So the Caribbean hurricane, after hitting Yucatan, bounced off of some sort of high pressure system coming down from the north and (helped along by its own coriolis force) turned back toward Central America. All we're getting is a light rain and no wind.
My brother has not taken down any of the Hallowe'en balloons or other decorations although he did leave them deflated last night when the rain was heaviest. One ghost, which was placed a little too close to the drainage swale, is under water but everything else seems undamaged.
The forecast is hinting that Monday may actually be dry, or at least dry enough for the plundering hordes to show up. Which is a good thing because, although we have all refrained from snitching any candy, great bags of left over treats would be too much.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Balloon Envy Therapy
We are now the proud owners/displayers of a life-size inflatable Headless Horseman dressed in black with pumpkin head astride a black horse with a swiveling head of its own. Also a twelve foot tall green Frankenstein Monster wearing an orange shirt, purple pants and big black boots. There is possibly another which has not yet been set up.
My brother also went out last night and bought a package of white party balloons over which he will drape his ghost sheets and hang from various tree branches.
We continue to be outnumbered by Neighbor Dan's sheer volume (the severed head hanging over the kettle was a nice touch by the driveway) but, including our 30ft tall black cat we're holding our own in variety.
My brother also went out last night and bought a package of white party balloons over which he will drape his ghost sheets and hang from various tree branches.
We continue to be outnumbered by Neighbor Dan's sheer volume (the severed head hanging over the kettle was a nice touch by the driveway) but, including our 30ft tall black cat we're holding our own in variety.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Balloon Envy
Mt brother came home last night suffering a severe case of holiday balloon decoration envy. It seems Neighbor Dan has inflated and lit all of his Hallowe'en decorations--and our yard will suffer by comparison.
"He's got two hearses just like mine although they're a little smaller but one has a coffin on top that opens. Plus he's got all new ghosts. Not to mention the haunted house." Also not to mention the Great Pumpkin hot air balloon the headstones and skeletons both semi-buried and hanging. Neighbor Dan has long held the edge in total decorations such that, between the inflatables and the palm trees, his yard is impassable.
Our decorations are not up yet, having been delayed by our inability to mow the lawn, but that will be rectified before nightfall.
This morning, despite recently receiving a homeowner's insurance bill with a 50% premium increase, my brother went out to buy more spooky lawn balloons. We have our priorities.
"He's got two hearses just like mine although they're a little smaller but one has a coffin on top that opens. Plus he's got all new ghosts. Not to mention the haunted house." Also not to mention the Great Pumpkin hot air balloon the headstones and skeletons both semi-buried and hanging. Neighbor Dan has long held the edge in total decorations such that, between the inflatables and the palm trees, his yard is impassable.
Our decorations are not up yet, having been delayed by our inability to mow the lawn, but that will be rectified before nightfall.
This morning, despite recently receiving a homeowner's insurance bill with a 50% premium increase, my brother went out to buy more spooky lawn balloons. We have our priorities.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Miscellanea
Well, the humidity is gone, there's not a cloud in the sky, a "cold" front came through a couple of days ago and the temperature is hovering around 75F. The air-conditioning is off and the doors and windows open. This is what people come to Florida for. They should start arriving in a month.
Meanwhile, Mom's insomnia is back. For the last two nights she has been sneaking out of her room after everyone has gone to bed (otherwise we send her back when we see her) and sleeping on the couch. Why she can sleep on the couch with no pillows or blankets and not in her bed is beyond me--or her. She claims to have no memory of doing any of this even when I find her sacked out in the living room in the morning. We had a long talk about it the night before and she came up with an elaborate strategy for returning the offender to bed while not admitting that she is the offender in question. (The strategy works but obviously not permanently.)
The lawn mower has been repaired, returned and used. The black snake no longer has to lift its head to peer around before deciding which way to go. I watched it last week lift about four inches off the ground before it could see in any direction. It then slithered off to the woodpile.
The "Princeton" is growing out. My part is back and I must occasionally brush my hair or it will rise up on its own to form a ridge from front to back which, although much the style with the kids these days, doesn't work well with gray hair and a beard.
Meanwhile, Mom's insomnia is back. For the last two nights she has been sneaking out of her room after everyone has gone to bed (otherwise we send her back when we see her) and sleeping on the couch. Why she can sleep on the couch with no pillows or blankets and not in her bed is beyond me--or her. She claims to have no memory of doing any of this even when I find her sacked out in the living room in the morning. We had a long talk about it the night before and she came up with an elaborate strategy for returning the offender to bed while not admitting that she is the offender in question. (The strategy works but obviously not permanently.)
The lawn mower has been repaired, returned and used. The black snake no longer has to lift its head to peer around before deciding which way to go. I watched it last week lift about four inches off the ground before it could see in any direction. It then slithered off to the woodpile.
The "Princeton" is growing out. My part is back and I must occasionally brush my hair or it will rise up on its own to form a ridge from front to back which, although much the style with the kids these days, doesn't work well with gray hair and a beard.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Lead Us Not Into Yummy Chocolatey Temptation
The Hallowe'en candy is here. Yesterday, my brother brought home six bags (3 or 4 pounds each) of M&Ms and Three Musketeers. So now there's twenty pounds (give or take) of candy just sitting on the dining room table. Waiting. Waiting for costumed kids to ring the bell eleven days from now or for one of us to have a failure of willpower sometime before then. Eleven days!
I know where I'm placing my bets.
I know where I'm placing my bets.
Monday, October 17, 2011
A Certain Lack of Progress
The Hallowe'en decorations in the neighborhood are very random this year. Someone a couple of streets over has had theirs up and lit for three weeks already. Neighbor Dan across the street has his all laid out on his lawn but nothing is inflated or lit. Apparently, they've been away for an extended weekend as the grass around the decorations is getting a bit deep. Meanwhile, we are of the opinion the grass under the decorations is probably dead or dying. Add in three days of rain and (especially) wind from an unnamed tropical depression moving in from the south. Should make for interesting landscaping come All Saints' Day.
Our decorations are not up yet at all. Mostly that's due to the lawn mower dying a couple of weeks ago and a delay, first in deciding whether to repair or replace it, then in having it repaired (since the repairer is a relative of Neighbor Dan's and Neighbor Dan was originally going to take it to the repairer but has been away (see above) and no other arrangements for either pick-up or delivery were made). The lawn mower is finally at the repairer but our grass is now as deep as Neighbor Dan's and in many places has gone to seed.
There will be no inflatable black cats, ghosts, pumpkins or life-size fully-lit hearses-with-coffins-inside-containing-moving-skeletons-and-motion-sensitive-sound-effects until the grass is cut.
Our decorations are not up yet at all. Mostly that's due to the lawn mower dying a couple of weeks ago and a delay, first in deciding whether to repair or replace it, then in having it repaired (since the repairer is a relative of Neighbor Dan's and Neighbor Dan was originally going to take it to the repairer but has been away (see above) and no other arrangements for either pick-up or delivery were made). The lawn mower is finally at the repairer but our grass is now as deep as Neighbor Dan's and in many places has gone to seed.
There will be no inflatable black cats, ghosts, pumpkins or life-size fully-lit hearses-with-coffins-inside-containing-moving-skeletons-and-motion-sensitive-sound-effects until the grass is cut.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Operation Pinocchio III: Mom's Excellent Adventure
So, I took Mom to the dermatologist today. The process began last evening.
"Remember, you're going to the doctor tomorrow."
"I am?"
"Yes. We're going back to have your stitches removed."
"I have stitches?"
"Yes. Four of them. In your nose."
"Really? Why?"
"Because last week the doctor removed a small tumor from your nose and stitched up the wound and now we have to go get them taken out. Why do you think I've been changing the bandage on your nose every day?"
"Well, I was wondering about that."
So, after a variation on this conversation this morning, and again in the car, we arrived at the doctor's office a few minutes early. After a short wait Mom was being taken back to the surgery room when we all heard an explosion outside and the power went out. It was heavily overcast and had rained earlier so the first assumption was lightning blowing out a transformer. A little later presumptive blame shifted to the construction site behind the building we were in.
Actually, only most of the power went out. Some of the lights remained on (including the ones in the room we needed) but all the computers and the air conditioning went out. As did the elevator. We were on the third floor.
The nurse (the same one who freaked out last week) removed (most) of the stitches and the doctor came in to check her work and remove the one she missed. Total time elapsed: five minutes. While she was working, the nurse assured us the doctor would help me get Mom onto her walker (which can double as a wheelchair in a pinch) and help manhandle her down stairs since the elevator was stuck with people trapped in it and nobody knew how long it would take to free them. The doctor assured me absolutely none of that would ever happen and we should just sit in the reception area until the elevator was repaired. Mom and I agreed that was the better option.
Meanwhile, the people trapped in the elevator had used the emergency phone to contact the fire department which arrived just about the time we made it out to the waiting room. Whereupon I had my brilliant idea for the day. I went downstairs and asked the firemen if they could help me get Mom out.
They could. They'd be happy to. They, in fact, had a "stair chair," a purpose-built contraption designed for this very eventuality. They just didn't have it with them in their truck. But the EMTs had one in their ambulance. Which the firemen were happy to call to the scene. They were a happy bunch of guys.
When the ambulance arrived, we all trooped back up the stairs (which are on the outside of the building accessible from a wraparound balcony) lugging the stair chair with them into the office where they strapped Mom in with a belt across her waist and crossed belts across her chest and the only thing keeping it from looking like an official straight jacket was the lack of arm restraints. They told her to keep her arms inside the chair and wheeled her out to the landing.
In addition to the wheels, a stair chair has a kind of thin, narrow tank tread device, long enough to cover at least two stair treads, that swings down from the back under the chair and acts as a slide so the chair doesn't bump its way down. It also acts, according to the firemen, as a kind of brake to keep the chair from descending too fast. With one fireman on the down side and one on the up side, two EMTs watching and me trailing behind with Mom's walker they eased her down four half-flights of stairs, around three landings and right out to my car.
Mom was delighted and thrilled and told my brother the whole story in detail when we got home. "Never rode in one of those, before!" she said. No matter how old you are, there's always the chance something new will happen every day.
"Remember, you're going to the doctor tomorrow."
"I am?"
"Yes. We're going back to have your stitches removed."
"I have stitches?"
"Yes. Four of them. In your nose."
"Really? Why?"
"Because last week the doctor removed a small tumor from your nose and stitched up the wound and now we have to go get them taken out. Why do you think I've been changing the bandage on your nose every day?"
"Well, I was wondering about that."
So, after a variation on this conversation this morning, and again in the car, we arrived at the doctor's office a few minutes early. After a short wait Mom was being taken back to the surgery room when we all heard an explosion outside and the power went out. It was heavily overcast and had rained earlier so the first assumption was lightning blowing out a transformer. A little later presumptive blame shifted to the construction site behind the building we were in.
Actually, only most of the power went out. Some of the lights remained on (including the ones in the room we needed) but all the computers and the air conditioning went out. As did the elevator. We were on the third floor.
The nurse (the same one who freaked out last week) removed (most) of the stitches and the doctor came in to check her work and remove the one she missed. Total time elapsed: five minutes. While she was working, the nurse assured us the doctor would help me get Mom onto her walker (which can double as a wheelchair in a pinch) and help manhandle her down stairs since the elevator was stuck with people trapped in it and nobody knew how long it would take to free them. The doctor assured me absolutely none of that would ever happen and we should just sit in the reception area until the elevator was repaired. Mom and I agreed that was the better option.
Meanwhile, the people trapped in the elevator had used the emergency phone to contact the fire department which arrived just about the time we made it out to the waiting room. Whereupon I had my brilliant idea for the day. I went downstairs and asked the firemen if they could help me get Mom out.
They could. They'd be happy to. They, in fact, had a "stair chair," a purpose-built contraption designed for this very eventuality. They just didn't have it with them in their truck. But the EMTs had one in their ambulance. Which the firemen were happy to call to the scene. They were a happy bunch of guys.
When the ambulance arrived, we all trooped back up the stairs (which are on the outside of the building accessible from a wraparound balcony) lugging the stair chair with them into the office where they strapped Mom in with a belt across her waist and crossed belts across her chest and the only thing keeping it from looking like an official straight jacket was the lack of arm restraints. They told her to keep her arms inside the chair and wheeled her out to the landing.
In addition to the wheels, a stair chair has a kind of thin, narrow tank tread device, long enough to cover at least two stair treads, that swings down from the back under the chair and acts as a slide so the chair doesn't bump its way down. It also acts, according to the firemen, as a kind of brake to keep the chair from descending too fast. With one fireman on the down side and one on the up side, two EMTs watching and me trailing behind with Mom's walker they eased her down four half-flights of stairs, around three landings and right out to my car.
Mom was delighted and thrilled and told my brother the whole story in detail when we got home. "Never rode in one of those, before!" she said. No matter how old you are, there's always the chance something new will happen every day.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Butterfly Garden
We've talked about putting in a butterfly garden. I think we're halfway there already without even trying.
The Monarchs are migrating right now and occasionally stop by even though there's no milkweed here that I can find.
We have several smaller Viceroys living in the yard.
And a couple of yellowish Cloudless Sulphurs hang out around the lemon tree.
There are several other less spectacular moths and butterflies out there right now I still need to identify. If we can pick the right plants for them (and others still to be attracted) maybe next year we can sit outside in a silent cloud of colorful wings.
Don't even get me started on the dragonflies with the four inch wingspans.
Friday, October 7, 2011
The Continuing Accelerating Slide
Generally Mom has been holding her own lately but occasionally some things in her brain just don't connect or don't connect properly.
Yesterday I made pancakes for breakfast. Mom recognized that it wasn't Sunday and enjoyed them immensely. When she was done she proceeded to mop her plate with a facial tissue from which she then tried to suck the extra syrup. When I took it away from her she said, "Just because it's called a Kleenex doesn't make it wrong." No. And that's not why I took it away.
A couple of days ago I gave her a fresh load of cleaned laundry of hers direct from the dryer for her to fold and put away. She took everything to her room and while there decided it would be a good idea, for some reason, to change clothes. She came back out wearing a pullover shirt as a kind of skirt. She had managed to stretch the neck enough to pull it over her hips. The arms hung limp and empty at her waist. When I pointed this out to her, she stopped for a moment, looked down, and said, "Well, so I am." She refused to change again since she was planning on going to bed soon so I made her promise not to do it again. We'll see.
She's been very good at remembering which day it is recently and she's been reading a lot.
One step forward, two steps back. http://thatblognobodyreads.blogspot.com/2011/09/accelerating-slide.html
Yesterday I made pancakes for breakfast. Mom recognized that it wasn't Sunday and enjoyed them immensely. When she was done she proceeded to mop her plate with a facial tissue from which she then tried to suck the extra syrup. When I took it away from her she said, "Just because it's called a Kleenex doesn't make it wrong." No. And that's not why I took it away.
A couple of days ago I gave her a fresh load of cleaned laundry of hers direct from the dryer for her to fold and put away. She took everything to her room and while there decided it would be a good idea, for some reason, to change clothes. She came back out wearing a pullover shirt as a kind of skirt. She had managed to stretch the neck enough to pull it over her hips. The arms hung limp and empty at her waist. When I pointed this out to her, she stopped for a moment, looked down, and said, "Well, so I am." She refused to change again since she was planning on going to bed soon so I made her promise not to do it again. We'll see.
She's been very good at remembering which day it is recently and she's been reading a lot.
One step forward, two steps back. http://thatblognobodyreads.blogspot.com/2011/09/accelerating-slide.html
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Operation Pinocchio, Final Cut
So. The surgery was a success.
I told Mom last night about the appointment this morning and her first response was to act as if she'd known about it all along. But then she started to get anxious, asking who we were going to see, when and why. Because of the stress, the answers never sank in and she kept repeating the questions every five minutes or so. Finally, when she asked for the third time what was needed of her I replied, "Only this. Go to bed and get a good night's sleep." Which, surprisingly, she did.
I woke her at 7:45 and she had plenty of time to dress and have a small breakfast before we left. Three times in the car she asked where we were going and who we were going to see. When we turned into the drive to the doctor's office she said, "Why are we turning here?" On the entrance walkway she stopped and said, "Who are we going to see, now?"
Unfortunately, as she was being taken back into the surgical suite her nerves got the better of her and she had an accident. The nurse called me back and basically freaked out about not being able to deal with the situation and how I would have to take care of it. She kept going on and on while I explained I would need to go home to get a change of clothes for Mom. I left while she was still freaking. When I returned, the doctor had just finished the operation and a different nurse was applying a bandage to Mom's nose. The accident hadn't bothered either of them. Mom went and changed clothes.
The surgery itself only took fifteen minutes. We then had another twenty minute wait for the biopsy results. They came back clean and now we just have to return next week to have the stitches removed. (If I can get Mom to keep the bandages on. The wound was still bleeding a little as we drove home and she picked at it until the gauze came loose and I had to replace everything. Since then we've caught her trying to put hand lotion on her nose. It could be a long week.)
I told Mom last night about the appointment this morning and her first response was to act as if she'd known about it all along. But then she started to get anxious, asking who we were going to see, when and why. Because of the stress, the answers never sank in and she kept repeating the questions every five minutes or so. Finally, when she asked for the third time what was needed of her I replied, "Only this. Go to bed and get a good night's sleep." Which, surprisingly, she did.
I woke her at 7:45 and she had plenty of time to dress and have a small breakfast before we left. Three times in the car she asked where we were going and who we were going to see. When we turned into the drive to the doctor's office she said, "Why are we turning here?" On the entrance walkway she stopped and said, "Who are we going to see, now?"
Unfortunately, as she was being taken back into the surgical suite her nerves got the better of her and she had an accident. The nurse called me back and basically freaked out about not being able to deal with the situation and how I would have to take care of it. She kept going on and on while I explained I would need to go home to get a change of clothes for Mom. I left while she was still freaking. When I returned, the doctor had just finished the operation and a different nurse was applying a bandage to Mom's nose. The accident hadn't bothered either of them. Mom went and changed clothes.
The surgery itself only took fifteen minutes. We then had another twenty minute wait for the biopsy results. They came back clean and now we just have to return next week to have the stitches removed. (If I can get Mom to keep the bandages on. The wound was still bleeding a little as we drove home and she picked at it until the gauze came loose and I had to replace everything. Since then we've caught her trying to put hand lotion on her nose. It could be a long week.)
Monday, October 3, 2011
Operation Pinocchio
Mom goes to the doctor tomorrow for minor surgery. We went to her dermatologist a couple of weeks ago for her regular quarterly check-up and he froze off two spots (on her forehead and back of shoulder) and biopsied two more (nose and neck). The nose sample came back malignant. And, unfortunately, he didn't get all of the tumor in the initial biopsy. So tomorrow we go back to finish off the job.
I haven't yet told Mom about the appointment, for two reasons: One, she gets very anxious before doctor appointments, worries about missing them, worries about presenting herself, worries about things she can't control, can't sleep, gets up hours early, in general--worries. Two, it's at 9:00 in the morning. She isn't going to like that at all. The operation's going to take a couple of hours and it's going to be a lot easier to get in first thing and get it over with.
She's going to end up with a little divot in her nose. My brother already has one from a similar operation several years ago. Skin cancer is just one of the costs of living down here. The doctor originally offered a couple of alternatives to this surgery. One was radiation therapy but we figured if one operation was going to stress mom out 9+ radiation sessions would send her over the edge. The other was for her to see a plastic surgeon but, at 91 years and counting and never getting out of the house except for doctors' visits, we're not terribly concerned about the divot damaging her social life.
I'll tell her at dinner.
I haven't yet told Mom about the appointment, for two reasons: One, she gets very anxious before doctor appointments, worries about missing them, worries about presenting herself, worries about things she can't control, can't sleep, gets up hours early, in general--worries. Two, it's at 9:00 in the morning. She isn't going to like that at all. The operation's going to take a couple of hours and it's going to be a lot easier to get in first thing and get it over with.
She's going to end up with a little divot in her nose. My brother already has one from a similar operation several years ago. Skin cancer is just one of the costs of living down here. The doctor originally offered a couple of alternatives to this surgery. One was radiation therapy but we figured if one operation was going to stress mom out 9+ radiation sessions would send her over the edge. The other was for her to see a plastic surgeon but, at 91 years and counting and never getting out of the house except for doctors' visits, we're not terribly concerned about the divot damaging her social life.
I'll tell her at dinner.
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