KateP's musings

Well I was wrong about the weather today.     There were some clouds in the morning but sunshine for the rest of the day.   No rain at all and the temperatures were in the 70’s way until 7 tonight. By 10 am the neighbors were washing cars, going to work, or mowing their lawn.   I heard from Liz and she said that her neighborhood was having a large tag sale and it was quite busy. I did call the nursing home today to see if they know when they are opening up or not.   No one answered but I did leave a message.   Something tells me she won’t be calling me back anytime soon. I made scrambled eggs for breakfast again and then I had steak a few hours later.   I also ate the rest of the mini peppers.   That held me until dinner time when I went and got pulled pork from Adams and some oatmeal cookies with maple cream filling.   They were gone by the time I was emptying the garbage. I did go for a walk yesterday about 2 miles (the apps we...

Whoever said it wasn’t going to be the best weekend weather wise is right.   It looks like it will be mostly rain all weekend.   I didn’t write about the holiday weekend last year for some reason but I did in 2018, 2017, and 2016.   Actually I did write in 2019 it was 70 to 80 degrees then and there was some rain but the actual holiday sunshine.     So it still took some time for me to get into a sleep mode last night but eventually did so with Sky beside me. (Aww).   We got up our normal time and did our regular routine but I fell back to sleep until 8.   Took the morning meds still have some spasms now but not too painful.   Either that or I am in complete denial.   I heard from Liz and we will do FaceTime for a little bit.    I had sent a message earlier and didn’t hear an alert for her response.    We ended up talking just before 4 and I told her of the issues of the spasms.   She says that if they continu...

The 31 year tradition is over. This may be the last one and those words came from Mom after we learned about the numbers of people who were invited and confirmed and who basically showed up. Tessa told us she sent out 300 invitations/flyers in the mail. They were to those who were in the fourth district that were families with children in the school system, Single mothers with teenagers all that could come and meet the candidates. Of the 300 people 28 confirmed (RSVP) and said they would be here. Guess what? This was the list: Three of our neighbors from the street came One of my neighbor’s sisters and two friends of hers. 1 friend of Mom’s from Bridges Six Candidates Four other 4th District Members Kevin Lembo the state Treasurer One woman I didn’t recognize My friends Mike and Roberta came in support. Tessa was thoroughly disgusted. She says and I agree with her that the people in this town are apathetic. They are not informed and could have learned so much...

It is nearly 4:30 Sunday afternoon. Mom is downstairs making dinner. She is going to make a variation of stuffed cabbage. She hasn’t been home long from the wedding. Actually the wedding didn’t take all that long. They were on the beach in Fort Trumbull section of Milford. Mom went to Target to get a few things. My day has been pretty good although I did wake up early but also had a slight headache. I had some breakfast and took some ibuprofen and it worked so I had no problems with that. Although though out the day I still have that weird feeling in my stomach as though I have been kicked or something. It doesn’t feel like hunger pains I can still feel those but it goes away for awhile and then pops up again. I am going to have to keep an eye on that. I started getting ready for bingo around 8:30 after deciding to lie across the bed for a bit. I was out the door by 9 and to the nursing home by 9:15. I was serving coffee and chatting and we started bingo a little after 10. Jil...

It came during Bingo I guess. The brightness of the day didn’t help either but it got worse as the day progressed and after church I came home and took some ibuprofen. Note to self: it’s not as good as Extra Strength Tylenol. I ate breakfast and then an hour later I lay across the bed and slept for an hour. It was 2 and then there it is. I got sick. When that happens it means I am starting to feel better. It helps also to take a bath. I did take some more Extra Strength to make sure it was gone and for the rest of the day I eased up on the food. We heard from Jim today he is doing very well. He likes his new job as hired driver. Mom and he talked about “the situation” with Liz. While I only heard from this side of the conversation I was worried that Mom was trying to control them to get them to talk or whatever. She did tell me that she pointed out the problems between them he is partly to blame. I did find myself realizing that I need to stay out of what ever Mom needs to do to m...

I really need to go back to LensCrafters® and have them check my glasses. Every time I take my glasses off and put them on it feels like they can’t focus or I see double. I think it started back the night after I literally slept on them and found the left lens popped out. I put it back in but I don’t think I did it right. It seems fine once I put them on but it just feels strange. I woke up around 2 this morning for a bathroom run. I noticed my left ankle/foot was doing pretty well until I was awake for a while. The right ankle felt like someone was putting one of those vices on it while I was walking. I may just have to keep taking the “tramadol”® until this passes. I stayed awake for a while so I did my routine of surfing the net until I got tired again. I am not sure why else I stayed up but I felt rested. The only problem is I wanted to be up by five so I could do some things before work. (That didn’t happen) I was really glad to see one of my co-workers Wendy return from...

I was going to start this entry out as “I am feeling pretty good” but right now I am agitated and a little hyper. Mom got a whole new computer and I am trying to help Mom set up her Outlook Express. I keep telling her do something and she doesn’t fucking listen to me. This why I don’t want to help her! I hadn’t been home long when I was trying to show her how to get her mail online. She was asking a whole bunch of questions that I couldn’t answer…like why is this extra wire or cord…I don’t know I haven’t been home long enough to know…The guys (Mike B and Mike K) set it up for her. They should have followed through completely and showed her how to do it. Anyway right now Donny next door is setting up the Pop3. Now I did it for my own stuff months ago but I can’t explain how to do it for her. Breathe in and relax. Work went well. I got a lot done which I am thrilled with. I still have to finish today’s return mail. I worked on yesterdays today because time ran out. For OT I ...

I was coming off the highway today and noticed there were big rigs on the site where the future home of United Illuminating Power company will be. A couple of years ago the company currently headquartered in New Haven (literally down the street from my office) bought the property after The National Amusement movie complex was sold and torn down. In that time it was cleared out and then all of a sudden everything was on hold until the last few months when gates were put up so cars would not be using it as a turn around. Today there was an Orange Police squad car at the entrance. This all comes after or during (depending on how you look at it) the Stew Leonard fight with some of the Orange Residents in building their stores right there on Marsh Hill Road. That story is another long one too. Today went pretty well despite receiving sad news that Claudia M lost her Mom this past weekend. There is a collection going on until the 6th. I am planning on contributing to it soon. I just have to...

I tried writing yesterday but I was just really too busy at work and probably not in a good space to write. I told a number of people what happened. They general consensus was that Parents can give hard times and that Liz handled it just fine and that Mom shouldn’t have asked her to check on Jim. I also believe the general consensus was for me to stay out of it. I would have until Mom opened her big vicious mouth. I got home by 4:30 and watched TV and had some pita chips and a bowl of cereal. I really didn’t do very much last night. Mom came home by 7 I think. It was just in time for her to watch the News Hour on PBS. I did spend time on line and listening to the music. Mom was up when I got up. I wrote Debra a letter and wrote about what happened and it is ready to be mailed. I don’t know if it will get to her in time. I don't know if she even will have to time to read it or not. Mom was in her room when I went and used the scotch tape. Mom is out getting her hair cut and going sh...

It has been a busy morning for me. I got up and got ready for work. As I was leaving I couldn’t find my ID holder. I found it while searching for it in my bag. As I was driving up Jones Hill I saw Cousin Danny waiting on the bus. I stopped and talked with him until we realized the bus was never coming. He hopped on his bike to West Haven Center and I headed to New Haven . Before going to bed last night I was looking through my Google Mail and noticed a pen pal request from March 19. I feel really stupid when I do this. Her name is Lisa and she is from Kansas. She is married and has two girls. I sent a reply tonight I hope she still wants to be pen pals (or e-pals). Anyway, I have set up a file for her under my Kansas pen pals folder. I have updated all the lists and will get a letter emailed to her soon. I have a couple of other letters I started and need to finish and mail this week. I hope they won’t be too angry (and quite frankly its too bad if they are). I write when I can and t...

Today was truly a bag of mixed emotions for me. The emotions ranged from excitement, concern, relief, sadness, and anger. I was excited because today Mom came home from the rehab and at the same time relieved that she loved the way the house was. She is also making the rounds without the use of the cane now and then. My concern stemmed from work. Shirley wasn’t in today and that’s because her husband wasn’t feeling well. Shirley has had to deal with a lot in the health and her family section of her life. I also had some concern and sadness because CeCe’s husband was taken to the hospital for chest pains and CC was scared. I found out later he was sent to St Raphael’s for more testing. I held her hand until she reached the taxi cab that her team leader called. When I got home Liz and Nelson were just leaving but I got to see the new railing outside the house it’s GORGEOUS. When I walked in the door Mom was standing there with her cane. I couldn’t help but think how much she looked like ...

Well it is now morning and I am feeling better. There is no snow on the ground. I am a little disappointed but that’s the way it’s been going of late. Today is the anniversary of Dad’s passing. I usually just look at the calendar and say notice it. This week however, because Mom is turning 80 it’s been on my mind more. I have talked more about it with people. At least the people at work! We buried him two days before Mom’s birthday. This year the anniversary of his burial is on the day of the party. I was also reminded of it this week when I saw an episode of Star Trek: TNG when a young boy lost his mother on a planet. The alien entity was trying to provide a fantasy lifestyle for the boy so he wouldn’t suffer. It is now after 5 and the sun is just setting but it isn’t really dark yet. I haven’t been home long from work. I went to the wake for Dottie’s Aunt. I was probably one of a few that outside the family. I listened to the reading from this wonderful deacon from St Francis. I am g...

It is almost 9 a.m. and I am sitting here with my lovely and beautiful niece Kristina. They got here last night around 8 and I am really excited because the girls slept in bed and Jamie slept with his Dad. We had waffles, bacon and eggs, toast and muffins for breakfast. Mom made it and it was delicious. Later on Liz stopped by for about an hour and we talked and chatted. Mom was getting the turkey into the oven but she managed to hear things. Things WE didn’t want her to hear. I just noticed I hadn’t written since Monday. Anyway, Tuesday and Wednesday was training for Nina and Daphne who came back helped me. I didn’t get all that I wanted done but I am hopeful the girls will do it for me. Tuesday night I went to Dr. Martin and had a nice visit. He just reminded me to get my yearly well being check up with Dr. Spanolias. On my way home I stopped at Shop Rite on Cherry Street near Liz’s. I wanted to buy the refrigerated pie crust so I could snack on it and I was really close to getting i...