What's up?

Newest Entry:

blurple adj. of a bluish or blackish purple.

The quotes for that word are...interesting.

ANYWAY. I took my fire-ant bitten feet to the allergist yesterday...actually, I had to go for shots anyway. I asked the nurses about my 3-week-old bug bites--which are still waking me up at night itching like crazy. They said that clearly fire ants are especially toxic to me, and they lowered the dose of my shots so I wouldn't be as likely to go all anaphylactic on them. Still, the one they did in my left arm is SORE this morning! Allergies suck.

I meant to blog about this last week, but at this point I'll just mention it in passing...June 22 was my parents' 65th wedding anniversary. It's amazing how much has happened in the last 15 years. It never occurred to me till this year that I got married the week after my parents' 45th anniversary. Clueless me.

But, speaking of Mom, I got an email from my sister yesterday. It reads, in part:

Went to see Mom today and quizzed her about the physical therapy she has received the past two weeks [while my sister was out of town]. She could tell me very little that they had done includ[ing] NOT helping her learn to stand up better. They evaluated her swallowing, gave her a "sheet" explaining how her meals should be changed, but gave no copy to [the assisted-living facility] staff (who prepare the meals).

Finding out that the staff ... did not know she was getting therapy, I ... requested a care meeting... We will meet with appropriate staff [today] at which time we will discuss with Mom in attendance some of the following issues:

1. Mom's desire to remain [where she is living now]....
2. the lack of appropriate physical therapy... [The director] does not think much of the crew from the hospital out-patient provider ... and will help us obtain more appropriate therapy covered by Medicare
3. Mom's swallowing and chewing problems
4. [long paragraph about an issue which I'm not prepared to discuss here, but it's a big part of why getting old has brought a loss of dignity and independence for Mom; it's now beyond embarrassing, it's affecting her health]
5. the side effects of #ffex0r... [a newish med she's been taking]
6. the new complaints by Mom of her right knee/leg which don't seem stable enough to allow her to walk much, [her] speech which seemed better today, and [post-]stroke needs.

[Mom] is certainly still very tuned in to what is going on around her. She is listening to audio tapes and watching Rockies baseball. Sometimes she plays Pokeno and listens to the activity director ... read a story.

...

We will also talk about any increased charges that [facility] might make for extra services and I need to let Mom know that nursing home care would be more expensive than those extra services anyway.

All of which goes to show that allergies may suck, but getting old blows.

I work the 12-9 shift today, so Sparky is riding in to town for Vacation Bible School (he's a Crew Leader, in charge of shepherding 7 rugrats around the activity stations) with a neighbor and her kids. Yes, the Annoying Neighbor. While he's there, I'm going to work on my LibraryThing account some more.

May you be ready for this day's demands,
and the sounds of peace be a tonic to your spirit.
Console another to find true consolation
and forgive your neighbor to gain your own forgiveness.
Exercise and radiate.

Radiate. Of course. What else?? Forgive my neighbor. Erk--that cuts a little close to the bone.