Sunday, January 9
We spent all day yesterday doing our spring cleaning in the yard, only to get up this morning and find that winter was coming at us with a vengeance. I had gotten up to help Mother around 4:00 am and saw that it had started raining a little, pretty much the way that had been predicted.
When we woke up later to start the day and get ready for church, we were having rain mixed with ice and it didn’t look as if it was going to get any better. So, we made the executive decision that it was too dangerous to try to get out on the highway between Mineola and Yantis. Barbara texted David to tell him that the combination of Mother’s physical condition and the bad weather was going to keep us away from church this week.
We contacted Sophie to let her know we weren’t going to need her today, let Mother know what was going on, and then returned to bed to alternate sleeping and reading for the rest of the morning.
The rain and sleet started turning into snow later in the morning and by shortly after noon we had nearly an inch of rainfall showing in the rain gauge and close to an inch of snow covering the ice that had accumulated on the ground.
I went outside long enough to take some pictures of the white stuff, but for the most part we just watched the weather through the windows.
Around 5:30 Barbara called for me to grab the camera and come outside. The deer that we saw last week had returned and were even closer to us. They were foraging in the lot to the east of us and the conditions were just right to get some good shots of them. It isn’t unusual for the deer to come out of the nearby woods this time of the year, but they usually don’t get this close to the houses.
Monday, January 10
I was supposed to drive Mother and TJ to an ophthalmologist appointment in Tyler today, but with area schools closed because of bad road conditions, TJ called and got us a new appointment.
Even though the moisture had stopped coming down, it was wet and cold outside, so we spent the day inside working on journals and blogs and catching up on bills and correspondence…just the normal stuff of life, no matter who or where you are.
A couple of phone calls later, everyone was in the loop. Jaycie had a basketball commitment this evening, but Cathey said she would go out to the funeral home and pick up the necklace for her.
This afternoon Barbara called me to bring the camera out for some more photos. We have great masses of blackbirds that circle around the neighborhood, land on a yard, and then take off again in a flutter of wings and rush of air. At this particular time, the birds had landed out in the field just to the northeast of us and showed a marked contrast between themselves and the snow that lay in the field. The photos can’t do justice to the number of birds in the flock, but it sure is easy to pick them out.
After buying a couple of rolls of wrap, I drove out to Holiday Villages, checked to see that all systems on Big V were safe, and then tried to add the additional layer of insulation over what I had installed in December, but the hose was still buried under snow and the wrap wouldn’t stick if I uncovered the hose, so I decided to leave well enough alone. I did, however turn off the water at the standpipe and shut down the ice maker in the freezer so it wouldn’t keep the gears churning.
Tuesday, January 11
Mother was supposed to get a perm this morning, but Leslie, who had just returned from Monterey, Mexico, for a visit with her in-laws, called to say that she wasn’t going to be able to work in the shop today and rescheduled for tomorrow.
We took advantage of the extra time to fix a big breakfast and do some major housecleaning…it was still too cold to do anything outside, so the inside got the benefit.
Keith, Mother’s physical therapist, came by for an hour this evening to give Mother a workout. Keith, like everyone else who has been sent by At-Home Healthcare, is very dedicated to his clients, is a true professional, and is a lot of fun to visit with.
No football games tonight…what to do? I’d say nothing, but we seem to keep busy no matter what’s on the agenda!
Wednesday, January 12
Today was just a plain vanilla day…took Mother to see Leslie for a perm and manicure…that took several hours. Barbara and I worked around the house while Mother was gone.
Mother was exhausted when she returned from the beauty shop, but she did take time for us to snap a few photos of her new “do” and hands. When Mother told us to set up the appointment for the perm, Barbra decided that a manicure would be a gift from us, since neither of us can do much with nails. As soon Mother came back into the house, Barbara was waiting with the camera to “seize the moment.”
Thursday, January 13
Today was a busy time of activities for Mother. First, the speech therapist, Mary Knight, came over from Tyler to do an evaluation; Mother has had more problems with choking and coughing lately. When we asked one of the nurses what we should do, she recommended a speech therapist, who, we found out, does a lot more than just working on speech. Everything that happens in the mouth is connected and related, so Mary will help Mother learn how to use the muscles in her face and mouth to improve swallowing habits. By the time Mary was finished, Barbara and I felt that we had attended a graduate class in human physiology. I even asked Mary when she got ready to leave if she was going to charge us for auditing the course.
When Mary was finished and we got Mother settled in for the morning, I went to see Leslie to get my hair cut. It wasn’t out of control yet, but I was getting close to that point of going one day to long.
Barbara and I left with Mother at 12:45 for the drive to Tyler to get Mother a CAT scan. Luckily, we knew exactly where we were going since the radiology department we were using is one floor above the neurologist’s office.
When we got there, we got Mother registered and then settled down in the waiting room. They had told us when we made the appointment that it would take about thirty minutes for the procedure, so we came armed with our books to help kill the time.
After a couple of minutes of waiting, the technician called for Mother. I pushed the wheelchair to the radiology lab, helped get Mother on the table, and then turned to go. I asked the technician how long she thought it would take and she said maybe two minutes at the most. I said we’d been told at least thirty minutes and she replied that they have new equipment that has really cut down the time and made the procedure more efficient.
I waited across the hall for a couple of minutes, sneaking glimpses of the monitor that was showing what the technician was taking pictures of and sure enough, she called me back in to get Mother off the table and out of there. It took longer to get Mother’s coat off and back on than it did to do the procedure…what a blessing.
On the way home we stopped at Long John Silver’s in Lindale for some takeout meals and then returned to the house to eat and then settle in for an afternoon and evening of not much of anything worth reporting.
Friday, January 14
Today was a “date day” for us, the first since December 20. We got Sophie to come stay with Mother for the day and we just drove around, doing not much of anything in particular except enjoying the beauty of the countryside and seeing what there was to be seen.
Before we left, we asked Sophie to take some pictures of us all decked out in “real” clothes.
Happy Birthday to Barbara’s sister, Nancy Hargrave, in Cleburne, Texas!!!
Tomorrow’s rain came in this morning. It was cold and rainy all day so there was nothing to do but begin a deep cleaning of the house. We did that until early afternoon when we finally called it quits and settled in for a meaningless afternoon of TV and computer time…hardly worth writing about, but we needed to fill the space for a boring day. (We don't do well confined indoors!)
Not only did we get the bed moved into place, but after checking TJ’s computer we found that she has no word program; so no wonder she can’t open written attachments. Told her that would have to wait for another day when we found an installation disk for her.
Back home to vegetate for the night!
“We may not be able to control events, but we can control our attitude toward them.” – Our Daily Bread
Soggy in Mineola,
Jim/Dad/Gramps & Barbara/Mom/Grams
