Oh My Gosh! Is it Time to Start Over?

Ken asked me to help him (again!) to start writing a blog. This necessitated going to my blog, whereupon I discovered that my last post was Aug 23, 2015! Hence the question, is it time to start over? 

I went back to mu first post, where I copied a post from h2Ocrzy. S/he wrote that a blog is "a collection of thoughts on whatever subject that may be on your mind that day." So I guess it's not so much a question of starting over, but one of being more diligent at sharing my thoughts.

I will share with you tonight my Night Stars quilt. I started it in July and finished it in Feb. I must say, I'm pretty pleased with how my first quilt turned out.

That's enough for tonight, no more thoughts to share. Till next time...

Summer 2015

Looks like it's time for another novel. Catch up on summer stuff, ya know? Trouble is, my typing is so slow... I could use the on-screen keyboard, but it's even slower. Anyway, what's new?

I think I'm going to have to pull my calendar up to remind me of what we did and when. Man, it sucks getting old! Shoot! I can't even do that; Yahoo is having technical difficulties. Oh well.

Jessica's wedding: It was a lot of fun. Held in a wine cellar in German Village (down about 2 flights of stairs), she had maybe 50 guests. The ceremony was held in one room even deeper downstairs, then we came back up to have dinner and cake, then everyone went back down for dancing. We only stayed for cake, I was just too tired to dance.

Dallas: We went to Dallas so Ken could volunteer at the National Veterans Wheelchair Games, like we did at Philadelphia last summer. It was so hot! We flew down on a Friday, first class, which in my opinion wasn't all that spectacular. Ken walked around the corner to Spaghetti Warehouse to get us dinner since we were both pretty tired. Saturday, he spent the day helping the vets get their luggage and sports equipment settled into their hotel. I stayed in at our hotel. Sunday was Father's Day and we spent the afternoon by the pool so Ken could ease muscles he didn't know he had and then we decided to go to Ellen's Southern Kitchen for an excellent dinner. Monday, we took a loooong walk across town to the area where the events of 11/22/1963 took place. We went to the 6th Floor Museum, which tells the story of the Kennedys, Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby. It also had the Schoolbook Depository set to look like what it would have been, given all the forensic evidence. On the way back,we stopped for dinner at Hoffbrau Steakhouse, which served phenomenal steaks, ice-cold beer, and free, huge portions of peach cobbler.

(And now it's break time.)   

Tuesday we went to a Texas Rangers baseball game. We had pretty decent seats - 10 rows above the Rangers dugout, along the first base line. The usher locked my walker in a closet and had it waiting for me when we left the game early. It was cool that they honored the wheelchair vets before the game started. "We" played the Oakland A's and unfortunately, we lost. It would have been nice to have a rental car because a taxi cost us about $40 each way. On Wednesday, we went to the Medieval Times dinner and performance. It was a little hokey, but still fun. The people were divided into 6 groups and told that their colors belonged to a knight that we were to cheer for. Ours was yellow and red. The servers told us to raise our rights hands and then our left ones. The right was our fork and the left was our knife, because dinner was served without any silverware. Tomato soup in a mug, roast chicken, corn-on-the-cob and bread. The "knights" put on a good show riding their horses and competing in various games. Thursday, Ken asked if I wanted to go with him while he served the vets' meals. The hotel shuttle would take us to the park. We went down to the garage, and my walker negotiated a step that I missed. I went down hard. (My elbow and knee still hurt nearly 2 months later.) I insisted that Ken should still go, that I would be fine, keeping my knee up and iced. The staff made 2 visits to our room to make sure I was OK. Friday was one of the worst days. We went to 6 Flags Over Texas, paid $40 for a cab, spent $100 to get in, rented a wheelchair that was hard to push because the tires were flat. I rode one roller coaster, by myself, then we went looking for a men's room for which there were no signs. We decided to try another coaster, but while we were getting in line, everything, I mean EVERY ride, shut down because of an approaching storm. Luckily, they issued rain checks. What were we supposed to do with them??!! We decided to give them to the 2 hotel staff members that were so helpful on Thurs when I fell. OK, last day. Saturday we went on an even longer walk to the Reunion Tower and took an elevator ride 438 feet up to the Geo-deck. From there you can walk around inside or out and get a 360-degree view of the city. It  was cool looking for our hotel, and for the Texas Schoolbook Depository with the "grassy knoll" in front of it. My feet hurt so bad that we took a taxi back to our hotel and Ken went back to Ellen's for carry-out supper. Sunday's flight home was a little better than the first one. We were offered warm moist towels before dinner, and damp chilled napkins around the silverware. Interesting trip but glad to be home. (Break time. At this rate, you can read about my summer while opening your Christmas gifts. Blah!)

July 10: My sister and her family flew here for a very short visit. They actually flew into Akron-Canton, rented a car and drove part way Thursday night. Then Ken & I met them for a picnic at Edgewater Park. Ken ordered sandwiches and salads, I made non-alcoholic sangria and we visited for all of 2 hours. They wanted to go to the Rock Hall, so we had to cut it short. Then on Sat, they met my brother's family to spend the day at Cedar Point.

July 15: We went to Blossom Music Center and heard what's-his-name open for The Fray who opened for Train. I knew about 4 total songs between them all, but that's OK, we still had fun.

August 6: This was Ken's 68th birthday. (Break time - it's nearly 1 am. I will try to finish tomorrow.) Usually he doesn't want to do anything, but this year he wanted to go to Morton's Steakhouse. It was really good, but portions were huge!

He's also been wanting to go camping, but the tent was all torn up. So I bought him a new tent and reserved us two nights at Punderson State Park. He was so excited!

 

August 12: We had go through the inspection for Section 8, for our housing subsidy. We have so much to do before 9/8 or we lose our payment. Our tenant has a lot to do, too. Her place is such a mess, fire hazard.

August 15: We went to Youngstown to visit Ken's sister, niece, and daughters. Christine was here from GA, and we hadn't seen her baby. She and Steph came to spend the day; it was so good to see them and all the grandkids!

August 16: This was to be our camping trip. We spent Sunday morning getting the mini-van packed and left about 3:00. It was my job to get the tent started while Ken unpacked nearly everything. Trouble was, the tent was on a slight slope, and I got to running, tripped and fell scraping my forehead. So we switched jobs; Ken took over the tent and I started supper. While we were eating, we got to talking and decided that the whole trip was a mistake. I went to the bathroom while Ken packed the van - again. While I was in the john, I heard Haley outside. She slipped her collar and followed me! We got home about 9:30. Ken was so tired that he decided to unpack just the cold food in coolers and leave the rest to put away in the morning.

August 17: About 4:00 in the morning, Haley started whimpering like she needed to go out. Ken got up, glanced out the window, then opened the front door. I was concerned that he was so out of it that he was going to the bathroom outside. But, no, he came in and said, "The [expletive deleted] van is gone." Yep, I was making out a police report at 5:00 AM. All the extra camping gear, Haley's bed and collar with tags, my handicapped sign, and biggest of all, my extra walker.

 

August 19: This was a good night. We went to the Hard Rock Rocksino to see the band "Chicago"! They played so many of their hits - played for a good 2 hours without an intermission. So much fun.

August 21: I got a postcard from the police today, saying they had my car. I'm really surprised. It's at the city's impound lot. Now I just need to find my title to prove it is mine.

OK, that was my summer. Take your time reading it, and then tell me about yours. Till next time...

Catching Up

Well, it's been several months, winter has past, spring has almost left us, and summer is a short 3 weeks away. Though it feels more like fall today. It's raining and cold, but the robins are loving the worms that are showing up in the garden. We have a nest that was home to two baby robins; they seem to be all grown up now, or at least they're out of the nest, but follow mama around the yard, anxiously awaiting the next bite.

Did you notice I said "garden"? I did! Ken and I actually have a garden started this year, first time in about 5 years. So far we have onions, lettuce, spinach and four kinds of tomatoes. We still have a couple varieties of peppers, eggplant, zucchini and butternut squash to plant. The "lasagna" garden experiment was only marginally successful. The cardboard didn't break down the way we thought it would. The stuff that did seems to have made good compost.

The driver's evaluation scheduled for the end of January went well, in my opinion. I didn't cause any accidents at least, or bang up the instructor's van. The simulated part of the eval was a bit tough; he kept saying, "Step on that brake as fast as you can. As fast as you can." But the actual drive was OK, and he said I did about as well as could be expected given my Parkinson's. Ken was disappointed. He wanted my license revoked.

He, in the meantime, has been working to get his license reinstated, which I will admit would make my life easier. He has taken the remedial course, now just has to take the driver's exam.

In March, I had my stimulator batteries replaced. This is set #3 I've had now. This set was put in about a year before I thought they would. Ken also had surgery to remove his cataracts. He says it's amazing, now he can see again.

I'm sure there's more to be written to catch up four months of inactivity, but I'm getting tired. So I'll say, "till next time..."

Holidays, Past and Even More Past

Hmm, since I last wrote, there have been several holidays go past.

Thanksgiving: Ken and I drove to Ithaca, NY to spend the holiday with my family. Since my sister lives in NH, we decided to meet somewhere in the middle. So my brother's family came from Columbus, my sister's crew from NH, and Ken & I from Cleveland. We rented a house for a couple of nights, we had dinner "catered", and sat around catching up, playing "Taboo" and "Monopoly" and watching "Jurassic Park" on TV. It was far too short, but a very nice visit.

Christmas: We stayed home. Kens sister, Paulette, usually hosts the family dinner on Christmas Eve at her home in Youngstown, but decided to spend it with her daughters in Columbus. We were invited, but
Ken really didn't feel like spending the holiday with a big crowd of family. So we stayed home and made our own Slovac dinner. Pretty good food, I'd say.

The day after Christmas, I took the Greyhound bus to Columbus to spend a couple days with Kristen and Lee and their cats. I took the bus because my doctor and some others are beginning to think I shouldn't be driving any more. More about that later.

New Year's Day: Tempered with sadness. My  former mother-in-law passed away on December 30, her husband's birthday. She had been struggling with Parkinson's for nearly 30 years. Again, I took a bus down to Parkersburg, WV to be with family and friends as we said good bye to Donna.

Well, folks, it's getting late, and I have to take a Driver's Evaluation tomorrow, so maybe that will be all for tonight. I had intended to write more, but I will need to be fresh tomorrow. Till next time...

Things to Be Thankful For

It's almost Thanksgiving, and in my family, as I'm sure is the case with many other families, it is a tradition to go around the table and tell something that you are thankful for. This year I have a few that I would like to share with you.

1. The life of Jerry Schwarzkopf who was my father's closest friend from the time they were in grade school together. Jerry passed away at the end of October, and I was able to go to the funeral home with my brother to share our condolences with his family.

2. After leaving the funeral home, I started for home, only to have the car start acting up, doing the shimmy and the shake. Jack, from the towing company, was good enough to tow my car back to Cleveland, and then to take me home.

3. The Honda dealership put my car back together again, to the tune of $1700 (NOT thankful for that!). I am glad it works now.

4. Ken had a psychiatric evaluation to determine his qualification for VA Disability. The conversation led to him having another emotional crisis. He has spent 10 days in the psychiatric ward of the VA hospital. I am most thankful that things seem to be OK now, and that he's coming home tomorrow.

So what are you most thankful for this year? Think on that, till next time...

Beautiful Autumn Weather

The weather today and this past weekend has been glorious. Lots of mild temperatures and tons of sunshine. I am really going to hate it when the first flakes of sn** start to fall.

So far, the experiment with bringing the garden indoors has been a success. I haven't looked at the peppers, but the tomatoes have two red ones on the vines. That's twice as many as we had all season! We are going to try something new with the outside garden this fall and winter; it's called a lasagna garden, not because of what's planted, but for the layers you put down. It's all about going organic. The first layer is cardboard to kill off the grass and weeds that grew there all summer. It's been rather amusing watching Ken scrounge the basement for enough cardboard to cover the garden. It looks like a patchwork quilt. Next is a layer of fall leaves, so I've been out with the rake, doing my best to keep up with Mother Nature. The next layer will be compost, in part to weigh down the leaves, then kitchen scraps and more compost. Hopefully, by next spring, after the autumn rains and winter snows,
 we'll have a nice plot of land, no weeds, and wonderfully rich soil to start planting.

I started a new knitting project last week. I know, with four afghans in various stages of completion, as well as numerous cross-stitch projects, why start another? Because this one has to be done before Christmas. I'm making Christmas Tree hats for the two youngest of Ken's granddaughters. It remains to be seen whether the two older grandkids want a hat of their own.

Enjoy your autumn. Till next time...

Small Successes

I had to read back to May to find my post about being Ken's advocate for disability claims. It took a while, but he got his Social Security retirement benefits, at last. He will be getting over $1000 a month, which he is under orders to use for paying off bills.

We have not been as successful with the VA. They are being stubborn on the issue of Ken's PTSD. We are really going to have to dig through his past, uncomfortable to say the least, to find stressors and treatments. The process has already begun to take its toll on his mental state. He's started talking in his sleep, much more than he ever has. He's also spent many an evening here lately just talking to me rather than watching TV. It can be a broad range of subjects, from his childhood to being a father, but it nearly always ends up being about his time in Viet Nam. I wish I had a working tape recorder so we could document everything.

Winter is coming. I can feel the bite in the air. Ken isn't ready to let go of the garden yet; he has dug up the two pepper plants and two tomato plants, repotted them and brought them inside, hoping to get something off of them.

Due to one reason or another, we still have not had our final Section 8 inspection. It will be on Tuesday, and believe it or not, we still are not done! Hope and pray it will be dry tomorrow so we can finish painting.

Till next time...