Martha, Martha, Martha

 My last post was way back in October... and here we are on the eve of a brand new year.
Once again, I have no 'resolutions'.

What I do have is fretfulness.
What do we do when we don't know WHAT to do, and there seems to be no ready solution?
  I was in the shower after emailing a friend. I outlined my stress and worries to her. As I washed,  Martha came to mind. The Martha of the Bible. She was busy making things happen. Sometimes, she got exasperated when others did their own thing, instead of pitching in to help.
Showering, I was convinced that there really aren't enough people who set aside what THEY would rather be doing, to make sure that other people get the care they need.
I was looking up what we know about Martha in the Bible. Was she too busy "doing" to sit and listen to Jesus? Perhaps we we have more scriptures regarding Martha than we do Mary. We know Mary sat and listened to Jesus. Martha served. Maybe she really wanted to sit and listen as well... but someone has to cook the food, wash the dishes, chase the children. Martha stood guard between the chaos of life, and this allowed Mary the opportunity of sitting at Jesus feet. Jesus didn't rebuke Martha for getting things done, He simply told her that her sister had chosen the better option.

I wonder what happened next. Did Martha take a seat?

Here I am fretting over things that need to be done. Things out of my personal power to control. I was told, we will need to pray about what to do. I AM praying. (How can I pray and fret at the same time?)

"We will do something when we hear from The Lord. HE will tell us what to do."
(Yes! but Lord, You know You are going to have to be incredibly plain spoken on what we need to DO. Otherwise, we sit and do nothing... because some of us can't hear You unless You shout. And send a notarized, certified letter with explicit instructions.)

It's the end of October. What a ride.

 Things have been awful, crazy. 

And not in the light hearted "awfully crazy" turn of phrase.

On the 3rd, Tom's nephew Luke was admitted to ICU with acute liver failure.
On the 4th (highlight!) My mom's birthday, and a cyber-reunion of the Taylor Family.
On the 5th, Nickole and I had our teeth cleaned. She had a cavity that needed to be filled before she could get a dental device installed.
October 6th, Nickole had a tooth filled.
The 7th, Benjamin's Birthday! (highlight!) Nickole had an orthodontist appointment to install spacers for her device.
Oct 9th,  I met Nickole's mom & Poppo Glen, so that Nickole could spend Fall Break with them. Glen wasn't feeling well, and they were going straight to his doctor's appointment. Daniel came up to our house, enroute to get his new puppy, Dante. Dakota Rose (3.3) rode up with Dan, to go to Ohio with Tom and I.
Daniel and Sam took us out to supper at The Wooden Spoon . While there, we got the call, Glen had been admitted to the hospital with Covid19.
Oct. 10th, we headed to Ohio in two vehicles. Dan and I branched off near Indianapolis, and headed to Michigan That State Up North

to get his puppy. We stayed at a motel for the night, and picked up Dante the next morning. (an adventure in itself!) Tom and Dakota continued on to Arlene's. Luke had been released from the hospital into Home Hospice care.
Dan, Dante, and a homesick Dakota headed back to Texas. They didn't get far before Dan's truck developed trouble and they returned to Arlene's.

Getting them back to Texas had its challenges. Dan used our vehicle while his truck went into the shop. The initial problem was fixed. But then something else happened, and then another thing, and then another... It was crazy. Like the truck was determined we should stay in Ohio.

So, Dan used our vehicle to return to Arkansas. I rode along with them, and flew back to Ohio on the 15th. 

That night, Luke passed away. He'd returned to the hospital by ambulance that morning.
Two of Tom's sisters came to Arlene's for the day on the 16th.
One sister let the family know she has terminal cancer.

My 60th birthday was the 20th. No cake, no fanfare. We ordered take-out pizza for supper.
Somewhere in here, we got the call that Glen had taken a turn for the worse.
I think it was the 21st, we learned that Glynna had CV19, as a result of having been caring for Glen before they knew why he was so sick. Nickole's quarantine was extended. Then, either the 21st or 22nd, Poppo Glen passed away.
Friday the 23rd (may have dates wrong) Glynna was hospitalized with pneumonia in addition to the CV19.
Sunday the 25th, Tom and I set off for home.
Dear sweet Sam had put up much needed, begged for, overdue lighting in our bathrooms while we were gone!
We spent Monday cleaning.  Glynna was released from the hospital.
Today is Tuesday... and it's "winter". Cold, raining. Freezing rain over where Nickole is still quarantined, So we still can't go get her. We had intended for her to get to stay until her Poppo's funeral, but we have so much to get done!
We still need to swap vehicles with Dan. The dogs need to be taken to caregivers for our Peru trip. There is shopping to be completed and SO MUCH STUFF.
Please keep our family in your prayers. Thank you!

September Wings

 If ever a month has flown, it has been this one!
The garden is on its last leg. Flowers have been dead-headed for seed. One okra plant was designated for seed, and several of the pods on it are near to bursting. A few straggly tomatoes are slowly ripening their last fruits. The deer re-discovered the green beans and okra, as Aurora became an Inside Dog. Tom is currently harvesting seed from his cover crop of buckwheat.
Next weekend is my Mom's birthday! (You still have time to get cards into the mail!)

Also, it will be the Taylor Family Reunion. This year, due to Covid19, we are having it via "Zoom". (Sunday, October 4th from 2-4 PM. Contact me if you need details to attend!)

October promises to be every bit as action packed as September has been. Between school, dental & orthodontic appointments, in-state and out of state travel, preparations for Tommy's November wedding in Peru, I need a pocket planner to keep up! In addition to Mom's birthday, Benjamin will be 32. Kimber turns 11, and I will be 60. Chris will have been locked up for 11 years.

The weather has been perfect for the last couple of weeks, already starting to feel like Fall.

 

Suddenly, it's mid-September

School got off to such a great start last month. Then, travel happened. Not that travel isn't educational.

I had the opportunity to see Grandson 1.3. Having missed out on having "Camp CowGranny" this year, I asked Mr C to take an extra day off work. We had planned to pick up 1.3 at my niece's house in Lawton, and travel on down to the Texas kids' homes. I had thought 1.3 and 3.1 would have such a great time together! 3.2 was SO looking forward to seeing 2.1. But, 2.1 asked to stay at her Mom and Poppo's house.
This ended up having its good and bad points.
Our plan was to leave the dogs outside when we departed on Friday morning. Sam would feed them when he got home from Jonesboro that night. But on Thursday, we learned Sam wouldn't be home until Saturday, and we dare not leave the dogs out, alone, that long. The dogs would have to come with us!
We took the truck (which seats 3 uncomfortably!), with the dogs in crates in the back. Mr C fretted terribly, so we stopped and put the dogs into the cab with us... three humans and two dogs in a space designed for two!
We stopped to drop 2.1 off. Nobody was home. 2.1 called, as no one was responding to OUR calls. 2.1 informed us that her Mom and Poppo were in OKC! We'd driven through there more than an hour before. We were NOT pleased to hear that. We were informed they were on their way back, and we could leave 2.1 alone at the house. Except 2.1 had loudly declared this... and the two sketchy looking guys roofing the house across the street took interest.
Nope- NOT leaving her alone. I said we should go get lunch, as we needed to eat, and it would fill time. We headed to town... and got a call from "Poppo". He was at his house now, where were we? Seems 2.1 can't just give a message.  She interpreted it. NOBODY said her Poppo and Mom were in OKC. She was told they were "at the hospital", and on their way home. The LOCAL hospital 10 miles up the road.
We wrongly assumed Mom was in the house when we left, having been to the ER and dismissed. We learned as we returned Monday, Mom had been hospitalized all weekend with diabetic ketoacidosis. 2.1 never even got to see her.
We took off and got 1.3 picked up, and made it to the Snanjlo area by 8PM. It was a great visit, with all but three of the grands.

Upon our return on Monday, we were asked if we could sell one of our vehicles to Tommy. It was agreed.
Hurricane Laura was just making landfall, and we were expecting torrential rains, so the delivery of the vehicle was to be the next week.  2.1 and I headed down on Tuesday, with the intention of seeing my folks in East Texas Tuesday evening, and heading on to Dallas on Wednesday. The "plan" was to go to church with Tommy on Wednesday night, and then fly home Thursday morning. This plan was defeated when the car had problems on the way down. I stayed Wednesday at my folks house, and took the car in to have the "code" checked. A bad spark plug! Mr C and Ralph deemed it OK to drive home for repairs on Friday.

Mr C got it tuned up, a whole new set of sparkies! The following week, I set out directly for Dallas on Friday. We had a lovely visit with Tommy. He took us to the airport Saturday morning. (This made three trips to Texas in three weeks time!)
Oh,  2.1 came home with a runny nose and a bad cough from her visit with Poppo. I treated it as allergies, since mine had also flared. We were dueling snot faucets all week. On the Friday after we got back from Snanjlo, she awakened with a terrible sore throat. Looking at the back of her throat- white blisters. I figured "strep". Strep isn't anything to mess around with. I took her to the doctor. She was tested for strep. "NEGATIVE!".... so they decided to check for COVID19, "just in case", as Poppo had taken her to a street carnival. The swab was taken, and we were sent home to quarantine until we got the results. This was also negative. Since she hadn't felt well all week, we didn't do any school.

Meanwhile, our garden has been going full tilt. Last year, it was pretty well "done" by the first week in August. Here we are in the middle of September, and I am still canning stuff at least every other day. I had told Mr C back in the Spring, the garden would surely be done before we were to head to Peru for Tommy's wedding. Seems that may be true, but only because CV19 postponed the wedding! (Now scheduled for Nov.)

I have to make another trip to Texas before the Peru trip. And Tom rescheduled his vacation, so we will also get a chance to go see his Mom. We now have THREE trips on the agenda. It's great that we ARE homeschooling. We can take school with us when we need to, or work school around our trips.

Also on the home front, Mr C and Sam got the front porch power washed and resealed. It looks great.
Our poultry was re-homed.
Aurora became an "inside" dog while visiting her Uncle Becky. She's a big dog for being in a small house! While she hasn't had any accidents inside, she doesn't quite understand why she can't chew the walls, carpeting, or furniture. We are going to have to repair and paint the hallway where she's torn off chunks of wall paper and chewed the trim to splinters. One morning, I heard her gnawing on something that sounded decidedly plastic. I asked her, "WHAT have you GOT?"
Aurora immediately stretched her long nose over the evidence. I repeated, "What do you have there?"
She stuck her paw up under her nose, and dragged the object back under her chest. She gives me the innocent, "What? Who? ME? I don't have anything!" doggy grin. I moved her over. She had Nickole's favorite goggles! (In fairness, Nickole HAD left them out on her floor, despite having been told to put her toys away! Fair game!)

Thanks for reading!

August & Back to School

 It's not quite mid- August. We are getting a later start at back-to-school than I had intended. I had hoped for the last week of July, but we will just press on from here.
I am already suffering curriculum set-backs. The "Good and Beautiful" History kit is still on back order- and when Tom cleared the history on the computer, my link to my paid downloads disappeared. The company auto-replied in email, they can't even get to my email to read for a number of days.

This year, Nickole is studying Astronomy, and Chemistry. (Today, we built a Robot from a kit, just for fun!)

 We are supposed to do US History, whenever our kit eventually gets here. For Math, I am trying "Life of Fred", and supplementing with Khan Academy. Khan Academy is also what we are doing for Language Arts, at the moment. We have Home Economics. I'm very disappointed in the course I bought, but can use it as a starting point. (It's Nutrition section uses things like bullion cubes... when I can teach her to make a stupid-easy bone broth that is FAR better for ones health!) We have Geography, and Geography through Art. I hope the two play nicely together! We are continuing our Atlas Adventures from last semester. We are continuing to read- Nickole is a voracious "listener"- she goes through audio books at a crazy pace. I do require actual READING, and we continue to go to the library. My friend Lori and I plan to do many field trips, though Lori isn't starting school until after Labor Day. Field trips and extracurricular classes are a challenge, due to Covid19 restrictions.

The garden is finally taking off. It was quite late in getting started, as the cool, wet weather hung on well into June. Last year, most of my canning was over with by the end of July. This year, I didn't get enough to even begin canning until this month (August).

I've been doing a few jars of green beans, and a few jars of tomatoes several times a week. A recent visit to my folks in Texas gave me a good start on pickles. I guess I should say 'traditional' pickles! I already have a cupboard full of Squickles. That's what I decided to call squash pickles!
The zucchini seems to be dying off at last. We have had squash relish, squash casserole, grilled squash, roasted squash, fried squash, sauteed squash, squash 'fries', Granny's Garden Veggie Saute (featuring squash), spiral zoodles, fried spiral zoodles, squash bread, squash as lasagna noodles ... I am sure I am leaving some uses out. The yellow squash has got a second wind.
We have done jellies and jams. Strawberry, blackberry, plum, mixed berry, peach... and I am only just getting enough peppers to consider jalapeno jelly.
The okra is finally giving us a few shy pods per day. The first batch of corn was the WORST corn I have ever tasted. Hopefully, this second batch will be better. We shall soon know!

The trip to my folks was fun. It had to be short, due to the garden needing care. I met Becky and her kids there. We made a couple hundred tamales with Grandma Rose!

That's all for today! Thanks for reading!

Another post, and it's still July!

Sam's work crew decided they will start early today, as it has been so hot & humid. He was out the door by 5:30 this morning.
Aurora wasn't in her usual position as a door stop on the front mat, so Mr C and I spent a few minutes calling her. The air outside feels like tepid bath water. Not cool, not uncomfortably warm... but very moist and NOT refreshing. Aurora showed up- I don't like it that she's taken to wandering!

Yesterday, I made some squash pickles. I used calcium chloride to help with crispness... and since it had zero instructions, I can only hope I used it correctly! I did three pints of dill, six of bread & butter. The canning closet is already starting to look full, and we haven't really started getting tomatoes. (We have brought in a few, but not enough to deal with.)
I need to make something like Granny's Garden vegetable Saute for supper soon!

We are staggering along in kind of a limbo, waiting on word of Tommy & Ruby's wedding. We don't want to reschedule our flights any more often than necessary... and if the current restrictions in Peru don't change, we may need to find something else to do with Mr C's vacation allotted for the wedding. It's less than 55 days until we were supposed to depart!

Becky & I have been walking "together" a couple of evenings. Last night, it was 104* as she set out just barely before sundown. It was 88* here. We walk and chat on the phone as we go! It gives us a little chance to visit... and ensures I DO take my much needed walk. I've enjoyed it a lot. (I have talked to my DIL Paula several times this week. Ben's been TDO, and it's not easy for her to get out of the house with four kids!)

I hope your day is blessed!

Few things are more fun than...

A box of new curriculum for the coming school year!
I ordered from several different places- today's box is the first to arrive.
In today's arrivals:
Home Economics!
I ordered  Lessons in Responsibilities for Girls 8-12 . I looked through it briefly, and have already found a few things I disagree with... but we can work with this! (In the nutrition chapter, it talks about clear soups, and enhancing them with bullion cubes. Bullion cubes are far from nutritious! We will discuss WHY I disagree, and explore better options! We will learn to make a bone broth instead... and why it is a better choice.)
I got Exploring Geography Through Art. I am hoping it won't be too advanced for Nickole, so will be looking more closely at the book in the next few days.
I got Exploring the World Through Geography: Focus on the United States. (Plus a deck of States & Capitals Flash Cards).
We got Apologia Science's Exploring The Creation Through Astronomy.
We ordered "Life of Fred Edgewood" and "LOF Farms" for Math. Each covers different math concepts that Nickole really needs to grasp. If LOF works- I will proceed with their curriculum. It presents math in a different way that maybe she will be able to take hold to.

Still to arrive is the Good and The Beautiful order, with History and Chemistry.
We will continue with Atlas Adventures as well.

Summer's half over!

Since I last posted, The whole CV19 thing has continued to rollercoaster. The lower the death rate, the more hype we hear about face masks and shutdowns! The virus now has a 99.6% survival rate.
You pretty much have to have a mask available to go in anywhere, though few places around us REQUIRE them. (Our library and orthodontic office do.)

Nickole got braces! Just this week. The Orthodontist expects 24 month of braces.

She got up with an attitude this morning, and I got up tired. Not a good combination for us. This is the co-operation I got for her showing her braces for a picture. She's been all about showing the braces off every other time. The devices on her head are some sort of flashing LED gizmo goggles.


I am tired because we had 'excitement' last night.
Sam got set of carving implements, to make bowls & cups of wood. He plans to use some of the fallen hickory tree branches.The carving set arrived yesterday. Sam got to work on his first project last evening. Approximately two minutes (or less) into the carving, he was back in the house rinsing a bad cut from the curved tool (top).
It was bad enough he didn't argue over stitches, and went to the ER without a fuss. It wasn't as bad as it looked- he only needed 5 stitches. (I had figured between 8 & 20).
Of course, due to COVID19, I waited in the car while he was inside. We made quite a pair on the way home- me driving with my right arm in a cast, he with his left encased in bandaging.

AFTER we got home, and were trying to get ready for bed... Sam's dog Aurora alerted us with her "Timmy's fallen into the well!" bark. (She has "Cow's are in our yard!" bark. "Someone is here, I hope they give me a treat!" bark, "What's this?, should I keep barking at it?" bark, and the alarmed "Help, Help! Timmy's Fallen Into the Well!")
Sam went out to see what had become of "Timmy". It was FIVE raccoons trying to get into the chicken pen. He had to awaken Tom to access the firearms... and four of the 'coons were dispatched with alacrity.

Oh, I haven't been blogging in a couple of months... We went to Ohio the first week of June. While there, we slept on our air bed in Tom's Mom's living room. Mom had adjourned early (She is doing SO much better!) and we had visited Tom's brother on the deck until fairly late. Once Bob left, Tom started inflating the air mattress. I sat on the couch with a glass of adult beverage, reading a book.
Unknown to me, Tom wandered away, going OUTSIDE and leaving the airbed pump running. The bed got full, and the pump went into an ear piercing Phazer-on-overload shriek. Nickole started screaming "COWGRANNY! COWGRANNY!"
I jumped up to see why Tom wasn't shutting the airbed pump off, and why Nickole was screaming for me... and tripped over the extended leg rest of the recliner Arlene had left up. (She's not able to push it closed, so leaves it open at times.)
I did a Flying Wallenda over the leg rest, which collapsed in & closed. My arms were extended out in front of me- and instead of grabbing that trapeze rung- I karate chopped the metal rungs of the nearby barstool as I fell.
I landed with a mighty crash that had Tom's nephew Luke running upstairs from their apartment below... the airbed was still EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEing for all it was worth, Nickole is still shrieking "COWGRANNY! COWGRANNY!"... and I'm laying there, wind knocked out of me, both hands in terrible pain, gasping for Nickole to just unplug the bed...
Tom comes in... wondering what the heck happened and what the screams are about.
He's mad that I've fallen- saying the bed wouldn't of exploded, and so what if it had?
Luke helped me up, and it was plain to see my right hand was broken. Luke got ice for it. I sat and gathered my wits for a moment, and started to put my shoes on. Tom asked why?
Because my hand is obviously broken and we need to go to the ER!
Three hours later, we are back. My right hand splinted, the left  badly sprained & swollen... but unbandaged, as the nurse said "You're gonna need one hand for hygiene!"
I'm now down to a week left before my hand is set loose. I'm sure it's going to take some recovery time even after that. (Typing is hunt & peck here!)

Ben & Paula had got to come visit in mid-May. Tommy came to visit shortly after we got back from Ohio. He & Sam made a load of heat & eat meals for me. Becky arrived before Tommy left... so my family has really rallied around me. Nickole has been forced to step up her help around here. The house standards are lowered- I vacuumed yesterday for the first time in almost a month. I have limited my driving- It's  hard to put a car in gear when you have to reach cross-body to do so!
Mom and my SIL Ruby came up when Nickole went to visit Glynna and Glenn (again). The garden was just starting to produce, and they brought goodies from Texas. We canned beans, peaches, squash,  and cucumbers while they were here.
The hand is getting better enough it doesn't ache all the time. I've missed having a right hand!

Close to home

One of my sons is incarcerated in Texas. Prisoners are treated "differently" when it comes to getting medical care. For example, when you get sick, you send a form to medical, and can usually be seen within two to three weeks. Most everyone is better before they are seen.
So, son and the whole group of prisoners in the pod (25 people) were moved to a different area of the jail. All were issued masks. Everyone's temperatures were taken.
The new area was filthy- son said it appeared to have not been cleaned since the facility was built. (They finally got cleaning supplies 9 days later).
Meanwhile, people in his pod start coming down with bad coughs.
Son runs a fever for a couple of days, it broke the second night. He is congested, feels like he's been hit by a truck. He started to feel so much better... except recurring headaches, and the darndest thing- he has NO sense of smell or taste. 
He said he opened a pouch of mackerel to add protein to his ramen- and even putting the open packet to his nose, he doesn't smell it... or anything else.
 
He was standing nearby when the 'pill cart' came by to issue medications for those with chronic conditions, and the Pill Lady was talking to the guard... their pod is in quarantine due to coronavirus exposure.
NONE of the people in his pod have been tested. 
 
I was worried, and called that Texas county's Corona Virus Hotline.
I learned that the sheriff's department reports their number of cases to the Health Department.
The health Department has no authority to force testing on any facility.
The health department doesn't have enough tests available to test everyone who suspects they MIGHT have CV19, even those who they know were exposed to it.
ONLY the very sickest people are being tested.
The Hotline worker gave me the number to the sheriffs department, who referred me to the county hospital person in charge of jail patients.

I figure that nothing can/ will be done unless a person is on deaths door.
 
All of the cases of CV19 are NOT being reported, not even being tested. This means that it's way more widespread than the 'numbers' indicate in the news, and far less deadly over all. They are only testing the VERY sick... and still, MOST of those people recover.
The state I am in (for all intents and purposes) has tents set up in parking lots and poor neighborhoods, for ANYONE to go get tested who believes they may have The Virus.
Yet the person at the Hotline (in the Texas county I called) says there are not enough tests going on. 

Reliable sources in another Texas county says the National Guard is coming through to do tests on anyone with symptoms...

There is a lot of misinformation out there. Studies are finding that thousands have already had, or do have The Virus with NO symptoms. Others, such as my undiagnosed son, have symptoms and feel bad for a few days. Oh, I didn't mention, this son has asthma- hence my concern when he mentioned the symptoms and lack of diagnosing opportunity or available care.

My opinion is that the world needs to open back up. Let the virus run its course. The ones most vulnerable certainly should continue to use every precaution. Folks in large, closed environments should have added precautions.

We ALL want our loved ones to live their days in health, to the best of their abilities. No one wants people to die before their time. My dad always said, "You are dying from the moment you are born. It's part of life." That isn't any comfort when you have lost a loved one.
When Bill Joe died, someone pointed me to Psalm 139:16
"Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be."
And Job14:5  Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You; You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass.
God knows the number of our days.
God knows the number of our days.
Our minds could not bear this life we have here, if WE were given to know the number of days we have with any given person. We would live in fear and dread, rather than in love and hope.

"Shelter in Place"..... who can tell what day?

All around the world... all around the nation, this year's hyped up media panic has really caught on!
Yes, people are dying from this. But most people are NOT.
I was shunned  and rebuffed by an acquaintance I have long admired and looked up to. I dared to question why a person (who turned out to be her dear friend!) in authority (pastor of a large church) would post such a misleading and unsubstantiated statement on his widely read Facebook page.  He offered no citations for his post. When others questioned him, he stated it was information from the CDC, and those questioners should "google it."
Google was not my search engine of choice, but I did look up his claim- or tried to.
Not knowing the original poster, I stated that I had probably fallen for a ploy of garnering more "clicks" to his Facebook page, where advertisers pay for the number of people who visit the page. A statement, such as the one he posted, had many people visiting his page for the first time- asking him to clarify/ or showing him data contrary to his claim.
How dare anyone question the motives of a Preacher?
Indeed.

I also question the motives of the media. It's all about the money, isn't it?

The last couple of weeks, schools went from "extending Spring Break", to closing all schools for the rest of the semester, by State Mandate. Public buildings and local government services are curtailed or closed. People were told during the first weeks of this pandemic, that being outside was good and desirable. Now, parks and rivers and lakes are being closed. Some places are fining people for walking their dogs. People are being told to stay home unless they are essential workers. Layoffs are happening. Even at stores that are open for essential items, people are being verbally reprimanded for buying what are deemed to be 'non-essential' items.
WHAT? You are buying books and jeans? How DARE you! you are exposing these essential workers UNNECESSARILY ! (Even though you are in the store for essentials already, and they are working there already!) (Sorry...  my well worn jeans have fallen beyond decency, and the libraries are all closed!)

People are being told to wear protective masks and gloves on public. On a necessary trip to town the other day, I DID use gloves. And I followed my NORMAL procedure of wiping down my cart. For real, y'all. Little kids with snot clear down their chests  are gnawing on those basket handles. That's gross ALL the time. Druggies making their market run for antihistamines and brake cleaner to make their meth- all those byproducts of manufacturing. We live in chicken farm central around here. Seriously, I wipe down that cart!
Above wiping down my basket, on this trip I got my card out of my purse before I went in, so as not to be juggling the purse and getting any cooties into it. I carried my purse over my shoulder, rather than setting it into the basket. Our store had cart wipes this time, so I grabbed two from the dispenser. One was for wiping the cart, the second I used to pick up/ touch the things I had to deal with inside the store. I carried it back to the car, wiping my door handle. I turned my gloves inside out, and disposed of them and the wipe in the nearby trash can. Once in the car, I still used hand sanitizer. I use hand sanitizer every time I get back in the car from shopping trips- I have for several years now.

I have NO IDEA what Oklahoma's current COVID19 status alert is- the  changes daily across the US, becoming more and more restrictive, are almost impossible to keep up with.

What a difference a Month makes...

"What a difference a day makes" is something I've commented on so many times. I realized I haven't blogged in more than a month.
It was a busy month.

And then, BOOM.

Within slightly more than a week- our whole calendar shut down. The whole NATION's calendar shut down. Our library had to close for lack of cleaning supplies. Whoa, that seemed a bit extreme.
Then schools started closing. Tom and I went on our regular Monday morning grocery trip. This time- there were bare shelves. Someone stopped us in the parking lot, asking if we had purchased toilet paper, could we give/ sell them a roll? (We hadn't bought any.) (Our routine purchase of TP had been last week.)
All our regular weekly events canceled.

We are blessed. Until Nickole came to live with us, I went to the library maybe every 3 weeks. That was my only reason to leave the house, except our Monday grocery trip.

I grew up in a situation where, while we had food to eat- there wasn't a LOT to be had in our cupboards. When my eldest two were little, before Tom and I got married- I had to live for weeks at a time with a diet of what I could make from WIC foods.Rice with milk gravy for days on end. What's his name (my ex) would do the grocery shopping on his pay day, twice a month. He would buy a turkey every time. There were two adults, and two pre-school children. I don't know if you can imagine how tedious it is to have an unvaried diet of turkey, or white rice with gravy.

Over the years between then and now, I noticed that I fill my pantry and freezer with sales items, as often as I can afford to buy extra. I cannot bear to see garden produce left to waste. The roadsides bloom with berries and fruit- and I feel compelled to harvest all I can.
I realized that this compulsion to stockpile isn't necessary- we live in America! If you are out of something, you make a trip to the grocery store, where you have CHOICES of sizes, brands, flavors of every imaginable comestible. The land of plenty. 24 hours a day, seven days a week!

I began this post last week. I got busy, and let it sit in my draft folder. The shelves at the grocery stores continue to be emptied faster than employees can stock them, faster than trucks can resupply the stores. There are lines awaiting stores to re-open. Businesses who were open 24/7 have reduced hours have cut back to just a few hours per day. Special times are set aside for the elderly, pregnant, and handicapped to shop.
Purchase limits have been imposed to help insure everyone has access to the supplies on hand. The limits are making life difficult for the larger families. Two packages of hamburger may last my family two weeks- and a large family two meals. They must either shop daily, or take additional family members out into the fray, or stop at multiple stores.

We are learning the difference between "Shelter in Place" and "Lockdown". Some countries are on complete lockdown. My soon to be daughter-in-law lives in Lima, Peru. It is a city of 10 MILLION people. She sent us an 8 second video taken from the apartment where she is staying during lockdown. The streets are silent. There is NO TRAFFIC in the wide roads that are some 8 lanes across.
Schools are deciding to remain closed for the rest of the school year. Two income families are finding themselves sheltering at home, with no income at all. Some cities are banning all gatherings of more than 10 people.
Many are freaking out as funerals are denied, weddings postponed or canceled. We are told this is to slow the spread of a virus, to keep medical facilities from being overwhelmed as the virus peaks.

As the next few days, weeks, months unfold- just what changes will we be experiencing?

Personally, I expect that pretty much everyone may get The Virus. Many probably already have had it, before it was a "big deal". Media fearmongering has incited what was the 'bug' of the year (there's one pretty much every year that people are told to fear and panic about!) into a real hysteria.
Yes, people are dying from this. No, nobody wants those deaths to be someone they love- who would want such a thing? But the panic? This needs to stop.

Mid February Follies

I am thankful to report everyone is doing well! I am so grateful for all the prayers!
Everyone is out of the hospitals, Good reports.
Tom's brother Bob will remain on oxygen, but says it has made a remarkable difference. Even their Mom reports how much better he is, overall, since he is on O2.

Nickole got to start "Lego Robotics Camp" last night. 10 weeks of learning to build and code Lego robots.
She had a good time. There were a dozen or so other kids in her group.
She's also asked if she can "go to a summer camp this year, for at least a week." I think it out to be do-able.
I am not really sure we will get to do a Camp Cowgranny this summer. With Tommy's wedding coming up, we are all focusing our finances on the Peru trip. Of course, if the Grands can all come here, I can sure find stuff to do!


We got our passports requested. Mr C keeps preparing to buy the tickets to Peru, but hasn't quite done so. I have been thinking of all the sundry little things we are going to need. My clothes, for the most part, are rag bag ready. (I look online and see I am in high fashion!). We are going to need suitcases, and a couple of carry-ons. I need want a new camera. (I can't tell you how long I sat here deciding which of those two words to line through!) Tom's got a decent suit (if it fits), but I have nothing to wear to a wedding. I also no longer own any make-up. (Maybe a box of loose foundation powder, years beyond its expiration date!) A trip + wedding is going to require shoes... a couple of pair. Sigh. I really don't like shoe shopping. (Hence my Saucony Jazz sneaker, size 8W, usually in black or blue... ordered online for the past 20+ years!) I am wondering if I can nurse the tablet (Sam's from the AT, 5 years ago, won't plug in to charge) along enough to take it with me, instead of  books. (Hey, we are going on a LONG flight x2, I want NEED to have something to read!)

Tom and I haven't yet ordered our garden seed. It's February, and about time I got the seedlings started! He got the makings for the solid parts of some raised bed gardens. We are going to HAVE to have a fence, last year we paid too much to feed the deer. Every time we sit down with a catalog, we both say, "Oh, we will limit the size, keep it small and manageable!... Oh but we MUST have THIS! and we cannot leave out THAT! THIS is a NEED, THAT is a MUST!" and before we know it, we have twenty-leven "musts" on the list! (Tomatoes, peppers, okra, beans, beets, turnips, squash, salads, corn, herbs...) (Oh, and Nickole wants a pumpkin patch for the giant pumpkin seeds she was given!). (And I have luffa seed!) (and, and, and!)

I hope YOU are having a blessed day! Thanks for reading!

The year of AAAIIII!!!!!! (shriek)

I haven't written much this year. There has been a lot going on.
At the moment, we have a pleasant snowfall on the ground, maybe 0.16 of an inch. You can see we had "snow", but it isn't much to deal with and will be gone an a few hours.

I guess I should start with an update on Tom's Mom, Arlene. She's been doing pretty good, and was supposed to be in the rehab center until at least the 18 of this month. However, the insurance company decided she had been in long enough already, and booted her out on the 1st. She's got a visiting nurse coming (daily?) who has already sent Arlene to the ER once since she's been home.
Arlene was treated and released. She says she's feeling much better, and getting around in her house.

My Mom, Rose, had her liver biopsy on Jan. 29. It says she has a 'fatty liver' and Non Alcoholic cirrhosis. This has led to a treatment protocol that starts with an endoscopy (happening this morning) to check for esophageal cancer, which is associated with the fatty liver. (Unless I am totally missing what the docs said.) Nickole got to go on her first plane trip as we went to Texas for the biopsy.
Between the inclement weather, and all the other YIKES going on, I wasn't able to go back to East Texas for the endoscopy.

Grandgirl # 3.4 was admitted to the hospital in Snanjlo last Saturday night with low oxygen saturation. She's been there all this week, with a possibility of release today. There seems to have been SOMETHING going around, as one of the nurses mentioned the hospital had an influx of juvenile patients all with the same respiratory distress.

Tom's brother, Bob (in Ohio) hasn't been feeling well. Arlene mentioned her concern to me, and said Bob had missed work most of January. She said he'd tried to make doctors appointments, but couldn't get in until March! Tom spoke to Bobby later, and Bob said yes, he'd not been feeling well. He was planning to stop at an urgent care center the next day on his way to work. He didn't make it to work- the Urgent care facility admitted him directly to the hospital, with low oxygen saturation. I spoke to the charge nurse, who said they have not yet been able to bring his oxysat up to an acceptable level. He is on high concentrations of oxygen, and steroids as they run tests to see what is the matter with him.

But wait... there's more! I got a call from Tommy (Stephen, my 5.0).  The call started, "First of all, I am relatively OK..."
(That's not how I like any conversation to start!)
Tommy (Stephen!) had been riding his bicycle to work (0.5 miles from his apartment in Dallas) when some girl hit him with her car.
 She didn't even stop, though he was thrown over the handlebars of his bike, and landed on his face.
Ambulance was summoned, paramedics checked him out. Nothing broken, though his face has a road rash and bloody abrasions. (ALWAYS wear a helmet, folks. It can save your life. This is the second time helmets have saved my boys!)
A witness to the accident followed the fleeing driver, got a good look at the driver, the vehicle, and preserved evidence from the scene that conclusively links the vehicle to the scene.
Tommy declined transport to the hospital, but spent the day with ice on his face to reduce swelling.

Whew. That's three people in three hospitals in two states (neither of the states are the one I am in) this morning.  Two more people that may not be in the hospital, but have needed medical assistance this week.

I say we are under attack. Prayers are appreciated!

It's still a New Year.... Right?

I want to say, I cleared the air with a couple of Tom's siblings. The one who told me that I wasn't one of her kids and needed to butt out, has since apologized. The other siblings were unaware that this had happened- apparently the one who'd said they had all discussed that I needed to "butt out" had not, in fact, spoken to the others.

Arlene's surgery yesterday went much differently than we had been told it could go. The artificial hip was sanitized and left in place, with a drain shunt put in so that infection could continue to drain away. There is supposed to be an additional surgery at a future point. The why's and what-for are unknown to me at this time.

Tom's eldest sister arrived at the hospital this morning to a room full of medical personnel. Arlene suffered a mild stroke. This was confirmed by a CAT scan. She will be re-checked tomorrow, but is doing fine. Her speech is slightly slurred, and part of her face is drooping. She is alert and in good spirits.

So much stress is lifted off me. I continue to pray for her full recovery, and for wisdom of what to do when the time comes that she can go home.

Thank you for your continued prayers.

It's a New Year...

Edit: Arlene is out of surgery and in less pain! Starts PT tomorrow.

Yesterday was the first day of a new decade.
 I am not pleased with the start. Sometimes I wish we had do-overs for Life.
Mr C's mom, Arlene is in the hospital to remove the artificial hip that was installed Dec 17 of 2018. She's been in constant pain since April. An infection set in, which I could not understand WHY her surgeon didn't plan to treat BEFORE surgery. Just seemed like SUCH a bad idea, to do surgery with a known rampant infection! (Her original surgeon was going to try to go in and 'fix' the problems caused by the original hip surgery. He has kept her dangling about a surgery date since early November, and said he wasn't going to treat for infection until after the yet to be scheduled surgery.)

I called her on the 25th, Christmas day. She was home alone, in bed, unable to get comfortable. She told me her leg was swollen from the infection, and she was basically living from pain pill to pain pill, and so tired of hurting. I offered to call her Doctors and try to hurry them along in getting her leg fixed, but she said her Doc was out of the country til the 6th.
The people who take care of her had gone off to other places for various Christmas celebrations, and were to be gone at least a couple of days- she said she wasn't informed of when they would return. So, Christmas alone in her bed, with toast and jelly to eat when she could manage to get up and make herself some.
We don't celebrate the holiday- but my heart broke for her, as a person who does, to be left alone and in pain on the holiday people tout as being all about "giving".

When she failed to call Tom on his birthday, he called her the next day. Two of his sisters were there. They had arrived that morning. Arlene was in bed,  unable to get comfortable sitting or standing- or, as it turned out, even laying down. The sisters said that Arlene's leg was so swollen it had gone numb, and was oozing liquid through her skin onto the sheets. They said she didn't want to go to the Doctor, and they had already tried calling her surgeon, only to learn he was out of the country til the 6th. (Just as she'd already told me, they didn't know why she hadn't told them as much!)

Her leg is swollen, numb, and oozing! I'm sorry, but that is major alarm bells for me. I suggested they not give her a choice on going to the ER, like NOW.
A few hours later, they let us know they ER had admitted her for at least 2 days of IV antibiotics. The staff orthopedic surgeon on call came by. He said the infection was due to her body rejecting the prosthesis. They couldn't clear up the infection completely as long as the replacement hip was in her body. Her choices were all pretty grim. Remove the prosthesis, and have no structure supporting the leg/ pelvis on one side, OR remove the entire leg. He gave the sisters a third choice, take her home to die. He didn't have good odds of her surviving the surgery.

So, the next thing we hear, is Arlene is being transported to the big Riverside Hospital in Columbus, to have a Greenfield IVC filter placed in her body. They were transporting her Tuesday, with the IVC filter to be inserted Wednesday, we were told, and the hip prosthesis removed by one of their surgeons on Thursday. (That is today, as I write.) I waited ALL DAY Wednesday for word that Arlene made it through the IVC procedure. (If you clicked on the link and did any reading about an IVC filter, you might understand why I was so concerned.) Late in the afternoon, Sam's phone rang. It was Mr C's brother, trying to reach Arlene's cousin. He didn't give us ANY information, other than dialed Sam by mistake.
I tried returning his call, but he was too busy to talk to me, he'd return my call after he reached his mom's cousin.

Eventually, he returned my call. Seems he was the THIRD person to reach the cousin, TWO of the three sisters had already called her. Yet no one had called, or even TEXTED us. The IVC filter had been placed the night before, with success. I've been waiting ALL DAY for an update. The abruptness and urgency of needing to call the cousin had me fully alarmed. Tom had had the cell, so I thought they must of texted him... but no. No one had made ANY attempt to keep us in the loop of what is going on.

So here I sit today, waiting on an update on the surgery. Tom is at work, as unconcerned as ever. "We can't do anything about any of it anyway". He fails to comprehend WHY I am even upset.

His siblings outright told me last year that this is not MY mom, I should butt out and leave her care to them. They had discussed me between themselves and as an aggregate, felt I should mind my own business. Yes, my feelings are still hurt. I try to mind my own business, but not to the point of  standing by and letting her DIE without medical care. Yet once I push for medical care- I am an outsider again.
Thanks for listening., and praying for Arlene, even if she isn't MY mother.