Last Sunday evening Claude and I sat on the front porch enjoying the evening coming on. Claude said he was thinking about making some ham salad for us to have for lunches. It called to my memory my mother grinding Spam in the hand meat grinder and then mixing it with pickle relish and mayonnaise for a fake ham spread. I remembered it as being delicious as a child. He said it sounded good to him. Jake told me earlier in the week how grateful he was we taught him to make peas and cheese salad. He made some to have for lunches this week. I decided I should share this Spam possibility with Jake. He also seemed to think it was a good idea and said he might even have ingredients on hand to make said fake ham salad. I share this in case the idea is of interest to anyone else.
Monday, June 8, 2020
Sunday I had a prayer in my heart for some way I could help Julie and Cordell. They were not going to get to come to Kentucky to see the Ark Encounter as they wanted. I knew this was high on their bucket list. They are welcome to come if their circumstances change. But I ached for these sweet people missing this opportunity. During the night I woke up with the answer to my dilemma. In the morning first thing, I got on my tablet and searched for the Ark Encounter website. There I was able to find their gift shop. I located a big book with pictures of the interior of the Ark and I also found a DVD that tells about the building of the Ark. I order those two items and had them mailed to Julie and Cordell. My heart and mind were now at peace.
Monday morning was spent getting a few errands done in Georgetown. We dropped off some books I was wanting to clear from the book shelf to a friend from Church. Then we went to the nursing home to leave a bag of treats for Papa. We took our walk in the park and had some lunch.
When we returned home I called Julie. My intent was to leave a message so she could return the call when she felt up to it. I was joyfully amazed when Julie answered the phone. We had such a good chat. I shared with her that a package was on its way from the Ark Encounter to her and Cordell. She was very happy about this. I tried to be sure she understood she can still come if they feel they can make the trip. But we wanted them to have these things in case they couldn't make the trip.
Claude went to visit a nice man who is a member of our congregation. He doesn't ever ask for anything so we were surprised a bit when he called. Claude went over while I was talking to Julie. Bless his heart he has two cars and they are neither working and he has been walking to the Love's Travel Plaza and shopping from there. This is great for a quick items but definitely not a grocery store. He is out of work because of the virus. He and Claude set up that Claude would take him to Kroger to shop on Tuesday. Claude also sent out a request to see if anyone felt they might at least look at his cars.
Now, we have a number of items that need to get to Michigan. Right now I can't get in to visit Papa so this would be a good time with restrictions lifting to make a quick, carefully planned trip to deliver these items. I sent Nissa a text and asked her to be honest if she felt okay with Claude and me coming and staying in their home for a few nights. She talked with Todd and they both felt that would be okay. Then I contacted Jake to see if we could see him on our way home. Jake didn't feel good about a visit at this time. I respect that. If Nissa and Todd had said no, we would not have gone there either. This is a dangerous virus and we all need to be very careful and respectful of how each person chooses to deal with it. So we now knew we would make this trip and the days we would be gone. Now to work to finish off projects so we can take all things we need up to Michigan.
Tuesday, June 9, 2020
This is my Mother's birthday. I looked at pictures and thought about posting on Facebook. But I opted not to do that. I just enjoyed my pictures and memories of my Mother and made sure I included some of those pictures in my daily letter to Papa that evening. I experienced such a sweet parting with her when she passed and I hold that as very tender to me.
I spent the day crocheting. Claude took our friend to Kroger's to get groceries. In the evening Claude participated in a conference call regarding the manner in which we start holding Church services again. This is a big deal and needs to be done with the guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control, the Church guidelines and the Stake of Kentucky guidelines all considered as a detailed plan is made and then communicated to the members. We have two congregations meeting in our building and we have to be careful with that as well.
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
This day I sat upstairs crocheting and watching one of my favorite DVD's. It is actually a set of four DVD's with two one hour segments on each DVD. They are titled Truman Madsen in the Holy Land, "The Eternal Christ". He sits in key locations in the Holy Land and tells the story of Christ in that area. Truman Madsen was an emeritus professor of religion and philosophy at Brigham Young University and the Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. He has a calm manner and a deep love and understanding of the life of the Savior. Anytime I was going to spend time teaching the New Testament, I made it a part of my preparation to view these DVD's again. They actually belonged to my parents and I received them from them. After I watched them, it came to my heart that Julie and Cordell might like to view them as well. I sent a text to Julie and told her about them with a picture of the cover. I told her I would loan them to them to keep as long as they wanted and I would get them back at any date in the future. Julie was very happy to get these to watch. On Thursday morning I put them in the mail to Julie and Cordell.
Thursday, June 11, 2002
Started my morning at the post office. I mailed a Father's Day gift to Jake. I also mailed a package to Julie and Cordell with the DVD's by Truman Madsen. I also included the first afghan I crocheted during this pandemic. I put a little note inside the box telling them that we couldn't be there to give them a hug but they could wrap up in the afghan and feel the hugs we were sending their way. I also purchased more stamps to write daily letters to Papa. I need to put getting more envelopes on the grocery list as well.
This day I finished the final afghan using the heavier colored yarns I had on hand. This time I tried crocheting a chain of 75 stitches and then double crocheting on each side of the chain. Then just crocheting in a rectangle for the rest of the afghan instead of doing rows. It came out well enough that Claude pronounced it the one he liked best. We will keep this one.
The highlight of my day was my first haircut since January 17th. I wore my hair in a ponytail all day one last time. I showered before I went so Tyra would not have to use her shampoo bowl on me. She cut me and I went home to dry and style it myself. It was so nice to see Tyra and talk about how she has gotten through the quarantine. She had 10 weeks off work. She has never had that kind of time off, ever. Like the rest of us she appreciates the time to stop and reset your life a bit. Evaluate your priorities and just enjoy a slower pace for a bit. The funny thing she told me was that while beauty shops were closed she had people she had not heard from in 10 years calling her at home to see if she would cut their hair in her home. She said not one of her regular customers did that. I find this an interesting observation on human nature. Tyra said she received a detailed letter from the state board of cosmetology with rules she needed to be able to follow to reopen. Most of them she was already doing before the pandemic. Her shop is just her and no one else. She is an extremely tidy person. So cleanliness was something she was already doing. The two things she had to change were to not leave any magazines out and to take the container of pens off her desk. She now keeps one pen behind her counter. If someone needs one, she sanitizes it and gives it to them. Then sanitizes it again after they use it. I did weigh myself when I got home to see if I dropped a pound or two with that haircut...but...alas, I did not!
Friday, June 12, 2020
This was another errand day. I have wanted to get the Covid-19 test. Our governor is asking everyone to be tested. They want a clear picture of where the virus is and how it is spreading. They need to have all the data they can to watch for how it works. There are also guidelines for each state to reopen businesses and parks, etc. One of those guidelines is to have something like 3% of the population tested each month or something. The testing is free to us in Kentucky, especially if you are on Medicare. I found that Urgent Care in Georgetown could do the test that has results in 15 minutes. No appointment necessary. So, Friday Claude and would get our Covid-19 test done.
We first dropped off a treat bag for Papa. Then we headed to Bojangles to get me a biscuit and soda. I forgot that my blood pressure medication causes me to have a dry cough when I eat. This has been going on for over a year as I know I have talked with Dr. Lyon about it at two of my annual exams. It is just a side effect of the medication and not a concern. However, a dry cough is also a symptom of Covid-19. As Claude is driving us to Urgent Care, I am eating my biscuit and beginning the coughing process. Claude said, "Maybe we should have thought this one through a bit before we got the biscuit." We had a chuckle about it.
We arrived at Urgent Care and parked in front. It is first come, first served. I called in and told them we were out front and wanted the Covid-19 test. Questions were asked about each of us and I answered them. We were told we would get an eMail and we were to answer and follow the instructions in the eMail. Sure enough, we each got an eMail on our cell phones. We opened our respective eMail's and started to answer questions and take pictures of the front and back of our insurance cards and driver's licenses. You have to enter some things and then they text you a pass word to get the rest of the questionnaire. We each had to do this three times before it was right for us. This was truly the hardest part of the whole experience for each of us. Not that we couldn't understand or do what was requested in the eMail. It just would stall or not complete and you would have to start again. I'm sure it was all of us using all the Internet capacity there was. When we both finished I called back in and again made sure she knew we were waiting in the green Jeep out front. She quickly reviewed everything and told us to drive around to the back and someone would come out and do our test out there. We did drive around back where one car was waiting. Another car or two came in behind us. The nice lady came out with clip board in hand and made sure who was in each car. Then she went in and got a swab and did the test on the lady in the car in front of us. Then back into the building she went. She came back out and did the test on Claude and then back into the building she went. She came back out and around to my side of the Jeep and did the test on me and went back into the building assuring us the results would be ready in about 15 minutes and then they would call us with the results.
Claude and left and went to the park to take in our walk. We had errands in Lexington to do and as we drove to Lexington we got the phone call. We were both negative for the corona virus!! Yeah!! This makes us feel better about going to Michigan. We would not have gone if either of us tested positive.
I sent Jake a text to let him know we were negative for corona virus. His quick retort was, "That's the best negative news I've read in a while." I assured him he was very clever and might consider a career as a stand-up comedian. I told him the test was not fun but not real bad either. To which he gave his second quick retort, "I've heard the medical staff are really nosy." This was followed by, "Ha! I am on fire!" Love my son.
I also posted on the family Facebook page. Andie commented, "Way to ace the test." (She is a teacher you see.) Katelyn commented, "Way to not be positive." Todd commented, "So you got that going for you." (Which is something Claude says a lot.) So it is now official we have a family full of smarty trousers!!
Through this day we kept noticing clouds. While doing our walk, I looked up and saw a manatee. I shared the view with Claude and he agreed and even thought the little cloud in front might be a baby manatee. In the evening we went out to the upper deck on the back of our home and sat to enjoy the end of the day. Claude looked up and saw this cloud. He said it was a rabbit that might be flying. I had to agree. It was beginning to change form as I got my camera out. It is just one of the beauties of nature to find these images in the clouds.
This day we set aside to visit the Marx family. Andie had things to be taken to Michigan so we needed a time to get these items to go with us this time. We would go over in time for lunch. We took a bucket of KFC and biscuits with some wings added for fun. Andie made a nice quinoa salad and Bailey baked brownies. We had a lovely 3 hours visit. Hayden shared this with us. They had their band awards for Oldham County High School. Hayden received his band letter and a certificate. He will now purchase a jacket to which these will be sewn. Very proud of Hayden and his love of the band program. Hope it can continue with this virus. Not sure how that will play out this fall. Of course, we aren't sure they will even get to have classes in school. Hopefully we'll all behave and then they can have in-school instruction.
Sunday, June 14, 2020
Well, I overslept this morning. Bad sleep the two nights before caught up with this old girl. We did our reading and sacrament together. Then we watched the Worship Service via Zoom. Bishop shared with us the intent to start having sacrament meeting only at the meetinghouse beginning June 28th. We will only have sacrament meeting and that meeting will be 45 minutes long. The bishopric is mailing out a survey for each family to complete and return. Based on the results of this survey the congregation will be divided into two groups. Each group will attend every other week at 9am. This will allow for proper social distancing. The building will then be cleaned so that the Elkhorn Creek Ward can do the same type of meeting at Noon. We were cautioned that meeting in the building is strictly optional. Those of us with health concerns and that fit into that category are encouraged to stay home. We will still be allowed to have our own sacrament meeting in our homes on the weeks we do not go to the building. There will be more detail on rules to be observed as we start trying to meet together again and those will be given out as they finalize after the surveys are in.
Just before the Worship Service Zoom meeting, I received a call from the nursing home. The nurse went to check on Papa and found him on the toilet with a bloody nose. She called and the other nurse came running and a CNA come running. They all verified he must have hit his face on the wall or door and sat on the toilet. They had a hard time getting his blood pressure. The procedure is to call an ambulance and get him to the emergency room at Georgetown Community Hospital. They had done that and then Anna called me to tell me these things.
I called the emergency room after giving a bit of time for them to get Papa there and begin checking him in. I spoke with Courtney, the ER nurse assigned to Papa. I gave her some back ground health data to help her and also his insurance information. I was told I could not come to the ER because of the virus. I made sure Courtney knew of Papa's dementia and that she truly should call me for medical history as Papa might not remember and he has a tendency to combine stories. She was grateful I called and told me she would call if anything showed up on the tests they would do.
I received a call at 2:46pm from Anna at the nursing home. They found nothing out of the ordinary with the scan and blood tests run on Papa in the ER. The ER really believes it is syncope. However, the ER said Papa told them he fell and that is in their report as the reason for the cut on the bridge of his nose. However, the nursing staff at the nursing home are sure he did not fall but bumped his head and then sat on the toilet. They will move Papa to the TCU (Temporary Care Unit) at Signature Health Care. I am sure this is because he left the nursing home and came back and there is the concern about the corona virus. I know the nursing home set aside rooms in the TCU to care for any patients that might get the virus. So I am sure he is in one of those rooms. This will only disorient him further. He will be without his pictures and things that are familiar. He has stitches on the bridge of his nose and refused them putting a bandage over the stitches. His doctor said they could leave off the bandage if the nursing staff at the nursing home will keep ointment over the stitches as they heal. The problem will be his wearing glasses to read. That is about all he can do anymore and I write him a letter each day and also bring him new reading material a couple of times each week. If he can't wear his glasses that will only frustrate him more. Anna is going to talk with him about wearing them on the end of his nose so he can still read. I ache to be able to get in and explain all this to him each day. He just won't remember what happened or why his nose hurts or why he can't wear his glasses. Ugh!! I know they will take good care of Papa but it would sure be nice to be there with him a bit.
We also had a Google Hangout meeting with our family this afternoon. So good to see everyone's faces and share a bit of how we are each doing. Everyone is healthy and we have no incidents of this virus in our family. This is a blessing.
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