Sick? Who's Sick?

My mother-in-law lives with H and me, and I love her dearly, but she can be a very stubborn woman, especially when it comes to seeing a doctor. At ninety years old, she remains pretty spry and is definitely “with it” – she doesn’t miss a trick. But when it comes to her health, she holds to the belief that a Bayer aspirin will cure anything and everything – just give it time.

She’s been feeling a little puny this week. It started off with a sore throat and steadily progressed to one of those deep-chest baritone coughs. Still, she ignores our pleas to let us take her to the local Urgent Care facility. Finally, today she succumbed, but not without a few choice comments and observations:

         I don’t know why I’m going!

         (cough… cough… cough)

         I can’t taste or smell anything, so I’m eating and drinking all 

         the things I don’t like. There’s no sense wasting food.

         Aren’t those the most awful flowers you’ve ever seen!

         (I explained to her that they weren’t real, but were silk flowers

         attached to pens so they wouldn’t “walk.”)

        I’m only here because THEY made me come!

        (Speaking to the doctor and pointing at H and me.)

        I would just like some antibiotics and some penicillin. I don’t

        need anything else.

        (She’s a real schmoozer once in the doctor’s office.)

They gave her the antibiotics, and she’s now on the road to recovery – we hope.

You've Got To Be Kidding!

As you can see from the sample goodie bag, I’ve been to the dentist. But today’s blog isn’t about my dentist appointment per se; it’s actually about those few moments between arriving and exiting the car.

I don’t really know how it happened, but I set the car alarm off. Somehow in all the wiggling and maneuvering with my purse and keys and car door, I must have pushed something out of sequence and off the alarm went. What a loud, horrendous noise – it just wouldn’t stop.

I smacked at the steering wheel and horn. I opened and closed the door. I turned the car on and off several times and even revved the engine. (I understand that my dentist, was watching out the window.) I pushed every button on my key fob, probably totally confusing the car. In desperation, I called my husband and screamed:

          I’ve set the car alarm off – Help me! MAKE IT STOP!

Please note that he was at least twenty-five minutes away and not exactly in a position to do anything. Calmly he asked:

         Have you done A… B… C…?

         YES! I’ve tried everything. It’s still BLARING! Can you hear it?

I held the phone out towards the dashboard. Finally, I yelled into the phone:

         I’ve got to go. I’m now late for my appointment!


And I hung up on him.

I stomped to the building, and as I reached for the office door, the noise stopped. Total quiet. By the time I finished with my appointment, I had a cavity and two voicemails from H. He had researched the problem online and offered several options in case it happens again.

I sure hope not, but I’ll be ready when I go back in a couple of weeks for that darn cavity.

Never Too Old to Play

We (H in particular) were extremely busy this past weekend entertaining our visiting two-year-old great-niece.  While I may have read a book or two, H really got down to the nitty-gritty of playtime.  During her forty-eight hour stay, he guided little fingers in piano and drum lessons,  played Go Fish, expressed his fashion sense, coached on Flight Simulator, fired up Old McDonald on the iPad, and conducted a neighborhood walking tour.  He and our guest were delightfully worn out at the end of the weekend.  This was family bonding at its best.

News, News and More News

H reads the newspaper religiously. Each morning he peruses the front section of the AJC while sipping a cup of coffee and eating breakfast; he finishes the rest of the paper at lunchtime. On Saturdays and Sundays, the New York Times is added into the mix. Unfortunately, this week’s icy roads prevented any newspapers from landing in our driveway – understandably so.

Unlike my father, who would have paced for days because his paper wasn’t there, H has simply eked out small, unread portions of last Sunday’s New York Times so that there’s a little news to be read each day. Of course, ever hopeful, he’s peeked out the window each morning, hoping to see a plastic-covered lump of paper waiting to be retrieved. Today his patience finally paid off in a huge way. Looking out the window, H realized that not one… not two… nor even three papers had been delivered…but four papers were plopped on the driveway beckoning to him, one for each day that had been missed this week.

The coffee pot is full, and he’s got a lot of news and comics to catch up on.

Handy Dandy Extras

My husband LOVES spaghetti – in fact, it’s just about his favorite meal on this side of the Atlantic. And, he’s completely happy with a jar of Ragu straight off the grocery store shelf poured over a plate full of spaghetti noodles and topped with spoonfuls of parmesan cheese. I enjoy spaghetti too – I just prefer something a little more homemade, so I usually make a big batch of sauce and freeze it in dinner-for-two size containers.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned this homebound week, it’s that it’s a good idea to have extra stuff in the freezer just in case. We’ve already had spaghetti once this week…and to H’s absolute delight, we had it again tonight.

A Snowy Gift

Now THIS is a snow day! I’ve been outside several times this morning maintaining water in the birdbaths, spreading birdseed across the snow, and snapping pictures. I don’t have snow boots anymore, so my rubber garden boots had to do. As I stomped the snow off those boots I was reminded of a snow storm forty-plus years ago shortly after my family moved to Tennessee.

That year the snow fell and fell while the city waited for salt trucks that never came. School was closed for a month. The street behind our house was a large hill and all the kids in the neighborhood gathered there day after day for wild sled rides and snowball fights. The air was always filled with shrieks of laughter. Daily, my mother would bundle up my sisters and me and send us outside to join our friends. We would spend what seemed like hours outside until we got too cold and wet to stand it any longer; Mom would be waiting at the door to unbundle us, dry us off and give us a bite to eat or hot chocolate to drink. Once we were warmed and replenished, we were ready to do it all over again. This was the routine throughout that snow month. And, of course, I thought this was GREAT!

I found out years later (per my father) that we drove my mother nuts and she couldn’t wait for us to go back to school. I know now that she had the patience of a saint

Swayed by Signage

H and I are not usually swayed by Interstate road signs, so I don’t know what happened today, but a very unobtrusive Goldberg Deli sign caught H’s attention and he mentioned how tasty an “everything” bagel with cream cheese would be. The light bulb that went off just about blinded us as we turned off the exit ramp and headed towards the deli for bagels to go. Needless to say, we were too busy munching to carry on much conversation the rest of the trip home.

For good measure, I had to throw in the photo of the deli’s cream cheese balls.

Yes, We Have No Bananas!

Snow has been predicted in our area, starting tomorrow night and extending into Monday. I’m sure kids are already glued to the TV hoping for school cancellations. Milk is flying off the shelves as I type. Because H’s elderly mother lives with us, our biggest snow concern is simply having bananas in the house. And let me tell you, the banana situation is serious – none at Kroger or Publix. The shelves were wiped clean! Luckily, Trader Joe’s came through for us and we are now fully stocked.

My husband assures me that this is not just a Southern phenomenon, that even in the North there is panic buying when snow is on the way.

Feathered Friends

Several years ago friends gave H and me a small birdfeeder, the kind that sticks to the window with suction cups. It sat in the gift bag for quite a while. Finally, I stuck it on the window next to the kitchen table and waited. To my surprise, the birds came, and I have been hooked on watching them ever since.

It’s amazing to see them up close – perfect little beings with beautiful colors and feather patterns, exquisite detail, and fascinating habits. Whenever I find a feather in the yard, I pick it up and place it in small bird bowl (a gift from another friend) that I’ve set aside just for the purpose of paying homage to God’s creatures.

Service with a Capital 'S'

The very first J. Christopher’s restaurant opened its doors in 1996, and H has been a devoted customer from the beginning.  The restaurant’s menu covers breakfast through lunch, and we are Saturday/Sunday morning regulars. Most of the weekend servers are young adults of high school and college age and H knows them all.  (In fact, he has known several generations.)  They all visit with him when he comes in, and they each know the details of his orders without asking: super-hot dark roast coffee; a separate sharp knife with Eggs Christopher; real maple syrup with waffles and pancakes.  But mostly they know about his extra-crispy, bone-dry, the-tip-depends-upon-it bacon – they simply write it up as Henri Bacon. Finally, the more creative servers leave little notes and pictures on his bill.  What service!

Will Work for Food

H is a happy, happy man when he gets to work with technology all day.  For the price of a batch of cookies he installs, fixes, transfers, repairs, and gives instructions.  As for my sister, she lovingly supplies the goodies.  All is right in the world.

365 Project

In honor of the new year, I’ve decided to challenge myself to a 365 Project. If you’ve never heard of one before, it’s a photography challenge where you document a year of your life by taking daily photos. People approach it in many ways: some join with others and post in a group setting; some use the “anything goes” imagery approach; others focus on themes; and some prefer to document once a week instead of daily. You get the picture.

I’ve created a separate blog just for this effort called Essence of a Day. You can find it at http://www.essenceofaday.blogspot.com/. You can also click on the link to it under the “Inspirations” column on the right of this blog. I hope you’ll join me.