A Friday in May
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
According to the calendar, today is May 27, 2020. Um, if you say so.
Dad spent last weekend in the hospital. Due to COVID19 restrictions, everything was much harder than it should have been. I am so thankful for a very special friend who works for the hospital system and was able to keep tabs on my dad after I was forced to abandon him at the Emergency Room door. I don't want to say her name just in case it would get her in trouble of any sort. Without going into the ridiculous, I will say that Dad is now home and doing well. Long story short - kidney infection. Yes, I tried telling them that over the phone since they wouldn't speak to me when I brought him. Oh well, we did find out his heart is "very strong" and "doing very well".
After reviewing the safety policies at Mom's hair salon, I felt comfortable taking her for her first appointment in over 2 months. Here she is showing off her new perm and cut. She is most excited for the appointment scheduled for this Friday when she will get her "color" put back in. I tried to talk her into letting her natural color grow out. I'm just glad I finally got to see what her natural color is!
Blossom's disease has really started to progress over the last couple of weeks. She doesn't seem to be in any pain; her back legs just get tangled up and twisted. It is getting too hard for her to walk up and down the stairs at our house. Since she insists on being with Scott when he is downstairs, he has started taking her outside and walking her around the house to the basement.
Do you see Balto in this picture?
Poor Balto, he blends in to everything. This is why he is always getting overlooked.
Tropical Storm Bertha is visiting us right now and we are getting pummeled with rain today. Yes, a Tropical Storm in May. Stay tuned....the 17 year cicadas are set to visit in a few weeks. I just had a flashback to my childhood dogs eating their shells many years ago.
Monday, May 11, 2020
Mother's Day looked a little different this year due to the current Pandemic. There were no church services and my family ate outside. The day started out super chilly with record breaking low temperatures. Thankfully, it warmed up enough (70, breezy) to eat outside.
Historically, there was a tradition called a Mother's Day corsage. When I was a little girl, everyone wore a pinned flower to their church clothes on Mother's Day. If your mother was deceased, you wore a white flower. If your mother was alive, you wore a red or a pink flower. I always enjoyed going outside to cut a red flower to wear on Mother's Day. While this is such a fun memory, I think it is a good idea that it has faded away.
Sunday, May 3, 2020
I can't believe how fast time seems to be passing. Tomorrow, I begin my 8th week of working at home. There are so many things that I love about working from home: sleeping late, not taking a bath, wearing pj's all day, not washing my hair, being with my dogs all day.... There are also things I can't wait to get away from. Work. I can't wait to get away from work. Every time I pass my home office these days, I'm reminded of work that needs to be done. Last week, I needed to use the high volume copier/scanner at the office so I went in for 3 days. It was glorious. I so enjoyed leaving work behind and looking forward to getting back home. It felt a little apocalyptic to be at the office after so many weeks. All of my calendars were still set on March and full of appointments and events that never came to pass.
Scott had to take 2 weeks of his vacation time and then was furloughed for 2 weeks from his job at Charlotte Radiology. He starts work again tomorrow. Contrary to the backups we've heard about on the news, Scott easily filed for unemployment online and received his first deposit in less than a week.
Here's a quick recap of the past few weeks:
I had a problem with squirrels jumping on my bird feeder. Moving the feeder and waxing the baffle have taken care of that 100%.
Daniel turned 11. We celebrated with an outdoor pizza & cake party.
Dad checking his birthday wishes on Facebook.
Dad sporting a button that says "My Daughter is #1".
Blossom has been struggling lately. She clearly doesn't feel her back, left leg. She walks like she is intoxicated and drags her foot. It is hard for her to sit down and often, her legs get twisted up behind her. Thankfully, she is still able to walk, run & climb stairs. Last night, when we got home from our walk and took her bootie off, her nail had rubbed raw and was bleeding inside of her bootie. These are all symptoms that we knew in our heads were coming but we hoped in our heart wouldn't.
She always has to be touching Scott. :-)
Last Saturday, I was sitting on the front steps with Balto when he took off running after the neighbor's dog. Their dog does not have a fence and I guess Balto heard her go outside. I chased after him at full speed and landed on the concrete with my hands, knees and chin. I thought I had broken my jaw as it was very painful and wouldn't close. Due to Covid-19, I was too afraid to go to the ER. Thankfully, it was much better the next day. Other than a few scrapes and bruises, I was feeling better after a few days.
That brings me to today. Today we had a wonderful treat. My super amazing friend, Miranda, made a pound cake for my Dad. She dropped by with her dog, Dori, and said hello. Thank you so much Miranda! And Dori! XOXO
Dad is wearing a new shirt that Kevin's family gave him for his birthday.
I washed and styled mom's hair today. I did a better job than last time. For the first time in her life, her white hair is growing out. I covered it up with (a lot of) ColorWow powder and I think it looks pretty good!
Here's mine:
Monday, April 13, 2020
Some days I have to release my inner Grouchy Smurf. Remember Grouchy? He hated everything.
Is it just me or is anyone else tired of every television commercial being about how "we are all in this together". I'm over it. I don't want to hear how proud they are of me for staying home or give me more instructions on how to wash my hands. Don't get me started on celebrities making this all about themselves. Claire Campbell, I don't want to hear how your law firm is here for us via teleconferencing options. That goes for you too every car dealership in Charlotte.
Friday, April 10, 2020
Today is Good Friday and I just watched my pastor lead our annual service...online. Last night, I watched our Maundy Thursday service with my parents as they took communion with grape juice and a cracker.... a memory I will treasure always.
Here. Here is where I just typed 3 paragraphs about how I've been struggling with anxiety this week. I erased it. While I want to be real and authentic on my blog, I don't want bring too much negativity. I'm sending a big thank you to my dear friend, Miranda, for generously giving me several face masks. Dad and I have to go inside of a major hospital next week to see his urologist. I may have had a slight terror attack at the thought of walking into a hospital and trying to keep myself and my 85 year old father COVID-19 free. Ok, I did internally freak out.
One of the joys of working from home has been hearing my dad cut his grass almost daily. The first day, I was working in my office when I heard the lawn mower start. It made my heart smile knowing that he was feeling good enough to get outside and cut some grass. In fact, I even think I posted a picture on the blog. Almost every day after, while sitting at my desk working, I am hearing the lawn mower start up and seeing him going around and around again. The trees have all come out and I can't see him from my window anymore, so I have walked over to snap pictures a couple of times.
