Saturday, a Better Day

Jan 8

steps 12,356

 It has been a beautiful day and very warm. It is 8 pm and still 71F. For the last few days, I have not slept well or eaten well. I did not use the pedals for several days. My left leg has swollen more and has spasms. 

Today, we got my repaired necklace from Jared's. There is still something wrong with it. Then, I got a refund from Barnes and Nobles, overdue and denied me for three years. I got my Victoza prescription straightened out. The pharmacist had recorded wrongly what I got when we drove 65 miles to pick it up. I did not ruin the necklace while they had it in their possession. I did not record my prescription wrongly. And, I was not responsible for receiving and paying for a book, Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, that had no title on spine or front of the book. But, I did get all three straightened out today and money returned after everyone tried to blame all these problems on me.

I left home without breakfast because I was miserable feeling. We stopped and got Arby's cheese and beef and senior coke. There were no sandwich specials, but they gave us special prices, making both sandwiches and drinks $7. 

We sat in pharmacy drive-through for 45 minutes straightening out my Victoza. The nicest tech and pharmacist were on duty.

We went to Publix to pick up supplements that I finally found. 

It was a short day for us. I sat in the car the whole time. 

At home I made slaw and prepared a cabbage and put it in pot. We can eat that tomorrow and for a few more days. The slaw will work for about three days, too. 

For dinner we both had baked chicken and slaw. Tommy had little rolls, so he made little chicken sandwiches. I ate about 1.5 cups of slaw! Delicious. 

It is 8:30 pm and 71F. It has been a fantastic day weather-wise. Lots was accomplished, mostly old business. It feels good. Tomorrow, Sunday, it will rain, cool off. Rats! But, the weather is moving toward blazing hot summer weather. Great!

Do you have long-term things that need to be resolved or ones you finally resolved? 

How was the weather today where you are? 

Tomorrow Tommy will plant my bulbs!!!

Forgot to say--eggs Grade A Large are $4.59 at Publix.

Friday Decluttering Plan

 Earlier this week, I gave up trying to figure out what happened to my friend. Finally, I thought to call her church. She died last year. She was a year younger than I.  

It is a sad story since her husband died young, leaving her with four very small children. When she became ill and bought a house trailer or mobile home. One child moved home with kids and then brought bf. She said they trashed her house, brought animals in and she could never find her medical supplies she needed, some was insulin and some bandages for her legs. She complained she could not get through the house in her wheelchair! 

She had had a store for years. Somehow, she converted one room as a bedroom with bathroom and microwave and lived there. The kid moved the mobile home out back. She had an infected foot, diabetes and in wheelchair, friend moved a cat in her room. I tried to help her one day and she was soaked in urine. She actually needed to be in a facility so her room and wounds could be kept clean and she would have proper care. 

One day this week, we found a woman who needed help. She cried and so did I. Today, we took her two huge boxes of food. She is a very nice woman, working two jobs and needing help. She was ecstatic, going through the two large boxes, oohing and aahing at some of the items. We forgot a bag of food from our pantry that was left in the house. Her children are adults, so we won't move our coat donations to her. 

I gave her the idea to go ahead and cook too much and freeze it for later meals. She had never thought of that. Tommy told her about cooking bags which she did not know. She was relating how she had not had milk in years because of violent reaction and pain in her intestines; I told her about a2milk, the exorbitant price, and how it helped me. I like to spread the gospel of a2milk. 

We finally took a package to UPS to return it. When we pulled up. a woman came out and energetically swept. So, I rolled down the window and asked an obvious question...do you work here? I asked her if she would take a package in for us because of hurting to walk. She was so agreeable and pleasant. I do try to get help for him so we can keep functioning without causing him pain. 

Today, despite our pain and lack of mobility, it has been positive and optimistic. The new antibiotic has quit hurting my stomach, thankfully. The skies have been a clear blue, with a few fluffy clouds blown along by a brisk wind that has not reached to the ground.

The needle I stepped on last night has not caused any obvious problem. I will go to podiatrist Monday. Going from the kitchen to living room, a person has to swerve to the left and back to the right going across the hall. I made a too big swerve to the right with something in left hand and a spoon clutched in my right hand. As I sort of mis-stepped I ran into the door with body and right hand and spoon taking the brunt of the bump. My hand hurts across the back. It is swollen in two places. Yes, I can type through pain.  I never carry a knife. Tommy drives a knife in to me on his walker. 

But, I did not fall!!! 

Dinner: hamburger, slaw, tomato, green beans, I will eat tomatoes every day until the local Farmer's Market no longer has them. And, I will use my curly knife.

I did not take a nap today. I have tried to work my eating and meds so I don't get tired from high blood sugar. I did manage to make two phone calls, even with all the going we did. 

Project for this week--I need to declutter the plants on porch and ramp. We put every plant in the dark utility room. All made it, few bloomed again. Then, I bought a few more plants, some of which are not doing well. I am tired of watering and fertilizing plants that are going nowhere. Some were wildflowers from seed balls. They don't want to come back. This week, some of the pots of dirt and dead plants will go. They are the ones Tommy quit watering because they 'died.' I won't miss them! Everything will be less cluttered and dead looking. 

Have you ever 'decluttered' your potted flowers? Or, do they all survive?

Have you known children who took advantage of ill, elderly parents and cause an early death? 

Do people who need help you can provide ever just show up in front of you?

Tuesday

 Monday night, we put six bscb in cooking bag with too many carrots and six small potatoes. Sprinkled only with garlic powder and onion powder and several slices of onion, they were delicious after baking. I made slaw. A few days ago, I made slaw from a kit that was nasty tasting. Tommy liked it and may eat it. I will probably freeze one or two of the bscb. 

I am having trouble with Amazon. When I order two of an item each month, I keep getting three. I will have to stop the order, I suppose, and start again when I run out of this six-month supply! Is anyone else having this problem? Also, orders are set to be delivered on a certain date, then the order is delayed. This aspect has not caused a problem yet, but it is different than their usual practices. It keeps me looking for packages, keeps me on my toes. 

My toothbrushes are on subscribe and save, too. With the extra percentage off from subscribe and save, I will use that, and then quit when I get a year's supply of toothbrushes. Every 5% helps. 

We need to take recycling to Publix since we have so much stored. Tommy takes care of that, so I am behind on how much we have ready to go. I have a recycling wastebasket by my chair so I don't have to hand him one or two items at a time. This way, I can deposit bottles, newspapers and he can sort it in the kitchen/dining area at his leisure. We try to be efficient and work together. By the way, the recycling wastebasket is just a plain white wastebasket that we have designated recycling as opposed to trash. 

Dinner: chicken, potato, carrots, slaw. Delicious again tonight.

I have had no energy today, just a sloth. My whole body hurts and it is hard to swallow. But, it was a beautiful, hot day. So, all is well. I have been making plans.

How are things with you?

Pants, remotes, vacuum, burger, slaw, weather, mattress, walker

 For a few days, I have been so sluggish. Nothing seems bad, but I am in a haze it seems. 

When I went to the grocery Saturday, I came home with two of the largest plums ever. Nope, did not buy them. I ate one. Was that bad of me? They would have thrown it away. 

I found someone to come vacuum Wednesday. That is too long to wait, but at least it is something. She want $25 to vacuum. I wonder if that is per hour. She had husband speak to me. She will bring daughter to translate for her. I wonder if the daughter helps. We will see. I do doubt I will have her again. 

We sprayed the house today and left to do things. I wanted to see if this guy in Bessemer who sells produce from his truck had things out. No. He will. I am sure he gets produce from the big Farmer's Market on Finley Ave, but I don't care. It's always delicious. The church was selling food, but I did not want to stop.  We had a small, plain burger in a parking lot with drinks we brought from home. Basically, we kicked around, wasting time until the stench from the Raid dissipated. 

Dinner--burger, slaw, lots of slaw for both of us. I only put a smidgen of salt in coleslaw, but put too much in today. Then, I over-poured apple cider vinegar in the bowl. I had already put lots of mustard in the mix. It was a spicy coleslaw tonight. Tommy thought the salt was just fine. Ick I suppose I should have put the other bag of slaw mix in with the strong one. 

Due to the beautiful weather and high temps, I did not wear a sweater, jacket, or scarf yesterday or today. I wore an airy, loose blouse that was not warm in any way. In the house I have not had to cover myself with a throw or use a jacket. Next thing we know, we will need ac on and I will need a throw again! But, for now, the temps inside and out are perfect. 

I think we will go mattress shopping at Macy's on Tuesday. They are having a sale as is everyone else. They do carry Serta Perfect, the kind I had last that I loved. I almost fell off the bed again. It seems I just sat on the bed, lay down and turned toward the other side of the bed. When I decided to turn back, I was too close to the edge of the bed for my comfort! It actually frightened me. I have a stool with a boom box on it beside the bed. I would put the boom box on the end table, but the boom box has an eerie, bright blue light that would keep me awake. So, it sits on the stool facing the box spring. 

Tommy's last walker weighed 10 or 15 lbs.; this one--25 lbs.  I am not sure how wide the last one was, but this one is 22 inches wide. He is ruining the corner of the wall. I put thick gorilla tape on the bottom where he was ramming the last walker. There was sheet rock all over the floor. He said he did not care. He manages to hit the corner higher with this walker. Plus, the tires are 10" and not 3". This time I will get one of those rubber/plastic corner protectors and figure out how to install that. He never runs into things in others' houses or in stores, but here he is not careful or caring at all. Of course, I will purchase that at the hardware store in Cullman. 

His pants are getting too tight, so he needs new pants. I had to point it out before he even acknowledged it. Is this a guy thing? If my waist band were two inches too small, a person would not have to invite me to buy new pants. Of course, for the last 40 years, I have worn elastic waistbands for health sake only. 

When I moved here, of course Tommy manned the remote. I had no desire for him to share it with me. Besides, it takes two remotes to work the TV. When he went to sleep, I would wake him to turn off the TV. One night about two weeks ago, he handed me the one remote and told me to keep it low, turn it lower so it would not wake me in the morning, and then turn it off. 

In the meantime, he has 'allowed' me to use the other remote to change channels. I wrote how where different channels can be found. I think I know how to use both as well as he does, maybe. I suppose this is a breakthrough. We use a soft, zippered pencil bag to toss the couple back and forth. I leave the bag on his walker when I go to bed. It works for us. 

I asked why two remotes. He said he never could get one programmed. I hate remotes I have to program. The next tv, we will each have one remote, not two different remotes. When he goes to the kitchen and we need to talk, if I mute the sound, we don't have to scream back and forth, not hearing each other anyway. 

Does it seem all guys want to man the remote? 

Do you know anyone who destroys corners, furniture, anything by hitting it with a walker or wheelchair? 

Desserts for Diabetics and a Future Purchase

DESSERTS FOR DIABETICS

 I have not tried any of the desserts above, but I am saving this link. Feel free to browse the recipes. 

For a long time I have suggested buying something for the other end of the dining room to store food. Tommy usually explodes, says no adamantly, or just says 'no.' He has gotten to the softer end of his responses. After his fall into the boxes and potentially ruining my Excalibur dehydrator, I finally mentioned today that we need something and what should we get. He said he did not know, for me to decide. Of course, even if I decide, he will have a veto...lol. Well, he is paying for it. 

Well, I would prefer a nice piece of furniture. But, I thought maybe the tall, two-door units would work better. At Lowe's they are made of fiberboard and would be $500, and I want two. So, I looked on Amazon. They have metal cabinets for garages for a lot less, about $150 and will hold several hundred pounds on each shelf. They also have a lock and key. Then, there are the metal shelves like we already have. 

I certainly don't want a room full of metal shelves, open and cluttered looking. I doubt fiber board will hold up to lots of cans. I really don't want metal cabinets, but at this point, metal cabinets seem like a better idea. I bought a metal cabinet when I was first married and living in a duplex with little kitchen storage. I was not crazy about the look then! I could put a curtain across the front of shelf units. So, I am in the midst of making up my mind. 

The best idea would to be to buy an antique or oldish piece of furniture to hold canned goods. But, this would involve too much shopping, and being able to go in multiple places to shop. Antique/Junque Stores are not amenable to using walkers. 

Dinner for Tommy--chicken thighs, potatoes, carrots, broccoli, tossed salad. I had chicken breast chopped with bbq sauce, slaw, green beans. I made the slaw tonight. Tommy opened the beans and soaked them to remove sodium. The rest were planned leftovers. 

Any opinions or ideas about the choices for canned food storage? 

One Thing

I love cole slaw. For the last few years I have bought the grated carrots and cabbage. But, it seems that it is always gone around holidays. I have learned to buy it early. If I wait until Friday, I will have to go in about 7 am Friday or Saturday to find it on the shelf. So, tonight, Thursday, I went out for one thing--coleslaw mix.

Pork chops and chicken are here. Tomatoes and corn are planned to go with my meal. I bought one tomato at WM for a salad for me. Saturday, the market will be open, so I will get more tomatoes there. Corn on the cob will be from Publix and shucked since I cannot get the shucks off anymore. Since the wreck, my wrists hurt more.

Let's put it this way, I can get things open sometimes and do hard things. But, the result is sprained wrists since the wreck, so I can barely open the car door. It's hard to decide whether to hurt myself again, or do none of the things that hurt.

Anyhow, I went out especially for that one thing that I know will disappear during the day as we count down to the holiday.

Exbf will have this for dinner on Tuesday. He will be very happy! There will be enough for me to eat several meals and eat with him Tuesday and send a meal home. But, I got the One Thing I knew would disappear!

Oh, I will make half the cole slaw mix now and the rest on Tuesday. Old cole slaw is one thing I cannot eat. I am capable of eating the whole package, but I won't.

There is always one thing that disappears during a holiday unless you plan well, which I usually do.

Have you ever been on a search for some food at the last minute for a holiday? I know that at least once in our cooking adventures and hosting holiday events, there has been one thing you forgot or that eluded you. And, I would love to hear about it!