Just need to talk to my friends (208)

Good afternoon all.

Phew, we are having oppressive heat here. Summer is here for sure. I feel for the rescuer's in these conditions. The task they are going through, I can't imagine. I would like to say I could go help, but there is no way. I'd just stand there and cry uncontrollably. Heartbreaking for sure.

Ron I like your new digs. When's the housewarming party?

Lorita I'm hoping the delivery happens on time today.

HB your mamma raised you correctly. She appreciates all you do for her. I frankly don't know how you keep up with everything.

The pulmonary doc said DH's lungs were clear, yea. With the dirty, hot air he needs to use his rescue inhaler. (The fact I say it, it means zip. But the doc says it, ohhhh its important!!) But he was a tiny bit concerned about DH's swallowing. He thinks that might play into his coughing also. He highly suggested a trip to the gastro to discuss this. But frankly I'm thinking of taking him to the ENT. Only because the ENT can run a scope up his nose in the office with no medications. He'll be able to see the vocal cords and everything. If its not one thing its another. I'm not jumping to do anything immediately - he's not in distress.

I declared today a home day. DH is worn out & needs a down day. We certainly don't mind being here, we have AC and food, he's happy! Everyone be safe out there.

I am in Stockholm now, after 18 hours of flying. We had Swedish meatballs for dinner. There are 41 in our group. I'm exhausted, off to bed.

Iris

Well friends I had a successful day yesterday. I'm down to one drawer of one freezer to organize! The tubs I bought fit perfectly (imagine that! I actually measured the shelves before I bought).

DH canned 10 more quart jars of pickles. Cucumber and squash bread and butter. We froze more blackberries, some okra and squash. Pulled some onions and peppers. The corn is looking like it will make a good little crop for us - I'll freeze corn on the cob.

Our camping trip is rescheduled for the end of July. The campground required 48 hrs notice to cancel but since SIL was diagnosed with Covid the day before our scheduled arrival they graciously allowed us to move the dates.

Judith, I'm hoping you are continuing to improve. Iris, have fun and be safe. GG - did you come home with a kitten?

It's very foggy here this morning.

Lorita— I hope they come through on the new fridge quickly. This is why mom didn't renew her whole house appliance/mechanicals policy. Getting a tech to come do the assessment took weeks sometimes and then things got very bureaucratic— for the cost of the policy, the service wasn't worth what she was paying.

Zetta— My bad. You're the mother in the mother & daughter yoga. Got it.

Eagle— Maybe you should see the GI doc and ask for a swallow study. Mom's gastro was reluctant to scope her given her age and health, so he ordered a swallow study with an SLP who fed mom various textures and watched with a fluoroscope (I think) to determine what was happening. The study follows the process from mastication the entire way down the esophagus and into the stomach.

One thing hers showed was that the process beyond the back of the throat was slower than normal which is not unusual among older people.

Iris— Enjoy your trip. I can't wait to see pictures.

Gothic G— There's nothing better than kittens. How did you resist not slipping one or two into your bag or pocket on the way out?

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It's infectious disease day. Oh yay. This particular office is not an easy drive from mom's, so I'll need to leave a bit early to be there on time and then wait as timeliness does not seem to be a thing at this office. It's one of those places where they usher you into an exam room, check you in and then you sit there long enough to wonder if they've forgotten you're there.

Have a pleasant day.
HB

Good morning……

Lorita I hope the process for the new frig moves along quickly. It all seems so frustrating - wait for a tech to come to the house - wait for something else - then wait longer. I sometimes think that they do that hoping you'll give up and just purchase a new appliance. Hang in there.

GG little kitten are hard to resist, so cute. You need several.

HB its a toss up which dr to take DH to. The ENT is the one who has ordered and done the last two swallow studies DH had done. The last time we started at the gastro and he sent us to the ENT. Luckily both of us really like both dr's, because I anticipate we'll see both of them. When DH pays attention the coughing and swallowing are much better.

Iris, rest up and have a great trip.

Judith I hope your feeling better.

Time to get ready for the day. Let's be safe everyone.

I'm glad you're feeling better Judith. I hope the appointment doesn't bring any surprises.

Lorita— I am angry on your behalf. LOL, you're about mom's age; she jokes anytime she makes a major purchase or buys a case of something that it is a "lifetime supply". I hope her appliance last, but I know she'll be pestering me about a trip to Costco for paper towels with the next couple of weeks. She tells me her cleaner takes them. This irks her. Her cleaner does excellent work for a very reasonable price and is reliable as well. If she wants to take 1/2 a roll of Bounty with her, mom needs to get over it and consider it part of the cost of not cleaning her own home.

Eagle— mom's swallowing can be impacted by her being distracted by dining with others. Somebody says something funny and we have choking and spluttering still. Fortunately it looks like discontinuing Fosamax fixed the silent aspiration that was the bigger problem.

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Infectious Disease was running a mere 45 minutes behind today. Given the nature of his work, many of his appointments are telehealth with very sick and vulnerable people so even though we were the only people there we waited. And waited.

He was pleased with how well mom was doing. Of late, she been stuck on her HOA's rule about people with communicable diseases being banned from the pool. I have tried to assure her that she does not have some exotic communicable disease countless times. She had, and potentially still has, some staph bacteria (which everyone has on their own skin) in her bloodstream for which she's been treated with IV abx and daily abx going forward and that this is not a communicable disease. Her PCP and heart doctor told her the same thing I did. I brought it up with the ID doc and he gently explained to her that she can't make anyone sick and that she should go to the pool as much as she wants.

I brought her home, told her to suit up and dropped her at the pool. We agreed she's Uber home. I ordered the Uber so she won't have to deal with that aspect of getting home. Fingers crossed this doesn't go sideways. My route to her house is part of a detour and traffic is quite heavy during rush hour. She's lost about 8lbs in the last 6 months from being sick. She swears last year's suit no longer fits. It does. She's angling for a trip to Lands End I just know it.

On funny aside.

A couple weeks ago she was asking about when she was supposed to see the ID doc.
I said "July 11".
She said she thought it was sooner.
I said "I have July 11 in my phone, but you can call the office and check".
She said, walking to the fridge "I have a paper that has the 1st on it"
She handed me the paper, a torn-off corner of an envelope, that said "Furnace man" in her cursive in pencil. I said "This says furnace man. You're getting your HVAC maintenance that day." Knowing her vision can be really iffy, I asked "What did you think it says?"
"Fungus man"

Just why?

HB

Good afternoon Porch Friends.

Lorita. I sure hope they find who put the dog in the trash bin and yes hang him by the you know what. You need to keep on them about your fridge. You were intitled to replacement, long ago.

Iris. Have fun in Stockholm, you sure are a world traveler. As old as I am, 79. I would be afraid if I had to go to a hospital in a different country. That was a long flight. When we went to Poland, the flight was 14 hours, I really like the flight, and how nice they were to us travelers, on the plane.

GG. Sounds like you had a real nice visit with your bestie. I'm glad you were able to do that. I would have loved to have seen and held all those kittens.

JeriLynn. It's nice you were able to change your camping dates, and have your payment transfered. That would have been a bad thing if they would not allow that.

Hugs to all Zetta

JeriLynn - that must feel really good getting all of that done. Organizing is a lot of work. How do you freeze corn on the cobb?

Mint - I saw the moon the other night, when it was just slightly gibbous. I watched it come up, large and yellow in the sky. It was a nice moment.

Lorita - that's horrible about the little dog. I don't know how anyone could be that cruel. I hope they find him, fine him, and hopefully jail him for awhile.

Judith - I'm glad you're continuing to recover!

HB - Fungus man. That was a laugh out loud moment for me.

Zetta - I'm like you, there will never be a time when I don't want to pick up a kitten or a cat. They're just instant happiness.

I didn't come home with any kittens! We'll get two though. My s.o. is not really a cat person, but when he's invested, he's good with them. So what I need to do is let him choose the kittens, and even better, let him name them. He's the one who came up with Godzilla and Gamera for our previous cats. I predict two kittens within the year. 🙂

I mostly did work today, but then played board games all night. Terraforming Mars is a favorite.

Somehow it's gotten to be past 2am, so I'm going to go to sleep.

good morning

Judith, I’m glad you’re feeling better

JeriLynn glad at least one tomato is flourishing. I got two ripe cherry tomatoes yesterday.

HB your mom keeps you busy.

something is eating my sunflowers. It’s just in my flower bed. I do not believe it’s the Deers because the plants are still real small. Normally that’s not when the deer eat them. Normally they eat on the leaves after they get bigger. I have some bigger sunflowers that came up voluntarily in my garden area and the leaves have not been eaten so I don’t believe it’s deer. I’ve never had trouble with deer in the backyard. It’s fenced in and most of the backyards in neighborhood are not fenced in, so I’ve always kind of felt they take the path of least resistance. They have eaten on the volunteer sunflower in the front yard. That’s why I did not plant any out front this year because it’s not fenced the deer always eat them.

Morning all……

Ron that's a wonderfully relaxing picture. Thanks for sharing it. The turkey has adopted you.

I started the day out in the yard. I thought I'd get some things done before it was too hot. The temp wasn't too awful, but the humidity about did me in. I used to be able to work out there all day and not think twice about it. Now so much now. I was out over three hours and am zapped. But I did complete one project, and I'm glad about that. Now, to finish my Gatorade and hit the shower.

I didn't make the call for DH's appointment. I will on Monday. I am really watching to see 'exactly' how / what he's doing cough wise. I will say he is coughing less, but the constant throat clearing isn't right.

Lorita I'm sorry Sear's is being difficult. Anything they can do to not help the customer seems to be the norm. Hang in there. Gov Abbott is in a wheelchair because a tree fell on him when he was jogging, of all things. This was years ago.

HB your mamma does keep you busy. I bet she was pleased with herself for the "walk" even though it wasn't what she was suppose to do. And the fungus man - priceless.

Have a safe and wonderful day everyone.