May Catch-Up Time

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

I went to the downtown eye center this morning to get my eye measured for the cataract surgery I am scheduled to have next month. Sis drove me there and back. I asked the technician who was doing the measurements what size my cataract is and she said it is a 3. Another friend had told me her ophthalmologist said they range from a scale of 1 to 4 and when they get to a 4, there isn’t much that can be done to help the vision. So I definitely don’t want to put it off any longer. I also got a kit from them that contains dark glasses, shields and gauze to protect the eye after the surgery.

It was after 11 am when we got back, so we had lunch with Sis’s craft group; then I went back to the office for the afternoon.

Sis talked to the veterinary office staff and Precious had 8 teeth pulled, as well as a lot of other things. It was expensive. The itemized list was a 2-page print-out. I picked her up after 4 pm. She has three bottles of medicine to take and it is hard to give them to her, as she doesn’t want to eat or drink.

Later we went to Wal-Mart and I picked up my blood pressure prescription, left the prescription for the eye drops I will need to take for three days prior to my cataract surgery; and did a little shopping.

Monday, May 16, 2011
M
Precious hasn’t eaten or drank anything for three days so Sis took her to the veterinarian this morning. He checked her did blood work and said her mouth is a mess and she needs some teeth pulled and others cleaned. He kept her overnight to do all that.

 

 

Sis went to work with me yesterday morning and sat in for me in the office while I went to the funeral of my friend, Betty. Then she helped downstairs at the funeral dinner for awhile.

When we got home a little after 3 p.m., the smoke alarm/carbon monoxide alarm in our house was shrieking every little bit, proclaiming "low battery". Precious was cowering in my bedroom looking traumatized.  It must have been doing that for hours.

I had a 9-volt battery so I thought I could change it. It is attached to the ceiling. I got a step stool and got it unlatched from the top piece, but couldn't figure out how and where to open it to replace the battery. It didn't help that my knees are stiff, I am short, and have such a vision problem that I couldn't begin to see any instructions that may have been shown on the smoke alarm. Sis tried. She is a little taller than me, but she couldn't see any instructions either. In the meantime, every little bit, it would let out this loud shriek and the voice would again inform us that the battery was low. It is wired in electrically, but has a battery backup.

We knew of no one around close that we could call, so I called the hot line 211 and they told me to call the fire department. I did and told them the problem and that we were too old, stiff and vision-challenged to get up there and get it changed. They were very nice and immediately sent someone out to change it. Three cheers for our fire department! We are both pretty independent and try to do as much for ourselves as possible, but now and then something comes up that we just have to ask for help.

I was finally able to convince Precious that it was safe to come out from behind the bed where she was hiding.  She was terrified.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easter Sunday

We had an Easter sunrise service at one of our churches, but I didn't get to it. There was to be a "finger foods" breakfast afterward. Twelve young people who had finished their confirmation classes were confirmed and two were baptized. Three of the young people are now new members of the church I go to.

It was a busy day, because one of the members took pictures at our church for a new photo directory. Sis and I had our pictures taken together and then I had a separate one by myself.

After we got home, we had ham, steamed broccoli and cauliflower, macaroni salad, and cottage cheese-lime jello salad with pineapple in it for our Easter lunch.

The weather has been warm, but still extremely dry.

We were still tired from the long trip to Eagle Pass and back yesterday, so we just rested this afternoon.

Yes, I did send a picture of my sister holding one of our cats awhile back. Here is the other cat, Calvin. It was taken last night while he was lying beside my computer.

Doctor visit

After I got off work yesterday afternoon, I went to see my doctor to get a referral to a specialist for cataract surgery. Going there is always an ordeal for me. They have an automatic blood pressure monitor that squeezes my arm so hard that I can hardly stand it, then restarts and does it again three or four times. I asked the nurse about it and she moved the band down to below my elbow, but it did the same thing. I wish she would just use the manual one like she used to.

Then I had to wait so long for the doctor to see me. I was the last patient for the day. He was very nice though and did arrange for the referral. He said my blood pressure is good and my cholesterol is low enough that I don’t need medication. I told him that since my blood pressure was good I couldn’t understand why the machine squeezed my arm so hard and kept restarting so many times. It has done that the last several times I have gone there and I just dread doctor visits for that reason.
The office is to send me a letter with information about a visit to the eye specialist and If I don’t hear from them by Saturday he told me to call back and ask for an update.

Sis had gone with me in case I didn’t get out before dark, so we stopped at Olive Garden restaurant on the way home. It is new to this side of town and in the same area there is a Red Lobster and a Longhorn Steak House. So we will try those one of these days too. Although I have heard of them often, I had never been to an Olive Garden restaurant before and I really enjoyed it. The food was delicious and the service was great. It is definitely a place I would like to go back to.

I had been up long hours and was very tired, so I went to bed shortly after we got home. We didn’t get the heavy rain or hail predicted, but it sounds very windy right now and it really cooled off during the night. When I got up around 4 a.m. the house was chilly and I turned the thermostat up a bit. I will need to wear a jacket to work this morning, but it is expected to get up to near 70 by this afternoon.

Safety Inspection & Windshield sticker -car

I went to Firestone this morning and got the safety inspection on my car. NOTE: Remember to NEVER go there again. They are very rude, every time, and take way too long.

When I got home, I put the new 2011 license registration sticker on. Both will be due again in March of 2012.

Sis and I went to Wendy's this morning and tried their new breakfasts. I had a ham pannini and iced caramel coffee; Sis had the artisian egg sandwich and regular coffee. We really enjoyed it.