One Year Ago Today

Is it possible that a whole year has gone by since I went to the hospital to have my ovarian mass removed, and woke up with a colostomy?! Time really does fly. I was lying in bed one morning last week, looking out window at fall leaves, specifically this one branch out the front window, and had a strong feeling of deja vu. I looked at that branch a lot last year at this time!

It was a glorious day here today. Sunny and fall-like. Going to be in the70's next few days.

Fall food, roasted cauliflower, steamed broccoli, smashed sweet taters, chunky cinnamon apples and pork. Yum.

Dad continues to do well. He is in a good mood, just confused. Hell that could describe me a lot of times too!

Kay :)

October 15, 2012

The trip to John's house on Saturday went very well. He made a delightful brunch, biscuits and gravy (why did I think I didn't like that? Perhaps a bad hangover memory from the 80's or something? lol), with fresh sage, wow, it was good with the homemade biscuits with a touch of cornmeal in them! Quiche with parmesan, red pepper, mushrooms, onion. Wow. And apple crumble with ice cream for dessert.

We were watching TV after we ate (scarfed) the lovely meal John prepared. Since John downloads things form the internet now, sometimes with little or no information on what he is downloading, we ended up watching a strangely interesting 20 minute cautionary educational tale on what to do should you find unexploded WWII bombs and stuff laying around. Leave them alone people! I know. Weird. Anyways in one section these guys are running to save a boy who is in danger of blowing himself up with a bomb he stashed in his nifty backpack. John made a comment about how fast the man was running toward the boy . . .

Kay: "I was really fast when I was a kid. Exceptionally fast I think.Too bad I got so fat. It does slow one down."
John: "Well, plus being 50 might have something to do with it. I'll tell you what Kay . . .why don't you go run around the house and we'll time you, we'll see how fast you are!"
Sigh. Laughter and more laughter. Smart ass brothers.

Dad asked me before we left if we were going to go by his old family farm. I told him we would if he wanted to. He said he wasn't sure if he wanted to, that he might cry if it was gone. I said oh it's gone all right! You just don't remember. He doesn't believe us when we tell him stuff. Oh boy. So when we were on the road I asked him which route he wanted to take. He said to take "the blacktop", which I somehow deciphered to mean Grand Ridge Road. As we were leaving John's he asked if we were going home through Ottawa. I said sure! Off we went. We got to Ottawa and I heard him whisper to mom, inquiring why in the hell we were in Ottawa! LOL So I guess I can continue to wonder what will happen when Dad does go by the old Mallaney farm.

Today Mom took Dad to see the heart doctor. The nurse asked him if he still lived in the same place. Dad said no, that he had just moved here from Verona! LOL Then she asked him who brought him to the office today. Dad looked over at Mom and said, "Ione Caldwell". Apparently Mom is his cousin today! I'm still his sister. When I was a kid we used to go to Marseilles to Harvey and Ione's annual fish fry. I wonder if Dad thought of her because we went by their old house on Saturday? Who knows. Anyway Mom was highly amused and surprised.

Midge had been spending a lot of time in the yard, sitting on the ground staring into the neighbor's tree, which leans over the fence. She's out there for hours. So I put a little table out there for her, and she loves it. It's like her own little island. She is on it for hours, looking up into that tree, talking and twirling around.. I hardly see her anymore. Anyway the funniest thing about it is she is meowing like crazy. The number of meows in this little clip is more times than I have heard her meow in her whole life! What a weirdo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvH44_ViQBM&feature=youtu.be

My mom gave me this little rosebush after my surgery last year. I put it in the ground and it's blooming now, a nice wee bit of color now that fall is here.

Weird Midge.I'm toying with the idea of giving her a little more elevation. Before the table the cement block was her perch. Clearly I need to get out more!

Midge is able to tear herself away from her perch occasionally to lay on and dig up my radishes and lettuce. Maybe this is what they mean on the Food Network when they refer to a micro salad? 

And, lastly, seen on a church signboard in Ottawa, Illinois "Fifty Shades of Grace" lolol.

Kay :)

Keep a smile on your mug!

"Only he that has traveled the road knows where the holes are deep." Read that Chinese proverb today at the VA clinic.

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.

Quite the tourist attraction. I think the population of Gays, IL is about 281!

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 :)