here to scope out the location.... Access is good and they're starting it today!! :-)  My rug will be delivered this afternoon so I can choose some wall and ceiling colors... I just love it when a plan comes together.....

Design by Disguise

For those of you that know me.....you know I've been itchin' to spruce up another room.  I have no more sprucable space....I also have wanted to make a special space for Bailee and Gram to chill, play games, listen to music, dance and read.... NO TV.... I'm shaking a bit as I type that as I love TV!!! I had decided that as a Christmas gift I would make us a game table... One that we could play checkers, learn chess and play card and board games.  That facilitated a little design plan....I decided to make it 36 x 36 and inlay tiles for the checkerboard.  Tiles are on the way and I'm searching for just the right hunk of wood.  So.. we now have a color scheme.... yellows, reds and sage greens.....I have a folder in which I keep torn out pages of catalogs with items I like... Yep, there it was the red, green and yellow rug with patterned leaves (another favorite of mine.)  On the same page was a beautiful wall print of those colors and birch trees....SOLD!  I ordered them both!  Now remember, I still have no space........but I will in 4 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!  I ordered, specially made, Bailee's and Grandma's CULTURE COTTAGE...Our hideaway will sit along the bank of the creek with windows to hear the falls, see the wildlife and breathe in the fresh air.  It will have 6 foot doors but there won't be any 4 wheeler parked in our cottage.... There will be a comfy day bed, 2 club chairs, our game table, some book shelves and a record player....you heard me, record player..with vinyl records that will spin out tunes on 45's, 78's and 33's.....Nobody will see us twist, shake, rattle and roll or sing along with Mitch but it'll be happening!  Over the next few weeks, I'll share some of my furnishings and interior ideas... We'll be having pergo flooring and bead board walls.. After all, it's a cottage. And remember, this is a Christmas/birthday present of sorts.... At least that's how I'm justifying it...like I have to!!  You can say it's a gift disguised as a design or a design disguised as a gift.  Either way, we'll soak in a little culture...just the 2 of us.  Who can argue with that?

Firsts

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Bailee was in bed by 7 last night and up bright and early to begin her first day of first grade.  Her teacher is Mrs (Julie) Flick and her classmates are a fun bunch of kiddos.  Can't believe they're the "Class of 2024"

Sounds of Sunday

 

I don't generally pen my blog on week-ends...My gray matter needs a couple days off each week to regenerate..(I wish)... but this morning, as I was sitting on our front porch, I listened....to the wonderful sounds of Sunday.  The local, annual car show is today so I was treated to a show all my own and the sounds that drove them past the house... the hum of the classics and the putt-putt of the antiques....  A bit nostalgic if not sad, when I'm closer in age to the antiques:-(  When there was a lull in the parade, I could hear the far away sounds of hammers on Oak Hill where the Rieks family is building a new barn.  I could see, in my mind, all the family pitching in on a wonderful project that will stand for tens of years!  A little farther up the hillside, the guns were vollying at the Mark Strongs (I think) where a little target practice may have preceded the Sunday trap shooting.  When quiet resumed, I could hear the announcer from the car show at Fillmore Glen rolling up through the valley.  Today could be my lucky day...Lee finally decided to move an old "project car" from the shop parking lot to the Glen for a possible sale...I call it urban renewal! Right here at EIEIO, I am listening to the fowl sounds from the Walnut Grove.  A couple of hens are making that painful sound of egg laying....I keep hollering over, "Breathe, this contraction will pass!"  Dufus is still taking crowing lessons from Steve Harvey.  He tries so hard to give out a big, boisterous cock a doodle do like Steve's but still falls short. A pileated woodpecker is searching for breakfast bugs in the trees behind me. I marvel at his jungle-like call. I feel a little guilty sitting on the porch, drinking coffee in the warm sunshine but then I figure.."What the hell. I'm 60 and this was on my bucket list. Good for me!!!"