I got up at 6AM and spent the morning getting the end of the cleaning that needed to be done this week. Whew. I did it.

Dick had to be at therapy at 10AM. Andrea the orthotist was there and informed us that she had talked to Dr. Moreno. She told him that she felt that with adaptations and refining she thought she could get the ready made shoe we have been using to work - otherwise she said we would have to go to a custom shoe. Dr. Moreno said that this is what he wanted from the beginning and that this is how we should go.

SO - Andrea took a cast of the foot. She also took the shoe for a sample to send along and to salvage the bracing and straps which will be used on the custom shoe. Now we need to wait for three to four weeks for the shoe to be manufactured. In the meantime we will not have therapy. Dick will have to continue with the exercises that have been given to him by the therapists and continue standing and practicing balance here at home but since he cannot walk or do any of that it is silly to be paying for therapy. So a bump has appeared in the road but it is better than a sore on the foot which would signal a potential disaster.

I had a great nap this afternoon. Then I took care of a couple of financial and medical insurance items that have been pending before getting things ready for dinner. Dinner WAS quite simple but I wanted to be totally ready so we could visit with Michelle and Jim as we will not be seeing them for a long time in all likelihood.

The arrived a bit before 6PM. Michelle worked her last day at Oshkosh Corporation today. They have been packing their hearts out. We had a cream of tomato and basil soup and a grilled Cuban sandwich with chocolate banana cake frosted with chocolate and brown suger frosting for dessert.

Tomorrow they will leave for Oklahoma as soon as the movers have their belongings loaded. They expect to be in Oklahoma City by Saturday evening and unless they are too exhausted will start their jobs as managers of the apartments on Monday. Wow. THis has gone fast and we are sure glad that they were able to come to visit this one more time before they leave. Pray that their trip is safe and that all is as it appears to be so that they will be settled nicely.

Tonight I went to Ric Iverson's house for the first Ad Hoc meeting for the Condo association to review the items that we need to review with the developer. The committee is going to try to meet with the developer on Monday if all goes well so that we have a report before May 16th which is the Association's annual meeting.

Now it is after 10 and I am tired and ready for bed. Tomorrow I will be leaving at noon to go the the Celtic Women Gathering in Lake Geneva. SO. You will not hear from me until Sunday Evening. I hope you will miss me. I am intending to renew and try to gain some strength.

Emily Dickinson said "I never spoke to God nor visited in Heaven... yet certain am I of the spot." I think heaven is not a place but a way of being and that we are even now on the fringes of it if we just open our hearts and look for it.

Love

Mary

That Chelsea woke up at 3AM again. I sometimes wonder if because I wake her up from such a sound sleep at 9PM she is not really ready for her last nighttime bathroom call and that is why she is coming so early. Oh. Well. I went back to bed until 6AM and did get my sleep anyway.

I watched all of Good Morning America today because it was exciting to see the "gang", Diane, Robin, Chris and Sam all in Waukesha for a block party. Wow. They served them brats, but they were Milwaukee brats on a "brat bun" with a sauce of beer and onions rendered down on them. I think they should taste a real Sheboygan brat on a proper hard roll with butter, catsup, mustard, dill pickle and onion. Not that is a brat.

After the show,I went to the bank and then grocery shopping. When I got home, Dick was sleeping so I made a fruit salad and then cooked some brats out on the grill (the show did make me hungry for them). I got Dick up at noon and we had a proper brat on a hard roll with salad for lunch.

Then at 2PM I went to Rocky Knoll for the Amputee Support Group meeting. We had a speaker today. Dinah Federer came an talked to us about her new book called Chasing Normal subtitled A Guide for the Newly Disabled and for Those Who Love Them. She has had a disability since birth but in recent years developed a second condition which caused her to eventually have to stop working and gave her the basis for this book. I have not read it yet but after listening to her speak am looking forward to it and feel that there will be a lot to digest in it.

Rocky Knoll is so welcoming of the Amputee Support Group. They give us a room to meet and always bring coffee and treats. Today they had mini chocolate covered cream puffs that were absolutely decadent.

Now we are listening to the President's speech about his first 100 days. He is handling the questions well. We will see how the nation responds to it. He seems unflappable. He mentioned that when he started running for the office the War in Iraq was the main issue out there. Before he took office the economy had tanked and health care had loomed it's ugly head again. So there are all kinds of balls that have to be kept up in the air. We need patience and have to give time for the plans to work. This is not an easy when we still have our young men and women in foreign countries dying when they should be home. We have too many people unemployed and underemployed. The banks and our auto companies are in a sorry state. We need to continue praying and to work together. I am sorry that he is "pro-choice" but I do understand the concept. I have the other outlook that a life upon conception is a life and somebody has to advocate for those most helpless and defenceless human beings. But I do agree with him that abortion itself is a moral not a legal issue.

So the day is almost over and am I ever glad. Only one more full day before I get my mini vacation. I can hardly wait for that.

That naughty Roxie jumped up onto the TV last night and knocked the lovely bouquet of daffodils off onto the floor. I picked them up and put them back. They look a little bedraggled but are hanging in there. I think I rearranged things so that she can't make that trip again.

Mother Teresa said " Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls."

Love

Mary

I was able to spend most of the day at home. Chelsea and I had a really lovely walk shortly after 6AM. Then I picked up some breakfast for Dick and me from Mc Donalds. We haven't done that for a long time and I seem to be out of milk and eggs which rules out most breakfasts. I would settle for toast and cheese or bread and peanut butter but these do not seem to thrill Dick. Tomorrow is grocery shopping day so we will be stocked up again.

After we ate I "surprised" our poor Chelsea with a bath. She is now the prettiest little doggie in town. She literally glows.

Then Dick went for a nap with Chelsea and Oscar so I did a couple of errands. I went to Amy's Mary Lee to stock up on cards because I had a $7 coupon that was expiring in a couple of days. It seems silly to throw away $7. I dropped of some clothes for Mother and Dick's old shoes at St. Vinnie's. Now I need to go through my closets and pare things down. There are lots of things I have not worn for almost 8 years, when I retired, and it is really silly to keep them any longer.

This swine flu is really becoming a thing, it seems. When I was at Mom's yesterday, she was remembering the pandemic flu that ran the world shortly after WW1 in 1918 or so. She barely remembers as she was born in 1916. They lived out on a farm that Grandpa Bowser was running and she just remembers that whole families were sick and the neighbors, like the Bowsers who were not sick, would take care of their own animals and chores and then go over to the farms of neighbors that were sick and take care of their animals and chores too. Such a wonderful cooperation. I wonder if we would do that, would we even know that our neighbor needed help.

This afternoon, the doorbell rang and when I went to the door there was standing our neighbor Jean Steiner with a bouquet of daffodils that she had just cut. I thanked her for spring and put them in a vase on the TV.

I am really having trouble staying awake tonight. BUT I am going to stay up for Dancing with the Stars. That is over when I need to take Chelsea out anyway so it is a good goal and I would like to see who is let go this week. I really do enjoy that show.

Til tomorrow then.

All my love

Mary

Strange day. Would you believe that Chelsea woke me up at 3AM? Well she did. At least, I was able to get back to sleep and got up for good at 6:20 or so.

Chelsea hardly touched her breakfast so I put it on the counter and set a heavy metal trivet on it to keep the cats out of her food. A lot of good that did. When I got out of the shower Dick said that he heard a crash in the kitchen and sure enough that naughty Oscar had gotten up on the counter, knocked the bowl AND the trivet onto the floor and he and Roxie had finished off Chelsea's breakfast.

By then it was not raining so Chelsea and I took a long walk. I found it quite refreshing and felt good when we got back. She was happy too. But I am concerned about her sporadic lack of appetite. She was quite hungry tonight and ate her whole dinner but mornings seem to be another story.

I went to bible study this morning. We had a good group, 8 of us and the discussion was lively. Next Sunday's Gospel is the Good Shepherd story. This story is so familiar that it is good to put a new slant on it. We took the viewthat the story is not really about shepherds but about us. We are supposed to make choices to offer service, sacrifice and love given freely as did the Good Shepherd. We too must lay down our lives out of love.

Anyway, a good lively discussion.

Then I went over to Mother's for a visit. I took her a couple of the pasties because I know she likes them. They make an easy meal for her to prepare also. I also took her a bottle of wine.

On the way home I picked up a new toilet seat for my bathroom. The tip lid hinge broke. I decided, no more wooden seats for me. Either the lid cracks or the hinges break. I put the new one on this afternoon.

Dick had therapy at 1:45. Tim from Wisconsin Prosthetics came to check the prosthesis and to talk to Dr. Moreno about his concerns about the shoe. They discussed the shearing that seems to be causing redness on the bony prominences of Dick's foot. Dr. Moreno is still pushing for a fully custom shoe as this one fits width wise, height wise but is a bit too long. The orthotic people think that the adapted shoe should be OK. So Andrea, who fitted him for the shoe, will come to the Care Center on Thursday and review everything and perhaps talk to Dr. Moreno again. Int he meantime, Dick cannot do any walking so we are again at a standstill. A bit of a disappointment but we did get good news on the prosthesis. Tim said that the stump is just about stable and we are ready for the next casting - one step closer to the final prosthesis.

I think I have everything about ready for the weekend. I have to take lots of stuff that belongs to CWI so that we can have a good gathering. I have a box of items such as books for sale and scarves and sweatshirts. Now it has finally reached 9PM and I will have to wake up my poor little old doggie so that she can go out to go potty one more time before I go to bed. I sure hope that she lasts longer than 3AM this morning. She is no longer consistent, yesterday it was 5AM.

Tomorrow we have no appointments at all. Isn't that going to be a strange day. I am so glad. I do intend to take a bunch of stuff over to St. Vinnies just to clear out the garage a bit. I will be going through my closets soon too. As I told Dick, I will weed out my work clothes and keep just a couple of good suits for special occasions. I certainly don't need all of them as I did when I was working. It is always hard to do that but I have not worn some of them for seven years and that is really long enough. Someone else might as well be getting the use out of them.

Take care and I hope your tomorrow is a special one.
Mary

 

Here he is. My sentinal. Notice the name of the street sign.

Mary

It was both a busy and quite wonderful day.

Chelsea did not wake me up the first time until almost 5AM. Which is almost unheard of. I took her out and then went back to bed until a bit after 6. I spent the morning getting things ready for the noon meal and helping Dick with his bath.

Jim and Michelle came back from Oklahoma City on cloud nine. They had updated their blog so we knew that things went well, but it is even better to hear things from their own lips.

I prepared enchilada stacks, bean and chicken tostadas and for Jim since we don't know when they will be here for dinner again for at least some time, Chocolate Mousse. (Dick says Jim always gets what HE asks for.) I have not made that in a long time and I don't know why. It sure does taste good.

Everything tasted good and we found out a LOT about their new job and the place.

I called Bart and Barb tonight and updated them on Jim and Michelle's move. They are delighted and would like to show them around if they need it and want to take them for dinner or have them over for dinner. If our children are moving away, at least they are moving closer to each other.

We lazed around the rest of the day and listened to the rain. I opened a couple of windows today and some kitties we know sure got excited. Roxie's ears sure perked up when she heard the birds singing.

With all the blackbirds singing their hearts out this spring, I thought I would reprint my poem about the red winged blackbird that greeted me every morning one whole summer when we lived at Hunters Glen. People tried to tell me that he was protecting his nest but I know he just was saying Hi. If he wasn't on the street sign when I approached it, I would see him flying across the wetland to get there before I did. I will send a picture too.

Have a good week
Mary

THE SENTINAL


The red-winged blackbird waits
Bounding jauntily
On the street sign at the corner.
He trills his song for me.



Bounding jauntily.
Is he greeting or scolding?
He sings his song for me
Each morning.


Is he greeting or scolding
There on his perch
Each morning.
I would miss him.



There on his perch.
How long will he stay?
I would miss him.
The red-winged blackbird waits.