Some days the Blog just writes itself, other days I really struggle with what to write. Six days a week I never know which it will be when I wake up, my mind automatically transferring my thoughts to the Blog or me going in search of stories to write about. The seventh day is always easy to write. It is Update Day. Easy to write because it is about you, the poster and the reader. I sincerely enjoy having you tell me what is going on in your life. Your concerns. Your joys. Your events. Your Plans. And although it doesn't happen very often I enjoy it when a new reader introduces themselves and we all make a new friend.
This week I was emotionally connected to my to do list. I think I knocked off thirty some items off that magical list. Bought a new lawn mower. Mowed the front lawn. Now I still have the back lawn to mow. A lot bigger and a little more difficult but I have a date with the backyard tomorrow. Then there was my annual physical that concluded I might live a few more years. I use the word annual loosely as I just don't like the pokes and prods that happen during a physical. My last annual one was in 2007. I cleaned the downstairs of my townhouse. Including cleaning the kitchen and bathroom floors. I have a date with the upstairs Sunday. The upstairs is pretty easy to clean because it gets the least use. I just sleep there. There are three bedrooms upstairs but they all stay pretty clean. Being optimistic I want to be prepared in case a wild woman needing a place to stay shows up at my door. Then I did my budget. That was really hard to do because there are so many unknowns. I don't really know what my royalties from the sale my practice will be until I actually get the check. That should be today or Monday. Then I don't really know how much I will receive from the just completed job because I get a third of what they billed on my projects. I won't know what I earned until May 10. So much up in the air. Including my life.
Speaking of the job. I was called into work this week to complete a job that I had started before April 15. The reason I didn't finish the job before I left was there was a missing document that a third party was to provide. When the firm called me to come in I just assumed that they had received that document from the aforementioned third party. I mean it was in my outlook task list, noted right there what I was missing. There was also a paper note on the file about what I was missing. So being an idiot I didn't bother to ask them "do you have the document I need to prepare the return." Next time I will because they didn't have it so my excursion into work wasn't necessary. However, I handled it in a professional manner. Also focusing on the good. The big boss said to me "You, know it is really good to see you again." He usually never says anything like that. Then one of my favorite people, young T. was really upset about them not checking things out before having them call me to come in. I told him to relax that coming in wasn't near as demanding as being at Mom's.
Speaking of Mom. There were two nights at her house. Taking her grocery shopping twice. Taking her to get her drugs. Taking her out to dinner once, lunch once. Fixing her a dynamite lunch once. Bringing take out home once. Playing several games of Scrabble with her. I'm getting better because I even won a couple of games. Watching Dancing With The Stars with her. DWTS is her favorite show. I actually really enjoy watching it with her. One of the reasons I love DWTS is it is a show a couple generations can watch together without anyone getting embarrassed. The only time I get embarrassed watching DWTS with my over 90 mom is when she tells me she would like to take Gilles out behind the barn.
OK, the Blog is now yours. Tell me everything. All your Secrets! Ask me anything and maybe I will tell you my secrets!
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18 comments:
This is really more a comment on your previous post on swine flu, from my perspective in this part of the world. We went through SARS a few years ago, and when swine flu alert went up one notch into orange yesterday, all the procedures that we had during SARS snapped back into place.
At work, operations will be split up into two teams at separate locations from Monday. The idea is that if someone from one team is exposed and people he's exposed to have to go into quarantine, then the other team can take over operations. Also, there are temperature checks once you start your shift.
At the hospitals, there are temperature checks for visitors too, and IDs noted for contact tracing purposes. There's a one visitor per patient rule, and elective surgery has been cancelled. Which means if dad needed the hip replacement today, he'd have to wait. The hospital he's in has no accident and emergency unit, as it's mostly step-down and rehab care, so it's not so ring-fenced.
So for us here, it's all deja vu from the SARS days. Hope everyone is well and safe.
Hmmm, secrets. Sorry, none. Or none I'm willing to un-secret.
Nothing terribly new here. The kids were here, left for a desert hiking trip, and are due back this afternoon for a few days' stay. While they were gone, I womaned up and had the pesky tooth pulled. It didn't hurt at all while he was doing it, of course, and hardly hurt at all later, which is a good thing. It is, however, very weird to have a gap in your mouth, and the dentist tells me I should wait three months before going for an implant. Sigh.
One other interesting thing: I got a call from a woman asking for my mom. I said she couldn't come to the phone and could I help? Turned out she was from Social Security and wanted to do a "home visit". Huh? was my response. How odd. So I told her where mom actually lives and we made a date to meet there on Monday. She wants mom's ID and one other thing stating her year of birth. I have nothing like that, but I figure probably my own birth certificate, which lists her age as 30 in 1936, will do. In the end, I asked her if the purpose is just to be sure my mother is who she purports to be and is really still alive. "Well, yes," she said. For people over 100 years old, they apparently do at least spot checks.
So that's fine. There's a lot of fraud perpetrated on SS and Medicare, and I'm glad they at least check some things out. She was very nice, and I'm sure the visit will be no problem.
Hello to all, I also don't have much to update about or secrets to tell, but will just chime in with a bunch of ramblings.
I have just been lurking here lately as my mind has been elsewhere.
I would like to ask if I may, that you all could send some good vibes, prayers toward my sister in law. She has had a very rough month. I will just say she is having a hard time living life. I told her about you all here and that I was going to ask for some support of some kind, but I just didn't know quite how without going into too much detail. But I believe in the power of prayer and hope I can count on you all. Thanks in advance. :)
I really am wondering about the SS visit with Pat. I had no idea they would actually come to your home? For real? I am so skeptical of just about anything anymore when I get a phone call I would think I would have had to hang up and call the SS directly first before giving out any information. After having identity theft you get really paranoid.
Bill I think you just do excellent on your blog, quit worrying so much you will have worry lines and when the nice wild lady shows up at your door you might scare her away.
Next, my dad had a doc visit today that I didn't go with him on. Terrible of me I know, but I had inadvertently made an appointment for myself around the same time and simply forgot about dad's. (Yes really forgot!) It all turned out ok, he made it there without me and evidently heard all that was spoken to him. So I guess he can still do things on his own without me. Life does go on. Go figure.
Dona, lots of good wishes and vibes coming for your SIL. I hope things get better for her soonest.
Gosh, I never thought to question the SS woman. Duh. But she did say she'd bring ID with her, and it seems unlikely to be a scam. She'll have the SS number, so if she asks for it, then I'll get very suspicious. She also gave me a number, so maybe I'll just make sure that's the number for the local SS office.
Glad your dad managed his doc app't all by himself. They'll fool you sometimes.
Hi Snug
Been wondering about you and your parents.
That is extremely smart to split workers into to teams. As is the temp checks.
I hope your dad emerges safely from the step down hospital and am glad they have a one patient per person rule. It is a little surprising about not having an emergency status.
Hope you are safe and you and yours stay well.
Bill
Hi Pat
I am with Dona my first reaction is it was a scam because I don't think SS calls homes. You are fine if you didn't give out personal information like her social security number. At minimum I'd call the assisted living center your mom is in and see if she tried to contact your mom after you talked. That would be a red flad especially after an appointment had aldeady been scheduled.
Congrats on womaning up and having your tooth pooled! I hope glad it is hardly hurting but hope it soon doesn't hurt at all.
Hope the kids enjoy their hiking trip.
Bill
Hi Dona
I love it when you ramble! Thanks for the nice words re my blog but my guess is I would scare any woman away even without worry lines.
Of course your sister in law has all my good vibes, good thoughts, and prayers that things ease up for her and that he life gets easier! And I also believe in the power of prayer. I may mention your sister in law in a new post in a day or two!
Congrats on your dad making to an appointment by himself! Sometimes things happen for a reason and it is good know for both you and your dad to know that he can do things by himself!
I'd still might when he wasn't looking call the doctor and ask if there was anything you should know.
Bill
Bill, you are too funny, I too thought of calling the doc myself. I find that we are a lot alike, we don't want to do all the things we are having to do when it comes to care giving....but we secretly want to make sure they are done correct (or the way we think they should be done.) Its a vicious circle I think in my mind.
And I can't imagine any good woman in her right mind would be scared of you, worry lines or not.
As for the SS dilemma, I worried too if the number was given or if the caller had it? I would surely give them a call just to see if it is legit and maybe have a backup with you on the scheduled visit along with asking for proper ID!
Thanks too for the good wishes/ thoughts/vibes/prayers. I had initially thought to say something on my blog and have you all come there just to comment as she does go to my blog on occasion and I was sure that would lift her up a bit. But I seem to have blogger's block and haven't posted anything on there in a good while. DUH.
So thanks again.
Hi Dona
We are a lot alike. I always call because I don't really trust that mom tells me the truth about what the doctor says and I think she sometimes also forgets what She tells her.
WOW what a nice thing to see to me about any good woman not being scared of me. Made my night!
And we will root for your s-i-l every step of the way.
You guys are making me nervous. First, I didn't give out any information except where my mom actually lives, since we use my mailing address and phone number for her. I did call the number the woman had given me, and it sure sounds like a regular SS office number, with lots of "Press one for this and two for that" options. If it's a scam, they sure went to a lot of trouble. As to taking backup, won't need any, since I'll have the staff at Las Casitas right there.
One thing I found that's kind of interesting. Social Security doesn't appear in the local phonebooks at all, either in Gov't listings or in the white pages. Odd. SS *Disability* has lots of listings. When you look for a phone number online, they don't give you the local office number, just the 800 number.
If I get really antsy about it all, since our app't isn't until 2 p.m., I can drop by the local office earlier and just make sure she really works there. So stay tuned...
I'll probably post results of all this on a later blog comments page.
Hi Pat
By all means let us know how the visit turned out. I'm certainly curious about it and since Dona is my evil twin (OK, I'm her evil twin) I am sure she is curious about it too.
Bill
Yes Pat, I will be curious too. Sorry I was not thinking about the staff being there..duh.
I think if you called and got the recordings that seemed legit its all ok. Just something I never heard of. Like I said I am very skeptical about everything! Good luck.
Whew, miss a couple days and all kinds of things happen here! This is so late, don't know if anyone will even see it.
Bill, you had one busy week. Did you manage any time to sleep, what with attacking your lawn, cleaning house, the time with your mom, the call to work? I was tired just reading about it.
Snug, it sounds like you folks are doing serious preparations. Our CDC (Center for Disease Control) is posting daily updates on confirmed cases, state by state, and posting check lists and prep lists, in the event a pandemic should occur. Your experience with SARS probably has folks doing a lot more prep than we're currently doing here, although there's a tremendous amount of info at the CDC site. I'm not real happy that Himself leaves for TX in the AM, since they have the most reported cases and he's meeting his brother, whose job requires him to periodically interview work crews that are largely Hispanic.
Pat, glad to hear all went well with the kids' visit, the dental work and all. Given you did check the number and got the typical gov't "push the buttons" routine, it sounds legit. As others said, I'd probably only balk if the woman asked for your mother's SSN.
Dona, your s-i-l is added to my prayer list and I hope things will sort themselves out. Interesting about your dad handling his own app't. Like you and Bill, I'd be tempted to call the doc to see if there's anything I should know. Because I always go with Mom, she rarely pays attention, knowing I'm taking notes. That's something my youngest sib needs to be aware of, as I discovered neither of them asked for her vision rating in AZ and it had dropped significantly when we saw the specialist Monday.
I'm so late in checking in, it may be mute. Mom's first week home and we were off to a racomg start. Saw the retina spec on Monday and, as noted above, her vision is failing badly in the right eye, down to 20/100, which is the same as the left eye. Prayers that the injection will start to bring that back up would be appreciated. Tuesday was the dermatologist and I think we're getting the rash under control. At Mom's place every day to apply salve, except Wednesday, when I finished the analysis and got it in the mail. Spent 2+ hours raking and mulching leaves for the front garden on Friday, did the Farmer's Mkt plant show Saturday, then another couple hours raking and mulching. Got the veggies in the lasagna garden. Today got the perennials and annuals in the front garden, except the ones I'm going to use as centerpieces for the reception next Saturday. Did all the laundry and got Himself ready to leave at 4:00 am tomorrow for TX for a week. Got word Monday that my cousin is bringing his mom (Mom's sister) down on Thursday for the reception and Mother's Day and it's to be a surprise (Mom hates surprises). Aunt D expects to stay with Mom. Lake (bro) will be staying with me, obviously, so got the RV all set up for him.
I'll probably have a late check-in next week, also, as company arrives Thursday night, Friday the cousins want to tour the property here (they've never been) and we want to get the room set up for Saturday. The reception Sat, then seven or eight of us for brunch Sunday, they all leave Monday, I think. I have my last two aqua classes to teach next week, hope to get to line dance (I figure I need all the exercise and meditation I can get) and have to get Mom's house cleaned and relatively decluttered and the laundry done and linens changed, plus meet with Comm on Blind and she has a doctor's app't Thursday. Thank the Lord I didn't schedule any editorial work the first two weeks of May!
Hi DR
I see everything! And I am guessing a lot of others too. The can check to see if more comments are on a post then they were before the post.
My preference would be to post every day but sometimes the schedule doesn't allow it and sometimes I can't think of a thing to write about.
I'm hoping and praying for the best of trips for Himself and that he and is brother will stay safe.
WOW what a busy first week of you mom being home! Sorry about the loss of vision. I am so hoping the injections work and her vision improves!
I am glad your cousin is bringing the mom down but I hope your mom isn't surprised!
Man your schedule is extremely busy and we will be anxiously waiting to hear about the party!
Bill
Mom isn't going to be surprised, because I told her today. One, because she doesn't like surprises. Two, because I needed to provide incentive to get all the paperwork and such cleared off the dining room table, the counters and her dresser. Finally, to soften the news that Rhonda (middle sister) will not be coming.
Got all the goodies from the Comm on Blind this AM and I think it may make a positive difference. For one thing, she's got a phone with big buttons, the ability to program three primary numbers into it and just push one of three buttons and it has speaker phone capability, so she can listen and talk hands free. Dang, forgot to pick up a longer coiled cord -- the one on it is way too short. Tomorrow.
Wow DR
You are going to need a vacation when this is all over!
Bill
I plan a quiet melt-down on Monday, the 11th. Company leaves early that AM, Himself gets home late that night. The only thing on the agenda, at this point, is getting the begonias from the centerpieces into the front garden and landscape island and a l o n g workout at the pool!
Hi DR
OK meltdowns are allowed on the 11th, wow that is just next Monday!
Bill
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