Tag Archives: rain

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

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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!

When It Rains, It Pours…Literally!

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Our house was built in the 50s and the foundation is crumbling, walls are cracked, and floors are sinking. It’s in sad shape. We’ve always had problems with the roof leaking. We’d spring a leak, fix it and the rain would find another entry. Every Spring we curse the rain, and farmers when they wish for more! This year has been…as my grandmother would say, “the physical shits.” 

My Dad’s room was an add-on back in 1995 or 1996. I helped a little but I was working full time. Dad did most of the work himself. It was the nicest part of our house! Then one year, it sprung a leak, then another. Dad put hundreds of dollars into that roof every stinkin’ year, trying to stop the leaks. The roof had been reshingled many times, (like the rest of our house) and still, another leak would pop up. For years Dad has been putting so much money and effort into that roof! 

This Spring has been the worst rainy season I think we’ve ever had and it has done a number on Dad’s room! It got so bad that buckets needed to be emptied every couple of hours! Then it got worse. We had so many buckets set up that Dad couldn’t even sleep in there anymore. He moved into the spare room; he said he would eventually move back into his own room. That wasn’t going to happen!

Dad got into his closet one morning and saw that mold had started growing in there, so we started moving things out. An old trunk, probably from the late 1800s that has photos, mementos, and heirlooms had to be moved out of there. There were boxes upon boxes of old photos and genealogy information, not to mention 3 boxes of the genealogy books that Dad published years ago. (He had too many printed at the time.) All of those things and Dad’s clothing had to be moved out of that closet! 

Fast forward just a few days. Mold began working its way up the walls of the bedroom and the floor was soaking wet. It was no use now. Things needed to be moved out of there and fast! A few of Dad’s things had to be thrown away. The office desk and 2 shelves are ruined but we saved the books. The most worrisome items were my Dad’s Victrola (photo below is similar to my Dad’s) and my mother’s cedar chest, both antiques. We needed to get them out of that room and fast! Dad and I couldn’t do it ourselves or we would have. I couldn’t get my son here to help so I had to beg friends on Facebook for help! Thankfully, my friend Angie brought her hubby and 2 other guys and they got the job done. 

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We are still slowly moving things out that are up and away from the dampness and out from under the leaks at the moment. When everything is out, we will tear that room down. It has to quit raining first! I swear when it’s raining it’s literally raining in the bedroom, too! It’s awful! (If it weren’t so embarrassing, I’d share photos and video with you.)

The urgency to get our new house done now is first and foremost in our minds, which is very stressful. My son has agreed to work on it but he can’t manage to get over here except 4 or 5 times a month. I can’t wait to finally be in a house that’s not falling apart! We started building back in the early 2000s but came to standstill about 10 years ago when Dad got too old and tired and I got too…disabled. 

Another reason for the urgency of getting the new house done is that I need help taking care of Dad. The new house is big enough for my sister, who has agreed that she will move in and help. I can barely take care of myself, let alone Dad. The stress of being on alert 24/7 is very stressful. Having someone here to help lends a second pair of eyes, ears, and hands. I can still do some things but having my sister to help with the cooking and cleaning will help me tremendously! Right now I’m a mess and a disaster waiting to happen!

So, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Stay tuned for updates…

 

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The Downpour

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I asked Dad if it was going to rain today. He said, “If it does, we won’t see much of it.” Boy, was he wrong.

When we left the house, it was sprinkling a little. No worries there. I can handle a little sprinkling. We set up the drip buckets for the leaks in the house, just in case. I hate this old house more and more each day. 

I wouldn’t even have bothered going out if I hadn’t needed Jack’s prednisolone and Baytril refilled. I had to go to our vet’s office for that and then over to Walmart for a few not-so-necessary necessities. We didn’t get very far when it started to rain a bit more. Still, no worries. All of a sudden the rain started coming down like someone dumping buckets of water on the windshield! Holy crap. I could barely see! The wipers were going as fast as they could go and I was driving much, much slower now. There wasn’t much traffic on this country highway but there were a few vehicles in front of us. The tail lights were barely visible. The wind had picked up and I worried that we might be driving into a tornado or something! All of a sudden we saw something go across the road…turned out to be a heavy duty plastic garbage can, used for roadside trash collection. The wind had blown it across the road! About 3 miles outside of the town we were headed to, the rain subsided. My hands were a bit achy after having such a grip on the steering wheel!

I was a wreck after that nearly 30 minutes drive in a downpour but I managed to walk and carry on my goal for the day. We picked up Jack’s meds as planned and then decided to go have a bite to eat. Our norm for lunches is Mexican food so we headed over to Los Amigos. As we were getting out of the car I noticed something dangling from Dad’s underarm. I had to laugh as I grabbed my handy little Swiss Army knife to cut the tag off his shirt. I bought him a few new shirts the week before and I guess he never thought to remove the tags! We had a good chuckle and a good meal then headed over to Walmart.

Walmart wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be. I managed to get a scooter, although the battery died half-way through the store. I went on my way of gathering up what I needed, but out of the corner of my eye, I noticed someone following me. I moved to the side thinking this person just wanted to get past me. Nope. Still behind me. I started to go down different aisles thinking this person would go somewhere else. Nope. Still behind me. I thought, Son of a bitch! I had just about enough of this so I pulled to the side of the aisle, and turned around very quickly to give this person a piece of my mind because after all, he was following just a little too closely! I was a little embarrassed but thought it was hilarious that it was just Dad in his new shirt and I didn’t recognize him out of the corner of my eye. I must’ve had one evil look on my face because he chuckled and asked, “What’s the matter?” I explained and we laughed again. We finished our business and left.

On the way out of town, we stopped for gas. As if today hadn’t been strange enough already, while Dad was pumping the gas for me (I normally do it but he has decided that he needs to learn how to use these ‘newfangled’ pumps and his debit card) I happened to notice a guy pumping gas and smoking a cigarette. As if that wasn’t scary enough, he set the pump on lock to pump automatically, and then he walked away and started pacing the lot with that cigarette dangling out of his mouth. He looked like he was on something or up to something, one or the other. I was worried. I didn’t know what this guy’s problem was. When the pump stopped, the man removed the nozzle and went inside to pay for his gas, still with that cigarette dangling from his lips. I was relieved when the man came out and drove away. Dad was still trying to figure out where his receipt was. Finally, he got in the car with his receipt. He said he had been looking on the left-hand side of the pump for the receipt to come out but it came out on the right-hand side. He’s so funny sometimes but he figured it out. At least he did it without a tag hanging off his shirt!

Thankfully the rain had stopped, and we left for home. I guess it didn’t do too much raining at the house, because none of the leaks had sprung and everything was fine. Of course, Jack & his Pack weren’t too happy because the catio was wet and they don’t like that one little bit! I swear, they must think I make it rain on purpose!

A Tuesday Thunderstorm

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Ka-Boom! Thunder cracked and I yelled out. Cats are hiding under my bed. If I could get under there with them, I probably would!

Our satellite lost its signal and we have no movies to watch. Boring, boring, boring. I could read but the power is flickering on and off. It won’t be long and we’ll be sitting in the dark.

I hate when the power goes out. When you’re on a private well, that means there’s no power for the pump to fill the water tank. You have to make do with the water that’s already in the tank but when it’s gone you’re SOL. If you’re lucky the power will come back on before you use all the dishes in the house or more importantly before the toilet is “all fulled up” as Dad says.

The second big thunder strike took out my lift chair, while it was in the “up” position. Damn. I’ll have to look and see if there’s a reset button. I doubt it. Guess it’s back to the old flip-lever recliner.

I miss my Wi-Fi. I’ve had the modem and satellite box unplugged for fear of losing it like I did my chair. Using my phone to write, upload etc. I have 4g but it’s not the best signal out here in the boonies. This is going to take forever…and a day.

Blowing In The Wind

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Here’s it is, nearly Spring with Winter at our backside. I was so looking forward to this month and next, however, today was a sharp reminder of what the weather is like for us here in early Spring.

The wind is blowing violently today. Our lawn chairs will end up in our neighbor’s yard by day’s end. Our neighbor is 1/4 mile away! There are several branches down and laying in the yard. I worry about our roof, as this house is very old and the roof not in great condition. It wouldn’t surprise me if the whole roof blew off! The furniture (cat and human) in the catio has been tossed all over, and a board (used as a rain shield) has come unattached. That made a horrendous noise as my furbabies were having their dinner and they all scattered like a 747 was about to crash on our house! It took me 15 minutes to get them all back into the kitchen to finish eating.

 

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                                          Image Copyright Being Aunt Debbie

 

I just glanced out the window, sitting here at my computer and lo and behold there are snowflakes falling! Whodathunkit? That wind is bitter cold so I’m not too surprised….but now the snowflakes are gone! Go figure. But there’s a saying here in Missouri: If you don’t like the weather, just wait a few minutes! (Hate to tell them, the wind has been blowing longer than 5 minutes!)

 

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                                                         Image Copyright Being Aunt Debbie

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                                                          Image Copyright Being Aunt Debbie

 

I’m still looking forward Spring, although March and April are usually very wet and windy here in SW Missouri. I have seen a few new blooms on trees and heard the birds chirping early in the mornings. The first woodpecker of the season woke me up the other morning. The robins are running amuck all over the yard as I type this, pulling whatever worms they can find out of the soft ground. Most of the trees are brown and bare (except the evergreens, of course) and it’s really not a pretty sight. That will soon change as Spring and summer gets a grip on things. I’m hoping for a “not-so-freaking-hot” summer this year…… Wishful thinking, I know.