Just need to talk to my friends (199)

Good morning to those on the porch.

Lorita— I hope the weather breaks for you soon now that's it's officially fall. I hope you had a great weekend of football.

Speaking of football, Ron— that is a great picture. Your grandson has your eyes.

David— I'm glad the book swap was fruitful. Mom's clubhouse library has a discard box for residents to take books in addition to their lending library. There's always something interesting in the box that make me wonder how it ended up there. We found copies of The 36-Hour Day and Being Mortal— I wondered if the person who donated hung out here.

Biggles— Welcome to the porch.

Jerilynn— I'm glad your SIL was mostly pleasant and that the trip was a success. The pictures are great. It's weird, but they sort of remind me a bit of sections of Maine.

Mint— I do hope you get your needed rain. And when you've had your fill, please send it in my direction as things here can only be described as "extra-crispy". I hope to go out and trim some spent perennials later as they just look like weeds at this point. Oddly, my black-eyed-Susans are flourishing. I want to pick up a couple of mums or something for my front step and some ornamental corn for the door.

Iris— Mom had what they call a "mini-sling" procedure. So far it seems to be working for her. I'm hoping this helps with her tendency to UTIs which scare the daylights out of me. They're silent, in that she has no urgency or pain, but she goes off the rails. The first time her BP was 199/100 and she was uncharacteristically combative and the time after that her BP was 65/50 and she was so weak I had to use a transport chair to get her into the ER. Both resulted in extended ER visits with admissions after.
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After I last posted, mom and I paid some of her bills. Nothing was late, but she missed the discount deadline on both her school and per capita taxes. In the past, she normally bugged me to drive her to the tax collector's office to pay these in person because 1) they give her a receipt on the spot and 2) the man has a remarkably varied candy jar and is generous. She once left his office with both her coat pockets full. This strategy worked; she crossed party lines to vote for him and his candy jar. It's very odd that she didn't pay these already as the discount is around $250. I got the sense she thought it was August still.

I showered at her house before going home. I asked to use her blow dryer and the one she gave me didn't really work. When I said, I'd leave and dry my hair at home, she got me a second blow dryer. I recognized this one. I bought it on my last trip to FL when I was dissatisfied with the first one she gave me. Grrr, this means I actually packed and moved that thing. Then I asked to use her hot brush. The first she gave me rotated and tangle my hair so badly I thought I might have to cut it out. The second one had too small a barrel and not much in the way of drying performance. So she went back to her room and came back with a third one. I recognized it; it was a Christmas gift from us a few years back. The barrel size wasn't ideal, but it did a mostly OK job.

After, I asked her which one she uses as her hair always looks professionally done. She looked at me with that deer-in-the-headlights look and said, "I don't remember". Note to self— call the Memory Center and find out when you can expect a call back to schedule an appointment. I reached out in April/May and the said 3 months with an appointment in 6-ish. It's getting harder to explain away what I'm seeing. I've already decided to insert myself into her finances more aggressively.

HB