Wasted Time

I spent several hours looking for something.  Several weeks ago I put the something in a safe place when I retrieved a similar item.  When it was time to retrieve the something I searched high and low, cleaned out some files whilst looking for said item.  I explained my problem to Far Guy who said “I hope you find it.”  I gave up for awhile and began painting on Christmas Ornaments…and thought and thought finally I let my over cluttered mind relax…I knew I had seen the item recently but where?  Finally it came to me, it was in the red basket on my desk.

Lesson learned…either you should just leave things in their proper place or clean off your desk more often.

All that time wasted could have been spent cleaning off my desk.

Sunsets

We went for a ride after supper, Chance was restless and followed me around after supper, being a pill as I folded a load of laundry….he hates the scary utility room so he gave me “the Border Collie stare”  from the kitchen.  He told me that Far Guy forgot his treat…he went between me and his treat door…I hollered at Far Guy “Chance says he did not get his after supper treat.  Did you forget?”  “No” came the reply. Perhaps Chance forgot… more than likely he just wanted seconds. We are sometimes manipulated by a dog…what more can I say.

 

Chance is easily distracted by the word walk and then a ride.

Recently we listened to the audio book And Every Morning The Way Back Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman.  A poignant novella about relationships, aging and dementia.  Jen recommended it and put it on Far Guy’s new I Phone so we would be entertained on the way home from up North the other night. Yes it made me cry but I give it 5 out of 5 stars.

Hay field at sunset.

We will never be as young as we are today. Our memories will never ever be as good as they are today, right now….if we are lucky enough to share those memories with someone that actively listens then the listener is richer for it.

Sunsets are beautiful along with lives well lived, something to be relished after a good day when you can still remember who you are, where you live and who you love.

Not Spring

The calendar may say it is spring but the cold wind that entered this area the past few days will chill you to the bone.

The Bald Eagles are back in great numbers, they know the eating is good from deer that were road killed over the winter.  They can pick a carcass clean in just a day or two.

These three older eagles and one younger one I caught flying away.

Yesterday late in the afternoon we had thunder, lightening and small hail/large sleet.  It was in round balls bigger than a bb.

It made the ground white again.  I watched it fall and bounce around.  Went outside to take a few photos before lightening scared me back in …besides that someone had to protect the dog.  (he thought I was nuts to go outside)

It has not been a real productive week for projects.  I am working on Mikey’s blanket. A few more evenings and it should be done.   I am in the process of shredding a bunch of old papers from 2009.  I have been tired this week.  Far Guy too. 

I will blame tiredness on my inability to recall the numbers of our street address one day.  I finally gave up thinking about what it was and guessing numbers and looked on a piece of mail.

Far Guy’s infusion went slower than normal this week. Then he had an “oh crap” moment…he removed the needle before finishing with the saline flushes and heparin…so we had to put in a new needle to finish things up…thank goodness for extra supplies!  He said maybe we are ready for “the home.”

Snow and other stuff

We got some more snow it brought the snow stick up a bit.

Lovely isn’t it.

We have been busy and exhausted.  Far Guy said yesterday “If I croak you will be so bored.”  This was during our second trip to town for the day…usually we go to town once a week…not twice a day.

Men do read instructions, I have proof I caught him reading the instructions to the IV Pump.  They sent a checklist so we should be able to figure it all out between the two of us.  The bill said it would be $ 2,500 weekly …so I hope insurance covers it…yes you read that right a two and a five and two zeros with no decimal point…must be the new and improved affordable care act.

The driveway.

We had a thought about ten days ago, we were in the vehicle going for a ride, it was something we should have done before we left the house but we could do immediately when we got home.  Well that was ten days ago and neither of us can remember exactly what it was.  Old age is coming on fast.

We had a long time friend who we were both very fond of.  He carried a little notebook and a pencil in his pocket of his True Value Hardware blue shirt. Now we understand.

The store in Osage was getting new shingles yesterday.

Yesterday there was a strange bright orb in the sky. I had to wear my sunglasses.

A Mystery

When I packed to go up North, I grabbed my vitamin container and my pill container...I only take two pills one for high blood pressure and Potassium tablets because the blood pressure pill robs me most of my potassium.  I put the two weekly pill/vitamin containers, my tooth brush, my tooth paste and my eye drops in a small storage bag...bigger than a sandwich bag.  It is easier to just grab the bag in the morning that way I don't forget the pills when I brush my teeth.

Chaucer

Tuesday night when I knew a hospital stay was eminent I took my toothbrush out of the bag and put it in my purse/backpack, I also took my vitamins,   I either left the bag with the pills, toothpaste and eye drops on the counter in the kitchen (I went there to get a glass of water so I could take the vitamins.) OR I threw them back in my suitcase and didn't shut the lid.

I knew I could borrow Jens toothpaste, and once we got home I would take my meds for the day.  I forgot, so I asked Noah to remind me...he did and low and behold the bag of medication was missing.

It wasn't on the counter in the kitchen and it wasn't in my suitcase...Noah and I went through my suitcase piece by piece.  We looked everywhere including the garbage and the refrigerator.  The bag was missing...we retraced all my steps, and asked all family members.  I mentioned to Andy that Little Elvis was digging a hole in the yard that afternoon, he said "Oh when I cleaned out the smoker I left some meat drippings out there."  Silly dog.

Little Elvis

I thought about where the bag could be, in fact every time I awakened during the night I tried to visualize exactly where I left that bag.  In the morning we talked about it again and looked some more. I thought perhaps I was going nuts.

Miney

Then it was time for Andy to leave for work.  A minute or two later he came in and asked "Is this what you have been looking for?"

Yes that was it, with a hole chewed in the bag, luckily no pills were missing.   Someone ...I won't say who knocked them off the counter, or stole them out of my suitcase and took them out the doggie door and tried to bury them in the snow.  Andy noticed them in the back yard. 

It could have been anyone or a team of anyones who are able to leap onto counters to bat stuff onto the floor...just saying...it might have been a very agile tiny black dog...who might have been digging them up or trying to cover up the evidence in the back yard...only the animals know for sure...and for now the pills and the bag are safely tucked into my suitcase in a zippered compartment. 

I was relieved to know that I am not nuts...and that all pills were accounted for.  Someone said "Maybe they thought Chance would deliver new pills."  

I did not head home yesterday, there was a band of snow that dropped 13 inches of snow between me and home so it was safer to stay put.  Perhaps I will have better luck today.  Jen is recovering a little at a time and can probably survive without her Mother now.  Thank you for all your well wishes and prayers.

Getting Older

I think we need a notebook.  Someone in this household is having a memory problem.  Just sayin’ I cannot remember or be in charge of everything so I think a notebook will be added to the list.   A very important paper was not lost..just hiding in a secure place…just not a real obvious place.  The property tax bill was not paid just because we talked about it…I wish it was that simple.

Sometimes we put “stuff” away so good it disappears forever.  Someday I may find all the lost socks, papers, photos, mittens and keys, just not today.

 

Sometimes we forget we have our snow boots on with a pair of shorts because our feet were just a tiny bit cold and it was a quick fix..until we had to run to the store and forgot all about our toasty warm feet.  Sometimes we have too many pairs of shoes near the doorway and go to town with two different shoes on.  Oh well..life goes on.

I am tired of wondering who the heck that person was that was talking to me like I was their long lost friend.  Next time I will come right out and ask “What is your name..or I know you but I just cannot come up with your name at the moment.”  It might all be a false alarm, just some elderly guy/gal trying to mess with your already aged confused mind.

Many of our neighbors are moving to apartments and some to assisted living facilities.  Home places will be left behind, some have lived there all their lives.  Those places will never be the same even after new people move in…IF new people move in.

On the way to town, I watched an old farmstead all summer long.  The land around it was cleared for the corporate farmer, the trees went down one by one, soon I could see the silo like never before. It was like a beacon over the cornfield.   The house and barn were gutted and in less that a week all traces of that farmstead that was homesteaded back in the late 1880’s disappeared.  POUF just like that gone. No marker  to remember the spot…just another field put into the corn, potato, wheat, bean rotation.

Some things never change…like the white house with the blue trim where I stop to take photographs. Some days a little bit of normal with no change goes a long way:)

The lost was found

Shortly after I wrote that blog about Far Guys missing dog tags.  I entered into one last quick search..I have spent some time rummaging around in Far Guys trunk this winter.  Jen said they would be found in his trunk and they were.  I found them all safe and sound in a small plastic bag with a label nestled between two t shirts in the trunk.

Hallelujah!  The search has ended.  The project was completed.  Far Guy hung it above  his side of the computer desk.

He even made a list which we attached to the back.  It tells what each medal is for.   Neighbor Steve made the frame out of barn wood.  It shows up very nicely on the log wall.

I think one of his next projects is his Military Scrapbook.  I have collected patriotic paper for that project for years.  It won’t take long to do.  He will have to gather everything and then scan and make copies to put in the scrapbook.  It may be a good rainy day project yet this spring.

At the moment nothing is missing…everything has a place and everything is in it’s place.  If you really want to find something blog about it and it will turn up:)

Losing it

My memory is not like it used to be. 

Recently I was cleaning out something or straightening something up I have forgotten exactly what I was doing at the time, I have even forgotten what room in the house I was in.  I am quite sure it was not the bathroom. I opened something, not sure what it was and noticed  Far Guy’s Dog Tags inside. I thought..Okay..I guess he knows where they are..no big deal..he will get them when he needs them.

Then he began a project.  It is one of those late in life things..he gathered together all of his Military medals and pins and made a display board for them.  He wanted his Dog Tags..but had no idea where they were.  WELL  I had just seen them a few weeks ago..do you suppose I can remember where?

Jen asked me one day what was new?  I said well your Dad is working on one of the projects for his funeral..she said “WHAT” very loudly. 

I have searched almost every nook and cranny in the house.  I am now officially giving up so that some day soon I will remember their hiding place.

Perhaps it will come to me in a dream.

I did find one of his old service photos from 1973:)

Oldness

 It is a fact of life, when you get older, your body or mind starts to fail. Your big outings are to the Clinic, and if you feel up to it after that you might live dangerously and go out for a late lunch or early supper.  When you get older you can often just eat once late in the afternoon and it counts for two meals.   You look in the mirror and instead of a youthful image, you are frightened by the old lady that stares back at you.. screaming does no good..she is not going away.  So you may as well just accept the fact THAT YOU ARE OLDER!  It is just one of those facts of life..you can be carried into oldness kicking and screaming or you can just sit back and enjoy the Senior discounts and afternoon naps.

This morning I heard on the Today show, that Memory Loss is not a problem until you start becoming lost.  What if you can't remember that you are lost..just a thought.

 Far Guys medication makes him forget sometimes.  However it is a very selective memory loss, as it always seems to be concerning something that I have told him and reminded him about..and then he says "Well how come you never mentioned THAT before?"  or "This is the first I have heard of that."  I have threatened to write stuff down and make him sign it and date it.  He on the other hand says that I just think I told him and since he cannot read my mind he hasn't got a clue.  He is constantly hollering at me from the other room "I can't hear you talk to me when you are in there."  Perhaps I was just mumbling under my breath.  One of our most frustrating forgetful incidents is medications..some days he just forgets all day long to take his meds..If I ask him, he will say "Yes, I took my meds." When it is obvious by the pill reminder container that he has not.  "WHAT are all these pills doing in here then?"  I am now in the habit of walking by his pill container and visually checking its contents..I pick it up and shake it..and always remember to take it with us wherever we go.  Togetherness takes on a whole different dimension when you get older..together perhaps one of you will always remember to take your meds everyday..and keep you from getting lost.  

 Happy Birthday to my perfect Son In Law handy Andy..he is smack dab in the middle between thirty and forty today. He is on the cusp of oldness, the part where a little grey hair just makes you more handsome:)