Election Day & Cataract Day

The cataract was short and sweet. Check-in time was 7:15 and I was home by 9:00. Not pleasant, but there sure are worse things (thinking of colonoscopy lol). Will be good to have my triple vision in that left eye gone. 

I will miss working at the election tonight, both the money and the potluck (if Covid permits a potluck hmmm), but it was nice to have cataract done on a day off, since Election Day is a holiday for me. I wanted to get it done before end of the year and doc is only in town once a month so I didn't want to push it to December. Lots of planning for us procrastinators when trying to maximize a deductible lol. Colonoscopy and cataract, check---now I want (more like NEED) a shot in my bad knee. 

Covid is getting closer and closer. Two co-workers are currently on quarantine. Lots of suspense. So far so good for the Morris Mallaneys though, knock on wood. 

I went to visit my friend and her puppy on Saturday, we were outside for 2-3 hours, and I got sunburned and windburned. I gotta say the peeling off of the cataract drape thing was not so much fun this a.m.! It was good to get fresh air and to visit with someone who is not in my family. Still feeling socially distant, and winter is not going to help that. 

Mom is doing OK. She went through one of her weak, pale, tired spells, but is coming out of it. I cut her hair. I think I will be much better at it next time with my new, more powerful clippers. If that doesn't scare you, it probably should! John probably will not tell the story (AGAIN), of how I periodically buy clippers to cut my hair at home to save money, then end up with a bald spot, and the money saving venture is over . . . until the next time. Anyway, Mom is in a good mood with a good appetite.  I annoy her by pestering her to get out of bed and do her exercises yada yada yada. I'm sure I annoy her in many other ways too! LOL I'm so good at that. Jo Ann will be 83 this weekend. I'm sure John will be home for a meal to help celebrate in a socially distanced way. I will bake something yummy for her . . . unless I can con John into it . . .

I do not have much news. Staying close to home, determined not to get Mom sick. More suspense today with the election. We shall see what we shall see . . . hopefully in single vision!

Kay 🍂🍂

September

I don't know where the summer went. Or the spring. What a year! Doesn't it seem like it started getting dark earlier and cooling off over night? Goodness. I was exhausted the other night and turned off the TV and rolled over and holy cow it was 8:15! 

After we got back from the camping trip Mar was poking around looking for something and found the above photo from 1986. These are the same friends I took my last camping trip with. There were NO red sweatpants at the August 2020 trip! LOL  I have no recollection of owning such a thing. And Mar's shorts over sweatpants look . . . priceless. That is Donna in the middle. She always was, and still is, sort of normal . . . at least fashion-wise.

See that red satin jacket that says "Do it with Style!" OMG. That was our prize for winning the Class B USSSA Slow Pitch Softball State tournament that year. It was 1986, the year one of my women's team won state, the other got 2nd place (to the legendary Busch's Whiz Kid team) in the ASA State tourney, and my co-ed team won state. It was The Best Softball Year Ever. All was well that year, I could hit and pitch and run and field like nobody's business . . . at least in my foggy memory. There were certainly many other good years but that was the best. Except for the styling. In my own defense it must have been very cold. And it was 1986. I'm sure the beer kept me warm. I see a case of Bud and a case of Lite back there and gosh it was a sad day for me when my friends sold their boat and bought a camper. I mean I love the camper too, but the boat, so much fun  . . . and my skin . . . it looks so . . .young and smooth. And I can't even think what to say about the hat. 

I'm about ready to pull up my garden. The squirrels were pesky this year, I ate one tiny spaghetti squash, it was soooo good. I was letting the other two grow and the squirrels got them! At least they entirely consumed the squash, not like all the tomatoes I found with one bite out of them. Then they moved on to the zucchini. John told me I need to get Finn on a diet and make him stay outside and protect the garden. I had a talk with Finn about it and he agreed and will get to it after his nap.

We had the plumber out (twice) after some ickiness  in the basement. I went to visit John and his kitties last weekend and did a load of laundry over there while waiting for plumber trip #2. haha  It is always nice to have help with the laundry. Thank you Isis.

Colonoscopy is over and all is well. But I should have another one in 3 years. And my insurance company and I are having some talks about why I am getting billed for preventive care. Grrrr. 

Mom and the fam are fine, nothing calamitous to report, woo hoo! My car, since I test drove the new Toyota Rav 4 at my last oil change, has a new oxygen sensor and a new alternator. I don't know what I was thinking, letting the old car know I was test driving a new one. At my age I should know better! I'm trying to smooth things over, we shall see. 

Take care all,

Kay ☘

Covid August

Yesterday would have been the Mallaney Family Reunion, Take 58. At least that is how old I am, and Bernie told me the first one was the summer I was born. Sad that it was cancelled but I feel like it was the right decision. To my knowledge it is only the 2nd time it has not been held. I would not have felt comfortable taking Mom out. So far so good, knock on wood, with my goal to not kill mother during the Pandemic.

I wanted to get away and my friends were going camping down to Lake Shelbyville. I've been adamant about not camping in the summer, usually I go in the spring or fall only, because I don't like to be hot. Well, when you get the urge to get away during a Pandemic and you get a chance in the summer, and feel like it is rather risk free, what the heck. There were just 4 of us, and we all have been been being very careful. I got to sleep in my friends' camper, so I didn't have to mess with a tent or anything, and I could count on being cool to sleep. That is huge for me. A tired Kay is not a happy camper.

Here are some photos from the trip . . .

All the rest of the photos look exactly like that. There was lots of rain. We lost a $100 deposit on a pontoon boat rental. Not to say we didn't have fun and lots of laughs. There was Scattergories, Catch Phrase, Euchre, one bonfire that we actually could sit around (it was raining during the other fires lol), excellent food, and lots of drinking and other amusements. One day I had Camping Coffee (boozy coffee with whipped cream on top), then I had a Malibu Rum with crystal light (lemon lime/orange/lemonade-yummy), then I was too lazy to make another drink, so I cracked a beer  . . . or two.  Then it was lunch time. 

It was nice to spend some time with my friends, I had been feeling rather socially distant from them. I hope they feel that it was nice to spend some time with me! LOL

I've never camped for 5 nights before.  Typically I would always take my own car, just in case something happened with Mom or if I just got pissy and wanted to come home. But a road trip with my friend seemed much more appealing than driving by myself. Plus one of our other friends was coming down for just 2 nights, she was looking forward to the pontoon boat rental, as we all were, and I figured if I was tired, or just done with camping, I'd hitch a ride back with her, fun road trip right? Well, she called on her way down and it was pouring and the forecast was not promising--- and it was right, it rained almost constantly for the next 3 days, and she is a busy nurse and had lots to do at home, and the boat rental was not going to happen, so she turned around and went home. So yeah, I can camp for 5 nights. Next time I will pack more underwear just in case my ride don't show due to inclement weather.

I guess we didn't get any rain in Morris. 

I had to go to bed early at camping like at 8 or 8:30. I'm old.  I told my friends I'm not really going to bed, I just need to lie down. But I really wanted to go to bed. Camping kicks my ass. Then I got home on Monday and went back to work on Tuesday and oh my goodness. Camping kicked my ass all week. 

I have some other fun stuff coming up too, a routine colonoscopy that was previously scheduled in March. I figured I better try to get it in while the getting is good. Gosh that sounds sad. Anyways the doctor's office told me I need an EKG, blood work, AND a covid test before the procedure, I said, "Look, I don't need all that stuff. I just camped for five nights. If I can do that I can make it through a colonoscopy no sweat!" but she didn't go for it. Shoot. AND a $250 deposit. I can use my credit card if I want. Goodness. AND I have to have the Covid test the day before then go home. Another half day off work. Grrrrrrumble. Oh well.

The fam is doing well. Mom had a pacemaker check with the heart doctor. I wasn't too keen on her going out and about, but she needed her prescriptions refilled. So she gets there and the computer to check the pacemaker isn't even working. LOL  Oh well. At least the Rx got refilled. 

Hope everyone is doing well and how did it get to be August already! 

Kay 

May Days

What is new? Hmmm. Not much folks.

Turns out my rash was shingles! Kudos to Cousin Peggy for the diagnosis after my last blog post. I got to the doc ASAP after her e-mail.  I think I will e-mail her photos and descriptions of all my future ailments. Why didn't I get the vaccine? Good question, especially after John had shingles and I specifically asked him if he would recommend the vaccine, and the answer was a resounding YES.  Finished my medicine already. Still have the rash on my forehead. Thankful it was a mild case.

I cut my hair once, it needs it again. The bangs are perfect! Too bad they don't take up more space.  I don't get all these people whining and complaining about their hair. Get the scissors out and have some fun! By the time we are released it will have grown back.  I will caution you against electric or battery clippers though, having twice shaved portions of my head by accident. Sometimes those guards don't stay on! But scissors, yes to scissors! Remember to cut BELOW your fingers . . . one time I messed that part up too. Wow my bangs were short . . .

I went to Jewel today. I haven't been in a grocery store for a long time. John is coming home Saturday for a social distance visit for Mother's Day and he wanted burgers on the grill. In retrospect I guess I should have asked mom what she wanted for a meal, but she likes burgers too, so it is all good. Anyway I got some expensive ground beef and was rather shocked at the other meat prices. The one- way arrows for the aisles were nice, but I had to call out one young man for going the wrong way. Citizen's arrest! I gotta find that Andy Griffith, that is a good one. I thought about doing "The Scream" from Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but I did not. Restraint. That is what separates me from the aliens.

I can't believe people are getting shot for asking people to put on masks! What the hell. Put on your masks and shut up and shove your political statements up your ass! I'm tired of selfish people who can't differentiate between a need and a want.

I took a ride over to Ganz Greenhouse in Marseilles today on my Working from Home lunch break and picked up some lovely garden plants. Can't wait to plant them. Too bad it is going to freeze tomorrow!

I have been going into work here and there, been doing some fingerprinting. I have one set up for 8:00 a.m. tomorrow. I don't know what I was thinking. I mean that is what time I usually start work, but I'm on Pandemic Time now, so it is gonna be rough. Between my black mask, my home haircut, my white roots, my shingles rash on my forehead, and other miscellaneous wrinkles and hairs and stuff, wow I'm quite the picture lately.

Take care folks and stay healthy!

Kathleen A.

Sheltering in Place

A good article about Coach John Wooden's strategy on handling adversity. Should be required reading for spoiled, entitled whiners. And everybody else. 

https://www.success.com/how-to-handle-adversity-dont-whine-dont-complain-dont-make-excuses/

"Don’t whine. Don’t complain. Don’t make excuses. The finest teaching tool we have is the example we set for others, and how we handle adversity can be one of the strongest ways of demonstrating our character."

We continue to shelter in place, though I think Joe still goes on unauthorized outings to the gas station. I would too, if I still smoked! LOL He really is doing pretty good, he hits the drive thrus for lunch, that must satisfy his urge for outings somewhat. He did pick up an Rx from Jewel yesterday and though I maybe could have talked him into driving through (probably not though), I really wanted some fresh veggies and some things that have not been coming through in my pick-up or delivery orders. So he masked up and went in. 

I don't know how people shop for like two weeks at a time. I know some people shop for longer! Wow good on them. I have a hard time using produce before it starts to turn. I like our rather disorganized way of buying groceries, deciding what we are hungry for and what is on sale and going to the store whenever, or using whatever marked down meat I find at Jewel. It is on the way to work and I pop in and check that marked down section a couple of times a week. Every couple of weeks an Aldi run. Ahhh the good old days.  All this thinking about what we need for longer periods is a pain. 

The Wal mart pick up thing is working out pretty well. I allowed substitutions the first time, oops, not a good idea. We got some interesting things. Like Lloyd's Ribs instead of sausage patties? LOL You have the option to reject the substitutions when you pick the stuff up, but I have realized that most people have no notion what 6 feet is, and I just wanted to get out of Dodge, you know. And we are not picky people. It's funny how you can feel crowded, in your car, in a pick up section at Wal mart, but I did. Weirdness. 

Mom is doing well, thank God. I asked her if she wanted or needed anything from the store. I've been getting pick-up times about every 10 days, which is working out well. She tells me she wants some "good cookies". Umm I've been baking stuff for her . . . anyway the "good cookies" she wants are those sugar wafer things, the ones that come in vanilla, strawberry and chocolate! LOL  At least they will be safe from Kay . . . I get weird cravings too. 

I have a weird rash on my face and head. I think I'm officially done with yard work. There is this one side of the fence I can't work on, due to my getting an incredible rash. Doc wasn't sure what it was because apparently the rash presented "in an unusual way" on my face. Code for "I don't know what the hell that is!"  I didn't do any yard work over there, but Dad had this sign "Fighting Irish Parking Only" and wow did Bernie love that sign! Well it has seen better days, and Dad has been gone 5 years now but it was still with regret I went and removed it from the fence gate, which is just adjacent to the danger zone. Sad to take it down, but also also sort of amusing to take it down from the fence gate that is all askew from Bernie pulling into it with gusto after coming home from Quarter Beer Day at Ebbey's.  So anyway about the rash, I might have to go get it checked tomorrow if it doesn't improve because my face hurts. Weirdness seems to be the new norm. 

In fact the rash was enough to make me break quarantine and go into a store Friday afternoon. I hadn't been in a store since my Dollar General pandemic shopping trip in March before shelter in place started. Walgreens was a zoo, but Dollar General remains pretty deserted. I grabbed some calamine and some poison ivy stuff and it sure helped the itching. Nothing I had at home worked, I tried rubbing alcohol, baking soda, super hot water - all separately of course lol. We'll see how it looks tomorrow. 

I cut my hair. Now that shelter in place has been extended for another 30 days I can go a LOT shorter. My hair grows super fast and it was driving me bonkers. I'm pretty good at cutting the right side of my head but the left side is pretty much a crap shoot. I did see that Great Clips is open, but I don't really want to go there now. Especially with a weird rash. 

I'm glad the garden centers get to open. That will be my next quarantine break I'm sure, unless I have to go for rash. 

I pop into the office when there is something I can't handle via phone or e-mail. I miss my coworkers. I'm lucky and I know it. 

Masks are hot! I do not like masks. 

That is all I have for today. Peace to all. Stay well. Don't get a weird rash. 


Kay ☮

Pandemic, Social Distancing and Shelter in Place

My coworker snores.

Sunday, March 15th

John and I went to Kroger this a.m. After reading facebook posts yesterday from around the
U.S. I was expecting empty shelves and stressed shoppers. The only totally empty thing I saw
was the meat counter. And a butcher was packaging up some meat in the back for people.
I did not look for hand sanitizer or TP. I did hear a lady mention there was no ground beef.
There were no crazy people. Except for yours truly of course. 

I think I embarrassed John with the way I piled stuff in  the cart, but I started to feel stressed in
the store. Crazy! I was doing a tally in my head of how many meals I could make and what I
needed to fill out meals. Plus there were good things on mega sale still in stock, so I would
have bought a lot of certain things anyway. All that stocking up stuff gets in your head. And
eating out does not appeal at all. I need to stop reading the prepping stuff and focus on the
real, true story. My main motivating factor is limiting trips to the store so as to not bring anything
home to Mom. 

And then I came home and touched things and forgot to wash my hands. Good lord! 

I like normal. Chaos is not my thing. And It isn’t even here yet.

I watched Panic in Year Zero, Night of the LIving Dead, and the Andromeda Strain.
The current strain is not alien. There are no zombies. Right? 

Friday, March 20

Last night my friend sent me a text she had gotten from an acquaintance (which turned out
to be untrue), which I’m not going to repeat, and that, along with potential bad weather last
night, made me more nervous about my supplies. If the power goes out a good bit of my
pandemic supplies will be in jeopardy. More canned/shelf stable things would make me feel
better. Everything gets in my head. No Walmart pick up dates for days, no Amazon pantry.
Despite my intent to avoid the stores, yesterday on my lunch hour I drove by Jewel, WalMart,
Stock & Field, Menards . . . all packed except for Dollar General. Parking lot was strangely
deserted. I thought maybe they were out of stock on things, that would be the reason, but no,
they had some of the canned/pantry goods I was wanting. There was only one other shopper
in the store besides me, weird. I asked the clerk how they had avoided the madness and she
said it has been crazy up until that morning. Maybe the miserable, rainy weather helped.
Canned/shelf stable food worked like an anti-anxiety drug. You never know how life is gonna
go. Craziness.

Thursday, March 26, 2109

Back to present day . . . Joe's birthday today, 59! I made a cake. Joe still going on
unauthorized outings, but at least he is going less . . . I think. I think a Mallaney cousin shares
Joe's birthday, but mom is napping and I can't remember who it is, so Happy Birthday! We are
getting pizza tonight, Joe's choice. Nice not to have to cook, but I'm not entirely sure eating out
is safe.

I put a bra on and wet down my wild hair yesterday and went into the office for a bit yesterday
and then last night my friend walked by and I saw her and we maintained proper social distance
and had a nice visit. I was on my bed propped up on a pillow sort of with my head in the window
and she was standing outside. I got the giggles thinking about how it looked from outside . . .
someone standing between two houses, talking to herself? LOLOL So I talked to 3 live people
yesterday who are not in my family and it was very nice! Make that 4, I also talked to the nice girl
at the drive through at the bank while I made a deposit for work and picked up some dirty germy cash for Mom.

Mom watches too much news. Of course she does not have the internet to amuse and terrify
her. I turn on the TV in the morning and Seinfeld is on, then Friends. I have so much available,
and so far this is what I watch. Interesting. Except I throw in the occasional pandemic/killer virus
movie. Now I can have even more Seinfeld funnies to share with my young coworkers that they
don't know what I am talking about. It is amusing how many work situations parallel Seinfeld
episodes. Sometimes being the oldest one in the office is fun. Sigh. I miss my coworkers. I sure
got lucky there. Co-working from home is just not the same.

Our fridge is full, we never have this much food at one time. So imagine my shock when I
opened the door the other day and the light did not come on! While I was standing there, in
shock ,it kicked on, whew, it was just the bulb. Some timing on that bulb burning out, right!
Amazon to the rescue! But now I read how you are supposed to sanitize everything, from
Amazon and the grocery store and everywhere, ewwww. That is life now, like it or not.

My friends and I keep saying stuff like did you ever think you would see something like this in
2020, or in your lifetime, or in the USA?

Stay safe and well.

Kathleen ☘

March Madness

2020 St. Paddy's Day Shirt for Kay! I will rock this shirt  . . . I'm just not sure where . . .  

No news is good news! Life is quiet right now . . . except for all the chaos going on in the world!

Mom is doing well. John invited us over for lunch last weekend. He has invited us before over the last few months but Mom either was tired, or didn't sleep well, or just didn't feel up to the trip when the day came. And honestly, getting Mom out voluntarily in the winter is hard! Well, last Saturday she surprised us all and we had a nice visit and lunch over at John's. Always nice to see his weird and amusing kitties. Mom hadn't been out for ages, except to routine doctor's appointments, so it felt good to get her out.  She did very well. And some fresh air can do wonders for you.

Joe is well too, and takes excellent care of Mom. I wish he'd quit the ciggies, but gosh, that is so hard.

I had been sort of polling my friends and co-workers, to see if they were "Deniers" or "Preppers" (Reddit terms), and I think most of them were Deniers until very recently. I made jokes to my friends that I was ready, I had picked up some chocolate chips and some vodka, but in reality I fell somewhere in between, and had started picking up a few extra things weeks ago when doing my regular shopping. Then one night I was looking at photos of people's stockpiles on Reddit, and got a little nervous, so I placed a pick-up order at Walmart and did an Amazon pantry order, so I was spared any last minute grocery trips the last few days. I wanted to have some easy heat and eat things on hand just in case we do get sick. I suppose a real "prepper" would be amused by my pantry, but it sure makes me feel better. And I already had a good supply of paper goods on hand so I have not contributed to the TP shortage! I really feel for the people who do not have the means or transport to lay by some extra things without undue hardship.  I am one of the lucky ones, I know.

Mom and I were laughing about the freezer. We all like soup, and there were cheap hams at Jewel a few weeks back, so I grabbed a couple, so then over a few weeks I ended up with nice meaty ham bones. Soup freezes so well I made extra, so I have split pea soup, ham and beans, and 15 bean soup in there.  Too bad Bernie is gone, he would love all that bean soup! LOL Now there is no room in freezer for any freezer pandemic (junk food) goodies because of all the healthy soups and chunks of ham.  And NOBODY is in the mood for more bean soup! It will taste good again soon, I'm sure. And too bad if it doesn't, we are eating it anyway!

I feel eventually we will all be housebound for a while and, while I am dreading it, my biggest fear is bringing something home to Mom, so I will probably be relieved when it happens. It will be a problem for Joe to stay home, he likes to get out a few times a day, but even he is starting to acknowledge that he will have to change his ways for a while.

I have plenty of food for Finnegan too. I would not want to stress him out. When I left today he was sprawled in the middle of mom's bed taking up a tremendous amount of room and she was contorting herself so as to not disturb him! Amuses me to no end.

I am at John's this weekend and was hoping to pick up some weekend deals at Kroger, but now I'm not even sure I want to go there. They probably don't have any mega sales goodies left anyway. I might be done with grocery stores for a while. The parking lot was a little scary today. I have an interesting list, including sauerkraut and rye bread . . . luckily I picked up corned beef before things got too crazy! Bernie's favorite. March 9th was Mom and Dad's 61st anniversary.

Stay safe and well. It is coming near, cases in Springfield today. If anybody needs any TP or a can of beans (or bean soup!) just whistle! ☘