Tommy's Haircut

 I found this about Chronic illness.

This Instagram Account Spreads Awareness About What People With Chronic Illnesses Go Through Every Day And Here Are 40 Of The Best Photos

Okay, on to post. I finally got Tommy to let me cut his hair. It was so nasty and greasy and long that I may have ruined the clippers.  He can no longer get into the tub, so must wash hair in sink. Yes, he washes whole body in sink. 

Finally, halfway through his haircut, I had him go wash his hair! It took over an hour to cut it because I would clip for three minutes and rest for ten. Then, he took off to the bathroom with my scissors, comb, and clippers. He used his trimmer and shaved off allll his sideburns. I was a little shocked. 

I was sitting with him in AFC and told him that if his hair was curly, he would look like Einstein. Tommy said the guy facing him and behind me laughed. He washed his hair, lets it sit after washing and drying with a towel. After that, the rat nests are somewhat permanent. 

He looks civilized now, not feral.

I don' really decorate for Thanksgiving. I do have pumpkins all over, not Jack 'o Lanterns. There is one turkey and autumn leaves. I don't remember if I had anything for the door. 

Today, we seared a pot roast and put it in the crockpot. It was so tender and delicious. We did not salt or pepper the roast. Tomorrow, most of it will be frozen in portions for one or two meals for both of us. 

Wednesday, tomorrow, starts the rewiring of the house. I hope all goes well. The cost is $10K less than the first. Plus, they have not lied to me. 

I should be in bed. We have no fall leaves, just green ones. I wonder when it will happen every year. Have the leaves turned where you live, and where do you live.

Friday This and That

 We drove about 50 miles up the interstate today. We have been looking for changing leaves. One tree had brilliant red leaves. A couple of other trees were sort of reddish. Most trees were still fully green and a few had sort of faded to a lighter shade of green. Maybe later leaves will turn more.

Today, I was still feeling the effects of the trauma Thursday evening. I was up most of the night with a distressed colon. However, one must carry on. We went out to fix the problem. But, that went South. So, I will relate it later.

A few days ago, I lost my debit card somewhere on the premises. Well, it might be in the trash. If I order a new one, my number will change and auto payments will fail. The other choice was driving to the bank where they would print me a new card. 

We left a food giveaway and drove straight to my bank in Cullman. We arrived, sat in drive-through, and got the card and left, driving straight home. It was a long grueling drive and I just rode! When we got home, we shared it with a friend who was not well enough to go. 

On Thursday, an ebay package was delivered. As Tommy went to the mailbox, the postman got out with a package. I knew I had not ordered anything from ebay! It turns out it was ice trays, three of them with a piece of plastic to put between to keep them from falling into the one below. Well, I washed them and put one in the big freezer. I did not fill them all the way, but still the cubes will be larger than those made in regular trays. In a few minutes, I will have a glass of unsweetened, decaffeinated, iced tea. I am so happy. Thanks, Janet. This made my day and life better. 

I was desperate for ice and tea, so I may or may not have put the partially filled ice tray in the freezer on a slant--just doing the best I can at the moment. If it happened to slip and spill a bit, it is just water! This is an attempt to go zero Coke. 

It is 8 pm, and I have not had dinner, so I need to go and microwave chicken tenders, potatoes, and carrots. I had a bowl of cereal about 6 pm and I may have the energy to run the microwave now. Then, I will freeze some of the 12 drumsticks I baked last night. 

The weather is forecast for 50s, so the freezing weather is gone. The geraniums look dead. I am not sure how long they will last in cold weather, but these looked done for until a new green leaf came out today. 

Tonight, Tommy said, "I notice the counter is getting clearer." That was gratifying. Every time I go into the kitchen or at least a few times a day, I put something up or throw it out. 

Do you have to have iced tea, no sugar? How do you take your tea? Are the trees turning in your area? 

Following the Drama, 424 % Increase

 About 4 pm yesterday, a couple missed their dog. Finally, they found it was in a storm drain in a pipe.  Tiger Lily is 14-yrs-old. Finally, at 11 pm the dog was freed from the 18-inch pipe. I was so stressed and shed a few tears. The news today covered the rescue and recovery. I was really afraid the dog might be so stressed physically that she would die. Another blogger was much closer to the action.

Another blogger had a comment that all the cough drops in Walmart in another city were sold out. There were no cough drops in the whole store. Well, I depend on Halls Mentholyptus to keep me well and get me well. I use them to keep sinuses clear when suffering from allergies. On Wednesday night, I told Tommy that we would not come home today until I found them and bought them. 

Publix was out of the kind I wanted but had plenty of everything else. Next, we went to CVS in the same parking lot. There, I bought two packages just to be sure I had plenty. The price has gone up and the number of drops has drastically dropped! 

Before--$0.98 Now--$3.19

Before--40 in bag Now--30 in bag

Before--2.5 cents each Now--10.6 cents each

Increase in price from Before to Now-- 424% !!!

Read that last again. It is astounding. 

Now, I wonder if the size/weight of the cough drop is less. 

Maybe the exorbitant price jump is because I bought the Halls at CVS. I have no idea. 

Maybe the problem is that I bought the bags of Halls Mentholyptus cough drops. Maybe another store would be not so expensive. 

The person who commented said she had to throw away her stash because the drops had become sticky. Sticky is not a real problem other than the fact the paper wrapper will not come off. Bummer when that happens. 

I got sick of the last five cough drops in a bag being ruined the next fall when I needed them. Sometimes it was 20 cough drops I had to toss. No, it is impossible to get the paper off. Once, I was desperate and put the sticky drop with residue of paper in my mouth and kept taking it out to pick bits of paper out of my mouth and off the drop! Early the next day, I did go out and buy more. 

Now, I take the whole unopened bag and stuff it into a quart Ball canning jar with a used canning lid and ring. The plastic lids are not air-tight or waterproof. Dropping in an oxygen absorber might work, too. No, that would dry them out too much. Two bags will fit into a quart jar. Now that there are fewer drops, three bags might fit.

Tommy worked so much today; I was worrying about wearing him out. He watered, carried in three cases of 24-pack water, repotted my yellow pansy into the bunny planter, peeled the last two carrots and the rest of the potatoes, moved all the dishes from left hand side of sink so I could wash color from my hair, put all dirty utensils on a pan for me over the dishwasher, emptied garbage twice into outdoor can, dragged the outdoor can to the road, and other stuff I cannot remember. It seemed he was up and busy all day. Some of these chores I had told him days ago I wanted him to do them, but he decided to do them all today. 

Planting the pansies was something I planned to do until I have been so ill. I do not need the air, pollen, the dust, anything to make me sick again. I told him why I needed him to do the gardening...lol. 

I sort of slept well last night and slept for almost 7 hours. I awoke in dire need of the inhaler and other meds and have overcome the desire for a nap all day. 

Wednesday was a day of deep blue skies and fluffy clouds. Thursday was very pleasant, around 80 and low humidity. I could handle many days like this. Trees are starting to shed a few leaves. Some are turning a paler shade of green, almost imperceptible. 

Thursday night, I baked two bscb, two carrots, and a puny bit of potatoes. The reason I baked only two bscb is because that is what was in the package I thawed. Tommy had zucchini with his meal. We have as leftovers--1 bscb, two tiny pieces of potato, squash, and zucchini. 

Does the Autumn air affect your breathing, asthma, or allergies? 

Have you had a hard time finding cough drops? Have you ever had cough drops get sticky? 

Exhausting but Happy Wednesday, Now Thursday

Wednesday morning, I awoke mostly rested, since I never feel well in the morning. I woke at 8 am and washed my hair and made a chicken sandwich to take with me for breakfast. We were out of the house by 9:10. I ate the sandwich and a glass of milk in the car. Then, we hit a 10 mile traffic jam and never did find out what happened. We mostly sat and occasionally drove 3 mph! 

If I look closely to my face, I am probably wind-burned! 

A church was having their monthly lunch pickup. It was going to be turkey and dressing, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, roll and cranberry sauce. Plus, there was chocolate cake or pecan pie. Consequently, the line was longer than usual.  The word gets out and people come in droves. Plus, some people picked up 30+ dinners, picking up for groups of people or individuals who cannot get out of the house. 

We invited Tommy's cousin to eat outdoors with us at a different park. Sportsman's Lake is closed while they decorate for Christmas Light Tour in the park. We also planned to pick up two lunches for our 90-year-old friends we usually meet in the park. He is ill and had been in the hospital and won't eat or drink enough to survive the kidney infection. 

We sat for two hours talking and laughing with Tommy's cousin. We really like him. The wind was blowing in gusts that blew my hair in my eyes and face and twisted it up. I fully expect to wake on Thursday with a horrible sinus infection and accompanying ear pain.  I sat where the wind was in my face. Tommy and cousin had it to their back and side, better positions, I think. 

The leaves were falling and flying in the wind. Even under the pavilion, two flew into my food, three or four onto the table, and one huge one fell on Tommy's food, and more on all of us, the table, and onto us. The venue under the trees was very pleasant. 

We forgot to go the PO, went to two grocery stores, my house. We were home by 4:15. It was a long day. all the talking and laughing and the hard wind took their toll on me...lol. I took a nap from 5:30 to 7 pm and got up to eat with Tommy. 

We brought home two lunches and had them for dinner. We shared a small piece of cake and a small piece of pie. I seriously overate and could not finish my meal for dinner. Tommy took my turkey and put it in a sandwich bag. He has baggies down pat and sees the slice of turkey as his lunch. Good man. 

Wednesday was a very good day with a friend, picnic, and great lunch. I did not freeze the sweet potatoes. Tomorrow will be a new day. Maybe I will make mashed potatoes and freeze them. I do know I won't make sweet potato casserole since I have had my fix and need no more added sweetness. 

We did stay a bit and talked to the wife of friend who won't eat or drink enough. His wife is so worried. The next time we go, we will get watermelon chunks in Publix and take that to him to help with hydration. They are 90 and both still drive. Last year, they drove to Michigan and made it back in one piece. 

Thursday

I slept well and awoke ill. This is what the wind does for me. Nose, sinuses, ears, sore throat and chest all involved. Now, my job is to soothe and decongest all this. Otherwise, a fever will ensue and I will be miserable. I went to bed at 1 am. Tommy stayed up later. And, he always accuses me of making him miss sleep...lol. 

I do have things to do. I plan to freeze the sweet potatoes in portions, make gravy. If all goes well, I will have the gravy to the point of using fresh turkey drippings. I will save out enough sweet potatoes for one meal. That huge bowl will vacate a huge space in the refrigerator. I need the room. 

This is something I started about 40 years ago. I don't want to be stirring flour on the stove with oil continually to brown it on Thanksgiving Day!  My back cannot handle that these days. But, I started this just because it was more convenient. I can put the browned flour and oil mixture into a very small bowl to store it until Thanksgiving day. Or, in this case until I put the turkey juice in it. By that time, I will have the stored turkey and at least one of the ten half-gallons of milk from the refrigerator. 

Maybe I will just make mashed potatoes and freeze them.

It is almost 3 pm and I am tired and losing ambition. Tonight, we will have turkey breast, sweet potatoes, and kale. 

Has anyone done the hard work of browning flour and oil for gravy ahead of the day? What dishes do you or did you prepare before the DAY? By adding drippings later, the gravy does not have to fit into the refrigerator. Mama was always cooking everything on Thanksgiving. So, did I until I figured out better. There were reasons she worked unnecessarily hard, so not judgment there.