September 19, 2015

A Nice Saturday

September 19, 2015

This morning I got up about 7:00 and had planned to mow the backyard, but Ron had put a large heavy object in front of the mower and I could not get to it.  So instead I worked on cleaning the garage after I took care of the ponds, fountains, and feeders in the yard.  The temperature started out nice but quickly rose and it got hot and muggy.  There was no breeze and that is unusual.

As I did assorted chores, I was doing laundry.  Since Carmen cut her finger, I had to do my own housework today.  I had not changed the guest beds since we'd had company a couple of weeks ago.  So there was a lot of laundry to do and it was supper time before the last of it was finished.  After being in the yard and garage for a while this morning, I needed to come in and cool off.  I was reading a good book and after I cooled off, it was time for me to go get my hair cut.

When I got back, I did not put my car up, but instead, left it out and cleaned that section of the garage before getting the clippers and trimming several bushes.  I had several piles of cuttings for Ron to haul when he finally got home.  He removed a limb from a tree and finished doing some trimming I could not reach.

By the time I came in, I was soaking wet with sweat.  Yuck!  I took a cold shower and then got some leftovers for lunch.  Again I read for a while as I continued to cool off.  Finally in the late afternoon I started sewing on the quilt in progress.  I got a couple of rows added and lots of pieces cut out for the quilt. 

Supper again was leftovers and then I returned to the sewing machine.  During the evening I talked to our daughter-in-law in New Mexico and during the afternoon I had talked to our son in Dallas.  I had trouble hearing both of them but got most of the conversations.  Our daughter-in-law in McAllen sent a picture of a hiking trail our son cut with the riding mower back in the pasture behind their house.  That should be interesting.  He probably could have done a maze with the tall grass from all the rains we have had.

It is always a treat to hear from our kids and their spouses.  I sure miss being able to have clear, understandable conversations with them.  While working in the yard, I finally took off the sound processor because I was sweating so much my hair was soaking wet. 

I finished the book this evening and see that there are 7 in the series.  I am not sure how they will stretch this out for that many books.  I think I will buy the next one on my Kindle and find out.

September 18, 2015

It Is Friday, AND

No Doctor Appointments!

A Win/Win Situation

September 18, 2015

The Chrysanthemum that I planted in this 

hanging basket last week is doing well.

It has been a great day.  Ron let me sleep late until I woke up on my own at 7:45.  I took my time getting ready for work and took care of things in the yard before going to the office.  Yesterday was hot and humid.  Today was worse.  With a temperature of 90 mid-day, the heat index was 103.  The UPS guy came in soaking wet from the heat.

The morning was spent on assorted paperwork and I took time to go to the drug store to pick up a prescription.  Then Ron left on errands, returning briefly before heading our for an hour or more to work on a job.

My new flowerbed is still there and 

no bugs or animals have eaten the plants.

There were no doctor appointments although I did wake up with the welts on my arm again.  I sure wish I knew why that is happening.  An email from Mom said that Carmen was doing pretty well but having pain in the finger she cut.  My sister who is staying at the island, came into town and took Mom to run a couple of errands.

Too many loose ends of things that need to be taken care of, seem to accumulate on my desk. It is a never ending battle to conquer the paper monster.  I made up and took a bank deposit this afternoon.  I was in and out of the drive up lane in a hurry.

This potted plant has loved all of the rain lately.

 

Toward the end of the afternoon Ron tried to straighten out some tax information for Mom, his mom, and me on our household help.  We thought the paperwork had been taken care of, but if so, it did not get to the right place.  He took care of two of them quickly once he found out exactly what needed to be done.  I think the whole thing was a miscommunication.  Mom and I are set and he was working on his mom's when I left the office well after closing time.  He was going to stay and do some work for a customer. 

I went to Mom's and we decided to go to Luby's for supper.  It did us both good.  We both had a hard week - me with seeing one doctor after another and her with just not feeling up to par.  We don't know why, but are praying for a quick improvement.  Then when I took her home I picked up some things that were my grandmother's.  I had a great relationship with both my grandmothers.  I learned so much from both of them.

A couple of other hanging baskets are still in bloom

After supper, at home I took care of things in the yard.  A branch had fallen that was holding a bird feeder.  I don't know is the Black-bellied Whistling Ducks are back at attacked the feeder hoping to knock it down or exactly what happened.  It was a dead limb. 

Since Carmen has a  hurt hand, I won't have her help tomorrow and I will really miss that!  I need to do some housework myself tomorrow.  Yuck.  Beds to be changed and laundry to be washed, top the to-do list.

September 17, 2015

If It Isn't Doctors, It is Hospitals!

September 17, 2015

 Don't panic!  It wasn't me!

Don't panic!  I was at the emergency room this afternoon at Valley Baptist Hospital but I was there to check on Mom's helper, Carmen.  As Mom and I agreed this afternoon, you never know what a day will bring.

This afternoon, I had just gotten back from the Allergy doctor's office when Mom called and said that Carmen had cut her hand badly and Mom had called 9-1-1 for an ambulance to take Carmen to the hospital, since Mom doesn't drive.  I told Ron to tell her I would be right there.  When I arrived I asked if she had canceled the ambulance, and she had not, so I suggested she do so.  They told her they were almost to her house so she told them to come on over.

They arrived in just a minute or two and I was helping Carmen out of the house to go to the hospital.  I had wrapped some ice in a dish towel for her and the EMS personnel came and checked her hand and wrapped the finger that was cut deeply and suggested she go one to the hospital.  About that time her sister arrived, so her sister took her while Mom and I went back in the house.  Both Mom and Carmen were very shaken by the episode and I cleaned up the blood in the sink area and mopped the trail of drips I left in my clean up efforts.  Mom sat down with a soda and caught her breath.  

Carmen and Mom are so good for each other and they each worry about the other.  After I took care of the kitchen and Mom was relaxed a little, I went to the hospital to check on Carmen.  Her sister was in the waiting room of the ER with two friends from her church who had rushed to the hospital to be with the two sisters.  What sweet friends they have.  

 

Carmen's sister, Silvia, told me that they were working on stitching Carmen's finger and although the cut is deep, they said it would be fine.  Silvia said she would take Carmen home when she was finished.  

With all the talk this week about nurses and stethoscopes, I thought I should thank them for their good work and for having those Doctor Tools, to take care of people who are sick or hurt.  It has been interesting to see how offended the entire country is by the thoughtless words and actions of the people on The View as they managed to insult nurses around the world.  I have had a lot of nurses looking after me this week and now they are looking after Carmen.  I am glad they are there, in doctor's offices, hospitals, schools, clinics, etc. to help in time of need.

As for the rest of my day, I was up early, made Ron's coffee, put away clean dishes, sorted laundry, ran a load of dishes, and got my shower before getting ready for work.  I spent a few minutes in the yard taking care of the birds and then went to the office about 10:00.  I took care of some bookkeeping items and a couple of customers before leaving to go to see the different allergist right after lunch.

 

The Allergist's office is in a new building just a couple of minutes from our house.  I had paper work to fill out and then I was seen by a nurse, followed by a Physician's Assistant, before the doctor came in.  Basically, we need to start over on the allergy testing.  He is not as good at bedside manner as the others I am seeing, but I guess I don't really need that - just like it.

I am to do no shots until he has time to test me and see if the shots are needed and if so in what concentration and mixture.  I am to be off allergy medicines for a week and be tested next Thursday.  When I returned to the office I was telling Ron about the appointment when Mom called.  I got back to the office from the hospital ER just in time to put things away and close for the day.  

Ron and I had supper with our friends and had a lot of catching up to do.  They had been out of town and we heard about their trip and they heard about all that is going on here.  It was good to have them back.  When we left the restaurant, Ron and I went to Wal-Mart for a few items.  He needed some supplies for the office and I needed some yogurt.  Once we got home, I watched some news and then worked on the blog.  

Hope your day was UNeventful!

September 16, 2015

Doctors, Doctors, Doctors!

Yikes!  Too Many!

September 16, 2015

Last night's stomach pain from what I expect was an allergic reaction to the allergy shot left me feeling sore this morning.  When I turned on the light in the bathroom and looked in the mirror (a scary thing to do early in the morning), I spotted red welts on the arm that had the bad reaction last Friday.  They were raised red streaks on the arm looking like scratches, but were not scratches.  They were on both sides of the right arm, on my side next to the arm and on my right shoulder.  They got worse over the next few hours, so I decided that it was time to go back to the doctor.  The shots yesterday were given in my stomach, not in the arms.  I also needed to see what to do about tomorrow's shot.

At the doctor's office, I only had to wait about 15 minutes today.  One nursing student took the information and then the head nurse came in and talked to me for a while.  They decided to do a medication test to see if the medications are being processed by my body - in other words, are the antihistamines working?
 

The Physician's Assistant talked to me for a while about what direction we should go.  This lady is the one Ron and I usually see at the office.  In fact, I had never seen the doctor who runs the clinic.  Previously, he had another doctor running the clinic, but that doctor moved away.  Ron had seen this doctor a couple of times, but I had not.  The doctor was there today and I just mentioned I had not met him.  The Physician's Assistant had been talking to him about what they should do on my case.  She went and brought him in so I could meet him and he ended up staying for a while talking about things in general and the allergies.

In a little bit, the Physician's Assistant came back and said that the doctor had gotten me an appointment tomorrow with an allergist to help decide on a course of action.  I already had another appointment set for tomorrow, but finally decided to move that one and take the one with the allergist since his next opening was in two weeks.  Of course the one I had to postpone had to be postponed for three months, but at least it was just a yearly check up and not as big a problem as the current allergy situation.

When I got back to my office, I just had time to eat some yogurt and get back in the car for my appointment with the Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor who had sent me to have a CT scan of the sinuses a couple of weeks ago (the day it flooded).  At least there I got good news.  He said there was no infection and the polyps in my nose are minor and do not need surgery.  Yea!  Finally some good news.


In truth, most of the doctor visits have been good news.  They are checking on things that I had ignored for way too long.  At one point I had asked that he send a copy of the report to my doctor's office and when I gave him the name, he asked, "Which one?"  I asked if there were two with this foreign last name in town.  He laughed and said yes.  I pulled out a stack of business cards from various doctor's offices and told him I was seeing way too many doctors.  He again laughed and I said if he wanted, we would take him to dinner some night but I was tired of seeing doctors in their offices.

In our continued conversation, I told this doctor this afternoon who is from the Orient, that I am thankful that he is in our city.  I said that I have seen many doctors the last couple of years, and that I was impressed with the quality of doctors we have in our community.  They have been thorough and kind.  The one I just met this morning gave me a hug as he left the office and said, "God bless you."  God has blessed me.  Even during the time of medical situations, He has led me to good doctors and for the most part, caring staff.  There have been a few of the office staff employees that left a lot to be desired, but the vast majority have done their jobs well.


It was after 2:00 when I finally got to the office to do work.  It was another quiet day, but we both had things to work on.   Ron was repairing a couple of safes and I had computer work to do.  I don't know where the afternoon went.  Before I knew it, it was time to go home.  I started home and remembered I needed to buy a pair of tennis shoes and get them broken in before we go out of town soon for a few days.

I went to several stores.  I saw the Physician's Assistant at Academy as I was looking for the tennis shoes.  They didn't have them.  I finally found them at Sears along with some sale items.  It was 8:00 before I got back to the house, hot and tired.  I watched part of the GOP Presidential Debate.  Without closed captioning, I would have been at a loss for a lot of the program. 



It has been another long day.  I better get a little rest. 

September 15, 2015

My Morning at the Doctor's Office

September 15, 2015

Sparrow patiently waiting for a spot at the feeder

 

It was not in my plans to spend most of the morning at the doctor's office.  I had expected to be able to go it at 8:30, take my shot and be at my office by 9:30 so Ron could go on the job he had promised.  I let them know I was there at 8:30 and sat down to read my book. 

When at 10:00 after they started calling in people who came after I did, I asked if I had misunderstood something.  The nice young man said, "Oh, have they not called you in?"  I said no.  A minute or two later I was called in.  A nurse took me to a room, watched while I gave myself the shots, and came back to check on me about every 5 minutes.  I left at 10:45.  That was not at all how I had expected my morning to go. 

There was no noticeable reaction to the lowered dosage of the allergy medication.  I had taken Benadryl before I went to the doctor's office.  There was slight itching but no hives.  I did fine until late afternoon when I was hit by stomach cramps and diarrhea.  That lasted for a few hours.  Wisdom is needed for me to know what to do on the shots.  I am praying, asking God to let me know what I should do.  

As soon as I got to the office, Ron left on his job.  It was raining a little off and on while he was gone, so it was quiet at the office.  I continued sorting a pile of papers on my desk.  Progress.  I really wanted to sew, but there is just so much that has piled up on my desk over the last few months.  It just seems that it has been a very busy time outside the office.

This young female Golden-fronted Woodpecker comes often.

 

Ron was gone for a couple of hours.  After he came back I put my head on my desk and napped a little since the Benadryl I took prior to my shots was getting to me.  I left about 4:00 and came home to get ready for the quilt group.  I had a few things I needed to pick up and straighten. 

Four of the ladies came for quilting and with the smaller group, I was better able to hear.  At one point they asked me if I could hear the rain.  No.  Over the conversations I could not hear it, but I went into another  room and could hear that it was a heavy rain.  We cut the meeting just a little short when the rain let up, so they could head home between showers.

During the quilting time, I worked with Carmen on the quilt she is making.  She is enjoying the process, but looked tired last night.  Mom had not come because she was too tired.  She was napping.  We had a good time visiting among the five of us. 

Before the ladies came, I took a few bird photos.  There were a lot of sparrows in the yard, but not a lot of other birds.  There had been a heavy rain at the house during the day.  Both yesterday and today, the shop had light showers, while the house had downpours.  The backyard is soggy.  Taking care of feeders and birdbaths, I come in with muddy shoes.

It was late by the time my stomach settled enough for me to go to sleep but that is why again, the blog is delayed.  Since I am writing this Wednesday morning, I will say I woke with scratch marks all over the area where I had the reaction from Friday's shot.  I guess it was itching during the night.

Ever since I got my Cochlear implant, Ron has changed the filters on the sound processor.  They are to be done every 2 to 3 months.  I have been asking him to do them lately, but he had been too busy and would forget about it.  I did them myself with some difficulty, a couple of days ago and it has helped the sound quality. 

Ruby-throated Hummingbird  

Several of the have been around, but sure are fast! 

 

When I recently listened to Rush Limbaugh talk about his Cochlear Implants, I was again reminded at how much better off I am than many are who have them.  But one thing he said was how he had to be "in someone's face" to hear them well.  That is why I do well with customers at work as long as the machines aren't going.  When I am waiting on a customer, I am face to face with them across a counter and that is what I need.

September 14, 2015

Monday, Monday!

September 14, 2015

Bewick's Wren on top of the bird feeder.

 

After taking care of things at home, like showering, getting ready for work, and eating breakfast, I went to the doctor's office to see what we should do about the allergy shots.  I arrived there about 10:00 and left there just before 12:00.  Thankfully, they weren't very busy.  Think what it would have been like if they were busy!

The nurse practitioner is the one who saw me, for which I was thankful.  She is the one I have seen most often the last 8 or 9 months and knows all that is going on without having to spend time reading the file.  I also wanted to see her because she had not pushed me to start the shots, so I felt her opinion would be the most objective.

I get photos of all kinds of birds, except hummingbirds on this feeder!

 

We talked for a while and decided she would contact the allergist and after doing that we agreed that I would come to their office tomorrow morning and take the shots there in a smaller dosage and see what happens.  If there is a bad reaction, I will be at the doctor's office.  She and I agreed that my allergies just get worse and worse and we need to continue to address them.  We will see how it goes.

I stopped and got lunch for Ron and me on my way to the office, but he had made arrangements to go to lunch with a man from our church.  He left shortly after I got to the office.  I spent the next two hours on paperwork; paying bills, filing, as well as waiting on customers.

El Capitan Hibiscus plant in the backyard

 

There is a small tropical disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico not far from us and we are having a cloudy days with a few showers.  The clouds make it cooler and that is always good this time of the year.  The weather service tonight said that historically this is Brownsville's wettest week of the year.  Uh, oh...  We only got a little shower at the shop but must have had a downpour at the house.  The backyard had a little water standing in parts and that is unusual.  Everything is well soaked.

After work I went by Mom's house to see how she was doing and to see if she needed groceries.  She did not need any.  I stayed about 45 minutes visiting.  She and I both have some plants with some sort of disease.  Grrr.....  Don't know what it is.  Mine is on one type of plant and hers is on a different type but both look similar.  In my spare time...I need to go by a plant nursery and ask what to do about it.

Sparrow waiting line at feeder

 

This evening is very low-key.  We each ate leftovers for supper and Ron is watching a football game while I have been reading a book.  I should be sewing.

Today is the 14th anniversary of the death of our former pastor at First Baptist Church, Brownsville, Dr. Gordon Malkowski.  He was not here for very long.  He had only been here a year or so when he was diagnosed with lymphoma.  He was an outstanding Bible student and taught us so much - much of it was when he was dying.  He was always in the pulpit even at his sickest.  His last sermon, the men carried his wheelchair to the platform so he could preach. 

One time he told me that he could be feeling terrible and when he got to the pulpit, it all went away and he was able to preach God's Word.  (Makes me feel like a whimp for staying home yesterday as I was getting over my allergic reaction.)

 The stained glass window in the new auditorium

 

Pastor Gordon had a staff meeting, around his hospital bed at his home, after the attack on the World Trade Center just a few days before he died.  He told the staff how he wanted the service done the Sunday following the attack.  I think he knew he would not be there, but rather he would be healed in Heaven instead of on Earth.  I thank God for Pastor Gordon's ministry here, his kindnesses to me, and our congregation.  I miss him and his sweet wife.  God allowed us to love him toward the end of his life and we did love him!  While he was here, we built our current auditorium.  The stained glass window behind the pulpit was the design he wanted.  He wanted us to focus on the cross and to always remember that Christ died on the cross for our sins.