Bird, Birthday, Anniversary, Errands and Healing...

Monday, August 12th, I was working in Sandiland at my laptop. Out my window, the tomato plants are as tall as the middle of the window looking out to the side of our home. I heard a little noise and looked up from my work. There on the window sill was a little bird. It hopped around and pecked at the screen. I got my cellphone and prepared to take a picture. This little bird as not at all camera shy and also not people shy. It almost posed as I took a string of pictures hoping one would be useable through the blind, two layers of glass and the screen. He is my little friend. 

As a child, I read the stories of princesses who would go into the woods and hold out their hands and little birds would light on their hands. It felt almost like I was a princess with this little fella. Imagine that...a 74-year-old princess!! However, my next thought was that they have now discovered Claude's tomato plants, and he may have to do battle with them to get ripe tomatoes!

Tuesday, August 13th, our visit with Hayden ended with him sleeping in and waking up in time for lunch. We went to Chick-fil-A (his choice). Then came back to the house and he chilled a bit. Then he drove back to LaGrange. He sent me a text when he got home so I knew he made it safely. It was nice to have a moviefest with Hayden again. 

This was Michael, Hayden's father's, birthday. I posted this on our family Facebook page. "Here he is. Today's "Man of the Hour". The one, the only, Michael Marx. He will mark the end of a year and the beginning of a new year as he celebrates his birth today. Happy Birthday, Minal! Hope you have a wonderful day! Love Ya Bunches!!"

Wednesday, August 14th, I made it through the potential timing for our Route 66 trip. Claude went over it with me and felt good about it. This allows us to contact Cordell and Kris and see if we can see them on our way home. It also confirms we can be in Albuquerque of the Balloon Festival. I can now make some hotel reservations. Originally ,we thought we would wing it with this part but as I looked at timing and where there are not any hotels along the route, this seems a safer way to go. I will make sure they each have early cancellation just in case things go awry. 

I was in contact with Jake about having lunch with him. We determined next week about Wednesday. I would set up my PT appointments for next week and that would help us confirm the day. 

This was Drew and Katelyn's anniversary. I posted this on our family Facebook page: "Love this picture of our oldest grandmonster, Katelyn, and her good hubby, Drew. Today is their 9th anniversary. Happy Anniversary you two!! Love Ya Bunches!!"

Thursday, August 15th, Claude and I had a couple of things we wanted to check in Walmart for. Living on this side of town, our grocery shopping is done at Kroger. But Walmart still has lots of things we get there but the runs to Walmart are fewer. Claude headed to the grocery section, and I went to look for kitchen tongs for him and some elastic bands for me to do arm exercises. As I walked through the store, I was very pleased recognizing the progress made. I could no more have done that three months ago after surgery but now I can walk through the store. I get tired but I can do it. That feels so good when you see the progress made.

When we got home, our neighbor, Catherine Meo, was out with her walker. I went to talk with her and Claude went in with his groceries. Catherine has had her little toe on her right foot removed. She is having a hard time healing from the experience. But she is now able to walk to her mailbox to get her mail. 

In the evening, Claude made lasagna and a salad and rolls. We invited Vickie Drakeford over to have dinner with us and visit. It was a delightful evening. Claude had strawberry shortcake for dessert. Vickie and her hubby Wendell were the realtor who helped us sell our Sadieville home and find our Georgetown home. Wendell passed away in February with cancer. We really enjoyed good conversation with Vickie. Claude's lasagna was excellent.

Friday, August 16th, I had an 8:30am appointment with Art at PT. I did all my exercises there. Then Art did the stretching at the end. He is very strong and really gives that shoulder a workout. When he was finished, he took measurements of my shoulder movement. Then he checked my trigger finger and showed me some exercises to do for it. He gave it a good massage and stretching. His diagnosis was just as Greg Cowen's: first we try exercises and massage with an arthritis cream, second we look at a cortisone injection into the tendon sleeve, last, if that doesn't work, we look at surgery. Here's hoping the exercises and Voltaren cream do the trick.

I'm not sure why but this wore me out completely. I came home to ice my shoulder as I usually do. That was it for me for the day. I was down for the count. Claude was superb and made us macaroni and tomato soup and grill cheese for dinner. It was delicious. Nothing like comfort food when you aren't feeling well. 

Saturday, August 17th, I was determined to have a very productive day after my washout of a day Friday afternoon and evening. When Claude woke up, we decided to start our day with a biscuit run. These are refreshing to us. We get our biscuits and sit in the Jeep with the windows down watching the traffic and talking about things in our lives. It is therapeutic and relationship building. 

I came home and gathered the laundry. I was able to get four loads done, folded and put away. Yeah Me!!

I spent the day in Sandiland at my laptop. I cleaned out all my eMails, scanned my new driver's license and got those copies where they needed to be, posted on Facebook and eMail to the Ward about our Ward service project in September, I also got this to Amy Martin for the Sunday bulletin. Then I set to work to get our grid right for our Route 66 trip. I redid the grid to landscape and added three columns for the minutes needed to get to places or take tours with a total column.

When Claude finished fixing dinner, I shut down for a quiet evening with my hubby. 

Sunday, August 18th, has been an interesting Sunday. When we arrived at church, Tom and Mary Walker were there. I haven't seen them in forever. Nice to catch up a bit.

We sat on our usual bench, 4th row back on the right side. Lisa Adams came and sat beside me and asked if she could sit with us. Her hubby, David, was home not feeling well. Lisa was in tears. It was good to put my arm around her and comfort her as she shared between sobs the difficulty she was having. Lisa was my first counselor when I was stake Relief Society president. She has been living in Florida and is trying to move back to Kentucky over time. It was delightful having her sit with Claude and me and catch her up on people she knew when they lived in Kentucky before moving to Florida.

After church another brother came up and quietly talked to us about concerns he has with his family. We talked for a while and it felt good to share and uplift each other.

We then tried to go to Fazoli's for our Sunday meal. They were in quite a disarray. I am sure they were simply short-staffed. We waited in a growing line to place our order. The two ladies behind us worked at one of the hotels and only 20 minutes for lunch and their order was not coming up. We finally left as more people arrived. We ended up going to Jimmy John's and enjoying lunch there.

Now I have done one round of arms exercises and iced up while Claude is napping. I am completing this week's Blog. Then I will work on other things coming up. Claude has a Zoom meeting tonight. We'll have a fairly quiet rest of our day.