They tell me its Tuesday

It is Tuesday...but it's just Groundhog Day around here.

I'm not doing great but not bad either. One of Rick's team called me at home last night and that scared the hell out if me. This woman is his OT and she's a bitch. She was screaming at me yesterday for no good reason and when she asked m e a question she knew the answer and did not listen. But she only THOUGHT she knew the answer. If she had listened to me she would have known. But i know these types. We all do. Mz Know It All. 

Anyway she was calling to apologiz.  Rick hates her as do I. The rest of his team is great. I think when I said something to the charge nurse she must have said something.  But it wasn't anything more than a half ass apology but I accepted it. Don't need enemies here.

I'm not sleeping well and that doesn't help me any. I never want to eat but forced myself to eat something because I know I need too.

Rick asked for watermelon and I got approval. So when he gets back to his room he will have some watermelon for a treat.

His PT man is Nunzio. He said to me when I met him yesterday, hey a paisan. I laughed and said Yes, I am. 

For those of you unfamiliar with the term he was stating, hey an Italian American friend. I never think I look Italian but apparently I do. So I am his paisan. 

Rick enjoys Nunzio and his speech person. He just hates the OT, Kelly.

I shaved off all his facial hair yesterday. It needed trimmed badly but he said take it all off. Rick has always had facial hair of some sort so he looks funny to me. They are going to let him shave tomorrow. They want him to try. He can do it, his hands are doing pretty well. They say he's at 50%. That doesn't sound good to me but they seem happy.

I try to watch TV at night and I find my mind wandering. I'm exhausted after 7-9 hrs here yet I can't sleep. I watered the garden, trimmed the yard, did laundry and remade the bed the sister was in. Then I sat and stared at the tube. I fell asleep for 2 hrs. Then I stare at the ceiling and beg for sleep.

I got my mail yesterday and had 3 lovely cards that made me cry like a baby. I will thank everyone personally but my God they meant the world to me. 

His roommate is far ahead of him and should be going home soon. He talks about trump and so Rick has decided he has to go. Lol. He's a typical trumpster. Add the fact that Rick was watching a baseball game and he hates the nyy so he was harnessing Rick. (He's a red Sox fan, poor thing)

Thankfully they each have their own tvs.

In the big scheme of things his roommate is nothing. 

That's all folks for today. 

Another 30 minutes and he'll be back from speech. He's had OT, PT, and more testing and now speech. He will need a nap and they will make him eat. They fight him with food. He never wants to eat. So unlike The Big Guy!

Hope you're all having a beautiful summer day!

Aaah.

Rick was moved to rehab.

Now the real hard work begins!!

We are heading over to the hospital this a.m. Then I drive his sister to the airport. Then I'll go back and spend more time with Rick.

Then I can come home and NOT eat or only eat a bowl of cereal. I will whip off this bra so fast and collapse on the sofa. 

Those are my plans for the day. Hope you're having a good one!!

Sorry 2nd update - He walked!!

 Rick walked today!!! Big damn day!

His OT and PT team came in and said, think you can walk and he said sure. By the time they were at that side of the bed, he was sitting up with his feet dangling. 

When he had gout as I mentioned earlier he could not walk or put weight on his weak leg. They were so worried about him falling.

He was sitting on the bed and he was about to get up and they told him to sit still and just sit. He was to wait for them. But Rick had other ideas. 

They brought him a walker and again, he pulled himself up and grabbed the walker. They told him they were going to hold his gown in case he got lightheaded or was going to fall. He told them he was not going to fall. 

He left his room and walked down the hall. They followed him with a chair in case he got too tired. He did not need it. Then because he was standing he asked his PT if he could hug me while he was standing. God, I love that man. So I got a big hug. 

He had speech today, OT, PT, and walking. His doctors visited and we had discussions and by 3pm he was so exhausted. We were there at 8am and honestly, I was tired too. I asked if he was okay with me leaving. (he has said plz stay longer so I ask now) He said, "Yes because I am tired."  

Good he needs the sleep. So I'm home right now and avoiding Miss Know it All.

My favorite thing was when the doctor asked where she got her degree. I loved that he put her in her place. 

I have some family coming to help me closer to when I have to go to the hospital.

My sigmoid colon surgery is now on the 21st. Labrascopy and I can come home when I poop. I find that funny. They said to figure about 3 days.

The hospital person came to me (I forgot her title) She works with rehab and another dept. I don't recall, sorry!  She said she saw Pat, his PT person and she told her we had no intention in having him walk today in fact his nurse said he wasn't ready for this. So they were blown away to see him walk so well. That lead her to us because they have meetings where they discuss patients. So all those people who saved his life wonder, how is he doing? So they go over patients so those behind the scenes can see how they saved a life or not.  Also because it broke their record, the life-saving drug should be administered I think she said 30 minutes, it's their hospital goal. Rick had it in 24 minutes and was already being wheeled to surgery for part 2 to remove the clot through his groin. So they took our pictures to share the story of how it happened when it happened, and how he is 10 days later.  Weird but I understood. So Rick had to sign this release so that they could share this information.

I'm exhausted and just wish to chill.

But she doesn't like loud noises. So the tv is on but I can't hear it and if Rick were here he wouldn't be able to hear it. So I use the blue tooth bone conduction headphones to watch TV. She loves to watch shit I hate but if it means she's quiet I don't care. 

All in all a good day.

Thursday Update

Rick is napping. His sister is glued to her phone. I thought I'd tell you about the morning.

I came in and Rick had to do what he calls his circus tricks.  He can now lift his "bad" arm over his head and keep it there. Show off. Gout leg moving much better. Fingers on that hand can grip but not as hard. Overall it was good to see.

He also got his feeding tube out, which made him super happy.

Phrases I will not miss...

'In California'....those  words are uttered daily by those who shall remain nameless.

In California we have toilet seat covers in all public restrooms(every day at least 2x)

In California....

It goes on for everything. I want to scream, then go home.

She has pissed off drs, nurses and aides. She knows more than they do. She has been on the phone now for 1 hr in the waiting room. She will have missed the Dr, speech therapist and then demand they come back to discuss with her 

I'm leaving a shit ton out, but how does this help me? Plz explain! In the morning its her hair, her make up, her clothes. I wait. 

Rick asked me to come at breakfast She heard him. So LETS MOVE IT! 

So much to vent and so little time.

My segmoid colon surgery is the 21st. Dr agreed with me that me being this anxious isn't good for me for recovery. He will be in rehab by then and I will feel much better!!!

I have to run. More people with stethoscopes coming in.

More later.

Monday

Rick is in a regular room in the stroke/heart center now. He got to eat pureed food which he does not enjoy. He still has a feeding tube or they call in nutrition but they also use it for meds. He hates this thing in his nose and down his throat. They told him today that it could come out Tues or Wed. He was a happy camper.

First day after the stroke he could shuffle his left leg. But since gout he can't walk. He tried today and the nurse got there in time. We don't need a fall right now. They told him they'd secure him ti the bed if he does that again. He was tied for lack of a better word with this nice thick velcro attached to him and the chair on the first day and HATED it. 

I've never been fond of his stubbornness but I see it's proving to be an asset in this situation. He really wants to try everything.

Alrighty, time for bed.

Saturday

It's 2:04am.

I can't sleep. Rick's sister was on her phone ( its attached to her hip) and watching TV. I sat on the sofa and I was out!! I slept from 930p ish to 1145p. Now I can't go back to sleep. Boy my mind races and goes to places it shouldn't. 

Your comments have made me cry. Big time. All of you are so kind and give great advice. 

I can't even put into words how much the comments have meant to me. I had a bad bad day, or I should say Rick did. Then I read your comments when I got home and they warmed my heart ❤️ Thank you!!

I feel so alone here. 

HIS sister is here but I feel like I have to entertain. Make meals I don't want to eat etc.

She means well, I know. (This is the family he just met several years ago becuz he was adopted)

I want to postpone my surgery. I'm getting all kinds of shit from everyone. I'm not canceling, just hoping to postpone.

I have a call scheduled with my Dr to discuss Monday.

Everyone tells me to take care of me. Well I am. I know I can't go to the hospital right now. I'm asking for 2-3 weeks.

Then he will be less drugged due to gout pain. He will remember I'm in the hospital for 3- 4 days. He'll also be out of icu by then.  Why can't everyone get that? 

Peg, they say, you must take care of yourself. Ok, when I am selfish and care for me, I hear it from EVERYONE that I'm wrong, they know what's best and I must have my surgery Thursday. They don't care that I won't heal as well being filled with anxiety, stress etc.

I don't get it!!

Boy the fact that y'all are still reading me with all the depressing shit and me whining is another thing I want to say thank you for. Sincerely. 🫠

I'll leave you on a lighter note. Ricks best buddy from Cleveland showed up today. They were coming to town this weekend for the divisional championship lacrosse game. We had a great weekend planned and we so thrilled to see friends. Instead of those plans we made, they came to the hospital.

I reminded Rick that they were coming today (sat) and I asked him one more time if he wanted them to come. He was thrilled. Jared walked in and Rick got his new lopsided grin, patted his heart and then pointed to Jared and Megan, as if to say, I love you but then gave Jared the finger. We all laughed and Rick laughed and about chocked which brought the nurses running in.

It was wonderful to see them. They understood him most times. Sometimes none of us can. All in all it was a great visit!

I left for a bit to go to the cafeteria. When I came back Rick was awake. He told me he so loved seeing them. It did him a world of good if you ask me.  

Update #2

Rick has had a set back. Because they weren't giving him his gout medication he got gout in his left knee. The side of the damage. 

He is in excruciating pain. Because of that his PT was cut short. He was able to bend his knee until gout. This am he said his pain was a 10 when Dr asked. It was a 6 yesterday. They just gave him oxycodon, and it worked he's asleep.  His speech is the worst right now and his swallowing is not perfect so still on feeding tube. Right now they just want him out of pain. Dealing with the gout. He asked me to take him home this morning. 😪

Before gout he was going into a regular room. He is staying in the ICU until this passes.  

This is more stress than I can handle right now in so many ways. But, you know that. It's not about me.

As I was leaving today he said I love you and squeezed my hand and the nurses heard and said they don't see that often and they love it. (How sad) He touched the nurses arm and said I love you too and they laughed and at that exact point his pain killer kicked in and he was out!!

My Ricky

In the last post I said in comments how this happened so you look there if you did not see it.

Because Rick got helped so quickly they said they expect a full recovery with a lot of rehab.

From his mouth to God's ear!

Tuesday Rick looked great. His left side has been affected as well as his speech. That side of his face is drooping and his smile is only on one side.

He can stand and move. His left leg and arm don't move as well but everyone including the neurologist were thrilled with his progress and all kept saying this was great for the 1st day & this doesn't happen often. Hmm, I'm not seeing it. But I don't think they'd blow smoke up my arse.

Because he was on a vent his throat today was still swollen so eating and swallowing wasnt easy. They put a tube up his nose that went down his throat while they feed him pudding and applesauce. It's still going down slowly but they didn't find anything wrong. Whew. Just a swollen throat.

He had an MRI and they found that he probably had small stokes before. But everything else on MRI was all they wanted to see. Blood flowing etc.

He has PT and speech  daily. Tuesday I was there from 8 to 5p. I hated leaving. 

Wednesday I walked in and he looked so damn tired. He looked better the day before. Then he told me they wake him every hour and prick his finger. So I asked the nurse about this. She said that when in the ICU we do wake them every hour and the finger prick is to test his sugar. I said but he doesn't have diabetes. Then the Dr and the neurologist came in and asked the nurse for something and I didn't get why.  I will ask again tomorrow.

His sister arrived from California today. I told Rick she was coming today and he cried. 

She took an Uber from the airport to the hospital. 

Rick takes gout medication. Because he isn't swallowing good enough for them to give him pills he hasn't had it. He told me his knee hurt. It was swollen and hot. Yep gout. Great.

Today's pt walking was difficult but it always is with his gout. So he shuffled to his chair. They brought in an X-ray machine to see his knee.

Then they put a tube up his nose which will send the medication right down to his belly.  He said it's worse than a covid test. That made me laugh.

He was going to be moved today, Wednesday, to a regular room but since the gout pain, his BP went up so they are going to wait.

He gets frustrated as you can well imagine with his speech. He told me he can't make the words come out. He thinks it, but it takes forever.

I think speech daily is his hardest. 

He does not remember what happened. He keeps apologizing to me for causing me all this stress. I said it's my turn to be the caregiver babe.

The nurses love him. When they put this condom catheter on him he told the girl, I usually get dinner first but at least your hands are warm. OMG I about died. Fine to talk like this around our friends and me but I think his filter is gone. The nurses laughed, thank God. Today they had to give something in suppository form. The nurse said as she's got him on his side, I know you'll want dinner AND drinks first for this. He put a thumbs up. She laughed. So at least they weren't offended when I apologized they just said they've had worse, no problem with him. Whew.

He got his vent out Tuesday late afternoon.That made him happy but he had a lot of phlegm. So they set the bed to vibrate to help break up the phlegm. It worked too. When the bed began to vibrate, Rick slapped his lap and moved his head as if to say hop on. I laughed and said, Ricky you're in there! He laughed.

He is aware and answers all their questions correctly so that's good.

So a lot of positives.

Today the nurse "suggested" we go home because he won't sleep if I'm there so we left. 

Today was the least amount of time I've spent with him but I could see he needed sleep.

I wish his sister wasn't here but using my mom's favorite saying, IT IS WHAT IT IS.

I'm a hot mess. I always thought I was a strong women. This event has proved me wrong!!!

I just want my Big Guy home.

Stroke

Rick had a stroke today as we were leaving the drs ofc.

I am certain we can not take more of this shit!!!

I will write when I can.

If you pray, I'll take a few prayers!

Remember Me?

Yes, it's been a while.

While I was away You saw Ricks's post and comments on the post. my hand was only 1 reason I wasn't around. 

One day I woke up and as I put my feet on the ground the room was spinning like NOTHING I've ever felt. Not like when you're young and foolish and drink too much --far more violent than that. I laid back down. Tried getting up again and made it to the bathroom and proceeded to violently throw up, This went on for days. no one knew why. If I lifted my head it was to vomit, because lifting my head made it worse. I couldn't eat or drink. Rick kept telling me to go to the hospital. I said no. I couldn't walk anyway. I was out of it. 

Well, my husband did this

It was awful. Two gorgeous young women are the EMTs who show up to my bedroom as I'm hanging over a wastebasket. Just Lovely. Who are they? Now Rick tells me they are taking me to the hospital. I couldn't fight him and he knew it, the little shit!

Their beauty was not lost on Rick. I too noticed how damn pretty they both were. I heard them say, "This is the first house we've gone into that doesn't smell." 

They said this a couple times to Rick, I couldn't talk, If I did, I'd just vomit. So, I just looked and listened. But, gee where the hell are these stinky homes? The ER got me to stop vomiting and the drugs stopped all pain. Whew. 

Each day it has gotten better. I stopped all the pain pills for my torn-up hand/wrist. It seemed to help after 2 days of no pain pills. My hand/wrist was excruciating but the room was only barely spinning now. 

So was it a reaction to the pain pills? I'm still having a little bit. I mean yesterday I seemed fine and out of nowhere I just had to run and vomit for a bit. Such fun.

I have some funny things to share but this is all I can peck on this keyboard. All done with my left hand...slowly. I've got a lot of stuff happening this week with pre-op and MRI on my hand tomorrow. So I'll be gone again. I will do my best to write before my surgery on June 1st. 

Out of Office

Margaret(peg) is down for the count.  I'll let her share the excitement of this event when she is feeling better.

You know she's not feeling well when Ms. Control asks for help here at her blog. Lol

Rick

Off into The Wild

Venturing out for a hair dryer today.

I don't have wash and wear my hair. It's not long so I can't put it in a ponytail.

So holding a blow dryer in my left hand while I use a round brush with my right hand. Ooh, can't do that now. How long can I wear a ball cap?

I order a Revlon Volumizing hair dryer 2.0. 

They sent me the original. Not the 2.0. 

The barrel is too big on the original for my hair. So I had to return it.

So I am going to venture into a store on a crowded Saturday. I need to blow dry my hair so I can look presentable. Of course, I go when Rick feels like it because he is my chauffeur. Wish me luck.

Gazebo and deck are not finished, close enough. Where you see bare spots it means some things will be going there, but good enough to use, and by God, we did last nite! Yes, I'm not a fan of that blue either!!

Thursday

I was asked about my hand again. Last time I'm telling it I promise.

They say it's a scaphoid lunate sprain. 

This does not feel like a sprain. These 2 ligaments (Scaphoid and lunate)

hold your wrist in place. Two of the wrist bones are far apart and they shouldn't be far apart. Wearing the cast/brace is pulling them together. This occurs typically from a fall or old folks over 80. I am not 80 and I did not fall. Then the ortho asked me about being on steroids. Why yes I was. oh goodie, something else damaging they do to one's body. I can't catch a break it seems.  The pain is like nothing I have experienced before. My left side has never had this much use. My broken ankle did not hurt like this. weird.

We sold Rick's big van on Monday. I had to sign all this paperwork. 

I did the best I could but within an hour my hand had a heartbeat and was swelling up again. now I can no longer use my fingers. I set myself back about two weeks. I know what you're thinking. sign with your left hand. Sure gave that the ole college try. I kept dropping the pen. The man here from Carmax finally said, "Can't you just do the best you can with your right hand?" It was obvious he did not give a rats ass about any kind of injury I may have, he just wanted his damn signed papers--STAT. 

I don't blame him one bit.

My dad used to tell us, kids, that the reason he was ambidextrous was that the nuns would slap his knuckles with a ruler when he used his left hand. So it was nothing for him to easily slip from one hand to the other over time. I wish I had that ability right now!

This, with all the errors took me forever.

Conversations

 I am still typing with one hand. It takes so long to type a sentence.

Hence, the lack of posts.

Here are a couple of crazy conversations in our house this past week.

There was a woman on The Price Is Right and you could barely see her face over her podium.

I said, "Wow, that woman is really short"

Rick: " You are that short! (laughs)"

Me: "Really?" (I was serious)

Rick: "Do you see yourself as taller?"

Me: "Yes I do."

Rick: "That's okay I see myself as skinnier."

We were watching a movie with mounds of snow. 

Rick said, "I remember when you'd come to town when you lived in Ohio. You'd stop by my house to leave me a note that you were in town and at your parent's house. I'd come home from work and see a pointed toe and a dot for a high heel in the snow on my steps and porch. I knew that was from your boots and I'd get butterflies."

Aw (I heard the bloggers go aww)

I said, "And now?"

"Hmm, More like moths."

I threw the remote at him. But damn that was funny to me.

Gazebo

We had 2 boxes for the gazebo.

The first one we opened seemed to have everything but the metal top.

We just left that for when we got to that step.

We began with the directions. We were both sitting on the floor of the deck.

We are reading this together and we stopped and looked at one another at the same time and burst out laughing. While even though we were reading this to ourselves, we obviously read that last line at the same time.

YOU WILL NEED 4-5 PEOPLE TO ASSEMBLE THE GAZEBO. 

4 to 5 people? We don't know 4 to 5 people here. Well at least not well enough to have them come over to help us.  

I matched all the pieces up with the type of screws they needed.

I had everything laid out for him as well as keeping him feed and hydrated. I read the directions and got the parts that were needed for the next step. He claimed this was helpful, especially when he was on the ladder. He didn't have to get down to fetch another piece. It made me happy to do something.

It only took 3 days. This was a beast and he did it all alone. (10x13) 

He began early though and never stopped before 5:30p. The only thing left is the screening and the drapes. It's raining now so it will be another day.

But when we got the 2nd box open the frame was now up. It was the roofing as we assumed. But it was not metal. The roof was to be metal, not polycarbonate.  I have an email to the company. We are not taking it down after all this. Can they switch the tops out? If not, refund me because this is cheaper. We shall see.

I have to share what I heard today.

I came inside to make Rick something for lunch.

The back door is open in the kitchen so I can hear him on the deck as I make him a burger.

This happened once about 20 yrs ago when he was doing crown molding in another room. Rick isn't a swearer, that is me with the fool mouth. 

Similar to that day long ago, I hear something fall and I hear, "Shit!"

A minute or so later I hear, "Damn it!"

Then some pounding and "Son.of.a.bitch!"

"Mother Fucker!"

I'm laughing now. 

Do I dare go out and ask if everything is okay?  He's gonna be cranky.  

I finish his lunch and bring it to the patio table.  

I asked, "Running into issues?"  And off he went...

It doesn't matter what they were, I was just highly entertained by his swearing fit of frustration! Bad Wife. 😉

Planting Season

Mr. Green Jeans got the back 40 planted on Friday and then it poured for 2 days. 

It was perfect

I did little except spread mulch. Can't rake so did it with my good hand. It's high I kept telling Rick but he insists his walking on it will pound it down. Okay then. My work is done.

Rick power-washed the old deck Friday. It is in good shape but the wood looks bad in comparison to the new one. Next year I think we'll take out those boards and replace but in the meantime Rugs help. 

Everything I do normally I can't right now. Powerwash, lay landscaping paper, mulch, plant flowers etc. Those are my jobs. I hate this so much.

My fingers are moving without pain if I just move them and don't grip. I can't grip yet. I made a huge boo-boo yesterday and moved my wrist and I let out a scream that startled me. I can't believe I could move it in this brace but I did and I won't do that again. It is nowhere near healed yet!! That set me back a week.

Rick is out there seeding the area we had removed. They wanted $600 to do that and we said for $200 we could do it ourselves and that is buying a seeder.  Just paid off the lowes charge so my husband decided to use it I guess. :-)

The gazebo arrived today while Rick is busy seeding. I think that will be tackled tomorrow. How many days do you think?  LOL

The Fed Ex man brought them to our back deck, and I thanked him. 

I asked if he wanted to stay to help us put it together. 

He looked at the two boxes and said, "I think this is going to be difficult." 

I said, "I think so too, can I bribe you?" 

He asked if I cooked. OMG, that struck me as so damn funny.

I laughed and said, "Sort of, and my husband is a great cook." 

He said, "Hmmm as tempting as dinner is I think I'll pass." 

I said, "Okay I see how you are, no more water and treats for you!" (told you we leave them drinks and kind bars, etc in a cooler for them on our porch) 

He laughed all the way to the truck and yelled thank you as he held up his kind bar.

Tomorrow it will be another nice day then 3 days of rain. So we would really like to get this put up in 1 day. I laugh as I type this expectation. It didn't take us long when we put up the one at our old home. We shall see. 

We're retired, we've got time.

Speaking of things I can't do with this damn wrist - I can't press my deodorant can to get the spray out with my right hand. 

I tried with my left for my left armpit, but I am not a contortionist. So I asked Rick to do it. He picked up my bottle of deodorant and began to spray under my arm like he was spray painting. The short sprays you know? OMG, I was howling and said, "You aren't spray painting my pits, just spray it all around" 

For some reason he couldn't and we had another gigglefest with that one.

A Ramblin' Rosé

Without my right hand being able to function things are getting done slowly.
Very slowly for impatient me. If I had my right arm all power washing would be done. The deck would be done except for the gazebo. Aargh! I am a very impatient person. I've tried to correct this but even if not saying anything about it I am filled with anxiety inside. So while Rick thinks I'm handling it well I'm telling you I am not! Inside I'm a mess.

It took Rick 4 days to build the deck.

It took Rick 4 days to put together a sofa for the deck.

That made us laugh. He wasn't building it for Pete's sake,  just assembling it. Too funny.

I got a small sectional sofa that was on sale on Amazon. 

We could not agree on the color of the cushions. I know I could have gotten my way BUT this guy just built the deck and he has spent a year being an awesome, albeit, somewhat overbearing caregiver. 😍 I let him have the awful turquoise he thought was lovely. I loathe it!  I'll make it work... in time.

On Funday Monday we finished the sofa. I say WE as in I handed him things. That's what a person with one hand does. I also fetched. :-)

He did this in the garage so no small pieces went down the cracks of the deck. I suggested a drop cloth along with the rug but he said the garage was far cooler than the hot sun as well. With no gazebo yet the hot sun was beating down on him. He's doing it alone for the most part, so wherever he wishes is fine with me. But now he had to carry all the pieces of the sectional to the deck. I can't lift so he was on his own again. Poor guy.

After we got it onto the deck we sat for a minute. Rick was happy. 

We joked about how long it took to put together. 

The reviews said 1 hour to put together. One reviewer said 1 hour if 2 people are working on it. Okay, it was just Rick so 2 hrs? Not even close and that's why we found this so funny. I told him it would have been faster for him to build the sectional. 

Monday was a cooler day and it is what is called at my house and in my family as a Peggy Day. It was not humid, it was in the low 70s and there was a delightful breeze. (God, please give me this weather at least until June, I'll be good!!)

We sat for a moment on our new cushions and Rick said, " Know what it feels like? It feels like happy hour to me!"

I said, "It's barely 1pm." Ha that never stopped me he proclaims.

He laughs and goes into our home. He comes out with 2 outdoor glasses and a bottle of rosé along with some cheese and meats, etc. He made a charcuterie board and it made me giggle. 

Now I have not really had but 2 glasses of wine in 13 months but boy that rosé looked great. (my fave - whispering angel) At our home we call this rosé, Peggy's summer water.

So, Peg, had two glasses & Peg had a great nap outside on her new sofa. 😁

Rick had a Monday fun day nap outside with me. In the middle of the day - I'm getting the hang of this retirement thing!!!

A car went by honking its horn for a full block. That woke us.

We laughed and we went inside. It was now after 5:30p.

No need for dinner we had eaten all the charcuterie board he made up.

The best part of retirement is spontaneous napping I've decided!

Rick is busy building planter boxes for me as I type this.

Hey, I didn't even ask - he suggested it. I wasn't going to say no to that.

The old ones in our old home stayed there, the new owners begged for me to leave all the patio furniture but they were not willing to pay for it so we took the furniture and left them the flower boxes and the gazebo because it was screwed into the Trex deck. 

I enjoy the weather here a great deal. (not much else so far)  February thru May are perfect for me. Summer is my least favorite season here, hot as hell and humid as the Caribbean. Spring, fall, and winter are perfect. 

Everyone tells me San Deigo is the place for Peggy Day Temps. Well I know I've been there and while lovely I don't want the same weather every day. I mean it's like groundhog day. I like a cool rainy day. I prefer 4 seasons, even though the winter ones here are mild it's perfect.

I can't have it all and I'm not moving to San Deigo, so this is the next best thing. Well...

And who made that stupid rule that I can't have it all? I don't like them or their stinkin' rules!!!

Frontier Lady

If you watch the Food Network you know who the Pioneer Woman is.

I sometimes watch but on mute.

I do not care for her. Go ahead, watch her first season - she has a different voice. 

Not the shrill she has now. Can someone explain to me how that happens?

I also remember her saying she was a city girl who lived in NYC and she met a cowboy so she moved west. She talked about what a transition this was. Oh you know, the city girl a fish out of water (like me here!) Fancy clothes and great nightlife to a ranch in the middle of Oklahoma. Yeah, not buying it. 

This woman is a city girl from NYC as much as I am flat-chested and tall!! 

That can't be 100% true or the way it happened. I'd say that either all the articles and interviews got it wrong or someone is fibbing. Maybe a little of both. Hmm....

Anyway...

Rick says to me the other day, "I saw the Frontier Lady and she made a soup that looked really good that I want to try." 

I asked,"The Frontier Lady?"  

"Yes, isn't that the name of her show? The lady that annoys the shit out of you."

"Oh, Oh, that's Pioneer Woman Rick." 

I laughed at his 'frontier lady', hey he was close. 

"Yes, her with the shrill voice and plastered fake smile."

"Yep, that's the one who annoys me. What kind of soup?"

So off he went detailing the ingredients of this Mexican soup.

It did sound good & I am certain he will make it & I am even more certain I will love it. 

I don't care as long as I don't have to listen to her I'm fine with just her recipes. 

It's Tuesday, Are you Naked?

This was our little deck between our home and the garage.

The steps you see to the right just went down into our yard. 

We thought it was wasted space.

The 2nd pic is from the backside where the steps went down to the yard.

The holes you see are the cement thingys. That is the professional term, I swear.

Yes, his pants kept falling down. He had on a belt. I don't know the issue, but he didn't wear those jeans the next day! This was going on when I walked out there. I asked if he was sucking his gut in for me. That gave him a laugh,

As you can see the old deck needs to be power washed. 

Believe it or not, it's in great shape and put in just before we moved here. 

So 3 yrs ago roughly. 

After power washed, cleaning, and sealed, along with the area rugs it should be okay.

Those posts are for the fence that will be going up. That wood is cedar though.

I can sit on my patio in my birthday suit now without anyone seeing me. 

Not that I would, but I can now.

Rick loved the storm. It rained nonstop on Friday and he was happy for the break.

Now comes the fun part -- dressing her up. 

 --

I LOVE power washing and I couldn't wait until he was finished so I could power wash the old deck and seal them both. but now I can't damn it. 

I got my brace on Monday and for the first time, I was given pain meds.

My wrist is not broken. According to my doctor, I'd be in far less pain if it were broken. 

It is the Scapholunate ligament. It's the main stabilizer of the scapholunate joint, or wrist.  Per Google, this joint is between two of the small bones in the wrist. the scaphoid and the lunate bones. Normally, these two bones are held closely together by the ligament and move seamlessly together. They took x-rays of both my hands to compare. My right is the one showing how far apart those two bones are. Thankfully my left wrist is how it should be.

Because they see this they don't think it's a ligament tear but a very bad sprain.

I told them that a sprain sounds so light and nice compared to the pain I am experiencing. My hand is bruised and colorful, swollen, and very weak and when I take off this cast or brace the pain is horrific, so no taking that off again for a few days. I put a plastic bag over it to shower.

They say in time and with this immobilized it will go back together. We shall see.

The first thing I was asked was if I was taking steroids like prednisone. 

So I shared the ugly story of chemo and high-dosage steroids. He shook his head and on we went. how many things is that now from steroids and chemo, 3 so far.

Now you ask, how the hell did you do that? Damn good question.

I do not know how this happened.

Thursday is when the pain started. 

My Thursday went something like this.  

Rick had a few 10ft boards that I was walking over each time id go to the garage to put another coat of paint on the 2nd storm door. The 3rd time I decided to slide them over to him to get them out of my way before I tripped or something. 

I picked up 2 boards. 

The 3rd one hurt my hand and I dropped it and said, "Nope, I'm using my girl card cuz that hurt and those are heavy."

Rick laughed and I continued to work in the garage. 

At dinner time my wrist hurt but no big deal. As the evening progressed so did my pain and swelling. The pain made it difficult to sleep.  

That night in our king-size bed Rick rolled over my hand and I let out a squeal. Now what is odd to me about this is that once Rick is in his corner as he calls it, this big bed is empty in the middle so I lay out my arm straight across because for some reason it feels better like this until he rolled over it. Now I was awake, ooh, really awake because my wrist has a heartbeat all its own now. But everything I did was harmless so I didn't understand what the hell happened.

By morning Rick is convinced it's broken. Urgent care here is by appointment which I find silly. I couldn't get in and I was damn sure I was not going back to the ER!! I said I'd wait until after the holiday. I had an appt for urgent care that only deals with ortho. I figured if I had to wait I might as well see an orthopedic because that's what I needed.

I have to stay in this brace for a minimum of 4 weeks. Then I go back to see him and where I am.  I'll tell you where I am. 

I'm in ugly and pain Hell. 

I couldn't file my nail that had ripped. 

Rick said, Let me help. Oh boy. He filed it so short that I made him cut all my nails so it didn't look so stupid. It feels weird.

I can't blow dry my hair without the right hand to hold the brush or dryer. I'm tired of scarves and ball caps

I can no longer get dressed or undressed alone.

And just like Jean said in a comment yesterday, if one is right-handed, wiping with your left hand is awful as well as awfully difficult.

Today I asked for help taking off my long sleeve t-shirt and bra so I could shower. I grabbed my clothes to head to the shower when he pants me and proclaimed, IT'S NAKED TUESDAY.

My God, he's tenacious, and that makes me laugh. 

Geez, he really wants a naked Tuesday. I told him to go for it I don't have to partake. He insists I do. 

Not today buddy, besides, I wouldn't be naked with a big black brace on my arm.

I know, I know, if I'm naked he doesn't see my arms anyway. 

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

 Picture of right hand.

Swollen much? This doesn't even look like a hand. Where are my knuckles? 

The hits just keep coming. What terrible thing have I done to have all this fun and pain? 

I'm right-handed, so Rick tried blow drying my hair for me. Oh my. 

I threw on a baseball cap.😕 4 weeks.

Can't type. Moving my phone for my one finger on rt hand to do this. 

I will have to figure something out.

The deck is done in good news. Pics to follow. 

I'll be back when I figure out how to do this in an easier way.

Slow Day

This morning our big posts arrived from Lowes. 

Rick can now finish the deck and fence. 

Lowes no longer does residential deliveries, they outsource them. 

The company who delivers for Lowes has been difficult but the man who delivers is the BEST!

He arrived today and I had just made coffee and offered him some. 

He said, "really? man thanks." I have some promotional travel mugs from my corporate job many years ago. I gave it to him in that. He kept asking if he could really keep this. I told him I had more so don't worry.

I brought out the cream and sugar to the porch and he mixed it his way. 

He kept thanking me as if I had given him money.

Rick was eating some berries and he offered him some. 

He said, "gee what are you guys doing at lunchtime?" 

That made us all chuckle.

This man said, "what the hell is wrong with my company? When I went back to the shop I told him what was delivered and I also took photos if you recall."  Rick did indeed recall. 

The delivery man then asked the dispatch, "why wouldn't you just put this on someone's truck and drive it out to him?"  Boy oh boy was he livid. 

He kept apologizing to us. Rick told him it wasn't his fault, but he very much appreciated his help. Today when loading his truck they put the whole order on again. He told them, NO, just the 9 4x4 posts. They fought with him about this he told Rick.

I said to Rick if they had delivered the whole order again you could build me some flower boxes etc. He laughed and said, "Oh thank God they didn't"

Damn.

I started painting this morning the storm door. It is currently white. 

The front door is black as are the shutters and accents. This white storm door has bothered me since moving here. So Rick took it off and I sprayed one side and it is drying. My goodness, it took me more time to tape off the handles that wouldn't come off and the bottom silver piece. Seriously I was laughing because it was taking so long to just do the taping. I sanded, cleaned it down, and then began to spray. It looks great and I think it should be dry by now so I can turn it over and do the other side.

So I leave you with some memes.

Remember when President Kennedy was Catholic and how it got everyone's panties in a twist. Yeah, now anything goes apparently.

I don't accomplish this all on the same day all the time. Sometimes the folded things sit on the dryer for a few days. Talk about laziness. 

This is retirement's fault.

I was never like this before retirement. Weird.

I may need to have this after I hear about the 34 counts he has been indicted for, or if you are the orange bastard then you say and write, indicated instead. 

He never stops showing his stupidity, does he? Lying and stupidity are his calling card.

I wish this were true but sadly until they shave his head and he is wearing orange I don't believe WE will be saved. He falls into shit all the time and lies and pays his way out of it. 

I am not sure how parents can send their children to school. I don't have children but if I did I know I would want to find an alternative solution. I can't fathom sending them off and not sure if they will return. I don't know how you do it. If your child is too scared to go back to school then what? Frightening.

To me, this below is all kinds of stupid and scary. Men.

Rick did something similar on this deck stuff. I said why wouldn't you want to put this board here so you can walk out easily instead of having to jump hurdles? He laughed and said, Oh good idea. 

Honestly, if there is a longer route to take somewhere or a more difficult way of doing something 

Rick will always choose the longer route and the difficult way because he thinks he thinks it through but he never does. Silly boy. 

Then I share another way and he laughs heartily.

He does amuse me.

Family Tree

I have a 3rd cousin I hardly know who contacted me for some photos because he is putting together an ancestry family tree. He showed me two pictures of what he said was my mom. They were not my mom.

He swore they were. Finally I told him I would know her more than you right? That is not my mom's face whether 12 or 40 it was not her. She had a long face and she was thin and short. This is a person who was very large tall, heavyset, and has a round face. 

So I sent him some photos and he said he showed them to his dying father and I was right. I mean c'mon. I was right? If you showed me a photo of your mother I wouldn't know her but you would. I couldn't believe he didn't believe me. Then my next thought was why ask me to do this then if I don't know my own mother I could be giving you pictures of anyone willy-nilly. Weird right?

Anyhoo, I dug out the old photo albums.  Who knew this was going to turn into a fun afternoon with piles of photos and Rick and me on the floor going through them all. Laughing, sharing, making fun, and just darn right giggles over hair and clothes back in the day.

I so wish I knew who some of these people were and the years. 

Some pictures have info on the back. 

I loved when they did that. 

Even if nothing more than a date it was helpful. 

I saw one with the date and looked at the front of it again. 

It was of my mom. I wondered about her age, she was dressed so stylishly with her nails painted red (black and white photo but you can tell) and the jewelry and that favorite black onyx ring. I turned it over and it said the year was 1945. She was all of 21 years old. Don't you just wish you knew them before they were moms? I'd love to talk to this young person in the photos.

I also found my mom's engagement announcement in the paper in her photo album. It was pasted on there so I couldn't get it on my computer to scan it for you. What a hoot. The verbiage in this announcement would never be used today. They made her out as a spinster who was finally getting married, the poor thing. My God, she was only 26 on the date of the announcement. 27 when she got married.  She used to tell me they called her an old maid because she hadn't married yet or had children. Apparently, at that time all her friends had done both. 26 years old to me is too young to get married but it was a different time and these articles in the paper sure prove it.

There was also an autographed picture of some guy named Phil Brito. 

I, of course, never heard of him. I googled him to see why she had this. 

He was a singer in the 40s. I listened to a song they said was very popular - it was horrendous to me. I suppose that would be like my Grace Slick autograph when she was stuck in an airport and I was given out vouchers for free meals. HA.HA. I never asked for an autograph before or after so to this day I do not know why I asked her. And no, I no longer have it.

 

Digging through the pictures I found this photo of my Aunt Eleanor and my Mom. Aunt Eleanor is her youngest sibling. 

I was happy to show him who they really were.

This is them in their very early 20s. 

I love that those dresses are in style again but my mom needs to unbutton the top 1 or 2 buttons.  My mom is the one wearing the sunglasses.

My Dad got married at 23 or 24 and my goodness he looks like a baby in grown-up clothes. He also was always holding or smoking a cigarette as was my mom in most photos. Everyone was. 

It was such fun to sit and look at these pictures. 

My parents in their 20s slay me. They look so young and yet so much older than a 20-something of today. Rick and I were sitting on the floor going back and forth handing pictures and laughing. At one point I said to him, "from the looks of things I got my mom's boobs and my dad's waistline and that's just not right"

Well, he laughed his ass off at my comment. It wasn't meant to be funny I told him it just seems to be a sad fact. He was quiet for a minute and said "Hey, at least you didn't get either one of their noses and for that you should be thankful."

Point taken! You're correct on that one.