Nature Songs ~~~~

DECEMBER, 2000

, continued ~~

December 5, 2000 One day for some fashion of undisturbed time alone and it’s off on the run again today. After my morning workout in a little while, I will have to meet Mother and her CNA at the doctor’s office in Hickory for one more eye checkup. I believe that things will be doing brilliantly for her considering she is seeing and able to do a few things for herself once again. She is impatient for her sight to be restored more quickly. I took her winter coat by last night so she could wear it today. She will not be happy with me. For some unusual rationale she thinks she doesn’t need to wear a cumbersome coat. This has been an attitude with her for an abundance of years.

I need to scramble by the hospital and look in on my cousin and his wife - at least with his wife for a while. He had the heart surgery yesterday which continued for over three hours while three valves were labored on. He is in intensive care for the time being, but the doctor anticipates he will be excellent as all heals.

Yeap! I was accurate about the Pogo Stick, the company has sold out of them and made an adjustment on my account. I need to visit Toys R Us in Hickory while I’m only a stone's throw away and see what they have available to replace his present. Maybe they will have the same item in stock there. That would make things easier for me. Here I am having to go out and do shopping in spite of my arrangements.

I’ll be back down to Hickory tomorrow for my doctor’s appointment concerning my back. Wonder what he will have in mind this time? I can vouch for all the medicine he injected months ago being dissipated now. I am experiencing the difference and it is so much more bothersome after having some of the pain taken away for a while. I’ll be plenty tired by the time I get to his office. I have the water group’s Christmas party to attend at lunchtime after working out first in the water. One lady wants me to pick her up at the One Day Surgery Unit next door and take her. She is having work done on her finger, but doesn’t want to miss our get-together. Her doctor told her she probably would not feel like eating out after the surgery.

Evening has slipped silently upon me, and much ado about little has taken place throughout the day for the most part.

Good news! The doctor was very happy with Mother’s improvement and ability to see so well. She recognized him immediately when he walked through the waiting room and spoke to him. She will go back the first week of the new year.

A call to Toys R Us in Hickory assured me that they had a pogo stick in stock and where I could easily locate it. That saved me a lot of searching and wondering once I was in the store. Strange how a grandmother can buy things without any intentions of doing so when perusing a toy store. There was a guitar which when turned over became a piano and electronic drums I had to have for BusyKid. Giggles enjoys talking on the phone as much as her Mother, so I bought her a toy phone that talks and has other sounds of her very own. Next door was the Media Play, so I made a quick trip in there to purchase the gift certificates I need for a niece and nephew for Christmas.

I stopped at the grocery store and then the post office to mail back a too large present for exchange during my outing, as well.

I got a few presents wrapped this evening so if the Grandkids should come in they will not be tempted to snoop around. The names are left off some for obvious reasons.

December 6, 2000 Back to a day of rushing here and there. This is one of the busiest Christmas Season’s I’ve experienced in many a year. I managed an hour of water workout this morning followed by an interval in the steam room. Our swim team group had our Christmas luncheon today. We met a little after eleven at the restaurant and so many came we had to add another table, plus scoot together a little to make room for all twenty-three of us. We brought small gifts to exchange at the end of our meal. In order to decide who got what, we drew a name to chose a present until all presents were gone. Allie placed a small angel ornament at each place as a gift from her, so I came home with a small angel and a square vanilla candle on a brass wire base. It was after two by the time I got back home. I had to be in Hickory at 3:45.

l left my list of medicines to update until today and that was a mistake. Sometimes I do not learn from experience. A few phone calls and a very short rest then it was past time to leave for Hickory. Of all days, the traffic was much heavier than usual, and it was slower than usual. Once in Viewmont, I notice immediately that the building is dark and a note is taped to the door of the doctor’s office! That means they have moved to the new office which is on the other side of town - more closely, it is nearly in the small town of Conover. By now the traffic is heavier because the shops and schools are out and filling up the roads. Luckily, I have a fairly good knowledge of traveling around Hickory and was able to avoid the busy roads and long stoplights by cutting through on backroads. I made it to the new office in less than ten minutes without speeding, I might add.

The new Pain Clinic is much larger than the old one. In fact they are combining three separate buildings and will be doing the injections and all in the same facility. They are still in the midst of straightening out and updating things, as well as working out some kinks. That means there were running behind on appointments and didn’t know I was late. Thank goodness, the therapist doing my ultra sound treatments had told we where the new place was and that I knew how to get around town. One man had to go way out of his way to get there and didn’t even know how far out of the way he had gone. I only sat and listened.

The physician’s assistant was the one to see me today. She was a little concerned about all the inflammation across my back and cautioned me to be more careful. She had the therapist give me an ultra sound regimen before I left. She also made arrangements to have me scheduled for the laser on my back in about two weeks. The Surgical Center was closed for the day, so they said they would call me with the date and time.

The day was still not over. There was even more traffic to surf through coming up the highway toward home. I stopped to leave some Christmas cards with Mother with the promise to come back and address them for her to give out at the nursing center. A call from home and I learn that Lady is cleaning house for me and Wes is waiting for me. It’s a while before I can finally call it a day.

December 7, 2000 Some of our party-ers didn’t make it to Quest this morning. We had fourteen, but some of them didn’t make it to our luncheon. I came straight home after my hour’s workout and the steam room. Hopefully this is a day that I won’t be doing all that much. I’m more than ready for a rest.

The heat pump man called yesterday morning wanting to check out my units. I told him I was out most of the day and he would have to come later. He showed up about midafternoon today. The unit upstairs is fine. The unit downstairs he spent quite a while working on. Seems it is still doing the same way it has been doing and he can’t put his finger on what is happening. He has assured me that no more than it is used that it is safe to leave it as is. If anyone should move back into the apartment then I need to have a thermostat replaced in order for the emergency heat to work.

The doctor’s office did not call. I took some small presents over to the center to wrap in Mother’s presence this evening so she can feel a part of the season. I got names of most of her cards, but told her it would be better to hand them out tomorrow afternoon instead of so late in the evening. I’ll do that for her tomorrow. I may push her around to do it.

My cousin DID have four heart valves by-passed on Monday. He is doing great and got to go home Wednesday. In the same phone call telling me about him, was some bad news that I prefer not letting Mother know about until I know more to tell her. My brother had some sort of attack in the parking lot this evening. An ambulance had to be called because he was unconscious. It appears he may have had another stroke or something, but all the tests so far do not show anything. At one point in the emergency room he stopped breathing and was coded.. He is in intensive care tonight, but is alert and wanting to go home. He has never cared for the intensive care unit as a place to spend any time. I promised to wait until I hear from them before I say anything to Mother. They have promised to let me know immediately if there is any change during the night.

So goes the chronicles of our lives.....

December 8, 2000 After my daily routine this morning, I came home to call the hospital to see how my brother was progressing. Knowing that the family is hard to find at times like this, I spoke with the nurse in Intensive Care. Things had gone well for the night and morning. The hospital beds are all full and they are waiting to place him on a hall. That was music to my ears. I called Mother and related the news to her. This was the first she had heard about the incidence and I explained that it happened later in the evening yesterday, stressing that he was being monitored and tested. I did not tell of his brief crisis and probably never will. It would only worry her when there is absolutely nothing that she can do, and she is going to worry enough as it is. After he is in a regular room she will be able to talk to him by phone.

This afternoon I took Mother down the hall to play Bingo in the dining room. We were a little late because she had company from church when I arrived. She won three games today and was quick to point out a number if I didn’t cover it fast enough. We took extra time to allow her to call out the winning numbers to be checked when she won. I had to leave before suppertime because Tbird was bringing over the children to stay with me while she and hubby went to the Teacher’s Christmas party for her school.

Evening was not a time to rest for me. Giggles made sure of that. She was very good and a delight to watch over, but I had to do just that - WATCH - every move, every moment. From four to close to eleven she went ....and went ... and went.... Her crib being filled with boxes of Christmas waiting to be wrapped, she had no intention of slowing down long enough to sleep. Her intent was on staying awake and .... going .... until Mom and Dad came to take her home. No doubt she was asleep before they turned on the ignition to start home.

DynoKid was not with them when they came earlier. Uncle Allan picked him up at school at lunchtime to take him hunting up in Collectsville. This year he was old enough to go and was more than ready for the trip. When Allan dropped him off with me later in the evening, he was both happy and tired. They saw no deer, but did watch two or three gray foxes eat apples (one came to eat and left; two came later and they didn’t know if one of them had come earlier or not.) DynoKid was impressed with the deer stand and the fact it had a “sewer system installed.” He would like to ride the four wheeler more often, I’m sure.

When the folks came, Giggles was going and going and going much like that pink rabbit; NascarKid was working on webpages on his new site he has been doing; DynoKid was curled up in my bed fast asleep and had to be awakened. He is too big to carry any more and had to go home because he has a ballgame on Saturday.

December 9, 2000 Slow down a little December! Do you hear me? The days are spinning like tops. They are all a blur ... Slow down, please?

Early this morning I called my sister-in-law at home. She got about four hours of sleep last night and was preparing to go back to the hospital. The tension and tiredness could be heard in her voice. Brother is still in Intensive Care. One of his sons spent the night, just in case he may be needed. After over two hours of testing yesterday, plus all the work-ups done when he came in to the emergency room, they don’t know what happened. More tests are scheduled for today, and another doctor has been called in to consult and work on the symptoms. There is numbness in his left leg, preventing him from walking at this time.

When any decision has been made or if there are any changes, I got a promise to be notified. This is the hospital that is hard for me to get in and out of because of all the uphill walking and the distance required to walk to get to the doors of the hospital. I have to call Mother and bring her up to date.

Wishes for me are to stay home today and work a little on the house and presents and cards. I nearly have my brochure-type Christmas card designed and need to get it mailed. Time is slipping by. Mother enjoys receiving cards and most of her cards come after I mail out my own cards.

Ice and freezing rain is mentioned for in the morning - again. This is definitely a trend of weekend happenings for us. I have missed so much church lately, missing tomorrow is not what I desire doing. I am planning to make the trip down the highway if things are not too bad. The salt and slag mixture used on roadways in North Carolina works very effectively and quickly.

December 10, 2000 Forget? How could I forget? We’ve planned for months for the program. Yet, friend Allie called for me to meet her in a few minutes at the Civic Center to leave my car. I didn’t even remember that it was Saturday much less, the Judy Collins Concert! “Sounds like you are hesitant. Is there a problem, Stormy Jeanne? If there is, we can do something else?” “Er, no, it’s just that I’m not dressed. I can be there in ten minutes though.”

I had been so busy working on my new design for a combination Christmas card/family update note, I hadn’t taken time to change from my nightgown. I had finally got the two sides of the paper correlated, the note fitted around a design on the paper, color and font working and started making some practice copies. It was a good time to take a break while some copies were run off. Later I worked on a design for the envelope and began collecting my addresses back in the computer. I had not bothered with the addresses since changing over to the new computer.

Judy Collins brought her new concert tour, All on a Wintry Night to Lenoir to the delight of the denizen gathered to greet her. She enchanted us with her musical abilities and gracious manners. Our own local Hudson Middle School Chorus displayed its ability as it accompanied her on a number of songs throughout the evening. Surprisingly, she only had one CD/Tape available to buy for the evening.

We left the concert in a Christmas mood and decided to drive through the local development that displays a wide variety of lights and wonders of Christmas Joy each Christmas season. Being late, a few of the houses had already darkened their array of lights, or else were not home. This was the first time Allie had the opportunity to view the sights and was surprised to find such a large collection less than three miles from our houses. She got some ideas to try around her own home.

Leaving my gas tank almost on empty, I had to make a short detour by the Gas House to pump ten dollars worth of the smelly energy into the car before heading down the road to meet my aunt at McD’s. She met me as I got out of the car with a bag of sweet potatoes which she got not far from my house the other day. A man has some at a local church which he was giving away to all who stopped to inquire. She had too many and brought some of the bounty to share.

After the lighting of the second candle of Advent, a festive feeling of Christmas was shared with us through the choir, bell choir and decoration of the sanctuary. Someone did a unique creation blending deep mauve ribbons and flowers, white magnolia blooms, white lights, banners of Christmas, trees and other greenery throughout the room. The white magnolia blooms were on the end of some of the pews along the center aisle which added to the beauty.

Wes and sons came over to spend some time with me. Seems Mom could not get her school work finished and study for a test with the boys at home. We enjoyed our time together and even splurged by ordering pizza to be delivered for supper. I needed the break from the computer. Working on my Christmas cards/notes was beginning to push a few panic buttons causing some needless mistakes. Some of the words would not fit on the pages exactly like I wished them to be. BingoKid took helm in the computer chair and I took up wrapping some presents. I got my address book completed again. This time I WILL make a backup! I’ve learned that lesson well.

December 11, 2000 Busy, busy, busy, busy, ...... What happened to that usual laid-back-not-to-worry way of life I’ve had for most of the year? I have more to do than any one person would be able carry out and likewise - I cannot do it all. Some things are having to take a back burner or being turned down completely.

Mother talked on the phone with brother BJ again today. He has been moved into a progressive care unit and has a phone by his bed. He started physical therapy today. I learned through his wife that he had a bad episode Saturday evening and the doctor had to been called to the hospital. The lower part of his blood pressure went haywire and had to be stabilized. It’s still not normal today.

The doctor’s verdict on his condition is that he had a grand mal seizure caused by his stroke damage. His whole left side is not working and there is concern about getting him to be able to improve enough to take basic care of himself. He has a difficult road ahead.

Tbird had hopes that I would be able to take DynoKid to get his first installation of those famous braces to straighten up his teeth today. I could not because I had an appointment to get my hair cut. We teasingly discussed cutting my hair short all over and wear it spiked! Nah! We didn’t do that. It is short enough that I could mousse it heavily and play a prank on my family sometime during the next few weeks. Maybe Christmas morning? They probably would not notice it. They haven’t said anything about my haircut this evening and it is considerable shorter than usual.

BingoKid had his band concert. We all went to the Civic Center along with half of Caldwell County to hear the Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Grades of his Middle School perform. Between changing bands on stage and posing for pictures to be taken of each band, much of the evening was spent waiting. Our boy did a great job with his three different percussion instruments his played along with the rest of his group. There’s was the largest group of the three.

I opted to walk to the car which was parked in the back lot afterwards. Using my son’s arm for that little touch for support I seem to require, I did well for myself. We walked right by the place where I fell several years ago. It’s still quite vivid in my mind how I suddenly met the pavement when I lost my balance. It reminded me to use caution and not speed up.

We had a late supper at Sagebrush and I brought half of mine home for a meal tomorrow. Once back home, I settled myself before the computer, intent on solving a problem I’ve worked on for most of the late afternoon. How does one get the program to print out all my addresses on the label? The direction says to push the merge button. First I had to find out how to get the button on! It doesn’t work just because I desire it to work. About midnight I finally get the right combination and voila! The labels are done. Now I can head for bed.

December 12, 2000 Tbird calls before seven this morning. Her two boys are sick. She’s staying home with them, but wants me to help her out for an hour or so. I agree to come over after my morning workout at Q4L and a brief stop at Wally World. I have an error on my labels, but I dare not attempt to redo them. It took too long to get what I have!!!! I’m buying some whiteout to cover the extra that printed out. For some stranger than fiction reason, the address printed and then it started to repeat itself. I am covering the extra, put on the return label, and stamp and mail them today. Mission accomplished for another year.

Did I really expect to spend an hour or so with my grandchildren and return home? It NEVER works out that way. With some time to spare, Tbird decided it was a good time to take the dog to the vet for a checkup and some shots.

SSSOOOOOO .... About SIX hours later, I pulled up to the nursing center to see Mother a few minutes before heading home. I left about 8:30 this morning. I return home after seven this evening lugging in a bag holding my wet swim suit, shoes and towel from the morning workout, two days’ worth of mail collected from the mailbox and a few other sundry items.

Oreo is somewhat subdued this evening. It could be because I’ve been gone all day, but I suspect it is because Charlie has been rough on his today. I did take time to go by the post office in Hudson to mail my Christmas letters after leaving the Shaire Center.

December 13, 2000 Weather forecasts are on the gloomy side. I’ve been invited out for a Christmas Luncheon with the Seniors of a church. It is being held at the Broyhill Center on the campus of Appalachian University in Boone. If we happen to have freezing rain or sleet, that spells trouble for us. I’ve offered to drive just in case the weather turns nasty since I have the four-wheeled drive machine.

I need to try to get in contact with someone from the Pain Clinic today. I have not got my appointment for the next visit to get my back worked on. The back is not at its best. I will have to see what the rest of the day has to offer.....

The day has sped by in overdrive. The first trip up the mountain midday was strictly for enjoyment. Enjoyment we did have. The weather was cold and windy with fluffy gray clouds covering the sky. We have a long table near the windows set for twenty. Fifteen of us made the trip, so we used one of the extra chairs to prop up the same Santa we used for our swim team party last Wednesday and took pictures again. We have beautiful decorations throughout the lodge and really did not need to add more, but we sat out the boy and girl frog angels that croak Jingle Bells when a hand(?) is squeezed. They were enjoyed by other diners what few times we played them. The real center of attention throughout the meal was a group of bell ringers from South Carolina. A fire in the fireplace, bells playing in the background, a wintry scene of the mountains through the windows, delicious concoctions of food to choose from on the buffet and a group of friends together made for a perfect moment in time. Yes, I remembered to comment to the chef about the beautiful table of foods laid for us - and he was all smiles.

We rode on the newly opened four lane road up the mountain. From asking around about it, today must have been the first day it was opened all the way. One trip back around one thirty, and I was on my way up the mountain again before three.

This trip was made with Tbird to Blowing Rock for a visit with her doctor for work on her back. She got it messed up when she had her wreck and this is the first opening the doctor had for her. I watched Giggles for her while she was with the doctor. It was much too cold to sit in the car, so I had to do a little chasing around in the office. She stayed with me for the majority of the segment which made it easier for me. She loves looking at books and magazines, so that is what we did most of the time.

As we prepared to leave, the mist began outside. It was a mist that froze as it settled on things. Even with the freezing starting, we took time for Tbird to do a little shopping at the Shoppes on the Parkway in the Big Dog Shop while I sat in the car with Giggles this time. Soon we were on our way down the mountain. By the time we got home our vehicle was covered with ice, even the windshield had some around the edges. I had to be careful walking into the house. Tbird started on home with a promise that she would stay home and not try to get out in the ice any more for the evening.
I collapsed last evening. I laid down to rest and before I knew it, it was after midnight. I was still dressed and got up then to change into my night clothes. Icicles had formed along the eaves of the house and the outdoors was shiny with the cover of ice. Rain was still falling.

Morning brought a barrage of cancellations of different places along with the late opening of area schools. The bridges are the worst part of the danger on the main roads, except for the spots of black ice. There is enough of the ice around that I decide not to venture out for my morning workout. I’ll have to work doubly hard tomorrow to make up for missing two days straight.

A call to my pain doctor and I learn that my back work will be done the first of next year. They will call me when it is time. That’s sort of good and bad. It is good that I will not have to be concerned about the effects of the laser and how I will be over Christmas. It is bad that I will have to motivate myself to do things in spite of how I may feel and I may not do as much as I would like to. Which reminds me, I have an appointment with my regular doctor tomorrow.

I’m off to spend some time with Mother this afternoon. I missed her yesterday. When I took time to check my answering machine yesterday, I had six messages from her over two days. Maybe I can get her nails polished this afternoon. I’ve been unable to get through to my brother today. He must have his phone off the hook. I’ll wait until I get to Mother’s and call from there. Mother can talk to him some for herself, which makes her feel better.

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