Saturday, June 29, 2013

A Better Night

I don't know whether it was sheer exhaustion or just a better night's sleep but I slept pretty well until 4:30 this morning when I woke up with sore arms. I had taken about an hour and a half nap yesterday afternoon too. Strangely, when I woke up from the nap my arms hurt then too.

Bob came over for awhile last evening and we ate some ice cream here. We decided not to go to the park after all. Neither of us had any folding chairs and we weren't sure how much seating there would be out there. I had some chocolate syrup so we just ate the rest of my vanilla ice cream. Then he went home about 7:00 and I took my bath. We will watch the video later. I had bought "Hitchcock" at Wal Mart yesterday morning. It was on sale for $9.99.

Bob's daughter and her husband from Wisconsin will be here later on this morning. She called last night. They stay in Bartlesville. We are still planning on going over to Eggberts for breakfast this morning though. He will get the fixings for sandwiches and chips at noon and then take his family out for dinner this evening at Tavern on the Plaza. He has invited me and I will go but I want to pay for my own dinner. He will have to find Dennis, his youngest son, and invite him. He believes Dennis has given up his cell phone. He called Denise and her family last evening about his plan. His house is awkward. There is no dining space. He eats what little he eats there off the kitchen counter. He had hoped the landlord would have the deck power washed and stained by now. But the carpenter he uses is busy roofing.

Missy seems to be better with her choking. She did not wake me up last night. She has been eating better and she is eating that "hairball" mixture from Iams. Maybe it is helping.

Friday, June 28, 2013

Another Hard Night

This was another really bad night. I awoke at 1:00 both arms hurting really bad. I had just taken an Aleve at 9:00 but I got up and took another about 2:00. Sometime after 2:30 I got back to sleep. What a night. I had thought that Missy was through her choking spell too but she woke up at 1:00 choking again. I held her up until she stopped. We both had a bad night. Maybe we can get a nap this afternoon.

I went to Independence this morning to get my hair done at 7:00. My bangs had turned into sausages due to the humidity. The hairdo probably won't last long. They say today and the next week will be a little cooler. I hope the weather people know what they are talking about this time. We missed all the forecast rain last night. I had put the covers back on my patio chairs and moved the chairs from the front of the outside of the apartment into the carport.

Bob's daughter and her husband are coming today. They will go to Bartlesville and come to see him tomorrow. We will go to exercise class in about 45 minutes.

More later...

I picked up some flowers and went to visit Jack in the hospital. I didn't stay long. Pappy (the foreign student from Congo) came in and I said my goodbyes. I came home and took a nap. I woke up at 4:00 with my arms hurting. Strange...they seldom hurt in the daytime.

We are talking about going out to the park to the CRMC ice cream social at 7:00. It isn't that hot right now. It's hot but not too humid. The trouble is neither of us have any folding chairs.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Long Day

This will be a long day. I woke up at 11:30 and then it was just off and on from then on. Both arms hurt continually and there was no way to get comfortable. I finally took a melatonin but that didn't help. Finally about 3:45 I took an Aleve. Aleve works fast and lasts long. Dr. Gillis told me to take Tylenol but that takes forever to work and it doesn't last long. Finally the ache went away but by then I was wide awake.

Missy choked off and on all night too. She never gets that hairball up if that's what it is. She is losing weight too. She used to be a fat cat but she's really slimming down. I don't know what to do about her. The last time I took her to the vet for a hairball he gave me a medicine with an eyedropper and told me to get that down her. He also gave me an antibiotic to give her. I couldn't get either down her so I tried putting it on her food and she wouldn't eat the food. That was a wasted $68. Eventually it passed through her. This time it has lasted a week or so. She doesn't throw anything up but she chokes pitifully. I try to help by picking her up under her front legs and dangling her and that sometimes seems to help.

Both of us are suffering from mysterious ailments. I stopped my blood pressure medicine yesterday to experiment with that as a side effect. This morning, after only one day off it, my blood pressure had shot up to 161/83. Dr. Gillis finally called me back last evening and I explained my theory to him. He changed the blood pressure medicine and I took it this morning after eating my biscuit. Trouble, trouble, trouble.

There's nothing on the calendar for today. I will probably need a nap this afternoon. I may have had three or four hours sleep last night. Dr. Hsu wanted me to take Valium as a muscle relaxant for my arm but my only experience with Valium was a disaster in the 1970s. My philosophy is the less medicine, the better.

It will be interesting to see what my electric bill will be. The air conditioning has run almost continually since it got hot. It was near 100 degrees yesterday. The bank said 105. With our humidity, that's almost stifling.

More later....

At noon my brother-in-law, Bob and I went over to Cherryvale for lunch at "Just Us". We always get a good healthy meal there.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Busy Day Today

Today I will go to the exercise class. Later I will check with Service Office and Supply for lanyards and badges for the camp. Then I will let Leslie know what they will cost.

I didn't sleep too badly last night. Missy woke me up at 1::00 choking. I picked her up under her front legs and dangled her a little bit and she stopped. My arms were also hurting. I am going to stop taking the blood pressure medicine today and see if that's what is causing the aching. I took another melatonin about 2:30 and got back to sleep and slept until 6:30.

Bob came over this morning and brought his coffee and we visited awhile. We will go to exercise class at 8:45. He got locked out of his house again. His storm door automatically locked. Mr. Bishop came over and tried all his keys but none turned the lock on his back door. I came over and got all my keys and found that my back door key opens his back door. So I got in and stopped them from ruining the storm door.

I got another mystery in the mail again yesterday. Two weeks ago I got a plain blue envelope in the mail. It had a printed label on it with my name. There was no return address. I opened it and 2 $50 bills fell out. I didn't have a clue who sent that money. Yesterday I got the same blue envelope with the printed address label on it again. I opened it and once again 2 $50 bills fell out. No card was enclosed and no return address again. I don't have a clue who has sent me that money. I am grateful but I would at least like to send a "thank you" note. What a mystery!

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Another Bad Night

I woke up about 1:00 with terrible aching arms...both of them. I finally got up and tried to sleep in the recliner but that didn't work. Finally I took a couple of Tylenol and that didn't work either. At last I took a melatonin tablet. I finally got back to sleep sometime after 2:30. I slept until 5:30. Now I feel pretty good.

I am making some biscuits this morning. I ate my leftover Chinese cashew chicken last night. Today I will go to Independence to get my hair done and Bob will get a haircut. He is going to return his little coffeepot to Wal Mart there. He has decided he does not like it. It leaves grounds in his cup and he never quite figured out the amount to use to make a good cup of coffee. He retrieved his old coffeepot from the church yesterday and cleaned it all up.

I went to Bartlesville yesterday afternoon and hunted all over the mall for Leslie a birthday gift. She is hard to buy for because she gets anything she wants. I finally thought of something she does not have and likes and bought that. I had a card butI found one I liked better.

This old laptop computer died yesterday afternoon.I rebooted it several times but it would not come up. There were also lots of error messages. I had not backed up my church camp information. Luckily I had printed it off. Then I rebooted one more time and Spybot came up. I ran that program and miracle of miracles, the icons finally came up. I ran the free Glary Utilities and everything came up fine. I then defraged. Needless to say, I backed up everything on a thumb drive.

I finally heard from Terry last night. Her friend can't teach the class so I am back to square one. I e-mailed another young woman in hopes of hearing from her today. There's less then two weeks left. Terry suggested just waiting until the camp but that would mean the teacher would not have prepared anything. I can't do that. I would like someone to be prepared to teach. Terry is a retired teacher. I'm surprised she would even suggest such a thing.

I heard from Scott yesterday morning. I was glad to hear from him. He was pretty down. Ashley's carlease is up and her mother won't pick it up and finance it. Scott is already subsidizing her and is now also paying for her Tricare. He is doing his part to try to get her though med school. She wants to be a surgeon. She is making straight A's in college. He has been paying her lease too and he had nothing to say about leasing a car three years ago. Taresa and Ashley made that decision and then expected him to pay it. He will be retiring from the Army in three years. He cannot continue to help her that much.

Monday, June 24, 2013

A Quiet Monday

Today should be rather quiet. I will go to exercise class at 9:00, perhaps to get coffee afterward and then home. Both Bob and I still have some of our Chinese food left from yesterday so I will not have to cook. I am hoping my new right eye contacts will be in today. I am using my last one now. I have worn it for a few months and I am quite sure it is ready to be changed.

I went to the Living the Questions group last night at Wanzers. Only a few were there. Bob had begged off. He was very tired. Of course Keith and Joyce were there, Bobby and Karan, Jack and Marilyn, Barbara and me. That's eight of us....just right for a small group.

This afternoon at 4:30 I have my appointment with Dr. Hsu for a diagnosis about my arms. I really don't expect there will be one. I have lost faith in the tests and the doctors. I figure I will just wear it out. That's what I did back in the 80's with my debilitating arthritis. Either that or Bill's prayers worked. He had prayed for me when I could barely walk. Eventually, over a matter of weeks and a couple of months. I was able to stop taking my arthritis meds. And I was never troubled with it again. My theory is if you talk to your body about curing itself, some ailments can be cured by your mind....especially if you are determined to be rid of it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! :)

I would like to go to Bartlesville today. It's been a long time since I've been there...at least two or three weeks. And I am hoping Terry will get back to me today about the teacher for the primary class at church camp. I need to get that position filled ASAP. But I hate to try to fill it again myself for fear her friend will accept and I will have two. Trouble, trouble, trouble...

More now....

Well I saw Dr. Hsu at 4:30 and he said he had been just sure I have osteoporosis..especially since my entire family of females had it..except my mom. He admitted he was mystified and didn't have a clue as to what was causing my arm soreness. I appreciated his frankness and told him so. I told him that was the only problem I had and I felt blessed. I sleep on my left side on a small foam pillow and manage to get through the night only waking up once or twice. Lately, I have been able to get back to sleep after being woke up with the soreness....especially on my right arm. It's the worst.

Oh well...at least he didn't try to fake it.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Saturday's Staff Meeting

Saturday's staff meeting of the staff for the camp went fine yesterday afternoon. First we went into Joplin so Leslie could get some moisture cream. We browsed around at Macy's but I didn't buy anything. Then we went to Olive Garden and had lunch. After that, we went out to the campgrounds. The Ozark Reunion #1 was just winding down. It's the short reunion and is targeted towards kids. Some parents bring their kids but many grandparents bring their grandchildren. No one wants their grandchildren to miss reunion. It's such a great week for families.

There were lots of questions and suggestions at the meeting. We had a pretty good attendance. The main people were there. Some were missing for perfectly logical reasons. I still don't have a primary teacher for the 6,7, and 8 year olds. I am hoping to have one this week.

After the meeting, we went to Anderson's Candy Shop on the way out the Racine way. We each bought a bowl of their homemade ice cream. We did not buy candy. All in all it was a good day. Leslie certainly has her responsibilities organized.

After I got home, I watched a little TV just to get unwound. Then I went to bed. I slept pretty well until 3:00 AM then I started thinking about the primary class. I also was working over this mornings sermon in my mind. Finally about 4:00 AM, I got up. I may get a nap this afternoon after I get my letters in the mail.

Missy is still choking periodically. When I hear her, I pick her up under her front legs and dangle her. That seems to help. As long as she grooms herself, she is going to have this problem and cats constantly groom themselves.