So Many Things Going On!
May 8, 2014
There wasn't a blog posting yesterday. I am sorry. One of the reasons is that I was scheduled for some heart tests today and had to be off caffeine. That means I feel asleep early! It was not long after 8:00 last night when I feel asleep reading a book. I woke just before 10:00 and went to bed. Of course at 4:00 this morning I was awake. I tossed and turned until time to get up. I did have a little time to bird watch. I will scatter a few of the photos throughout this blog.
No wonder we have trouble with the pump in this fountain - the duck keeps it stopped up!
The kind young lady who hooked everything up was very nice, but a little short on instructions. After I got to the office I read the sheet she had given me, I saw that it indicated that certain types of electrical/magnetic things were to be avoided. When I showed the information to Ron, he said that ruled out me using the key cutting machines and the grinders. That meant he couldn't leave me to go out on jobs since I would not be able to help anyone.
Mama woodpecker keeps feeding the babies. Dad does, too,
but mostly yesterday I saw her bringing the food to the nest.
I think this Mama Golden-fronted Woodpecker is tired.
Her babies are running her ragged!
Since I was going to be in the office, Ron sent my car in for some brake work. Two different places have been trying to locate the brake problem for about 9 months. They still haven't found it. The quilt shop where I had left a quilt to be machine quilted called to say it was ready, but I didn't have a car to go get it and it was a little late in the afternoon to go to Harlingen and get there before they closed. My car wasn't ready last night so I rode home with Ron and missed the baseball games of our two little grandsons that I had planned to attend. Then this morning I had to be up early to ride with him to the office.
This morning after I got to the office, I started on the party projects again. Then Ron cleaned enough things out of his car that I could use it to go to Harlingen to pick up the quilt that was ready. On the way I went by the Heart Institute and left the heart monitor for them to read. From there I went to the quilt shop. The lady who had done the quilting was not there, but I picked up the quilt. It is well done; I just wish I could have either hand quilted it myself or had it hand quilted, but my hand-quilting friend was tied up with several other projects. I still need to put the binding on the quilt, but I should be able to get that done this weekend.
The Quilt Shop in Harlingen where I had the quilting done on my quilt.
I had to be back at the Heart Institute at 2:00 this afternoon for a stress test on the treadmill. I don't have a problem with the treadmill or exercise in general. A young lady hooked me up to their EKG machine and a young man came in to take my blood pressure every 3 or 4 minutes while I was on the treadmill. It was higher than I expected. They did not get the treadmill going nearly as fast as I do it at the gym. I go back in a couple of weeks for results. I didn't have time for an appointment next week with our trip to Houston and our other trip to Dallas both next week.
As I was going into the doctor's office complex, I saw a friend getting into a vehicle with the help of her daughter. This is a precious older lady who sat behind us in church for 10 years or more as my seven grandchildren were babies. Our son and his wife let me hold each baby during church for the first 9 months or so before they let the nursery ladies get a turn. It was usually the only time I could have one-on-one time with the babies and treasured those times. This lady loved watching them over my shoulder all those years as each child grew, and we became good friends. She is now well up in years and not very strong. I had taken my granddaughters with me to visit her not too long before I went deaf, but had not been back to visit since then, knowing with her weak voice and my hearing, a visit would not go well. I do send cards, but have missed seeing her. She was delighted to see me and I was so glad to get to see her. She was on her way to be admitted to the hospital. She is so thin and frail, but the smile that went from one side of her face to the other when she saw me told me she is still very alert. That was a God arranged meeting for me to get to see her this afternoon.
Oh, I didn't tell you about using Ron's car. I am so blessed to have a husband who constantly cares about my car. I just wish he would care about his! When I left in his car this morning for the errands, he mentioned that the air conditioner was working at the moment (not always). It started to sprinkle as soon as I left the office, so I turned on the windshield wipers. Well, I tried. They didn't come on. Then I recalled that he said he reaches out and gives them a "boost" to get them started. I could not do that without stopping so I waited until I finished at the doctor's office to try his method. It didn't work. The only way to know which gear you are in is to count the clicks as you shift. The cruise control doesn't work, but that was no problem because the limit was mostly 65 and at 61 the dashboard would vibrate so much that I would go back to 60. About half way to Harlingen, the windshield wipers just decided to start working. That was nice. I love my guy. I love that he quickly sends my car in for repairs; but when I got back, I told him that his self-sacrificing of only taking care of my car and not his car is a problem since once in a while I must use his. Besides, I want him to be safe. None of the problems (except the windshield wipers) are a real danger, just an inconvenience.
The repair shop brought my car back late in the afternoon but said they have ordered another part because it is still not right. In some ways it is better - part of the problem is fixed, but not all and now they make noise which they didn't before. I guess it goes back tomorrow.
The hearing situation has been going fairly well the last few days. A lot depends on those I am talking to at the time - obviously. At the doctor's office, the young man helping me was great - he spoke clearly and slowly. The young lady spoke softly and fast, but when asked to repeat, she did so a little louder and I could understand. At the quilt shop, it was very quiet and I did fine.
This evening after work we met my mom and brother-in-law Jim for supper and had a nice visit. Mom is still hard for me to hear. Ron and Jim were across from me and I did well with them. The audiologist suggests putting the person across from me that I want to hear - not beside me. Mom's voice is just too soft for me to hear her across the table, so she sits besides me but it is still hard. We did have a nice visit.
From there I had some shopping to do. I needed to get a gift for a baby shower, and then a picture frame at Michael's. When I came out of Michael's the sky was a beautiful mixture of blues and pinks. The parking lot at Michael's is great for sunset photos. It was about 8:30 by the time I got home and I had left with Ron before 8:00 this morning, so it was a long, busy day.
I miss the Picket Fence!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the invitation to Stephens party. Wish I were close enough to attend. You'll have to give hi, s big congratulary hug for me.
Will do, Tiny. Wish you could be there. So many people have been a part of him achieving this goal, we wish there was a way for him to celebrate with every one of them.
Delete