Tag Archives: grandbaby

What’s Eating Aunt Debbie?

Posted on by
5

Good morning!

There’s been a lot on my mind, but damned if my brain will let me remember everything I wanted to say! 

Dad’s blood pressure has been relatively good; some days a little higher but with a medication dosage change, it’s under control. Dad had an appointment scheduled to see a cardiologist regarding his A-fib but unfortunately the appointment had to be rescheduled due to snow. 

We didn’t get much snow really but it sure made the roads dangerous. There were many accidents on the roads we would have been on for that appointment. People just can’t stay home because they have to go to work. I remember those days when I worked at the local nursing home. I hated winter weather because if it snowed after I got to work, then I was stuck there! I had to spend the night in that place too many times! Anyway, Dad’s appointment has been rescheduled for March 10. Shouldn’t be any snow then! 

I don’t know what I did, but I have injured my arm/shoulder. I think it’s a rotator cuff injury – perhaps a tear – and so on top of all of the pain and mobility issues I deal with, now I have to deal with this. As if life wasn’t hard enough. Ugh. I can’t not use my left arm because I need to use both of my arms to get up and down, not to mention to walk with my forearm crutches. I have yet to go to the doctor. I’m a bit ‘gun shy’ after years of not getting help for other issues. If the injury is serious enough they will suggest surgery BUT I can’t have surgery now! Who’s going to look after Dad? I can’t leave him alone. I won’t. If it’s not serious enough for surgery, there’s nothing to be done besides exercises. My insurance won’t cover physical therapy so I’d have to do it on my own. I’m already doing that, but having to use both of my arms means the injury won’t heal or could even get worse. Good grief. 

The silver lining this month is that my daughter gave birth to her 4th child, and her #2 girl earlier this month! Her name is Kaliya Rain and she looks like her older sister, Angelina Rose. 10 days later, though, my daughter ended up in the hospital because she woke up bleeding profusely. All is well now, thank goodness. It was scary and here I am in another state, unable to help her. This is my 6th grandbaby! I just wish I saw them more than I do.

I wish to hell politicians would produce some decent candidates for the 2024 election. I am sick to death of the literal shit that flows out of just about every mouth these days. MTG spews lies and hatered and couldn’t look any less like a turd than she already does. DeSantis spews lies and everybody swallows it up. DJT is still at it. Good grief. I could be here all day… If Joe Biden isn’t going to run again then the Dems better get off their asses and produce a better choice, quickly! I never used to worry about our government. I never worried that our democracy would suffer. I never worried about ‘bad eggs’ infiltrating the country and the government, ready to bring it all down. I didn’t worry because they all seemed to want our country to progress, not go backwards in time! Ugh!

Those who have followed my blog might recall that I have brought a stray cat into our fur-family. I knew we would have problems but I just couldn’t stand for the poor thing to be out in another cold winter! So, in October, BobCat was neutered, vaccinated, treated for fleas, ticks and earmites, and brought inside. He has been more calm than I expected. I think he’s grateful to be inside, getting lovins, and having other cat friends – BUT Jack is not a happy camper! He is one jealous and spiteful little shit. He still has to wear the vest when he misbehaves. Poor BobCat keeps getting beat up! Alice doesn’t care about BobCat being inside. In fact, Alice has warmed to him a little and has been seen giving him a bath! Honey Bear keeps her distance because Jack picks on her occasionally, too. Anyway, Jack is so spiteful that he has made sure to ‘steal’ my chair before BobCat gets to it. That’s the only place BobCat feels safe, other than in the cat room with the door shut! If BobCat has any dried kibble left in his bowl then Jack will eat it all and then puke it up right next to the bowl! Unbelievable! Jack still gets what he always got, before BobCat came along. They all do. BobCat isn’t showing any aggression and he’s not being territorial at all. They have to be watched all the time and it’s a lot of work for this ol’ woman! Ugh!

Well, that’s about all I have on my mind this morning. I’m sure I’m forgetting something. I always do!

What’s on your mind these days? 

 

 

Still Kickin’

Posted on by
12

Happy Monday!

What’s that? Yes, I’m still kickin’…and sometimes screaming. I’m trying to get back on track but this past couple of months have sucked and quite frankly, my desire to do anything has diminished.

We finally got propane, which is our primary source of heat. It took an entire month to get that no-good, mofo company out here to fill our tank! We went through that zero degree weather with 2 little space heaters in the living room, which didn’t even begin to keep us warm. I ended up buying a couple of electric shawls that were a Godsend, holy crap. They really helped – but now it’s warming up and I have packed them away for next winter.

We thought we were in the home stretch when our water pipes froze. We always take precautions and this time was no different but it was so much colder than it normally is that what we did wasn’t good enough. When it started to warm up and the pipes started to thaw, we realized we had busted pipes and we had to shut the water completely off. My son came and replaced pipes and repaired leaks and we thought we had it made but then for some reason we only had hot water in the bathtub and cold water in the toilet but no water anywhere else! My son checked and double-checked but could find nothing wrong! Nearly 2 weeks later, we finally found a plumber and $500+ later, we had water everywhere we were supposed to have water! The faucets were clogged; the kitchen faucet even had to be replaced. Boy, was it nice to be able to take a shower and wash dishes like “normal folk”.

I’ve been having health issues again. You may recall I was in the ER in December with swollen legs and numbness. I’ve been taking meds for that but last week I was in the doctor’s office with “leakage” in my legs. Technically, it’s lymphedema and I need a specific treatment which my insurance won’t pay for. That doesn’t surprise me at all, as it’s not the first time I’ve not been able to have the treatment/procedure/medication that I need to improve and protect my health. Anyway, the medical center has sent me forms to apply to a local charity that sometimes pays for things that folks can’t afford. I won’t get my hopes up because if I do, the rug will get pulled out from under me as it always does.

On the bright side, my daughter has given birth to a bouncing baby girl! My baby girl now has her own baby girl and that makes me so happy! On that note, I will leave you with a photo of Miss Angelina Rose!

angelina rose

So, That Was Christmas

Posted on by
12

I haven’t put up a tree in many years. Christmas had turned into a depressing time of the year for me. This year, I was determined to get into and stay in the Spirit of Christmas and not let past events and disappointments get the best of me.

I have a lot of holiday decor in storage, including a beautiful white tree with purple ornaments but aside from not having room for any of it, I’m just not physically able to decorate like I used to. So, I decided to go with a little table-top tree and very little decor.

0a49097839_10156921263984299_3254880676817666048_n

The entire week before Christmas I was busy baking cookies. I made double batches but I baked only one kind of cookie per day so my pain wouldn’t get the best of me. I made my famous “not-so-famous” popcorn cake the day before Christmas Eve. That was one less thing I’d have to do the next day! One of the most important (and fun) of my family traditions – the making of pizza balls – was saved for Christmas Eve. My son came over early to help. I rolled the pizza balls and he fried them up!

0a48407848_10156912097789299_3458247043275816960_n

I was taking short breaks to rest so my pain – again – couldn’t get the best of me. I had maybe 12 pizza balls left to roll when I decided to sit down in the old office chair I have sitting in the kitchen. After my brief rest, I started to get up…when all of a sudden the chair started to tip sideways…and down…I went. Hard. I landed on my left hip and thigh; the bad side…or more appropriately the worst side.

Once I hit the floor I rolled to my tummy and started making a mental assessment of my aches and pains. The pain was just shooting through my lower body like I had been hit by a bus. When I realized I hadn’t injured myself, I rolled over and sat up. Thankfully, my son was here to scoop me up off the floor! I tried to get up on my own but I couldn’t. If Dad had been the only one home, he would have had to call for help. There’s no way he could have helped me to my feet alone.

When I knew I would be ok to finish those last few pizza balls, my son left to go pick up his wife and my grandbaby. I knew that I wasn’t seriously injured but at the same time, I knew…I felt it in my bones quite literally…that I would be feeling pain the next day.

The evening went very nicely. We had laughs, the exchange of gifts, a Christmas movie, and a lot of good eats! My grandson was full of smiles and near-laughs most of the night. He had his cranky moments, of course. He had been out of his normal element all day and it was taking its toll on baby’s usual easy-going demeanor. He was happy to get home, I’m sure.

The next morning, I was hurting so bad from the fall that I was walking with 2 canes and even slower than normal. The “massive” bruise I had on my left hip was ridiculous! It was literally the size of a nickel. WTF? After such a hard landing and all the pain I was experiencing (not to mention the pain all night long) I expected a much larger bruise! I mean seriously. That’s all I get? A tiny bruise?

Anyway, I knew I still had a ham dinner to cook so I asked my son if he could come help. He had planned on coming by anyway, but he came by a bit earlier to help. We had (store-bought) cinnamon rolls and then we started thinking about what time to start the ham. Unfortunately, he had to leave before he could even help me get that started, so I had to rely on Dad to help me if I needed it. (I don’t like to rely on him too much because he’s nearly 82 now and sometimes a bit unsteady on his feet himself.) I managed to get the ham done BUT I forgot to add the glaze at the last 30 minutes of cooking. Oh well. It was still good.

Here it is Friday, the last Friday of 2018, and I’m still using 2 canes off and on. I’m still feeling the “after-shock” of that stupid fall. I guess the pain will subside eventually, but for a few days longer I’ll take it easy.

I hope your holiday was a fantastic one, with no injuries, fights, falls, or any other mishaps to put a damper on things. Here’s to a wonderful 2019 to us all!

happy-new-year-1900587_960_720

 

 

Crochetin’ Away

Posted on by
6

All week I have been bothered by the fact that not one post (not even mine) has a Like button. I didn’t have time to mess with it (or read any of your blogs) so I just let it go until tonight. It was hard for me to just let it go, trust me! I despise when things are not as they should be or when things do not work as they should.

I did some research for a remedy to that dilemma and found this in the WordPress support section: The Like button and any Likes will no longer appear on your new posts or pages (although the Like button will still appear in readers’ toolbars and in the WordPress.com Reader). There was no explanation. I find it very annoying that they eliminated this function from posts.

As I mentioned, I haven’t had much time the last few months. My 4th grandbaby was born on the 1st and I’ve had several crochet projects going just for him. I don’t mind at all because I love making baby items and the crochet keeps the arthritis in my fingers at bay. My daughter-in-law’s siblings are both having babies, baby girls, and very close together I might add, so I’m making a new set of crocheted items for them, too! Here are a few of the things I made for my grandson!

“Your First Breath Took Ours Away” Baby Blanket
Baby Hats

When I finish the baby crochet projects I need to get moving on holiday gifts. I have no clue where to start! There are so many things I want to make! Click here to go to my Pinterest page (link opens a new window) and check out my Crochet Inspiration board! I have over 2,500 pins on that board alone! Ha!

I’m hoping to have more time next week for writing. My mind has been totally consumed by yarn and hooks and patterns….. It’s a shock I’m not crocheting in my sleep!

To New Projects and New Beginnings!

Posted on by
8

I finished my last 2 crochet projects and am currently taking on a few more! My 4th grandbaby is due in September and I still have a few things left to make! I’m starting a stroller blanket, a nursing shawl, and a car seat cover. You can see the lovely afghan I finished in time for the baby shower here!

I get so excited when a new project has been completed. It’s such a wonderful feeling to see the end result of so many hours of work. There are so many items on my list of things to make…. Holy cow, you should see my Pinterest board! Hahaha!

I’m looking forward to having a 4th grandchild. I think this grandbaby will stay close, as I don’t think my dear daughter-in-law will want to go too far from her family. I love all of my grandkids so much but things aren’t as I’d like them to be. One lives hundreds of miles away, another is being raised JW, and the oldest was adopted by his other grandparents, due to circumstances beyond my control. That was a long and painful story….and the reason I started blogging.

I’m looking forward to this new beginning, not only for myself but for my son and his wife and their little one who will be here very soon!

…….And as soon as I finish my projects for #4 I want to start some projects to sell for the holidays. So many ideas and so little time!!

Peace be with you, my friends!