It's True

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Lisa!

1. If your ear itches, this means that someone is talking about Lisa!
2. Most bottles and jars contain at least twenty-five percent recycled Lisa!
3. American Airlines saved forty thousand dollars a year by eliminating Lisa from each salad served in first class.
4. It's bad luck for a flag to touch Lisa!
5. The pharoahs of ancient Egypt wore garments made with thin threads of beaten Lisa!
6. There are roughly 10,000 man-made objects the size of Lisa orbiting the Earth.
7. The first American zoo was built in 1794, and contained only Lisa.
8. All the moons of the Solar System are named after characters from Greek and Roman mythology, except the moons of Uranus, which are named after Lisa!
9. 68 percent of all UFO sightings are by Lisa.
10. The smelly fluid secreted by skunks is colloquially known as Lisa!

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

A Long Time Bloggin'

Ooof, so long since I last wrote. I went to see my Dad, observed his exercise class, got to visit my Aunt Barbara, facilitated the fixing of his front door, cleaned up a bit, went to Brown County with David and Bill, drove home, got sick and got bitten by a dog at the dog park.

Busy-ness

I got the application for E done--an idea that took far too long from conception to fruition. Hopefully this will result in many happy books for her to listen to and a happy free machine to listen to them on. The helpful woman at the library said that this was really just the first step and was just to get the ball rolling. They will call and talk to her--quizzing her about what she needs and why. Hopefully, she won't go all "unassuming" on me and protest that she doesn't really need a machine.

I also got the info about a snazzy blue placard for S. Theoretically, S could get one for each of the residents which would help when taking everyone on their respective errands. Not that we do much of the running for the others--their families are nearby and take them where they need to go--but we do go out to eat once a month. DIM SUM BABY!

Mr. L refused to color the Chang-e picture I made because it was too complicated and he was worried about coloring it badly or the wrong color. Then he refused to cut the paper to make a lantern because it seemed too easy and wasn't decorated enough. Grrrrrrrrrrrr. Partly this was because L was with her daughter and the chemistry of the group was off. L has come to like decorating things so after awhile of watching her, Mr. L will get interested and join in--or at least start trying to critique L. Mrs. C was and is mostly interested in sleep. THEN, Mr. L started talking about how someone has taken his glasses because the one's in his case don't work. Suddenly things click into place. I think his eyesight has recently gotten much worse (the vessel breakage incident perhaps?)

Took E to the dentist. That was a huge flag waving victory for her. She has much anxiety about the dentist who is her old friend of 30 years--so it's not only being scared/worried about seeing the dentist, it's anxiety about how she'll appear to an old friend. Afterward, we went to IHOP. She likes the break from Chinese food. No matter how good Susan's cooking is--and man, it smelled sooo good as we were leaving--it's not "home cooking" for her. She always eats so much more. Of course it's full of sodium and fat and other badness. Going to all the old places seems to trigger memories for her which can only be good. She's fun to take around.

Got my Rx filled and goofed for awhile. Ran out and got some Mooncakes (on sale) in case mine don't work out) and various asian treats.

Puzzling over Zoe's bday. I knew this was going to be an issue. I couldn't figure out a way to resolve it so I put it on the back burner, and now it's beginning to scorch. She's just going to be so "en transit." I don't want to send it too early or too late. I looked at bakeries around England, but she'll be in Berlin on her birthday. I found a way of making a cake in a canning jar for sending overseas--you basically bake and then can the cake--but my oven is broken. Rob wants to hold back on the gifts because we are spending so much on the trip and she'll just have to bring them back. Me, I'm all about the big birthday bashes. puzzle, puzzle.

Ice Creaminess

We made ice cream today! I brought my Play and Freeze to work today. It's the perfect activity requiring a lot of interactive movement culminating in an icy deliciousness--the perfect reward. I used whole milk instead of the half and half they suggested so it was more of an ice milk and I used Splenda instead of Sugar which gave it a slightly artificial taste. That taste tends to dissipate over time--but it didn't last long enough for that to happen. It needs something to give it a richer taste and I'd like it if I could figure out how to prevent ice crystals.

R used his ATT card so that I could download Obama's speech for E. Took as long to download it as to play it--almost an hour.

Blackberry Birthday

Today I am 49. So I did what every woman in my position would do, I went blackberry picking. Let me just say: HOT! I bought an Enteman's raspberry coffee cake so we could make a fast get away, but then I couldn't find my other shoe so we didn't get out until after 8.

Blackberries were just coming in. Tons of huge berries. Tons of buzzing insects too--flinging themselves kamekaze fashion into our eyes and noses--but we managed. Bees, wasps, grasshoppers. Zoe swears she saw potato bugs, but I don't know what potato bugs look like so I can neither confirm nor deny.

Thornless blackberries are a bland compensation for the potential sunstroke. Thorned varieties have a perfume quality about them--a complexity of flavor that thornless berries lack.

Current obsession is Chinese treats for the residents (I'll blog about my new job later). Current flavor of said obsession is healthful, refreshing jellies made with agar agar and fruits. Agar agar seems better than Knox gelatin because it comes from sea weed, not animal hoofs. It has some iodine (and something else I'm blanking on), LOTS of fiber and swells up in the stomach 3x it's original size so it's filling. It also isn't supposed to melt in the heat the way that gelatin does so it won't turn into soup in the car on the way to work.

I have gotten bedazzled by the glistening variety that's possible.

I pureed some berries, got about 2 cups of juice. Added 1 tsp of lemon zest, 1/2 Cup of Splenda--heated it up. In another, smaller pan, heated up 1/2 cup of water and added 1/2 Tablespoon of agar agar and 1 packet of splenda. Brought the little pot to a boil and wisked it to throughally dissolve it. I was worried about the acidity of the berries plus the lemon interfering with the setting up of the jelly, so I added more of the agar agar than is usual. Looks like they turned out well.

Havin' Fun at the New Job

I have a job! A job I like, feel challenged by and am enjoying! Liz's Mom S has started a residential home for the elderly with various forms of dementia. It's a dream she is pursuing that combines her deep Christian faith with a career. Trouble is, she has been trying to do most of it all by herself and has become a bit burnt out. When she was trying to get them to do activities, they seemed to be really resistant to her suggestions and she became disappointed. feeling unappreciated. So, she offered me a job as an Activities Coordinator/Director, which is a fancy way of saying I get to play games with the residents. A slight problem is that for the most part they speak Cantonese/Toisanese. Heh. I don't. Heh. But, I'm learning!

S has always impressed me. A lot more hard line, fundamentalist-type Christian than I am, she is never the less a unique mix of warm and loving, mixed with prickles and drive. She's not afraid to do the heavy lifting.

She offered me a wage that while is perhaps low to some, is good enough for my first post-degree job, and, as importantly, fits her budget. I run my ideas by her to make sure they will work in the context of the house and with the people and she's given me freedom to do what I like. I only work 3.5 hours a day--which is good for me. I am getting experience working with people in a semi-therapeutic setting--another good.

Right now, it's Mr. L., Mrs. M., Mrs. L and E (I, and everyone else, calls E by her first name). E is the only one who speaks English--and she speaks English only so it's a bit of a challenge for her as well.

Mr. L is 90. He has dementia, but I'm unsure as to what kind. He has Peripheral Vascular Disease, which means his legs don't get enough blood and I wonder if the condition of his veins/arteries is impacting the blood flow to his brain as well. He owned his own dry cleaners for years and likes to be in charge...even when it's not his decision to make. He has a garden in the back yard and is growing tomatoes, beans and zucchini. He is in really good shape as he was really active during his youth and middle age.

Mrs. M is leaving in about a week and I'm sad. She's such a sweet spirit--she really lights up my day, I like her a lot. Her enthusiasm is infectious to the others and helps me to get the others to take part in my activities. Mrs. M speaks Cantonese almost exclusively, but she also has the most patience with teaching me and is the best about communicating exactly what the words are about. She's about 86. She has Parkinson's Disease and some dementia--not sure if it's the result of the Parkinson's (could be) or is a separate issue. She's leaving to go to Hong Kong, I think to see if she can get other treatments. I know there is such a thing as deep brain stimulation, but I don't know if she's up to the hours long surgery that it would entail. If she did have it, she is fairly robust so I think she would live quite a bit longer so it might be worth it. S says that even if she came back to the USA she probably wouldn't come back to the house so, again, I am sad.

Mrs. L has Alzheimer's and is a challenge. I think she must have had to work hard her entire life. She seems to relate everything to work. She seems to default to the belief that she's in a work environment. It's hard to get her to do stuff without her believing that she is at work. Then she looks around at everyone not doing the activity and says they are lazy and she has to do all the work. I've been researching Enbrel as a treatment and am excited about the potential. However, it's bloody expensive--not sure her family could afford it.

E is American and speaks English. She has Macular Degeneration, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and smokes like a chimney. She recently had another stroke and lost about 10 years of memory. I enjoy her a lot as she's charming and fun. It's interesting that she has real difficulty getting stuff into her long term memory, and then getting it out again. However, her core personality is the same. She is E, and despite blindness, pain and memory loss, remains E.

Darwin Post 2 and Others

The next day Darwin was soooo sore and so tired. He slept a lot. When he did move he moved in slow motion. I think even his tail was sore. He didn't want to jump down off of the bed, didn't want to walk, didn't want to be moved. When he did get up, he'd get up slowly wagging his tail at half speed. Rob said he moved like "Old Man Beaglestein."

I got sort of worried by the end of the day so I took him into the emergency vet who confirmed that it was mostly sore muscles with a minor sprain/strain on his right front paw. He got some Doggy anti-inflammatory and is much better. He's still tired though. Rob took him on a walk and he wanted to sit down about half way through. 

Still working on the bonnet. The brim seems too large for the sides. worked furiously trying to figure out what was going on--I am definitely not spacial. After far too long spent in frustration, I decided to move along and just deal with it in one way or another. Now I'm sewing the tip to the sides and will be covering it with bias tape, the attach the brim in some magical way.

I got some laundry done, some plants cut in the garden. I was working on a rhododendron and when I saw there was a nest. So, I cleared out some more really dead wood but left the rest for fall. Got some volunteer trees cut down though--good to do these things I've been wanting to do forever!

The Darwin Saga

Last night I went out the basement back door with Darwin but came in the front door. In an astonishing feat of ADDedness I forgot all about the back door still wide open. Darwin either smelled the air or remembered, headed downstairs and and ran off into he forest. I thought he was sleeping on our bed! I didn't even realize he'd gone till Rob got home and didn't get his usual ecstatic greeting. By that time he'd had about an hours head start. .

This all was doubly compounded by the fact that the night before we found out that Darwin's tags had been pulled off--we found the jump ring which had been pulled into a wide C shape and the tags on the floor. We didn't have a replacement ring, so put off putting them back on his collar. So, although he had a microchip, Darwin was without tags! I imagined people finding him and taking him home with them to keep. I imagined EVIL people finding him and taking him home to keep. I imagined Animal control people finding him and not scanning him. I imagined car hits and coyotes--I did a lot of imagining. PLUS, It was all MY FAULT.

We ran out into the woods (Rob much faster than me) we tracked him by sound but night was quickly falling. It was becoming deep twilight and I was having a hard time seeing where I was going. Realizing that unlike Rob I had no idea where I was, I turned back early enough that I could still see the path. I jumped (okay, panted and limped) into the car and took off for the Farm Park. Rob saw him and almost caught him but by this time Darwin was in his crazy zone--maniacally sniffing, snuffling, whining and baying--all while running away from Rob. We regrouped at the house and discovered we didn't have the faintest clue where our flashlights were. 

I drove around the farm park turning off the engine and calling for him with no luck. Rob called the microchip people, Listed him on Craigs list and then ran to CVS and got a flashlight. 

I stayed home compulsively cleaning and Rob--who knows the forest--went out to try and find him again. He almost caught up with him at the bridge but this time was so far ahead for most of it he was out of reach. He called me and said "He's at the bridge" and I headed off only realizing half way I didn't know which bridge he was talking about! There's a street bridge and a forrest bridge. I went to both and didn't see/hear them either time. I turned back to the street bridge and picked up Rob walking home. He had seen Darwin just enough so know that he was off chasing deer and had gone under the street via the bridge. Knowing he was across the street and nearing other streets scared us even more.

The area around us still has large tracts of land--the farm park, farms and some mansions. We drove around and could hear him baying sometimes far off in the distance but never found him and weren't sure we could get to him even if we knew where he was (although mentally I was prepared to drive across people's yards if I had to).  We saw some people who had seen him but no luck. Around 11, I took Rob--who had to work the next day--home and drove around a little looking and listening. Eventually I gave up and came home. Neither of us could sleep and about 2 am we heard him begin to bay outside the house. He was wet and cold--shivering--and dirty. Sooooo tired. I had wondered if he'd end up sleeping outside--it's still chilly at night--the answer was no. Smelt a bit like sewage (creek water) and was falling asleep as he laid down. We got him dryer and wrapped him in blankets and towels.

Today, he's so tired and sore--I think his feet are sore as well as his muscles--I was outside cleaning off the carport and when I came inside he jumped off the couch and did his greeting thing sort of slow motion and not very loud on tender feet. I am going to give him a bath today. Do I think he learnt his lesson? No. This is instinct.

Today I'm looking into wireless fences and obedience training.