Coreen, thanks for the post and one of those dudes that signed that Declaration is one of my ancestors. Well, I'm almost certain he is. He's one right at the top of the list.
I've been to three more stores today and I think I'm now ready for my celebration. I can even manage to make an easy meal difficult. I was going to have burgers. Then I decided to add hot dogs also. Then I decided to make some homemade chili for the dogs. Then I decided to make cream cheese poppers cuz everyone loves my poppers. Then I decided to add corn. Then.......... Hell, there are only about 6 people invited, if they all show up.
I'm in the wrong field, I should have been a caterer. That's where my real talents are.
We took Emma out to breakfast this morning, stopped by some friends for a short time on the way back, then I came home and made spaghetti with meat sauce (which we never tire of). I figure the sauce is red, the spaghetti is white, and the triple berry muffins I made for Emma (which she won't see until she wakes up from her nap) are blue (with blue wrappers). There you have it: Red, White and Blue.
How much more patriotic could I have made that meal! Maybe not all American (we're probably the only people in the country not barbecuing today), but still, our hearts are in the right place..
Hope you all have a wonderful fourth of July. We're having nice weather here, so I'm sure we'll suffer through the loudest fireworks on the market late into the night (or should I say into the early morn). They love their holidays here in the heart of Texas!
Coreen, a lovely post and so timely. I am enjoying the flags you posted since we don't have one. Is the one on the top picture your flag? I am watching an old movie, Yankee Doodle Dandy - so I am being a little patriotic.
Chloe, sounds like a great old american dinner - spaghetti- so what if we borrowed it from the Italians. Hmmm. red, white and blue - what a great idea to plan your meal in our National colors. We are having BBQ chiken from the store (Smiths does it better than I can). I am boiling some corn on the cob - its white corn and we will have some red strawberries with cream and I will throw in a few blueberries to top it off.
Carol, your dinner sounds wonderful. You might want to think about what you just said - you would be a great caterer. If I were there and doing a dinner, I would sure hire you.
Coreen, I have not read your declaration of Independence, but will do that before bed. Thanks. A great idea.
Ivy, I finished the book "March" last night. It got better the last 1/3 of the book. What an imagination Geraldine Brooks had - to take a piece of the book "Little Women" and write about the father who was absent from the home during the telling of the story of the mother and 4 sisters.
I think I was 13 or 14 when I read Little Women. It really made an impression on me. I think I have mentioned this before, but when Beth (the 3rd sister) died in the book, I cried and my mother and dad talked about taking me to a psychiatrist. It is sad when parents do not realize the developmental issues that children and teens go through. I loved reading and spent most of my summers reading. We lived in the country and parents both worked, so there was little else to do.
One of my favorite writers is Anne Tyler. I found one of her books that I have not read at the library. So am starting it tonight.
I have been cutting John's hair for 18-19 years and I stuck him with the tip of the scissors on the back of the neck, for the first time, a short while ago- no blood but a little red mark. He may not want me to cut his hair again It was totally accidental. I don't cut his hair if we are having an argument. LOL I also trim his beard and eyebrows. Isn't it strange how in our older years, we grow hair where we would rather not.
Your meal sounds delicious! I loved that movie, Yankee Doodle Dandy, when I was a kid. I watched it over and over on TV during the summers when I was off school - that and every other old movie that was ever made. Loved them all. I used to sing along with James Cagney, when he'd sing that title song (pretty sure that I still remember all the words). People were 'so' patriotic back then.
"what a great idea to plan your meal in our National colors."
Ha Jan... I didn't exactly plan it. Didn't think of it until I decided to make Emma those triple berry muffins. Just lucky I happen to have the blue baking cups too.
Your colors all worked out too, with the barbecue sauce (assuming it's somewhat red), and the blue berries and strawberries... and oh yeah, the white corn. Way to go!
Well, all my company is gone and we had a very nice day. We ate and took the pontoon out for a cruise. We were cruising through one of my favorite spots and I broke out singing Summertime and the living is easy. It was as if, at that time, I was living that song. Does anyone know who first made that song popular?
Morning. I had a lot of fun yesterday but I did have to work pretty hard for it but do we really ever rest on our days off? Maybe if I had an entire week off I could find a day to rest.
With all these new family responsibilities that I can't avoid, I have finally realized that I can no longer allow my job to take up my entire life. I have to do something about it and that might even be why I'm having this experience.
When I accepted my job I wasn't even asked to take call, much less do it 24/7/365. I just started doing it and it snowballed. Much of what I deal with could wait until I get back. Unfortunately some of my peeps don't seem to be able to make the decision of what can and should wait.
If these inmates were at home they couldn't get thru to a health practitioner to get anything started unless they went to an ER and waited for many hours. Some would do that, some would not.
Happy to see that it seems as if everyone's 4th went well...Here it was a pleasant day at my friend's home...and though it was 90+, there was a breeze, not humid yet, even this a.m. its already close to 80, but still not really humid, but we are being warned that it is only going to get hotter this entire week with lots of humidity....hopefully it will not last long...How do you guys in the South deal with the humidity....it drains all energy....
Jan, enjoy your trip to OK....& yes, would like to see any things you find of interest along the way...Glad you could see the Macy's extravaganze...I suspect it is one of the more elaborate fireworks displays...and yes, Jan, the flag in the top pic is at my house...I just put it out again this a.m....Don't fly any of those event flags, only fly the stars & stripes...one of my pet peeves always was those people who put out those event flags & don't fly the stars & stripes....
I can't believe I will be going to see my babies (Jeremy, Steph.& Lauren) tomorrow. I am so excited. I love Chicago. I forgot to order cooler weather so I think the temps. are about the same as down here. I'll try to take bunches of pictures.
"How do you guys in the South deal with the humidity"
Ha Coreen - we stay inside!
Air Conditioning removes the humidity from the air, so it's easy to cool down the inside here. There's no place here that doesn't keep the temperature chilling here, doesn't matter where you go. Same in the car, the ac gets rid of humidity quickly. Here you keep your thermostat on your preferred temperature all year long. I joke that we only have two temperatures here in Houston: Hot or Cold.
Since temperature control is our business, that's the main reason we live here - that and the fact that we love it here. Houston has been good to us, and for that we are most grateful.
Unfortunately you must leave the house at some time...& just going into & out of a car, which once it leaves the garage, if it is parked anywhere for any time, it takes forever to cool it down....by the time it does you are where you want to be....
And the humidity drains all your energy...So far we have not had oppressive humidity, even today it is now 92, but the humidity is still only 25%/dew point 56...There is a slight NW wind, 5-10 mph yesterday & today, which coming from the North is keeping the humidity low, once the wind starts coming from the South, the humidity will go up to really uncomfortable...
The AC has been on since May here...a necessary evil...since I really do not like AC...I keep the thermostats at 73-74, both upstairs & down, but could never live full-time in AC controled environment...Not getting fresh air...Do not like keeping the house closed up...
Not sure what the cost of electricity is in the south....my latest bill for last month was $295, my friends are hovering above $300 as well with similar size homes... partially as a result of rate increases here. My house is about 3,000 sq ft...
When I built my house 12 years ago, electric avg $100/month & in the summer $200, now the avg is $175/month (w/o AC running) & so far about $300 for the AC months...Last summer my highest electric for 1 month was $360...This year we will top that shortly....
And by the way my family was a union plumbing/heating/AC contractor for many years, (now retired) mostly industrial/commercial buildings, they did not install home AC....
Guess you just acclimated to your environment, & guess that's why I like the Northeast where we do have distinct seasonal changes....
... hubby had to consult with a contractor that flew in from Michigan last week, and it was in the 80's that day, but he said it felt like a sauna to him. Hubby laughed and told him he was here on a cool day, it's usually worse.
We do mostly commercial work, but we do residential occasionally too.
I messed up a couple of sentences so badly that they made no sense (in that post I deleted above), that I had to demo it and start over. ....................
Oh yeah, you're right Coreen - you don't leave your windows open here. The ac does work very quickly though, and therefore shuts off often. Even in my car, it's cool by the time I get out of the parking lot. Maybe they super-size them here or something! 'Course I never leave it in the sun all that long.
If I'm not working out in the sun, then I'm not hot. I'm sure you're right about me being acclimated too, because I lived my whole life in Southern California (although it's not humid there - just the opposite, but hot).
That's probably why I hate the cold so much - and I do mean HATE. :)
just got into the Holiday Inn Express in Weatherford OK. A small town in western OK. Their claim to fame is that Jim Stafford, astronaut is from here. They do have a small university here. There is major wind here so guess what they have - lots of those wind turbines -surrounding the town. We will be on I 40 for most of the trip. I 40 was built along Route 66. We have been on the road for 7 hours. We used to drive from Alb to Tulsa straight through - about 11 hours - now we drive it in 2 days.
Mary, I hear the excitement in your words - you are going to see your new grandbaby, Lauren Elizabeth. I look forward to pictures.
It is hot here in OK too. More humidity than in Alb.
I am trying to get some pictures on our trip. The problem is that John is one of those road warriors that wants to get from point A to Point B in as little time as possible, and we do not have to rush. When he is driving I have to take pics out the windows. When I am driving, I will stop and take some pics. He likes to drive - but I insist on him taking some time away from the driving every few hours.
Most people in Alb have water-cooled units that cost a lot less on electricity to run - but do bring up the water bill a little. They work really well here b/c of the low humidity. We have the kind of ac you all have - that is what the house had when we bought it 4 years ago. We are thinking of putting in a water- cooled unit too and having both- to cut down on expenses. With the water-cooled units you can have windows open - although not too efficient with too many open. People here call these "swamp coolers."
I agree with Chloe about staying indoors away from the heat. Hubs says summer for us is like winter up North. There's just times when you hunker down and don't go out. To-and-from the car doesn't count. Also, I have a sun shield for my car windshield when it's parked outdoors. It helps some...at least I can touch the steering wheel.
We do have changes of seasons here - turning of the leaves - it just comes a little later. I've grown to look forward to golden leaves on my trees for Thanksgiving. Up north, my trees were bare by Thanksgiving.
Growing up, my BFF's (Bear Woman) Dad owned a heating and air conditioning business out of their house. Many times I overheard her Mom field calls from panicked patrons when either their A/C or heat failed at a peak extreme weather period. One summer, my bro worked for BW's Dad as a helper. It was hard work he said, and he didn't especially like it (Dad was a tough task-master, as I knew first-hand.)
Their family was my second family growing up. I probably spent more time there than in my own house - especially in the summer - they had an in-ground pool!
Mary, I didn't see your post this morning when I was here (I don't know how I missed it). I can't wait to hear about how your trip is going, and I can only imagine how excited you must be. I hope you have a wonderful trip, and I know you will bond beautifully with little Lauren.
Good to hear from you Jan! You're smart to break up your trip into two days. Gives you time to enjoy it without being in such a hurry - which can be exhausting.
And, like Ivy, I am so glad that you have your computer with you on this trip. It's so good that you can keep in touch.
Y'all, we didn't have AC here growing up here and I often wonder how we lived thru it. We had a big atic fan in the hall ceiling. It sounded like a jet airplane taking off. We slept with our windows open and there was a gale force wind that fan sucked in.
When Mary and I were teenagers daddy closed in the garage to make a den and he put a window unit it there. That was luxury.
There was the most beautiful sunset here tonight. Watching it reminded me of a song or maybe they are just the words to a song, "Nobody does it Better" I am referring to God and the sunset. I got some pictures.
For the next few nights, we are staying in Claremore, OK. This is one of the towns in which I grew up. It had a pop. of about 5-7 thous. when I was a teenager. I finished hi school there. It also claims to be where Will Rogers is from. The Will Rogers Memorial is there. The man who wrote the book that the stage play and movie, "Oklahoma" are based upon was from Claremore. If you ever watch the movie, Oklahoma, the beginning of the movie takes place in what was once a train station and there is a sign in a scene that says, "Claremore" A funny thing about that train station scene is that there are mountains in the background. There are no mountains in Oklahoma.
Carol, A window unit was a luxury indeed. In my own house, we didn't have A/C in the house either. Another reason why I "escaped" to BW's house as often as I could. Her dad, being in the business, had "Central Air" as it was called. That was a rarity as well as a luxury.
The last year or so of my dad's life when he was bed-ridden my mom put window unit in their room. One the hottest nights, we kids would be allowed to crowd in there with our blankets on the floor.
Well I popped up early this morning. Yesterday was probably my best day for getting a little rest and I still got in mowing two yards. Well, the yard at my house was already pretty much mowed, I just had to finish it off. My roomie used a push mower to do a good bit the difficult acre at my house. I told her she was nuts but she said she wanted the exercise. She is only in her early 40s and I do remember that when I was in my forties I could kick ass and take names. Now, I have trouble just taking names.
Y'all keep a good thought/prayer for Mary getting to her destination safely. She's already encountered a few glitzes. She seems to have worked thru those.
I'm gearing up for my SF fight this week. Amasing enough the SW actually called me yesterday to tell me that SF's condition was the same. I guess our last little war did make a slight impression.
I told SW that I had my proposal for care all ready and that I hoped he would arrange a meeting with the treatment team and one that they could give me some prior warning of. He asked me to fax the proposal over. I told him I would prefer to present it in person. He said he hoped he could get this Doc to let them know when he would be there. I said that if I can make it, as busy as I am, then I think he should be able to make it.
I've done my research and I'm ready. They are going to insist he go to an assisted living facility or get 24 hour sitters. He doesn't need that yet. I have things set up where he will have help, either in his home, or available for 24 hours a day.
I've checked with some other mental health professionals here who advised me that this Doc has no legal grounds to make such a demand and some told me to lie. Making any false statements is not something I can do. My proposal provides for safe care and if it turns out to be something that doesn't work out to provide safe care then we will go for plan B.
As long as SF is not driving, operating heavy equipment or operating his check book, he will be OK, or as OK as any of the rest of us might be.
Yesterday when I visited SF, I told him of my plan to get him out. He did say that he finally, after 23 days of incarceration on that mental ward, saw his Shrink. He told me that were insisting on 24 hour/day sitters. He said he doesn't need that and didn't even get that where he was. I told him I had a plan and he would have to trust me. He smiled.
We were sitting in the day room talking, which was full of the other patients who, from my limited assessment, did seem to need 24 hour/day care. Well there was this one little lady who seemed to be pretty with it. She's a little fiesty one. It seems she may be in similar circumstances to SF. The other day she overheard some of my converstation with SF and she yelled out for me to call our Senator David Vitter for help. I told her I wasn't exactly crazy about him.
Yesterday she noticed I was whispering to SF and she is somewhat aware that I am trying to break him out. She kept coming over to this trash can right behind us to pretend to throw things out so she could hear what I was whispering to SF. She even leaned over real close so she could hear me whisper. I was on to her. Poor baby. I hope she has someone to help her break out. Just talking with her I can tell she is a pretty sharp lady.
I reminded SF that I had an appointment with his attorney today and wouldn't be able to get in a visit with him. The appointment is at the same time as visiting hours. He asked if he could go. I will call them at the hospital to see if I can get him a pass to see his attorney but I'm pretty sure they will deny me. They will probably think I won't bring him back. I told SF that if he couldn't go with me today that I would try to get his attorney in to see him at the hospital.
We must get this POA set up because there are multiple "wolves at the door" who want their overdue bills paid and we can't check them out or pay them until we have that POA and have the bookkeeper listed on his business account.
As you may be able to see here, I have now progressed from my, I'm overwhelmed with all this mess and don't know what to do, mode to a, I'm ready for war, mode. Wish me luck.
And Jan, my being on call 24/7/365, it never was in my job description. I did it because I felt it was best for my patients and really it was/is. Only thing is that after 5 years of this, it is killing me and a dead me is no help to anyone. I really get no appreciation for this sacrifice and they probably even think I'm a fool to do it.
Another objective this week is to finally put an end to this nonsense. I will tell my boss, at the hospital, that from now on, they can call the ER Docs, who are paid to be working, to ask for them to cover the situation. I will allow them to continue to call me just for diabetics. I wouldn't trust anyone else to know how to handle them within a correctional facility setting. It's just too different.
My blood pressure for a while has been off the chart and I was taking two different BP meds. For the last couple of days I've had to stop one of my BP meds because I was running too low. Even without one, I was only 106/60 yesterday. I think that is a sign that I'm on the right tract.
Sorry to tell you Coreen that I think I heard that your temps and humidity are both going up this week. You can just think of us and also remember, for you, it won't last forever.
OK. we're being tampered with again. I had three or four long posts here and came back and they are all gone. They were here one moment and gone the next. I wish I knew why this is happening. Maybe they will show back up again. If not, I did save them on Word. Don't screw with me today Blogger. I'm not in the mood.
Just heard that tar balls have hit the Texas beaches. I've seen some sludge in the river that I have never seen before. We do have barges that come up the river from the Gulf. They may be carrying this stuff up the river. I hope it is not coming in with the tide shift.
Now that's weird! When I posted that comment, your comment wasn't here Jan (but Carol's was). Then after I entered it, yours turned up - saw it with my own eyes.
Just did a quick search, and this is all the came up - but I don't have much time this morning.
"Missing Comments and/or Comment Count Wrong I've been seeing a lot of issues with peoples Comments missing or the Comment Count being incorrect. So we'll start to collate them all here and report any feedback here from Google. Please ensure that you leave the following info 1) The Link to your Blog and the link to your old blog if you have changed URL's recently 2) When did the comments disappear? Missing Comments and/or Comment Count Wrong
Oh lordy! Now my earlier comment is missing, and one popped up from Carol this morning that wasn't there a few minutes ago. This really is crazy! Comments coming and going!
That beutiful new pink did not scare me away...jsut been real busy doing what should have been done by others.....returned from ohio to get some paper work done, and right back to clevland...trying to save what was going to be a nice project.....
Carol, please tell Mary that it doesn't look good as of this moment for our get together.....
I have not read any of the threads for a while...will try a little later on...before I do...here is to hoping that everyone of U are fine, and happy as can be.....
To make matters worse, my internets is not up and running, had to come to the library to try and catch up with U all....i missed all of u and have been thinking about you.....
I will try again to post a test comment...right now there are some comments from Carol, Chloe & 1 from Solar...the one I did earlier this a.m. is not showing on mine...
Carol, I hope you get some help from SF's atty...& that SF can sign a POA for you so that you can start doing what you need to....
As to lost comments. I wrote some last night and when I hit "post comment" they showed up. Later in the night when I went on the blog they were not there. Today my comments I made last night are all there.
We are in Claremore OK. I have an appt tomorrow with an attorney here to take care of the sale of a piece of property I am buying from my sis. I actually own 1/2 of it and am buying her share. We have worked on this together since my dad died 5 years ago and he left the property jointly to us. It has been a problem and I am anxious to end the business partnership and get back to being just sisters.
Hang in there Carol with your SF. This is like a 2nd job for you. Keep taking names LOL.
Coreen, You have inspired me with your recent post. We are going out in a little while and check out what is going on in Claremore. I want to take some little jaunts down memory lane - like the old HS I attended, and places I used to go around here. I have been in the area many times in recent years but didn't take the time to come visit some of these places.
Mary, my thoughts are with you too. Looking forward to - 'hoping' you'll let us know when you arrive. You're going to have such a great time once you get there.
Carol, here's hoping the atty & you can get some things done & soon...
For you hot weather lovers...it was 103 on the bank clock at 4 p.m., car also was 103 when I left my office, it cooled down to 97 when I arrived at home...not only Hot, but humid!!!
The official Stfd airport temp today is only 98...but all the local towns are reporting 100+
Jan, I will be looking forward to any pics of your journeys....remember us Northeasterners, sometime forget that there is a whole big country between the coasts.....
I know Route 66 is for the most part gone, but if you pass it & there is any old america there, that would be a great find too...
Ok, the hottest its been in ages here!...& I come across this Q&A with an 'author'? of a book claiming that AC is the cause of just about everything negative...including putting Republicans in the White House...
Figures this is at Salon...& if this is not a joke, then I know why I have less & less tolerance for left leaning liberal spouters, telling me that I should stop driving, stop using electricity, AC, spending my $$$ the way I choose to spend, etc....I am sooooo very tired of the liberal ranting/hypocrisy about all things lately...
And oh by the way both this guy who wants to restrict AC & the Salon interviewer are sitting in AC offices...so very typical of those who lecture everyone else....
we had a nice rain here in Claremore, OK this afternoon. We both enjoyed this rare treat (for us who live in NM) so much. We took a ride down "my" memory lane. Drove past a house I lived in during HS, the hospital where I gave birth to 2 babies, and the lake where so many of us teens here in the late 1950's had lots of fun times. Rode out to the local university that at one time was Oklahoma Military Academy- I went to several formal balls there as a teen.
Well, I saw SF's attorney today. He tried to talk with the Coroner, he tried to talk with the psychologist and he got nowhere.
SF's nephew called me as I was leaving the attorney's office. He went to the Shrink's office and tried to talk to him. He got nowhere. He left his phone number and asked to have Shrink call him back. He then called back to the hospital and talked with a nurse and the nurse informed him that they were fixing to put SF out AMA. That means against medical advice. They can't do that now that they haven't given me any head's up to put my plan into action. They wouldn't even give me an appointment to go over my plan for care yet. I have to have time to get groceries, get the lady we want, hired and be ready.
My cellphone rang and it was the hospital. I didn't answer it. I checked the message and they told me to call them back that it was very important. I could tell they wanted to be rid of him and soon. They can't do that to me. He was totally nuts and incompetent a couple of hours ago and they are going to now say we don't want him anymore. I will not talk with them tonight or before I talk with his attorney tomorrow.
I will not sign him out AMA without talking to his attorney first and until I have the plan ready. Can you people believe this???? It's obvious that his Shrink is scared or something or someone.
Actually I can't sign SF out AMA since I don't have his POA. They already informed me that, on the mental ward, the health care POA I have is not valid. He can't sign himself out AMA since he was committed twice now by the Coroner. It will be up to his Shrink to agree to discharge him.
I will go to work tomorrow and give the hospital a call, after I talk to SF's attorney. They will need to approve of my plan and then I will put it into action and bring him home. Does that sound reasonable to you guys?
Got some sleep last night and time to clear my head. I'm sorry about dumping all this on you guys but right now I'm feeling that you guys are just about all I've got. You may find that kinda of pityful but....
After a night's rest, I'm thinking that I smell something rotten in Denmark. That's an old expression I've heard around here. I haven't gotten anywhere with my trying to get a meeting with those people at the hospital or trying to get some guidance on exactly the formula required to spring SF. I've been treated like I'm the enemy. It's the strangest thing I've ever seen. It has to have some meaning that I haven't totally figured out.
When I tried to get SF out to see his lawyer yesterday, they wouldn't cooperate. I told the lady I talked to on the phone, who I think was the unit manager, that I needed to get him to his lawyer so he can set up something where we can conduct his business. I told her he has been incarcerated since June 12 and there are wolves at the door. She was not a bit too pleased with my using the word incarcerated. So that sorta slipped out. Hey, it's a word that came easy to me.
Carol, you are up mighty early. In OK I am on same time zone as you. I couldn't sleep. I wish I had some suggestions or knowledge to share to help your SF but all I can offer is an ear.
With the lawyer, I didn't feel like I got anything going. It wasn't that I didn't feel like he was trying to help but he really didn't know which way to turn. I did make a few calls and due to the HIPPA laws, got nada. I finally told him that I felt sure that when SF's reimbursement time ran out, he would probably be cured. The hospital seems to want him in a home. That Shrink wanted that years ago when SF was still fairly active in his farming business.
I talked with all the folkes that do participate in his life everyday, in his hometown, and none of them agree that it is time to put him away. We all agree that his driving had to stop and his trying to deal with his finances, alone, had to stop. Those problems we took care of. He also needs access to help throughout the day. I have that covered.
The hospital's wanting to kick him to the curb last night seems to have come after the nephew went to the Shrink's office. I really don't think my seeing the lawyer had time to make any waves. That's were the stench starts to come in.
All this mess first started when these family members swooped in to help. I really thought that the nephew who was involved yesterday was the only one I could trust. I'm not sure now. His solution, again, was to get him to a nursing home for a short period. I was so rattled yesterday evening that I couldn't think straight but now I'm starting to see some light.
It may be soon approaching the time for SF to go into some facility but he does have some things to take care of first. I would like for him to buy into the plan. He should have that option available.
I do plan to go to work today. I will call his lawyer for advice. I will then contact the hospital. I have the lady who will be helping on call. I have notified all my peeps in SF's home town to let them know we may be arriving home soon. I will try to get him to the bank and to his lawyers to set up the necessary paperwork to take care of his business.
I will not, without some legal advice to the contrary, check him out AMA. I don't know what kind of consequences that might bring into play. Will his Medicare pay for his stay if he leaves AMA? They didn't give either SF or myself the option of doing that earlier so why now??
Carol, I can't understand why you just don't go over and pick up your SF. I thought that's what you wanted. (?) I would have gone to pick him up on the first call. They're giving you what you asked for Carol - they're tired of fighting. The attorney call probably helped your cause
Carol, it looks like a long road ahead for you with your'e father......take it one day at a time...if you can...pratice deep breathing (seriouse) for one minute on the hour...i do this when my grandfather clock on my wrist hits on the 13th min....
This helps me concentrate and keep it all in perspective...i do this when under stress or just around really stupid people....better than puching them out.....just kidding but sure do feel like some times,
chloe,
Sound like Emma is growing up real fast now...she will be lots of fun, and lots to keep up with...love her......hugs for the both of You....and for my hoss of course...hey that a song no?
Been pretty hot and humid, just finished with my work out, and took "candy girl" (my new-old bike) for a ride....at the park there was no one around, cept the daycare people and the kids...stopped to talk to them......
love kids from 5 yrs old...to about 12...then U can keep them until they are young adults or so.!!
I take the heat, like I do the cold....don't care, just another day...the humidity is another thing...can't stand it....but don't think about it much....all in the cycle of life....time..and weather........
Never been big on celebrating the 4th...do enjoy the picnics that I sometimes go on...but just another day mostly...ok going to catch up a little...will scan the threads...
Oooooh Chloe, you really misunderstood what I wanted and I don't think you give me much credit for having any sense at all. I didn't want to immediately take possession of an 81 year old, 200+ lb man, after dark, after a long day at a difficult job, with no help and with no preparation time. Then I would have had to haul him up dozens of stairs and down again. Now if I would have wanted that, I should have been admitted to that unit full of half brain dead people.
All I wanted to do is to rescue an elderly gentleman, who worked his ass off for close to 70 years, from a place where most of the people were drooling. I wanted to give him an opportunity to try to spend a little more time, in his own home and get his business affairs in order. I made this all clear to his captors and to SF. I needed some prep time. I had to prepare his home with food also. I couldn't do that ahead of time or it would have gone bad.
I made it perfectly clear to the people running that unit that I wanted for someone to tell me what the plan was, allow me to present a proposal, discuss why it would or would not work and then give me at least a week for preparation. They did this, dump the old man, to me as a punishment and they were well aware of what they were doing.
I wouldn't have even tried to rescue him if the people who spend the most time around him didn't think that he could still stay at home for a while longer. This has been a nightmare and one that I did not want or need.
I left the house before 7 and just got home. Maggie was past shaking her leg. This morning, I took care of some things at work, then left to pick up SF. My wonderful new roomie served as the chauffeur, thanks to Solar for the suggestion. She was on vacation. I think I will adopt her.
As soon as we left the hospital we hit the lawyer's office. I have full POA to handle any and all affairs including his corporation and health care decisions. We went to eat then hit three different banks. That took forever. Our wonderful little bookkeeper, we will keeper her, met us at all banks. She is a whippersnapper. Hell, she can even check phone lines since SF's was dead when we got to his house.
Closing in on the end of the day, I remembered I did have a poor puppy who hadn't been out since early this morning. I then started to freak out. She didn't volunter for this shit. SF lives 40+ miles from me.
I still had to run to the grocery store. I did some aerobic shopping, making my basket turns on two wheels. People were moving out of my way. I think I left some rubber in a few places.
SF was great all day but the minute he hit his house, I noticed this stubborn, AH streak come over him. Ut oh, I thought. This may end up being a very short test run but we did get everything that will be necessary for him to move into a NH if needed and for me to put him there.
Carol, My father-in-law was the same way, and he eventually did get impossible to care for. There comes a point when you just can't do it anymore, and it's important to be able to make that choice when necessary.
I'm glad to hear that you got POA, so you'll have the ability to make that decision, should the time come. We're all behind you on this, no matter what.
Sorry to hear little Maggie had to suffer too. This must be hard with both your sisters home, and glad to hear that your roomie is willing to step in to help, when needed.
Yep Chloe, no real sisters here but today, I adopted another one. She was a Godsend. I don't usually, can't, ask anyone for help. Never been able to. I'm not sure exactly why. What Solar said about maybe my new roomie could help popped into my head this morning. My roomie was on vacation. I asked and she graciously agreed to help. I couldn't have done it without her today. She not only did all the driving, I was too nervous to, but she was a great support just being with me. I also wanted a witness of anything that went down at the hospital and someone to slap me if I started to get out of hand.
At the hospital, the SW was the best he has ever been and I met two of the nurses who couldn't have been nicer. It all went very well. It was like I wasn't even at the same place.
SF popped out of that unit with the biggest smile on his face. Shortly after he got into the car, I asked him what day, date and month it was. He answered correctly without hesitation. I looked over at roomie and she was very impressed. Never of us were too sure of the answers and we haven't been in captivity.
Ya know Chloe, SF might be around 250 also. He's pretty solid.
What I also wanted to say, was that as long as your house is bieng used by someone that needs a place to live, why could they not help take care of him there? It would make it a lot easier for you to look in on him.....U have decided that (tag) u are the one that will do it all...
the reason that you weren't able to ask for help...is for the same reasons that I could not....your a giver, a doer and will keep giving....and doing...just the way it is...i find it very hard to ask for anything at all...not cos im ashamed by asking...just not used to asking....weird huh?
It's is weird Solar but we should learn to ask for help and accept it. People usually do want to help and it does make them feel good when they can help. When we don't ask or let someone help, we rob them of the pleasure of that feeling of giving.
And no way would I put SF in my house. He would be a full time job and I wouldn't do that to my worst enemy. The year I spent taking care of mom, and him, almost did in our relationship for good.
SF and my relationship was best when I was out working along side of him with the animals or in the field. We were the best of friends out on the range. He turned into the jerkiest of all men when he came into the house. In the house, women were just there to serve his needs. Barf, barf.
"That's probably why I hate the cold so much - and I do mean HATE."
Chloe, I had missed some comments earlier and have gone back to read some. You certainly live in one of the best places for someone who hates the cold.
I don't like extremes of either cold or heat. I have lived in Montana with extreme cold and visited Phoenix in July with extreme heat and I could not live now in either place. I do miss rain and some humidity but NM is a pretty good climate - Not too extreme either way.
Today turned out pretty well for me. It is fun being in a town where I grew up for a short time. I also got some things accomplished that I came for. That feels good.
"You certainly live in one of the best places for someone who hates the cold. "
Now you've made me lol Jan. You know what the winters are like here, and I still manage to complain plenty. People who have moved down here from up north are running around in shorts and flip flops in the middle of winter, when I'm bundled up and freezing . I whine about being cold all winter.
I've missed you - I know you've been here, but not as often. I am 'so' glad you have your own personal laptop now, so you can keep in touch. I hope everything goes as planned on this trip for you.
Don't ya just love techology Solar? Yesterday I spent a significant part of the day yelling at machines. Hey, it felt good and they did have it coming. And have ya even wondered if they have feelings? I swear, there have been times that sweet talking or patting the xerox machine was the only way I made it thru a task.
Lately, those machines are not my friends, especially the phone computers. I get almost to the end of whatever I trying to do, almost to satisfaction and wham, my phone either drops the call or the machine tells me to start over. I swear I can hear laughter coming from somewhere. I'm not sure if it is the machine or our SIMS master up in the sky, but someone is definitely having some fun at my expense.
My Internet thingy was my latest tormentor. It lets me get a long post finished, I hit post and it turns off and I lose the post. I spent about an hour on the phone last night trying to get it replaced. I started on the phone, I was almost thru when it says start over. What?, I thought.
They had mentioned that I could do it faster online. Yeah sure, I'm trying to replace the thingy that gets and keeps me online. After trying to get my replacement on the phone with no success, I thought I would try online because my thingy will work for a short period of time. I went online and they knew I had already started my claim process. Good. Then I got to a place that said, put in your claim number. I never got to the place where they gave me a claim number. Without that claim number, they told me to try again on the phone. Grrrrrrr! No, it's OK. I should have never slammed that weedeater into a tree. I had it coming.
Oh, and the phone company, another machine ya got to talk to. The machine tells you to tell it what's wrong with your phone. I found out yesterday that it doesn't even recognize most of the curse words I tried to use. Huh!
And Iphony didn't want to disturb me yesterday. She quit ringing where I can hear her. I didn't change any of the settings and can't find out why it won't ring where I can hear it. I kept seeing that I had calls where I didn't hear the phone ring. Since they haven't quit calling me from work, Iphony is helping me out by not letting me hear the calls. I guess Iphony is my friend.
Oh, while I was at the lawyer's office, I had SF sign a consent for his medical records. We're requesting all his records from that unit. I'm gonna do a little Medicare audit.
"Bobby Jindal has signed into law one of the more controversial bills from the recent legislative session, one allowing guns to be carried into houses of worship."
I wonder what ministers/priests think about that??
We are getting lots of rain here and flooding. I feel for folks in the northeast who are without electricity in the heat.
We are about finished with our business here. Yesterday, my sister turned up an abstract on the property we own that dates back to 1902. The property was originally part of Indian Territory and owned by the Cherokees - which is part of my ancestery. My dad and mother bought the property in 1971. I am taking the abstract to the attorney this morning - but I want to be sure I get it back. It is an amazing piece of history. One of the signatures on the abstract is the Chief of the Cherokees (deceased now).
John and I both feel kind of lazy today and plan to vacation some.
Carol, there have been shootings in churches. Usually the shootings are either someone who is mentally disturbed or domestic abuse situations. I too wonder what the repercussions of the LA bill will be.
I too hate interacting with a machine. I miss the days when you could call a place of business and actually talk with a person without having to wait while you listen to someone else's idea of good music.
My biggest pet peeve now is calling a person on a cell phone and you get some kind of canned chatter or music while you wait to either talk with them or for the beep where you can leave a message.
Very surprised that i was able to log on....going out in the rain, and all to get a truck started...would not get any gas......waiting for some paper work to come back so I can get back to Ohio.....post this before i read the last few comments....
Coreen, I sure am enjoying the memory lane trip and taking some pictures - the high school, the little library where I spent many delightful hours as a child, hospital etc. hotel where my mother had a "beauty shop."
Jan, your trip down memory lane sounds like it was fun. Wouldn't know how that feels since I have lived in the same town all my life. I had planned to move away on at least a couple of occasions but something always came up and foiled my plan. Mom was one of the signicant foils.
Well, it was my first day of having to run two different three ring circuses at the same time. I had 36 patients today and got calls from just about everyone involved in SF's care, at least once. Wasn't too terribly bad.
My Iphone stopped ringing yesterday. I kept finding all these voicemails on it. At lunch, I went to the AT&T store and found out that it wouldn't ring because this little ringer switch under one of the flaps was turned off. Didn't even know that switch was there and don't exactly know how it got turned off but it was easy to fix. Those darn Iphones don't come with any directions and I can't usually find a 3 year old to ask.
The Internet thingy I spent an hour or so last night ordering a replacement for came in today around 10am. I was just ordering it at 10:30p last night. Wow, that's fast service. They must have dropped it from a satelitte.
Carol, reading your comments makes me realize how much our lives depend on technology.
I continued my memory lane trip today. We drove out in the country to see the house I once lived in. It is still there with the windows and doors boarded up. Up the road is the house my grandad built. The couple who live there let me come in and look around. I took some pics of the outside. It was quite an experience for me. Also drove to another small town where an aunt and cousins once lived and my grandmother lived there for a short time after my grandfather died. The distance between these small towns seemed much greater when I was a child. Took care of some more business today too. All in all it has been a good day and a good trip. We are driving toward home tomorrow. We will spend the night tomorrow in Amarillo - and then motor-motor home Saturday morning.
Carol, I have not seen this thing about the Iranian woman - But I have read other accounts of this kind of thing. It makes me sick. It is hard to believe that can happen today.
Very cool day you had Jan. It is amazing how differently we see things as adult compared to how we saw them as children.
We have missed much of the rain that has been around but the river is rising. Must be from what they got north of here. It is just at flood stage now, which is still not a problem for me.
I have noticed that it seems that karma, both good and bad, has a short turn around these days. I've seen lots of evidence of it lately. I've been getting some good karma. I've also seen some people, who are quite deserving, get some bad karma.
Seems I remember hearing, on C2C, that this would be the case in these up coming days. Anyone else notice anything like this? Or am I the only weirdo here?
Talked with Mary tonight. She is having fun playing grandma. I even saw a Chicago star flashing and she said she did check us out. I told her she could catch up on SF status here since I didn't have another minute of phone time available to keep her up on things. I just counted and I had 54 phone calls today on Iphony.
Carol, I don't know what karma is. To me, some things seem to be based on the families we are born into and what opportunities or limitations come along and the decisions we make along the way. As I age, I am beginning to realize that the way I react to events affects me a lot now. More than anything I am just trying to be more aware of everything going on around me and within me. I truly just want to live in the present as much as I can. Sometimes I am successful in that and sometimes not but at least I am becoming more aware of my life now.
"It is amazing how differently we see things as adult compared to how we saw them as children."
Carol, yuppers - Houses get smaller and distances get shorter than when we are children. Seeing this house we once lived in, there is a chimney on the outside of the house - my most vivid memory is my sister climbing about halfway up the chimney and doing flips in the air off of it. We never thought of the danger of those things as kids. We were often alone in this house as our parents both worked. We were so lucky to not get hurt - no telephone either.
Jan, I might not be too accurate here with the philosophy but what I'm referring to as karma is... what goes around, comes around or ya get what ya give or you reap what ya sew.
Here's one example of what I saw this week. This inmate we had in the joint, tormented me and everyone else he had anything to do with for about 4 years. There are ways that they can torment us and there's not much we can do about it. It's not like it is in a DOC facility, where they are already sentenced. I had to put up with his BS all that time.
He was a habitual criminal. In the commission of his crime, he seriously injured a female cop who tried to take him down. She never completely recovered from the injuries. To top that off, he was called me as a witness for the defense. It was about an injury that he said he received during his arrest. My appearance in court and testimony ended up taking a day and a half of what I had planned for a couple of vacation days. Nothing I could do about that. Most of that time was sitting and waiting in the courthouse. Ya'll might remember that. It was not that long ago.
After the trial, the guy was found guilty but he told one of my nurses that they made a mistake in his trial and he was going to get out soon. I thought, oh great. Well this week, he was finally sentenced. He ended up getting life plus 15 years and he was shipped out to the Big House. Whew!
Shortly after I heard the good news, I passed him sitting in a little room alone. He was behind some glass. He looked at me and I at him. I was so tempted to flash him an evil little smile but I didn't. I knew that if I did, my karma might bite me in the ass.
Jan, being from Oklahoma, have you ever been around when a tornado came real close? Anyone else have a scary tornado story?
I used to have sort of a tornadophobia. I am still very scared of the concept but not quite as phobic about them as I used to be. I'm trying hard to get more comfortable about death, no matter how it comes to grab me. And it's not death that bothers me as much as that period just before I see the light. I'm not a big fan of pain.
One of the reasons for my fear of tornados might also be that we have no basements around here for protection. A basement in Louisiana is called a swimming pool. And they always say if you see a tornado, run and get in a low lying area. Well, most of those low lying areas around here are full of water, especially when tornado weather comes around and an area full of water, can also house those s----s, the critters our Coreen loves so much but doesn't have in her neck of the woods, te he. Even though I don't kill snakes, I still don't want to share a shelter with one.
And Jan, I quit watching those disaster movies a while back. When I feel the need for that kind of drama these days, I just turn on the news.
I'm still shaking my head about that, take your gun to church, law. What was our leader thinking?
Colbert has some fun with that news on his show last night. It was funny. He has a gun and calls it Sweetness. Both Colbert and Stewart don't ever run out of material for their shows. Their material almost writes itself. They just have to repay the news and make a few funny faces.
This morning I saw a replay of where Lindsey L's father gave Shep Smith a good chewing out for his trying to blame him for not helping his daughter stay out of trouble. I usually like Shep but he did have it coming.
You certainly can't always blame parents for the trouble thier kids get into. They can be the perfect parents and still have children with problems. I see that everyday at work. I do try to reinforce, to many of my inmates, just how much distress they have called their parents. I have so much sympathy for their parents.
When inmates tell me that their parents won't help them get out of jail, I tell them that they just don't realize how painful that is for their parents and it just shows how much their parents love them. Tough love is the most painful for parents. Rescuing is easier but it just enables them to continue their bad behavior. The inmates who show some understanding of that concept, I know have a better chance for success.
Oh, yesterday I received the Medi Alert pendant I ordered the day before for SF. I will set it up this weekend.
Little bookkeeper called me yesterday morning and, out of the blue, told me she would be happy to put her name on the list to contact in case of a problem. She said that she lives closer to him than I do and it would be easier for her to respond. Can you believe that? She also brought him breakfast yesterday. She told me that he had already eaten the cereal and milk I bought for him. He told me that he did eat the breakfast she bought for supper last night.
Finding that woman Jan, is a perfect example of good karma, very good karma.
I have two particular challenges this weekend. One is how to fix a fluorescent light fixture and the other is how to change a kitchen faucet. I need to do both at SF's house. I wonder if I can find my, how to do anything in your home, book. I used that book when I built my hot tub house.
" As I age, I am beginning to realize that the way I react to events affects me a lot now. More than anything I am just trying to be more aware of everything going on around me and within me. I truly just want to live in the present as much as I can. Sometimes I am successful in that and sometimes not but at least I am becoming more aware of my life now."
Jan, I can't believe what you said here, because it's exactly where I am right now too. I mean, you said it so much better than I could have, but it describes my feelings so well - I could have written the same thing, and it all would have been true... is true.
Retiring is the best thing you could have made right now. I can already see a change in you, because you have the time to focus on the 'important' things, without all the distractions. Your new job requires so many less hours, that it will give you the time you need to concentrate those things that are most important.
We need to have the time to be the best we can be, without too much interference from stresses that interfere with our focus. You are so smart to work on the problem you went to Oklahoma to solve, so you can move on from it - and like you said, your relationship with your sister will then get back to normal.
You're doing all the right things Jan! You've taken control - at the same time you're letting go. Good work!
I'm not sure who Shep Smith is, and I didn't see the interview, but if he tried to put forth a view point that parents "rescuing" children from the consequences of their own choices is in any way "helping," and to suggest that's the view of most Americans, it just shows how badly dysfunctional our culture has become.
To be fair Ivy, I may not have seen the entire interview. If y'all check it out , let me know what you think. I bet it is online. Having had teenagers and being ad smart as y'all are, I'll yeild to your opinion.
Thanks very much Chloe and I'm sorry Shep. I saw only a portion of that interview on TV, MSNBC. It was the last half. Should have known better than to have prejudged it. I have always liked Shep. He's the only one of the Fox anchors who I do like.
Lindsey needs jail more than anything else. I have seen the results of many of those drug rehab programs. Many don't work. Jail may be the only thing that can save her. She will need more time than 90 days.
And maybe some jails may not be such a great option. I can only speak for mine and I know they have a person in charge of medical who really cares about her inmates and their futures.
I'm also sure there are some wonderful rehab centers but I also know that most of my inmates have been though several to dozens of them without any success.
I would like to hear from those of you who have raised teenagers. I don't have a clue. Actually, I'm kinda glad I never had to do it. It can be such a heartache.
I watched that video again and I'll have to say I certainly can't judge her father either. The portion I saw this morning still makes me feel aggravated at Shep. It isn't something we can judge until we have been in that very same place. Being the parent of a celebrity would certainly put lots of temptation in your face.
San Francisco wants to ban the sale of all pets, except fish, in the city. If you want a pet, you have to adopt one from a shelter or find one in the classified.
when my boys were teens, I often prayed that we would get them to adulthood alive. There are no perfect parents, usually it is just people doing the best they can.
When teens like Lindsey L. have fame and fortune so young, what do they have to aspire too after that. I have not read the link about her father yet. Brittany Spears had so many problems too and had her kids taken away from her for a time. It seems she is doing better now.
I watched the Shep video. It seemed to me that Shep confronted the dad quite a bit. It also seemed to me that the dad was blaming everyone else for his daughter's problems. I think the dad was pretty defensive. I thought it was interesting that the dad said it was the "divorce" that was the cause of LIndsay's problems. I do consider that to be a crock of ****. Many divorced parents are able to continue parenting successfully.
I just spent an hour trying to get liability insurance on my boats. I hung out over the water, searching for the serial number on my bass boat. I looked all over that motor, inside and out. I couldn't find it anywhere. After I hung up, I found the place where it said serial number and it was blank, just a silver blank area. Nothing etched in either. I will have to find my title but I think that is just for the trailer. Maybe I can call wildlife and fisheries and they will have it on the paperwork I sent in years ago for my boat registration. It isn't on the registration paper I have to carry in the boat but I seem to remember the application does ask for it. Why does everything have to be such a hassle?
We are in Amarillo tonight. It is unseasonably cool here in the 80's. We have seen very little sunshine this trip - but it has been pleasant. I liked the change.
Chloe, I am not surprised that you feel the same as I do. You are so wise to be where you are and to be young. I attended a wonderful workshop on "mindfulness eating" and the workshop was really about mindfulness living. It did not change my eating habits that much, but it helped me to be more aware of how I eat and how I live. The great thing is that the program stressed that we don't have to make changes necessarily, merely become more aware.
Carol, yes we are still on the road. That is strange about your boat and the serial number. Hope you can find it. Do you have the paperwork from when you bought the boat?
Jan, I doubt I kept anything but the title and registration. I think the title is for the trailer but I can't look for it since it will be at my house. I might have kept other paperwork, since I am a pack rat, but finding it??? Who would have thought that the serial number would disappear off the plate on the motor. Just has a silver blank area.
As a special treat tonight, I'm boiling up some Gulf shrimp I got fresh when sis first got here. I got and put up about 15 lbs of it and it just might be the last Gulf shrimp I ever get. I'm not sure I would trust eating anything else out of there now. Do you think I should put in my claim to BP for ruining my life??
Louisiana has "sportsman's paradise" on our license plates here or we used to. BP has screwed much of that up for us.
Chloe, yes - I want my relationship to be right with my sister. We never know how much time we have in this life and I want the time we have together to be joyful.
I identify as to keeping up with important paperwork. Bob was so organized and he could access paperwork in minutes. I have had to learn how to do this. I fear I am not too good at it either. Since my dad died and made me one of the executors of his estate, I have had to work harder at it. I would rather someone else would do it, but John is not at all organized, so I have to do it.
"You are so wise to be where you are and to be young."
Jan, I'm not young. I've just raised a kid every 20 years. First my son in my early 20's, then my daughter in my early 40's, and now my grand baby in my early 60's.
It turns out that raising kids has taken a major role in my life. It probably keeps me thinking a little younger - I don't now.
You notice that I only do one at a time. Ha.. it's all I can handle.
Chloe, Well, you are a young 60ish woman. I did assume you were probably in your 40s. "I can only do one at a time" LOL.
I admire and respect you Chloe, just thinking about taking care of a little one full time makes me feel tired. Of course, as you say or infer so often, it is a joy to watch a little one grow and develop.
Carol, I went to wikopedia and got the meaning of the word, Karma.It has a lot to do with spirituality. I had a totally different idea of what it meant. I thought the word had more to do with luck. Very interesting!
Carol, I do feel bad for Louisiana. So many natural and man-made disasters. I loved living in LA. I am not a sportsman by any stretch of the imagination. I don't like to fish or hunt. But I loved the culture and the food and the friendly people. I remember before we moved to Louisiana, someone said it was like "moving to another country" because of the French Acandian culture. Also, the political system is different than any other state. So many restaurants in places I have lived since LA try to copy the cajun cooking and just don't quite make it.
"just thinking about taking care of a little one full time makes me feel tired"
She is a bundle of energy Jan. We were in the market the other day, and an older woman was commenting on how cute she is - then she added: I don't think I could ever keep up with her though, and laughed.
I will say, this is the most fun I have ever had with a baby. She does keep me young, both physically and mentally.
... bet you're going to be happy to get home, huh Jan. You're probably missing that front porch of yours, and that first cup of tea (it is tea for you, isn't it). For me it's coffee. Can't sit out on the porch for long though, not this time of the year.
It's real quiet out here where we are though - which that's how I picture Albuquerque too... quiet and beautiful. We lived in the high dessert in California for our last two years there, and the air is so clean.
Just heard that our Senator Vitter had 16 Republican challengers come out to run against him, and on the last day to register to run. This is going to be interesting but La politics always is.
It's kinda weird to have so many challengers pop in at the last minute, don't ya think? Just maybe the Senator got some of those challengers to come in order to break up the opposition. With that many challengers, he probably will still have the edge.
Chloe, I have missed my morning's having tea on the front porch. Yes, its tea for me. I drank coffee years ago. I switched to tea about 15 years ago. Coffee was giving me the "jitters" but tea does not affect me that way. John has had to give up coffee too. He has reflux and the coffee makes it worse.
I am looking forward to getting home, be it ever so humble.
Tell John I'm sorry, Jan. I don't think there will be many who will actually take advantage of that opportunity. I'm not sure it even passed, did anyone hear? Hey, the preacher may take advantage of it to keep some of those sleepers awake. If I was still going to church, I certainly would stay awake to make sure I would be ready to duck if need be.
I can understand your enjoying raising Emma. I got so attached to one of my granddaughters that I could have raised her if needed. She is 17 now and lives in Ark. Her mom is the one with MS. When we were living in the same town I kept her pretty often. It was so comfortable having her with me.
Carol, that doesn't bother John. while in LR he did clinical training in the hospital (for chaplaincy) for 3 years. He saw all kinds of stuff in the E.R. None of that scares him. He has done some counseling with some real tough guys and he has a way of calming people who are really hell-bent on doing harm to others. He has a special talent for that. Not me. I run the other way.
She is not doing well Carol, She is in a WC full time. She has to be lifted in and out of the chair. Her 2 daughters (17 & 13) do most of her care. Steve is gone, work or school, most of the time. They have a lift for her but don't use it that much. Both girls are strong and they lift her, dress her, change her (she is incontinent), essentially take care of her needs. She has use of her arms and hands but not her legs.
Bad boys don't scare me either Jan. On the other hand, those bad girls are a different story. I'll take the guys any day of the week.
I had this one woman today, yelling at me, telling me just what I was going to do for her and what medications I was going to prescribe for her. I leaned in kinda close to her and said in a quiet voice "I think I'm in charge here and I'll make the decisions" She backed off.
Shortly after I started working in corrections and learned about some of the problems that many of the inmates faced after years of incarceration and, some, not even that many, I had this fantasy. It was about how neat it would be if we could take all these ex-inmates without resources, and others, like the elderly, who needed different kinds of help, put them together in a community, with supervision and qualified specialists, and allow them each to contribute what they each could, to provide assistance to the others. Everyone would have a purpose. Life skills and training would be available.
Many old people, like SF, are still useful but may not be able to totally take care of themselves anymore. The elderly still have knowledge and many skills to offer.
Many inmates, especially after they have been incarcerated for a while, have no family or support system out in the "world" anymore. They learned how to, and would like to work but throw them out of jail, with nowhere to go, no support system, and they end up returning to jail because it's the only option they have. It's home. There are young people who have no families to take care of them and they end up in boy's or girl's villages.
Our tax dollars end up having to support many of these individuals, in each of their different communities.
Wouldn't it be nice if we could put them all together, in the same community and create a sort of super family. Those who were able, after acquiring the necessary skills, could move out into the regular "world". Others could move in to take their place.
187 comments:
Couldn't link this to the post....
A citizen's required reading for July 4th....
Declaration of Independence
Coreen, thanks for the post and one of those dudes that signed that Declaration is one of my ancestors. Well, I'm almost certain he is. He's one right at the top of the list.
I've been to three more stores today and I think I'm now ready for my celebration. I can even manage to make an easy meal difficult. I was going to have burgers. Then I decided to add hot dogs also. Then I decided to make some homemade chili for the dogs. Then I decided to make cream cheese poppers cuz everyone loves my poppers. Then I decided to add corn. Then.......... Hell, there are only about 6 people invited, if they all show up.
I'm in the wrong field, I should have been a caterer. That's where my real talents are.
We took Emma out to breakfast this morning, stopped by some friends for a short time on the way back, then I came home and made spaghetti with meat sauce (which we never tire of). I figure the sauce is red, the spaghetti is white, and the triple berry muffins I made for Emma (which she won't see until she wakes up from her nap) are blue (with blue wrappers). There you have it: Red, White and Blue.
How much more patriotic could I have made that meal! Maybe not all American (we're probably the only people in the country not barbecuing today), but still, our hearts are in the right place..
Hope you all have a wonderful fourth of July. We're having nice weather here, so I'm sure we'll suffer through the loudest fireworks on the market late into the night (or should I say into the early morn). They love their holidays here in the heart of Texas!
Very nice post Coreen. You're always so good with the holidays. Thanks!
Coreen, a lovely post and so timely. I am enjoying the flags you posted since we don't have one. Is the one on the top picture your flag? I am watching an old movie, Yankee Doodle Dandy - so I am being a little patriotic.
Chloe, sounds like a great old american dinner - spaghetti- so what if we borrowed it from the Italians. Hmmm. red, white and blue - what a great idea to plan your meal in our National colors. We are having BBQ chiken from the store (Smiths does it better than I can). I am boiling some corn on the cob - its white corn and we will have some red strawberries with cream and I will throw in a few blueberries to top it off.
Carol, your dinner sounds wonderful. You might want to think about what you just said - you would be a great caterer. If I were there and doing a dinner, I would sure hire you.
Coreen, I have not read your declaration of Independence, but will do that before bed. Thanks. A great idea.
Jimmy Cagney is singing "You're a grand old flag"
Ivy, I finished the book "March" last night. It got better the last 1/3 of the book. What an imagination Geraldine Brooks had - to take a piece of the book "Little Women" and write about the father who was absent from the home during the telling of the story of the mother and 4 sisters.
I think I was 13 or 14 when I read Little Women. It really made an impression on me. I think I have mentioned this before, but when Beth (the 3rd sister) died in the book, I cried and my mother and dad talked about taking me to a psychiatrist. It is sad when parents do not realize the developmental issues that children and teens go through. I loved reading and spent most of my summers reading. We lived in the country and parents both worked, so there was little else to do.
One of my favorite writers is Anne Tyler. I found one of her books that I have not read at the library. So am starting it tonight.
I have been cutting John's hair for 18-19 years and I stuck him with the tip of the scissors on the back of the neck, for the first time, a short while ago- no blood but a little red mark. He may not want me to cut his hair again It was totally accidental. I don't cut his hair if we are having an argument. LOL I also trim his beard and eyebrows. Isn't it strange how in our older years, we grow hair where we would rather not.
LOL Jan (on your last post).
Your meal sounds delicious!
I loved that movie, Yankee Doodle Dandy, when I was a kid. I watched it over and over on TV during the summers when I was off school - that and every other old movie that was ever made. Loved them all. I used to sing along with James Cagney, when he'd sing that title song (pretty sure that I still remember all the words). People were 'so' patriotic back then.
Carol, your meal sounds delicious too. It sure did grow!
"what a great idea to plan your meal in our National colors."
Ha Jan... I didn't exactly plan it. Didn't think of it until I decided to make Emma those triple berry muffins. Just lucky I happen to have the blue baking cups too.
Your colors all worked out too, with the barbecue sauce (assuming it's somewhat red), and the blue berries and strawberries... and oh yeah, the white corn. Way to go!
I will take some pics of our trip on I 40 and post when we get to Tulsa. there are a few interesting sights and sites.
Happy Independence Day to everyone of us.
They're hatched! Three baby bluebirds, Born on the Fourth of July!!
That is wonderful news. And on our nation's birthday too. Welcome little baby bluebirds!
Carol, the band at Macy's july fireworks are playing "summertime" I just can't help but think of you and Louisiana.
Coreen, You are so right, the fireworks display that Macy's is putting on is spectacular.
Uh-ho here comes the Saints go Marching in. Hope you are listening to it Carol.
Well, all my company is gone and we had a very nice day. We ate and took the pontoon out for a cruise. We were cruising through one of my favorite spots and I broke out singing Summertime and the living is easy. It was as if, at that time, I was living that song. Does anyone know who first made that song popular?
Carol,
Didn't google, but I think it's "Porgy and Bess," Gershwin?
I found that one Ivy and that's the one I remember.
Morning. I had a lot of fun yesterday but I did have to work pretty hard for it but do we really ever rest on our days off? Maybe if I had an entire week off I could find a day to rest.
With all these new family responsibilities that I can't avoid, I have finally realized that I can no longer allow my job to take up my entire life. I have to do something about it and that might even be why I'm having this experience.
When I accepted my job I wasn't even asked to take call, much less do it 24/7/365. I just started doing it and it snowballed. Much of what I deal with could wait until I get back. Unfortunately some of my peeps don't seem to be able to make the decision of what can and should wait.
If these inmates were at home they couldn't get thru to a health practitioner to get anything started unless they went to an ER and waited for many hours. Some would do that, some would not.
Happy to see that it seems as if everyone's 4th went well...Here it was a pleasant day at
my friend's home...and though it was 90+, there
was a breeze, not humid yet, even this a.m. its
already close to 80, but still not really humid, but we are being warned that it is only
going to get hotter this entire week with lots
of humidity....hopefully it will not last long...How do you guys in the South deal with
the humidity....it drains all energy....
Jan, enjoy your trip to OK....& yes, would like
to see any things you find of interest along the way...Glad you could see the Macy's extravaganze...I suspect it is one of the more
elaborate fireworks displays...and yes, Jan,
the flag in the top pic is at my house...I just
put it out again this a.m....Don't fly any of those event flags, only fly the stars & stripes...one of my pet peeves always was those
people who put out those event flags & don't fly the stars & stripes....
I can't believe I will be going to see my babies (Jeremy, Steph.& Lauren) tomorrow. I am so excited. I love Chicago. I forgot to order cooler weather so I think the temps. are about the same as down here. I'll try to take bunches of pictures.
"How do you guys in the South deal with the humidity"
Ha Coreen - we stay inside!
Air Conditioning removes the humidity from the air, so it's easy to cool down the inside here. There's no place here that doesn't keep the temperature chilling here, doesn't matter where you go. Same in the car, the ac gets rid of humidity quickly. Here you keep your thermostat on your preferred temperature all year long. I joke that we only have two temperatures here in Houston: Hot or Cold.
Since temperature control is our business, that's the main reason we live here - that and the fact that we love it here. Houston has been good to us, and for that we are most grateful.
Chloe,
Unfortunately you must leave the house at some time...& just going into & out of a car, which
once it leaves the garage, if it is parked anywhere for any time, it takes forever to
cool it down....by the time it does you are where you want to be....
And the humidity drains all your energy...So
far we have not had oppressive humidity, even today it is now 92, but the humidity is still only 25%/dew point 56...There is a slight NW
wind, 5-10 mph yesterday & today, which coming
from the North is keeping the humidity low, once the wind starts coming from the South, the
humidity will go up to really uncomfortable...
The AC has been on since May here...a necessary evil...since I really do not like
AC...I keep the thermostats at 73-74, both
upstairs & down, but could never live full-time
in AC controled environment...Not getting fresh air...Do not like keeping the house closed up...
Not sure what the cost of electricity is in the south....my latest bill for last month
was $295, my friends are hovering above $300 as well with similar size homes...
partially as a result of rate increases here.
My house is about 3,000 sq ft...
When I built my house 12 years ago, electric
avg $100/month & in the summer $200, now the
avg is $175/month (w/o AC running) & so far about $300 for the AC months...Last summer my
highest electric for 1 month was $360...This
year we will top that shortly....
And by the way my family was a union plumbing/heating/AC contractor for many years,
(now retired) mostly industrial/commercial buildings, they did not install home AC....
Guess you just acclimated to your environment,
& guess that's why I like the Northeast where
we do have distinct seasonal changes....
... hubby had to consult with a contractor that flew in from Michigan last week, and it was in the 80's that day, but he said it felt like a sauna to him. Hubby laughed and told him he was here on a cool day, it's usually worse.
We do mostly commercial work, but we do residential occasionally too.
I messed up a couple of sentences so badly that they made no sense (in that post I deleted above), that I had to demo it and start over.
....................
Oh yeah, you're right Coreen - you don't leave your windows open here. The ac does work very quickly though, and therefore shuts off often. Even in my car, it's cool by the time I get out of the parking lot. Maybe they super-size them here or something! 'Course I never leave it in the sun all that long.
If I'm not working out in the sun, then I'm not hot. I'm sure you're right about me being acclimated too, because I lived my whole life in Southern California (although it's not humid there - just the opposite, but hot).
That's probably why I hate the cold so much - and I do mean HATE. :)
I think I'm tongue tied today. (hmmm... probably been eating too much. :)
just got into the Holiday Inn Express in Weatherford OK. A small town in western OK. Their claim to fame is that Jim Stafford, astronaut is from here. They do have a small university here. There is major wind here so guess what they have - lots of those wind turbines -surrounding the town. We will be on I 40 for most of the trip. I 40 was built along Route 66. We have been on the road for 7 hours. We used to drive from Alb to Tulsa straight through - about 11 hours - now we drive it in 2 days.
Mary, I hear the excitement in your words - you are going to see your new grandbaby, Lauren Elizabeth. I look forward to pictures.
It is hot here in OK too. More humidity than in Alb.
"When I accepted my job I wasn't even asked to take call, much less do it 24/7/365. I just started doing it and it snowballed. "
Carol, what would happen if you just stopped taking calls on your time off?
I am trying to get some pictures on our trip. The problem is that John is one of those road warriors that wants to get from point A to Point B in as little time as possible, and we do not have to rush. When he is driving I have to take pics out the windows. When I am driving, I will stop and take some pics. He likes to drive - but I insist on him taking some time away from the driving every few hours.
Chloe, don't worry about messing up sentences, etc.
Sometimes I will go back and read what I wrote and start kicking myself because of grammar or spelling errors and then I think "no one here cares. "
Most people in Alb have water-cooled units that cost a lot less on electricity to run - but do bring up the water bill a little. They work really well here b/c of the low humidity. We have the kind of ac you all have - that is what the house had when we bought it 4 years ago. We are thinking of putting in a water- cooled unit too and having both- to cut down on expenses. With the water-cooled units you can have windows open - although not too efficient with too many open. People here call these "swamp coolers."
" I used to sing along with James Cagney, when he'd sing that title song'
Chloe, there were several good old songs in that movie. I was singin along with all of them yesterday. I love the old musicals.
Jan,
I'm glad you've discovered the joys of taking the computer on trips with you. I don't leave home without it. lol
I agree with Chloe about staying indoors away from the heat. Hubs says summer for us is like winter up North. There's just times when you hunker down and don't go out. To-and-from the car doesn't count. Also, I have a sun shield for my car windshield when it's parked outdoors. It helps some...at least I can touch the steering wheel.
We do have changes of seasons here - turning of the leaves - it just comes a little later. I've grown to look forward to golden leaves on my trees for Thanksgiving. Up north, my trees were bare by Thanksgiving.
Growing up, my BFF's (Bear Woman) Dad owned a heating and air conditioning business out of their house. Many times I overheard her Mom field calls from panicked patrons when either their A/C or heat failed at a peak extreme weather period. One summer, my bro worked for BW's Dad as a helper. It was hard work he said, and he didn't especially like it (Dad was a tough task-master, as I knew first-hand.)
Their family was my second family growing up. I probably spent more time there than in my own house - especially in the summer - they had an in-ground pool!
Mary, I didn't see your post this morning when I was here (I don't know how I missed it). I can't wait to hear about how your trip is going, and I can only imagine how excited you must be. I hope you have a wonderful trip, and I know you will bond beautifully with little Lauren.
Good to hear from you Jan! You're smart to break up your trip into two days. Gives you time to enjoy it without being in such a hurry - which can be exhausting.
And, like Ivy, I am so glad that you have your computer with you on this trip. It's so good that you can keep in touch.
Ivy, I very much enjoyed your post about your childhood - and hearing about Bear Woman and her family too. But then, I always enjoy your posts.
(BTW, we also get our changes of seasons here very similar to yours - golden leaves for Thanksgiving. You put it so much more nicely, than I do.)
"Chloe, don't worry about messing up sentences, etc."
Thanks Jan. You guys are all just to sweet for words. I feel very lucky to know all of you. (... or as they say in Texas: lucky to know y'all.)
Y'all, we didn't have AC here growing up here and I often wonder how we lived thru it. We had a big atic fan in the hall ceiling. It sounded like a jet airplane taking off. We slept with our windows open and there was a gale force wind that fan sucked in.
When Mary and I were teenagers daddy closed in the garage to make a den and he put a window unit it there. That was luxury.
There was the most beautiful sunset here tonight. Watching it reminded me of a song or maybe they are just the words to a song, "Nobody does it Better" I am referring to God and the sunset. I got some pictures.
Ivy, I didn't know Bear Woman was a childhood friend you grew up with. How wonderful that great you two have remained friends.
Chloe, see what I mean. The above sentence makes little sense LOL.
For the next few nights, we are staying in Claremore, OK. This is one of the towns in which I grew up. It had a pop. of about 5-7 thous. when I was a teenager. I finished hi school there. It also claims to be where Will Rogers is from. The Will Rogers Memorial is there. The man who wrote the book that the stage play and movie, "Oklahoma" are based upon was from Claremore. If you ever watch the movie, Oklahoma, the beginning of the movie takes place in what was once a train station and there is a sign in a scene that says, "Claremore" A funny thing about that train station scene is that there are mountains in the background. There are no mountains in Oklahoma.
Carol,
A window unit was a luxury indeed. In my own house, we didn't have A/C in the house either. Another reason why I "escaped" to BW's house as often as I could. Her dad, being in the business, had "Central Air" as it was called. That was a rarity as well as a luxury.
The last year or so of my dad's life when he was bed-ridden my mom put window unit in their room. One the hottest nights, we kids would be allowed to crowd in there with our blankets on the floor.
Well I popped up early this morning. Yesterday was probably my best day for getting a little rest and I still got in mowing two yards. Well, the yard at my house was already pretty much mowed, I just had to finish it off. My roomie used a push mower to do a good bit the difficult acre at my house. I told her she was nuts but she said she wanted the exercise. She is only in her early 40s and I do remember that when I was in my forties I could kick ass and take names. Now, I have trouble just taking names.
Y'all keep a good thought/prayer for Mary getting to her destination safely. She's already encountered a few glitzes. She seems to have worked thru those.
I'm gearing up for my SF fight this week. Amasing enough the SW actually called me yesterday to tell me that SF's condition was the same. I guess our last little war did make a slight impression.
I told SW that I had my proposal for care all ready and that I hoped he would arrange a meeting with the treatment team and one that they could give me some prior warning of. He asked me to fax the proposal over. I told him I would prefer to present it in person. He said he hoped he could get this Doc to let them know when he would be there. I said that if I can make it, as busy as I am, then I think he should be able to make it.
I've done my research and I'm ready. They are going to insist he go to an assisted living facility or get 24 hour sitters. He doesn't need that yet. I have things set up where he will have help, either in his home, or available for 24 hours a day.
I've checked with some other mental health professionals here who advised me that this Doc has no legal grounds to make such a demand and some told me to lie. Making any false statements is not something I can do. My proposal provides for safe care and if it turns out to be something that doesn't work out to provide safe care then we will go for plan B.
As long as SF is not driving, operating heavy equipment or operating his check book, he will be OK, or as OK as any of the rest of us might be.
Yesterday when I visited SF, I told him of my plan to get him out. He did say that he finally, after 23 days of incarceration on that mental ward, saw his Shrink. He told me that were insisting on 24 hour/day sitters. He said he doesn't need that and didn't even get that where he was. I told him I had a plan and he would have to trust me. He smiled.
We were sitting in the day room talking, which was full of the other patients who, from my limited assessment, did seem to need 24 hour/day care. Well there was this one little lady who seemed to be pretty with it. She's a little fiesty one. It seems she may be in similar circumstances to SF. The other day she overheard some of my converstation with SF and she yelled out for me to call our Senator David Vitter for help. I told her I wasn't exactly crazy about him.
Yesterday she noticed I was whispering to SF and she is somewhat aware that I am trying to break him out. She kept coming over to this trash can right behind us to pretend to throw things out so she could hear what I was whispering to SF. She even leaned over real close so she could hear me whisper. I was on to her. Poor baby. I hope she has someone to help her break out. Just talking with her I can tell she is a pretty sharp lady.
I reminded SF that I had an appointment with his attorney today and wouldn't be able to get in a visit with him. The appointment is at the same time as visiting hours. He asked if he could go. I will call them at the hospital to see if I can get him a pass to see his attorney but I'm pretty sure they will deny me. They will probably think I won't bring him back. I told SF that if he couldn't go with me today that I would try to get his attorney in to see him at the hospital.
We must get this POA set up because there are multiple "wolves at the door" who want their overdue bills paid and we can't check them out or pay them until we have that POA and have the bookkeeper listed on his business account.
As you may be able to see here, I have now progressed from my, I'm overwhelmed with all this mess and don't know what to do, mode to a, I'm ready for war, mode. Wish me luck.
And Jan, my being on call 24/7/365, it never was in my job description. I did it because I felt it was best for my patients and really it was/is. Only thing is that after 5 years of this, it is killing me and a dead me is no help to anyone. I really get no appreciation for this sacrifice and they probably even think I'm a fool to do it.
Another objective this week is to finally put an end to this nonsense. I will tell my boss, at the hospital, that from now on, they can call the ER Docs, who are paid to be working, to ask for them to cover the situation. I will allow them to continue to call me just for diabetics. I wouldn't trust anyone else to know how to handle them within a correctional facility setting. It's just too different.
My blood pressure for a while has been off the chart and I was taking two different BP meds. For the last couple of days I've had to stop one of my BP meds because I was running too low. Even without one, I was only 106/60 yesterday. I think that is a sign that I'm on the right tract.
Sorry to tell you Coreen that I think I heard that your temps and humidity are both going up this week. You can just think of us and also remember, for you, it won't last forever.
OK. we're being tampered with again. I had three or four long posts here and came back and they are all gone. They were here one moment and gone the next. I wish I knew why this is happening. Maybe they will show back up again. If not, I did save them on Word. Don't screw with me today Blogger. I'm not in the mood.
Warning, blogger is up to it's tricks again.
Just heard that tar balls have hit the Texas beaches. I've seen some sludge in the river that I have never seen before. We do have barges that come up the river from the Gulf. They may be carrying this stuff up the river. I hope it is not coming in with the tide shift.
Testing to see if this is working from here...
Got your note Carol that it wasn't taking
comments, so here's hoping....
Hi everyone - I just got an email that we have comments disappearing again, so this is a test.
Now that's weird! When I posted that comment, your comment wasn't here Jan (but Carol's was). Then after I entered it, yours turned up - saw it with my own eyes.
Glad you caught that sunset Jan!
Just did a quick search, and this is all the came up - but I don't have much time this morning.
"Missing Comments and/or Comment Count Wrong
I've been seeing a lot of issues with peoples Comments missing or the Comment Count being incorrect. So we'll start to collate them all here and report any feedback here from Google.
Please ensure that you leave the following info
1) The Link to your Blog and the link to your old blog if you have changed URL's recently
2) When did the comments disappear?
Missing Comments and/or Comment Count Wrong
Oh lordy! Now my earlier comment is missing, and one popped up from Carol this morning that wasn't there a few minutes ago. This really is crazy! Comments coming and going!
Glad to hear you're seeing an attorney and are in your fighting mode Carol. Just move forward, and do what you have to do.
ps I'm sure this disappearing comment problems will straighten itself out eventually (I hope!).
All my comments have no showed up yet.
Still about 5 or more of mine
missing. At least one
from Coreen.
That beutiful new pink did not scare me away...jsut been real busy doing what should have been done by others.....returned from ohio to get some paper work done, and right back to clevland...trying to save what was going to be a nice project.....
Carol, please tell Mary that it doesn't look good as of this moment for our get together.....
I have not read any of the threads for a while...will try a little later on...before I do...here is to hoping that everyone of U are fine, and happy as can be.....
To make matters worse, my internets is not up and running, had to come to the library to try and catch up with U all....i missed all of u and have been thinking about you.....
It's bad when "they" tamper with the place we come to find shelter from the storm.
I will try again to post a test comment...right now there are some comments from Carol, Chloe & 1 from Solar...the one I did earlier this a.m. is not showing on mine...
Carol, I hope you get some help from SF's atty...& that SF can sign a POA for you so that you can start doing what you need to....
You guys/girls have really been busy today.
As to lost comments. I wrote some last night and when I hit "post comment" they showed up. Later in the night when I went on the blog they were not there. Today my comments I made last night are all there.
We are in Claremore OK. I have an appt tomorrow with an attorney here to take care of the sale of a piece of property I am buying from my sis. I actually own 1/2 of it and am buying her share. We have worked on this together since my dad died 5 years ago and he left the property jointly to us. It has been a problem and I am anxious to end the business partnership and get back to being just sisters.
Hang in there Carol with your SF. This is like a 2nd job for you. Keep taking names LOL.
Coreen, You have inspired me with your recent post. We are going out in a little while and check out what is going on in Claremore. I want to take some little jaunts down memory lane - like the old HS I attended, and places I used to go around here. I have been in the area many times in recent years but didn't take the time to come visit some of these places.
Mary, I will keep you in my thouhts/prayers that you have a safe and pleasant journey.
Mary, my thoughts are with you too. Looking forward to - 'hoping' you'll let us know when you arrive. You're going to have such a great time once you get there.
http://ct-carolssouthernspice.blogspot.com/2010/07/happy-fourth-of-july.html?showComment=1278432527635#c6870294973127484107
Glad to hear you're doing OK Solar - we sure do miss you too.
"It's bad when "they" tamper with the place we come to find shelter from the storm."
... you got that right Carol.
Waiting at attorney's
office. Hospital won't let him out to
go and won't let him sign
any papers while in there. I'm in the
twilight zone here.
Carol, here's hoping the atty & you can get some things done & soon...
For you hot weather lovers...it was 103 on the
bank clock at 4 p.m., car also was 103 when I
left my office, it cooled down to 97 when I arrived at home...not only Hot, but humid!!!
The official Stfd airport temp today is only 98...but all the local towns are reporting 100+
Jan, I will be looking forward to any pics of
your journeys....remember us Northeasterners, sometime forget that there is a whole big country between the coasts.....
I know Route 66 is for the most part gone, but
if you pass it & there is any old america there, that would be a great find too...
Ok, the hottest its been in ages here!...& I come across this Q&A with an 'author'? of a book claiming that AC is the cause of just about everything negative...including putting Republicans in the White House...
Figures this is at Salon...& if this is not a joke, then I know why I have less & less tolerance for left leaning liberal spouters, telling me that I should stop driving, stop using electricity, AC, spending my $$$ the way I choose to spend, etc....I am sooooo very tired of the liberal ranting/hypocrisy about all things lately...
And oh by the way both this guy who wants to restrict AC & the Salon interviewer are sitting in AC offices...so very typical of
those who lecture everyone else....
Losing our Cool, the high price of staying cool
Coreen, Route 66 is still around in Claremore and Catoosa OK - where I will be spending the next few days. I will take pics.
we had a nice rain here in Claremore, OK this afternoon. We both enjoyed this rare treat (for us who live in NM) so much. We took a ride down "my" memory lane. Drove past a house I lived in during HS, the hospital where I gave birth to 2 babies, and the lake where so many of us teens here in the late 1950's had lots of fun times. Rode out to the local university that at one time was Oklahoma Military Academy- I went to several formal balls there as a teen.
Well, I saw SF's attorney today. He tried to talk with the Coroner, he tried to talk with the psychologist and he got nowhere.
SF's nephew called me as I was leaving the attorney's office. He went to the Shrink's office and tried to talk to him. He got nowhere. He left his phone number and asked to have Shrink call him back. He then called back to the hospital and talked with a nurse and the nurse informed him that they were fixing to put SF out AMA. That means against medical advice. They can't do that now that they haven't given me any head's up to put my plan into action. They wouldn't even give me an appointment to go over my plan for care yet. I have to have time to get groceries, get the lady we want, hired and be ready.
My cellphone rang and it was the hospital. I didn't answer it. I checked the message and they told me to call them back that it was very important. I could tell they wanted to be rid of him and soon. They can't do that to me. He was totally nuts and incompetent a couple of hours ago and they are going to now say we don't want him anymore. I will not talk with them tonight or before I talk with his attorney tomorrow.
I will not sign him out AMA without talking to his attorney first and until I have the plan ready. Can you people believe this???? It's obvious that his Shrink is scared or something or someone.
Actually I can't sign SF out AMA since I don't have his POA. They already informed me that, on the mental ward, the health care POA I have is not valid. He can't sign himself out AMA since he was committed twice now by the Coroner. It will be up to his Shrink to agree to discharge him.
I will go to work tomorrow and give the hospital a call, after I talk to SF's attorney. They will need to approve of my plan and then I will put it into action and bring him home. Does that sound reasonable to you guys?
Sounds like a pretty good plan Carol....hope you get some rest so you are ready to go in the a.m.
Got some sleep last night and time to clear my head. I'm sorry about dumping all this on you guys but right now I'm feeling that you guys are just about all I've got. You may find that kinda of pityful but....
After a night's rest, I'm thinking that I smell something rotten in Denmark. That's an old expression I've heard around here. I haven't gotten anywhere with my trying to get a meeting with those people at the hospital or trying to get some guidance on exactly the formula required to spring SF. I've been treated like I'm the enemy. It's the strangest thing I've ever seen. It has to have some meaning that I haven't totally figured out.
When I tried to get SF out to see his lawyer yesterday, they wouldn't cooperate. I told the lady I talked to on the phone, who I think was the unit manager, that I needed to get him to his lawyer so he can set up something where we can conduct his business. I told her he has been incarcerated since June 12 and there are wolves at the door. She was not a bit too pleased with my using the word incarcerated. So that sorta slipped out. Hey, it's a word that came easy to me.
Carol, you are up mighty early. In OK I am on same time zone as you. I couldn't sleep. I wish I had some suggestions or knowledge to share to help your SF but all I can offer is an ear.
With the lawyer, I didn't feel like I got anything going. It wasn't that I didn't feel like he was trying to help but he really didn't know which way to turn. I did make a few calls and due to the HIPPA laws, got nada. I finally told him that I felt sure that when SF's reimbursement time ran out, he would probably be cured. The hospital seems to want him in a home. That Shrink wanted that years ago when SF was still fairly active in his farming business.
I talked with all the folkes that do participate in his life everyday, in his hometown, and none of them agree that it is time to put him away. We all agree that his driving had to stop and his trying to deal with his finances, alone, had to stop. Those problems we took care of. He also needs access to help throughout the day. I have that covered.
The hospital's wanting to kick him to the curb last night seems to have come after the nephew went to the Shrink's office. I really don't think my seeing the lawyer had time to make any waves. That's were the stench starts to come in.
All this mess first started when these family members swooped in to help. I really thought that the nephew who was involved yesterday was the only one I could trust. I'm not sure now. His solution, again, was to get him to a nursing home for a short period. I was so rattled yesterday evening that I couldn't think straight but now I'm starting to see some light.
It may be soon approaching the time for SF to go into some facility but he does have some things to take care of first. I would like for him to buy into the plan. He should have that option available.
I do plan to go to work today. I will call his lawyer for advice. I will then contact the hospital. I have the lady who will be helping on call. I have notified all my peeps in SF's home town to let them know we may be arriving home soon. I will try to get him to the bank and to his lawyers to set up the necessary paperwork to take care of his business.
I will not, without some legal advice to the contrary, check him out AMA. I don't know what kind of consequences that might bring into play. Will his Medicare pay for his stay if he leaves AMA? They didn't give either SF or myself the option of doing that earlier so why now??
My Verizon Internet device is malfunctioning. I has been on it's last leg for a while now. Just what I need....
Carol, I can't understand why you just don't go over and pick up your SF. I thought that's what you wanted. (?) I would have gone to pick him up on the first call. They're giving you what you asked for Carol - they're tired of fighting. The attorney call probably helped your cause
I don't get it - what's the difference why they're releasing him, as long as you're getting him out.
Have a little time off for good behaviour.!
Carol, it looks like a long road ahead for you with your'e father......take it one day at a time...if you can...pratice deep breathing (seriouse) for one minute on the hour...i do this when my grandfather clock on my wrist hits on the 13th min....
This helps me concentrate and keep it all in perspective...i do this when under stress or just around really stupid people....better than puching them out.....just kidding but sure do feel like some times,
chloe,
Sound like Emma is growing up real fast now...she will be lots of fun, and lots to keep up with...love her......hugs for the both of You....and for my hoss of course...hey that a song no?
Been pretty hot and humid, just finished with my work out, and took "candy girl" (my new-old bike) for a ride....at the park there was no one around, cept the daycare people and the kids...stopped to talk to them......
love kids from 5 yrs old...to about 12...then U can keep them until they are young adults or so.!!
I take the heat, like I do the cold....don't care, just another day...the humidity is another thing...can't stand it....but don't think about it much....all in the cycle of life....time..and weather........
Never been big on celebrating the 4th...do enjoy the picnics that I sometimes go on...but just another day mostly...ok going to catch up a little...will scan the threads...
Able to get internet a few minutes out of every few hrs...dont know whats happening.....I was at the library earlier on, so.....
Oooooh Chloe, you really misunderstood what I wanted and I don't think you give me much credit for having any sense at all. I didn't want to immediately take possession of an 81 year old, 200+ lb man, after dark, after a long day at a difficult job, with no help and with no preparation time. Then I would have had to haul him up dozens of stairs and down again. Now if I would have wanted that, I should have been admitted to that unit full of half brain dead people.
All I wanted to do is to rescue an elderly gentleman, who worked his ass off for close to 70 years, from a place where most of the people were drooling. I wanted to give him an opportunity to try to spend a little more time, in his own home and get his business affairs in order. I made this all clear to his captors and to SF. I needed some prep time. I had to prepare his home with food also. I couldn't do that ahead of time or it would have gone bad.
I made it perfectly clear to the people running that unit that I wanted for someone to tell me what the plan was, allow me to present a proposal, discuss why it would or would not work and then give me at least a week for preparation. They did this, dump the old man, to me as a punishment and they were well aware of what they were doing.
I wouldn't have even tried to rescue him if the people who spend the most time around him didn't think that he could still stay at home for a while longer. This has been a nightmare and one that I did not want or need.
I left the house before 7 and just got home. Maggie was past shaking her leg. This morning, I took care of some things at work, then left to pick up SF. My wonderful new roomie served as the chauffeur, thanks to Solar for the suggestion. She was on vacation. I think I will adopt her.
As soon as we left the hospital we hit the lawyer's office. I have full POA to handle any and all affairs including his corporation and health care decisions. We went to eat then hit three different banks. That took forever. Our wonderful little bookkeeper, we will keeper her, met us at all banks. She is a whippersnapper. Hell, she can even check phone lines since SF's was dead when we got to his house.
Closing in on the end of the day, I remembered I did have a poor puppy who hadn't been out since early this morning. I then started to freak out. She didn't volunter for this shit. SF lives 40+ miles from me.
I still had to run to the grocery store. I did some aerobic shopping, making my basket turns on two wheels. People were moving out of my way. I think I left some rubber in a few places.
SF was great all day but the minute he hit his house, I noticed this stubborn, AH streak come over him. Ut oh, I thought. This may end up being a very short test run but we did get everything that will be necessary for him to move into a NH if needed and for me to put him there.
Carol, My father-in-law was the same way, and he eventually did get impossible to care for. There comes a point when you just can't do it anymore, and it's important to be able to make that choice when necessary.
I'm glad to hear that you got POA, so you'll have the ability to make that decision, should the time come. We're all behind you on this, no matter what.
Sorry to hear little Maggie had to suffer too. This must be hard with both your sisters home, and glad to hear that your roomie is willing to step in to help, when needed.
both your sisters 'not' home.
BTW, my FIL was 250+, so I know exactly what you mean.
Yep Chloe, no real sisters here but today, I adopted another one. She was a Godsend. I don't usually, can't, ask anyone for help. Never been able to. I'm not sure exactly why. What Solar said about maybe my new roomie could help popped into my head this morning. My roomie was on vacation. I asked and she graciously agreed to help. I couldn't have done it without her today. She not only did all the driving, I was too nervous to, but she was a great support just being with me. I also wanted a witness of anything that went down at the hospital and someone to slap me if I started to get out of hand.
At the hospital, the SW was the best he has ever been and I met two of the nurses who couldn't have been nicer. It all went very well. It was like I wasn't even at the same place.
SF popped out of that unit with the biggest smile on his face. Shortly after he got into the car, I asked him what day, date and month it was. He answered correctly without hesitation. I looked over at roomie and she was very impressed. Never of us were too sure of the answers and we haven't been in captivity.
Ya know Chloe, SF might be around 250 also. He's pretty solid.
All of a sudden, my internet hasn't been acting up...hope that it lasts.!
Lots of nice pics that has been posted.!!
Spoke too soon, was just in and out...
Carol,
What I also wanted to say, was that as long as your house is bieng used by someone that needs a place to live, why could they not help take care of him there? It would make it a lot easier for you to look in on him.....U have decided that (tag) u are the one that will do it all...
the reason that you weren't able to ask for help...is for the same reasons that I could not....your a giver, a doer and will keep giving....and doing...just the way it is...i find it very hard to ask for anything at all...not cos im ashamed by asking...just not used to asking....weird huh?
It's is weird Solar but we should learn to ask for help and accept it. People usually do want to help and it does make them feel good when they can help. When we don't ask or let someone help, we rob them of the pleasure of that feeling of giving.
And no way would I put SF in my house. He would be a full time job and I wouldn't do that to my worst enemy. The year I spent taking care of mom, and him, almost did in our relationship for good.
"When we don't ask or let someone help, we rob them of the pleasure of that feeling of giving."
Carol, well said. So glad things turned out a little better today.
Hi Solar, good to hear from you.
SF and my relationship was best when I was out working along side of him with the animals or in the field. We were the best of friends out on the range. He turned into the jerkiest of all men when he came into the house. In the house, women were just there to serve his needs. Barf, barf.
Hello Jan, been enjoying your comments...are you use to your new life yet?
"That's probably why I hate the cold so much - and I do mean HATE."
Chloe, I had missed some comments earlier and have gone back to read some. You certainly live in one of the best places for someone who hates the cold.
I don't like extremes of either cold or heat. I have lived in Montana with extreme cold and visited Phoenix in July with extreme heat and I could not live now in either place. I do miss rain and some humidity but NM is a pretty good climate - Not too extreme either way.
Today turned out pretty well for me. It is fun being in a town where I grew up for a short time. I also got some things accomplished that I came for. That feels good.
I am LOL at your comment above Carol.
Hi Solar, Yes, I am liking being able to NOT rush to go to work in the morning. I do miss contact with some of the people though.
"You certainly live in one of the best places for someone who hates the cold. "
Now you've made me lol Jan. You know what the winters are like here, and I still manage to complain plenty. People who have moved down here from up north are running around in shorts and flip flops in the middle of winter, when I'm bundled up and freezing . I whine about being cold all winter.
I've missed you - I know you've been here, but not as often. I am 'so' glad you have your own personal laptop now, so you can keep in touch. I hope everything goes as planned on this trip for you.
I'm hoping for smooth sailing for you too Carol - you're due.
Don't ya just love techology Solar? Yesterday I spent a significant part of the day yelling at machines. Hey, it felt good and they did have it coming. And have ya even wondered if they have feelings? I swear, there have been times that sweet talking or patting the xerox machine was the only way I made it thru a task.
Lately, those machines are not my friends, especially the phone computers. I get almost to the end of whatever I trying to do, almost to satisfaction and wham, my phone either drops the call or the machine tells me to start over. I swear I can hear laughter coming from somewhere. I'm not sure if it is the machine or our SIMS master up in the sky, but someone is definitely having some fun at my expense.
My Internet thingy was my latest tormentor. It lets me get a long post finished, I hit post and it turns off and I lose the post. I spent about an hour on the phone last night trying to get it replaced. I started on the phone, I was almost thru when it says start over. What?, I thought.
They had mentioned that I could do it faster online. Yeah sure, I'm trying to replace the thingy that gets and keeps me online. After trying to get my replacement on the phone with no success, I thought I would try online because my thingy will work for a short period of time. I went online and they knew I had already started my claim process. Good. Then I got to a place that said, put in your claim number. I never got to the place where they gave me a claim number. Without that claim number, they told me to try again on the phone. Grrrrrrr! No, it's OK. I should have never slammed that weedeater into a tree. I had it coming.
Oh, and the phone company, another machine ya got to talk to. The machine tells you to tell it what's wrong with your phone. I found out yesterday that it doesn't even recognize most of the curse words I tried to use. Huh!
And Iphony didn't want to disturb me yesterday. She quit ringing where I can hear her. I didn't change any of the settings and can't find out why it won't ring where I can hear it. I kept seeing that I had calls where I didn't hear the phone ring. Since they haven't quit calling me from work, Iphony is helping me out by not letting me hear the calls. I guess Iphony is my friend.
Oh, while I was at the lawyer's office, I had SF sign a consent for his medical records. We're requesting all his records from that unit. I'm gonna do a little Medicare audit.
Oh boy, this beats all I've ever seen.
"Bobby Jindal has signed into law one of the more controversial bills from the recent legislative session, one allowing guns to be carried into houses of worship."
I wonder what ministers/priests think about that??
We are getting lots of rain here and flooding. I feel for folks in the northeast who are without electricity in the heat.
We are about finished with our business here. Yesterday, my sister turned up an abstract on the property we own that dates back to 1902. The property was originally part of Indian Territory and owned by the Cherokees - which is part of my ancestery. My dad and mother bought the property in 1971. I am taking the abstract to the attorney this morning - but I want to be sure I get it back. It is an amazing piece of history. One of the signatures on the abstract is the Chief of the Cherokees (deceased now).
John and I both feel kind of lazy today and plan to vacation some.
Carol, there have been shootings in churches. Usually the shootings are either someone who is mentally disturbed or domestic abuse situations. I too wonder what the repercussions of the LA bill will be.
I too hate interacting with a machine. I miss the days when you could call a place of business and actually talk with a person without having to wait while you listen to someone else's idea of good music.
My biggest pet peeve now is calling a person on a cell phone and you get some kind of canned chatter or music while you wait to either talk with them or for the beep where you can leave a message.
I thought I posted a comment last night...but its not here now...
Well done yesterday Carol...& now here's hoping
thing calm down for your at least for awhile.
Jan, it seems you are enjoying your walk down
memory lane....
Very surprised that i was able to log on....going out in the rain, and all to get a truck started...would not get any gas......waiting for some paper work to come back so I can get back to Ohio.....post this before i read the last few comments....
Coreen, I sure am enjoying the memory lane trip and taking some pictures - the high school, the little library where I spent many delightful hours as a child, hospital etc. hotel where my mother had a "beauty shop."
Jan, your trip down memory lane sounds like it was fun. Wouldn't know how that feels since I have lived in the same town all my life. I had planned to move away on at least a couple of occasions but something always came up and foiled my plan. Mom was one of the signicant foils.
Well, it was my first day of having to run two different three ring circuses at the same time. I had 36 patients today and got calls from just about everyone involved in SF's care, at least once. Wasn't too terribly bad.
My Iphone stopped ringing yesterday. I kept finding all these voicemails on it. At lunch, I went to the AT&T store and found out that it wouldn't ring because this little ringer switch under one of the flaps was turned off. Didn't even know that switch was there and don't exactly know how it got turned off but it was easy to fix. Those darn Iphones don't come with any directions and I can't usually find a 3 year old to ask.
The Internet thingy I spent an hour or so last night ordering a replacement for came in today around 10am. I was just ordering it at 10:30p last night. Wow, that's fast service. They must have dropped it from a satelitte.
Did anyone see that horrendous story about the Iranian woman who was to be stoned to death for adultry? I think it has been called off. I pray it has!
Carol, reading your comments makes me realize how much our lives depend on technology.
I continued my memory lane trip today. We drove out in the country to see the house I once lived in. It is still there with the windows and doors boarded up. Up the road is the house my grandad built. The couple who live there let me come in and look around. I took some pics of the outside. It was quite an experience for me. Also drove to another small town where an aunt and cousins once lived and my grandmother lived there for a short time after my grandfather died. The distance between these small towns seemed much greater when I was a child. Took care of some more business today too. All in all it has been a good day and a good trip. We are driving toward home tomorrow. We will spend the night tomorrow in Amarillo - and then motor-motor home Saturday morning.
Carol, I have not seen this thing about the Iranian woman - But I have read other accounts of this kind of thing. It makes me sick. It is hard to believe that can happen today.
I think there has been as much rain here these past 2 days that we have in Alb. all year. I am actually a little tired of rain now.
Very cool day you had Jan. It is amazing how differently we see things as adult compared to how we saw them as children.
We have missed much of the rain that has been around but the river is rising. Must be from what they got north of here. It is just at flood stage now, which is still not a problem for me.
I have noticed that it seems that karma, both good and bad, has a short turn around these days. I've seen lots of evidence of it lately. I've been getting some good karma. I've also seen some people, who are quite deserving, get some bad karma.
Seems I remember hearing, on C2C, that this would be the case in these up coming days. Anyone else notice anything like this? Or am I the only weirdo here?
Talked with Mary tonight. She is having fun playing grandma. I even saw a Chicago star flashing and she said she did check us out. I told her she could catch up on SF status here since I didn't have another minute of phone time available to keep her up on things. I just counted and I had 54 phone calls today on Iphony.
Carol, I don't know what karma is. To me, some things seem to be based on the families we are born into and what opportunities or limitations come along and the decisions we make along the way. As I age, I am beginning to realize that the way I react to events affects me a lot now. More than anything I am just trying to be more aware of everything going on around me and within me. I truly just want to live in the present as much as I can. Sometimes I am successful in that and sometimes not but at least I am becoming more aware of my life now.
Mary, if you are on here - so glad you made it to Chicago and are with LE. I am so happy for you.
Here we are in Oklahoma watching the movie, Twister, about tornados in Oklahoma. I am actually happy about leaving Oklahoma tomorrow.
"It is amazing how differently we see things as adult compared to how we saw them as children."
Carol, yuppers - Houses get smaller and distances get shorter than when we are children. Seeing this house we once lived in, there is a chimney on the outside of the house - my most vivid memory is my sister climbing about halfway up the chimney and doing flips in the air off of it. We never thought of the danger of those things as kids. We were often alone in this house as our parents both worked. We were so lucky to not get hurt - no telephone either.
Good night.
Jan, I might not be too accurate here with the philosophy but what I'm referring to as karma is... what goes around, comes around or ya get what ya give or you reap what ya sew.
Here's one example of what I saw this week. This inmate we had in the joint, tormented me and everyone else he had anything to do with for about 4 years. There are ways that they can torment us and there's not much we can do about it. It's not like it is in a DOC facility, where they are already sentenced. I had to put up with his BS all that time.
He was a habitual criminal. In the commission of his crime, he seriously injured a female cop who tried to take him down. She never completely recovered from the injuries. To top that off, he was called me as a witness for the defense. It was about an injury that he said he received during his arrest. My appearance in court and testimony ended up taking a day and a half of what I had planned for a couple of vacation days. Nothing I could do about that. Most of that time was sitting and waiting in the courthouse. Ya'll might remember that. It was not that long ago.
After the trial, the guy was found guilty but he told one of my nurses that they made a mistake in his trial and he was going to get out soon. I thought, oh great. Well this week, he was finally sentenced. He ended up getting life plus 15 years and he was shipped out to the Big House. Whew!
Shortly after I heard the good news, I passed him sitting in a little room alone. He was behind some glass. He looked at me and I at him. I was so tempted to flash him an evil little smile but I didn't. I knew that if I did, my karma might bite me in the ass.
Nite
Oh, and the moral of that story is....don't screw with Carol's vacation time. It could get you life!
Jan, being from Oklahoma, have you ever been around when a tornado came real close? Anyone else have a scary tornado story?
I used to have sort of a tornadophobia. I am still very scared of the concept but not quite as phobic about them as I used to be. I'm trying hard to get more comfortable about death, no matter how it comes to grab me. And it's not death that bothers me as much as that period just before I see the light. I'm not a big fan of pain.
One of the reasons for my fear of tornados might also be that we have no basements around here for protection. A basement in Louisiana is called a swimming pool. And they always say if you see a tornado, run and get in a low lying area. Well, most of those low lying areas around here are full of water, especially when tornado weather comes around and an area full of water, can also house those s----s, the critters our Coreen loves so much but doesn't have in her neck of the woods, te he. Even though I don't kill snakes, I still don't want to share a shelter with one.
And Jan, I quit watching those disaster movies a while back. When I feel the need for that kind of drama these days, I just turn on the news.
I'm still shaking my head about that, take your gun to church, law. What was our leader thinking?
Colbert has some fun with that news on his show last night. It was funny. He has a gun and calls it Sweetness. Both Colbert and Stewart don't ever run out of material for their shows. Their material almost writes itself. They just have to repay the news and make a few funny faces.
This morning I saw a replay of where Lindsey L's father gave Shep Smith a good chewing out for his trying to blame him for not helping his daughter stay out of trouble. I usually like Shep but he did have it coming.
You certainly can't always blame parents for the trouble thier kids get into. They can be the perfect parents and still have children with problems. I see that everyday at work. I do try to reinforce, to many of my inmates, just how much distress they have called their parents. I have so much sympathy for their parents.
When inmates tell me that their parents won't help them get out of jail, I tell them that they just don't realize how painful that is for their parents and it just shows how much their parents love them. Tough love is the most painful for parents. Rescuing is easier but it just enables them to continue their bad behavior. The inmates who show some understanding of that concept, I know have a better chance for success.
Oh, yesterday I received the Medi Alert pendant I ordered the day before for SF. I will set it up this weekend.
Little bookkeeper called me yesterday morning and, out of the blue, told me she would be happy to put her name on the list to contact in case of a problem. She said that she lives closer to him than I do and it would be easier for her to respond. Can you believe that? She also brought him breakfast yesterday. She told me that he had already eaten the cereal and milk I bought for him. He told me that he did eat the breakfast she bought for supper last night.
Finding that woman Jan, is a perfect example of good karma, very good karma.
I have two particular challenges this weekend. One is how to fix a fluorescent light fixture and the other is how to change a kitchen faucet. I need to do both at SF's house. I wonder if I can find my, how to do anything in your home, book. I used that book when I built my hot tub house.
Carol to Universe....send help.
" As I age, I am beginning to realize that the way I react to events affects me a lot now. More than anything I am just trying to be more aware of everything going on around me and within me. I truly just want to live in the present as much as I can. Sometimes I am successful in that and sometimes not but at least I am becoming more aware of my life now."
Jan, I can't believe what you said here, because it's exactly where I am right now too. I mean, you said it so much better than I could have, but it describes my feelings so well - I could have written the same thing, and it all would have been true... is true.
Retiring is the best thing you could have made right now. I can already see a change in you, because you have the time to focus on the 'important' things, without all the distractions. Your new job requires so many less hours, that it will give you the time you need to concentrate those things that are most important.
We need to have the time to be the best we can be, without too much interference from stresses that interfere with our focus. You are so smart to work on the problem you went to Oklahoma to solve, so you can move on from it - and like you said, your relationship with your sister will then get back to normal.
You're doing all the right things Jan! You've taken control - at the same time you're letting go. Good work!
... I have NO doubt that our perception creates our world. None.
Whoa. That's a lot of responsibility.
No wonder I look for distractions to escape!!
Can't wait to hear from Mary.
Do you know how her visit is going Carol?
I'm not sure who Shep Smith is, and I didn't see the interview, but if he tried to put forth a view point that parents "rescuing" children from the consequences of their own choices is in any way "helping," and to suggest that's the view of most Americans, it just shows how badly dysfunctional our culture has become.
To be fair Ivy, I may not have seen the entire interview. If y'all check it out , let me know what you think. I bet it is online. Having
had teenagers and being ad smart as y'all are, I'll yeild
to your opinion.
The video of the interview: Michael Lohan Defends Efforts to Save Lindsay in Heated Fox News Interview
This is from a while back: Lindsay Lohan Blames Father Michael For Cocaine Addiction
... OK... I finally got that link right. Jeez, that was a struggle!
Once it completely loads, there's a video on it.
Thanks very much Chloe and I'm sorry Shep. I saw only a portion of that interview on TV, MSNBC. It was the last half. Should have known better than to have prejudged it. I have always liked Shep. He's the only one of the Fox anchors who I do like.
Lindsey needs jail more than anything else. I have seen the results of many of those drug rehab programs. Many don't work. Jail may be the only thing that can save her. She will need more time than 90 days.
And jail is really not a good answer either but sometimes it turns out to be the best option. The reality will really hit home there.
And maybe some jails may not be such a great option. I can only speak for mine and I know they have a person in charge of medical who really cares about her inmates and their futures.
I'm also sure there are some wonderful rehab centers but I also know that most of my inmates have been though several to dozens of them without any success.
I would like to hear from those of you who have raised teenagers. I don't have a clue. Actually, I'm kinda glad I never had to do it. It can be such a heartache.
I watched that video again and I'll have to say I certainly can't judge her father either. The portion I saw this morning still makes me feel aggravated at Shep. It isn't something we can judge until we have been in that very same place. Being the parent of a celebrity would certainly put lots of temptation in your face.
San Francisco wants to ban the sale of all pets, except fish, in the city. If you want a pet, you have to adopt one from a shelter or find one in the classified.
when my boys were teens, I often prayed that we would get them to adulthood alive. There are no perfect parents, usually it is just people doing the best they can.
When teens like Lindsey L. have fame and fortune so young, what do they have to aspire too after that. I have not read the link about her father yet. Brittany Spears had so many problems too and had her kids taken away from her for a time. It seems she is doing better now.
I watched the Shep video. It seemed to me that Shep confronted the dad quite a bit. It also seemed to me that the dad was blaming everyone else for his daughter's problems. I think the dad was pretty defensive. I thought it was interesting that the dad said it was the "divorce" that was the cause of LIndsay's problems. I do consider that to be a crock of ****. Many divorced parents are able to continue parenting successfully.
"I have two particular challenges this weekend. One is how to fix a fluorescent light fixture and the other is how to change a kitchen faucet."
Carol, good luck on these. I have no talent in either of these categories. Maybe Solar can help you there. I remember you were good at fixing things.
Hi Jan. Are you still on the road?
I just spent an hour trying to get liability insurance on my boats. I hung out over the water, searching for the serial number on my bass boat. I looked all over that motor, inside and out. I couldn't find it anywhere. After I hung up, I found the place where it said serial number and it was blank, just a silver blank area. Nothing etched in either. I will have to find my title but I think that is just for the trailer. Maybe I can call wildlife and fisheries and they will have it on the paperwork I sent in years ago for my boat registration. It isn't on the registration paper I have to carry in the boat but I seem to remember the application does ask for it. Why does everything have to be such a hassle?
We are in Amarillo tonight. It is unseasonably cool here in the 80's. We have seen very little sunshine this trip - but it has been pleasant. I liked the change.
Chloe, I am not surprised that you feel the same as I do. You are so wise to be where you are and to be young. I attended a wonderful workshop on "mindfulness eating" and the workshop was really about mindfulness living. It did not change my eating habits that much, but it helped me to be more aware of how I eat and how I live. The great thing is that the program stressed that we don't have to make changes necessarily, merely become more aware.
Carol, yes we are still on the road. That is strange about your boat and the serial number. Hope you can find it. Do you have the paperwork from when you bought the boat?
Jan, I doubt I kept anything but the title and registration. I think the title is for the trailer but I can't look for it since it will be at my house. I might have kept other paperwork, since I am a pack rat, but finding it??? Who would have thought that the serial number would disappear off the plate on the motor. Just has a silver blank area.
I bought the boat new in 1992.
As a special treat tonight, I'm boiling up some Gulf shrimp I got fresh when sis first got here. I got and put up about 15 lbs of it and it just might be the last Gulf shrimp I ever get. I'm not sure I would trust eating anything else out of there now. Do you think I should put in my claim to BP for ruining my life??
Louisiana has "sportsman's paradise" on our license plates here or we used to. BP has screwed much of that up for us.
Chloe, yes - I want my relationship to be right with my sister. We never know how much time we have in this life and I want the time we have together to be joyful.
Carol, enjoy your shrimp.
I identify as to keeping up with important paperwork. Bob was so organized and he could access paperwork in minutes. I have had to learn how to do this. I fear I am not too good at it either. Since my dad died and made me one of the executors of his estate, I have had to work harder at it. I would rather someone else would do it, but John is not at all organized, so I have to do it.
"You are so wise to be where you are and to be young."
Jan, I'm not young. I've just raised a kid every 20 years. First my son in my early 20's, then my daughter in my early 40's, and now my grand baby in my early 60's.
It turns out that raising kids has taken a major role in my life. It probably keeps me thinking a little younger - I don't now.
You notice that I only do one at a time. Ha.. it's all I can handle.
Chloe, Well, you are a young 60ish woman. I did assume you were probably in your 40s. "I can only do one at a time" LOL.
I admire and respect you Chloe, just thinking about taking care of a little one full time makes me feel tired. Of course, as you say or infer so often, it is a joy to watch a little one grow and develop.
Carol, I went to wikopedia and got the meaning of the word, Karma.It has a lot to do with spirituality. I had a totally different idea of what it meant. I thought the word had more to do with luck. Very interesting!
Of course 60ish is young. 60's are the new 40's LOL.
Carol, I do feel bad for Louisiana. So many natural and man-made disasters. I loved living in LA. I am not a sportsman by any stretch of the imagination. I don't like to fish or hunt. But I loved the culture and the food and the friendly people. I remember before we moved to Louisiana, someone said it was like "moving to another country" because of the French Acandian culture. Also, the political system is different than any other state. So many restaurants in places I have lived since LA try to copy the cajun cooking and just don't quite make it.
"just thinking about taking care of a little one full time makes me feel tired"
She is a bundle of energy Jan. We were in the market the other day, and an older woman was commenting on how cute she is - then she added: I don't think I could ever keep up with her though, and laughed.
I will say, this is the most fun I have ever had with a baby. She does keep me young, both physically and mentally.
Yep, here, the living is easy. And you can now shoot the preacher if you don't like the sermon on Sunday. What more can ya ask for?
... bet you're going to be happy to get home, huh Jan. You're probably missing that front porch of yours, and that first cup of tea (it is tea for you, isn't it). For me it's coffee. Can't sit out on the porch for long though, not this time of the year.
It's real quiet out here where we are though - which that's how I picture Albuquerque too... quiet and beautiful. We lived in the high dessert in California for our last two years there, and the air is so clean.
Just heard that our Senator Vitter had 16 Republican challengers come out to run against him, and on the last day to register to run. This is going to be interesting but La politics always is.
It's kinda weird to have so many challengers pop in at the last minute, don't ya think? Just maybe the Senator got some of those challengers to come in order to break up the opposition. With that many challengers, he probably will still have the edge.
"And you can now shoot the preacher if you don't like the sermon on Sunday. What more can ya ask for?"
Carol, LOL - however John didn't laugh when I told him. Fortunately he doesn't preach much anymore.
Chloe, I have missed my morning's having tea on the front porch. Yes, its tea for me. I drank coffee years ago. I switched to tea about 15 years ago. Coffee was giving me the "jitters" but tea does not affect me that way. John has had to give up coffee too. He has reflux and the coffee makes it worse.
I am looking forward to getting home, be it ever so humble.
Tell John I'm sorry, Jan. I don't think there will be many who will actually take advantage of that opportunity. I'm not sure it even passed, did anyone hear? Hey, the preacher may take advantage of it to keep some of those sleepers awake. If I was still going to church, I certainly would stay awake to make sure I would be ready to duck if need be.
I can understand your enjoying raising Emma. I got so attached to one of my granddaughters that I could have raised her if needed. She is 17 now and lives in Ark. Her mom is the one with MS. When we were living in the same town I kept her pretty often. It was so comfortable having her with me.
How's your GD's mom doing Jan?
Carol, that doesn't bother John. while in LR he did clinical training in the hospital (for chaplaincy) for 3 years. He saw all kinds of stuff in the E.R. None of that scares him. He has done some counseling with some real tough guys and he has a way of calming people who are really hell-bent on doing harm to others. He has a special talent for that. Not me. I run the other way.
She is not doing well Carol, She is in a WC full time. She has to be lifted in and out of the chair. Her 2 daughters (17 & 13) do most of her care. Steve is gone, work or school, most of the time. They have a lift for her but don't use it that much. Both girls are strong and they lift her, dress her, change her (she is incontinent), essentially take care of her needs. She has use of her arms and hands but not her legs.
I am calling it a night. Wonder if there is anything on the tube?? Carol and Chloe, if you are still around - Sweet Dreams!
Bad boys don't scare me either Jan. On the other hand, those bad girls are a different story. I'll take the guys any day of the week.
I had this one woman today, yelling at me, telling me just what I was going to do for her and what medications I was going to prescribe for her. I leaned in kinda close to her and said in a quiet voice "I think I'm in charge here and I'll make the decisions" She backed off.
That is so sad Jan. Nite nite and sweet dreams for you also.
Shortly after I started working in corrections and learned about some of the problems that many of the inmates faced after years of incarceration and, some, not even that many, I had this fantasy. It was about how neat it would be if we could take all these ex-inmates without resources, and others, like the elderly, who needed different kinds of help, put them together in a community, with supervision and qualified specialists, and allow them each to contribute what they each could, to provide assistance to the others. Everyone would have a purpose. Life skills and training would be available.
Many old people, like SF, are still useful but may not be able to totally take care of themselves anymore. The elderly still have knowledge and many skills to offer.
Many inmates, especially after they have been incarcerated for a while, have no family or support system out in the "world" anymore. They learned how to, and would like to work but throw them out of jail, with nowhere to go, no support system, and they end up returning to jail because it's the only option they have. It's home. There are young people who have no families to take care of them and they end up in boy's or girl's villages.
Our tax dollars end up having to support many of these individuals, in each of their different communities.
Wouldn't it be nice if we could put them all together, in the same community and create a sort of super family. Those who were able, after acquiring the necessary skills, could move out into the regular "world". Others could move in to take their place.
It's weird but I kind of enjoyed that fantasy.
Post a Comment