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...

Life's Lessons Learned

I have been trying to teach Ken how to use his PC and how to add a post to his blog. Neither of which has been hugely successful. Trouble is, the technology has advanced even faster than I can handle, so I'm still learning while trying to teach someone else. Life lesson #1: You can't teach an old dog new tricks.

I think I got carded at the grocery yesterday. We picked out a bottle of Winking Owl Merlot at Aldi's, and the cashier asked me what my date of birth was. She didn't ask to see my license, but I've never (in the  past 30+ years) been asked for my birthday when buying alcohol. Life Lesson #2: Age is just a number.

The good people from the HCVP (aka Section 8) will be here again next Tuesday to re-inspect the property. Most of the things that were marked for repair involved the garage: painting it, cleaning out the gutters, and fixing a hole in the roof. Those are things that the owner (me) has to take care of. The other item needing repair is the tenant's refrigerator, which according to our lease, is the tenant's responsibility to take care of. Section 8, however, has it listed as owner-responsible.What this means is that even if we repair the garage, if our tenant doesn't repair her fridge, we could lose our Section 8 contract. Life Lesson #3: If anything can go wrong, it will.

So today, I sat on hold for probably 20 minutes with the Inspections department, trying to get the issue of the fridge straightened out. I'm looking at it this way: if our HCVP contract gets canceled, it won't be our fault. Life Lesson #4: Get them before they get you.

 Ken made a disappointing discovery this afternoon. Apparently, someone in the neighborhood needed a new lawn mower worse than we did. We'd only had it for a couple of months, used it about 4 times.  But, as Ken walked to the garage, he didn't see it. It's been stolen. Ken is so angry and disgusted. Life Lesson #5: Some people will take advantage of you at every opportunity.

Tonight we're watching "Pay It Forward" and I'm crying at the end. Feeling thankful for all the angels who have helped me during rough times. Life Lesson #6: Pay it forward, random acts of kindness.

Reading the Past

So today I've been busy reading old blog entries with the intention of putting tags (labels) on them. It's been an interesting experience. It's also a bit depressing how many posts are tagged with Parkinson's.

One of the posts that jumped out at me had to do with Ken's 66th birthday, and how I was going to make this year's better. I think I accomplished my goal. We went to Debonne Vineyards (about an hour's drive east of Cleveland) to enjoy some good food, music and a hot air balloon ride.

I think he was pleasantly surprised.

The rest of this post is dedicated to the memory of my dad. He died June 30, 2010. I think it only fair that the 4-year-old blog should come to an end. The current blog will keep going (I hope!), but there won't be any more reminiscences. Till next time...

Ah, Summer, 7/26/10

What a summer it’s been. The garden is growing (and GROWING!), we’ve had Ken’s daughter here to visit, my brother Steve and I took a road trip to New Jersey to see my dad, and my dad passed away June 30.

The garden is going great guns, or at least part of it is. The peas and the onions? I’ve given up hope for them. The sweet peppers are really struggling along, but the hot peppers are doing OK. The cherry tomatoes are the biggest surprise. The 2 plants are enormous! They have completely taken over their corner. The zucchini and the squash are trying to make a break for it, expanding past the confines of the garden and stretching into the back yard.

Ken’s daughter Stephanie and her boyfriend (fiancé?) Nick were here to visit 10 days ago. Sat was a relaxing evening getting caught up on family news. On Sun, we took advantage of free admission and went to the Museum of Natural History. It was good to spend time with them, though they left too soon.

Steve and I drove to NJ at the end of June. Actually, Steve drove and I tagged along. Daddy had emergency surgery June 13, and was really having trouble recovering from it. Steve and I felt the need to see him, and he was doing better when we were there. As we got ready to drive home Mon, he took a turn for the worse. My sister Nancy made it down from NH on Tues, but he died Wed morning.

I miss him so much. I keep thinking the phone will ring and I’ll hear his “Good evening” on the other end. Memorial services will be held next weekend. It’s gonna be rough.