Mt_Rider

OH GOOD GRIEF, JEEPERS! By Golly, YES! I'm quite sure you had the absolute WORST Christmas of anyone on this board and could include a whole LOT of others too! Here....maybe you need two! So sorry for the mess, loss, the pulling-out-hair...... AND missing Christmas with GRson!!!! Damage on Jeep.... EVERYone SICK! Father God, Jeepers is in need of a great big hug from YOU! And she needs LOTS of help with dealing with everything...especially the insurance company and repair folks. She is also in real need of Your healing. Bronchitis is awful enough without being in a wet..drippy...damp house. Mildew will begin. Give her Your unexplainable CALM. That just ain't gonna happen in this mess without YOUR power. Assure her that good will come from this...more than she'll ever realize - cuz that's the way YOU work. 'Nuff BAD has happened. Help her to turn this around. And thank YOU that she's uninjured...not involved in any of those pile-ups...even if YOU did have to send the Good Samaritan to get her and Jeep outta that ditch! Jeepers...I gotta tell ya. This is not the first prayer I've said for you while you were gone. You were on my mind/heart. Now I find out why. But...you'll be okay, eventually. Focus on getting rid of bronchitis cuz that's a mean one. Don't want it to go into bronchial pneumonia!!!! Try to get outta that wet house! Your health is priority or nothing else will matter. MtRider .....

............ They can do that with drones???? Goodness....that was a marvel. Kinda like fireworks but....all preprogramed and ..... Makes my brain tired thinking of how young folks [gotta be tech-savy young ones, right?] can get into such things. MtRider ...thanks for the show, Midnight!

Talked to both DDs today. Had an extra dog appear at the duck yard [outside..it's high chain link] Friendly Border Collie. Couldn't shoo him away so put him in the 10'x20' chain link dog run. Called the numbers on his collar tags. Gave him water/food. When wind came up, I spent quality time DIGGING OUT a currently unused large plastic dog crate. Put heavy blanket on top and a pad inside. Left the door off so he could go in/out. Food. Water. Not too long after, I looked out the bathroom window in time to see him running up the hill, outside of the goat's fencing [currently dog yard]. ??? ??? How'd he get out? Border Collies are quite agile so must have used the dog crate as a launch and climbed the rest of the chain link. I'd notified the uphill neighbor since she seems to know everyone around us. So I left her a second message that he'd escaped and was heading uphill to the next road ...that she lives on. Then I grabbed boots and ski pole [aka: walking stick on these steep mountain hills]. Enough snow to track him till I got to the OTHER neighbors house...the one with the young obnoxious gal. There were other dog tracks mixed in so I just went back down to my house. About an hour later, a woman called me....thanking me profusely for my actions to let neighbors know and for hosting him ...for a while. We laughed as we exchanged stories of this dog's escape tactics. They'd been elsewhere for Christmas and she was so glad not to come home to missing dog. Cuz my uphill neighbor had called everyone to be on the lookout and another lady up there recognized him and managed to keep him til his people got home. And repaired where he dug under. So...several of us played a part in keeping this dog close to home. Border Collies...they need a JOB! We had ham and taters and pie. Watched the one TV show I watch with DH on DVDs. Talked to other DD. She and I compared notes on aging.....goodness! That means I'm really old! Nah, I was reallllly young when they were born..... right? Bro, niece, and mom returned from vacation to VA. They completely missed the Big Storm. That was very good timing! Bro sent me some good pics of Mom....coerced into smiling while getting pic taken. LOL She had a wonderful time and will probably catch up rest/sleep for a week. Bro returned to his boat with the fresh realization that the river water is BROWN.....not clear turquoise like the ocean. Yeah, I noticed that difference last summer. Kinda ICK if you're used to clean ocean. So sorry to hear of your eventful Christmas, Miki! Whoa! That's a basket-full of not-nice events. Hope you can get it all resolved without a lot of $$$. Hope Kappy and Chainsaw Mary's critters all stayed warm in the colder-than-normal weather. Everyone stay safe! MtRider

Was wondering how your older daughter was doing, Euphrasyne. Seems like a LOT of unnecessary drama has been gone from your house with MIL and DD18/19. Will pray she's doing well in her environment and growing into a capable adult. MtRider

I felt better today. Didn't have to use the quad cane...or more....to walk. EVEN walked the dog down driveway to feed and lock in the ducks/geese. Walked dog on road. Attached the child's sled to dog's collar body harness and she pulled up the sled and empty 5 gal water jug with no complaints or drama. I pulled it going downhill....and it was full for the bird's nighttime water. Warm, even. They are water birds. I spent time in the sun on the porch picking out around 1,000 sharp stickers from the dog's sweater. That took a while but I only poked my finger a few times. Have gotten the knack of those stickers thru the years. She REALLY had a mess of them! Made burgers and boiled up the last of the fresh green beans. It's the end of DH's working ....and by Friday he's kinda worn. Otherwise he usually cooks. Today....I felt mostly okay. Also did load of laundry...bringing it down stairs and up. All put away except things I don't put in dryer. I actually had to improvise more cords and clothes pins in the tiny bathroom. Too cold to dry on the porch clothesline. Helps with moisture too. Seems like I've been on the phone with friends all week. That's been very nice to chat! MtRider

We got a bit cold here from this weather front but not too bad for CO mts. Had sunshine and zero wind today. I didn't even take the basket of clothes down the stairs tho. Just not feeling up to much yet. This too, shall pass. Had good time talking with my life-long MO friend. And with college MN friend. She's locked in house cuz MN is getting very cold...add windchill....snowing..... Y'all be safe out there! MtRider

Jeepers...I've been TRYING not to let my cold actually settle in. With our herbal magic via my chiro DH....we rarely get anything. But I've chased this off x2 already and this morning I woke up feeling sick! Doubled down on our herbal pills and feel better this evening. My cough is going from non-productive squeak...to semi-productive. Drat! Really don't need a round of bronchitis. I've had my share of that for this decade! I spoon a mixture of honey, raw ground ginger [in jar], and Real lemon juice...straight. But just a few tiny sips dumped to the back of my throat with a teaspoon. Shuts down sore - swollen upper throat area. I'm battling swollen glands....nearly constantly. My sleep woes made me more susceptible to illness, of course. BUT I've had some success. 2 of the past 3 nights have been sleep at normal time!! FINALLY! The 2nd night was my own lack of self control....got to THINKING about stuff and didn't shut it down. If I'm laying in bed...close to sleep and brain starts THINKING, I've been slowly counting. Not but just casually counting in my head. Shuts off other chatter. Life certainly IS a challenge right now. But I'm working on some basics that I'd need if the hooey ever hits fan. Sleep deprivation would make everything harsh! MtRider ....good luck with SHOES, Miki.

I have some updates but ....no time right now to stay on the computer. Mebbe tomorrow. Yeah, what Mother said: Jeepers? You okay. Or is she in Indy? Hope you can find shoes your feet will like, Miki. Have good trip, Becca Anne. LittleSister....you gotta teach that boy to cook/bake. Maybe he'll figure out how to support his appetite without take-out and junk food when he's on his own. OR....ya might have to wait for a bit more maturity? LOL We've all been there. MtRider ...fine but I have a new bedtime routine to TRY TO SLEEP normal hours.

I've lived with septic for the first 18 yrs of life and the past 30 yrs.... Other than not putting down chemicals that will stop the enzyme eating process [or whatever it is ] We rarely use bleach. Don't use sink cleanser like Comet - tho I don't think that would bother. I use SS scrubber on SS kitchen sink and hair from my hair brush with bar soap to polish the bathroom sink very clean. I've never heard of any special TP. We buy what is on sale. Meaning not $$$ kind. We've never had 'sink grinder' whatchacallit. Dog does the job of pre-clean plates. {with a few doggie exceptions like grapes/raisin/etc } You do have to have it emptied ..... but not often. However, don't let a dripping faucet or "running" toilet go too long. THAT will fill up a septic tank quickly. { ask me how I know } Borrow a metal detector to see where any old cast iron pipes from septic tank runs the fluids across the yard. Avoid heavy equipment running in that area. Some are now plastic tho. [isn't everything?] MtRider

Whoa, Jeepers. That would be hard to take as adults! Wise counsel for Grson....and son/DIL. It's all too sad we outlive generations of our furry friends. Thanks LittleSister and everyone else. I'm not too worried about how long this takes for me to get back to MY "normal". No...not there yet. We've expected about 4 months, minimum. Based on past experience with needing to us a lot of adrenaline. It's been two months since the last trip. This is why I try REALLY hard not to get into this.....but zero choice these past months! This will pass. Eventually. Still a struggle to ACHIEVE SLEEP each night. Sometimes I go 4 nights with no problem. Then a few nights when it won't happen. Not even with hot cocoa! Maybe if I try cocoa with whipped cream????? I'm keeping records so if doc asks....I have data. I LIKE data....to see what does, might, does not seem to help. What does bother me is sitting here and not being able to DO much. Little bits. But my BIG organizing needs more than little bits. Would help if a tornado hadn't gone thru the house this year....... {that's what it looks like} Hard to find any of the new things I brought from mom's house......like Christmas lights. Did I ....or didn't I? I have this tiny tree.... Maybe 2' to it's tippy top. But lights aren't working. Doesn't count if there are no lights. I have no idea if DH and I even have Christmas lights anywhere? We've always just had Christmas at the folks'. 3 decades... I'll tell you what's a blessing. Was reading about the housing market falling...cuz of higher and higher interest rates and such. So very glad folks' house is sold/final/not ours. OTOH....maybe we could borrow the living room for a tree and Christmas? Life's all different now. ....I'll survive. The FIRST TIMES after things change drastically are the hardest, I think. MtRider ....and it's COLD!

Yeah, Miki. Looked like Miss was getting womped on! Was praying for you and anyone else in those hot zones. MtRider

Yeah, try as much as you can while you're young enough. Then later you can pass your wisdom down to someone younger and still get the benefits. DH and I have a joke. "Iffen HARD TIMES were going to come, couldn't they have happened while we were a lot YOUNGER?" Right? MtRider ....NOT as young as I used NEED to be.

Oye....just start to get a handle on one thing....and 2 more come up. I did get to sleep quickly last nite! And woke later morning. And then there is the second problem. My knees and other joints have not been working right. They don't hurt. They just don't hold solid...making it very hard to walk, even with two canes. Have no history of that. I do have history of tremors...most of all my R [dominate] hand. My right side is more affected with MS than my non-dominate side. Kinda equals out tho...might be advantage? Anyway this is like my whole body gets a massive Fatigue Attack when I try to do just a little bit. Hmm...wait? I've had 7 wks of being patient and resting a LOT! I've done a bit of walking and shutting up the geese/ducks for the night on the 3 days a week when DH is working. But I've REALLY been careful not to overdo anything. Just gradually the massive FATIGUE from this crazy year should fade. Probably not quite yet but should be happening. Instead I seem to be even more sensitive to doing anything. I took a basket of laundry to bedroom to separate and put away. Not that much but I could barely finish. By that time I was gasping for breath, shaking like I'd had my wits scared out of me, and barely able to stand on wobbly knees. Shuffled quick to bed and got in it! Trying to assure friend on the phone that I was safe and somewhat ok. THEN in a while, DH came in to take me down to my stuck truck. Seems it was NOT out of gas [unless the refueling fairy came for a visit] and it had started right up. [we haven't figured that out yet] So I carefully got down steps and rode down with DH in car. Truck was running and warmed up but we'd gotten 3+" of snow last nite. STEEP CURVY driveway. I remembered to turn the knobs on the front wheels for 4-wheel drive. Set in correct gear and went up the hill with no problem. By now I'm shaking so bad I can barely walk. DH helped me up to house....where I again collapsed into bed. He would have gone down for truck but his back was in total spasm after doing all the snow removal from porch, car, and around duckhouse. He was wheezing with pain. Aren't we a jolly pair. Sheeesh, we're not THAT old! After an hour's rest in bed, I was able to sit in Living Room chair and talk to mom. Help DH clean out pellet stove that was not blowing well enough. Cleaning it didn't help. Something is wrong with the blower. Pellet stoves are based on a forge ....air blowing to keep a hot flame in that tiny iron firebox. Otherwise they are a pathetic fire that doesn't get enough draft to get up chimney. Not safe. And not warm! Have to call property managers... But...not our dime! So as our temperature had already plummeted zero at 8pm this evening....we didn't have the auxiliary heat of the pellet stove. Furnace is up a bit higher than normal. Not real toasty in here so I'm going to bed soon. Wobbly and off balance.... I'll be talking with doc in a week. Maybe this will go away? Or....maybe I'll have to break down and submit to an MRI. Maybe another round of steroids? Hmmm.... not real excited about so much chemical in my system but....not sure of my remaining choices. We'll see. MtRider ..... old age ain't for sissies!

Drat! I'm an hour past bedtime for the Unisom to work. Just looked at the time. I have been getting to sleep better....waking up in the morning instead of noonish. Fun to read what all you folks did. We had the ham and stuff. Not really planned out. Had intended to go to the community dinner but....DH read the date wrong...didn't notice that it was the day BEFORE Thanksgiving. Dark when we drove up. But....there was the ham. My mom is now wearing her "life alert" product. Bro told her she doesn't need a passport to the Bahamas...... Due to not trusting my legs lately, Dog and I took my old truck down the hill to put ducks/geese in bed tonite. Took walk on road with her. Got into the truck and ....I'M OUTTA GAS, for pete's sake! SO VERY GLAD we never park in the driveway and shut off the vehicle. Always pull them off to one side......so when DH got home, he was confused at my truck down there, but could get the car past and get up to the house. He'll get some gas down there tomorrow. MtRider

Somehow it's doubly hard to have the date of losing someone, fall on a memorable day. Pray God's peace and love surrounds all who struggle with this. MtRider

.................thank you, ladies! Here I was reading about ham and turkey and ...... How come I'm not smelling ham???? Cuz DH didn't turn the oven on! I went in to ask him innocently: Did you mean to turn the oven ON ???? Aaaaugh! You mean it's NOT on? MtRider .....ah well. It only affect two of us.

Wow...watching that is like playing a video game, Jeepers. Looks impossible! Do they have many wrecks there? MtRider

Whoa, Miki! How complicated it that? My mom has trouble staying asleep. I have trouble going to sleep but I'm fine after accomplishing that! I did go to sleep ....after an hour of waiting for sleep. Woke at 9:30....dropped back to sleep. Got up at 10:30am. Wow...unless I have an appointment, I haven't seen those hours for a long time. But I had a noise in my ears.....thot it was an alarm of some kind. Nope....wasn't. Too much Unisom? Sheeeesh!!! Took a while to get it outta my head. MtRider

I took whole Unisom at 10:30pm. Then I took another 1/2 pill an hour later and quickly tried to wrap things up and get body into bed. Read a little bit and....FELL ASLEEP! Woke at 9:30am from dog barking at Chewy delivery. THAT was a normal night. And tho the morning was a bit harsh, in the late afternoon I got energy to walk with dog to feed and close up the duckhouse. Waiting for them to eat, Dog and I climbed the steep hillside again. Haven't done that since got back from IA trip early Oct. I had to take it slow....stop to catch breath..untangle Zippy Dog's retractable leash. But it was fine. Hadn't done that since Sept. THEN I made scalloped potatoes, cheese, mushroom, etc. DH got home and had been to store. Brought a big sack of Brussel's Sprouts. Threw one to dog and cooked a few of those too. .....what happened? Sleeping normal hours resetting my system? Want more! MtRider .....hmph, we'll see how this goes. One night doesn't guarantee anything.

Well....counselor didn't make a big deal over the black eye.. ..other than wince a little. But {as expected} he's very concerned about my wacko sleep schedule. That I'm actually getting into bed at a decent hour and still lay awake.....taking a combination of muscle relax and Unisom....and isn't working. I have a phone call appt with my doc in couple weeks. She's so busy, that was the earliest...and only way I could get in contact. Zoom calls don't work well at our house. Then with the MS kinda on high flare-up right now for a lot of reasons including the bashing eye incident, I couldn't move my legs hardly at all at the end of our session. I do bring the wheelchair cuz of this but I couldn't initially even lift my feet ......I never use/bring the foot pegs cuz I mostly propel with my feet. Not today. So counselor...after overseeing the process to finally get a doc appt set...rolled me down to the car. I could barely transfer to car seat. Only thing I could grab was HappyDog's body harness to pull me up and in. I've done that with the two previous larger dogs but haven't with her cuz she's "only" 80#. But she backed up as I torqued myself up and in. Yeah....that worked. I'll have to work with her on the command "HOLD". It's a handy one for me. So....I need to get to bed...again. On time. I'm TRYING!! Oh, my folks house closed yesterday. It's sold and closed......no longer ours. Another loss to deal with.... 30 yrs of Thanksgivings ....Christmases....all the holidays were there. A little sad but I think it's ok. Glad for my mom to have the $ available now. MtRider ...try again!

Funny how we remember some MrsS folks....even if they've been gone for years and years. I always appreciated his view from "across the pond". MtRider

Thanks for the condolences, everyone. I'm pleased to report it doesn't hurt now....unless I forget and reach up to rub my eye or otherwise mess with the bruised part. The big bulge of swelling under the eye has gone down some. The 'color' less brilliant. It's healing. However, I have an apt with grief counselor at the medical building tomorrow. Ya know what folks always think when a woman has a black eye.....abusive husband or something like that. Those that know us, of course, will be thinking "Kutz due to MS"! So we;ll see how tomorrow goes. I could cover the color with some makeup stuff....but I'd hate to have to touch it...especially taking the stuff off my face. Not worth it. My friends have been comisserating. D in MN ...a former housemate in college reminded me of her hovering over my bed saying "I need help!" Whoa....bleeding from forhead that had cracked on the edge of a dresser - as she bent over to pick up a sock. Lotta blood. And my mom didn't want to go out for a while after she bent over to pick up something and whacked her whole eye socket on a door knob! The only other black eye I remember having, despite a couple decades of martial arts, was in 1st grade standing too close to boys fighting. One boy fell backwards and his skull cracked me right in the eye! { I've gotten better at Situational Awareness since then!} CO is each night but warms up considerably in sunshine. I've been going out on porch at midday to catch the 'rays'. Still a massive struggle to GET to sleep. I suspect that will be the predominant topic with couselor....once we put away the topic of black eye. DH and I will bake a ham...maybe sweet potatoes. Dunno....he's the primary now. He'll be at a store on Wednesday with his home health aide client so he'll pick up whatever he wants to cook too. He'll probably bake pie. See....I'm quite spoiled now cuz I rarely cook. I do and and walk HappyDog. When I'm able. We each do what needs doin' when we can. MtRider

Littlesister.... That's SO exciting that your dd and sil are "getting it"... And your Exibit A = roaring fire to keep house warm.... FINALLY..they GET IT!!! ....especially if Hooey Hits Fan...that's where you'd need to go. Plus GS. Well, my day began well. I slept 12:30pm to 10:30am. Going to talk about Ambien or something different with my doc. Flexeril is working better but it's a muscle relaxant. Don't want to take it all the time but I'll take it til I can get someother way. THEN.... after DH came home from 'town' with groceries, I was lugging a milk gallon in left hand and 10# of potatoes in right hand. Up our 15 steps to porch and 2nd floor living. Half way up, I did what I've been doing since I was a kid. Falling UP stairs! My right foot hit the next step ...instead of stepping upon it!! ...... Usually when I do this trip-on-stairs, I throw my hands out to catch myself before slamming face first into the stairs. Didn't happen this time. I did get my head turned just enough so my nose did not take the direct hit. But I bashed my left eye into the upper step - full force. Hit the bottom part of the occipital bone. Immediate swelling ballooned under eye and new colors. Aaaaugh! Hollered for DH but he was putting away groceries in the fridge/freezer in basement. [the man can't hear anything!!] I was thinking it would cut and bleed like crazy but thankfully it didn't cut. Hurt like the dickens tho! Sat on a step with milk and 'taters and waited til DH came out. He said WHAT did you do? It also set off the shakes immediately, of course. Carefully made my way up the rest of the stairs....DH behind me with the milk and potatoes. Got cold gell pack on it. OOWWW! The stair had either imprinted on the skin below the eye or scraped it. Plus colorful swelling. DH was laughing when he asked me what I'll tell my grief counselor when he sees all the color it will be by Tues. No...wasn't DH. Thankfully it's mostly stopped hurting by tomite...unless I touch it. However.....there is no damage to the eye. If I'd hit my nose that hard....ack! Would be 2 black eyes and broken nose....and blood. Lots of blood. .....ya just never know what I'll report for my day, right? Sheeesh! MtRider...... how will I wear my sleep mask?

I got to sleep at 10:30pm last nite. I woke up at 10:30 AM this morning. Well......at least that's the right side of the clock. Must still need 10-12 yrs hours of sleep. Freudian Typo there... So my skin doc appt was pushed back to January...doc had an emergency of some sort. Hmph. My horse ride tomorrow isn't happening cuz no one else wanted to ride this Saturday. Ah well...might be for the best tho...not a good time for me to skip rehab. Hmph. MtRider ...just sayin' HI and going to bed....maybe by 11 or 11:30pm?

She posted today.... MtRider