Currently

Well, here we are...June 1. By the end of the month half of the year will be gone. What the heck?!?! Time needs to slow down just a wee bit.

Then again, 2026 is not proving itself to be the best of years so maybe I won't be all that sad to shut the door behind it.

I have to apologize for not being around that much lately. 

As most of you know, life has been a bit rough this year and it hasn't really let up. My stepdad is still in the nursing home. Is it for rehab or for good? We really don't have any answers about that yet. It has been around 80 days since he first entered the hospital back in March. Since then he has been in and out of the hospital, wound care facilities, rehabilitation facilities, and nursing homes. He turned 85 while in one facility or another. Mom will be 82 in August. She is stressed to the max and has become miserable and rather bitter and unkind toward nearly everyone. Tim and I seem to be the exceptions.

Last week Mom took what she thought was a small fall while at my stepdad's home on the ridge. She was lucky the neighbor was there cutting the grass and was able to help her get up. She has a knee and a hip replacement and wouldn't have been able to get up on her own. Cut to the next day and she woke up a bit stiff, but by noon had excruciating pain in her back. I took her to the ER after work and after 4 hours they decided it was probably muscular...though they did find a fractured rib and a fractured vertebra that were both on the way to healing, so older. That was when I found out she fell at least 3 times throughout the winter.

Mom came home with pain killers and muscle relaxers and hasn't been moving very well and is not really with it when she takes them. She called her PCP today and didn't take it well when they said she couldn't get in with him until August. She thanked them for "nothing" and hung up. We asked why she didn't ask for an appointment with one of the physician's assistants and she said, "I guess I wasn't thinking of them right then." She says if she still hurts tomorrow she's calling Urgi-care. I wish I could take off to take care of this but after March and taking the FMLA leave, I just can't. 

In other parts of the family, our daughter is doing pretty well. She still has issues to deal with, but it turns out some of her medications were responsible for the suicidal feelings. Now we are struggling with our grandson's temper and behavior. Part of it, I'm sure, is due to everyone but Tim and I giving in to him for most of his life. The rest is due to ADHD, anxiety, ODD, and quite possibly some drug interaction. It's so hard to watch a 9-year-old struggle with this stuff. We live in a cruel world.

Anyway, that's life these days, plus work. I'm just feeling drained and really don't have any blogging mojo to tap into these days. I'm going to give Currently a go, however.

Currently, I am...

Reading... A 30-day Journey Through the Prison Epistles

Watching... AGT's 20th Anniversary Special

Listening... to the AC in fan mode. Summer weather is finally here.

Eating... I made chicken noodle soup tonight.

Thinking... about pretty much everything. My mind won't shut off.

Feeling... worn out and all of this probably isn't doing much for the imflammation that plagues my joints.

Celebrating... nothing more than getting through each day.

Enjoying... getting the new porch fixed up and decorated and spending time out there.

Looking forward to... going on vacation next month.

Giggling...

Currently

I am

Reading... still nothing. I just can't seem to get into anything right now. There is too much going on and on my mind, I guess.

Watching... I don't think you can call it watching, but reruns of The Big Bang Theory are playing as background noise.

Listening... other than TBBT the AC is humming away. We hit 90 degrees today.

Eating... we had Salisbury steak meatballs and mashed potatoes tonight.

Thinking... about storage sheds (we are looking for a new one), all the things we need to do around here, vacation, the high price of EVERYTHING, and my mom and stepdad.

My stepdad is still at the nursing home. No one is saying anything yet about if this is temporary, permanent, or somewhere in between. He's still having a lot of pain and depending on pain meds to get through PT. His wounds are healing and doing pretty well...but his big toe is now a worry. Mom took him to see his wound care team today and in looking at it they started making faces and poking at it. Finally they said they could feel bone in the wound on his toe. They sent him for blood work and x-rays, rewrapped his feet and legs, told the nursing home not to touch his feet and Mom has to take him back on Thursday.

Feeling... starting to relax. It was a tough day at work.

Celebrating... nothing except Memorial Day is coming up.

Enjoying... longer days and forcing myself to be productive after work.

Looking forward to... the upcoming 3-day weekend.

Giggling...

Thankful Thursday

Wow, here we are speeding our way through May. Can you believe it's Mother's Day this weekend and next week will mark the middle of the month already? Sheesh...we aren't even getting to enjoy much in the way of warm, spring weather. Maybe I'll feel it's safe to plant outside soon. Maybe.

Oh well, weather grumbles aside, there is plenty to be thankful for this week.

1. My stepdad's spinal procedure went well. Obviously, he isn't up and doing jumping jacks, but the pain has stopped. He got out of bed today and they had him walk to the door of his room and back and then he sat in a chair for a while. Wonderful after more than a week of constant excruciating pain!

2. More good news, my stepdad should be released from the hospital tomorrow to move to a rehab facility. This one is much closer to home as wound care is not the priority any longer.

3. Mom seems a lot less stressed already.

4. Our son-in-law's father had a procedure today to implant a device that will make a faulty heart valve work right. He ended up in a room just a few doors down from my stepdad so Mom stopped to see him. She reported that he was sitting up and feeling fine.

5. Our daughter discovered termites at my mom's house. She called the man who treated her house for them and he gave a low ball price due to all Mom's been dealing with and got her on the list for about 2 weeks from now.

6. Mom's (relatively) newer deck that is made out of composite has been leaning. She thought it was sinking and called someone to take a look and give and estimate on fixing it. He charged $350 to look (very unethical) and has never come back and won't answer her calls. Our daughter and the termite guy discovered the post in the "sinking" corner has rotted (no termites). Tim propped it up last night and will put all new posts under it this weekend. 

7. My coworker and I have been working on the decorations for June's company picnic. I think I've mentioned it's a Wild West theme. He's been working on murals painted on paper with cacti, fences, and an old west town. I've been making cacti out of paper plates to put on all the tables. They are turning out so cute and everyone loves them! The photo doesn't show the ones I've made (I never thought to take pictures today) but mine are like these, but all in shades of green.

7. I had fun last night taking my granddaughter to get our nails done.

8. My "check engine" light came on today. I stopped at Auto Zone to have them use their diagnostic gizmo and it turns out I need a new battery. I'll get it done this weekend as it's just starting to go and hasn't given me any trouble other than making the light come on. I'm relieved it wasn't anything worse.

9. We had a very successful day selling our crafts at the softball opener last Saturday.

That's just some of this week's blessings and this is where I'm going to call it a night. Happy Friday to you and enjoy your weekend!

Currently

I am

Reading... I'm ashamed to say it's still nothing. Just too much going on.

Watching... American Idol. They're down to the top 5 and this week they have the top 5 from the 2006 season on.

Listening... to the air conditioner. After some pretty chilly days it's warm again. Unfortunately, it's only for one more day and then it's back to rainy and cool.

Eating... I just enjoyed a big, hard pretzel.

Thinking... about an idea for a way to give back. I was talking to a friend who runs a free-store at her church. People donate and EVERYTHING is free to anyone who wants to go look. I had a thought after watching a reel on Facebook and asked her what if we took her store to nursing homes as sort of a pop-up boutique and let residents "shop" like they used to. My friend is excited, too. She's got to get her son better before we can do anything, though. He hurt his knee playing football last year and has had several surgeries already and may have to endure one more. He's in a lot of pain. Seventeen and he can barely manage to get from the bed to the bathroom. Poor guy. Anyway, looking forward to seeing if we can make this happen.

Feeling... relaxed.

Celebrating... a successful day selling our crafts on Saturday and that today was a really good day.

Enjoying... that it's staying light outside past 8:00.

Looking forward to... taking my granddaughter with me to get our nails done after work on Wednesday.

Before I get to the giggles, here's a little bit of an update on my stepdad. He is still in the hospital. They went in and put a stent in an aneurysm behind his left knee on Friday. That went well, but it's the fractured vertebra they found that is causing him terrible pain. They are going to put a needle into his spine on Wednesday and inject stuff that is supposed to fuse the vertebra and bring instant relief. 

I don't know why, but Mom seems to be so sure they are going to mess up and the needle is going to "end up in the wrong place." If it does, it won't be a good thing. Even if all goes well he is probably going to have to go to a rehab facility again for a couple of weeks. He has a LOT of little issues going on and is depressed. Mom doesn't seem to think he's going to be around much longer. He is 85, but there really isn't anything that imminent, but I learned with my adoptive dad...attitude is a huge part of the battle and if the fight has gone out of him...

Whew after that we need a laugh.

Giggling at...

Read all of it, not just the part circled in red.

A Small Update

My stepdad is still in the hospital. It's weird. They say he's there for observation. They also say that means he isn't really in the hospital. Can someone please explain that one to me? I mean...he's in their bed, eating their food, being taken care of by their staff...I don't get it. Neither does Mom. She's worried what Medicare will have to say about that.

Anyway, they've run more tests and he's been poked and prodded by an army of people. So far they say he has a small aneurysm in his left leg (the other that started all the problems was in his right leg) and a fractured vertebrae. Mom asked what could have caused the fracture and was told "old age." Bottom line is they are going to keep "observing" him because they have no idea why he is experiencing so much pain. They just keep giving him pain meds, which have him more than a little fuzzy around the edges.

Another update concerning the consumer at my workplace. He was suspended, but today all the members of his team met and decided the best choice was to withdraw him from the program. I can't lie, everyone is pretty relieved.

Now I'm off to try and catch up with some of you and also with American Idol. 

Currently

I am

Reading... nothing. Reading has been on hold.

Watching... an old favorite, The Librarians.

Listening to... rain and the hum of the air conditioner, likely the last time it'll be running for a week or more.

Eating... I had a very good Tovala meal tonight. It was cheese stuffed shells with a ground pork/spinach dish on the side.

Thinking... about my mom and stepdad. My stepdad just came home Saturday from a week at a wound-care/rehab facility that followed over a month in the hospital. He and Mom chose the second facility due to it having a higher success rate than any other facility within a reasonable distance. They defined success as patients not dying or returning to the hospital within 30 days.

So much for that. My stepdad was taken back to the hospital today. Yesterday he was experiencing a lot of pain in his back and leg, but only when he moved certain ways. Today the pain is so bad he can't walk or even stand. Hours of testing at the emergency room found nothing. So, he is back in the hospital. Mom wasn't handling him being home that well, but this really has her stressed. 

Please say a prayer for them, if you would.

Feeling... tired, but not bad. It was just a long day.

Celebrating... that nobody was hurt today when one of our consumers had a bit of a "moment." I'm also pleased that he's been suspended for a bit. This is not his first episode and it is about time there are some consequences.

Enjoying... the longer days and warmer temperatures that have the grandkids outside and running back and forth between their house and ours again.

Giggling at...

It's been an awesome weekend. Yesterday, Tim, our daughter, granddaughter, and I set out early for Paws and Claws Animal Encounters in Bremen, Ohio. The trip was a Christmas present I had given us girls. Tim went along even though it wasn't really something he was excited about. I had purchased a fourth ticket in case our grandson changed his mind and wanted to go. He did not.

It was a 3 1/2 hour drive, one way, to get there. We did make it on time...a little early, actually, which allowed us extra time to explore the grounds and meet a lot of the animals. The rule is, if they animals stick their paws out, you can pet them. You just can't reach into the cage. Our granddaughter had a ball playing with the otters.

The main purpose of our visit was an otter encounter. We were in a room with about 12 other people and one of the owners gave a wonderful presentation about the otters and four other animals. We were able to see them up close and actually interact with some of them. The otters, of course, were the stars of the show.

The only disappointment was that the otters in the encounter were only mildly interactive, preferring to run around the room and play with each other. I guess you can't tell what mood they'll be in. Anyway, Tim said we girls (not him) need to go back to swim with the otters as it's a much smaller group (no more than 6) and you are in a small pool with 3 otters. That would be awesome, but will have to be a bit in the future due to how expensive it is.

On the way home we stopped at Strong & Co. for a very late lunch in the historic town of Somerset. Great food and I need to go back to explore the town one day! All together we were gone for about 12 hours. It was a long day, but a good one. I hope you enjoy the photos.