Friday, March 19, 2010
Springtime in the Rockies
The weather here is definitely diverse. Other places I have lived have experienced huge temperature shifts from day to day, but here, it's not just temperature. For the past three days, my kids have been outside, in shorts, playing in the sandy yard. Yesterday, after digging a huge hole, they filled it in with water and played in it. They tracked so much sand into my house! Today, David is outside in his coat, boots and hat and he just tracked a ton of snow into my house. He just came in the door crying about how cold his hands are (and how I should have known!). Here are a couple pictures from this week.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Government Run Health Care
About to get political on my blog. I hate politics, avoid them, avoid talking about them, don't follow them much at all. I do have a lot of examples of why government run health care is a VERY BAD idea. This doesn't mean I have the solution, just that I can pretty much prove that our government should not be in control of our health care. I have been in a discussion on Facebook with someone over this issue. I thought I should post my reasons here.
Military dependent here - for my entire life. My Dad is a vet too. Military health care stinks, veteran health care is pretty much the same. Great if you don't have anything wrong with you. My husband has over 20 years in the military. About 9 years ago, we stopped using the military part of health care and went with their "PPO" option. WAY better. I also go to a chiropractor (and so do my children) and it is not covered at all by military health care. So we pay 100% out of pocket for that (I have 5 kids, so we aren't talking about a couple people). I would SO rather pay for my own health care than have the gov't involved AT ALL. When my chiropractor started to accept private insurance she had to raise her rates for everyone - even cash paying customers. She could no longer offer the discounts she had previously. It became more expensive for everyone. If she could get by without accepting insurance, she would charge less!!! Oh, and part of our "military benefits" (which means my husband makes less pay than he would if he had the same job in the civilian world) is health care. It is sub par many times. The stories I could share. No one wants that kind of medical "treatment".
Oh, forgot to mention - my husband is not allowed to be seen at a doctor off base. He has had abysmal care.
Couple reasons why I didn't give examples. First, way too many to give, how do I choose? :-) The second reason is that I really am not politically motivated, really don't like political debates and am completely ignorant about the whole health care debate. And I do not feel eloquent, so I try to avoid all this. I just can't seem to stay out of it though when people bring up the military health care or the veteran's health care.
One of your questions was about access to a doctor. Well, let me give you a couple examples. If my child is sick and I need to take her in, I would start calling the appointment line around the time they open. Typically you could call for a couple hours before getting to speak to someone. At that point you are told there are NO acute care appointments available for the next 3 days. So what do you do with your sick kid? Oh, and I rarely take kids to the doctor unless they are REALLY sick. Which I think is appropriate - I suppose gov't controlled health care would fix that. No one would try to go unless they were close to needing antibiotics or about to die. :-) Now, that is just a scenario - one that I have encountered and my friends have encountered hundreds/thousands of times. No lie, no exaggeration.
Now, a true story. My husband hurt his leg playing flag football. What, might you ask, is a 40+ year old man doing playing flag football? Required physical fitness that day for the military. He tried to deal with it for about a week. At that point he decides he really should see a doctor. He calls. They question him thoroughly. They ask him if it is getting ANY better. He replies that yes, it is. OH, well then this isn't acute, we can schedule you to see a dr in a month. What? He is required to stay physically fit and he can NOT work out. He ended up missing his appointment, due to having to go to a drug pee test (you get tagged to do this and have 2 hours to get it done - he couldn't get to both, so arrived 15 minutes late to his app't). Shows up 15 minutes late and the dr won't see him. Classified as a "no show". His boss gets called, he gets lectured. (By the way, my husband will pin on Colonel in another month - this happened about a year ago, so we aren't talking about an airman being called on the carpet by a high ranking officer - he IS a high ranking officer.) Long story short, he was finally seen a couple months later. Oh, a few months later he hurt his knee during PT. Went to his annual physical, mentions to the dr his knee is having severe pain. The dr looks at his medical charts - does not examine his knee AT ALL and says that he's just getting old ... That would be the equivalent of me going to the dr, saying my stomach hurts, having them look at my chart and say that based on my chart I'm pregnant. WHAT? Long story short on the knee? Well, it took them a few months to get him seen by another dr, get an x-ray taken, have a follow up and he is told he has arthritis and can continue working out. All this time his physical fitness has dropped off. Very hard to regain for a 43 year old man who works 50+ hour weeks....
Phew, I have more stories, but think this is sufficient for now. Just so you know, I have stories like these from all my friends. One had a daughter diagnosed with a brain tumor - they wouldn't treat it or pay for treatment because the likelihood of her being cured wasn't high enough. ARGH. That is NOT what we want!! The gov't is NO better than a crappy health insurance company.
I'm on roll here, so will continue. :-) I just reread what you said. I have chosen to pay out of pocket rather than go the military route - doesn't that say something? As Chris says, I am free to choose and I love that. I guess I feel that, as a rule, if people are required to figure out a way to pay for their own health care, it would lower costs of health care! Right? Of course, that means insurance companies should butt out too. If you have a service that is unaffordable by the general public, you have to lower your costs or you don't make any money. Many of my friends go to the dr WAY too much (civilian friends, my military friends avoid it as much as possible). Their kid coughs and they're there. If they had to pay every time they went, they would evaluate it better. I'm getting off on a tangent I'm incapable of following up on, so I should shut up on this one (getting out of my league!).
I was early in a pregnancy. I started spotting and cramping. We lived on a base that only had a clinic, not a hospital. I called to get an appointment. "You aren't bleeding or cramping hard enough for us to see you. Besides, this is why we don't see people until after 8 weeks of pregnancy, to weed these things out." No kidding, WEED THESE THINGS OUT. My baby is a weed? I was finally spotting/bleeding hard enough on a Friday morning that they scheduled an appointment for 3 o'clock that afternoon to see me. Why? So they could give me a referral to see an OB off base - they had no u/s equipment to check on the baby, nothing. I was going to get permission to see an OB off base at 3 on a Friday. And the appointments are notoriously behind schedule, so reality would be me getting out of there by 4:30 or 5. What OB is open on a Friday at 4:30 or 5? You can bleed to death from a miscarriage (this was my 2nd pregnancy, 1st miscarriage, so I was scared and unsure of what to do - if this happened to me now, I'd stay home). I canceled my appointment and went to the ER on Saturday morning (off base - we could do that if the clinic wasn't open). Wonderful treatment at the ER. Wonderful. I had completely miscarried on my own - which is fine, but really not safe or good or comforting. Horrible treatment at the military facility.
I had a daughter with double ear infections. She had been having horrible ear infections for a few months. Took her in to the clinic - was yelled at by the dr because she was behind on her immunizations. I said that you aren't supposed to get kids immunized if they are sick and she had been sick almost nonstop for months. He yelled at me that that was old school, stupid info and you can get them immunized any time. Last time I read an immunization fact sheet (a few weeks ago), it said to not get an immunization if the kid was sick.... See More
And my husband was required to get the swine flu shot this year - he had no choice, it was required by the gov't. Aren't we all about being "pro-choice"? Yet, with what I've seen, having gov't controlled health care gives us no choice or fewer choices.
OH! One more thing I remembered. I started having headaches when I was 8 years old. Bad, severe, debilitating headaches. Want to know what the military dr's gave me? Ibuprofen. No tests done - well, I think they checked my eyes to see if they showed signs of a tumor or something. That's it. Thankfully I figured out why I have severe migraines when I was like 22 - and still working on keeping them at bay at 37. The military never did anything to find out why. Would you want your 8 year old daughter, who is having severe headaches, to just be given meds? I think not.
Ha ha ha, Chris. I don't really rule on this subject, I just have WAY too much experience dealing with gov't run health care to think that they will do a good job of this in any way, shape or form. And please don't think I don't appreciate the military doctors. For the most part, they are trying to do a good job. They are very limited in what they are allowed to do, what they are funded for, etc. I think things are better somewhat since I bailed, but how long has the gov't run military health care? Eric, my husband, is currently assigned to a base that has ONE physician assigned there - and he/she is part time. There are a few thousand active duty members at this base. ONE physician? How can that be? The gov't hasn't approved the base to have any more at this point in time. What will happen to our small towns when they are only assigned ONE physician? Seriously?
Military dependent here - for my entire life. My Dad is a vet too. Military health care stinks, veteran health care is pretty much the same. Great if you don't have anything wrong with you. My husband has over 20 years in the military. About 9 years ago, we stopped using the military part of health care and went with their "PPO" option. WAY better. I also go to a chiropractor (and so do my children) and it is not covered at all by military health care. So we pay 100% out of pocket for that (I have 5 kids, so we aren't talking about a couple people). I would SO rather pay for my own health care than have the gov't involved AT ALL. When my chiropractor started to accept private insurance she had to raise her rates for everyone - even cash paying customers. She could no longer offer the discounts she had previously. It became more expensive for everyone. If she could get by without accepting insurance, she would charge less!!! Oh, and part of our "military benefits" (which means my husband makes less pay than he would if he had the same job in the civilian world) is health care. It is sub par many times. The stories I could share. No one wants that kind of medical "treatment".
Oh, forgot to mention - my husband is not allowed to be seen at a doctor off base. He has had abysmal care.
Couple reasons why I didn't give examples. First, way too many to give, how do I choose? :-) The second reason is that I really am not politically motivated, really don't like political debates and am completely ignorant about the whole health care debate. And I do not feel eloquent, so I try to avoid all this. I just can't seem to stay out of it though when people bring up the military health care or the veteran's health care.
One of your questions was about access to a doctor. Well, let me give you a couple examples. If my child is sick and I need to take her in, I would start calling the appointment line around the time they open. Typically you could call for a couple hours before getting to speak to someone. At that point you are told there are NO acute care appointments available for the next 3 days. So what do you do with your sick kid? Oh, and I rarely take kids to the doctor unless they are REALLY sick. Which I think is appropriate - I suppose gov't controlled health care would fix that. No one would try to go unless they were close to needing antibiotics or about to die. :-) Now, that is just a scenario - one that I have encountered and my friends have encountered hundreds/thousands of times. No lie, no exaggeration.
Now, a true story. My husband hurt his leg playing flag football. What, might you ask, is a 40+ year old man doing playing flag football? Required physical fitness that day for the military. He tried to deal with it for about a week. At that point he decides he really should see a doctor. He calls. They question him thoroughly. They ask him if it is getting ANY better. He replies that yes, it is. OH, well then this isn't acute, we can schedule you to see a dr in a month. What? He is required to stay physically fit and he can NOT work out. He ended up missing his appointment, due to having to go to a drug pee test (you get tagged to do this and have 2 hours to get it done - he couldn't get to both, so arrived 15 minutes late to his app't). Shows up 15 minutes late and the dr won't see him. Classified as a "no show". His boss gets called, he gets lectured. (By the way, my husband will pin on Colonel in another month - this happened about a year ago, so we aren't talking about an airman being called on the carpet by a high ranking officer - he IS a high ranking officer.) Long story short, he was finally seen a couple months later. Oh, a few months later he hurt his knee during PT. Went to his annual physical, mentions to the dr his knee is having severe pain. The dr looks at his medical charts - does not examine his knee AT ALL and says that he's just getting old ... That would be the equivalent of me going to the dr, saying my stomach hurts, having them look at my chart and say that based on my chart I'm pregnant. WHAT? Long story short on the knee? Well, it took them a few months to get him seen by another dr, get an x-ray taken, have a follow up and he is told he has arthritis and can continue working out. All this time his physical fitness has dropped off. Very hard to regain for a 43 year old man who works 50+ hour weeks....
Phew, I have more stories, but think this is sufficient for now. Just so you know, I have stories like these from all my friends. One had a daughter diagnosed with a brain tumor - they wouldn't treat it or pay for treatment because the likelihood of her being cured wasn't high enough. ARGH. That is NOT what we want!! The gov't is NO better than a crappy health insurance company.
I'm on roll here, so will continue. :-) I just reread what you said. I have chosen to pay out of pocket rather than go the military route - doesn't that say something? As Chris says, I am free to choose and I love that. I guess I feel that, as a rule, if people are required to figure out a way to pay for their own health care, it would lower costs of health care! Right? Of course, that means insurance companies should butt out too. If you have a service that is unaffordable by the general public, you have to lower your costs or you don't make any money. Many of my friends go to the dr WAY too much (civilian friends, my military friends avoid it as much as possible). Their kid coughs and they're there. If they had to pay every time they went, they would evaluate it better. I'm getting off on a tangent I'm incapable of following up on, so I should shut up on this one (getting out of my league!).
I was early in a pregnancy. I started spotting and cramping. We lived on a base that only had a clinic, not a hospital. I called to get an appointment. "You aren't bleeding or cramping hard enough for us to see you. Besides, this is why we don't see people until after 8 weeks of pregnancy, to weed these things out." No kidding, WEED THESE THINGS OUT. My baby is a weed? I was finally spotting/bleeding hard enough on a Friday morning that they scheduled an appointment for 3 o'clock that afternoon to see me. Why? So they could give me a referral to see an OB off base - they had no u/s equipment to check on the baby, nothing. I was going to get permission to see an OB off base at 3 on a Friday. And the appointments are notoriously behind schedule, so reality would be me getting out of there by 4:30 or 5. What OB is open on a Friday at 4:30 or 5? You can bleed to death from a miscarriage (this was my 2nd pregnancy, 1st miscarriage, so I was scared and unsure of what to do - if this happened to me now, I'd stay home). I canceled my appointment and went to the ER on Saturday morning (off base - we could do that if the clinic wasn't open). Wonderful treatment at the ER. Wonderful. I had completely miscarried on my own - which is fine, but really not safe or good or comforting. Horrible treatment at the military facility.
I had a daughter with double ear infections. She had been having horrible ear infections for a few months. Took her in to the clinic - was yelled at by the dr because she was behind on her immunizations. I said that you aren't supposed to get kids immunized if they are sick and she had been sick almost nonstop for months. He yelled at me that that was old school, stupid info and you can get them immunized any time. Last time I read an immunization fact sheet (a few weeks ago), it said to not get an immunization if the kid was sick.... See More
And my husband was required to get the swine flu shot this year - he had no choice, it was required by the gov't. Aren't we all about being "pro-choice"? Yet, with what I've seen, having gov't controlled health care gives us no choice or fewer choices.
OH! One more thing I remembered. I started having headaches when I was 8 years old. Bad, severe, debilitating headaches. Want to know what the military dr's gave me? Ibuprofen. No tests done - well, I think they checked my eyes to see if they showed signs of a tumor or something. That's it. Thankfully I figured out why I have severe migraines when I was like 22 - and still working on keeping them at bay at 37. The military never did anything to find out why. Would you want your 8 year old daughter, who is having severe headaches, to just be given meds? I think not.
Ha ha ha, Chris. I don't really rule on this subject, I just have WAY too much experience dealing with gov't run health care to think that they will do a good job of this in any way, shape or form. And please don't think I don't appreciate the military doctors. For the most part, they are trying to do a good job. They are very limited in what they are allowed to do, what they are funded for, etc. I think things are better somewhat since I bailed, but how long has the gov't run military health care? Eric, my husband, is currently assigned to a base that has ONE physician assigned there - and he/she is part time. There are a few thousand active duty members at this base. ONE physician? How can that be? The gov't hasn't approved the base to have any more at this point in time. What will happen to our small towns when they are only assigned ONE physician? Seriously?
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
A Girl and Her Gun
Dawn just celebrated her 12th birthday. About a week ago, as my parents were preparing to come into town, my Mom told me Dad had bought her a present. Yesterday, she was given her gift. Here are the pictures.
This is her face when she realizes what it is her Grandpa picked out for her.
This is her reaction when she finds out it was Grandpa who picked it out for her and he was the correct person to thank.
I just love this picture of Grandpa teaching her how to use the gun.
Nothing like having an Army vet teach your daughter how to shoot a gun!
This is her face when she realizes what it is her Grandpa picked out for her.
This is her reaction when she finds out it was Grandpa who picked it out for her and he was the correct person to thank.
I just love this picture of Grandpa teaching her how to use the gun.
Nothing like having an Army vet teach your daughter how to shoot a gun!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Reading
Joseph, our 3rd, is 6-1/2. He has been so reluctant to do any school work at all. Well, unless it's math - he does like to do math. But reading? No. We started phonics with him, he didn't get it, so I shelved it. He's the 3rd. As long as he's reading by the time he's 12, I'm fine! :-) Lately I've been thinking he's probably ready to try again, so I got out the phonics book and, sure enough, he's ready. Phew! Maybe he'll be reading by the time he's 7! :-) After looking over phonics, I pulled out the Bob books and let him read a couple of those. While he was sounding out some of the words, David was sitting on my lap. Every once in a while, he would sound out the next letter for Joseph. I pulled out the next Bob book, handed it to David and, guess what, he read it. Looks like I'll have one reading at 7 and one reading at 4!
I am so thankful for stuff like this. It is so easy to start feeling guilty for things our kids do not do well. And, conversely, so easy to start feeling proud for things our kids DO well. Things like this remind me that some of it has nothing to do with me at all! Some kids are ready to read at 7, some are ready to read at 4. Would I feel like less of a Mom if my baby walked at 18 months vs 9 months? Or like a better mom if the opposite is true? Reading is pretty much along the same lines. We need to wait until they are ready and then they will get it. Just funny that my boys - 2-1/2 years apart in age - are getting it at the same time. :-)
I am so thankful for stuff like this. It is so easy to start feeling guilty for things our kids do not do well. And, conversely, so easy to start feeling proud for things our kids DO well. Things like this remind me that some of it has nothing to do with me at all! Some kids are ready to read at 7, some are ready to read at 4. Would I feel like less of a Mom if my baby walked at 18 months vs 9 months? Or like a better mom if the opposite is true? Reading is pretty much along the same lines. We need to wait until they are ready and then they will get it. Just funny that my boys - 2-1/2 years apart in age - are getting it at the same time. :-)
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
The Waiting Game
Ever since we found out Eric is getting promoted, we have known that he will get a new assignment, which means there is a very good chance we could move. Originally we were told we would know something February 23. That day came and went with no word. Then he was told March 8. Yesterday came and went with no word. I just spoke with Eric and he said it looks like there is a 90% chance we are staying here!!! He was just waiting for a phone call to know officially.
So why didn't we hear anything yesterday? Funny question and sadly, the answer is pretty typical in the Air Force. Today, Eric spoke with the acting director of the group he works for. He asked her about the assignments and she said something about how the list did come out and didn't he know? Well, SHE was supposed to call and tell him. Interesting that she seemed oblivious to the fact that it was her responsibility to tell him! Who did she think was going to tell him??? So she told him she *thinks* she saw his name listed under the job he wanted (the other job he is already working). He is currently waiting for a phone call from her to confirm that she did indeed see his name on the official list for the job he wants. Eric said he's now 90% sure we will not be moving! Part of me is thrilled, part of me is terrified, knowing that there is a 10% chance he doesn't have that job and we could move.
I'll keep you posted...
So why didn't we hear anything yesterday? Funny question and sadly, the answer is pretty typical in the Air Force. Today, Eric spoke with the acting director of the group he works for. He asked her about the assignments and she said something about how the list did come out and didn't he know? Well, SHE was supposed to call and tell him. Interesting that she seemed oblivious to the fact that it was her responsibility to tell him! Who did she think was going to tell him??? So she told him she *thinks* she saw his name listed under the job he wanted (the other job he is already working). He is currently waiting for a phone call from her to confirm that she did indeed see his name on the official list for the job he wants. Eric said he's now 90% sure we will not be moving! Part of me is thrilled, part of me is terrified, knowing that there is a 10% chance he doesn't have that job and we could move.
I'll keep you posted...
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Fear
Eric is out with the two older girls this morning, so it's just me and the three little ones. I needed to take a shower and thought I could just put a video on downstairs (one that Little Bit likes) and get a quick shower. Everything was fine until after my shower. I was starting to clean up the kitchen a bit. The kids were still downstairs watching a video. Suddenly there was an incredibly loud noise coming from the basement. VERY VERY VERY loud. I had NO idea what could make such a long noise - not a quick noise, but one that just kept going. I quickly ran down the stairs. As I get to the middle of the stairs, the boys and the dog are screaming and crying and trying to get through the gate to come upstairs. This scared me even worse! WHAT could be making so much noise?? WHAT did they do? And WHERE is the baby? I vaulted over the gate and ran around the corner. Little Bit is running towards me - of course she has no clothing or diaper on. At this point I'm pretty sure she's turned the volume of the television up super loud. I turn the tv off - still loud. Turn the DVD player off - still loud. Then I see the radio player thingy (cannot think of the name right now) is on. Turn it off. Ahhh, silence. Little Bit had opened up the stereo doors, turned the volume to the speakers ALL The way on (and these are HUGE speakers - if you've been to my house you know the speakers I am speaking of) and then she turned the power on. Static coming through as loud as you can imagine.
I sat down on the floor, trying to recover from the adrenaline rush. I'm pretty sure the whole thing took about 15 seconds from the time I heard the noise to when I got it shut off. The boys come back in the room with me and tell me that the dog had broken down the gate. Yep, sure enough, the gate is broken.
At this point, Little Bit was looking pretty subdued. She brought me her diaper and pajamas so I could get her dressed again. She has never done that before! I'm wondering if she thinks there is a connection between her taking her clothes off and the very scary, loud noise. Fear can be a great motivator. I wonder if she is done with the whole stripping act? :-) We shall see!
Oh, and I will be having a chat with my boys about leaving their baby sister behind to deal with the terrifying monster. Seriously boys!?!? :-)
I sat down on the floor, trying to recover from the adrenaline rush. I'm pretty sure the whole thing took about 15 seconds from the time I heard the noise to when I got it shut off. The boys come back in the room with me and tell me that the dog had broken down the gate. Yep, sure enough, the gate is broken.
At this point, Little Bit was looking pretty subdued. She brought me her diaper and pajamas so I could get her dressed again. She has never done that before! I'm wondering if she thinks there is a connection between her taking her clothes off and the very scary, loud noise. Fear can be a great motivator. I wonder if she is done with the whole stripping act? :-) We shall see!
Oh, and I will be having a chat with my boys about leaving their baby sister behind to deal with the terrifying monster. Seriously boys!?!? :-)
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Time to Decompress
This has been a rough week. My grandmother fell on Saturday and broke her hip. Since she broke the ball of the hip off, they did a partial hip replacement on Sunday. This is actually better than trying to heal a bone. She has been up and walking and is on the rehabilitation floor at the hospital. Of course, her falling is bringing up a host of other issues with my grandparents! My grandfather is 89 and my grandma is 85. They live alone, in the middle of the Colorado plains - about 6 miles from the nearest town. So far they have been very self-sufficient. Grandpa goes down to the creek in the fall, chops up fallen down cottonwoods and uses that for their wood stove to heat their house all winter. The last couple years he has needed help, but he still wants to do and tries to do it! He is slowing down, so Grandma has been doing the majority of the work around the house (including going outside and bringing in a load of wood whenever they need some in the house).
Life has to change for them. The prognosis for a broken hip in an 85 year old woman isn't great. Again, having a hip replacement is much better, but the question remains if she will be able to go back to the way life was - and if she can, how long until she can? My parents are coming out next week to help for when she comes home. How long can they stay? Are they willing to go live with my parents in Dallas? So many questions at this point - and so many that we cannot answer until we know how well Grandma recovers.
The bigger issue at this point is my Grandpa. He is convinced that he will be able to take care of Grandma when she comes home. He is the only one who thinks this. He doesn't cook, doesn't clean and only Saturday ran their washer and dryer for the first time (that we know of). Yesterday I rode with him to the hospital and that brought up a completely different issue. He is not safe to drive here in town. I'm guessing he's fine out where they live - he knows the area and there is very little traffic. But here? I was praying for safety within 5 minutes - and we were in the Wal-Mart parking lot!
How do you tell an 89 year old man he isn't safe to drive? How do you tell a man who fought in WWII, who was the foreman for an enormous ranch, who could rope a cow, ride a horse, who was strong and capable and independent that he can't drive?
This is a rhetorical question, as I had to say something to him this morning, before he left my house. It went much better than I anticipated, but my heart is aching today. I do love my grandparents and have been thrilled to live closer to them for the last 18 months. But it is heartbreaking to watch them get older and slower and not able to do what they want to do.
Getting old stinks.
Life has to change for them. The prognosis for a broken hip in an 85 year old woman isn't great. Again, having a hip replacement is much better, but the question remains if she will be able to go back to the way life was - and if she can, how long until she can? My parents are coming out next week to help for when she comes home. How long can they stay? Are they willing to go live with my parents in Dallas? So many questions at this point - and so many that we cannot answer until we know how well Grandma recovers.
The bigger issue at this point is my Grandpa. He is convinced that he will be able to take care of Grandma when she comes home. He is the only one who thinks this. He doesn't cook, doesn't clean and only Saturday ran their washer and dryer for the first time (that we know of). Yesterday I rode with him to the hospital and that brought up a completely different issue. He is not safe to drive here in town. I'm guessing he's fine out where they live - he knows the area and there is very little traffic. But here? I was praying for safety within 5 minutes - and we were in the Wal-Mart parking lot!
How do you tell an 89 year old man he isn't safe to drive? How do you tell a man who fought in WWII, who was the foreman for an enormous ranch, who could rope a cow, ride a horse, who was strong and capable and independent that he can't drive?
This is a rhetorical question, as I had to say something to him this morning, before he left my house. It went much better than I anticipated, but my heart is aching today. I do love my grandparents and have been thrilled to live closer to them for the last 18 months. But it is heartbreaking to watch them get older and slower and not able to do what they want to do.
Getting old stinks.
Monday, March 1, 2010
I Think I Am Losing My Mind
Today my brain is all jumbled. WAY too much going on, way too much to think about, not nearly enough time to sit and really think about it all!
My oldest, Dawn, is 12 today. She is amazing. Really, I am humbled when I think about her. She blesses me daily with her help and, yes, even her friendship. (Is it a sign of immaturity when I enjoy hanging out with my 12 year old an awful lot?)
But, with her turning 12, I am again reminded that I am getting old. Ugh. I really really hate getting old. I was sure I would age gracefully, accepting the wrinkles and gray hairs and wisdom. Instead I feel like screaming.
Ok. I got a new computer and every now and then my screen suddenly has bigger type. I'm sure I'm accidentally hitting some combination of keys, but it really irritates me! (This commercial break brought to you by my brain.)
I'm pretty much typing exactly what is happening in my brain today, so you may not enjoy this very much. I'm not enjoying it very much today either. My brain is jumping from one thought to the next every other second.
Here is a sampling of all I keep thinking about: my grandmother is in the hospital with a broken hip; she fell because she was dizzy; her heart isn't good; my grandfather's heart isn't good either; how do we help them?; my microwave is dirty; I cleaned out my linen closet today; need to get to the laundry room next; we actually need to redo the laundry room; next Monday we might find out if we have a new assignment; if we do we really need to redo the laundry room; I really don't want to move right now; what all has to happen to sell this house?; or should we rent it?; the basement is a disaster; I need help to organize all of it down there; I probably should do that whether we're moving or not; definitely if we're moving; Little Bit has decided to strip instead of nap again; wonder if she peed in her crib again; ...
Yeah. Pretty much a random mess!
Better run. Eric's home (EARLY!!! well, it's 4:45). Need to make supper and brownies.
Oh, I should mention I'm WAY overtired and waiting for my coffee to kick in. :-0
My oldest, Dawn, is 12 today. She is amazing. Really, I am humbled when I think about her. She blesses me daily with her help and, yes, even her friendship. (Is it a sign of immaturity when I enjoy hanging out with my 12 year old an awful lot?)
But, with her turning 12, I am again reminded that I am getting old. Ugh. I really really hate getting old. I was sure I would age gracefully, accepting the wrinkles and gray hairs and wisdom. Instead I feel like screaming.
Ok. I got a new computer and every now and then my screen suddenly has bigger type. I'm sure I'm accidentally hitting some combination of keys, but it really irritates me! (This commercial break brought to you by my brain.)
I'm pretty much typing exactly what is happening in my brain today, so you may not enjoy this very much. I'm not enjoying it very much today either. My brain is jumping from one thought to the next every other second.
Here is a sampling of all I keep thinking about: my grandmother is in the hospital with a broken hip; she fell because she was dizzy; her heart isn't good; my grandfather's heart isn't good either; how do we help them?; my microwave is dirty; I cleaned out my linen closet today; need to get to the laundry room next; we actually need to redo the laundry room; next Monday we might find out if we have a new assignment; if we do we really need to redo the laundry room; I really don't want to move right now; what all has to happen to sell this house?; or should we rent it?; the basement is a disaster; I need help to organize all of it down there; I probably should do that whether we're moving or not; definitely if we're moving; Little Bit has decided to strip instead of nap again; wonder if she peed in her crib again; ...
Yeah. Pretty much a random mess!
Better run. Eric's home (EARLY!!! well, it's 4:45). Need to make supper and brownies.
Oh, I should mention I'm WAY overtired and waiting for my coffee to kick in. :-0
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