January 28, 2014

Will It Snow?

January 28, 2014

What a winter we have had!  Most of you across the country have also had an unusually cold winter, especially in the eastern half of the country.  As I watched photos today of icy conditions in many places that normally have very mild winters, I thought of the dangers.  There of course is the danger of auto accidents on icy or snowy roads, but I think my thoughts went to the possible falls that many people experience on icy steps or sidewalks.  As I continue to regain strength in my left arm from the serious break I had last June and the two surgeries that were required, I am so glad I am not having to deal with icy conditions.

Someone on Facebook posted a video that had pictures of people helping other people who were in dangerous or difficult situations and most were of elderly people trying to cross busy, icy streets.  In the clips, someone would go to their aid to get them safely across.  A couple of the clips showed someone who had fallen and couldn't get up.  As they say, "Been there.  Done that."  When I fell and broke my elbow, I could not get up even with Ron's help.  I was using the right hand to hold the broken bones in the left elbow in place.  As Ron would try to help lift me, it would cause extreme pain.  Even when the ambulance came, they could not get me up without causing a lot of pain until they put the arm in a splint to keep it immobile.  So, if you are in an icy area: STAY SAFE!  If possible, stay home.

Stay home.  That is what I did today.  It was not the weather that made me stay home, but it was a leaky hot water heater.  The plumber was supposed to come replace it today, so Ron told me to just stay home and wait for him.  I did.  All day.  He didn't come.  I cleaned the kitchen, worked on the puzzle, and cleaned a lot in the sewing room.  I did a little sewing, but not much; mostly the time spent was on cleaning off the sewing table and the counter tops so I could do the cutting more easily.

I did not do a blog yesterday.  There were not a lot of things to share.  I was at the office without Ron there most of the day.  It seemed every customer talked really fast and with a heavy accent that made it very hard for me to understand them.  An oriental man was the hardest to understand.  He talked super fast and I finally gave him a piece of paper and asked him to put his phone number and name on it so Ron could call him back.  I have no doubt Ron also had trouble understanding him.  Then one of the Winter Texans had a heavy European accent and I also had trouble understanding him.  Again, he had both the accent and the rapid speech pattern.  If they only knew how hard it is for me to understand them!

In the evening I picked up our grandson after his Driver's Ed class and brought him to our house to stay until his mom got back from picking up his brother at scouts.  While he was here, he helped on the puzzle and enjoyed the challenge.  He got some done in the upper left corner where there are several pine trees. It is tedious work, but we are all enjoying it.  This is how it looked when he left last night.

Today while I was home, I did more on the puzzle and below is how it looks now.

Working puzzles is addictive!  I am enjoying having it on the table where I can add a piece as I go past.  Funny thing happened as I posted these photos.  I had posted the first one and then put another one on and looked at them and thought, "I didn't get much done."  Then I realized I had posted the same photo twice, so had to go back and delete the second and put in the correct one.  I do need my grandson to come back and work some more on those pine trees.  He and his brother will be here again Thursday night to spend the night and maybe if I don't finish it before then, they can finish it.

I remember when we started doing puzzles this past fall, I could not pick up the pieces with my left hand.  It was just too weak and the position I needed to use to pick them up was too painful.  I had no pain or problem doing the work on this puzzle.  Progress!  Also this evening I was thinking as I chopped an onion to put in the broccoli soup, that this onion is the first one I have chopped since the start of last June, that did not cause extreme pain!  I didn't even consider asking Ron to do it for me.  Progress!  There continues to be progress.  I just don't clearly see it every day.

Today Ron said he would text me if he needed to tell me anything.  He called on the house phone shortly after he got to the office and said he had forgotten to take his cell phone.  That ruled out any texting.   We chatted a few minutes and he said, "You are doing very well on the phone."  Of course, I said, "What did you say?"  Really, I didn't understand what he had said, but sometimes I do that just to keep him on his toes.  I told him that the house phone was working better.  We have had it worked on twice lately and hopefully it is going to be alright for a while now.  I will try the house phone with the kids in the next day or two.  Our youngest son called this evening for a chat, but we used the cell phone with my cable from the phone to the sound processor of the Cochlear Implant.  I had just given up the last two times with him and given the phone to his dad to finish the conversation.  Tonight we did fairly well.  He had to repeat several things, but I got most of the conversation.

I opened this blog posting tonight with the question, "Will it snow?"  I doubt it.  But there is a slight chance.  The western part of the valley has a better chance of getting a little than we do, but the weather man said around 3:00 a.m. there is a slight chance that we could see a few snow flurries.  3:00 a.m.??  Why not during the day.  I don't want to miss it, but 3:00 a.m.?  Brrrr.....