Dining area plus Caro

When I saw her this morning she looked relaxed, she was sleeping. But
no matter how "Casper the ghost" I am I always wake her. Sometimes I
feel she is a cowgirl sleeping near a campfire in the old west an I am
a marauding Comanche. We had a good visit until I started about my
incompetence. That just stresses her no end and I cannot seem to stop.
I rubbed her foot and left her.
When I got home I was going to pull baseboard to prepare for low
wainscotting. Even building matr are named "wayne". But when I removed
the faceplate on the one plug on our dinig area I found a very broken,
aged, failed plug. I had not planned on replacing it so I had to stop,
kill the juice, buy another 29 amp plug. Now it is just a hour before
the @$#%Â¥}{{}}##** chauffering starts and consumes me until 9 pm. And
I want (ordered) to cook dinner.
Til next time "I'll be shovelling off".




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THE POOL!

Finally I get a time to work on the pool. That us about the only
function of "shattered manor" that I understand. The pool is the geep
muddy green of the eyes of a drug crazed dead tree frog. Seldom has
algae found a happier home. I am pumping off some water because the
overflow is plugged. I figure 8 pounds of shock should kill it.
Son in law Wayne is in process of pulling up carpet in front rrom with
intent to install laminate after car urine soaked oak floor is sealed
and leveled. There is so much stuff in that room (furniture) that he
is ha ving to do it by halves. Son is finally doing his fatherly duty
by taking his sons to their various events. Oh blessed silence!!




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My wife was feeling good tonight when I went to visit her during senior grandsons basketball game. So was I. I had made some progress in decluttering "shattered manor" and junior daughter was coming over to help with the middle bedroom debris. I truly thought I would be back home in time to work with her in the decluttering. Senior grandson played well for the time he was in the game and St. Marks defeated their arch enemy, Trinity Klein 52 to 38. Everybody is happy!

Then our son tells me he has lost his wallet again. I cannot count the number of times he has lost a wallet. Then he told me that my Texaco card was in his wallet. Actually the card has my wife's name on it and I pay the bills. This is now the third time he has lost a Texaco card of mine. After the last time I looked my wife square in the eyes and ordered, ORDERED!, her to never give him another of my credit cards. Each of the previous times, except the first time, because I did not imagine she would give him my credit cards, I have told her not to let him have the card. How many times must I be disrespected by my wife before I learn that she holds me in contempt? She obviously does not trust me to do my duty by the grandsons because she calls every time to check if I am doing what she said needed to be done. How little respect is no respect?

So I called Texaco and cancelled her card and will never give her another. I cannot trust her with my good credit.

I went to IKEA and bought a small computer desk to go in the middle bedroom for the grandsons to use as a private study area. I am afraid their school work has suffered while my wife is in hospital. She leans on them each evening to do their homework and show it to her. I cannot and am philosophically opposed to such activity. I think that after third grade a child should be held accountable for their own work. Either they do it or they suffer.

I put the Chrysler van in the shop because the blower motor has burned winding and sometimes starts and sometimes doesn't. In summer I would let it slide but in winter with the cold damp air I need the fan to power the defroster. One cannot afford to drive in Houston with a fogged over windshield. I got the estimate late evening. Eight hundred forty dollars and some odd cents unless the evaporator needs to be change. I'll bet a cat's meow that the evaporator will "need" replacement and will add another three hundred plus. My life is just full of joy today. I must be a Wednesday child.

Last night I thanked my wife's younger sister for bringing food. Like an idiot I typed her name while reading the comic strip. I called her Cathy. Her name is Kathy. So thank you Kathy for the food. Thank you Misty for continuing the decluttering. Thank you Leigh for starting the process and for giving me something to think about. I have come to the conclusion that we cannot afford to do extensive repairs, upgrade, etc to "shattered manor" while living anywhere else. I estimate a full upgrade would cost as much as the current appraised value of the house. To bring it up to standards would require, assuming we planned to return:

Slab repair and leveling
Complete replacement of all plumbing
Total rewiring of electrical system for modern requirements
New roof decking and new shingles with ridge vent and soffit vents
All new energy efficient windows and doors
Attic cleared of old stuff junk we have saved and new insulation to R-33 or greater
Strip out old drywall
Replace any damaged studs (maybe as many as 50)
Hardy plank siding to replace shakes and planks
New drywall
Rip out and replace flooring in converted garage
Laminated flooring throughout whole house
Remodeled and refloored bathroom with ceramic tile and more modern tub/shower enclosure
Removal of two old Tallow trees near swimming pool
Enclosure around swimming pool equipment and chemical storage area
And probably many other items I have not considered.

So as I see it, we either clean/declutter/sterilize and live in "shattered manor" until unable to fend for ourselves with minimal outside assistance and then sale the place as a tear-down and move to an "old folks" home. No, I am not offended by the term, or move to a small apartment and sell the place as a tear-down and add the proceeds to our small savings. I am not ready to move. In this housing market this place would suffer a HUGE discount. But I am thinking about it.

I recently finished reading Genesis again and Chapter 1 verse 29 reached out and grabbed my attention. Apparently God intended us originally to be vegetarians because he gave us the plants and seed for food. See the full verse in the Methodist patch below.

Click the picture for comic strips on-line.

I was shopping at the local supermarket where I selected:
A half-gallon of 2% milk,
A carton of eggs,
A quart of orange juice,
A head of romaine lettuce,
A 2 lb. can of coffee
A 1 lb. package of bacon.

As I was unloading my items on the conveyor belt to check out, a drunk standing behind me watched as I placed the items in front of the cashier.

While the cashier was ringing up the purchases, the drunk calmly stated, 'You must be single.'

I was a bit startled by this proclamation, but I was intrigued by the derelict's intuition, since I was indeed a single female. I looked at the six items on the belt and saw nothing particularly unusual about my selections that could have tipped off the drunk to my marital status.

Curiosity getting the better of me, I said, "Well, you know what, you're absolutely right. But how on earth did you know that? "

The drunk replied, " 'Cause you're ugly."
The natural cause of the human mind is certainly from credulity to skepticism.
Thomas Jefferson

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Better spirits

From low spirits this morning to much happier tonight. The entire
fourth grade from St Marks Lutheran school came to visit her this
morning. They were on a field trip. How can kids not lift ones spirit.



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More flowers






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Flowers

Thanks for the flowers.




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This morning I thought my wife was feeling better. I just had a minute with her because she was busy. Tonight I dropped senior grandson off at her hospital so he could do supervised homework while his younger brother was playing basketball. I still do not understand how my wife was a full time chauffer, short order cook, psychologist, tutor, Laundromat operator, and etc without loosing her sanity. In fact, I am about half convinced that the stress of those demanding roles degraded her immune system to the point that the "flesh eating bacteria" overwhelmed the remnant of the system.

Her sister brought her a load of groceries and barbecue and banana pudding. Thank you Cathy. I truly doubt that the two grandsons and I can eat it all before it goes bad. Our deep freeze is stuffed as is the refrigerator. It is apparent that I am not preparing as many meals as my wife did because the food level is not declining. She used to grocery shop daily. I have been to Kroger once since she left and that was to buy pesticides.

Tonight after the basketball game she seemed deeply hurt and in a lot more pain than the last 3 days. The nurses removed the wound vac early today for the doctor to inspect the site. But he did not get by until late. So she was still in pain from the reapplication. I cannot imagine how it feels to have a vacuum constantly pulled on a wound. Plus my stress and problems with housework and grandparenting rubs off on her. She has spent most of her life making sure that I am comfortable and happy. Maybe she will be better in the morning.

I had to withdraw from the Outreach team from my church. My back pain is just tolerable when I am rested and the increased load from trying to fill one of my wife's shoes leaves me trembling each night.

Click the picture for comic strips on-line.

SAUSAGE POTATO SOUP - ZUPPA TOSCANA

1 LB. ITALIAN SAUSAGE
1/2 OB BACON - CHOPPED
1 QT. WATER
2 - 14.5 OZ. CANS CHICKEN BROTH
2 LRG. RUSSET POTATOES
2 CLOVES GARLIC
1 MED. ONION
2 CUPS KALE
1 CU HEAVY WHIPPING CREAM

BROWN SAUSAGE IN PAN, CRUMBLING IT AS IT COOKS. DRAIN AND SET ASIDE. CUT BACON INTO SMALL PIECES,BROWN, DRAIN AND SET ASIDE. SCRUB POTATOES THEN CUT IN 1/4 INCH SLICES. PLACE BROTH, WATER, GARLIC, POTATOES AND ONION IN POT. SIMMER UNTIL POTATOES ARE TENDER. PINCH OFF PIECES OF THE CURLY PART OF KALE. ADD SAUSAGE, BACON AND KALE TO POT. SIMMER FOR 10 MORE MINUTES. ADD CREAM, SALT AND PEPPER AND HEAT THOROUGHLY.

I MASHED UP SOME OF THE POTATO PIECES TO MAKE THE SOUP A LITTLE THICKER. TASTES VERY MUCH LIKE THE SOUP AT OLIVE GARDEN.

Thank you Carol for this delicious recipe.

The most successful war seldom pays for its losses.
Thomas Jefferson

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I R DMB

Caro was feeling Ok physically except her bowels are grippy. The
massive amounts of antibiotics she is getting has likely killed all
the gut bacteria which really louses up digestion. She wanted to wash
her hair but some alarm kept the nurse from helping. She asked me
(ME?) to get her a small bottle of shampoo. I have no understanding of
the mysteries of SHAMPOO. I have washed mine with tide, lifebouy,
ivory, or whatever was at hand. So I put on the old man personna at
Walgreens and a nice young lady of 50ish helped find a correct shampoo
for a hospital bound senior woman with short white hair and 5
grandchildren who seldom write or call and is married to a person of a
different church. Who new shampoos were so carefully formulated?

While shopping, he says through gritted teeth, I stumbled across the
"as seen on TV" section. Lo and behold the cell phone wallet. I can
put my bulbous billfold minus some cards in the cell phone pouch and
the other cards in the accordian fold section. No I can carry the junk
with a shoulder strap without using scarce pocket space.




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Setting up

The physical therapists helped her out of bed and they walked her at
least 100 feet. Her spirits seemed much higher after the walk. I
suspect the idea of walking gives her hope that soon she will be home.
In the picture she is checking what was lurking under the food cover.
She had a weak appetite since the ordeal started. My love is working
hard to recover and remain optimistic. I will go see her as early as
possible this morning.




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Bed?

Her current high tech hospital bed keeps shutting down and collapsing
so her industrial therapist found her a "new" one. It looks like
something from an old Frankstein move.
Hospitals are the worst places to be when one is sick or injured.




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