December 17, 2013

Getting a Slow Start on a Busy Day

December 17, 2013

Why do we only seem to oversleep on busy days?  Maybe I am the only one who does that.  It happened this morning.  I woke when my alarm went off, hit the snooze button a couple of times, rolled over and slept for another hour!

Our oldest son (Dr. Bob) has a birthday today and my plan was to call him before he and his wife left for work so I could wish him a Happy Birthday!  Even with them being an hour behind us in time, he was already on the way to work.  I called his cell phone and his wife answered since he was driving.  Once he dropped her off at her school for work, he called to chat for a couple of minutes before going on to his job.  I won't tell you how old he is because it makes me feel old!

I got my hair washed and dried.  I sometimes mention that activity, because it is a part of getting ready to put the sound processor on.  The sound processor is "water resistant" but I feel it is safer to have my hair dry before I put the sound processor on.  Reading the blogs of other Cochlear Implant patients, that seems to be normal with them also.  Once my hair is dry I put the processor on and start to hear for the day.  I got ready quickly and went to my mom's house.  She was hosting her Ladies' Bible Study Christmas luncheon at her house.  Remember, my mom turned 90 last February!  I told her to sit down and prop her sore foot up while I did the last minute preparations.  She had just about everything ready, but I did a few little things. 

Once the ladies arrived, I headed out to do a little shopping. These ladies have faithfully prayed for me over this past year with the assorted medical problems, but I wasn't up to the hearing challenge today.  They are such strong, faithful prayer warriors, and each one means a lot to my mom.  I knew most of them, but there were a couple I had not met.

With all the ladies chatting at once in a small area in their high pitched voices, it was a little overwhelming.  I need to talk to the audiologist.  I think I have mentioned that if noises are too loud, the sound processor shuts those loud sounds off to protect the ear and then brings it back up when the sound is gone.  Lately it has been shutting down for things like running water or the sewing machine.  I don't know if I have the unit turned too loud or what, but I don't remember it doing that in the past.

My mom on the left in her lovely kitchen.

I made one shopping stop and picked up one item I had looked for at several places.  Then I headed back to Mom's house thinking they would be about finished with lunch (they were having a meeting first).  They were just getting ready to eat.  I had picked up something to eat since I had not had breakfast or lunch, so I told her I would come back later to clean the kitchen and I tried another couple of stores, unsuccessfully.  When I got back to Mom's the next time, they were finished eating so one of the ladies and I cleaned the kitchen.

 

Most of the ladies stayed to visit for a long time.  They were having so much fun exchanging gifts, eating the desserts, talking about Christmas plans.

Some of my cookies made it to the party.  It must be time to bake again!  While washing dishes, I noticed that my elbow was not hurting as it usually does while I wash them.  Progress continues!  I did notice at the store, I had bought 3 - 2 pound cans of sweet potatoes and the 2 pounds was right at the limit for the left elbow. 

I left the ladies partying and went to my real job.  I had bills to pay at the office, customers to take care of, and a few other everyday chores.  One of the "MUST DO" things today was to place some Christmas orders.  I had tried from home but couldn't get the computer to do it, so I finally got them done at the office.  It was well after closing time before I was ready to leave.

On the way home I stopped at two stores, but had no success at either place.  Ron had gone to his mom's for supper, so I came on home and started laundry.

I continue to improve with the elbow problems.  With the hearing, the progress is not noticeable to me.  That frustrates me.  If I had stayed at Mom's with all the conversations spinning around me, I would have experimented with the remote control for the hearing processor, but I knew I wasn't staying long.  I will have to do that when the family is all here next week.  NEXT WEEK!!  A week from tonight is Christmas Eve.  I am not ready!