Carol and Lena Away

Carol and Lena are leaving early in the morning for a week in Orlando.  Carol will be going to a conference.  Lena gets to soak up Disneyworld on her own.  Nice she is old enough to do that since Carol is not a big fan.  I have a mixture of nervousness and enthusiasm about being alone with Pearl for a week.  The positive feelings are supported by the fact I have standing dates with Dick and Liz, dates to see Rickie Lee Jones and Curtis Salgado with Richard, and reminders from Louise and Richard I can call for help.

Carol noticed Pearl’s tail knocking over the remote.  That might explain the damage.

The present moment is relaxed.

Ice Cream Worked

Adding ice cream to my smoothies brought my weight back up.  It took three weeks, so there was a point where I thought I should reduce the number of times I go to the gym.  Carol convinced me not to do that.  She was right.

I spilled an infinitesimal amount of ginger ale across the table, so it touched the computer, fortunately, without doing harm.  I moved the water bottle to the coffee table.  I have to take in a massive amount of fluids because one of my supplements can harm my kidneys.

I found slicing into the chicken breasts for the stuffed recipe we liked challenging, so Carol suggested layering tenders.  Lena finally tasted it since she added chicken back into her diet and enjoyed it a lot.

The universal remote stopped working.  Carol thinks I may have dropped it and loosened the batteries.  That makes more work for her to reprogam it.  I apologized.  Meanwhile I can turn on the TV the old fashioned way.

The present moment is colorful.

More Spills

   Even though I stored my smoothies in travel coffee cups, I have spilled them twice.  So I changed to a water bottle with a built in straw.
   I spilled some ginger ale from the far side of the table and still got a bit on the computer.  That made me nervous.  Fortunately, there was no damage.  I moved the bottles to a coffee table.
    I am back up one of the pounds I had lost the week before.  Using ice cream helps.
    I realized I could watch old movies on demand.  I started with Blues Brothers, which I had somehow missed.  Very entertaining.
    The present moment is cool.

This and That

    As Dick and I were coming from the gym, I said I was down two pounds, which isn’t good.  He said he was down two pounds, too, which IS good.  Perspective is everything.  I said I wasn’t sure how to get mine back up, since I feel like I eat constantly, as it is.  It dawns on me I could add ice cream to my smoothies.
    Carol helped me figure out how to request a ride on the web site.
    I had stored a glass of smoothie in the refrigerator.  I spilled it, when I was getting it out, which made a mess.  I told Carol I thought I should stop making them and use Ensure instead.  She thought I was overreacting, and could solve the problem by putting a lid on it.  I wound up agreeing.
    Carol gets to hear, “You were right.”  She managed to program the universal remote so I can play our dvds on the nice relatively big TV.  It is easy to get discs in and out.  I am unafraid of using water bottles in that chair.
    The present moment is cloudy.

Lunches

1. My care committee did some brainstorming about my transportation issues.  They mentioned I could change my lunch dates with Mary to dinner dates.  That didn’t work out, because we have conflicting commitments.  Mary said she was willing to pick me up and take me some place at lunch time.  We just went to Burgermaster.    The web site Alice set up allows me to request rides.  Alice sent around a letter letting people know about my general need.  I haven’t tried out the system yet, but will soon.     Carol said my blog missed the fact she was going to try to figure out whether she could make the universal remote work with our dvd player.  I think she was unsuccessful, this week. The present moment is mimosa blossom sweet.

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Spills

    Last night I spilled a bottle of zoloft with 14 pills in it.  Fortunately I got them up off the floor, so Pearl the dog isn’t having any unexpected mood changes.  I feel apologetic about having to ask Carol to add counting out my pills to her tasks.  She is a good sport about it.

    Since I’m not able to get to the bus, I am home a lot more than I had been.  Carol had picked up a dvd series of Helen Miren at the BBC.  They go back to 1974 and include some amazing range.  

    Carol thought it would work for me to watch them on our computer.  I had spilled some water on the machine, fortunately without doing any damage.  She suggested I keep the bottle on the other side of the table.  I have an irrational fear I am going to forget and bring the bottles to the computer side.  More rational is that I might hurt the drive getting disks in and out.

    We have a dvd player someone gave us along with our TV.  I hired our friend Michelle to hook it up, since neither Carol nor I knew how to do it.  Michelle had trouble getting the dvd remote to work.  Carol looked at the instructions and they indicated we should be able to use the TV remote to operate the dvd, but it didn’t work.  She also bought a universal remote, and programmed it, but it won’t make the dvd work either.  Carol has an individual dvd player that should work once she finds the cord.  She has put a lot of effort into this problem.  Meanwhile, I am watching Law and Order on Netflix.

    Carol also turned me on to The Hour, a TV program about the beginning of the BBC.  It is great.  I’m caught up on it.

    The present moment is cloudy.

Falls

In the past week, I have had three falls, which is concerning.  One was as I was getting off the bus, when I turned around to say goodbye to the bus driver and forgot to pay attention to my hands on my walker.  Another one was at a Storm game between where the usher took my walker and my seats.  The third one was on my way to Group Health to pick up some medication.  I overshot the bus stop where I was supposed to change buses.  I was in a rush, trying to make the connection.  Carol reminded me I can always wait for another bus.

I had been thinking, when I got to the point that I couldn’t use my walker, I would switch to a scooter.  My social worker told me the controls can be made less sensitive, so my movements wouldn’t be a problem.

Carol pointed out that I have a bit of disorientation that would get me into trouble faster, if I was moving faster.   She also said scooters require curb cuts, which aren’t universally out there.

I have stopped using the bus, since I can’t walk to the stops.  I am going to miss that independence.  Carol told my I qualify for the Access van, because I can’t use the regular bus.  I requested the paperwork, and it turns out to require two forms.  It is another bueurocracy that is going to take some time to navigate.  I understand the vans sometimes take a long time to arrive, since they pick up other people first.

My friend Dick is on an enviable trip to Italy, where he is in touch by email.  When I emailed him about stopping taking the bus, he responded that he is willing to negotiate rides to the gym together.  That is great, because I love getting my endorphins up.

I had to cancel my standing lunch with my friend Mary, because I’m not sure the Access van will be able to get me there close enough to her work schedule.  Fortunately, we also see each other at our monthly writing days.

The present moment is cool.