Life in the End lane

One day I passed out like a light, It was because my blood pressure low  side was too low. I fell hard but no broken bones, t have been sicker than  ever, I just want to call it quits but it won't happen. Why? Why? Why? My room mate belongs to the Pee Gang. 9000 times a day I don't know if this will post or not. I keep trying, 

Hello!

Life goes on whether you want it to or not. Kenny says we are assigned so many heartbeats and when your assignment runs out it's over. When you can't even enjoy your food it isn't much fun. Trying to force something down so you won't die is awful.

Depression is another malady we have to contend with. 

I have an appointment with a doctor coming up and I am going to ask him what the answers are.

I am trying to drink as much water as I can.

Dehydration is very bad for you.

 am now taking medicine for the bad taste. but it isn't working at all.

My two oldest Grands. Deena and Trent.

3402 Englewood Yakima, WA

Wait and See

The story of my life! I am forever waiting for something! Now, it's waiting to see if the medicine will restore the food taste to normal. Starting with a very low dosage. It will also take care of depression and sleep problems. I think a positive attitude should also help.

I had lost 15 pounds which is something to write home about. I am not complaining about that!

When I moved from the flat land of Oklahoma to the land of mountain country, Washington State, I soon learned the meaning of homesickness. Housing was so hard to find. WW2 men returning home and getting married to their penpals, and girlfriends were causing a massive shortage of rentals. Some folks owned the big family homes and remodeled them into rentals. We rented 2 rooms on the back side of a house. I could look out one window and all I could see was the alley and a little storage shed with silver-colored garbage cans. My landlady's husband was a wino so he was usually back there with his bottle in his pocket. That wasn't too exciting so I would look out the other window and there was the driveway to the garage. This room was the combined kitchen and living room. Our other room was a bedroom which was across the hall.   In the hall were a sink and water and a toilet also shared. The most disgusting thing of all was the bathtub was downstairs in the Landlady's apartment and she had a sign posted, "Only two baths per week". One time we had taken a job to make a few extra dollars, it was training hops. A very dirty job on the ground all day and the landlady would not bend the rule for us, we went to a family member to get our baths. She was also very religious. One time I asked her if she was going to go see the concert of Roy Acuff which was coming soon and she replied that he was going to hell fast enough without her help. 

We had two boys, Kenny, Mel, and Karen. 

I had met and married a friend of a friend and we were madly in love and he wanted to live here in Washington state. It all sounded like fun to me and it was except for the homesickness. I have now been widowed for 32 years. I never remarried or came close to it. I wasn't against it, I just never met anyone. I soon made friends and life got better. 

Mel and Cora

Leah and Chloe

Dennis, Katie, and Laura

Sept 1957

Just a few old memories

Lesson Learned

Let me save you some money. Keep your money in your pocket and drink more water. I mean "WATER", not Pepsi, Coke, Pop, Soda,OJ, or any other liquid. Do you hear me? Drink Water. Everything dries out when it gets older even the body.  Get that water in your body and save a doctor's bill. So you have to go to the bathroom more often, but exercise is something else our body needs. So get off your fanny and go pee.

I am so full of water now, there is no room for food.

I haven't even tasted anything. I have Ensure and it even tasted strange. If I get the desired results I will shout it from the housetop. Keep listening!

Use Your Sniffer

The Sniffer needs exercise. I still have not solved my tasting problem and I am waiting for some Acupuncture treatments. In the meantime, I spend a lot of time reading all I can find out about it. One source I found is to sniff odors.  Some lose both their smell and taste. I can still smell everything, but the food still tastes terrible. It said that sometimes sniffing strong orders several times a day will stimulate it back to normal. The only thing I could find here was a small container with Mentholatum, It may be twenty years old, but it still has the odor so I keep sniffing at it. I ordered some Eucalyptus oil so I can sniff to my hearts content. I only need to wait until Monday for that.

Till next time!

I almost got laughed out of Mel's Diner the day  showed up with these on my feet. It was so funny.

Forget Food

I have an ailment that is highly irritating. I get hungry and desire food, but I do not enjoy it because it tastes terrible. I have discovered a couple things that taste good. Fresh sliced tomatoes with a little salt. Sausage sticks are made by Snyders, a local place. You have to buy them by noon with a check or cash. None of that magic ATM cards or Credit cards.

They are so worth it. They may also have certain days when they are open. 

It seems that Acupuncture is like magic and can correct the problem, but Medicare does not cover it in most cases I was told, but inquire around because other places may bill Medicare for you and they may or may not pay for it. Why do we have to jump through their hoops to get some proper care? I wasn't born yesterday, in fact, it was almost 94 years ago when I showed up. I have lived through a lot. It was before shots were heard of so I had Measles, Chickenpox, Mumps, and Whooping cough. I lived through at least two cases of Pneumonia. One of which almost took my life when I was 11 years old. I remember it well. Now, I would love to roll over and die, but it won't happen.

I also had constant ear aches. For the first five or six years of my life, I had a pounding sound in my ears that I thought everyone had. One day it just disappeared. 

I have decided to forget food and get by until it decides to return.

Sorry about the rant, but it's life here in the ancient years.

I look forward to meeting this guy and Buffy, the poodle.

Bad Luck

Good night, Nurse!!!

If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all. I have totally lost my taste for food or desire for food. I still feel hungry until its miserable. Discontinuing a med that was subscribed years go helped the problem for a few days and then it came right back.  My research told me that Acupuncture is very successful in taking care of the problem. I wanted to find out of Medicare would pay for Acupuncture because if it would my supplement would pay the rest or what it would cost if not covered. It is not that I am asking a difficult Essay question. Yea or Nay should do it, no ifs, ands or buts about it. I wanted to call the place and ask the simple question, but it was the weekend and I would just have to wait until Monday. Well, Holy Cow! Wouldn't you know, Monday is a Holiday.

Crapola!!!!! The blooming fourth of July.

I know what the Blooming fourth of July stands for! Hallalulah and pass the Ammunition!

I found this a tad bit interesting!!!

I am still waiting for the Accupuncture question.

Bahhumbug!!!

ESP

 I have a strange gift if you want to call it that. It's called ESP (extra sensory perception). The only time it kicks in is to let me know bad news is about to happen. One time I had the same dream over and over. I dreamed a small plane had crashed in the vacant property across the corner from our house. Not once, but several times the same identical dream. Another dream I kept dreaming of was about a creek that I was trying to wade across, I could never get across it and there were big rocks in it and I kept trying to get over the rocks.  I dreamed I looked up and there were two flags sailing above the creek. One was an American flag and I didn't recognize the other flag. I knew it was an omen of some kind and I remember sharing the weird dream with Karen and Dennis, my daughter and husband.

Another time I was driving up the street to go pick up the twins who had something going on at our church when, out of the blue, a large flock of birds had swooped down and were headed straight for my car and then they lifted and flew over the top of my car and went on their way. I believed they were trying to tell me something.

Time moves on and our only Grandson was killed in a small plane crash.

At his funeral service, the Boy Scouts (he was a Boy Scout) were honoring him at the funeral service and two Scouts were coming down the aisle, one had the American flag and the other one had the Boy Scout Flag. I whispered to my Son-in-law, Dennis that those are the flags that were in my dream. If birds ever fly near my window it gives me a creepy feeling. ESP is not a gift, It's bad news in my case. 

I just threw this in to cheer things up a tad.

Old Age

I never thought I'd get here but I have arrived. Well, it ain't no day at the park. About all I do is sit in my rocker recliner and wish I could die. Kenny came and spent some time with me today and I deeply appreciated it. I shared a memory with him that I had not thought of in years. We had a neighbor that lived across the street from us and her name was Mrs. Youngblood. Back in the day when adults were known as Mr. or Mrs. Whoever. He was four years old and couldn't remember her name so he called her Mrs. Blood Vessel. I thought it was funny so I told Mrs. Youngblood about it and she laughed so hard I thought she might burst a blood vessel.

We had good times back then. One day I told my son, Mel, that we are getting neighbors in the vacant house across the street and they have a little boy about your age. He came over to the window and looked over there then he went into his room and put on a jacket and didn't say a word to me but went straight over there and the Dad pulled a red wagon off of their loaded trailer and gave to them and they became friends and they are still very good friends to this day.

 

This is us and our Grands, Deena and Trent

My First Crochet Hook

My First Crochet Hook

by Helen Bootes

It was back in the 40's,

I was eleven that year.

There were 10 of us kids

and money was dear.

I visited our neighbor,

just crocheting away.

I watched her for hours

Not a word did I say.

All the while I thought,

I could do that too.

I'll go home and tell Don,

He'll know what to do

Don was our big brother,

And it was quick to see,

When he said "Just calm down.

And explain it to me.

I need a crochet hook

It should be this long, Don,

With a hook on the end

So the yarn will stay on.

Later he came back

With that I-made-it look,

I knew in an instant

I had my first crochet hook.

He had taken a twig,Smoothed it with a file,

just right for my hand.

Now many years have passed

And I crochet with pride.

Knowing how I got started,

There's a warm feeling inside.

So thanks to my brother,

Cause I know what it took.

Now nothing can replace

My first crochet hook.

Brighter Days Here

I was at the beauty salon, just

got a haircut and a fix.

I had lost my desire for food and couldn't even force it down. It was because of a green pill I had been taking for years. My doctor told me to stop the pill and I will regain my desire for food again in 7 to 10 days. It was a pill to help me sleep. When I was younger my body could tolerate it, but now that I am old, elderly, over the hill, and ready to bail out, the pill made me sick. I went through the dry heaves and sick feeling and couldn't even force anything down. It was terrible. Finally today I am beginning to eat again. I still can't eat bread because it has an overly sweet taste I can't tolerate. But I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I lost a size in clothing. Now that I am on a roll I will continue to lose weight. I will not gain that weight back. I had always been able to control my diet but somehow I just gave up and gained a ton. Goodbye fat and good riddance. 

I looked much better in the mirror than I do in this picture.

This is a sickening post, but it's the best I can do.

Till Next Time! 

This is Chris and Robin, the hairdresser.

History

I have been sick. Test runs and Dr. visit indicates some side effects from a med I have been on for years could be the cause of it. Stop the med and wait for 7 to 10 days. It has only been a couple days and I already see some improvement. It's a wait and see game. I haven't been able to enjoy eating for some time. Food was tasting bad.  Now, I am trying to drink lots of water. My daughter and her side kick, Karen and Dennis were here from Tacoma and helped me so much with everything. I can't thank them enough for all their help. They headed back over the mountain awhile ago. 

We had fun going through some of my boxes that I have saved things forever. This picture is one of the things we found, a picture of me and a friend from about 1947.

Yours truly and Mary Takach

 

Till next time!

The Pill

I have been feeling like something the dogs dragged home. Yucky feeling, can't eat because everything tastes disgusting. I had a bunch of blood work done which was awful because they couldn't find a vein so it was both arms and both hands and three nurses before they found a vein they could get blood from. Today I finally saw the Dr. about the problem. He found that I am taking a med to help me sleep and have been taking it for years. That pill is the root of my problem, it has the very same side effects as I have symptoms. So stop the pill today and I should be back to my normal self within 7 to 10 days. It takes that long to get it out of my system. The reason it just now is causing all these problems is that I am 93 years old and my body is unable to tolerate things as it did when younger.  Simple as that! Praise the Lord and pass the tacos!!!

We were a happy family then.

Men used to think it was cool to have a cigarette sticking 

out of their mouth.

I apologize for the different print sizes but I can't seem to correct it so I give up.

My World

Another day and the world moves on.  I'm still lightheaded and not feeling so great. I have tests and Dr appts coming up. It's 6 AM and the sun is out doing its thing. I have nothing to do but twiddle my thumbs and cruise the Internet. 

Spring has sprung

The sun has ris

I wonder where

      the little flowers is.

(A Chris quote)

I have lost my eating enjoyment. Everything tastes terrible and oversweet. The doctor wants me to drink at least two cans of Ensure per day. So I just had my first can of the day. Someone said to add a dip of ice cream and it will go down easier. So I just did that and it was not bad at all. I had the Liquid Ensure which is berry or part berry juice. 

Sassy, the cat, doesn't have a regular bed. I had one for her but she wouldn't get in it so I gave it away. She finds different places to sleep such as a chair. I have discovered that if I caress and talk to her and carry on like she is really special she will go curl up in a chair and sleep for hours. I have always preferred dogs but somehow ended up with a cat.                                                                                              Till next time.

                                                 

                                                                                          

Gloom and Doom

I am not feeling the greatest. I'm pretty sure I'm headed for kidney failure. I am under the care of a doctor. The medicine I am on is not helping any that I can see. I am dizzy and feel like I am going to pass out but so far I keep hanging on. I cannot eat. Food tastes terrible. I made a bowl of oatmeal presweetened, and just added a little milk and heated it. It was horrible, too sweet, I couldn't force it down. 

I did drink a can of Ensure juice that Charlie gave me and it is staying down so far. Thanks, Charlie.

Life isn't always a bed of roses as almost everybody already knows from experience. 

I have always been the pessimistic type, so maybe I will come bouncing out of this and be just fine. I have another appt with the medical folks next week.

Till next time.

Gripes and Groans

I have this problem, I can't eat anything. Everything tastes terrible. The test results show everything normal except the kidneys and I have low sodium and some infection so I am on meds for the infection which is supposed to fix the problem. I did my own research on the taste problem and it indicated a nasal polyp problem. I need polyps removed.  I was able to get some soup down which I couldn't do before so maybe the medicine he gave me is going to work. I can only hope! The soup wasn't very tasty but I managed to get it in my stomach. He said if the kidneys stay as they are I will be okay. 

Charley, my friend gave me a bunch of Ensure and some in the juice form. That one is not so bad, much easier to get down. 

I know this is a gloomy post, but it's about my life and this is what is happening now. 

My little brother. Hollis called me from Snoqualmie. We discussed everything pretty thoroughly, including his new rocking shoes. I had never heard of them before. He has Arthritis in his feet and the shoes really help a lot.

Till next time!

 

Call a Spade a Spade

Call a Spade a Spade but of course, it's really a Shovel. Well, I have the Yukies and that means sick. I can no longer eat like regular folks do. My taste buds got up and took a hike. I could not stand the taste of anything, so I went to a Dr. and had all the tests done. The follow-up and test results will be available tomorrow at 3 PM. Getting blood out of me is next to impossible. It was finally taken out of the back of my hand. That blood pressure cuff is another punishment I don't deserve.

Hey, I was able to pee in a cup. Yea! for me. 

I could have an infection lurking around in my body somewhere. We'll get to the bottom of this.

In the meantime I must drink two cans of Ensure. Now, that stuff is good for you so shut up and drink it. At least 2 cans per day and more would be better. Well, not in my book, it wouldn't be better.

To be continued:

I marvel at the people I watch on TV. They walk, run, jump, ride a bicycle, and dance as though they never had a pain in their life. It's hard to believe that I once could do those things as well. Now, it's grab the cane and go to the bathroom or the kitchen and I accepted the fact that I am no longer a young thing. 

Now, I lost my appetite and last night I had the dry heaves, and sicker than I've been in a long time. Dr. Kenny diagnosed it as the regular Flu. I do not have Covid. I only had one line which means no covid.

I will recover.

I am so hungry so Kenny bought me some KFC and Fries. Because I love fries more than anything. Greasy fries is probably the very thing I should not eat, but it's the only thing that tastes good to me. Well, I am a lot of things, but I am not stupid so I am leaving the taters alone until I feel better.

Wish me a fast recovery!!!

This is Dylan, my Great Grandson, and my Great Great Grandson.  I never get to see him. His name is Matthew.

  

Show A Little Respect

I have a comment to make regarding this post. I do not have a little Covid. I had one line and you need two lines to indicate Covid. I am happy it wasn't true. I still have the same symptoms but it isn't  Covid.

When you are healthy as a horse you don't expect that to change so when it does it is devastating. At first, I thought it was side effects from the booster shot and a Shingles shot I had just received. I guess that didn't have anything to do with it. I feel total exhaustion and have no appetite. I just have to ride it out. A little Covid but with the shots and the booster I am going to make it. 

Memorial Day is coming up. To me, it's just another day on the calendar. When I was a kid it was a nice holiday, we'd pick all the flowers in the yard and make bouquets or wreaths and make some picnic-type food and join all our church friends at the cemetery. The men would set up tables for the food.  I remember people visiting the graves of their loved ones. It was a fun day. Life was calm in those days. Now we have to worry about sending our kids to school.

I have nothing to write about. 

The Tree

Once upon a long time ago, I found a very young tree growing out of the ground next to the end of the house. I didn't want a tree there so I cut it down and dug the roots out. Well, the tree had other plans so it grew right back so I cut it down again and dug even more roots out. That ought to do it, I thought. I am hungry so excuse me while I go find something to eat. Okay?

I had a Marie Callender cheesy chicken &Bacon pot pie. It was very good and I have half leftover for later or another day. Well, back to the 

determined tree, I bought a 5 pound bag of salt and dug the tree hole out again and even deeper and poured the salt in. Bingo! the tree never returned.

It's almost time for Dr. Phil. Please excuse me.

My African Violet.