After a break

After eight days in the hospital (👎) I am finally home (👍). Not eating food yet, unless you consider broth a meal.

I missed my resident mischief maker. I took two pictures just now I wanted to include on this page, but I couldn't find them.

Still up to her nonsense, but  Tulip missed me too. She is more affectionate. For most of yesterday, she slept on my lap. 

Not so much today. 

I heard various things falling from the kitchen counter behind me.  There are four things found on the floor; a plastic drinking glass didn't fit in the shot.

Tulip was once again pushing the toaster lever up and down. At least it is not plugged in.

My plans for the next few days include ordering groceries for delivery and driving to Cleveland (North Carolina) to pick up my warranty-repaired leaf blower (for the second time).

Hopefully, I'll be able to eat by Thanksgiving. 🦃 I'm not cooking.

#Tulip

#Tulip_tales

Death of the Remote

Today I went to the Benson Center for Active Aging an hour late for a free volunteers' lunch. I brought home a cup of unsweetened iced tea.

Sitting in my chair, I noticed that the Amazon TV remote had moved...

...half-way into the iced tea. 

I'm not going to blame Tulip for it. It could have been my negligence that caused the soaked electronics.  So I took out the two batteries and inverted the remote to let the tea drain out. It was amazing to see how much liquid was in there! Two paper towels were used to mop up the cavity.

Now I'm leery of using the remote at all. Should I put it in a bag of rice?

Or just go to Scrabble and hope the remote will work when I get back home?

...to be continued.

#Remoteterror

#Remotelytea

#ClickerTdoff

NCWN Conference

Just got home from Wrightsville Beach (or was it Wilmington Beach)?  Dr. Wanda and I shared a room and split hotel costs. We had a wonderful time, we met a lot of authors, and I ate a lot of food. 

On Friday, we ordered dinner from a menu without prices. We knew it would be expensive; it was a Hilton Resort, after all. The dinners were $40 plus tax. After tip, my shrimp and garlic grits cost $50. They were delicious!

Saturday we had three individually-chosen classes, which was fine. Entertainment for the evening was square dancing. Wanda and I were happy to watch many attendees do the Virginia Reel and do-si-do in the first square dance.  Neither of us volunteered to go out on the dance floor. Just like the grammar school teacher wrote on my report card, "The student does not follow directions."  

Wanda and I took part in an Open Mic. I was the only one to sing my rendition of Morning Has Broken.

I did not sleep well on Saturday night, 💤  😴  💤  😪 💤  but I thought little of it. Until...

1.    I got scalded by the paper cup of coffee I'd prepared when it lost its lid. Coffee splashed on a few old copies of the Greenville Review (which, thankfully, were free). I got help in mopping up my mess.

2.    Then I returned to the Lumina ballroom to eat my breakfast. Spilled my coffee AGAIN. Got help in mopping up that much-larger mess. Was a bit drowsy during the agents' panel discussion.

3.    Got too comfortable in the next class about freelancing. Luckily, there was much less coffee to spill in there; at least it was now a drinkable temperature. I felt like asking the person next to me if I had snored. 

4.    In the last class of the day, I felt as if I were a full-on narcoleptic. My pen must have fallen from my hand at least eight times. Wanda sat beside me in this class. She said I wasn't snoring. 

On our way home, we stopped at a Wendy's for lunch. That must have revived me because I drove us back to Benson without incident.

I checked my sleep score on the MyAir (CPAP) app; last week I had 2 incidents an hour; total sleep averaged 80%. Saturday's score was 41% and I experienced twice as many events per hour. 

I feel ready for a nap right now, at 7pm.  🛌

 

Mercy Me!

I am going crazy over how many computer passwords I have. Google password isn't the biggest help either. Among the "my charts files," do I use the same password for every health system?

MyChart (capefearvalley)

myhcnnetwork

mymedicare    (obviously SSN)

myuncchart.org

I try entering the last known successful password, but something inevitably goes wrong. Now I'm totally unsure which hospital or network the myhcnnetwork is supposed to be.

I go back and forth between my passwords, getting the second notification messages, etc. 

Nothing seems to work. Then I am rejected and have to start anew. At that point, I give up. 

Outgoing Mail

 

This envelope was sitting on a counter, minding its own business. It has since been taped up, ready to go into a mailbox. 

Tulip is unbelievable!

Mom Slips and Slides

Tulip enjoys flipping over her food bowl, which frequently ends up on the floor. And of course, the mat under the dish also gets flipped whether or not her bowl is still on it. This should have alerted me that this was a transferable skill Tulip might replicate elsewhere. 

I'd noticed Tulip liked to grab and drag the rubber mat in my shower (not while the water was running). It was amusing while, simultaneously, I was totally oblivious to the dangerous implications of her actions.

Unbeknownst to me, the rubber anti-slip mat had been flipped. When I took a shower a few days ago, I was surprised when the bathmat slid beneath my feet. 

How it usually works: The plastic mat's top section is as smooth as a baby's behind. Its suction cups on the reverse side attach the mat to the shower floor. 

However:  I was standing on the bottom side, feeling many ridges under my feet. The mat's slippery top was now face-down. It was quite possible that (knowing me, just as likely) I could end up on my behind.  

Now:  I need to get behind Tulip's motivation. Is she trying to kill me or what?

Is Tulip hungry or just needy?

Yesterday I was trying to speak with a customer service rep. As is her style, Tulip was making a pest of herself by getting into the dishes, batting at the venetian blinds, and dumping stuff off of tables. Those are the same actions a two-year old toddler would make: "Mommy, listen to me!" 

I apologized to the person on the other end of the phone as I ushered the cat into my bedroom and closed the door. 

Finally, PEACE REIGNS (if only for the duration of a brief telephone call)!

~~

Today between 4:30 and 5:00 PM, Tulip began to act up, as if she needed more food. Wanted is more like it. Of course, some kibble remained in her bowl. Thinking to myself, "This'll show her," I made a point of emptying her bowl onto her placemat. Was she even watching me?

Suddenly, Tulip was no longer interested in eating. Instead, she took a nap.

😼

This got me wondering. Is Tulip lazy, not wanting to fight to get at the kibble sitting on the bottom of her slow-feeder bowl?

In about an hour, I'll refill her dish as I heat up leftovers for dinner. Hopefully, Tulip will have eaten some more food by then. Right now, she's making a point of ignoring it and me.

When I judge Tulip's behavior, there are at least three justifications: 

1. She might be hungry, 
2. She may require my attention simply because she is needy, OR
3. She is just being an obstinate two-year-old.

More justifications may exist, but I'm no Cat Whisperer. Your guess is as good as mine.

Latest Nonsense

I haven't had time to document Tulip's escapades.

About to change batteries in one smoke detector, I had four new batteries on the stepladder tray. The stepladder had a temporary home by the TV.  (Apparently, I am a procrastinator). Tulip stood on the TV table and she picked off one battery after another. I left them where they landed.

Next, I was sitting in my office working on my laptop. When I turned around, I was surprised to see a partially eaten roll of paper towels. Did she find the paper towels in the kitchen (assuming I forgot to store the roll in the microwave)? 

Checking my microwave, the roll of paper towels was still in place. I walked back to the office, I looked at the laundry basket full of my cleaning lady's rags, cleaning chemicals...and paper towels. So I added her paper towels to the microwave.

#Tuliptales

#tulipcat

Evidence of My Sloppiness

 This morning...

I moved the paper towels beside the microwave while it was in use. Obviously, I had forgotten to put them back inside the microwave. 

#Tuliptales

#Tulipeatspaper

Tulip's Actions in 3 Rooms

OFFICE ACTION:

I already explained Tulip's forays into the wheeled wagon so she could eat the fabric/ cardboard bin inside of it. That's just an appetizer. I keep finding pieces of cardboard in the living room.

From there, Tulip will dump the waste bin - especially fun if there's appetizing paper inside. 

When she hears my printer whirring, she runs to investigate. I have to be faster than her to collect untasted printouts. 

While I was sitting at my laptop yesterday, Tulip kept climbing on the printer table to figure out the best angle from which to nosh on the documents saved within a dozen file folders. She tried walking behind the printer to see if that was a good route. She tried (unsuccessfully, I might add) to get her body between the printer and the stack of folders at the left. By facing the documents, there were several loose pieces of paper. Much too enticing.

Done: Spoiled Tulip's fun by putting the files inside one of the two drawers beneath the printer. 

Nearly Done: Repurposed the file folder organizer to cover lots of loose papers. I will have to go in-depth to organize the chaos within the plastic bin.

#

KITCHEN ACTION: 

Today, in another attempt to get my attention, Tulip tried exploring the dishes. I inverted the dishwashing tub over the dirty dishes in an attempt to stop that. But I still heard dishes rattle. When I got out of my chair, this is what I found. Dirty or clean, no dishes are safe from Tulip's inspection.

#

LIVING ROOM ACTION:

Tulip keeps trying to flip her full food dish from its place atop a living room table onto the floor. My back greatly prefers having her eat at table-height. If her cat food dish gets put in the fridge temporarily (in an attempt to dissuade her actions), it makes no never-mind to her. The second her food bowl is placed on the table, Tulip immediately tries to bounce, move and upend the dish onto the floor. 

Solution (for Tulip): I moved the bowl to the floor.  (Tulip scores another WIN!)

Solution (for me):     Deal with it and move on.

Tulip's water bowl is probably too heavy for her to move the same way as her food dish. Tulip often plays with the water by putting her two front feet in it, She paws the surface like a toddler in a bathtub. Maybe she prefers to have that bowl on the floor as well. 

This time, I win! (At least for now).

#

#tulipdishes

#tulipeats

#tuliptheterror

#tulipthecat

What happens when I let the fence down?

 

Need I say more?

OUR New Toy...and then some!

Last week, my latest 'toy' was delivered: a fancy foldable cart, pictured at the middle of this post. It's in my office for now, because I lack the expertise in folding it.

ANYWAY, the very existence of the cart rekindled Tulip's penchant for eating paper and cardboard. When I turned around from my seat at the desk, I saw chunks of cardboard on the floor and in the cart itself.

All I could think was... when Tulip is too quiet,

 it's time to be worried!

What is in the cloth box? Just some books I plan to donate to Selma Library when they reopen.

~~

You may ask, "What's with this post's title '...and then some'?"

Well, it's been a busy Saturday. My Medical Guardian necklace needed recharging, so I put it on a coffee table. I heard something fall to the floor. (I'm always hearing stuff falling to the floor). Yup, Miss Tulip was up to her regular nonsense. 

Then I put the charger and the necklace on the floor, where it cannot fall. 

Yup, that's where I should have put the items in the first place. 

Will I ever learn?

I thought I'd be writing 3 Tulip chapbooks, but...

...the cost of doing that would be prohibitive. My editor suggested another path which I'll present to my writing group on Thursday. It's an online process that makes a published virtual blog book. I'm not convinced it will gain me more readers.

Although the jury's still out, I may end up just publishing one book, The Trouble with Tulip.

Tulip Hit the Office

Tulip knocked over my cup of pens and pencils. A minor nuisance, but a pain nonetheless.

👵+😸

Stay tuned - 10 ISBNs from Bowker

• I've alerted my editor that three chapbooks will be forthcoming. 

• I just bought 10 ISBNS from Bowker.

• This is how I envision the book covers will look. Of course, it won't appear to be so minimalist-looking. A different font and background colors will be used for each volume. 

Tulip Offers Fashion Advice

When I last went to San Francisco - Geez, I don't remember how long ago this was - I needed to buy a sun visor. Riding with my family into the California sun was blinding, so we went souvenir shopping on Fisherman's Wharf. 

One particular store was selling two visors for the price of one. I only needed one - I was ready (albeit reluctant) to shell out $15 for one in AQUA. "Why not buy this PINK one as well?" the clerk asked me.                                                

"Because I only have one head. Why don't you sell me one visor at a discount?"                                               

Since apparently they calculate math differently on Pier 39, I ended up buying two sun visors, neither of which has gotten much use to this day.                    

Until last week.                                                    

Tulip had unearthed the blue visor from my rack of garden tools by the back door. She was trying to say, "Mom, your hair is too white. You need to wear this visor!"

Hmm... I gave the suggestion some thought. Then I picked the hat up off the floor and put it away. 

 Cats don't see color, right?  

Upon reflection, I wondered:  Should I really consider taking fashion advice from my cat?                                                 

And, just to set the record straight: the DMV says my hair color is GRAY. I much prefer to think of it as PLATINUM.

In the middle of the night...

...most people wake up to answer Nature's call.

Not me.

I get up when I hear Tulip messing with the venetian blinds. (Yes, she's that loud).

If the blinds are down even a quarter of the way, I pull them up completely.

As long as I'm not in the kitchen or living room, Tulip can be on display in the fishbowl also known as our house.

Tired of Doctor Visits

It all began eleven months ago with a visit to the dentist. My dry mouth made that particular dental cleaning pure hell. The inside of my mouth could not "open wide" because it was full of ulcers. I was referred to a dental specialist for whom I had to wait two weeks. Then off to a Raleigh oral surgeon a few more weeks later.  All had hinted they would do a biopsy; none did. I was prescribed Magic Mouthwash, which I still use today. I can no longer eat sharp, crispy foods, or tomatoes, strawberries and peaches. They all cause me pain, as if were chewing on glass.

The latest diagnosis guessed from this year's dental exam was Sjogren's Syndrome. The dental technician said my mouth sores look exactly like Oral Lichen Planus (either condition can lead to cancer). 

My GP ran a few tests that ruled Sjogren's out, but I do have some type of lupus. Lupus is an autoimmune disease where, in my case, my body cannot produce moisture. Ergo, dry eyes plus dry skin.

Last week, I went to the dermatologist. It was an emergency visit for which I had to wait months. My skin was so dry, there were flakes of dandruff all over my face. Contact dermatitis and eczema covered most of my body. This doctor took a biopsy. Hopefully, I'll learn the results by next Monday, when I have the stitches removed. In over a week's time, I've made amazing progress. It's not obvious to others, but I am no longer scratching myself bloody from the insane itching. Prednisone is largely credited.

Yesterday I met with a rheumatologist for the first time because of the lupus diagnosis. My latest prescriptions are likely aggravating my dry-everything. The visit ended with more blood work being taken. What I have may still be Sjogren's. One test may have ruled out what yesterday's battery of tests will prove. I return there in three weeks, maybe with two answers.

As to my unsteadiness on my feet where I sometimes do an unscripted choreographed Doh-Si-Doh dance, that falls under the purview of a neurologist. When I have my next TeleMed visit with my GP, I'll need to ask for a referral.

Coming up, I'll visit my psychiatrist. The meds she prescribed may be affecting me too. Why the hell not? 

A New Project or Book

I've made so many blog posts in the last two years; mostly about Tulip. She remains a constant source of frustration, irritation, combined with such delight, that it cancels out all negatives. So, this evening I'm compiling all the posts I hope you will enjoy.

The working title is The Trouble with Tulip.

Like my cleaning lady said on Monday, "Tulip! I just cleaned that table!"

#Tulip

#Tulipbookhat table

#mischievouscat

What do you think?

I was playing around with ideas for a fourth book. The draft of my third book is being critiqued this month.

What I wrote started as a poem, then it evolved into different keywords to characterize Tulip's traits.

Here's what I have so far:

The Trouble with Tulip

To me, there are few cats worth writing about;

Of the many the felines I’ve known in my life,

Only two were worthwhile that I’d want to tout.

The first one was Liberty; who wrote his own Scrapbook.

The second is Tulip, my roommate, is currently… (I ran out of rhymes)

Tulip is:

Naughty in the nicest of ways

Mischievous, but forgivable

Forever unforgettable

Incorrigible - most like a teen

Gets into trouble like I’ve never seen

Always tests limits, especially mine.

Friendly to all, even to strays

No scaredy-cat, Tulip. She's spiced up my days.

Being curious hasn't killed her (as of yet)

I'm not sure if the world needs another children's book about cats.

Maybe I will just immortalize Tulip with a poem.

Any thoughts?

I got scared, for real!

Last Monday I took Tulip to the vet, as I've told you.

What I didn't tell you is that evening, Tulip seemed fine. I expected her to be lethargic after she had her annual shot. But she seemed OK.

But on Tuesday, I couldn't find my cat in her usual places, which was worrisome. I kept calling Tulip's name. No response. I  even rattled her food bowl. Not a meow was heard, nor did she run to me.

I thought, "Maybe she died. The vet's shot poisoned her or something!"

🙀

Eventually, I did locate Tulip hunkered down beneath the office desk. I petted her and cooed sweet nothings to her.  Nothing would get her to move. All day, she did not use the litter box once or even get a drink of water. That rattled me!

Never before have I missed my mischief maker as much as I did that day.

FINALLY, around 10pm, Tulip rejoined the living. What a relief!

How I cook has changed

Guess why? (You don't have to think very hard to get the answer)

    Tulip could get burned,

        or lick the spoon,

            or believe that she is a person; 

                therefore, she qualifies to eat people-food.

We went for her annual checkup today. Tulip gained over two pounds in the past year. 

I still have two unopened thirteen-pound bags of kitten chow. I'll donate them to the animal shelter the next time I am in Smithfield. 

Her new food will be a brand of indoor cat food. We still have a way to go before the open bag of kitten chow is finished.

On Open Letter to My Cat

Dear Tulip, my love ~

I look forward to a certain time in the evening. 

All of your "piss and vinegar" will have diminished to the point when you are sleeping soundly.

It is 9:15pm as I write this. All evening, you have been launching yourself at the living room venetian blinds. I'll yell at you (which is totally ineffective) or try to spray you with a water bottle. Nothing really fazes you, does it?

You bounce from the back of the recliners, then run like lightning into the hallway and back again onto your perch at the back of my chair.

You do take a pause in your shenanigans... once you knock off the plastic dish that covers the fire extinguisher. 

Why is it covered in the first place? Because when you jiggle the metal pieces on top, my nerves get jangled. I had hoped you would leave the darned thing alone because...well, you shouldn't realize it was still there. But covered or not, your curiosity remains.

It is time for me to acknowledge the fact that you are probably smarter than me. 

Love,

Mom

Sing to Cat Stevens' Tune

Morning has Broken

Lyrics by Barbara Crowley, with apologies to Cat Stevens

(Chorus)

Morning has broken

Someone, please fix it.

It’s known as day-break,

(Just so you know).

Cowbells are ringing,

Happiness springing,

So I am singing,

Like it - or not.

(Verse 1)

Afternoon’s too late to

Work in the garden.

Suffering heat stroke’s

Not my best plan.

Praise for the climate

In North Carolina;

Sure beats the winters

Spent living up north.

(Verse 2)

Evenings mean prime time

For watching the Bøøb Tube.

Network and cable,

Netflix and Prime.

All the subscriptions to

Disney and Hulu

Are costing me money,

And broken the bank.

(Chorus)

Morning has broken

Someone, please fix it.

It’s known as day-break,

(Just so you know).

Cowbells are ringing,

Happiness springing,

So I am singing,

Like it - or not.

Tulip's Getting on My Last Nerve...

There are three ways my sweet puddy cat has worn out her welcome today.

One:     I am TRYING to write my novel, but Tulip keeps laying behind my laptop. If she just would stay still, I'd be okay with that. But she s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s out her body, oh so luxuriantly. (This reminds me of how my Dalmatian used to edge me off the bed.) Meanwhile, the laptop disconnects and I must enter my password all over again. Today I've lost the connection four times so far! (Grrrr!) 

Two:    Tulip keeps threatening to overturn her very full food dish off the table. I watch her like a hawk. Sometimes I may even screech like one, just to quell her urge to spill.

Three:    I took her bowl away (temporarily; I'm not a monster), just to see what she would do. Tulip started upending the plastic mat below her dish and munching on the brown plastic pieces on the sides of the table.

Now she's sulking.

Paper munching

Diane H is my new cleaning lady (not that I had an old one). She was referred to me by my Scrabble buddy, Diane M.

On Monday, Diane H learned first-hand about Tulip's penchant for any kind of eating paper. She caught my cat in the act of daintily eating the check I had slipped into her purse.  

Today, Diane M retold this story to me at our weekly Scrabble club. So, my little stinker made a lasting impression on our shared resource.

Tulip's fan base may be growing (or shrinking) with every person she meets.

A fishbowl life

I recently replaced four venetian blinds because not-just-Tulip wrecked the old ones. What's nice about the new blinds is they don't have the cords for kids and pets used to get caught in.

Well, Tulip likes to mess with the new blinds. During the day, I roll the blinds all the way up so she can't get at them. At night, however, I prefer to have the blinds DOWN. I don't want to live in a fishbowl, but it seems that that is my destiny.

On this point, Tulip and I do not agree. 

Even if I lower the living room blinds half-way, she'll jump behind or under them and start to bend the slats. If I'm quick enough to spray her with a water bottle, sometimes I can discourage her.  

Most evenings, two kitchen windows are open all the way. That's OK because I don't spend a lot of time on display. In the living room, I sit in a recliner with windows on either side of me. I'm lucky if the window to my left is 2/3 covered. On the right, Tulip ambushes the blinds from behind my chair, daring me to spritz her. By the time I can react, she's already run out from her hiding spot, just to laugh at me. 

😸   😸   😸   😸   😸   😸   😸   😸   😸   😸    

M👱m doesn't like this game. 

Unlike me, Tulip LIKES living in a 🐠bowl.

Yup, as usual,Tulip wins.

More Tulip-Inspired Hacks

Do you remember me telling you about Tulip's annoying habit of nudging her food bowl off the table? That was fine in the beginning because the bowl was always empty. No big deal, right?

Then she continued to do so when there was still food in her dish. Kibble spilled everywhere! That's not cool, Tulip!

Had to replace the strip of wood that had been on the right hand side of the table because Tulip kept munching on it (I worried about her ingesting glue). Then I installed a plastic wire cover from Dollar Tree to the right side. It was an ingenious idea, except she started pushing her bowl towards the front of the table. The messes continued.

Now the table has two sides with the plastic strips which act like a baby bumper. Adding the border to the front edge has curtailed the previous bowl escapades. A qualified success!

Oh, dear! Tulip was here.

When I first walked into the kitchen this morning, this is what I found:

Overnight, the rubber bands that held the door closed, snapped somehow. 

Do you think that Tulip had something to do with the open doors? My little Tulip? Of course I do.

I had to rearrange the contents because the yellow bag of kitten chow was poking out from the bottom shelf.  

Waiting for me

Enthusiastic dog owners gush about how their pet happily greets them upon their return home. Well, dogs are not the only critters who look forward to welcoming their folks home.

My office window faces the driveway. Unlike your basic canine, she never loses her dignity for a single slavering second. No, she remains poised.

When Tulip hears my car approach, she jumps up on a cedar chest to stare at me and meow. She exudes a calm confidence as I approach the house. To her, this means that the dinner dish will soon be filled. 

She's at it again

Normally when I take a shower, Tulip gets as close to me as she can. She'll poke her head between the cloth shower curtain and the vinyl one. Or else she'll patiently wait for me to come out of the shower, sitting innocently on the toilet seat. 

For some reason, she just realized the presence of the toilet paper roll. You know, PAPER!!! 

Tulip chewed through about four pieces. I guess, going forward, I'll have to relocate the active roll to the top shelf on my étagère (where the unused rolls reside). 

Or I could shut the bathroom door. The trouble with that is I could end up with a depressed or super-meowy kitty cat.

🙀

Don't Trust the Clock

After the change from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time, the custom is to adjust all clocks by an hour. 

Not me. 

The bedside clock is too difficult for me to remember which buttons to push. I'd do the math in my head, whichever way, to get the actual time.* Usually, this scheme works well. This season, I knew that whatever time was displayed, I would need to add an hour. It has been a workable system...until this morning.

The alarm clock read 2:00,  (I assume PM).*  I would have to leave the house by 12:30 to make it on time to Telling Our Stories. I thought, Well, I missed it.

That's what I get for snoozing. I overdid it today. 

Time to change the batteries.

⏰

* Uh-oh; me and math are a dangerous combination

* When you assume, it makes an ASS out of U and ME.

I'm falling apart

A week after falling in the library's parking lot, my back pain was no better. I woke up Thursday and kept having dizzy spells. I decided it was time to go to an ER to see what was going on inside my body.

The left half of my face is a mix of deep purple and a sickly shade of green.

Against my better instincts, I drove to Betsy Johnson Hospital in Dunn because it was closer to home and I did not need to use a highway to get there. (I'm not totally stupid). The experience was surprisingly uneventful (I've always preferred to go to Smithfield).

Granted, I spent a good six hours there. Had two CAT scans of my head and middle back. The results are: no stroke, my orbital bones are intact, and the bones in my back are only bruised. The vertebrae is compressed, so the bones are shifting. My bones are degenerating and I can't do a thing about it except maybe wear a back brace. That's good news, right? Nothing being broken is a win for me.

Then I thought:  

• This is the end of me mowing my own grass.
• This is the 2nd week I've asked my neighbor to mow it for me.   
• This is the end of my performing gardening chores.

AND

• I either need to hire a cleaning lady (because I'm a lazy housefrau).

                                                                                OR

•  I need to find an affordable senior apartment so I won't have any yard chores, period.
• Here? In Selma? In New Jersey?
• Those are frightening things to consider.

I need to discuss this with my son. Tomorrow.

#agingsucks

#aginginplace

#seniorlaments

The color purple

 

The color purple is not my favorite. 

I usually look good in dark colors. 

Not this week.

 

Thursday, I fell outside of the Smithfield Public Library. 

On concrete. 

Right before a meeting.

911 was called. An ambulance came.

The EMTs checked my vitals. 

They placed a large pad over my bleeding forehead.

I refused their kind offer of a ride to the hospital. 

Now I wonder if I made the right choice. 

There's a sharp pain on my left shoulder blade.

Did I bruise or break a rib? 

Should I go to a hospital's ER to check it out? 

Four days after a fall?

Using a heating pad feels OK while I'm seated in a chair. 

Getting out of a chair is a completely different story.

The only thing I'm sure of is that PURPLE is NOT my color!

#blackeye

#seniorfail

#seniorfall

#oopsie

Change of Plans

Tulip's new container of food had been stored on its side in the fridge  (the only way it can fit.) When the bin is full, it's too heavy for me to pick up. (Lawdy me; ah'm just a weak li'l woman!) 

Today was the second time the plastic top came off.  Uh-oh!

😺

    Ten 

        pounds 

            of 

                kibble

                    spread 

                        inside, 

                            outside,

                                and 

                                    under 

                                        the 

                                            fridge. 

Don't want or need dry cat food in the keep-fresh bins.

I swept up what I could. I'll vacuum later. In the meantime, Tulip will help me spot-clean up any scraps she finds. 

It should come as no surprise, the refrigerator needs a good cleaning. 

Sure wish I had a maid.

NEW PLAN FOR NOW: 

The food container sits upright on my bedroom dresser.