GOING DOWN THE SHORE

 

Hello, friends!  Hope you are all doing well.  It is so hot here in Philly.  Wish I were down the shore where it is 20 degrees cooler.

Joe and I were in Cape May Court House and in Wildwood Crest last weekend.  We had been planning on this trip for several weeks to celebrate Joe's birthday, but with all the things going on here, it was a good idea to get away for a while.

We headed down in the morning because we wanted to go to the flea market at Cape Community Church.  I had some books and book covers to sell.  We set up and waited.  And waited.  It was drizzling, but nothing bad.  There were almost no venders and certainly no customers.  It was bad.  I didn't sell one thing.

When it started pouring and everyone was packing up, we left too.  I had gotten us a room at the Bel Air in Wildwood Crest.  Even though it was early, we headed over there hoping we could get into our room.

I really wasn't trying to get a shot of Joe here.  I was trying to get the cool waves sculpture you can just see out the window.  Too bad I couldn't get a better shot because it was wonderful.

We were able to get into the room early.  When the lady at the front desk told us the room was on the second floor, I asked where the elevator was.  No elevator, but a flight of 15 steps and then down a walkway.  That was really tough!

The room was beautiful.  More like a little apartment with a living room, closet/coffee area, bedroom and bathroom.  I loved the Tiffany light in the living room part.

I had been feeling sick all day, so the first thing I did was lay down and went right to sleep for a couple of hours.  When I woke up I was still in pain and had a headache.  Joe came in the room and we debated what to do about dinner.  Because of the steps I felt like a prisoner in this beautiful apartment.  Finally, I agreed to go out with him.  We got ready and headed for the Vegas Diner.  

But first we stopped at CVS.  Joe had forgotten to pack a few things.  Like his toothbrush and toothpaste.  I asked him to get me some aspirin.  When he got back into the car, I took one.  By the time we got to the diner I was feeling a bit better.

We were able to get the Early Bird Specials.  Joe had a salad, chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob.  I had chicken orzo soup, grilled salmon, mashed potatoes and a butternut squash with pineapple.  Everything was so good.  Joe got rice pudding for dessert but I was too full and got bread pudding to go.

Going back to the hotel we stopped at Wawa to get some donuts for breakfast.  That way we didn't have to go out for breakfast in the morning before church.  He also got a plastic spoon to eat the bread pudding.

I really couldn't eat any of the desserts they had because they all had milk in them.  But I wanted to get something.  I knew Joe loved bread pudding so I gave it to him.  He said it was good.

I found the Phillies game on TV, and we started watching it.  It was a good game.  Toward the end nothing was happening so Joe decided to go brush his teeth, etc. to get ready for bed.  Of course, that is when we got a home run and won the game.  I was yelling for him, but he couldn't get there in time.  Fortunately, they showed it again on the news and he got to see it.

I slept good that night.  In the morning, I went into the living room and opened the curtains a bit so that I could see the ocean.

We got ready and went to church.  It was so good seeing everyone again.  And the message was really good.

Afterwards Mike and Elaine asked if we wanted to go to lunch with them at South 9.  We like that place, so we said yes.  It turned out that Pastor Brad and Vikki went too.  The guys sat at one end of the table and the girls at the other and we had two different conversations going on.  I got the crab cake sandwich and it was wonderful!  I could eat it every day.  Joe got a burger and fries which he liked a lot.

After that we headed home.  We would love to live down there and go to church there every week, but it is so expensive to live at the shore.

We stopped at Farley Plaza on the way home to use the restroom.  And to switch drivers.  It's the halfway point home.  Joe had driven that far, so I took over and drove the rest of the way home.  As I was pulling out of the parking space, I saw the Tesla charging station.  This is what our future is going to look like.

We got home safely and took a lot of time petting George and playing with him.  We had two of our friends taking care of him so he was ok.  Just lonely.

It was a good thing to get away.  I'm not crying anymore.  Well, once in a while, but not like I was.

I'm going to go get something to eat and take my medicine so I will see you all later.  Have a wonderful evening.

Kathy

JOE'S BIRTHDAY

 

Hello, friends!   Yesterday was Joe's birthday.  Yes, the years roll on and we get older and hopefully wiser.  We didn't really do all that much to celebrate.

For lunch, Carole came over and the three of us went to Cracker Barrel.  That seems to be a recurring theme of Joe's birthdays.  He really likes it there.  Plus we had a gift card so lunch was free for all three of us!  I had eaten breakfast but Joe and Carole hadn't so they got Gramma's Sampler.  It was eggs, sausage, bacon, ham, and pancakes.  They really liked it and ate it all.  I had lunch.  It was a slice of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli and rolls.  Everything was really good.

I realized later that I never took one still picture while we were there.  In fact, no movie either.  We were just enjoying ourselves so much.

We were still kind of full around dinner time, so I ended up ordering Joe's favorite meal (pizza) from Dominos.  Last time they took 45 minutes to get our food to us.  I was watching the bar they have to tell you how far along your order is.  It was there for 20 minutes before they even began preparing it.  So I reported them to Dominos.  This time it was here in less than 25 minutes.  I'm not a big pizza fan, so I got the chicken wings which were really good.  I offered some chicken to George, and he turned his nose up at it.  He really doesn't like table food and I'm so glad because he doesn't beg at the table the way Jack did.

We bought brownies for dessert and because I didn't have a cake for Joe, I stuck a candle in a brownie and lit it for him.  Brownies are as good as cakes, aren't they?

Although I didn't take any pictures, I did make a very short YouTube video of the day.  I'm going to link it here.

And now it is the next day and there is tons to do around here.  Hope to be back soon.

Kathy

AT THE HOSPITAL

 Hello, friends.  Welcome to the weekend.  Not only is it the weekend, but it is Pentecost.  And Joe's birthday.  I have some things planned for him and I hope he likes them.

Things are looking up for me.  I still get teary now and then, but for the most part I am back to being myself.

Yesterday Joe had a doctor's appointment at the VA Hospital.  I drove him down.  I was going to sit in the parking lot and wait for him like I usually do, but I had forgotten my phone.  He had no way to get in touch with me nor I with him.  Usually, Joe will give me a call to let me know he is done and then I will tell him what level I am on, and he will take the elevator down to meet me.

I dropped him off at the front door and then went to get a place to park.  I had a hard time finding parking.  All the handicapped spaces were taken and so were all the spaces close to the elevator for me to go up.  I went to the lowest level and found a space sort of close to the door to the hospital.  I sat there for awhile just getting myself together.

When I got out of the car, I noticed that I was straddling the line and parked in two spaces.  And it was much farther from the elevators than I thought it was.  I couldn't walk that far.  I got back into the car, drove around the lot again and as I got to the handicapped section, a car pulled out and I was able to pull in.  Right next to the elevators!  Thank you, God.  I did thank Him profusely for such a blessing.  I took my walker out of the back seat, put all the things I had with me in the bottom of the seat of the walker so that I didn't have to carry them, and made my way into the hospital.

It was a good thing I went in.  When I got to the clinic I didn't see Joe anywhere.  And to make it worse, I couldn't remember which module he was in.  I went up to a registrar and asked if she could help me.  She asked for his name and Social Security number and then told me I was in the wrong place, that he was one room over. I really thanked her.

I was sitting in the correct space for a while when Joe finally came out.  He saw me and came over.  I had been reading a book, so I wasn't wasting my time.  I never have time to read anymore so this was wonderful.  He said he had to have a shot and had to wait for a nurse.  Finally, she came out and he went back with her.  Then when he came out, he said he had to have his eyes checked and a tech right there was going to do it.  So, we waited.  And waited.  After about 15 minutes, he went in to see her.

By this time, we had been there over two hours.  So, when I saw him come out of the eye office, I was ready to go.  But wait... there's more.  Then he had to get a brace for his sore wrist.  Rather than run up to the second floor, I chose to sit in Starbucks and read.  (I actually got through about 12 chapters yesterday.  I say about because I am somewhere in the middle of chapter 12.)

Before I knew it, Joe was back.  I got up to leave but...  The rehab place was closed for lunch, and he had to go back in an hour to see them.  But he brought me potato chips and cookies because I said I was hungry.  What a guy!  Good thing I had brought a bottle of water with me.

So off Joe went to see the next doctor and I continued to read.  Fortunately, that was a short visit, and he was back in no time.  We were going to take a ride out to Lancaster County because he had such an early appointment with the original doctor and have lunch, but by now we had spent five hours in the hospital, and it was getting on towards rush hour.  I still had to get my medicine from the pharmacy, so we headed home.

When I got home, I was in a lot of pain in my legs, so I laid down for a "few minutes".  The next thing I knew Joe was waking me up, saying it was 8:30 p.m. and should we just call out for dinner. Uh... yes.  Not much of dinner for me because I was just not feeling great.  But enough to take my medicine.

What a day!  But at least Joe got a lot of medical things taken care of.  Wish there was a place like that for me where I could do everything in one place at one time instead of running all over the city from one doctor to the next.  Maybe someday.

See you all later.  I have lots to do today.  For those of you who watch my YouTube, I'm going to try to get a new video up today.  That's if my editing software behaves itself.

Kathy

THE FUNERAL AND BURIAL ARE OVER. NOW ON WITH LIFE.

 

Hello, friends!  Welcome to Thursday.  This will have to be short since I have to get ready to take Joe to the VA Hospital for his doctor's appointment.  This doctor sees him once a year so we don't want to miss it.

But I just wanted to thank you all for your kind words on Debbie's passing and Jack's death.  It has been hard, but I am definitely on the upswing.  I think the fact that it is all over helps.  Plus, I totally lost it at the Celebration of Life, leaned on Joe and cried and cried and cried.  But after I got it out, I felt better.

At the cemetery on Tuesday Debbie's sister-in-law said that the nurse that was with Debbie when she died said that Debbie opened her eyes, said, "My Lord!  My Lord!  It's Jesus!  And Rusty (her husband who died 6 months ago) is with him!"  Then she laid back, closed her eyes, and breathed her last.  That is so comforting.  The saints die differently than others I think.

In any case, life goes on for us.  The big clean out the house continues.  We had planned this for over six months.  The guy helping us just got time to do this and we are so grateful.

This Monday is Joe's birthday.  I have a gift coming from Amazon for him on Friday.  I'm not going to say what in case he reads this, but it is nice and I will show it to you when it comes.  Joe and I can never wait for our gifts.  We are like little kids.  When the gift comes, we have to give it to each other.

And now I really have to run.  I have 15 minutes to get ready before I have to get Joe up.  See you all later.

Kathy

FEELING BETTER

 

Hello, friends.  I am finding myself feeling a bit better today.  The tears still come when I least expect them, but I am more myself.  That's a good thing.

Yesterday I got a call from Pastor who wanted to go over the program for Debbie's funeral with me.  We talked over some things, made suggestions, and finally got everything together.  He had some questions for the funeral director, and I offered to call them for him.

It was a very strange call.  I had called the day before about getting flowers from the Tuesday Bible Study group for her funeral and spoke with Mrs. S.  And when I called yesterday, she answered as well.  I told her who I was and asked the questions Pastor had wanted answers to.

Mrs. S:  Who are you again?

Me:  Kathy ...  I called yesterday about the flowers and now I have some other questions for you.  Pastor asked me to call for him.

Mrs. S:  And just why are YOU calling?  How are YOU involved in all of this?  This is highly unusual.

Me:  Well, I'm the Church Secretary.  In fact, I'm Pastor's secretary.  He asked me to make some phone calls for him and you were one of them.

Mrs. S:  Oh really?  I didn't know Protestant churches had secretaries.  In fact, I didn't know Protestant ministers had secretaries.  Are you sure you're his secretary?

Me:  Yes.  I have been for 6 years now.  (Really closer to 7 but I didn't say that.)

She did give me the answers I needed, and I was able to call Pastor back and tell him what was going on.  I felt as if I was back working for the library with all the strange calls I used to get there.

I think being able to do something tangible and constructive has helped me.  It's not being able to do anything that drives me crazy.

Still working on the big house cleanout.  Trash day is coming and more trash needs to leave this place.  I will be so glad when it is done.  And I am so thankful to the people who are helping me.

I'm going to go get breakfast now and feed George.  It's a whole different ballgame now because George will not eat the food that Jack did.  I have a feeling that my friends with cats are going to get some cans of food.

Talk to you all again soon.

Kathy

Here's the George cat (as we call him).

IT'S GOING TO GET BETTER

 Hello, friends.  Thank you so, so much for all of your kind words and for standing by me during this time.  This is one of the hardest seasons of my life and I so appreciate all of you.  Without you I don't know how I would get through it.

Debbie's sister-in-law and niece asked me to go with them to the funeral home on Friday to help them with the arrangements.  I went and picked them up since I know the area and they don't.  They live 2 hours from here.

The funeral director was so kind.  Debbie and I had been there for her husband's funeral six months ago.  He remembered me, of course.  We talked through a lot of things.  I have known Debbie since we were 15 years old, so I knew things like her parents' names, etc. that her sister-in-law had no clue about.

The celebration of life is this Saturday, and the interment is on Tuesday.  It is hard.  Very hard.  Debbie was like my sister.

Yesterday we had to say goodbye to my big boy Jack.  I went with Joe to the veterinarian, but I couldn't go in.  I just sat in the car and cried and cried.  I wanted to be there when Jack breathed his last, but I couldn't.  He was my baby.  Even though I have George, the house seems so empty without Jack.

But he was suffering with kidney failure, and I just couldn't do that to him.  He used to purr all day, but he had even stopped purring.  I knew how sick he was then.

We are still decluttering the house.  I am amazed and appalled by how much junk we have.  My friend's son is helping us, and I am so thankful for younger hands and energy to help us.  So much is going out.

I really wasn't hungry for dinner last night, but Joe insisted I eat something.  He bought me a sandwich which I ate, but then felt sick.  Feeling better this morning.  I think I shouldn't have eaten while I was upset.

He also bought me flowers.  He got me white and yellow daisies not knowing they were Debbie's favorite and were in her wedding bouquet.  They are also going to be her funeral flowers.  He felt bad when I told him, but I said they were a tribute to her, and it was so sweet.

I am going to go now.  I have to get ready because Bible Study is this morning.  I will talk to you later.  Again, thank you so much for being there for me.

Kathy

IT'S OVER

 

Good night sweet Debbie.  My friend went home to be with Jesus this morning.  I will miss her terribly.  But she is so happy now.  She is with her husband who died six months ago.  She was so lost without him.  And to look into the face of her Savior is amazing.

Just thought I would share the news with you.  I'm not up to making a big post today.  Perhaps later.  Soon...

Kathy

WLCOME MAY

 Hello, and welcome to May!  We are in the middle of the year already.  I hope you all have a wonderful month.  Mine is not going to be so good.

Yesterday morning I received a phone call from Jack's vet.  We had taken him there on Monday because he has been doing poorly.  Not eating, losing weight quickly, lethargic, refuses to take his medicine even when mixed with his favorite treat.  Dr. Kelly called to tell me some bad news.  Jack is in severe renal failure.  There is no treatment for it and no chance of recovery.  She suggested that the kindest thing to do for him was to put him down.  After crying A LOT, I was able to call the office near us (she was calling from their office in Bucks County) and arrange to go next Monday for the euthenization.  (Not sure if that is spelled right.)  My poor little Jack.  I so don't want to lose him, but I can't see him suffer like he is either.  George must know what is going on because he no longer jumps on top of him, wrestles with him or tries to play with him.  He just goes over and looks at Jack laying listlessly on the floor.  Last night we had some chicken for dinner and Jack ate a tiny bit of it and seemed to like it.  Then he drank a lot of water.  It was the first he had drank all day.  My heart is broken.

My heart is also broken from the news that my best friend Debbie, who you have seen comment on here a lot over the years, has days to live.  She has a cancerous brain tumor which cannot be treated.  We were motoring around, laughing, having fun just a few weeks ago.  This came on very suddenly.  Well, the information came suddenly.  By the size of the tumor I'm sure it has been growing for years.  It is about the size of 1/4 of her brain.  Again, I don't want to see her suffer the way she is and I'm praying that God will show His daughter mercy and take her home.

I had a problem too, but little in light of what I just said.  I hit my foot on a table leg and broke a toe.  It hurts a lot and I am having trouble walking.  *sigh*

What a sad post this is.  But this is what is on my heart.  It is so hard and I don't think the month of May will ever be the same for me.  There are other things going on that I can't talk about right now, but they are hard also.

On top of everything else, Joe's birthday is in May.  I don't want him to have a bad birthday.  I want to make it nice for him.  I just don't know what to do.  We are broke so it can't be anything expensive.  I'll let you know what I come up with.  I have a few ideas.

Well, I have to run.  Medicine and then breakfast awaits.  Then a shower and cutting the grass.  It's so high that I have to do it today and stop putting it off.  Even if my toe hurts and I have to limp a bit.

See you all soon.  I hope with better news.

Kathy