Of Sore Throats and Lost Voices by Konnie Enos

I woke up Sunday morning trying to decide if I’m well or not since I’d been fighting a cold for a couple of days. I didn’t feel too bad, just a sore throat but for some reason Sunday morning my throat didn’t hurt much. Then I tried to talk.

At first, I could squeak out some sound but by noon that was gone.

Okay, so no church.

Then it dawned on me that it was Mother’s Day and given my granddaughter’s love of making phone calls, I had to assume she’d call me at some point. I sent my daughter a message about not calling me and why.

Then my phone rings. The ringtone alone tells me it’s family and being that it’s Mother’s Day, rather understandable that people will call me. As I picked up my phone I was wondering who else besides my oldest daughter I should have texted.

I mean, my oldest daughter made sense. She is a mother after all. And I was concerned about how my granddaughter would react when she couldn’t talk to Grandma. We wished each other a happy Mother’s Day and she told me to get better.

This call was from Bonnie. I’m assuming she hadn’t even realized what day it was, she just wanted to talk. I did pick up, and my husband, across the room with his back to me asked me who it was but he wouldn’t even look at me so I could let him know I needed help.

I had to strain out a brief “can’t talk”. We hung up and exchanged a few texts. But texts don’t garner enough attention to keep her awake, which is why she called. I recommended calling one of my children but I think she fell asleep first.

Then, THEN my clueless husband tried to talk to me without turning around. Seriously?! He’s deaf as it is! How is he supposed to hear me when I can’t get any sound out at all?

When he does turn around he faked not being able to talk as IF I was whispering just because. I wasn’t even whispering. I just couldn’t get any sound out.

He was still asking me questions so I picked up my phone and texted him to ask Melinda. She could at least answer his questions.

Then I texted Melinda. I mean at least that way I can talk to people.

Well after that, Royce comes into my room and tries to talk to me.

I’m ready to roll my eyes.

I indicate I can’t talk. Thankfully Melinda followed Royce in and she was able to facilitate a conversation with me.

My conversation with Melinda includes some text and what little sign language we do know. Which is at least on par with my German with the added advantage that my kids do know a little bit too. None of them speak any German.

Not wanting to be voiceless for long, I do I quick internet search on home remedies for laryngitis.

This is what I found out. It can last as long as a week and is generally caused by colds/flu. As in the sore throat and general aches and pains Melinda and I have had for a few days. She can still talk.

You want to know what they gave as the best way to treat it?

Don’t talk.

Literally, rest your vocal cords for a week.

Um. I wonder how that’s going to fly.

It’s not just the fact that I have three kids at home or a husband that can’t seem to remember that I currently lack a voice. I dread my phone ringing. What am I supposed to do? Not answer?

So yeah, the next week or so might prove rather interesting seeing as I simply cannot carry on a normal conversation at the moment.

Monday I still could not talk but by Tuesday I’m back to being able to squeak out some noise. I even sound better than I did on Saturday. Not perfect, but better. And best of all, my phone only rang the one time.

Also, I typed most of this up Sunday but didn’t have enough for a post when I went to bed. Considering it was still two days before it had to be up, I didn’t think it’d be a problem.

It didn’t happen.

And the only reason I got up this morning was because Jerry’s phone was going off and as usual he either couldn’t hear it or was just ignoring it. Funny how it stopped about the time I got up, without anyone touching his phone.

And the reason mine didn’t wake me up was because it was off.

Some days/weeks are like that.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day. 

Getting on Track by Bonnie Le Hamilton

I need to write my post, but where do I start?

Since my last post, I can finally drive, but I’m still dealing with various appointments (doctors, nurses, therapists). I am hoping they will end soon. I did manage to get into work once last week, but because of appointments, I couldn’t manage any other days. And today will be my second day back to work since my hospital stay, due to various appointments on Monday and my left foot decided I hadn’t elevated it long enough Monday night and was swollen today.

As in I went to see the infectious disease doctor at the hospital for my right foot.

The first thing she told me was my left ankle did not look good.

I already knew that.

After the appointment with her, I went home and put my foot up, like a good girl, but it was still swollen when it was time to go to work. I spent most of the day in bed with my ankle elevated above my heart.

I did get up with the intention of going to work, but the way my ankle felt, well, let’s just say, I wouldn’t be able to handle five hours sitting at a desk, it would be too uncomfortable.

At home, I can stretch out in bed, and even if I don’t lie down, my foot doesn’t bother me, but once I try sitting on my couch or in a chair. Yeah, I’d rather not.

When my ankle gets swollen what I feel is somewhere between “pins and needles” and a low throbbing ache, and not even putting my foot up on my footstool helps, stretching my legs out on my bed relieves the discomfort instantly (just not the swelling).

All of which meant I couldn’t go to work, because I wouldn’t have been able to handle the full five hours in need of putting my feet up. And I have often ended my workday by going home and putting my feet up.

It has gotten to the point that I have seriously considered rearranging things, so my TV is in my bedroom. These days, my prime viewing time is when I have my feet up, and I can’t do that in the living room.

Which in and of itself is kind of weird because Konnie doesn’t watch TV. The last time she came to visit, I was surprised when I returned from work to find her watching a video.

Of course, she put the video on because my apartment is too quiet.

In other words, my place is too quiet for her to be able to write and her place is too noisy for me to be able to write!

It is of course what we’ve gotten used to. Konnie has a houseful, and I swear they have more dogs than humans in that place. I have a single cat, no kids, no husband, just me and Patches. Yeah, my place is very peaceful compared to her menagerie.

Though I might point out that when she was visiting me, her phone constantly chiming drove me up the wall! Her phone chimed more in one hour than mine usually does in a week! And you guessed it, it was her kids and her husband. Go figure.

I should have known it would happen. Back in ’95, another time I was temporarily bedridden, Konnie came to help me out, leaving her husband home with what was then their three daughters. Believe me when I tell you my phone rang every half hour or so while Konnie was at my place, and none of those calls were for me or my husband. It had been Jerry every time.

Then again, what man doesn’t have issues when left home alone with the kids for a few hours, or days?

Konnie is your typical housewife who always seems to be doing several things at once. She has used a picture depicting that for her post at least once.

To say the least, my life is way more laid back than Konnie’s. And she does finally have two kids out of the house, two out of five, all adults, and three still at home for various reasons. Let alone that her husband can’t even seem to manage his medicines without her intervention.

I do recall at least one call during her last visit was about his medicines.

At any rate, my right foot is healing nicely, I should be able to make it to work today, and hopefully, I won’t have anything else interrupt my schedule for a good long while.

And maybe I will get some writing done this week.

Anyway, happy writing everyone!

 

Of Memory, Memories and Allergies by Konnie Enos

I had all these plans and ideas for my post this week.

There’s the conversation with Jerry that I thought was funny. You know the one I forgot to record in any fashion that has since been changed out of my retrievable memory.

Then there is the funny interaction I had with Royce. Still funny. What it boils down to is his description of what a shawl is. He called it a fancy blanket. I understand why he said that. I crocheted both my shawl and my Afghan, they both are to keep me warm, and I doubt he’s noticed that they are different shapes.

I, however, didn’t write that one down either because I had to take Mable to the vet. Saturday was just a normal recheck of her bloodwork visit but they asked us to bring her back on Sunday. Not because her bloodwork was off, but because they were concerned about some changes we are seeing in her. They did some x-rays and what they could see just tells us that Mable is on her last leg. As far as we know, she’s 12 now, but that’s because she was a mature dog when the shelter got her. Veterinarians can distinguish puppies and dogs up to six years and after that, it’s harder to tell. She was mature, i.e.: at least six, when the shelter found her. She could be much older than that and is showing signs of dementia.

All in all, it means we may not have Mable much longer. But then it was almost 2 years ago when they told us her liver wasn’t functioning well and she didn’t have long left. So it’s just wait and see now.

Then Monday, Royce’s birthday, we had the wonderful event of my daughter bringing her daughters (and husband) for a visit. During this visit, someone prompted my oldest granddaughter to wish her Uncle Royce a happy birthday. She immediately responded by singing the birthday song to him.

It was beautiful. Especially since she is old enough to pronounce all the words. Not to mention young enough to be adorable doing it. Then as we were giving him his presents and cutting the cake I asked her to lead us in singing to her youngest uncle again. She happily complied. Stole the show from Royce, but I don’t care. I don’t think Royce did either.

I doubt she’ll remember it for long. Not only because of how young she is but also because I think she was more impressed that we had watermelon on the table. I don’t think she even batted an eye at the home-made pizza and cake, or the ice cream.

Then again, she’s a bit dog crazy so being in a house with five dogs to lavish some attention was a big draw for her. Unfortunately for her, all are dogs are older and the only one still young enough to give some exuberant attention was still recovering from minor surgery. Before she’d been here an hour, they were all avoiding her. Well except the biggest one, which she only saw through my bedroom window.

And at that point, I was still remembering I had a post to write. Though first I had to deal with getting some bills paid since it is the beginning of the month. So yesterday, while mauling over exactly what I’d write, I spent most of the day dealing with the bills. Then, even when I’d finished that task, I still wasn’t quite sure what to write.

However, I think what messed me up is I completely forgot to set an alarm for earlier than I usually get up so that I’d have time to get something written. So this morning, after my alarm had startled me awake, and after I’d made sure both Mable and Xavier had their morning meds, and while I was still groggy, I suddenly realized I had a post to write and only an hour in which to do so and get it posted.

Funny how deadlines can wake you up. And sometimes even stimulate the muse.

And I think I can blame my still being a bit sleepy because Friday I came in contact with something I’m reacting to. It’s not anaphylaxis so I’m just treating it with Zyrtec and Benadryl. But we all know Benadryl can put you to sleep. I took some last night and within thirty minutes I was barely able to keep my eyes open long enough to prepare for bed.

So while I’ve had a few things happen this last week, I’m going to blame my lack of energy on my allergic reaction and the treatment available to me. It is also the reason my post is up late.

How are things going for you?

Smile. Make the day a brighter day. 

My Messed-Up Life by Bonnie Le Hamilton

 

At this time last week, I was in the hospital waiting for the doctor to hopefully release me. Which he did do.

I just wish it had helped. But while I may be out of the hospital, I still have to stay off my foot as much as possible; I can’t drive (It’s my right foot) or go to work. In fact, I got scolded for driving myself to the emergency room when my right foot hurt so bad. Plus, I have to have an infusion of antibiotics every day around the same time. So, between that and medical professionals coming in at all hours of the day, when would I have time to work?

And now I know the pain in my foot was severe, after all, several people at the hospital were surprised I could even walk at all because they had seen other people with the same sort of joint infection who couldn’t walk, they were in so much pain.

Maybe I should point out my high tolerance for pain.

Like my stepmom who fell back on her standard, “Well did you take anything for it?” When I told her I have a really bad earache. Then she ran for the phone when I told her I had not only taken Tylenol, but I had also tried a warm cloth.

From my stepmom’s point of view, it was serious because I actually took medicine!

And I’ve had doctors notice, most particularly my current one, that if I’m complaining about pain, it’s bad, like worse than what other patients tolerate.

He once asked me why I didn’t come in sooner; my answer was it didn’t hurt that bad sooner. I mean why bother with a doctor’s visit if it’s just a nuisance pain? Apparently, some people do.

Yeah, I tend to not call the doctor until the pain pills don’t work or it last more than a couple of days.

This makes me wonder about how accurate my pain levels are on a scale of one to ten compared to others. I mean I do feel pain, I’m not one of those people that feels no pain at all, but clearly, I can tolerate more than most.

I have also never once told a medical professional my pain level was higher than like seven, including when I was in labor. Though I might point out I was home and not around medical professionals when a jumping child fell on top of my very recently sutured belly. Believe me, that was more like a fifteen.

So maybe someone else would have said ten instead of seven? I don’t know. Doesn’t matter anyway.

I’m home and dealing with the aftermath. I just wish it wasn’t taking so long.

By the way, they determined eventually that I have septic arthritis. And yes, it is painful. It is also annoying that for several days I couldn’t put any weight on my foot at all. Bathroom trips were the hardest part to deal with. At least I don’t need help for that anymore.

Of course, the doctor at the hospital (not my primary) ordered in-home care for a while, which included not just physical therapy but also occupational therapy. This person seemed to think I would need to adjust to staying off my foot as much as possible while my foot healed.

The problem is, every time my knee goes out (thanks to EDS) or my gout or sciatica acts up, I have to stay off my feet as much as possible until it calms down, stops, or goes back into place. Let alone that I have flat feet.

I’ve lived in this place for nearly eight years, and I have places to sit near my sink, my stove, and my microwave, because I can not stand long at all. And where I sit in the living room and where my bed is positioned affords me the shortest possible distance from there to the toilet.

I don’t need help adjusting to doing chores like cooking and cleaning while staying off my foot because I’ve done that for years. I don’t need help adjusting my shower routine either. I already have a shower seat and a handheld showerhead. I’ve been using it for years.

The doctor didn’t ask me what I thought I needed or even asked what kind of aids I already had in place at home, she just ordered the occupational therapy.

I can see a nurse and physical therapist; I am getting intravenous antibiotics still and my foot was operated on to get the infection out, but little else.

I’m also a fast learner, so I don’t need that much help from the nurse.

Anyway, at least I can still write!

Happy Writing everyone!

Of Alarm Clocks and Phones by Konnie Enos

When I was younger it wasn’t uncommon for a family to have several clocks in their home. From nice mantel or grandfather clocks to face clocks and alarm clocks.

Nowadays I think they are less common.

I don’t think we’ve ever hung a clock in our house. The only clocks in our house are on the stove and microwave, including no alarm clocks.

I can remember the alarm clock Jerry had when we got married. It was one of those clock radio things where you could set the alarm to turn on the radio or blare an alarm. You could also set the sound level of the alarm.

This, of course, led to me shoving my husband out of bed because I was not expecting that blaring alarm to startle me from a sound sleep. I could say that was our first disagreement as a couple (we’d just gotten married).

He said he needed something that loud to wake him up. (Please note, it hadn’t woken him up. I did.) I told him to set it to wake me up and I’d get him up even if I had to shove him out of bed every morning. He hasn’t needed that loud of an alarm ever since. He now regularly wakes up to his alarm with me sleeping right through it. Thankfully, since I’m not getting up at 4 a.m.

But I wasn’t thinking about how Jerry is no longer a deep sleeper, but how few clocks there are in our house. We don’t need them. Everyone has a phone or some other tech that has a clock/alarm function. I have three devices with those functions. Other than glancing at the time while I’m on it, I’ve never used the clock function on my laptop, but I know it’s available, alarms and all. I’ve also looked at the one on my tablet but don’t use it other than to check the time.

My phone is a different matter. I do have several alarms set on it plus I use the timer. I also, out of habit, check the time on my phone when I get up in the morning.

I’m not looking for messages or missed phone calls, I’m looking at the time but in doing so, I usually find a text or two that was sent while I was asleep. Often it’s from one of my boys who tend to text me while on their breaks. Royce works graveyards and Tony has to get to work before I wake up.

One morning last week Tony scared the beejeebies out of me by calling at 6 a.m. Since I have a different ringtone for everyone listed as family on my phone, I knew it was someone in the family and woke up in a panic. I didn’t even take my CPAP off before answering it.

If someone is calling that early in the morning you just automatically assume it’s an emergency. And I assume it was. Jerry had the car but not his phone and Melinda needed the car. Melinda was not happy. She almost missed her appointment.

Though getting jarred awake by a phone call is not what got me thinking about clocks. It was my habit of checking my phone first thing in the morning to see what time it was. Mainly because Monday morning I picked up my phone to see what time it was and was greeted by a text message from Bonnie. The ding of a message coming through hadn’t woken me up but she’d sent it about 15 minutes before I did wake up.

And, of course, since it was that early in the morning, I assumed it was at least urgent though she hadn’t scared me half to death with an early morning phone call. The succinct text was more than sufficient to have me concerned.

After our brief conversation, it occurred to me that I probably would not have seen her text until I thought to check my phone again, or I heard the ding of another text coming through. While I know some people tend to keep their phones on them and check them constantly, I do not. I happen to know that I’ve missed messages, even calls, that came through while I was in the kitchen and my phone was in the bedroom. I didn’t see them until another message or call came through or I thought to check the time.

Melinda is the same way. Royce is not. He always has at least his smartwatch. Jerry tends to forget his phone. Tony will ignore his phone even when it’s beside him.

How often do you use/check your phone?

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

 

Of Snow Days by Bonnie Le Hamilton

 

Last Wednesday, I jokingly sent Konnie a text asking if either Royce or Tony could come over and shovel my driveway because I was snowed in. She not only pointed out that it was a ten-hour drive but that her adult sons have never had to shovel snow in their life!

It’s not like they haven’t lived where there is snow. Both boys were born in Utah, however, aside from the first couple of years of Tony’s life, they have always lived in Oregon or Vegas. They haven’t had to deal with snow annually.

Which seems really weird since their mother grew up right here, in Idaho.

Konnie prefers staying in Vegas. I don’t mind living here, except when I get snowed in. The thing is, with my SUV riding so high and being all-wheel drive, I’ve been snowed in a total of one time – last Wednesday.

Had I still owned my Cavalier I’d be snowed in a lot more often because I honestly was snowed in three or four times a winter with that little car. With my steep driveway, and how low it rode, it didn’t take much to make it impossible to get out of my driveway.

And during that period when I was without transportation of my own, I had one friend get stuck in my driveway when she came to pick me up. We eventually had to call another friend to pull her out of my driveway. Not a fun evening.

Then I bought my SUV, and I was hoping I’d never be snowed in again. I clearly didn’t get my wish. Though I might point out that the big storm was actually on Monday night. And I was able to get out and back again on Tuesday, despite the snow being a good two feet deep. I mean if I still had my Cavelier, I’d have been snowed in for sure, since I got snowed in when it was only six inches deep back then.

So come Wednesday morning, with no new snow falling the night before, I figured I’d have no problem again. Boy was I wrong. My neighbor shoveled the walkway onto my driveway.

I had to call my friend who lives a few blocks away to see if one of her boys or her husband could dig me out. She homeschools and her baby is a rather tall teenager, so they came over and dug me out. I assume all her adult sons and husband were already at work for the day. She has more sons than Konnie has kids, so she’s a good choice to call for help.

But all this got me thinking about how Konnie prefers living where it rarely snows, and I’d rather live with six to eight months a year of snow than live in excessive heat. Ergo why I refuse to visit Konnie for our birthday. I told her, if she wants to see me in the middle of summer, she’s coming to Idaho, I am not going to Vegas, period.

I’m fine with going to Vegas for Christmas.

Actually, it’s quite fun watching people all bundled up in parkas and shivering because of how cold it is outside, and I’m there borrowing Konnie’s windbreaker because my winter coat is way too heavy for 50-degree weather!

And let’s face it, if you think 50 is freezing, you don’t know freezing! I promise.

And I have lived in warmer climates. I remember when our ride to class one morning back in Tacoma told us we were lucky they had an SUV, or they wouldn’t have been able to get out of their nice flat driveway over something like three inches of snow that all melted by noon.

Or the time I lived in Norfolk, Virginia and they closed the schools because of the “big storm” which hit the night before. I have a picture from that day – you can see the grass speckled with white dots. In Idaho that’s called a skiff of snow, nobody closes for a skiff.

Of course, there was also the time I was in the Exchange food court when I noticed tiny flakes melting into the flowerbed outside the window and figured it was nothing to worry about. A few minutes later a guy sent his chair crashing to the floor as he jumped up and announced, “It’s snowing!”

Within seconds, I was the only customer in the food court.

A worker came over and asked me, “Aren’t you going to leave?”

I glanced at the congestion now in the parking lot and said, “The roads will be clear in about 20 minutes.”

I lived a 20-minute drive away. The roads were clear of snow, and cars!

Happy writing everyone!

Of Habits, Hardships and Gifts by Konnie Enos

If you know me at all, you know that I plan ahead for any gift-giving events. I carefully budget each month so that I know I’ll have enough money for Christmas and still cover all birthdays then I start shopping for said gifts early.

Royce’s birthday is May 1^st and it’s not unusual for me to get both his birthday present and his Christmas gifts for the year by the end of February. Then I can focus on the next birthday I need gifts for. In this case, it’s ours. I generally manage to figure out what I’m getting Bonnie by the end of May and usually ship it to her in mid-June.

After that, I focus on my three daughters. First Kristina whose birthday is in August, then I quickly do Melinda and Clarissa. However, since I have to ship things to Clarissa, that also means I’m getting birthday and Christmas gifts for both my grandbabies and my son-in-law at the same time. I usually barely manage to ship that out just before hers, and my youngest grandbabies birthday in October.

By then I’ve done all necessary gift shopping for the year for everyone except Tony, Jerry, and our pets. But it’s already November and I hate shopping of any kind between Thanksgiving and Christmas (though admittedly online shopping now makes this less of a bother).

Though it isn’t unusual for me to be completely done with my gift shopping for the year by mid-November, and this covers birthdays that are in January and March of the next year (Jerry and oldest grandbaby).

This last year I wasn’t as proactive as I usually am and didn’t get Christmas gifts for Royce until I was also getting gifts for Jerry and Tony. I’d put off a great deal of my Christmas shopping because, for one reason or another, we’d had to use the money I was setting aside for gifts on other important things. I postponed all my gift buying as late as possible and got far fewer gifts for lack of money. I even made a few simply because I had yarn but not enough money.

This year, I started the year thinking more caution was called for because I’m not sure that some new catastrophe won’t befall our finances again. I’m thinking our heating issue also affects our air conditioning system and it’s going to be non-functional too. Meaning my gift money may well go toward either repairing our system or finding a temporary solution for the air conditioning as well, and we know fans won’t completely deal with it. So we’re thinking we might need a couple of portable air conditioners.

I’ve also had other things on my mind. Like prices going up for everything and we have a fixed income. Yes, we did just get a sizeable COLA but it’s based on past increases and since the costs are still rising, it certainly isn’t even keeping up with things. So while I’ve been setting the money aside for gifts, I’ve been wondering if I’m even going to be able to get Christmas gifts again this year.

However, I don’t spend that much on birthday gifts so I was reminding myself to figure out a gift for Royce. I just never got it done.

Last week, yeah late March, I realized it was already April and I had not even browsed for a gift to get Royce yet. I needed some ideas so I finally had a conversation with him about it. Even then I still postponed shopping for a few more days.

When I finally did get on Amazon, I figured I could also get stuff for Bonnie’s yearly gift box so hopefully, I could get it to her well in advance of our birthday. And it took me a while to figure out what I was getting.

After placing the order, I promptly forgot about it in favor of focusing on everything else on my to-do list. Because I’d so completely put it out of my mind, I was surprised when an Amazon package arrived for me on Monday.

Royce dropped it on my bed beside me and I asked him what it was. I then asked him to open it for me but he was already walking out the door and refused to turn back around to open it. It’s a good thing because that’s about when I realized his birthday present was probably in that box.

I got opened about when Royce decided he would help me with opening it and returned. I had to tell him what I assumed was in there and that he needed to leave again.

Yes, his gift was in the box.

Now I have some wrapping to do.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.