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! ☘

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Happy Thanksgiving! Happy Halloween!

61 degrees on Christmas, what the heck? Nice to air the house out for sure. John was home for a dinner, it was a very pleasant day. I went to feed the stray cats after he left and gosh nobody around. Washed my car and filled up my gas tank. Didn't even comb my hair and nobody saw me . . . I hope! lol 

Where have I been? I don't even know.

Mom had her 82nd birthday in November. She is doing well. Doesn't get up enough for my liking but it is what it is. Dad would have been 100 on December the 12th!

Finn got an abscess, $100 at the vet. And he weighs 23#. Oh dear.

Kay had a cyst, an infected cyst on her neck. $700 at the dermatologist and antibiotics for a month. Lucky Kay only had to pay one-third of that. Boy howdy. I'm not going to give you Kay's weight. But Finn and I really do have big bones.

Had a weekend at John's a couple of weeks ago, came home on Sunday afternoon and the big gate at the end of the driveway was open. Weird. Then I get to patio and I notice that the gate facing the street is wide open too. Weird. It was wicked cold weather, nobody had any business being outside. I don't like the gates open. Finn will think he is all safe in his own back yard and get his ass kicked by that cute thug across the street, Blackie, or that banger, Tanner, two houses down. (I secretly love them both, but the vet bills over the year really add up man!)

Kay: "Joe, why are the gates in back open?"
Joe: "I don't know."
Kay: "Did you open them?"
Joe: "I don't know."
Kay: "What do you mean you don't know! Did you open the gates in the last two days!!?"
Joe: "Oh . . . maybe it was the guy that was here Saturday night."

Kay is confused. Come to find out 2:00 a.m. Sunday, Joe hears the (unlocked) back door open. He calls out "What are you doing here?", figuring it is me, who else could it be? Mom is in bed, and at first she thinks she hears voices in driveway. Then she realizes it is Joe talking to someone in kitchen. Seems a man came in back door, claiming he was looking for a party. A party at 2:00 a.m. in a totally dark house? I mean, come on. I've been to a lot of parties, but gosh. He apologized and left. I ask if they called the police. No, because he was here. I said where did he go when he left? Nobody watched. Did he knock before he came in? Nobody knows. Joe says he was friendly and thinks it was an honest mistake. If I blunder into someone's house at 2:00 a.m. I gotta remember that . . . be friendly Kay. OK. I have many other thoughts, but the first one is LOCK THE DAMN DOOR!   The address he claimed he was looking for is close and some younger people have moved in there, so maybe it was legit. Or maybe we are The Most Gullible People in America. Not sure! LOL   I can't help imagine what I would have done if I had discovered a stranger in the house at 2:00 a.m.? Hopefully we will never know!

I had trouble getting in the Christmas spirit this year. Not sure why. I barely decorated, lol even less than usual!  I know we are all missing people and it helps to remember what you do still have. Grateful Mom is home, and I'm looking forward to a New Year.

Peace.

Kay

Home

Mother is home. Now she has visits with a nurse, physical therapist, occupational therapist and a bath aide. Busy busy! LOL  Very nice of Medicare though. That pesky UTI is cleared up, hopefully we can keep it that way.

Dane County Farmer's Market today, it was lovely as usual. Had some good chow around Madison too.

The Welcome Home Committee.

John's birthday (late)  meal at Erin's Snug Irish Pub in Madison. Delicious. 

The reuben and loaded colcanon was delicious, as was Johns Friday fish special. John even had a beer. Well . . . part of a beer, a Spotted Cow. It goes without saying that I had beer. I am my father's daughter after all. 

Farmer's Market bounty. Missing from photo . . . a buttermilk doughnut, a rhubarb breakfast bar, and a pecan pie bar. 

Misdemeanor theft from John's absentee neightbor. 

Fingers crossed for a good home stretch with mom, and good health for all!

Kay

September

New addition to the homestead. Will make getting Mom in and out a lot easier . . . and less scary. Finnegan likes it. He thinks we put it in so he can sit on that rail and rule the neighborhood. I used to feel sad when I would see a new ramp at a house, now I think it means someone gets to stay home a while longer, a good thing! I gotta say, still a little sad though.  We will be able to get Mom outside more now, the fresh air will do her good.

Mom is still at rehab at Park Pointe, but I suspect she will be home soon. Her UTI is cleared up and she is feeling better. Therapy is going OK, arm is still painful, but not sure there is much that can be done about that at mom's age. We shall see. It will be good to have her back at home.

Nothing else new, starting fall yard work and looking forward to consistent fall temps. These 90 degree days with high humidity are for the birdies.

Kay :)

August

Well, the reunion nearly did Mom in! LOL We weren't sure she would even go, and we ended up being there for 3 hours, a long time for Mom when she hadn't been feeling great and hadn't been out of the house for a while. She really enjoyed it, seeing everyone, and she had a great appetite, who doesn't with all that great food!? That was on Saturday. On Sunday she was pretty tuckered. Come Monday night we were off to the ER, she was so weak. She has had a recurring UTI and the antibiotics just weren't knocking it back, and her bad elbow had become all red and bruised and swollen. She was pretty out of it. They ran a bag of IV antibiotics and fluids through her and prescribed a different antibiotic and x-rayed her elbow and sent her home.  She did perk up a little with the IV and the antibiotic, but we were disappointed they didn't keep her, we felt it was warranted. It was pouring rain and incredibly wet and humid and miserable when we left the hospital. Luckily mom stayed snug in my old softball rain poncho, Joe and I were drowned rats and I lost a shoe in a puddle. It was pretty comical really. I can curse probably just about as well as anybody in the world.  She had a follow up with her GP on Wednesday, but it was all downhill. Mom has never done well on antibiotics. I heard a noise in the night and found Mom on the floor. Scared me to death. She told me she didn't fall, but just slid off the bed. Come Friday and we were back to the ER. To our shock and chagrin they were going to send her home again. She was so weak and sick, she was scaring me. By the grace of I don't know what, I think my pleas to a sympathetic social worker, they ended up admitting her. She has had IV antibiotics for the past 3 days and today she was moved over to Park Pointe for rehab, same place she was before. I think it is just what she needs. She has not been looking or feeling good, and I couldn't persuade her (despite much bitching) to go to doc or exercise more or get out of bed more. Already at the hospital she has walked a little with a walker and spent several hours each day sitting up in a chair. I couldn't get her to do that stuff at home. Hopefully this stint will will get her well and stronger so we can enjoy a good trouble free spell at home. That is what we all hope for.

Not sure how long she will be there, don't know much of anything yet, except she is starting to look and feel better thank God!

Kay

June 2019

I tended to my garden this a.m. Pulled a lot of weeds and pruned my tomato plants. And gathered this goodness . . .

Baby romaine, radishes, broccoli, parsley, lemon balm, green onion, basil, chives and purslane (courtesy of mother nature). and a sweet banana pepper. And an orange lily. Then I made Saturday brunch . . .

I had a vision of making an herbalicious dressing out of lemon balm, parsley and basil, but the thought of dragging out the food processor did not appeal, so I just threw it all in my salad. I gotta say, it was awesome and interesting, lots of different notes. And a couple of brazil nuts for the selenium never huts! I need to stop buying those bags of triple cheddar cheese . . . too good!

I sure miss my pesky little helper out there in the garden. I worked much harder under her strict supervision. Midge had a lot of rules.

 I tried to get Finn to come out with me but he yawned and rolled over, so I guess he wasn't in the mood. I wish I knew how Finn would act with a kitten, because we are sure missing a busy, nosy, in your business female kitty around these parts. Don't get me wrong, I love a big strong tom, but a female cat is a different animal . . .

I'll pass on gardening this a.m. . . . 

While I am all grubby and dirty from the garden I'm heading out to the cemetery to decorate where mom's side of the fam is laid to rest, the cemetery where Dad loved to take rides. Bernie would have a conniption at this late date, sorry Dad, but the flowers were at John's house, oops, just got them last weekend. John put some flowers at the Seneca cemetery.

Somehow I turned 57 this month. What the hell. Some big ass huge envelope came to the house with a senior survey inside and I gave it to Mom. Much to her amusement the damn thing had my name on it!

Mom had a little bug but seems to be coming around.  Her color is coming back and her appetite, wow she can eat!  I make her faves of course, so that helps. She is looking forward to the high 80s coming next week - craziness! This cool weather has been awesome.

I need new tires or a new car and my air conditioner isn't cold enough and the heat isn't hot enough, so I have to take my car in. Boo hoo. Can't complain about my car though, it has been a gem, knock on wood. But it all sounds expensive.

I can't believe June is almost over. When you are 57 time flies man. A couple of my teacher friends retired, and I went to a fun retirement party for one of them last weekend put on by her kids. These are the kids who used to get hauled to tournaments every weekend every summer for years, the ones who Holly had to make a strict rule -  "Don't ever drink out of Aunt Kay's water jug!" (occasionally there might be vodka and lemonade in there), and what an awesome party it was. Kids no more, fine adults now. After the party I went to my friends Donna and Mark's house to have a drink in honor of their great dog, Sophi, she was worn out and went to heaven, and gosh I loved that dog like my own. Every time I saw her I asked "How is the prettiest girl in all the land!?" and she enjoyed many of my special doggy massage/rub downs and when I would stop I'd say OK that's enough, and she'd paw my hand and sweet talk me and get another rubdown, over and over lol and now I know she is fine again, but will miss her. Damn animals! I get attached to the ones who are not even my own. And somehow Donna's son, who was hauled to many a softball game and tourney himself, graduated from engineering school with honors and got a great job and how in the heck is he old enough for all that business! Yikes. Time flies.

I'm off . . .

Kathleen A.

Happy Memorial Day

I have been absent from the blog . . . mostly because I have nothing to report. Even Finn can sense this post will be a snooze . . .

Finn turned 10. He went for his shots last week and the vet says maybe some limits on food would be good. He is big boned, but 22 pounds is too much. The Midge is sadly missed. Too many cat beds not enough cats . . .

Mom just got rid of another (or the same ?) UTI, took like 5 rounds of medicine. She is contemplating going to the ortho to see about her bad arm (didn't we tell her she should have had surgery from the get-go?), but keeps putting it off.  It is causing her pain and pretty much keeping her in bed. She has some sort of order in her head, so she was going to get rid of the UTI, then something else, then, possibly, call the ortho. John was home today and gave her a good dose of Mallaney sarcasm, so maybe that will spur her into action! He is not as good as me but he is pretty good. We can only hope. She pretty much stays in bed unless I make her get up for food. LOL I know that might sound mean, but I am. My patience for the patient wears thin sometimes. Other than staying in bed too much and the sore elbow, she has a good appetite and is in a good mood . . . until Kathleen annoys her.  She and Joe have their secrets, and let me believe she gets up for a while every day, until my BS meter has had enough, and then I bitch for a while until she really gets up for her meals.  I miss sitting out in the mornings with Mom and the Midge.

I got the garden planted. Haven't had to water! I would kill for a garden tomato, yum. Mom would too. She loves her veggies.

John stopped at the Seneca cemetery on the way home today, Bernie will like that. Bernie would have stopped for biscuits and gravy in Seneca, or a beer somewhere too.

See the view from the bottom photo . . . he climbed up all those stairs and looks pretty peppy still! Good for him. 52 years young . . . until July.

My 57th birthday is coming up. How in the hell did that happen? Joe turned 58 in March! Gosh.

Work is good.  My little co-worker had a baby, the sweetest little thing, and she pops in with her once in a while, and gosh I love that! I asked my boss if there could be babies or puppies at work every day, and he is mulling that over!  I have the best ideas. It really should be a thing. We got a word of the day calendar from Scripps, the national spelling bee place, and my vocabulary is becoming even more expansive.

John and I ran to Trader Joe's today for some goodies. It is good to visit the big city every once in a while. Do not buy the dark chocolate almond butter cups (OMG soooo good) . . . those little wrappers blow all over . . .

So basically no news is good news for the Morris Mallaneys.


Kathleen