January 20 through 30, 2021

Wednesday, January 20

I took the longest, hottest, most luxurious shower possible this morning.  Today, Lily had an appointment to have a heart scan in Faribault, so she was not available to take me to the clinic to have the stents removed from my urinary tract.  I am still not allowed to drive myself due  to the surgery (though I think I would be perfectly capable of it), so I had a bit of a pickle.  My sister Joni (who is now retired) offered to take me, and I accepted her offer—even though it makes me nervous as she and her husband go all over creation multiple times a week.  I have gone no where except where I absolutely HAD to go since February of last year.  To make it more anxiety producing, Jeff, her husband insisted on coming too.  He has been a massive trumper since all this political shit started, though Joni says he has been saying that this denial of his loss is stupid.  Since they are doing me a huge favor, I am accepting it.   They both drive pickup trucks that are very hard for me to get up into, so they came to my house and are driving my car to the clinic. 

It turned out to be a good thing Jeff came along as my rear driver’s side tire had gone quite flat.  So he took it to the gas station and inflated the tire for me.  While they were here, Jeff took a heavy bag of kitchen garbage out to the bin for me, and Joni dragged my recycling bin back to the house.  I am not supposed to lift more than 20 pounds at this time, and I know that kitchen garbage bag was much heavier than that.

Neither of them wore a mask which made me very uncomfortable.  I had mine on when they got here, so I was as safe as I could be.

Joni had one with her as she put it on when we got to the clinic.  She got a wheelchair for me and took me to the check in desk and up to the urology department on the second floor and on the other side of the clinic.  Then she left with Jeff to go shopping, telling me to call when I was done with my appointment.  The clinic had only two other patients in the waiting room, and all of us were called back pretty quickly. 

The removal of the stents was pretty quick and painless.  Much easier than I feared it might be.  Instantly all the spasming and discomfort of those stents was over.  I think my body was trying to expel them with those spasms. They were terribly painful (the spasms), but they were over in a few seconds.  The pressure felt a lot like it used to feel when a tampon was “slipping” down when it wasn’t supposed to.  The pain was in my left side and across my lower back.  That felt a little bit like someone was shoving the dull point of a pick axe into my side and dragging it across the middle of my back.  Thank God that is now DONE.

I had another nice interaction with Gretchen, the nurse practitioner in the urology department.  She attended school in Freeborn, the very first school I taught in.  She was in elementary school then, so I did not know her, but I directed plays, did skits for the pep fests, and was the queen of the concession stand at every sporting event, so she knew me.  I was very young then, and I was full of energy and fun.  Most of the students loved me.  (Of course, my students have always liked me very well—most of them, anyhow.)  We took a little walk down memory lane and she filled me in on how the lives of many of my students and former colleagues are going.  Quite a few of my former colleagues have died or developed dementia.  That was sad to hear.  I called Joni from the urology procedure room and told her I was ready to be picked up at her leisure.

One of the nurses, a very petite and cute little red headed girl with very curly hair, pushed me down to the entrance area. We had a nice chat on the way down.  Sitting on the bench in that area was a woman who called my name.  She was sitting with her back to the window, so I just saw her dark silhouette against the bright sky.  I didn’t recognize her until she spoke again.  It turned out to be Sue Heller, whom I had worked with in the migrant program in Owatonna for at least 15 summers!  Then she came and worked with the ESL (English as Second Language) at Triton while I was there.  So we had a very nice chat while I waited for Joni.  She told me her husband Jim had died two years ago.  She had sold her house thinking she would move into a condo, but ended up buying another, smaller house.  She is a grandmother now and said her kids are doing well.  I was glad to hear that as the last time I had seen her, her son was in prison in Georgia due to some drug charges.  He was basically a kid then.  I don’t know if he was even 21 at that time.  I didn’t ask about him regarding that stuff.  I usually just let people tell me what they want to tell me. I try not to pry.

I had asked Joni if she would pick me up a 4-pack of those small bottles of Champagne as I wanted to toast to the end of tRUMP’s reign of terror and to Biden’s salvation of the country.  She did that while I was in the clinic, so I was very happy.  Jeff also took my car to another gas station and made sure the tire was at the proper pressure.  On the way out of town, I asked if they would stop at the Asian Kitchen and pick me up some egg fu young and steamed dumplings.  They did, and I gave them $20 as they were going to go to the Ellendale Pub for lunch.  They have a lot of deep fried vegetables there for Joni (who is vegan) and chicken wings for my carnivorous brother in law.

They dropped me off at home, and Joni carried in my champagne and dinner since I had to use my walker, and it is hard to carry anything with that.  It was lunch time, so I enjoyed my delicious Chinese food with enough left over for another meal! 

My afternoon was quiet and included a lovely nap.  I watched a bit of the inauguration and was thankful that the trumpanzees did NOT pull any more bullshit or attempt any assassinations or riots during the ceremony.  I suspect they were all horrified by the fact that their orange god did not pardon any of them for their attack on the capitol but did pardon that asshole Steve Bannon for stealing much of the money for the “Build the Wall” campaign that those silly asses donated their hard earned money towards.

Mark my words.  One of them will ultimately build up enough resentment to go after tRUMP himself.  When you manipulate crazies, and one of them figures out that you are just using them, they will resent it mightily.  And…being crazy…they WILL seek vengeance.  I would rather see the vicious bastard in prison for the rest of his life, but I will shed NO TEARS if some nutjob takes out the whole nest of them.

At 7 pm, DeAnn, Sue J, Tammy H, Julie G, and a friend of Sue’s whose name does not stick in my head met on Zoom for a “cocktail hour” and to discuss the events of the day.  We toasted to tRUMP’s demise, celebrated Julie’s good news regarding her cancer situation (she had cancer in her nasal cavities and had her year after check up which was very positive), Sue’s new granddaughter, and my stent removal.  It is always fun to get together with those good, intelligent women.  Even if it is only virtually.  And this time, I actually had an alcoholic beverage to celebrate with thanks to my dear sister.  Usually I have a diet Coke or ginger ale.

 

Thursday, January 21

Still not feeling top notch, but at least not suffering any major pain.  I cleaned the litterboxes which were pretty nasty, did some laundry, and gathered and took some recycling to the breezeway bin.  I ate the rest of my egg fu young and steamed dumplings for lunch.  I had one of the pistachio muffins and macaroni spring salad Lily brought me for supper. 

Mom had her macular degeneration shot appointment and blood tests today.  Because I am not supposed to drive for another week, Lily took her. I should have taken her regardless.  I knew it would turn into another reason for mom to be mad at Lily.

Lily dropped Mom off at the door and told her she would pick her up there.  Then Lily went to Walmart to get some cat food.  When I took Mom, I always parked and she always walked out to my car.  Well, when she finished her appointments, she sat on a bench in the atrium.  She claims Lily told her she would come in to get her.  There is no way Lily said that.  She said she would pull up to the atrium.  If my mother would carry and use her cell phone (though now she doesn’t have one as she claimed she “never used it” once I asked her to start paying for it herself), all of this could have been avoided. 

So Lily sat in her car right outside the entrance for over an hour while Mom sat in the atrium over an hour fuming.  All she would have had to do is walk to the glass doors of the atrium and looked out and she would have seen Lily’s car sitting there.  So now she if furious at Lily and is bitching about  her constantly.  I am so sick of this grudge holding bullshit.

The walker the physical therapist gave me—the lightweight one I use in the house—fell apart.  A screw was lost when Lily brought me home from Mom’s, and then once of the side bars that hold the frame together broke loose.  So I asked Mom if she would send dad’s old walker to me with Lily.  I hate it as you have to pick it up and move it forward every step instead of sliding it along like the other one.  It is sturdier than that one, but it is also heavier. 

Lily brought me the walker and my mail and told me her side of the story.  She figured Mom would be watching for her.  The whole thing is a mess.

I cleaned some garbage out of the fridge then called Jim and Dude’s Plumbing to have my garbage disposal removed.  This is the third time it has broken down and I am DONE with it.  I called a little too late and had to leave a message on their machine.  I had taken one of my pain pills as my back and shoulder were killing me, and was a little loopy—mainly due to being tired and emotionally wrought up over this recent drama between mom and Lily.  I couldn’t remember my address, and left a really stupid message.

I made my grocery list and called it in to Lerbergs after that.  They are open till 6 pm, a little later than Jim and Dudes.

 

Friday, January 22

A while ago, Lily had bought me two 6-packs of Diet Coke, so I cut them apart, wiped them down, and put them in the little fridge in the living room.  I also wiped down my bottles of green citrus tea and put them in the little fridge in the kitchen.  Then I swept the kitchen, washed the dirty dishes and cat dishes, tidied the kitchen counters, bagged up the kitchen garbage, and peeled the potatoes, carrots, and onions in preparation for the roast I ordered from Lerbergs.

Lily brought me some more Diet Coke and also a piece of pecan pie and a tub of clam chowder from the Kernal restaurant in Owatonna.  While she was here, she took my kitchen garbage to the bin.  While she was here, the Schwan’s man came.  Mom had ordered some fish and some shrimp from him, so Lily took it and dropped it off at her house along with the tub of clam chowder she had brought for Mom.  Lily doesn’t hold grudges the way Mom does. 

After Lily left Ross dropped off my groceries.  While he was here, I asked him if he would put my microwave tray back in the microwave for me.  It is high, and I am so fucking short that I have a terrible time lining it up with the little lumps that it sits on.  He popped it on there in two seconds.  It would have taken me dozens of attempts.  He is such a kind man.

After he left, I wiped down my groceries and put them away, cleaned the head of cabbage and quartered it, and put the roast and vegetables in the oven to roast.  I dragged the bottled water to the bedroom and put away some other clutter.  I was happy with the amount of work I got done today.  I like to feel productive.

 

Saturday, January 23

Lily brought me two cinnamon rolls from Mary Groth who makes them every Saturday  morning and delivers them to all her friends.  I had two 6-packs of regular Pepsi that Lerbergs had delivered to me by accident, so I gave them to Lily.  Her son-in-law drinks it, and she often gets low blood sugar.  I told her drinking regular soda will bring her blood sugar up quickly, but that she needs to eat an egg or something with protein immediately after the blood sugar goes up because it will come down again just as fast as it goes up.  She took it, and I hope she will take the advice as well.

That’s basically it for my day. 

 

Sunday, January 24

I filled my pill caddy, gathered up and bagged my recycling, washed the dishes, and tidied the kitchen.  I cleaned my little box of raspberries and ate them as I made a batch of buttermilk pancakes for lunch.  I had a rather dull day—watched a lot of TV, talked to Mom and Lily on the phone, and gloriously did not have any pain at all today.  What a gift.

 

Monday, January 25

I got up early this morning so I could clean everything out from under the sink. Cody from Jim and Dude’s came early this morning and removed the garbage disposal.  I am so happy to be rid of it.  He stayed completely away from me, and I stayed out of the kitchen.  He took the old disposal away with him.  When he left, I put everything back under the sink.

I warmed up some of the leftover roast beef and vegetables for my lunch.  I got on Etsy and contacted the guy I had arranged to make me bunk beds and school desks for the LeeAnn dolls.  I had not contacted him since before way before the kidney stone issues.  I had been thinking of him for at least a week but just didn’t have the focus to contact him.  I had a few messages from him on Etsy—he was mad that I had left him hanging.  So, I wrote him a message explaining the issues I have been dealing with and did a “Buy it Now” for the three sets of bunk beds he had put up for anyone to buy.  I got a nice message from him later expressing sympathy for my issues and asked if I wanted him to make the other set.  I told him I did and that I was willing to pay in advance for the school desks if he still was willing to make them for me.

Lily asked me to look up information on line for her about Spectrum, a cable/internet company in her area of Texas so she can have cable and internet when she returns to Texas.

 

Tuesday, January 26

New developments in the Lily/Texas issue.  Lily called me last night and told me she had been on the phone with her granddaughter Randi for two hours.  Randi told her the same stuff that I had told her and that Mary had told me from her research. The two nearest cities to New Braunsfels where Lily’s trailer is are at the highest level of infection, and New Braunsfels is worse than Austin, which is the city where Randi lives and one of the two closest to New Braunsfels.  Randi insisted that Lily stay in Minnesota at least until she has had the covid vaccines.  Both doses. So Lily is heart broken as she had planned to leave for Texas on Friday this week.  She had all her many totes of shit packed and ready to put into the car.  Her daughter Rhonda and her husband were going to come on Thursday.  Now it is likely she will not be going to Texas till late February or early March, depending on when she can get her vaccinations.

Lily came over and brought me containers of hamburger soup and homemade applesauce she had made.  While she was here, I got on the internet and ordered her more of the specific food her cat will eat that is hard to find in stores and Tylenol get tabs and Ocuvite.  I ordered fish oil and another large bottle of Tylenol 8 hour arthritis formula for myself.

I went on the state department of health web site and got Lily signed up for the vaccine lottery.  She’d have to go to Rochester to an elementary school if her name comes up in the lottery.  Hopefully her name will be drawn soon.  She wanted me to sign Mom and myself up for it too, but there is no guarantee our names would come up together—in fact, it is highly unlikely.  Mom is already on a waiting list in Albert Lea clinic, and I am on one in Owatonna.  Since neither of us goes very far afield, I feel it is better to let people still working every day do the lottery system.  I am content to stay home and continue to live like I have been since February last year.  So is my mother, although she is getting antsy to return to church.  I will be glad when she’s had the vaccine so she can go back to her church services and Bible study.  That will make her much happier.

When Lily left, I put away a bunch of clean laundry, gathered up a bunch of recycling, and put it in the bin.  I ate the hamburger soup and a pistachio muffin for supper. 

 

Wednesday, January 27

I cleaned the litter boxes, brought in an Amazon package that was delivered this morning, made a pan of tator top hotdish, and fried the two ribeye steaks I had bought from Lerbergs.  I washed my dishes and cleaned the box of strawberries I had also bought from Lerbergs.  I ate one of the steaks for lunch with left over veggies from the roast.  I had some of the strawberries for dessert.

 

Thursday, January 28

My former student Jessica asked me to look over a couple of essays for her last night.  She is looking into creative writing programs and is doing the essays for the applications.  I went over them the first thing this morning.  Both were very good.  It was my pleasure to go over them for her.  She has always been very dear to me.

I found two puddles of puke in my bedroom from Peaches.  One was dry and hard and needed to be soaked with wet paper towels to loosen it up enough to clean up.  I don’t know what she eats that makes her puke.  She goes in streaks.  She appears to be going through another episode of puking again.  Ugh.  I think she gobbles her food and then pukes it up again.  I need to get her a set of those elevated bowls.  They say that those are helpful for cats that puke.  Something about the angle of the bowls.

I opened the Amazon package that came yesterday—it was mostly stuff for Lily—her Acuvite and a whisker remover for women.  I got a big bottle of Fish Oil as mine is almost gone.

Mom has an appointment with Dr. Grazbowski tomorrow.  Jack is taking her as he has Fridays off, and I am still on the no-driving list.  Thank goodness I am done with that next week.

 

Friday, January 29

I gathered up my bedroom and living room garbage and took it to the breezeway.  Then I took a big bag of recycling and a whole bunch of cardboard to the bin outside.  I called Lily and told her that I had her Amazon stuff.  She picked me up some pancake syrup, bananas, celery, cabbage, grapes, and cherry tomatoes from Lerbergs. She took my small bag of garbage out to the bin and took her Amazon stuff away with her.  She did not stay long.

I had fresh tomatoes on toast for lunch and the other ribeye and veggies for supper.  I washed up a couple clusters of the red grapes and snacked on them.

Jack took Mom to her doctor’s appointment.  Her A1C was 6.8, which is great.  Her doctor was very pleased.  She was home early enough to see Kim for a short time.  She came down to get her hair cut and to take another load of her stuff back with her.  Mom was glad to see her as it is Kim’s birthday today. 

 

Saturday, January 30

Lily stopped by to give me two cinnamon rolls from Mary Groth and my mail.  I got my laundry all done today except for folding the final load.  It is waiting for me in the dryer.  We were supposed to get a significant snow storm today, but as far as I know, we got nothing at all, not even a flake.  Well, that’s okay with me. My niece had one-act play practice in New Richland from 1 pm till 8 pm today. No storm means she doesn’t have to drive in dangerous conditions.  Since she is a novice driver, this is a good thing.  I watched some movies from my DVR today and deleted them afterwards.  I watched Oh, God with George Burns and John Denver, and then I watched The Remains of the Day with Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, and a very young Hugh Grant as a minor character.  The scenes of the grand estate were amazing.  I can’t imagine what living in an estate like that must have been.  Or having so many servants who paid such careful attention to every tiny detail of their lives.  Or to BE a servant who had to put that level of attention to every detail of arrogant rich bastards’ lives.