..and it's leaking!

Here we go again...water coming down the walls in the river room, mine, plus the one above me and the one below mine. At least Tracy's is an exterior wall. Mine would be if it weren't glassed in. As of this writing, the water has stayed in the river rooms and not gotten into my living room---yet.

I had called my upstairs neighbor last night and left him a message to call me about the leaks. The fellow on the 5th floor, Herve, let me know he was concerned and offered to come help move the furniture and such. At that time all was well in that room so I thanked him for his offer. This a.m. I went up to knock on the door at 404, but no one was home, thinking it odd that Dick did not call me back.

Shortly after getting back in my unit my doorbell rang. There stood Deborah, wondering if I had water coming in. I told her I did, and she said Dick was in Ireland, golfing, which is why he didn't call me back. She came home from work and went right to bed, not even thinking about the river room. They were aware of the past problems with their river room floor but she never gave it a thought.

She went out there this a.m. to check on the geese who had a nest in the basin, and discovered the water standing in the river room. Hence, her visit to my door. We exchanged phone numbers so we can keep in touch. I told her about the towel duty I used to have when the place was empty and suggested she do the same. Connie brought up the wet vacuum for her to use to suck up the standing water. So thankful for Connie and the vacuum cleaner!

Deborah had made plans to go out of town with the other "golf widows" but decided she had better stay here to keep up with this water business. They might think the water is coming in from above and puddling on the floor, but I think we had enough evidence from last season that it's coming under the door and tiles. AJ, the handyman, assured me absolutely that he made the appropriate repairs to the door, caulking and sealing the tile wherever he could. I am sure he thought it was good...but, it wasn't enough!

A little bit later Connie and Heather came here to help me pull the rug back and move the TV away from the wall. I took the stuff up from the floor and out of the way in case I do have to position my roasters and pans to collect the dripping water, if it happens to escape Deborah and her towels and vacuum. I should sleep now in case I cannot tonight. 

***

Presently 7:00 pm and no significant rain here at my house. Thank you, Lord Jesus! The weather reports were the worst of it was coming between 4:00 pm and 8:00, and that time is nearly up. I am going to hold the weather folks to it! 

We are due for a thunderstorm tonight and again tomorrow but more intermittant showers tomorrow. We have a breakfast function for church tomorrow at Honey B's but the owner called Janet to warn her that her road might be flooded, and not able to get to the restaurant in the morning. What???? 

I told Janet that if this was my restaurant and I had over 35 people planning to come, I would stay in town in a hotel to make sure I had my place open for them! She is calling Janet around 7:00 a.m. to let her know if she is going to be open, and if she is not, Janet and I have to get busy making phone calls to folks. Such a business!

Rainy rainy rainy day

All the way to Victory and all the way back again it was nothing but rain. Not always heavy but relatively steady. A couple times I considered either not going at all or turning around but am glad I stuck it out. We had such a great class, with even greater conversation before we got underway. Still talking about the excellent seminar they hosted on the weekend about Alzheimer's Disease.

On the way to class, I pulled into the lot at Dunkin Doughnuts to get my bottle of Diet Coke, as is my custom. But, there was nothing there. The signs are gone, the interior bare, entirely deserted. When did this happen? It had to be after last Thursday when I was there...What's going on? 

Before I went home, I headed up Kingsley Avenue to the other end, to the Office Max. I had ordered replacement ink for my new printer and got three colored inks which are the right ones, but the black one I ordered was the wrong size. Nuts! Since I have stuff pending to be printed, I figured instead of reordering I would just go to the store to buy one. My mistake! No more Office Max----the entire parking lot in front of the store is dug up, no signs up, gone. I had heard that Staples was moving over there but did not expect the store to be undergoing renovations like this. Not my day, it seems!

I just came home, then, expecting to go out to Wal*Mart tomorrow to see if they have my size of cartridge. Not sure what my other options are other than to simply order it overnight and pay the extra fees for shipment. And send the other one back to Amazon. Ugh!

Since I was wet and cold upon getting home, I turned on my heater in my room to get the chill out. My lunch was leftovers from Sunday's Chili's visit, plus a reheated brat from the other night. Connie asked me to e-mail my neighbors to let them know they could use their A/C units again, as the water for them had been off for a bit while I was gone. She wasn't worried about mine running, knowing I didn't run it. 

My brother-in-law's mom passed away so several in my family were attending her service in Manitowoc today. I hope their weather is better than mine is. Some of my Victory friends are in WI for a visit, arriving in warm weather which changed overnight back to winter. May is a cruel month so far!

People are missing out!

At Bible study Monday, we had a side discussion which grew from our study in Thessalonians. We were talking about the things we do right in our church, our personal church, and Fran mentioned how many folks have remarked about the excellent food at the funeral luncheon when Andy died. The sandwiches are more or less prepared ahead but the rest of the food is donated by the members. It was marvelous, is marvelous, the bounty provided by those who love and care about this family.

Then, the conversation flowed to our good, Lutheran funerals. People are really robbing their loved ones (or the loved ones are robbing themselves) of this last chance of sharing the Good News, the hope that we have for eternity with the Lord. Michael had a lovely graphic (below) which pictured Christ's return for us, surrounded by saints and angels. Captured the sentiment of the lesson perfectly. 

                                   

Pastor Hoyer has more than once mentioned his sorrow over how many people are forgoing the 'traditional' funeral services held in church. Instead, folks are doing delayed memorials held at facilities provided by the funeral homes. This shift is likely due to the more frequent use of cremation, streamlining the entire process. 

I am also wondering if this might be so because the survivors are less attached to a church family where they live and might not relish the prospect of being reminded of what they left behind. This might be way off base, but makes me think....

Judy C. mentioned the services she attended at Moosehaven, rather generic ones conducted by the chaplain. Most of the format was singing the praises of the person who has died, rather than the praises of Him who gave His Son for us. Others mentioned going to funerals where folks jump up and give lengthy testimonials about the person who died, leaving there with little in the way of comfort, or assurance of a reunion in heaven.

To keep up with what is going on in my home town, I will check the local newspaper via the Internet, including the obits. Sadly, it seems Manty and the surrounding area has so many 'young' people dying. Folks in their 30's and in their 60's plus the ages in between. Now, in a small town, that seems to be lots of young folks, if you ask me. Perhaps to Justin, these would be older folks, but to one who is this age, they are young! 

More often than not, people have no mention of church affiliation, conducting the memorial service at the funeral home, making use of the house chaplain. This makes me put my sad face on, my sad heart, too, thinking these folks might not have had the Lord in their lives. Hopefully that is not the case. The funeral service gives a person yet one more opportunity to offer comfort to the survivors and hear the reminders of what God has done for them, and for us. I would hate to be robbed of this opportunity to do so.

Free at last!

This morning I had a dental appointment to have a small cavity taken care of. It was discovered on a previous visit when I had a complaint about a couple twinges experienced the night before. I like to immediately get those checked out, due to my history with teeth. She saw nothing on the x-ray which would give me a twinge but did discover this small cavity. I had previously declined the 'bat-wing' x-rays, which was my mistake. 

As I sat in the chair, before Peggy came in, the ladies were asking me about my band-aids on my neck. As I told them of my experience, I also told them how we could not get the necklace off. This was all Yvonne had to hear as she got busy with the dental tools to go to work on the threads. It took some doing but eventually she got the threads loose and the necklace was off. After over eight years in place, it was free!!! Then she put it in their cleaning machine to polish it up. Talk about a full-service dentist office!

Before I left the office, I had the needed bat-wing x-rays which showed no hidden problems or anything potentially goofy, which is comforting. It took about three hours for the full effects of the freezing to leave my lips and chin. This made quite a mess out of my nice shirt as I tried to drink from my soda can and water bottles, which gave me more than a few chuckles.

On my way home, I stopped at Publix for soda and a few other things. I had meant to get a pork loin and entirely forgot about it once in the store. I did get brats and some hamburger, but somehow bypassed the pork. Lisa, my niece, showed a picture of such a thing that they had had for dinner one night recently. The coating was bourbon brown sugar marinade which I picked up last week at Wal*Mart. I guess I could simply stop at Winn Dixie for that piece of meat, as WD has a good reputation for having quality meats. 

                                          Actual photo of my creation

At Publix I bought a package of fajita veggies to use with the brats (sausage) for my dinner tonight. I added an additional half an onion to this mixture. The last time I made this meal I had to share it with Justin and Martie, so this batch is mine----all mine!!

I am a de-marked woman

The next time I go to see my people and my friends in WI, I hope they will still recognize me. As of this afternoon, I am minus the lifelong 'vampire bite' beauty spots on the right-hand side of my neck. The doctor has been drooling over those marks for some time. When the medical assistant was getting things set up, she said, "I think she just likes to cut things off..." My younger sister has had some cancerous areas on her face, making me now more agreeable to having mine removed.

Betsy, the doctor, just went after me once I was in the office and removed 5 in my necklace area, and one from my back. She had trouble locating the one on the back after making a fuss about it during my check-up earlier this month. She chose one and zapped it off, the worse part being the freezing thereof. The rest--the snipping off and cauterizing---was a breeze. Two of those removed she is sending in, the rest were simply cosmetic (in her mind, they never bothered me!) improvements.

Many of the brown spots you see in this photo are no more. The necklace is covering one of the two vampire bites and one does not appear in this photo, the opposite side of my neck. 

I had mentioned Sunday that Justin was unable to loosen my 'good' necklace for me, due to the threads. The nurse and the medical assistant also tried their hands at getting the threads loose but gave up as well. The doctor was able to work around the necklace but fears it will rub on the treated areas. She suggested I go to the jewelery store to see if they have a tool to get it off. Now that I think of it, I bet her cauterizing tool would have worked great for getting those threads off the clasp. Wish I had thought of that when sitting there!

Next Monday I return for her to check over the treated areas and she will likely have the results back on the two sent in. I did not ask for special favors to expedite the results and am not worried about them. Not yet anyway! No shower for me tonight and when it seems the bleeding has stopped, I can remove the band-aids. I suppose I should cover my pillow again in case something seeps through the band-aids. And tomorrow? Off to the dentist to have a small filling taken care of. Too much of these type of appointments this year, and that's it!

The end of an era

Today Justin disconnected my old three-in-one-printer and moved the one he gave me for Christmas into its place. He could not recall how old it was, the one being replaced, but we did have it at the lake house which was in 2004. 

Oh, if that thing could only talk! All the newsletters and such spit out of that machine...It still works but the ink cartridges were getting so expensive, which is why Justin got me this new one. The salesman at Office Max told me they cost so much because fewer people use them anymore. Since I had recently replaced the ink I asked Justin to leave the old one hooked up until I used all the ink. Who would think the cartridges would last THIS long, since before Christmas? 

                                   

Of course, I used the new machine for printing my photos for the Flock Board, as the old one would no longer tolerate photo paper. Justin has already ordered new cartridges for me for the new machine, "high capacity cartridges" which should last longer than the originals did. A little 'cartridge' humor there....

Tomorrow is my appointment to have my skin tags (a.k.a. moles) removed, late afternoon. Wanting to make sure I was ready, I took off my heart necklace and asked Justin to open the latch on my 'good' necklace. There is a safety on it, and another latch. I never take it off and he said it seems to be jammed. He tried and tried to push the latch but he said there are threads in it which won't allow the release. Perhaps the doctor can get it off, or will have to work around it somehow.

More than once I snagged my decorative pillow or other pillows and now it comes back to bite me, sort of. One time I had to go to his room with the pillow attached to me, looking like Quasimodo with a hump on my back. I couldn't get loose of it on my own and didn't want to break the latch. Now it seems that might not have been an issue!

A fantastic day

This morning Judy and I drove to Victory to attend a seminar on Alzheimer's Disease. When Judy and I walked up to the church, we marveled at the amount of activity going on there, including the lawn mowing. Another team of guys, hired to paint the exterior of the church, were starting with the bell tower. A regular beehive of activity!

Pastor met us and seemed surprised that I did not have dough nuts with me. He asked, "Did I answer your lovely e-mail yesterday?" and I looked at him with a concerned look on my face. Oh no! Is my memory going? I had written to let him know Judy was coming along and asked if I could bring something, like dough nuts. Since I didn't hear back from him (really, I did not!) all we carried in were a couple of sodas.

He checked his e-mail and reported to me, "This is as far as I got: Dear Kim...." and he was distracted or something. He never did get back to me (so it wasn't my memory playing tricks on me!), it was his! He called Anne to bring the treats, saying she was not happy to do so. We made sure to thank her for them during the break.

The presenter was a pastor from The Lutheran Home in MN and did a fine job of it. He had printed materials, a power point presentation, and videos interwoven in the presentation. There were equal number of attendees from GS as from Victory. I sat next to Fran and was glad to do so. More than once she wished she knew this info two years ago when Andy got sick. 

Now, about the content of the seminar---as I told Linda later on, I could/can hardly express how much I took away from this four hour session. We were taught about the difference between dementia and actual Alzheimer's Disease, and the other illnesses which present with memory loss, short or long term. There were suggestions about what to say or not say to those suffering which might trigger a defensive reaction instead of a positive one.

He addressed the matters of establishing POA (powers of attorney) for financial reasons and for medical purposes, doing it ahead of time when people can still think straight and know what they want done, etc. The one part that choked me up was the discussion about the Christian preamble as part of ones Will. His booklet had verses to reference for that, as well as for helping to determine end of life decisions to be made. I can't help it---the tears just come.

One idea to help a sufferer 'remember' the good memories of the past was the use of a picture book using photographs of better times and loved ones. Anne mentioned the movie "The Notebook" where the husband read his wife's and his life story to her daily at the nursing home. She would 'open the curtain' every now and again to remember him, and fade away into her other place. Might have to get that movie out to watch tonight!

Pastor Hoyer mentioned how beneficial this class or session would be to have at the Seminary. The presenter, Curt, said he spoke at a Pastor's Conference recently and ended up with appointments to speak at 35 more congregations in the upper midwest. Later, Pastor said that GS should invite him down next year to have this session again, especially after those of us there talk it up.

                                                          

One of my longer time friends at Victory, Carol, was introduced to me years ago by Linda O. She brought us together because we were both writing. Carol was writing about her dad and his Parkinson's Disease. In 2008 when Linda was visiting, we arranged to meet up with Carol at The First Coast Writers group where the speaker was the author of the book "Mothering Mother", Carol O'Dell. "Victory Carol" had a chance then to talk with the other Carol, who suggested she wait a little while to work on her book because it was still so fresh for her, to give it some time to rest. So she did!

Today Carol said she is getting close now to wrapping it up. The stuff she learned in this class would go a long way to helping put the finishing touches on it. And then, she came to me afterward and asked me to proof her manuscript when she is done, prior to sending it to the editor. I would be honored to do so. What a privilege she is giving me. The icing on the day!