Category Archives: Ramblings

A Spider In My Shirt! A Spider In My Shirt!

Posted on by
8

If you know anything about me at all, you know that spiders freak me out. I mean, to the point of being absolutely terrified of them! One time, when I worked in the nursing home, a tarantula came out from under the snack machine and I was at least 10 feet away but when it headed in my direction, I screamed! Some of the more alert old ladies heard the commotion and wondered what had happened. Spider happened.

The other day, I was ready for my afternoon nap and I got somewhat settled in my power chair, with pillows under my knees. I reached for my blanket hanging over the back of my chair that I hadn’t used in a few days because it’s been so warm. I was flipping it around, trying to get it straightened and I felt something land in my shirt. I thought, what the hell was that? I looked right away and there was a spider! It wasn’t too big but big enough to scare the bejesus out of me. I just about lost my mind. I can’t get up fast so jumping up out of my chair to rid myself of the 8-legged freak was out of the question. I had no choice but to use my shirt to grab it. I didn’t let go. I was trying to figure out what the hell to do and the only thing I could think of was to squish it. I didn’t squish it to beyond recogntion because I wanted to see what kind it was.

I have been bitten by a Brown Recluse before (identified by me, my dad, and a doctor) and it wasn’t pleasant. I didn’t suffer the tissue damage that most people experience. It was red, swollen, and itchy. I used tea tree oil on it until I could get to the doctor. It was more stressful than anything else and my blood pressure showed it. Anyway, this current situation wasn’t anything like the Brown Recluse incident but I sure as hell knew I didn’t want whatever kind of spider it was, to bite me! Upon removing it from my shirt and inspection, I discovered it wasn’t a Brown Recluse. Thank goodness!

It was an awful experience, regardless. I hate spiders. If I could rid this world of one thing it would be spiders….or maybe…well, you guess what the other might be. Snort.

What’s Eating Aunt Debbie? Or What The Hell Is Wrong With Her Now?

Posted on by
3

Yeah, there’s always something wrong with me. I think I might go crazy…crazier, rather. Things just never seem to go smoothly for us, always something going wonky. The past month and a half is no exception.

Our car battery died, and even though we have a quick charger gadget, the battery eventually was drained completely, beyond charging. For weeks, every time we wanted to go somewhere we had to charge it up. I offered to buy a new battery when we were in town one day and Dad’s said, “I don’t even know if it’s the battery or something else.” I was thinking, If it wasn’t the battery then why does charging get it started? But what the hell do I know? I’m not a mechanic. Eventually, the battery was drained so completely that even the charging gadget wouldn’t work. We had to call AAA. That’s when Dad decided to buy a battery. Then he bitched about the cost. I just reminded him that I offered to buy it weeks ago but he declined.

Since it had rained so much a few weeks ago, work on the house slowed even slower than before. We had so much rain, several bridges and roads were destroyed or flooded over. This past week has been dry, thankfully. Still, I was so hoping to be out of this dump before the hot and humid summer. Ugh. At least the new house won’t have cracks and crevices for the spiders and other creepy crawlies to come in. Sure, we’ll get insects and arachnids occasionally in the new house but not like in this old house. You don’t dare wear clothing that you haven’t shaken out. You always check your shoes before slipping your foot inside, even if you just took them off and hour ago. You always check pots and pans before using them. You feel a tickle? You’d better check because it may not be just an itch! I could go on but I think you get the picture.

The drywall has been hung in the new house but still needs to be taped and textured. Then we have paint and flooring. The septic tank and ditches need to be done, too. Dad will run out of money sure as shit. We’ll be lucky to have any cabinets in the kitchen at all. I have a plan for the upper cabinets that will be less expensive than traditional cabinetry. I’m going to buy some good wooden cube shelving and have open cabinets. The cheapest we can do for lower cabinets is around $1,000, but that’s not counting counter tops. I’ll probably buy a buffet cabinet and we can keep dishes and silverware in that. Below are a few photos. 1) Kitchen sink area, in front of window, 2) Bathroom sink/toilet area, and 3) the living room, looking at the front door. The rooms are pretty big except I wish the kitchen was a bit bigger. Can’t win them all, I guess! I’ll show more photos as things move forward.

Every time I sit down to write, I get distracted because of Dad’s noise. Noise like farting (loudly) as he walks by me, or talking to himself whenever he’s in the room. You see, I sit at the kitchen table to use my laptop. It’s difficult staying focused, not just because of his noise and constant interruption but also because I’m trying to pay attention to what he’s doing or where he’s going. I have him trained to tell me when he goes outside. Then I have to pay attention to how long he’s beeen out there so I know whether to go looking for him. There’s a lot of stress and anxiety involved in living with, and caring for, an elder parent.

Dad fell several times in the last month and a half. No injuries aside from a couple of small bruises and minor scrapes. Gawd, he worries me.

I’m hoping that when the house is done and my sister is here, that the stress level will go down. Maybe I won’t worry so much about everything because I’ll have someone here to lighten the load. I’ll have help watching Dad, and helping him up off the floor when he falls. Maybe I’ll be able to keep up with birthdays, even if it’s just to send cards. It’s been a long time since I sent a card in the mail. I just can’t keep up. Too much on my mind. I used to write letters, too, the old-fashioned way! I’d like to get back to doing that, as well.

Oh, well. Such is the life of an increasingly aging disabled woman. I hope this post isn’t too scrambled. Haha! I may or may get to tomorrow’s Friday’s Funnies. We’ll just have to wait and see. I hope the rest of your week is fantastic!

See you next time!

Oh, The House…

Posted on by
5

Well, crap on a cracker. We’re going to run out of money before the house is move-in ready. By move-in ready, I mean that it won’t be completely finished but it will have the necessities to live in. We weren’t sure if we’d get the entire kitchen cabinetry done but that the kitchen would be usable. Now, we’re not even sure of getting that far.

The drywall is the next step. Materials and labor are going to cost a bit over $10,000 and the septic, maybe about the same. Then there’s painting. Even with a no-frills paint color and brand, that might be as far as we can go. This is such a disappointment. We had hoped to be moving in before the hot and humid summer began but that’s not going to happen.

If only we could win the lottery. We don’t need millions of dollars, however, that would be nice. No, just an extra $40,000 or so would really help us get the house, probably finished. It’s going to take some time doing a little each month or two. Depending on the project, it might take months to save the money to do it. Ugh.

So, we need either $40,000 extra or a miracle. I don’t see either happening any time soon. It’s just so disappointing. I had been so down about the whole new-house situation and then we found a guy to do the work. My depression subsided and hope began to take over. Now, hope is slowly dissipating.

It’s difficult living in this old house. My life is a struggle the way it is. I don’t need the house making things even worse. It used to be a cute little place but in the last 10 years it has started falling apart. It was never anything fancy but it was functional and comfortable. Now, not so much.

I’ll keep y’all posted. Pray, or cross your fingers, or whatever you do, for us. We need all the help we can get.

Until next time,

Beep, Beep, Beep and My Scattered Thoughts At 5am

Posted on by
4

Why can’t they make things that don’t beep with every push of a button? It annoys the heck out of me. Am I alone?

Seriously. To turn on my electric heater when it’s chilly in the morning, I have push a button and it beeps. If I have to change the settings, it beeps with every push of a button. Why? The infrared heater in the living room has the loudest beep ever! You can hear it all over the house! Why? Do they think everyone wants to hear it say, at 3am? Our propane heater doesn’t beep, but its button has an extremely loud click! Why?

My fan beeps with every touch of a button. Why?

My air fryer automatically starts at 15 minutes so if I only want to cook something for 5 minutes, I have to push a button 10 times. It beeps 10 freakin’ times! Why?

The same thing happens with my Instant Pot. If the last time it was used it was set at 40 minutes, and this time I just want to set it for 10 minutes, I have to listen to it beep 30 damn times before I get it down to 10 minutes! Why? Is that really necessary?

Let’s not forget the microwave. Every push of a button summons up another blasted beep. And when it’s finished, it decides I need to hear 4 more beeps, as if one beep isn’t enough to let me know when it’s done. Why? I get 10 beeps with the Instant Pot when it’s finished, and 8 beeps with my air fryer! Why?

My breadmaker has its beeps, too. Why?

If the answer to WHY is that the maker wants you to know that it’s working, that’s just stupid. Why, you ask? Because there’s a digital display on those things and that should be enough for a person with a half of a brain to see that they have turned the appliance on or off, or changed the settings. Good grief.

Why can’t all my appliances be like my crock pot? It’s quiet as a mouse. Not a sound. And it doesn’t even have a digital display! I turn a knob to turn to put it on high or low, and to turn it off. Simple. Gotta love simple.

Nothing is simple these days. All we get now are beeps.

Beep, beep, beep.

Old Man Sounds

Posted on by
Reply

Good grief. I can’t seem to get away from old man sounds. Everywhere I go in this house is filled with sounds coming out of Dad. You’ll laugh, I’m sure, but this is no laughing matter. 

The only peace I get is after Dad goes to bed at night. I get from 10pm to about 1am of peace and quiet, time just for me. This is my time to relax, not just my body but my brain. I guess it’s peaceful when I’m sleeping, aside from the furbabies playing and raising cane some nights. If I wake up around 5am or 6am to use the bathroom, I put in my ear plugs so I don’t hear when Dad gets up around 7am. I know what you might be thinking. What if Dad falls? Trust me. If he falls, I will feel it. I don’t mean intuitively. I mean I will actually feel the vibration in the floor if he falls. I feel the boom and I’m awake to check on him. It’s happened before. 

Just a reminder: I sleep in my lift chair because I cannot sleep in my bed. It’s a pain and discomfort thing. So, I’m stuck sleeping in the living room. If I don’t wake up during the night to use the bathroom, I get woken up when Dad gets up at 7am. All he does is make noise. He sits in his chair, not 5 feet away, and sniffs and coughs, sneezes and farts. He clears his throat. He blows his nose. This is all continuous, mind you. When he farts, I’m talking thunderous farts! I’m tempted to set my alarm to wake up at 6am to use the bathroom even if I don’t need to, just so I can put in my ear plugs! 

I have asked Dad not to let me sleep past 9am. That gives me my 8 hours, if I’m lucky. I can’t wait for the day when our new house is move-in ready, just so I can sleep in my bedroom! The way it is right now, it’s like having someone sitting in my bedroom who doesn’t belong there. I plan on getting an adjustable bed as soon as I can, but I can have the movers put my chair in my new bedroom, if nothing else. When we move, my sister will be here to help me look after Dad, and help with the cooking and cleaning, because God knows I can’t. I manage to fix us something to eat but that’s about all I can do. Getting off track, sorry. You want to hear more about the noises…

The other morning, I kept hearing a crunching sound. I thought Jack had caught a mouse and was feasting on it. It wasn’t Jack. It was Dad, crunching on ginger snaps. You know, those crunchy ones from the Dollar Tree.

Just now, as I write this, Dad farted standing in front of the heater. That’s all he does, all day long. This house smells like farts. I know. Laugh it up! He just farts and farts and farts. I am so tired of the smell. I try to stay in the kitchen as much as possible. I work puzzles, do diamond paintings, journaling…that type of thing. But the living room leads to the kitchen, which leads to the bathroom, so every time Dad heads to the bathroom…he farts…and he usually farts as he walks by me! So I have to smell it until it dissipates. Sometimes, his farts are so loud, I can’t even hear my audiobook so I have to rewind. Holy cow. It drives me insane! I know he’s old and every one farts, but geez Louise. Have a little class, right? Just because we’re related and live in the same house doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be somewhat polite. 

I guess I’m done complaining. I do appreciate my Dad and I enjoy his company. It’s just that things have gotten worse in the last couple months and his noises annoy the heck out of me! This is causing me great stress, if you can believe that. I just grin and bear it, aside from letting Dad know how bad his farts smell!!