An Act of Faith

July 27, 2016

I did something today that I’ve been dreading, putting off, considered ignoring: I upgraded to Windows 10, impressed by all those messages that warned the free upgrade was going away. The internet has been filled with dire warnings about what happened to some computers—files lost, etc. There was even a program you could install that said Never 10 and would prevent any automatic downloads. In fact, I think I had the program but it wasn’t apparent tonight—when I clicked the download button, Windows was merrily on its way.

I’ve been meaning to do this at night, but each night I automatically turned off the computer and realized the next morning the deadline was looming. So this afternoon I started the download when I went to nap—very tired, took a long nap, and when I got up it was 96% complete—great timing.

So far, as the download promised, all my files are exactly where I left them. The only problem I had was that the print looked smaller but that may have just been me—I was tired. Jamie magnified it to 125% and it’s great. This is a big worry off my mind.

And that’s the other nice thing that happened today: Jamie, my younger son, came to visit, arriving in time to pick up lunch and bring it to the house. Jordan, Jamie and I had a very social lunch, and after she went back to work, he and I talked politics for quite a while. I finally took a nap, and he set up his computer on the dining table and began to work.

Wednesday being Betty’s night to come for supper, I asked if she’d bring chicken fried steak for Jamie and a blue cheese hamburger for us to split—all from The Star Café, the restaurant she and her husband own. She did, and we had a jolly dinner, with Jamie at his comic best. Food was delicious. And now I’m full.

Jamie is apparently coming off a heavy travel time for his office and says he’ll try to come spend a day or part of a day with me each week. I haven’t seen him for a while and loved having him here. He was good about doing things—putting dogs out, etc. His presence made it a special day, and I look forward to seeing more of him.

Didn’t get a lot of work done but I did draft one guest blog and keep up with email, Facebook, and the like. So many folks on Facebook expressed their pleasure at the report of my progress in growing new bone—I am grateful for all the concern, can’t adequately express how great it makes me feel.

So the curtain goes down on another good day. I hope it was a good day for you too. See you tomorrow.

Domestic Matters

 Today was a milestone. I got to tour my almost-completed cottage. It’s not quite as big as I thought, but perhaps will seem bigger with furniture. It’s going to be a cozy hideaway, and I could see places to put a lot of things I want to hang on to. What serves as a kitchen area is pretty small, but rest assured—I can fix tuna salad for you. Or tea. Or happy hour, which we can enjoy in the comfort of the sitting area in my parlor/office.

I can imagine myself working at my desk and staring out at the garden through the French doors. The doors let in a lot of light, plus the contractor put 16 recessed light bulbs in various places in the ceiling. The place is so bright that the old yellow on the walls jumps out at you. Today we picked a new paler shade of yellow but still with the warm peach overtones that I like. We also ordered carpet—splurged here a bit and chose a low pile (good for wheels of my walker, although I keep reminding everyone I don’t intend to be on a walker forever). The carpet is not the plain beige I thought I’d end up with but has sort of a beige and cream zigzag pattern. My daughters assure me it looks good in a large sample. Unfortunately, it’s not practical to load me in the car to go see the large sample, so I will trust their judgment.

The main room, where I’ll spend most of my time, is lovely, open and light-filled. I think with furniture it will look warm and welcoming. Heat and a/c goes in tomorrow, so bit by bit we’re getting there. I’m getting antsy to move in.

Meantime, this week I’m home with two daughters, two grandsons, and three dogs. None are a problem, though the daughters tend to roll their eyes and laugh at me. Megan can find stains on clothes that I think are perfectly fine.

They get kudos, however, for feeding me well.

Sunday night, Megan fixed a wild rice/chicken salad with celery and roasted almonds; the next night we had tuna salad with avocado and cherry tomatoes—I added a bit of blue cheese.

Last night it was pork tenderloin with roasted new potatoes and green salad. Leftovers were delicious tonight.

My birthday---shh!

78—is coming up Friday, so we’ll begin celebrating tomorrow with lunch for two good friends, each of whom have June or July birthdays. They’ll bring the food, and I’ll pour the wine. And I know they’ll want a tour of the cottage. Nice way to celebrate.

The Blessing of Friends

Jacob in the wheelchair a friend brought today

News on the health front is encouraging tonight. This morning I had a thorough sponge bath from a private duty care nurse. Do you know how luxurious it is to sit there, hold out your warm, and essentially say, “Here, wish it.” The nurse had recently broken her foot and had a three-month experience in a boot, so she knew where I was and what I was feeling. And I felt so good after my bath.

Jordan’s news was that tomorrow at 2:15 I have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon—something I’ve been waiting for so we can find out what’s next, what’s the treatment, how long is recovery, all those good things. And she found a home health care service that takes my insurance. A lesson I’ve learned: private duty care people are not necessarily highly trained, and their services are not paid for by Medicare; home health care provides professionals, and Medicare pays the bill. I’m particularly pleased about this their services include a physical therapist when the doctor gives his okay. They also clean your house, do your laundry, really whatever you need. Five weeks after my colossal fall, we may be headed in the right direction.

Today was a lovely day and is perhaps the first day I don’t feel like rushing back to my bed. Friends have really rallied to my side—Linda, who I’ve known for over thirty years, brought lunch—delicious tuna salad. She assembled the sandwiches fresh in my kitchen, so they weren’t soggy or anything. And we had a great visit. Tonight, Amye, a friend of Jordan’s that I’m known for a long time, came for happy hour and brought lovely flowers, and Betty, my longtime dining pal, brought homemade cheeseburgers and fruit.

Efficient supper

Saturday friends Sue and Teddy are bringing lunch, and Monday Sue is bringing supper—it’s Jacob’s birthday and everyone will be off to Joe T.’s to celebrate. I’m sad that I can’t go.

I think Jordan is arranging for someone to come visit every day, and I’m most grateful to her. But I’m also most grateful for the friends who care enough to visit and drink wine and chat and distract me. Some come expecting me to be transformed into a little old bent-over lady and are pleasantly surprised. I am who I’ve always been, and my ankle doesn’t hurt more because of the diagnosis  Monday. Yes, my disposition and outlook took a hit, but they’re back to normal, and I’m as happy a camper as I can be in these circumstances.

If I were isolated here in my house, I’d be really miserable. And without Jordan, I don’t think I’d have made it. The Lord is good to me.

Ho, hum! Just another day

Ho, hum! The day after Labor Day and not much is new. A huge crowd greeted Kim Davis when she got out of jail, hailing her as a martyr for religious freedom. To me, the most interesting thing about that is that both Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz were on hand to greet her, and Huckabee managed to body block Cruz out of the publicity. No small trick that. One of the Republican candidates (who can keep them straight?) is saying that the killing of a Houston-area law enforcement officer is directly the fault of President Obama. Why not? He’s been blamed for everything else. Dick Cheney is pushing for war with Iran but meanwhile some country is about to indict him—and Halliburton—for bribery. Donald Trump claims his prestigious prep school was every bit as hard as Vietnam—that ought to win him the veteran vote. See? Nothing changes.

Locally the big news is an expected wet cold front. I may wait up until two a.m. to see if it really arrives. Early September is soon for a permanent cool down but a little relief will be nice.

Busy day—breakfast with the Book Ladies, who sometimes talk about books and lots of the time don’t. They’ve been doing that for at least twenty years, probably more, and I look forward to those monthly meetings—and treating myself to an egg on buttered toast. Supposed to go to lunch with my former colleague and now good friend Melinda, but she was overwhelmed with a project—so I offered her lunch at home. Nice to know I can whip together a pretty, ladylike luncheon with little planning. We had chilled salmon (out of the can but that good kind I order from the Northwest) on a bed of lettuce, with cherry tomatoes and hard-boiled eggs, potato salad from last night, and cantaloupe and raspberries. Looked pretty and tasted delicious. For supper, I went to pick up Phil and his dog, since Subie wasn’t going, and we met the neighbors at the Grill. I had my heart set on a loaded baked potato—but they didn’t have any! So I ordered cheese grits—who knew they had peppers in them? The conversation and laughter made up for my lightweight dinner—which was probably good for me.

Jordan and Christian are down to one car again, so she will take mine in the morning. A good plan because it forces me to stay home and work.

A friends asked me the other day what I was looking forward to—a trip, a special event? I said not really anything—Christmas is too far away to think about. Maybe that’s why today seems humdrum—I need some anticipation!

Sweet dreams, y’all!