Thursday, November 11, 2010

Home from the Cruise

Got home today from a five day cruise I went on with my son (husband had to work). No, we were not on the ship that got stuck in the middle of the ocean with no electricity, thank goodness! We had smooth sailing and it was really nice. I hope to plan another one maybe for next fall.
While I was gone my husband had a security alarm system put in. He's a constant lock checker, and is always concerned someone will try to break in. So if it makes him feel better and check the locks less often, fine. We did have an attempted break-in in our neighborhood a month of so ago. And the people were home and it was at 10AM! They heard him break out the window and when they ran to see, he ran off. So as Antwone says...he was so dumb, for real.
I discovered karaoke on the cruise ship (I'm always behind the current events curve by years). No I didn't sing, but I had a lot of fun watching those who had enough nerve to do it. And singing ability was no pre-requisite, evidently. I wish I had enough nerve to have done it once. I think it's going to have to go on my bucket list.
Tomorrow I will actually weigh and see what I gained on the cruise, so I can get it back down this week. Usually, it's not as bad as I think it will be, because of all the walking. And we did a lot of walking, and took a lot of stairs (elevators take forever!)

Friday, November 05, 2010

Ewwww Gross!!

So ok....my daughter read my "update" and said I left out the best story. I told her I was hesitant to leave that story because I didn't want you all to think we were a trashy bunch. ha. But anyway, here goes.
About two months ago, my husband called and said a woman called him at work and said she was the manager of the apt complex where his daughter lives (the one he never hears from unless she wants something). The lady said her husband had been removed and taken to the mental hospital, and she was very upset, and they were there taking pictures..so he went over. I don't really know what her husband did, or how anyone knew anything about him, as he and my step-daughter are both hermits, but the sherriff's office came and got him and took him, with a court order. When they left, the people from mental health and the apt people were surprised to see that he didn't live alone. They said they knew he had a wife on the lease, but no one had ever seen her. Well, the apartment was beyond nasty (Have you ever seen the hoarding show on tv?) and they went in and took pictures.
Of course, she was crying, and my husband called and asked if he could bring her home, and he did. When she walked in the back door, I was all the way at the other end of the kitchen, and the smell made me gag. Her hair was all matted and sticking out everywhere, and she smelled to high heaven..I said, Wait. Let me get you a change of clothes and you can take a shower. I did, and she did, and she came out and smelled just about as bad as she did when she went in. We later found out the last bath she had was over six months ago....or washed her hair, or brushed her teeth (she was missing one of the front ones). I'm a germophobe, so I was freaking out. He tried washing the clothes she was wearing but they were really gross, so he went and bought some. I got all freaked out and was crying, scared to death she was going to move in with us, and scared she was going to bring some kind of bugs into the house. (She said her apt was infested with spiders, roaches, and fleas, and it was...) My husband took her the next morning to the apt, and he called back to say it was beyond anything he could ever imagine. He said he got garbage bags and shoveled garbage into them for hours and cleared a path about two feet from the front door. It took him days to get back to the other rooms. They had a cat that had long since filled the litter box and had gone everywhere for months, years?
He said spider webs were hanging everywhere like a haunted house, and the smell would knock you down. He later found out that the reason no one was bathing is the tub was filled up with trash just like the rest of the house. So if you're wondering, no, I never went over there. My husband said no way could I go, and he was right. He said he knew I'd have a coronary and he'd have to deal with me and that mess. So I stayed home and cried a lot.
Anyway, he and I talked, and we both realized she needed some professional help, so he took her to mental health, but they wouldn't hospitalize her because she was not suicidal or homicidal...but made her an appt to see a counselor in a month (which she did not go to, even though I offered to drive her). My poor husband spent days trying to clean the apt, and he had her helping, but after four or five days they hadn't made a dent. The apt people said they would help, and would send out a crew, so my husband let them as he had to go back to work. The plan was that they would get the trash cleaned out, and then move them into another unit so that they could go in, take out the carpet, fumigate, etc in that one, and that they would never be allowed to have pets, and that someone would be constantly checking on them to see the condition of the place.
Well, that was the plan, but we don't know if any of that ever happened. Her husband got out of the hospital, and despite our efforts, they have not responded to seeing us or us picking them up to go to dinner or anything. So we have no idea what happened. Of course, my husband was very upset that they had been living that way, and that she didn't seem to mind it really bothered him. And now he won't hear from her unless there is a crisis again. But he promised me, she will not live with us.
And yes, I'm a nutcase too, because I spent days washing and rewashing the sheets, scrubbing that bathroom, febreezing by the gallons, and finally got this place into something I wasn't afraid would have their cooties in it. So that's been my BIGGEST news since I last posted...

Thursday, November 04, 2010

Where did the year go?

It's been a long time since I've posted, but I guess that's obvious. So I thought I would write something to catch everyone up.
My granddaughter was born with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (hole in the diaphragm) and it re-herniated this year, so last month she had surgery to correct it. She developed a c-diff infection at the hospital, and then a urinary tract infection. The problem is the antibiotic for the UTI wipes out the good bacteria in her colon which allows the c-diff to flourish. She's taking an antibiotic for that too. So it's been, as my daughter put it "going around and around" trying to get her well. The doctor wanted to do a scan of her kidneys this week, but because her urine culture showed infection, he cancelled it for now.
I'm leaving Sat to go on a cruise with my son. We are driving to Mobile, and then sailing to Progresso and Cozumel. I've been on this cruise several times, so am not too excited over the ports, but I am looking forward to five days of not having to cook or clean. My husband has been out of town on business for the last three weeks. He will be home Saturday, but I won't see him until I get back from the cruise, as I will be leaving before he gets here.
Several of my friends have been going through big personal issues, but I seem to be doing pretty good in my life, even though our family has had several big issues ourselves. I feel very happy right now. The doc put me on a new antidepressant about six weeks ago, so that probably has a lot to do with the good
My husband and I went through some marriage counseling this year. We had grown apart and had really stopped sharing much of anything with each other. I think the counseling has improved things. We both are more accepting of each other's differences, and we have learned how to disagree and still be able to discuss it with each other, instead of holding resentments. We saw the same therapist that I had been seeing, but that was his idea. I was very happy to have her do it, as I didn't have to say a lot. She knows me and my background very well.

I started drawing about a month ago, and I started doing artist trading cards and trading them with people all over the world on atcsforall.com. It's been a lot of fun. Then a couple of weeks ago, I signed up for The Sketchbook Project, and I'm steadily trying to fill my sketchbook with graphite drawings before the Jan 15 deadline. I draw one, count the remaining pages, draw another, count...Deadlines drive me nuts. The theme for my book was "help" but they said you can be very liberal in interpreting that. So I'm doing mine on helping take care of the earth. On the first page, I drew an eye, crying, and the iris is Earth. Then the other sketches are of plants, animals, vegetables, etc. I plan to take it with me on the cruise so that I can work on it. I don't draw anything from memory, as my memory is not trustworthy these days....but I run off copies of photos I like from google images, and draw from them. I have found, though, in drawing people, it's much easier to draw from life than from a picture.
Let's see...my doctor is sending me to a plastic surgeon to see about having a repair done on my tummy. I've had four abdominal surgeries and my belly is not how it should be. We will see if the insurance will pay for this, and if not, I won't be having it. But if they do, I will be very glad about that.

I just ordered a new pair of flipflops from Amazon to take on the cruise (with overnight shipping) and paid $20. I still can't believe I paid 20 bucks for a pair of flipflops. (shaking head) but they are cute. And it is very hard to find flipflops this time of the year. But they are freaking flip flops!
My son bought us this little box for our tv that lets us watch netflix movies on the television. I've discovered "Weeds" and "Dexter" and am in the middle of catching up on past seasons. I don't watch much television, so miss a lot of the shows everyone already knows about.
My son and I went to Lowe Mill not long ago. They have artist studios and on Saturdays they are open for all local artists to come set up a booth. I love walking around and looking at all of it. It's three stories (in an old mill) and free admission. I plan to go back and take my husband to see it all when he gets home (and I do). Anyway, while I was there, I ran into a lady I knew from La Leche League back thirty years ago. She does abstract art, sort of Pollack style, but with really pretty colors. I am not too sure she remembered me, but she acted like she did.
I got a really bad haircut about six weeks ago, at the same place I've been going to for many years. It's a walk-in place with no appointments and I've always taken whoever was available. Well, they had some new hairdresser that was very vocal about being from Miami and being so up on the latest styles, and what she gave me looked like a mop on crack. So I let it grow as much as I could stand, then went back to get it cut again, and found out (thank goodness) that she had been fired. I was glad because I was afraid I'd have to limit my visits to that salon on days she was not there. Anyway, now it's really short, and although I bought hair color some time ago that is sitting in the bathroom cabinet, is almost completely gray now. I saw a picture of a lady with long gray hair and again, I wish I could let my hair grow out like that, but it never will when I keep getting it cut. ha. I hate it in the "in between stages."