Among Friends

[Bird mama]

I survived my doctor appointment yesterday.  I don't know why because he is such a nice guy that I almost get white coat syndrome when I go to see him.  I didn't sleep that well on Thursday night and even chided myself that I was being ridiculous.  I think I equate medical doctors with some kind of judgement.  

Anyways it was a nice visit.  My heart is fine, my lungs are fine, my ears are fine and he said don't worry about the tonsil stone.  I told him that I read gargling with vinegar (white or apple cider) could help shrink it or dislodge it and he said try that.  He agrees with me that poking around at it is not a good idea.

My appointment was at 10:30.  I pre-registered ahead of time the day before and arrived at the office at 10 am in case there was something more that the office staff needed.  I didn't get out of there until after the noon hour.  I hadn't eaten and was feeling a little weak, lol, but I went and did the grocery shopping anyways afterward.  That's done.

So far so good - nothing unexpected at the dentist (except for the tonsil stone news), nothing bad at the doctor.  Just have to get the mammogram on Tuesday and I should be set until April when I see my endocrinologist.

[Epicurean]

Glad you survived your doctor appointment Bernie. I go for mine the 1st of February. Just got our new dental insurance,so I’ll call at the end of the month to have my top teeth pulled 😧

Last night I planned on having tacos,have been craving them. Instead we had taco salad.we haven’t had them in a long time and when I opened the box,it had already been open,I saw where a mouse had been chewing on them,and left droppings in the box. Today I’m making clam chowder,New York style. They predict snow this afternoon all through the night. That remains to be seen. It’s 4:45 and no snow yet.

winifred,if I’m being noisy you can tell me to mind my own business,but why do you have trash dumpsters at your house? Having work done? I’m thinking of having my old kitchen cabinets painted.there in good shape,just old and outdated. 

[Winifred]

Hi Epi, always good to see you. The trash dumpsters are here because I am older than dirt and all the stuff collected at this house since 1963 has to be filtered. Unfortunately the weather messed me up on paying for another week - the trash company could care less that you can't use it due to the frigid and freezing and SUPER WET weather. LOL. SEriously so much junk here and I cannot leave it for someone else to do. Part of that is because I know most of it would be tossed anyway and I want to do the primary choosing of that chore. This was my parents home and while my Mother left us in 1994 I had helped her prior to that do some cleaning. At that time she had one entire shed filled with canned food. it all had to be tossed as it had sat out there too long. But still was a lot left. I collected tons of stuff the 10 years Tessa lived here with me - filled a plastic container each year of her school to save it for her. Why? At this point I figure I was really dumb as it is still here and no where to go. Well she needs to find a place for it and I am also trying to find "homes" for a ton of child car seats in excellent condition, couple of cribs and a dog kennel. That is just three items. Still have tons of things like great china dishes which actually came from Hong Kong - my Navy husband brought them home to me in the early 60s. Tons of crystal, collected bells - you name it.

Actually Pastor Don's wife an Pastor Don came by yesterday afternoon as I was just not up to going to church. Found the home for the dog kennel which I had turned in a cat kennel. LOL. She wanted it and would pay for it (told her no pay)  to use at this huge WWII quanset hut she has redone with the help of children and other volunteers. She uses the place to work with children and they also learn to grow veggies and fruits outside - it is amazing. She told me where to take the car seats. Lot of sadness with some of this stuff as my two little one, Leah and Ricky, were taken to Colorado. CPS decided I was too old and they were sent to their paternal grandparents. I will be honest and say those people are super good and the children will do well. My heartache is I have had them since they were born. Leah is 3 and Ricky will be 5 next month. I realize it is what is best for the children but CPS had no legal right to do i but at the same time they do what they want do. At least I will no longer have to deal with them. Quite frankly they are terrible.

But at any rate my health is going downhill a bit so I am smart enough to realize what I should have started doing some time back but at least I am trying to solve things now. Sadly enough my oldest and youngest granddaughters are in Kansas although they both were born and raised here and they have their own families to deal with. It is times like this I wish so desperately - for many reasons - that I did not lose my daughter so many years ago - she would have been a lifesaver for this old woman.

Too wet and cold to sit out at the Fence this morning - take care everyone.

[Bird mama]

I can so appreciate what you wrote about clearing out things that we collect over the years Freddie @Winifred

This is what I wrote yesterday (Sunday) in another thread.

I decided I was going to start taking down the Christmas decor this morning.  My basement stairs have a storage area under them. 

I have a rubbermaid footlocker of sentimental things in there, Christmas decor, my Barbie collection, a tall box, my clarinet from grade school and another box of things X-files and Scooby Doo related.  Oh yea, my wreaths for the front door are in there too.

As I started to remove the empty containers for the Christmas decorations I had the thought, maybe I should look at what's in these containers (more like the cardboard boxes I couldn't see in).  That's when, like Alice in Wonderland, I fell down the rabbit hole for a few hours.

I noticed a musty basement smell and said, what the?  I don't ever recall any water in the basement anywhere near the staircase.  We did have some extreme rain a few years ago that seeped into the basement however it never got as far as the stairway from the basement to the kitchen.

Suffice it to say, I tossed my Xfiles magazine and book collection.  I also tossed the Scooby Doo small activity book collection.  I looked in the tall box and found the beaded bodice of my wedding gown and my husbands karate white jacket thing he wore back in the day.  Pitched both of those.  Found a nice crocheted afghan that didn't smell, put that aside.  Tossed the coordinating handmade pillows because I don't know anyone who ever used those kinds of pillows.  Barbie and the clarinet were cool.

I went into my footlocker.  Apparently after Ma died, when my sister gave me a couple of things from Ma, I overlooked that the small box Ma wrote my name on was musty.  I popped it into the footlocker which musted (not a word) some of what was in there.

I took pictures of precious things (nick nacks from when I was really little, my favorite toddler red keds sneakers and the last pair of white baby shoes I wore) and then pitched them.  Good Lord, the cards I shredded - 2 garbage bags full.

I will be able to recycle any associated cardboard and the magazines, books.  Still, I am up to 2 black (full) garbage bags.  Usually I only make enough garbage for 1 black garbage bag.

I have a thing about smells.  It bothered me to pitch the little nicknacks and my toddler shoes.  It's funny how some things took on a smell while other things were just fine.

Motivated by the activity in the basement, I went into the bedroom closet where I store my clothing, shoes and even more precious things, lol.  I almost tossed my wedding veil and then I said, nah, Ma bought that.  I bought my own dress so it was easier to pitch that.

I had more greeting cards from lets say, 2004?  I decided to save the last cards I received from those who have gone ahead of me to heaven.  I realized I didn't need every card each person ever gave me.  Believe me, at one point I had my communion cards from my grandmothers and that happened in 1969 or 1970 I think.

Speaking of communion, I was so glad that my purse, prayer book and gloves I wore on that day were fine.  My hands were so tiny  

[Bird mama]

Continuation of the clearing out subject.......

For me, I know if I go first who will be left to handle things. 

That would be my only suriving sister and she's the type (this is not a criticism) to hurriedly bag things up and put them in the garbage.  She did it with Ma and Dad's things after they died and my other sister and I didn't learn about it until weeks after she did it. It's just how she rolls.

Once I retired I really needed to get into the garage addition.  My husband stayed in Michigan when he was 18 when the rest of his family moved to AZ.  He stayed because he loved his grandmother and she was here.  He had carried things through his life that were his grandparents (who died years before I met him) and things from his own life.

His grandmother was an avid bowler and I had bowling awards dinner programs and recognitions from as far back as the mid 1940's that were in pristine condition.  

I recycled papers (shredded anything with names on it), books, his multi-jar loose nails/screws/bolts collection.  I recycled scrap wood.  The recycling was important to me because in my mind, some of things things would go on as other products, thereby continuing a piece of him or his grandparents.

It's an interesting experience because these are things representative of someone's life.  Milestones, accomplishments.  I took pictures of some things before I discarded them.

I laughed, I cried, I wondered what in the he** a couple of times.  I'd say the garage addition is 90% finished.  It got either too hot or too cold to finish it all off in 2018.  I'll finish it this spring/summer.

It's hard when you are a sentimental person.  I'm the most sentimental of my mother's 3 children.

[Bird mama]

Hello back fencers 

I was a little busy yesterday running a couple of errands and having my annual mammogram (a month late ).  I have dense tissue and have been getting mammograms since my mid 20's.  You'd think, after having them now for 30 years it would be old hat for me.  It's not and I practically hold my breath until I get the results.  

It really is crazy because it's not like being nerved up is going to change anything; I still can't help it.

I was notified that the results were available on the portal and this time I just checked them head on.  Usually I'm scrolling through the report with one eye open, almost squinting.

Disclaimers about the dense tissue aside - looks okay.

[hellie jo]

Very cold here in sw Michigan.Might snow later this week.I don't recall ever wanting snow,but I do.I want to have snow now so that spring will be nice and not snowy.Oh well,WE get what we get.I haven't noticed a real improvement with the antibiotic I'm on,may have to have another round.Everyone stay warm and have a good day.

[Bird mama]

@hellie jo  How long you been sick?  I know I had a cold that kicked my butt for 2 weeks.  

I'd like some snow too.  WXYZ, channel 7 says 3-5 inches for me (SE MI) on Saturday.  I'll believe it when I see it, lol.

[Epicurean]

Bernie,gladness yourn mammo went oK.,I never worry over mine.i too have dense tissue,plus lost both my sisters to breast cancer.

winifred,I understand about your cleaning house. When my MIL passed away my hubby and I helped to clean out the basement and attic.holy smoke,what a job that was. We filled two dumpsters full. The problem was you never knew what was all in a box so we had to go through everything. Sort of ticked men off as she always just laughed if anyone mentioned her cleaning out.her response was always “ I don’t care, I won’t be here”.

i am doing some cleaning. Got my pantry done yesterday. Didn’t find any, signs of mice. Guess the taco was from a while back. Still haven’t started on the basement closets. A lot of stuff there,and my hubby keeps the garage like his mother,what can I say...

[hellie jo]

@Bird mama  hello. I have had problems with my " guts " for a long time and the antibiotic was being tried to see if it would help.I sure hope it will in time.When I was very sick in hospital I was on lots of antibiotics so I developed c-diff which is what some people get as antibiotics kill all your   "good' bacteria.The antibiotics are very expensive.$5000 and up.Unfortunately for me the antibiotics did not work .I ended up having a transplant.Twice!! Not nice.If this antibiotic does not work they will have me do another round.It's like a goat rodeo.