Greetings, pixies!
I'm expecting some sad things this week: the friend on hospice is declining rapidly.
I'm also expecting some good things this week: lunch with some friends, and our congregation is celebrating our 140th anniversary this Sunday (good, but means a little extra work).
I'm expecting to whine about all of the above, plus some other things I can't anticipate yet.
How is it with you and yours?
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44 comments:
Thanks for hosting, Esperanza!
I'm sorry about the decline of your friend. Sending love. xoxo
So many hugs, esperanza. I'm really sorry that your friend is declining so quickly.
I hope the church anniversary preparations go smoothly, and that you all have a lovely time.
Confession: I bought E a Halloween costume this year. And I spent a surprising amount of money on it. I've made the past few costumes, using a lot of felt and hot glue, but what was supposed to be an easy costume (space suit) ended up causing me all kinds of stress and frustration. (Really, the biggest issue was trying to find white coveralls, or shirt and pants, etc.) It caused me so much stress, and then I found that my favourite toy company makes nice astronaut play costumes (washable!). Best choice I've made all month was the gift to myself of not stressing over a hot glue gun and sewing supplies.
W: That thing where you've booked yourself and your kid for haircuts, and she's spent half the morning screaming and being defiant, which is super non-ideal for the plan of bussing downtown, having her sit quietly watching a video while I get my hair cut, and then having ice cream as a reward for good behaviour. And it's too late to rebook our appointments.
We're definitely driving. Even though she'll be even madder when she finds out that we're not taking the bus. But I'm not getting trapped downtown with a tantruming child, with the city bus full of people as my only means of escape.
Oh, QWP, I hope the adventure of an outing overcomes the preschooler-ness.
AW: Had my first massage ever today.
W: I'm not sure i liked it.
AW: E pulled it together, and we ended up being able to take the bus after all, and we had a good time. I had someone new cut our hair, and I was nervous because it's someone I know (which is so nerve-wracking, because what if you don't like the haircut?), and she did a great job, and we're definitely going back.
YAY QWP!!!
(((Esperanza)))
W: forgot to have my hair stylist wax my eyebrows. They are a bit floofy. My hair looks great though.
AW: I'm really glad I'm not a candidate this year. There are people in the House Caucus who should be really glad, too.
W: I'm ready to saddle up due to unbloggable bullshit they're pulling with my friend who is running in my place that is similar to unbloggable bullshit they pulled with me.
Yay, the bus!
Whatever works for costumes! Used to love making them; still have a bunch of oldies in the closet. But glue guns? No, and especially not for something as complicated as a space suit. (Avoid complicated and glue guns, is my costume motto.)
Kathy, I'd rather use a glue gun than sew! I used to like sewing, and now I find it frustrating, and will do anything to avoid it.
I like to sew, and I won't make Halloween costumes. It's a one-time garment. No way.
Liz, sorry for the unbloggable bullshit.
My kind of costuming involves fast and dirty sewing. A few touches to make it look like what it's supposed to be. Elastic waistbands held with safety pins, in case adjustments are needed. None of that fancy-pants nice sewing stuff. I loved felt, because it doesn't need hemming -- and you can just trim with scissors to fix a little something.
I did a bunch of classrooms for International Day. Made felt vests for the school chorus. Also some things for school plays. A lot of these incorporated things the kids had already. None of it was meant to hold up over time, but had fun with it.
Missing that hobby! Not saying everybody should have that hobby!
I'm glad you enjoy that hobby, because the thought of doing all that makes me feel nauseated! You know, for all of my enjoyment of baking and all that, I think I find all crafting to be stressful. (Also, I have a kid who wants to keep all of her costumes forever.) I have handled felt, and enjoyed gluing it to a shirt for a penguin costume two years ago, but I sewed a vest out of felt last year, and I still feel stressed out from the experience!
Liz, I'm sorry about the unbloggable nonsense. The Posse is ready to ride.
(((esperanza))) I'm sorry to hear your friend is declining.
Yay QWP and E for a successful haircut adventure!! I dislike Halloween quite a lot. I hated having to come up with a costume for school. If it hadn't been for the pressure to conform and wear a costume, I wouldn't have bothered. I figured out by the time I was 5 that costumes get covered with winter jackets on trick or treat night anyway.
Sorry about the unbloggables, Liz.
QWP, we had a bit of that system that took out your tree last week. Major wind storm last night! Snow by Friday apparently...
AW: My sweet neighbor called to ask me to run check and see if she closed her garage door. (she had). As I told her: I do this all the time. All the time, I turn around to see if I shut the door. The Baboos have learned that it will save us time if they just notice and can tell me. She made me feel better that other people have the same affliction.
No news from hospice front in the past few days. The last news was that they requested no visitors, so they could spend their remaining time as a family. (Both the patient and the spouse are well rooted and connected in the area and know probably thousands of people who love them).
Liz, I completely missed the unbloggable nonsense. Am saddling up, too.
((( Esperanza and friends )))
AW: Have been getting a good response on fundraising for a do-good organization.
W: About 90F here today, so far. But AW: not very windy.
AW: Yeah, it's hot, but had my sights set on a bean / lentil / veg / leftovers soup, and the fabulous crockpot is taking care of it.
Esperanza, I can't tell you how many times I've driven back to see if I've closed the door. So nice that you can assist your neighbour with that.
Sue, I can't even list all the Halloween costumes I've had that incorporated a winter coat, or that were very puffy, with a coat inside. (I made sure that E's costume is baggy, to sneak a jacket underneath.)
Texans are snickering at the winter coat on Halloween bit. We have to watch out for furry/fuzzy/thick and cumbersome costumes to avoid heat stroke some years!
The trick to not wearing a coat on Halloween is layers and costumes that incorporate sweatshirts and thermal underwear.
Liz on iPhone
Liz, that might work in your part of the world, but sometimes we're trick-or-treating in a huge pile of snow! (A lot of people opt out in the very cold years and do indoor trick-or-treating events -- sometimes in malls -- with little ones.)
Related whine: the current Halloween forecast is for freezing temperatures and snow. Good thing E's costume is so baggy.
Ugh, QWP! I’d forgotten about snow and ice in October in your part of the world (and my sister’s - she’s way south of you in Vermont)
Liz on iPhone on the train to work
Yup, Halloween can be mighty chilly up here. I brought out the winter jacket this morning and my winter boots (though the boots were more of a fashion choice). We dropped to -8C last night (18F). brrrr....
My son has opted to be Stingy from Lazytown for Halloween. The costume includes YELLOW SHORTS. I found a pair for less than $20 on Amazon. He’s gonna freeze his tuchas off and no one will know who is is trying to be.
Liz on iPhone at work
Y'all, it was 90F here yesterday. Supposed to get close to that again today. I know I've been complaining a lot about heat the past few months, but we normally have temperate weather, only a few hot days in a year. And this is unheard of for late October.
I remember making lightweight hoodies into dino costumes once, but parkas? I figure as long as some clue of a costume is showing, it's all good. ;)
Tomorrow's the memorial for my friend. Volunteered to help, and they gave me the check-in table. Guess I'll be saying hi to a lot of people! Found an appropriate dress, which I had forgotten about because I hardly ever go anywhere. I think this memorial will be less shock and grief, since she died a few months ago, and more tribute and amazing stories.
My doorbell was ringing, twice, insistently. It turned out to be Mrs. Elderly Neighbor, who needed help getting Mr. Elderly Neighbor out of the car -- because he'd been sitting out there in the nearly 90F heat for nearly an hour being (according to Mrs.) "stubborn." He was sitting upright and everything, but really not very responsive. I kept asking her to "call 911," but she said he's "always like this." So we got some water in him, and after a while he was supporting his weight on his own legs plus a walker. Got him into the house, where she meant to take his blood pressure. It was not very easy; he was not weight bearing very well even after he stood up, and I was scared he would plop on the cement, so I stood behind supporting him until he got settled in the house.
I have not been stern with Mrs. Neighbor before, but was (kindly?) this time. She cannot leave him in the car like that for an hour. (He wasn't alone; she was telling him to get up all that time.) It is OK to ask for help. It is OK to call 911. He is not being stubborn, he can't do any better. And after their daughter gets off work, I'm going to call her.
UPDATE: She did call the ambulance, finally. The fire people and paramedics were around for a while, then they took Mr. Neighbor to the hospital. And the neighbor on the other side and I finally talked Mrs. Neighbor into going inside, getting some water, waiting for her daughter to arrive.
Also, she alerted her daughter, who called while all the fire/ems guys were there, and just called again.
Oh, goodness kathy a. I hope Mr. Neighbor is ok, and that Mrs. Neighbor will remember to ask for help in a timely manner.
Yikes, Kathy! So glad they have you for a neighbor! Hope they are all ok.
hugs,
Neighbor Lady
He's at the hospital, doing OK I think. Their daughter arrived and took mom over. Daughter and I have a little kvetch about how mom needs more help at home -- like, hired help -- or else some other arrangement. One thing at a time! Mrs. Neighbor usually doesn't listen when their daughter says call 911, but she did this time -- (after I had said that a few times)....
Mr. Neighbor was dehydrated and had low BP. He'll probably stay in a few days to get that settled, and I expect the doctors will have more to say.
W: If I muster up the energy it takes to make a phone call, you'd darn well better return my call. (I am currently waiting on return calls from 3 different people).
I'm glad the Neighbors got some medical attention.
Apparently, there is some sports thing going on that has everybody from my home town (L.A.) up in arms....
Oh kathy, I'm so glad Mr. Neighbour is in hospital. It does sound like they need some home care. I hope their daughter can set something up for them. I hope the memorial service for your friend goes well.
I hear you esperanza. I find phone calls exhausting at the best of times, so waiting for a bunch of return calls does not sound like fun. :(
Ouch. Did not do my back any favors yesterday...
Tree people are finally taking out these 3 very tall, very dead pine trees in a neighbor's back yard -- yay!
No word on Mr. Neighbor, but I wouldn't expect him to be released today.
AW: church guy who has been very sick for almost a month is greatly improved! And getting the therapies he needed before the onset of this latest acute episode!
W: no news on hospice friend
Oh, great news, Esperanza, on church guy.
Sending love on hospice friend.
The memorial was lovely. It was OK to be the greeter, I recognized almost everybody, and some I had not seen for a really long time. It wasn't a huge crowd -- this wasn't very much advertised, and she moved away a number of years ago -- so most attendees were from the golden years when S was teaching us how to change the world in our corner of work. Damn, she was good. Not just locally; she honestly and literally set the national standard for how to do aspects of our work, taught us the nuts and bolts. She was also incredibly funny, which one doesn't associate with intense and important work, but it was a good lesson.
Hugs, Kathy. What an incredible mentor that have had. I'm glad that you could participate in this memorial.
I'm so glad to hear that church guy is doing so much better, esperanza.
AW/W: we managed to get our flu shots yesterday, and had a really good day. But then E and I slept poorly, because of our sore arms. We're going to need to keep things low key this morning, so that E doesn't crash during preschool in the afternoon.
I'm glad your church guy is doing so well, esperanza!
I'm glad the memorial went well, kathy.
Yay flu shots, QWP. I got into a conversation on the book of faces yesterday about flu shots. I can't get mine for a few weeks yet because I've just received the shingles vaccine. The conversation started on someone else's page - not necessarily anti-vax, but definitely anti-flu shot. Several of us mentioned that we do it for all the vulnerable, immune-compromised people in our lives, herd immunity, blah blah... but there are always a few people who find a video or a story about someone who got sick from the vaccine etc.
It was civil, and folks are free to do what they want, but I trust the science.
I really don't get the people who avoid vaccinations 'cause they might be uncomfortable, or they're really healthy, and etc. Double hate the scare stories.
Mr. Neighbor is doing better, more alert, eating -- Mrs. Neighbor said maybe he's coming home tomorrow. Except, he hasn't walked at all in the hospital, not even to the rest room. They were supposed to assess walking this afternoon. She is really set against him going to rehab. Started talking with the daughter, but she was driving to the hospital and a doctor was calling.
Maybe I'm going outside bounds, but he absolutely cannot come home if he isn't really walking. It's not an accessible house. No in home care is lined up, except every so often they'l send over PT or a nurse to check his vitals. The daughter is frustrated, but says a plan for after has to have her mom's approval (true). Probably there will be more later.
AW? W? An old college friend is attending a 2 week seminar near here, and asked if she could "rent a room" for at least part of that time since the hotels are tres expensive, and her nearby son is with roommates and has no room. And so we talked it over, and said OK -- we've got these pets, I'm not a great housekeeper, etc. But we do have this room that is now our guest room. (It's all fresh and clean! And needs some decor...)
We just haven't had overnight guests who weren't immediate family for a long time. Also, I need a cleaning fairy right away. Also, my beloved only maybe met her once 30-some years ago. But she is wonderful, has pets, isn't fussy, and we can catch up here and there. Overall, I think this is good! But boy howdy, do I need to get cleaning.
kathy, I wouldn't worry about it too much. I just spent the night with some people--somewhere between acquaintances and friends--and I promise I did not notice their housekeeping skills. I noticed how they welcomed me.
The ghost of my MIL cleaning my kitchen and rearranging silverware during visits seems to still be lurking, on the house guest front.
Mr. Neighbor is home from the hospital. Just had a long chat with their daughter, who brought a pie and really needed to talk. Dad's OK-ish. She is upset with her mom, who just thinks dad needs to get his act together, which he can't anymore. I'm going to promote home helpers, so she can get out and someone will be helping him -- which, as it happens, a longtime neighbor up the street has following her stroke.
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