Camping was good, a little too much rain, cold and beef. LOL I think I mooed on the way home, not just from overeating, but from the meatloaf and burgers. I think every non-breakfast meal included beef. Even though cow is my meat of choice, I got sick of it. I even left early and missed the beef sammies on Sunday night, they might have put me over the bovine edge! If you have the Weber Grill cookbook, try the meatloaf recipe in there. Heavenly!
I stayed in camper again with Mar and George (thank you thank you thank you!), and it is so nice not having to pack up all that camping stuff. I basically pick up a case (or 2) of beer, throw my cooler in the car, bake some stuff, pack some duds, and off I go. Very pleasant.
By the way, rum is fun for Mar, and for all of us! Mar used to drink rum and cokes years ago, then switched to beer, but for camping she reverted to rum and coke. Yowza! Admittedly it does maker her a little frisky. And that’s all I’m going to say about that! Poor Mar slipped down the camper steps and took a spill, luckily a mum helped to break her fall. Ouch. She was ok, just sore, whew! No ER visits for anyone this trip! Should I mention that Mar’s trip was due to rainy, muddy steps, and was in the a.m., so no alcohol was involved . . . nah I’ll skip that.
Strangely the only picture I took at camping was in Gays, IL of the famous two-story outhouse. I had taken a ride on Friday to escape the rain and cold. My Dad told me about this outhouse years ago, and I can finally tick it off my bucket list. I also found my new favorite coffee mug at a nice thrift store in Mattoon, IL.
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| Quite the tourist attraction. I think the population of Gays, IL is about 281! |
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| Finn chillaxing, and look at that tail! It's looking good. |
Dad continues to do well on his new medication. The tinnitus is still bugging the hell out of him, rough spell with that right now. Mom and I took him to the VA clinic in Joliet today for a medication check-up. I didn’t know it would include another fun memory test. Yowza! Dad did not do well at all. In fact he did so poorly (4 out of 30, but in his defense the doctor speaks too fast and not loud enough for Dad to hear!) that the psychiatrist said we may get to skip that test next time. Mom and I get a lot of giggles out of it, so I don’t know if I want them to skip it! LOL I keep asking mom for reassurance that we are not evil women for giggling so hard at some of these doctor’s appointments! LOL The big giggle today went like this:
Doctor (from Hines VA Hospital, on a computer screen): Let me review things with you here, birthdate December 12, 1919, married white male . . . ?
Bernie: Ya ya, birthday the 12th of December 1919, and I’m married to a white male.
Then Dad got a look of consternation on his face, turned and gave me the funniest look and said "female Kay, female!" LOLOL
Part of the memory tests involves the doctor reading a story to Dad, and then asking Dad questions. If you had $100 and paid $3 for apples, and $20 for (? it-shay, I can’t remember arghhhh), how much money would you have left. Dad started figuring in his head, I don’t think the doc could hear him . . . “Well, apples are cheap . . . mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm about $1.50?”
In the waiting room Dad asked Mom why we were at the clinic, and did he have to go in the room when they called us. Mom explained to him that he was here for his memory problem. Dad looked a little indignant and said “I can remember when I was 6 years old walking to Hollenbeck’s School!” Mom said yes, but you can’t remember what happened last week! LOL
Dad confessed that he is afraid to go to the clinic because he fears they'll put him in the hospital. I told him no worries! After his hospital stay at Morris I'm pretty sure he is on some sort of list, like Elaine on Seinfeld!
We got Dad some sliders and some coffee after the doctor’s appointment and he was happy. He has had a great appetite. Umm. So have I, unfortunately.
Dad on our ride, nearly every night, “I can’t believe we ended up here in Morris. I never thought this would happen to a Mallaney.” And all the way to Joliet, and on our nightly rides too, “I have never seen a corn field that big! Look at that!” I bet he said that 25 times today lol. He really does enjoy a ride, though he claims sometimes I take him “way too far” and “we have to be home before dark or Mother will worry”, and I’m not sure if he means my Mom, his wife, or if he thinks my Mom, his wife, is his mother. It doesn’t really matter, just so he feels safe and secure and keeps smiling. That is really all that matters right now. I figure we better enjoy these new good times, because anything could happen anytime. Life is like that.
We have plans to go to John’s house Saturday for brunch. Dad will kick and squawk that it is too far, but he has been wanting to go by his old family farm that he has been pining for. He asked several times if I would drive him by there. I’ve been a little worried about what will happen when he sees that it really is gone. I don’t think he believes us when we tell him he left that farm many years ago, that his farmhouse burned down and there is a different house there now. In fact I know he doesn’t believe us, because he is certain he was just at that house last week. We’ll see what happens. I’m pretty sure we will hear how big the fields are, and last time we went he could name the owners of all the old farms on the way, and could tell us how he had worked at a lot of them. Funny how he can remember all that stuff. And he has plenty of driving tips for me too, usually involving my speed! LOL
Take care folks.
Kay :)
Also I forgot that I played the instant lottery down in Amish land and won $100 on a scratch off! Woo hoo!
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