A day later I would discover a high school friend had been super sneaky in visiting when I was not at home and leaving these birthday wishes.
What a wonderful surprise! Thank you.
What was your last surprise? Do share. You know my readers love your responses.
TBT this week takes me back a month to June when I had the best tour guide in Park City, Utah, my transplanted Little Rock buddy Jo Ann. Of course, we window shopped along with getting me a couple pair of short boots and we ate very well...
A must was taking a pic in front of the Egyptian theater... Herman's Hermits music was coming soon... I would love to be around for the town's International Film Festival some year!
You gotta walk like an Egyptian... Remember that song?
A year ago the Jazzerbuddies held their last Anniversary Salad Potluck in the End of the Rainbow Valley. I sure do miss all those gals and the dance music and exercise we shared through 20 years and most importantly, the comraderie through both good and not so good times...
We enjoyed weddings, anniversaries, retirements, births of the next generation, and my favorite BIRTHDAYs. And we had a lot of July birthdays. And Cari always made sure there were the cakes.
I just opened my card from Cari and inside was this photo of our last celebration in the End of the Rainbow Valley July '21
Thank goodness for Zooming where I can continue to exercise with my homies and sometimes see them as they pass by the camera to say HI.
Know that you are all in my heart today and every day. Here's to another cycle around the sun...
40 years ago my life changed forever because I became a Mom...
By the heatbeat that baby had been proclaimed to be a boy. Well, lo and behold that was not the first time doctors have been wrong... Ms Lori Michelle entered this world arching her back as if to thank us for letting her finally stretch...
I had always mothered my brothers and I started babysitting at eleven years old for other families. All those years of babysitting definitely came in handy but they had never been 24-7 day jobs. This was a job like no other, one of those one learns on one's feet that changes daily. Heck, yearly. Forever...
And the pleasures continue as one watches one's child become a parent... The title of Mom is one I hold dearly and the best job I could have ever been given...
Happy 40th Ms Lori.
Welcome to your new decade.
May you relish all those firsts with your own babies and may the next 40 years not pass so quickly...
XOXO Mom
MONDAY MUSINGS: It is all buddy Kaye's fault due to her posting an 8 year old pic on FB of some Chinese dumplings we had made together during one of my visits home. You see, it is a Chinese birthday tradition to eat these dumplings, filled with meat/fish/vegetables.
I view my wealth in the friends that I have been able to reunite with on this move back home. We try to meet up ever so often when schedules permit.
Four elementary school friends with whom we used to attend each other's birthday parties as kids sat around my dining room table making these schwei (water) jyau (dumplings). Let the tutorial begin.
A quick tutorial in folding had the group using their forefingers to dip in a glass of water to wet the outer perimeter of the circle, placing the contents in its center.
Next, the circle is folded into a half moon shape, pinching the center sides together.
Each end is then pinched in to create a triangle, creating a fold or two.
When the water reaches a boil, the schwei jyau are added and after the 2nd boil, more water is added and repeated after a third boil. The dumplings are removed after the third boil from the pot with a slotted ladle.
The schwei jyau are dipped in sauces. I had made two, a soy sauce-based one and a peanut sauce. For accompaniments were scallion pancakes and bok choy served with white rice. That large rice cooker had not been used in forever!
Kaye even had one for Balto. He did get up to eat it.
Sated? You bet, not only with food but in the wealth of the memories of younger birthdays of celebrating together...
But you know me, every birthday is special, and Birthday week/ month has just begun!
MONDAY MUSINGS : Medical success sometimes has to be viewed as providing some relief even if it does not solve the problem.
I was not the only one wanting out of the hospital, the patient was more than ready to roll after 5 days. Dad had waited since midnight without food until his trasnport finally picked him up to tackle those gall stones at 4:30 pm. The tube had already been placed.
The Doc saw him at 5 and it was then that the word 'maybe' was uttered regarding procedural success. If length of time was an indicator it was obvious that the procedure was not possible. The stones were too large to fit over the lip to carry them down to the small intestine where they could then pass naturally. Yet, when the PA dropped in to check on the patient he had another option concerning using a balloon to open the constriction from below. My Dad was worn out and the thought ob putting him through anything at this time was unconscionable. We were supposed to be leaving. The paperwork was in and Dad had repeatedly said he wanted to go home.
If strength was renewed we might consider the procedure but for now it was time for physical therapy. My brother contacted a different agency and we got a great therapist who takes no lip and gets down to business.
I paid close attention to the therapy session and all the aides have been updated on the regimen. It is going to take some time but little by little my Father's strength will return. He slumps down in his chair even with bolstering.
Does anyone have a special cushion to keep an adult upright?
The swelling in both his arm and right leg are already better. Poco a poco.
If you had to pick your least favorite place to be, where would that be?
It is not a difficult answer for me because if I had a choice I definitely would not have been there so much lately. In fact, the day I had to call my brother and inform him of my decision to go there with my Dad, he actually had to bring me my Dad's wallet.
You might be wondering why I would need my Dad's wallet. Any ideas?
If you guessed the hospital, you are 100% correct.
My Dad had not been feeling well, in fact, the previous day while we were at a musical presentation, my Dad was bent over by the end of the hour. I thought maybe he had fallen asleep but when I persisted in asking him if he was okay, he reluctantly told he had a cramp in his side. Needless to say, we skipped going out to lunch. I got him home without conversation- Not normal for my Dad.
Upon his return home, there was a visit to the restroom with the pain subsiding and his color somewhat returning. I kept him sitting up trying to get him to drink water. He never drinks enough water but asked for some warmed-up milk with his jello snack. Ok, a liquid.
He looked better but exhausted and took his daily afternoon nap on time. His day continued as normal as far as I knew.
The following day we had another LifeQuest class to attend but it was an earlier morning class. I had decided before arriving if he did not want to go, we were not going. He was dressed when I arrived but his color was worse and he was moving very slowly. I asked him how he felt and if he felt like going. His aide responded my brother had come over to take his blood pressure after the night aide called him with concern. It was low, but that is not abnormal for him.
I looked at his color again and discussed with the aide that I felt he was dehydrated. After a couple of calls, I discovered neither his doctor's office nor the urgent care centers give IVs. Hmmmm.
We, my brother included, would be going directly to the ER (emergency room) arriving unknowingly on the day after the hospital had their busiest day ever. One lady had been waiting for a room since early that morning.
Dad's vitals were taken and symptoms discussed. We waited and waited and there was just a handful of folks waiting. Blood work followed as did an MRI and finally an IV which took more than one try.
By midafternoon we were taken into an examination room where he was whisked away to be scanned again. Had the IV done the trick?His color was still off but he seemed better. His heart rate was up but whose wouldn't be?
Then came the consult. Dad would need to stay overnight in the hospital. He had an infection and would receive the antibiotic in the drip and in the morning he would be scoped about a kidney stone issue and to see something else was going on. He would be moved from the examining room when a hospital bed was available. I ran home to get some essentials for him and my brother stayed with him.
I returned and relieved my brother. A hospitalist had visited with my brother. After my brother took off, the urologist who had been practicing 35 years enters with a big smile as it turns out he was one of my Dad's students. He had very good news that big kidney stone was old and not blocking anything. Good news indeed but my Dad would need to still be scoped and drained as something else was going on...
That lockdown lasted 3 hours and I made up my mind during that time, it could be morning before a room was available, I was going home to sleep when that door unlocked. (You see there was just a desk chair in that room for me to sit on. The nurse did promise to contact me when my Dad had a room.
The call never came and when I returned by 7 the following day, his examining bed was emptied and made. You've seen those movies, my heart skipped a beat. I opened the friggin staff only door to stand its doorway to ask about his whereabouts. He had just been moved upstairs.
 |
| The bad drained stuff |
Nothing much would happen as the weekend was upon us. His color returned and morphine made his weekend comfortable but today, Monday, those found gallstones will be blown into his lower intestine to let them pass naturally and a side drain will be installed in case of an emergency.
So the gal who hates hospitals who has had her fill, knows she is not done with hospital visits...
PS Yesterday the cardiologist who will be on his team ran down to say hello as he also was one of his students. His heart will also be in good hands!
When I used to supervise student teachers, I always sought out those local diners. My favorite thing to order was a grilled cheese sandwich with that processed cheese, white bread and hamburger pickles. Yeah, I know a childhood treat.
The Wagon Wheel waitress was so accommodating she even brought me extra pickles to add as many as I wanted to my grilled cheese sandwich but the coup de gras was the dessert touted as a must have: Banana Split Pie. OMG.
It was to die for... Yep, I will be working that off for the rest of the week.
Suggestions for future day trips? Wanna come with?
Last FOTO FRIDAY was WINING & DINING
