Hearing Issues

I know I have some hearing loss. I should go and get it checked out. High tones and phones ringing on television shows are not heard! I have some hearing aids but when I tried wearing them non-stop, I felt dizzy and the crinkling of paper and the water out of the faucet were very LOUD.

So yesterday when I was walking across the hospital parking lot, (with no aids) I was walking behind the parked cars next to our van. Suddenly the car that I was approaching to walk behind, began to  back out. I heard no motor. I side-stepped and walked around the front of the car. I don't think she ever saw me.

I wonder if it was one of those electric cars? Or maybe my hearing is worse than I thought.

IV Day

Eight weeks goes by quickly. It doesn't seem that long ago that I was at the hospital getting a treatment that the doctor has ordered. Yesterday was that actual appointment but we had had a little freezing rain and then an inch of snow. I decided to hold off a day and they were very nice to agree.

As it worked out, the snow was gone by noon. Snow I can drive on but ice - not so much.

They are so pleasant at infusion. They offer warm blankets, hot coffee or cold water.

Nurses are just the best people!

An Errand and a Mix-up

Today we needed to get a battery for the garage door opener. Instead of parking in the alley at the back door of the hardware store, we parked in front because the batteries are near the front door and the cashier is there. We pulled up in front of the Ace Hardware. There was a sign. Use the back door cashier because the cash register in front is out of order.

So, I backed out and drove to the alley where we usually ALWAYS park. I went in and walked to the front of the store. No one was there and I could find no batteries. As I was returning to the back, a clerk asked if she could help me find something. I said yes, this round flat battery, #2032. They are now at the back of the store where I had originally entered, near the cashier. She said they had moved them recently!

I guess that was my exercise for the day.

Soup's On!

That is how my mom used to tell my dad and me that supper was ready. Yes, we call it supper our here in the middle of the country - except for those that have been influenced by the coasts.

This shows that at 7:20 a.m. the crockpot was full of roast, carrots and onions. No soup today.

Too Much in One Day

I didn't have a burst of energy but I did more today than usual. Cleaning the kitchen floor, doing several loads of laundry, folding and putting it away is not a hard job. I usually do those two things on different days.

And then there was the trip to buy pet, food - for feral cats, squirrels and our dogs. Luckily, that was all available in the same place! Then to buy yarn and some coffee that isn't available at our grocer's lately.

On to the grocery store about two o'clock. I thought the crowd would be thinned out. There were literally no parking places in the lot unless I wanted to walk a block and a half in the cold. I did not. We just went home and decided to go back later.

About four fifteen we went back. There were still lots of people but we found a parking spot. I had a new (to me) coupon from Dillons/Kroger. Buy $70 worth of groceries and get $7.00 off. Worked for me.

By the time we got all the food put away (the cashier said I saved $33!) we both were ready to rest. No nap!  Just sitting down.

Another Quiet Day

Feeling better today. I got up so early after an unusually early bedtime last night, that I had to take a nap about breakfast time We had lunch at 10:30 a.m.  Can you tell we are not on a schedule?

I love this necklace. It's from the Vietnam era and says 1968 on the back.

Throw-back Thursday

This was a vine on the back porch of our former house. Hoping for some flowers sooner than later.

What Happened to Tuesday?

I can't believe I didn't post anything yesterday.

Now I remember - we had to pick up a prescription and some cash. Then I came home and watched the tv to see Dr. Phil and then the history going on in DC.

The reason I watch Dr. Phil is that my sister-in-law and I talk every day on Skype. One of our subjects is whatever Dr. Phil has discussed that day. We think his guests are not as interesting as they used to be. Either that, or we are tired of screaming arguments between family members.

I am so thankful our immediate family hasn't had any of that activity.

We got another tiny snow. I was amazed at the things that were cancelled or were moved back a couple of hours. I do not remember school closing or starting late. We all walked to our neighborhood schools and took a lunch on snowy days. (No school cafeterias then in our system.)

I guess I shouldn't talk about cancelling with an inch of snow.   We cancelled two doctor appointments we had for today.

A Little Heart

I made the first heart today from information I saw on a blogger friend's blog! This is a project to place these hearts where folks can find them. A tag will be attached with a positive message of hope for someone who might be experiencing a rough time in their life from bullying.

Here is the link:  http://www.thepeytonheartproject.org/

I made the loop too short so this one will remain with me. All the instructions are included for knit or crochet and where to send the finished hearts.

There are so many kind people in the world helping others.

The rest of my day was spent sleeping off and on! Hope for a better tomorrow!!

PBX Duties

When the two hospitals in town decided to merge in the early 1970's some new things were added. The ambulance service was formed with regular EMTs (Emergency Medical Technicians) with the switchboard operators taking calls for the ambulance and dispatching them to the location  where they were needed.

I went to work at Hutchinson Hospital South in June of 1972. It was sort of a part time job with six days of six hour shifts. Lee worked shifts at the airport and somehow we worked it out. The boys were thirteen and almost eleven and there were very few times that they were home alone for more than an hour or two. (Today we would be locked up for child neglect.)

It was necessary to be calm and get the information from a caller who was under some stress! Then we would hand the information to one of the young men and wait for them to call in on a two way radio with the condition of the patient. We were still answering the regular hospital calls that came in on the PBX (private branch exchange.) I had worked at the independent  United Telephone Company in Russell, KS. for almost two years in the early 1950's. (Gosh, I'm old!) So I knew the basics of a switchboard.

One of the first calls I remember is one with the term,  "Patient is SOB." Now, that only meant one thing to me but I wrote down the initials. It sure made me wonder about that guy or gal they were bringing in.

One other term was, "Eyes are pearl." Are they white, grey, iridescent?

I later found out that SOB was the abbreviation for Short of Breath and PERL meant pupils equally reactive to light.

I learned a lot on that job and I really liked it. Later, at the new hospital, we had a tape recorder to record the calls so we could check for any errors. The operators at 911 at the Law Enforcement Center now handle all those calls.

Is New Always Better?

A few days ago a suggestion was received from the other half to have some tuna and noodle casserole. Fine by me. We both like casseroles.

So on the trip to the store, I bought noodles. I hadn't checked before I left home to see if we had any. Same with mushroom soup. I knew we had frozen peas and onion. Completely forgot that there should be 1/4 cup sour cream. (Hardly seems like enough to make a big difference in a good size recipe.) I dropped in a couple of tsp. of mayonnaise instead.

I was at the soup aisle when I saw a "new" can of mushroom soup for cooking. I'll try anything once so I added it with a can of the regular type.

I brought it home and after I got everything together for the tuna noodle casserole, I opened the can. What in the world?

It looked like beef gravy to me. I put it in the plastic container and opened the can of "regular" mushroom soup. All was well with dinner. I can't imagine the look if we had a tuna casserole with brown gravy!

By the way, I also had noodles so now we have plenty of those too.

Freezing Rain and Ice

During the night we received freezing rain. Everything is coated with ice. It has been 33 degrees all morning and is now up to 35. I hope that means it is thawing.

We do not plan to get out!

More Adorable Cat Stories

Night before last Lee went out to the garage through the door from the pantry. The garage door was at its usual open stance of about one foot. Suddenly Jill ran by him and into the garage. Lee quickly hit the garage door switch and it closed before Jill could get out.

I don't think she was interested in getting out. She was interested in all the cats and kittens. She was chasing them around the van and they were going under the shelves and under the car. Lee was yelling at her to get back in the house.

I was blissfully sleeping and missed the whole thing.

Too. Much. Stress.

Now I want the door between the kitchen and the pantry reinstalled. There is hardware for it but no door.

Can you buy half a Dutch door? Or buy a whole split door and install only the bottom half?

Tom Thumb Wedding

I may have posted this before. I'm running out of things to post. There is nothing new happening here except our garage is full of more cats and kittens. When they gather in front of the house to begin their march inside the partially closed garage door, the dogs hear them and bark for extended periods of time while looking out the front window. How soothing.

So this photo from the 1930's is a relief. That is me and Bobby Vernon dressed up as for a wedding.
Some women at the First Methodist Church evidently this was cute and I understand it was a common thing to do.  I would guess I was about four. I do not remember this occasion so I'm glad there is a photo of it.

Google has quite a bit about the history of these events!

Fog

We had a dense fog here today. Usually a fog will lift by afternoon, the sun will appear. Our forecast was fifty-four degrees!  That didn't happen. We never got warmer than forty and the fog stuck around.

This evening my weather app tells me the visibility is 437.4 yards. That must be an actual measurement. Do they estimate distances in tenths of a yard?

I Had a Feeling

As I've mentioned, someone in this house hold is feeding some cats. I remember thinking, all we need is for one of them to choose this warm place to have a family.

About two weeks ago one of the black ones (they are all black - glad I'm not superstitious) looked a little heavy around the middle.

This morning when I opened the door to the garage to put some recycle in the cart, I saw two black kittens run from the old comforter Lee put there for them.

Yep. Now we have kittens to feed.

"Only" Ice

Overnight we got ice. Everything is very sparkly except the streets. They seem to be ice free!

Twenty-three degrees and sunshine but the temperature is not expected to climb above freezing.

This is the north side of our back porch. We have plastic over the screen to keep the snow off the floor. Today it kept the ice off - even on the part that wasn't covered! The sparkles on the grass don't show up but they are there.

Weather

All the talk here is about the weather conditions. On the radar we look "out of it." But the talking heads and their interpretation of the maps say otherwise. School events, including football games, are cancelled. Freezing rain will do that.

So far we have just had fog, sprinkles and a thunderstorm. That is a little unusual for January but here we are. , , helping Jill, the fearful bully dog, find a spot to hide from the rumbles. That involves opening the small bathroom door where it's dark. Jack who is unafraid of thunder but is afraid of Jill, ignores the whole scene and sleeps on the bed.

Tomorrow we'll see if they like the expected one inch of the white stuff.

A Long Walk

Today I went to the store with the big W on the front. I bought some cotton yarn and headed half way down the huge store to the grocery department. I was looking for medium dog bones.

Strolling along and looking at signs, I did not see any items for pets. I saw a clerk loading a shelf and asked where I could find Milk Bones. "At the other end of the store in the north west corner."

I reversed course and headed out for the long haul to the pet department. Why did I not remember where the supplies for dogs, cats and other animals was way to the end of the store?

I don't know how many steps I got in today, but more than usual.

Saved Scramble

Yesterday we had many bags of groceries to tote in. I hand them to Lee and he puts them on the dryer or washer which are right inside the back door. The last one I handed him wasn't the heaviest but somehow we mishandled the handles. The bag fell flat down to the floor. I picked it up and the bottom item was a dozen eggs.

I had checked the eggs at the store to be sure none were cracked. Now I was afraid to see what we had now. I opened the carton. Only two were broken. My thought was throw them out. Lee said, "Why don't you make yourself some scrambled eggs?"

So I did.

Weather Notice

On my cell phone I have a weather app. I can look up weather at any location and see the forecasts for here and where the kids are.

Today I got a notice. I thought it read, "Fine weather forecast. Expire 8:00 p.m. January 8th."

I guess I need glasses. It actually said FIRE weather forecast. It's very dry and the winds are increasing from 20 mph today to 45 and more tomorrow. Another day to stay inside.

I'll take it instead of snow though.

One More Photo

I was checking over my blogs and realized I had not uploaded the photo of my mom when she graduated from nursing school in Halstead, KS!

So I'll put it here. The black stripe on the cap meant she was a registered nurse and had passed all the boards.

  It was easy then to know who was nurse.

Two Dogs Sleeping

A few nights ago I dreamed (dreamt?) that I couldn't move my legs. I woke up and it was true. I grabbed my phone and took this photo at 3:00 a.m.  I call it a dog sandwich.  However, that would indicate a dog in the middle with something on either side of the dog. So I guess this is a leg sandwich.

We love our dogs (except Jill - the blonde on the right is a bully to Jack, the black one on the left.)

Years . . .Car Tag says 1931

Information, Please

Years ago on the ancient phone system, you could dial zero for an operator. I believe one could ask for information. Those "hello girls" were always there to give you a phone number in any location!

Yesterday I tried to find a phone number for a friend in a neighboring state, The number for this miracle of technology is 1-800-373-3411. I believe for a short time that the information number was just 411.

I was answered by a recorded robot asking me to state if I wanted a business or residential? She understood me. That was the last thing she understood.

The name of the town is two words. Let's say it was Poplar Bluff (it was not.) She/it/the voice could not understand it. "If this isn't correct, say Go Back."  I said "go back" a lot.

Finally, I tried the last name. It is an unusual name but sounds like a tool we use: butter knife. (Not it.)  She/it/the voice couldn't handle that at all. After many more tries of clearing my throat, lowering my tone several octaves and speaking loudly, I just gave up.

I think I'll write her a letter.

Later:  I remembered that I have list of class mates and some have phone numbers included. She was on that list! So I called her. Now the letter!

Mom's Photos

These are pictures of my mom from shortly after birth (what a long baptismal gown!) through high school and maybe prom in the white dress. Then graduation from nursing school in Halstead, KS, class of 1923. She was nineteen. She told me she was thin until she went to nurses training and had regular hours and regular meals. Then she gained weight and fought it the rest of her life.

The last photo was for their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary in 1963.  She died the next year at the very young age of sixty.

I have so many good memories of her and my dad. They adopted me when I was five months old and what a fortunate kid I was! They were not the parents who spoiled a child - I had a few spankings which were normal ways to correct children then. Some with a hand; some with a yardstick. There was not enough to make a mark and I'm sure I deserved to be disciplined!

It really is wonderful to have all good memories of growing up with them (except for the spankings!) and I miss them every day.