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

January

Gosh I haven't written since we lost the Midge back in November. Miss that little girlie.

Office closed for the Polar Vortex yesterday and today. A weekend in the middle of the week, but too nasty to go outside. I'm glad I didn't have to go out, except I did choose go out yesterday to fill the cat food bowl at the courthouse for the stray cats. Couldn't stand the thought of them finding an empty bowl in this weather, and courthouse was closed yesterday, so the other caretakers were off work.  Poor Finn hasn't been outside for days. I haven't offered him the opportunity for a couple of days, too nasty out there. He has been really good about it too. A couple of times he has gone "Crazy Cat" in the middle of the night, romping through the house yowling and waking me up with a start. It's OK . . . I get stir crazy too. I haven't run through the house like he does . . . yet, but you never know.

I didn't think Finn could fit in this wee house in his cat tree anymore. Wow. 

Christmas was quiet, quiet but good. John was home and we had good eats, as usual. Feels a very long time ago now. The snowy weekends have stopped me from visiting John and his kitties. I took a long weekend in February and am hoping to get over there.

The cold has me cooking comfort foods, veggie beef soup, Scrapple, mom asked for biscuits and gravy.  Mom gets whatever she wants of course!  She never gains a pound either.

Ran into Cousin Gail at Jewel last weekend, had a nice chat. Good to see her. Brings back lovely memories of Aunt Dorothy and her home and the cousins in Marseilles. I often come home that way from John's, and then pass by the cemetery in Seneca. Just like Dad would have done! lol

No news is good news around here. Stay warm!

Kathleen

One of the Best Cats Ever

What a rotten day! Midge wasn't feeling well so I took her to vet Saturday and he kept her. It was a liver problem. Her blood work was off a bit with liver numbers earlier in the summer and she recently became very lethargic, sleeping all the time. We had some things to try, but she didn't make it through last night. One of the best cats ever. She passed away at the vet's office, the same place I picked her up 9 years ago, and it was love at first sight. She and Bernie were good buds, and maybe he is giving her a pat right now. What a good, fun girl she was. She had a good life and was much loved and spoiled. I wish all cats could have that. Sweet dreams sassy whirly girl! I wish we could have had you a lot longer.

Here she is at her sassy best, a little high on catnip in her fave camo chair. She loved being outside.

She was a sassy girl and had a coat like velvet and a french pedicure.

She was super nosy and always in your business.

She ruled the roost.

She liked whipped cream.

She was a good helper in the garden. It was HER garden.

She was special to Mom. And to all of us.

She liked to make me re-plant my onion sets and lots of other things . . . over and over. 

She and Finn were buds sometimes . . .  other times, look out! Just like all siblings.

She did not like to be disturbed during her naps.

She loved her zinnias.

She was very photogenic.

She was tough. 

She loved Mom the best.

She did not like hot weather . . . and she could be a little dramatic. 

She liked to help Bernie read the paper.

Blustery Sunday

Blustery Sunday.

Leaves blowing.

Cat snoring.

Homemade soup.

Thermostat down.

Flannel sheets.

Phone rings

and rings

and rings.

Do not disturb.

Some day I will catch on to my family's ways. Mom was staying in bed a lot, complaining of a sore back. I kept asking her how it was doing, worrying, was she feeling better, blah blah blah. Sometimes I am painfully slow on the uptake. I finally say if your back is hurting for no reason we better make a doctor's appointment, then a sudden dawning . . . wait a minute! I ask Mom if she fell again. Confession time. Yes, it was in the kitchen. The floor was slippery. What the hell man!? I thought we agreed she wouldn't go off on her walker alone! She would wear gait belt! Apparently I was the only one in on the agreement. I ask Joe if he thinks it is a good idea not to tell me these things?! Joe: "Mom didn't want me to tell you." I ask again if he thinks it is a good idea. I'm pretty sure he is clear now that it is NOT a good idea to keep the secrets from Kathleen. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Mom and Joe have always had secrets so why do I expect things to change now? Anyway she is improving, albeit slowly.

Her birthday is coming up soon, she will be 81.

November is a nice month for days off. Two at Thanksgiving, we get election day off too, but I'm moonlighting working at the courthouse, and Veteran's Day. A not so fun part of a new job is going from 5 weeks vacation to 2 weeks. But lots of holidays help a lot.

Nothing too exciting going on around here. Took 3 days off, a Thursday Friday Monday, worked 2
around here on yardwork and housework, fall stuff, then ran to John's and on another blustery
Sunday the power was out for about 4 hours. What do you do in Streator, IL when the power goes
out? There was (rusty) ping pong and reading and how does John not have Scrabble or Cribbage!
And . . .

A super easy puzzle.

Watching this solar powered doohickey go round and round.

Chillax and try to beam yourself up. Sweet Hera. I was deeply disturbed to see a TV show titled
 "My Big Fat Pet Makeover"! She is just big boned. 

Do a super hard puzzle! A real beauty.

Play with the kitties. 

According to the power outage update recording 750 people in Streator were out of power (just the whiners prolly are included in that number.). Some of us just tough it out. Anyway I think all 750+ people were at Casey's buying beer and junk food. Maybe they weren't all gambling, not sure. John didn't want anything . . .

That's all folks. Happy Halloween. 

Kathleen 

September

I don't know where the summer went! Spent some time pulling out my garden stuff and some weeds along the fence line last night and am paying for it today. Ouch. I gotta get in shape . . . a different one! Missing my garden tomatoes already. And my zinnias.  Never did get any peppers.

Mom had a visit to the cardiologist today for a pacemaker check. Joe took her, and all is well. Apparently she had some sort of "incident" in April. Since I was not present at the appointment no one thought to ask what sort of incident.  What the hell?! I'm not going to start taking off work for routine appointments until it becomes necessary, hopefully a long ways off! We are so lucky Joe is able to take her to appointments and stay with her during the day. I would go bonkers being home so much but Joe seems content. Mom is able to stay by herself for short periods so he is able to get out and about. Mom was supposed to get some sort of box to plug into the phone line to monitor the pacemaker, but we never got it. The doctor's office is going to "check it out". They say she should have gotten it when she left the hospital. I'm pretty sure I would have noticed something like that. I'm going to call once a week for a while to follow up. Then it will be twice a week . . . well you get the picture. She has another appointment with the cardiologist in 6 months, just routine. The visiting nurse and the bath aide both finished up last week too.

Started today out at the dentist, getting a new crown. All done with the endodontist and my new insurance is good, thank God! Speaking of insurance it seems crazy it is coming up on 3 years since I lost my job and my insurance. I had routine tests at that time, before I lost it, anything the doc thought I should have, and arghhhhhhh I was to repeat some of those tests in 3 years! Wow did that go by quick! Darn it.

Had mom and Joe over to John's for a meal a couple of weeks ago. Mom did well, but she was awfully tired when she got home. I'd like her to get out more but she has other thoughts. Her appetite is good and she is in a fine mood. She has always been a homebody, and seems quite content.

I had a couple of fun outings over to John's for the Quarter Auction at his work, and to help out with the annual rummage sale. We are both so lucky to have fun, good humored co-workers. Lots of laughs when I go over to his place to help out.

I pulled into the parking lot one morning and my younger co-worker (I am the senior in our office lol arghhh how did that happen?!), was looking in her rear view mirror, putting on her make-up and fluffing up her hair, and I had to laugh. I look in the mirror before I leave the car not to put on make-up, but just wanting to make sure that I remembered to comb my hair! LOLOL

Nothing exciting to report, but no news is great news around these parts!

Kathleen

August

I'm not sure where the summer went! July went by in the blink of an eye.

Mallaney Reunion yesterday. A nice turnout, but we certainly missed some of the cousins and Uncle Geo. Mom and Uncle Lee were the oldsters yesterday. We had a great meal and a fine time was had by all. Mom's hearty appetite surprised me and was good to see. I gotta say, Mom was sleeping pretty heavily last night, the day wore her out! Good for her to get out into the fresh air and sunshine.

John has invited us over for the annual fish fry, so maybe another outing for mother next weekend.

I had my crown lengthened, regretfully it has nothing to do with being royal. No pain except for my pocketbook. Several more visits to the endodontist and then to my regular dentist. Good times people . . . good times! I must add that drills that don't make the drilling sound are awesome!

It was 40 years ago on the night of the reunion that I made my first ever slide, into home, and my spike got caught on an upturned corner of home plate and I shattered my ankle. I was in shock, but Mom told me (somewhat disapprovingly) that I screamed every curse word known to man very loudly. Oops. My first hospitalization (6 days!) and surgery and a screw in that ankle and I've limped ever since! LOL I was sweet 16 (but I knew all the swear words)  and had that big cast halfway up my thigh and I couldn't drive and it was soooo hot. ARGHHH  Then John found this cute kitten and brought it home, and it had fleas and well  . . . I don't want to think about that anymore! And whatever happened to that kitten . . .?  And then I walked into school on the first day with my crutches and hit the shiny waxed floor and my crutches did the splits and wow what a way to start the school year.  And I never slid again. Crazy I played competitively for 30 more years and never slid again, but somehow I managed! Oh the memories. Yeah, I was out by a mile. I know you were wondering.

A good tomato and zucchini season, but the bell pepper plants were a waste of money! They did not grow an inch. They did produce some wee peppers, but the plants were so short the wee peppers were on the ground. Bazillions of banana peppers though, on only 2 plants, so that helps.

Isn't it weird, how if you roll out of bed and want to get your grocery shopping out of the way, you do a quick wash, brush your teeth, slick your hair down with  a wet washrag, throw on the clothes you took off before bed, and off you go the store, and you see at least 6 people you know and you talk to them all and you are gone for an hour and a half.  Last week I took a shower and put on clean clothes and was in and out of Jewel and home in 15 minutes. Please tell me I'm not the only middle aged woman who does the wet washrag smush hair down thing . . . ?  On the weekends only of course! lol

Super busy at work with school starting. Days are flying by, and I like it. I know more than I did last year. At least about teaching licenses and stuff. As for the rest of life I am not sure.

Peace.

Kathleen A.