Last night before APRIL

Another relatively early finish to my work :)  My hubby may get spoiled with my presence.  Ha!

Another gorgeous beautiful sunny (for the most part) day today.  I sat out on the back porch while eating my lunch.  I loved being able to sit out there once more with no jacket or sweater needed.

The last few nights Kaci has been sleeping between my legs and really messing with my quality sleep time. I roll over a lot and every time I did I had to be careful and then my back would cramp up.  She used to start out on the bed then get off and stay down in her bed the rest of the night but not recently. Ugh.  I woke up really tired today. Maybe many folks usually do but not me.  I did not like it and was pretty tough to get my exercise done.

I really hope she gets down from the bed tonight. Well off to go watch TV with hubby~

Good Monday!

Today was a good Monday!  Why?  Because it was, actually still is beautiful out. There is a bird singing "Diamond Girl" outside over and over.  LOL.  Hubby put out fresh hummingbird nectar as I saw them buzzing around the feeder looking for food. He also put more of the regular bird food out today. Come and feast little birdies!  Spring is defintely here!  When I got back from my walk after work I was actually really sweating! :)  I don't mind.

And I only worked 8 hours today.  Wow, I forgot how much more time is left to the day when you stop working after 8 hours. :)   I am so thrilled it is only 7:30PM, and still light out.  Life is good!

I am hoping we can get another bathroom done in the next month or so and hoping we can use the same guys we used before. They did a good job for a decent price. I'll be sure to post progress and pictures when we get it going.

Sunday Sunset...

I'm sitting here with the window open (to the back yard), I'm still in the office as I just stopped working for the night..early for me.. :-)

It is a balmy 81 degrees out. Ahhh now This is the Texas I moved to. :) We took some cashews over to dad for his birthday. There really isn't much that we can get him that he really wants other than his health which will need to be a gradual thing. He did say he felt better the last couple days than he ever has, so that is a good thing.  I have no clue how much he is drinking or eating but I can say that he ate his whole piece of (small piece) cake that we bought for his birthday. So that's a good thing. He has been able to handle his urine bag all by himself so that is nice.  

Next weekend is Easter and April is in a few days already!  That was fast!  Looking forward to seeing the youngest at the end of this week! 

The Nest is REALLY Empty

We just go back from grabbing a burger at one of the best places to get a burger in a little town called Weir, TX.  Anyway, hubby saw that a big nest that was in one of our trees was on the ground in huge clumps. Hubby thinks it was an owls nest. Then as he was getting out of his truck he thought he saw something on the ground, like a dead bird. 

We both ran over to the clumps and then we both laughed! I ran and got my camera. They had used one of my gardening gloves in their nest! :)  Glad I could lend a hand...well a glove!  It is perfectly fine too and I hadn't missed it since I hadn't done any gardening lately.  Just so funny!!  I have heard of birds using anything for their nests but this was really something !

There is also a new nest on top of the spot lights above the garage door. They just pick the most unusual places sometimes!   I would think it would just slide off of the light!

T G I F

Happy Birthday to my dad who turned 89 today!  And he also got his driver's license renewed. So he's allowed behind the wheel for another two years.  ;-)

Keeping this short!  Safe trip you know who!!! :)))

Really short one

I don't have much to say this evening but I didn't want to forget to write.  Tomorrow is Friday.. Yippee!  We had a lot of wind and some rain last night. It got down in the 50's too so wasn't really expecting that.  It is suppose to get into the 40's tonight but then get warmer again. Definitely pulling up the comforter tonight!

Until tomorrow.

Couldn't sleep

Very easily last night. Maybe it was because I didn't have to go to my dad's and help him out. I think what it really was, was Spring Fever. I was so elated that we were able to have the windows open and let a nice breeze come in. No heavy comforter was needed and I could turn from side to side much more easily too without maneuvering through sheets and blankets and comforter.

That being said though, I just finished working and want to maybe head to bed a little early this evening- because I CAN! :)  Tomorrow is friday eve'  Woo hoo!!

Oh JOY!!

Okay I'm on my lunch break and decided to blog now so that I don't forget later, like I did yesterday.

The subject line of this blog is me skipping with JOY!  I don't have to go over and use a catheter on my dad 3 times a day anymore!  That is the good news.  They fit him with a bag that can be drained when it is full which he should be able to do on his own (I really hope)!

But there is not so great news too.  His levels have declined again. Bottom line, he still has an infection which they gave him more meds for and part of the reason is that he is just not drinking enough water. He also is still really thin and my hubby who took him to his appointment today told me that the nurse flat out told him he has to drink a lot MORE water and eat more too. "You are skin and bones." I think were her words.  These facts are all too evident to me.  I can tell him over and over to drink more water and eat more but he is only going to do what he wants to do.It goes in one ear and out the other.

They cannot even talk about any possible procedures until his infection goes away and his prostrate gets smaller too (that has enlarged as well due to the infection). 

I don't know if it is just my father, and mother as a matter of fact, or if it is just older people in general. They just don't want to do what is needed to do.  When given a free meal, if they don't really like it, they say so.  Instead of being grateful, it is "Well it was pretty bland", not realizing that it may just be their taste buds as they are so used to eating so many sweets. The meal I took over Sunday, hubby and I thought was quite tasty although I did add a little salt/pepper.  My folks didn't care for it all that much.  I hope that in my 'old lady' years..that I remember to be appreciative of everything that is done for me.

Nice day

The day started out damp and cleared up and got up to the low 70's!  When I was coming back from helping my dad this afternoon there was something that was making me squint. It was a little familiar but it took me a few moments to figure out what it was.  The SUN was actually in my eyes. First time in what seems like weeks!  LOL

I took dinner over to the folks again this evening too. I took over some meatloaf/potatoes that I made in the crock pot last Sunday and they enjoyed it so much, I asked them if they'd like me to make a crock pot meal once a week (most likely Sundays) and share it with them. I make plenty when I use the crock pot and today I made chicken with stuffing and green beans (you layer it). It was really good and it filled the crock pot to the brim. I had enough to freeze for us to have as another dinner sometime too.

Well tomorrow comes another Monday!  Going to go spend time with hubby.

Short one

Okay, don't have my glasses on so this is going to be short!  Was shutting down for the eve' and realized hadn't blogged. It was rainy today so it was sort of a lazy day. Laundry, dishes, and Robin Hood (with Russell Crowe). :)

Sorry if any typos. Nite!!

Did I surprise YA?

By not blogging yesterday?  Oh no, I disappointed you? Sorry!

Hey I was just watching something on the news last night about wine and arsenic.  So now there apparently is a certain level of 'unsafe'? arsenic in wines. Luckily for me they are mostly involved with white or blush wines and I usually drink Merlot. Although they did mention occurring more so in the 'cheap' wines which I do partake of.  Hey Walgreens has a brand that tastes just as good to me as any high dollar priced wine I've had. 

Since we're on the topic of arsenic..I actually don't know why ANY levels are arsenic are safe but apparently it is unavoidable anyway as it can be just about everywhere.

Arsenic can be found in the ground, in some things we eat and yes even our water we drink.  Remember the ol' drink 8 glasses of water a day?  So do I increase my arsenic levels by that much if I drink that much water?  I also read 'online' that beer contains arsenic too. DAMN!  Well that's it. I'm not going to stop drinking because now the scale seems tilted more to the "BAD" side than the HELPFUL side of drinking wine (and beer and Kahlua or whatever else I like to have sometimes).

I just have to hope my body can continue to filter through and eliminate any poisons via sweating and/ or bodily functions that occur.

Sorry to say the youngest will not be visiting this weekend. Her fur kid is sick. Hope she'll be fine and just has some stomach bug.  We'll be seeing her in a few weeks instead.  Oh well I'm still planning on relaxing some this weekend because I deserve it!  Maybe I can introduce myself to my hubby again!

Fast Hump Day

Wednesday sort of snuck up on me.  I got my walk in today and also on Monday. It feels good to walk again! When I stepped out with Merlin today the sky directly above me was a beautiful blue with a few white clouds. But looking behind it, there were some dark gray clouds rolling in.  I went for my regular walk anyway but was hoping that it would not start raining. Merlin and I made it through without a drop on us. I did work up a little sweat which was strange to me as I haven't worked up a sweat in months! LOL!

I didn't have to work real late tonight either.  I feel like I'm on vacation.  It will be short lived I'm sure as I can tell I've got a lot of work to do tomorrow. Too bad Nashville isn't on today. I was looking forward to it. I wish they'd have more singing on there though. 

We're expecting rain for the next 4 days on and off.  At least it is finally warm out.  So I'll try not to complain about the rain. :)

Getting better

I know my dad is getting better, at least mentally that is. Know how I know?  He is talking STOCKS!  He loves to play the market and talked to me last night and this morning actually about this stock going up and that one going down. He talked about how it was good that he got out of that stock when it was still dropping and had more to go. :)

That is so much better than ...what day is it? :))

I have been working tons as we had a contest at work and our team won!  Woo hoo! I'm not going into huge details but it does make me feel good sometimes that all my hard work does occasionally get some recognition!  I'm even done work for the day and it is still daylight outside :)

I can't wait for the youngest to come visit this weekend. It has been since Christmas holiday! That is way too long, especially since I never see the older one, hardly ever. Maybe she, hubby and fur kid will come visit us this year sometime.  It would be great having her visit again!

Well I am actually going to go relax with hubby. I know. Shocker right?! Maybe even get a little TV in.

Sunday 'eve

Keeping this short. It is bedtime. :-)

Got a lot accomplished this weekend and I'm in a good spot to not have to work late tomorrow night. Woo hoo!  I am definitely getting my walk in tomorrow. There is not much new to write about so until tomorrow...

Oh well

When my head hit the pillow last night I suddenly thought Damn! Didn't blog. I was not about to get up and fire up my computer again just to post a blog that only a handful of people read anyway. Not that I am not grateful for those handful of people, but then I remembered I did post a sentence about forgetting the day before. Technically then I did post yesterday.

Thought I'd write a little this morning before my day goes by. My dad has a consultation with a VA urologist on the 24th about a procedure that may enable him to go on his own again.  I hope if he has the procedure, that it works, not only for his sake but for mine.  There have been a few times I would have liked to sleep in a little more or gone to bed before 10:30.

Yesterday was the first day it was really nice and spring-like outside. It was a day when I could really feel the warmth of the sun and when I got into my car to go help dad mid afternoon I actually had to roll down my window because it was overly warm in there. Fine with me.  Bring on the heat!  It will probably get hot really quickly now that March is half over already.  The freezing days and nights should be done until next winter by this point I HOPE!

Forgot..

Okay so I forgot to blog yesterday, it happens.  Will blog later on..

Did not get my walk in today. Poo!  That makes two walk days in a row.  Well Monday the weather was sucky with rain and cold.  Today although it was cloudy all day I could have gone but we were waiting for a call from our dog groomers letting us know they were done with the 5 dogs.  So I decided not to go.  It is just as well, with running to dogs to the groomers and my going over to help my dad, my day was not going all that smoothly.

It is 55 right now so that isn't bad for 10:30PM.  Well keeping this short tonight. Tomorrow is another day and already Friday 'eve.! :)

Finally..

stopped raining and got I think up to 60 degrees maybe today. So it felt a little bit more like spring. It is suppose to get up to 75 degrees by Friday.  I sure hope so. That would be really nice!

I was in an extremely bad mood yesterday because I was so tired. Today I am back to normal and hubby is in a bad mood.  He has had neck/shoulder issues for a long time and apparently the last 3 weeks has also had migraine headaches which he just complained about tonight along with everything else that could possibly be complained about.  I get it.  I let him vent. But he is the only one who can help himself feel better.  Luckily he doesn't complain about how much I work lately, but it is what pays the bills. I asked him if he wanted to try seeing a doctor again but he is against doctors since they didn't resolve his issue the last time he tried to get it diagnosed and taken care of . They did a few x-rays and I think a CT scan and was inconclusive. They wanted to do an MRI and he just said forget it. He thinks it is just a big rip off.  I don't really disagree, I just wish he didn't feel so bad all the time.  That is bound to make anyone snap once in a while.

Hopefully tomorrow he'll be in a better mood!

Rainy days and Mondays..

I decided to write during my lunch hour (well I take 1/2 hour) so that I can actually say more than Hi and Goodnight. :)

My dad is still hanging in there although he is still pretty weak/frail (as opposed to how he was prior to his getting sick). I'm hoping he will drink up the Ensure that hubby got for him and that it will work like spinach did for Popeye!  He's on meds now too for the UTI infection he has. So his body is going through a lot. Poor guy. He's hanging in though as I said.  He's still not going #1 on his own and that bothers him, no surprise there.  But hopefully he will.

He will be 89 on the 27th of this month. I have to keep reminding myself that fact when I wish his transition back to his old self would happen more quickly!  I also have to get used to the idea that this may be as good as he gets. Hope not but after another couple months, if there is no improvement I may have to talk to the siblings about the dreaded 'assisted living' idea.  My mom is already frail and cannot do much on her own, so if dad doesn't get better I don't see how they can keep living 'independently' in their home. They have had assistance from a local company called Visiting Angels who help by making meals, doing dishes, grocery shopping, etc. Apparently though they hire anyone even if they don't know how to cook. If my dad basically has to walk them through the entire procedure, why bother? One even burned their table cloth on their kitchen table. Granted it is a plastic type cover so it wasn't directly on wood, but burned the entire top layer of plastic off by setting a hot (off the stove) pan right on the table.  What?!!  The first thing caregivers should be taught is to treat everyone's house like their own. Would they really put a hot pan on their table without a potholder or trivet first? Seriously?  Then I'd hate to be in their house!

Granted my folks like things done the way THEY want them done, but it really wouldn't be that hard to accommodate them, after all they are providing a service to my parents or at least are suppose to be. 

I was going over and helping with meals on top of helping my dad catheter but that was wearing me down too, so I couldn't do it and still maintain the hours I work, take care of the 5 dogs and oh yes....say hi to my hubby every once in a while.

Well I have to get back to work. Oh yah...it is rainy today.. all day so far!!

Almost bit off more than

I could chew this weekend with work. But I'm done, I'm beat..my body isn't used to time change. Headed to bed :)

Fast Food, Fast Calories!

In an attempt to get my folks, especially my dad to eat MORE, I suggested they try to eat fast food more often, at least once a week, if not more.  Nothing packs calories like fast food. :-)  My dad really needs to try to put on more weight as he got very thin when he was sick and doesn't weigh a whole lot more than I do at this point.

Tonight's dinner for them was Dairy Queen!  :-)  I stayed to help clean up after dinner (but mostly to watch how much they ate). Dad ate everything on his plate and my mom did not too bad. She has eaten lightly for at least a few years now but my dad was not a light eater, especially at dinnertime.  He's my main concern right now for weight gain.

I also recommended they eat snacks, in the afternoon and in the evening after diner so that maybe that will add more caloric intake, more food, and more energy and more weight!  I'm no nutritionist but I can see with my eyes that more weight is needed to get more strength.  And I know fast food is not the healthiest, but I am just thinking of things with high calories for now. Hubby is also going to get dad some Ensure tomorrow to have for snacks or whenever. 

All this talk about food is making me hungry so I better end this blog now. It is 10:15PM and too late for me to eat anything (without getting a belly ache).  :-)

Finally Friday

Yah!  It is Friday!  We had our pizza and beer, it was sunny today and inched up into the 50's outside and it was a decent day out. I got new sneakers yesterday at DSW (got a post card for a free tote and yoga mat with a purchase of I think $20) so that was a nice gift just for getting new sneakers that I needed anyway. Hubby got a new pair too and I got a new pair of casual shoes. I generally wear sneakers all the time but I like other shoes I can just slip on and not 'tie up'.  Plus I'd like to keep my sneakers from wearing out sooner (from wearing them as street shoes too).  I wore my new sneakers on my walk today and it was wonderful!  I didn't think I'd feel that big a difference but I did! 

Well here's to hearing my hubby a lot LESS yelling at the dogs for scratching at the door to the kitchen.  Hubby installed put a doggy door in it!  Now they can come in and out to my office/garage without scratching at the door or without us just leaving the door open (and letting all the drafty cold air in from the garage). It is great but we will have to be sure we have the door in place when we want to leave from the garage to go anywhere so that they don't just come out with us! :)
It isn't fun chasing 5 dogs around the yard/street! :-)

Normally it doesn't seem that annoying for that long but even here in Texas winter has seemed to be so lonnnnggg!!  In the summer it is no big deal because we can just leave doors open.

Tomorrow night we turn the clocks forward an hour and lose an hour. Good!  Now the bathroom clock will be the right time again.

SUN!

We actually had some SUNSHINE today!!  It wasn't warm by any means but we haven't had sun in over a week I'm pretty sure and to me that seemed like months!

Tomorrow is Friday!  Yippee!!  Pizza and Beer night!

Looking forward to it!  Keeping this short. I'm tired!

Cold Hump Night

Another winter advisory tonight/tomorrow and several schools are already closed. It is 31 degrees out. Great! 

Well Dad went to see his VA doc and he is going to check into that procedure through the VA to make sure it is covered as well as there is some doubt now as to whether it would be covered by medicare. 
Will see what happens.  They took another UTI test to make sure there really is no infection. They actually did a little clearing of his bladder pathway today so maybe that will help!

I went ahead and ordered a Papillon wall calendar finally!  It should get here hopefully within a week. Then I can stop looking at the Calendar and seeing January. LOL. 

Looking forward to NEXT week as the temperatures are suppose to be in the 60's (for a high) the entire week. That is until they change the forecast again.

Wrong Day

Guess I was rushing the week along yesterday when I titled the post Tuesday Topic. 

< Sigh > Wishful thinking I suppose.

Okay. While I still think the health care workers we are dealing with suck, there is a possible light at the end of this tunnel.  The urologist wants to do a procedure on dad to clear out the blockage that he thinks he sees such as scar tissue, that is preventing the natural flow to occur from my dad's bladder. He said it has an 85% success rate and there are no additional risks or concerns due to age. It is an outpatient procedure (where he does not have to stay in the hospital) and my dad is very enthusiastic to give it a shot.  It is going to be later in March, sometime the week of the 22nd.

He also does not have a so called bladder infection that needs antibiotics. It is more like residual stuff that just does get out because the bladder doesn't completely drain. I'm not going to get real technical but am glad to hear this news which also explains to me why he wasn't in pain and feeling the urge to go all the time. I've had UTI infections and they were not something that one is nonchalant about!

I so hope that this procedure works!  If it does the results should be very quick, like within a day. :-)  Say a little prayer everyone.  I'd also love to be done helping him with the catheter 3 times a day.

 We are getting another cold front with a chance of wintry mix Wed evening thru Thursday morning. Fun, fun !!

Tuesday Topic - Home Health Care Lacking

I took my walk today even though it was a little drizzly out and only in the 40s. Even though it wasn't the most pleasant walk, it was nice to get a walk in for once!  I'm hoping it is nice enough Wednesday to walk again then too.

I really don't know about the health care service for elderly folks. I have had to call the home health care folks for the third time today to let them know about supplies I am running out of to help with my  dad's catheter procedure that he has to do 3 times a day.  I already called Thursday and told them I only had enough Iodine swabsticks for a few more day and they promised to order some. I asked them to sent me a good quantity of supply so I am not asking every couple days for more. 

None have arrived at my folks house and I heard nothing more from them.
Now I won't have any for tomorrow morning but they are having a nurse go first thing to take care of it and provide more supplies. This would not have happened if I hadn't kept calling them. I called them at 8:30 this morning and they were going to call me right back. Finally around 3:30 I called them again to see what my dad was suppose to do if he could not do the catheter due to lack of supplies! I try to be polite but it is hard to keep my temper when they obviously just flat out don't seem to care.

Also he has a bladder infection. They took a sample Thursday and I asked about it Friday. No word yet as they 'send them out'.  Today I asked about it again and was finally told he does have a UTI (infection) but they have to send the results to his doctor who will then call in a prescription for him. Nothing happened for that today.  There is just no sense of urgency at all! Let's just let him go for days with a urinary tract infection.

I don't know how my folks would have handled all this if they were trying to do all this on their own. Between my sister and I we got a lot accomplished but we have to stay on top of everyone too.  Makes me sad wondering how many elderly are just not cared for, even if they are Vets??!  My dad is a Vet and this home health care was provided via the VA (and my sister had to push and push to get that care).  Maybe they are short staffed.  Who knows, but it has not been a great experience and I just pray every night that my dad gets to go like he used to so we do not have to deal with this any more.

March is here!!

YAH!! IT is March.  Time to get warm. Right?!

No ice today but it was rainy all day, still is I think.  It would be nice to have the sun come out again.

Not much to blog about today sorry.