Rockets red glare

Francis Scott Key penned the national anthem in the "rockets red glare," as the battle raged around him. I am typing this as Don-Mike & Nick are yelling at each other. The battle is truly raging around me. I'm glad Mother is not here. This truly upsets her. I have my hearing aid turned off. I can still hear the raging. I am grateful I am deaf in one ear. It's times like this I wish I were deafer than I am.

Nick's zodiac sign is Taurus, the sign of the bull. He is bull-headed & right now he is a raging bull, LOL. Trying for lightheartedness. Don-Mike is Cancer, the twins or as the website I'm giving you the link for says, the crab. There is definitely 2 sides to this young man.

I took Mother to Instacare today after DUP. It was really funny. The medical assistant that took us back to the triage room looked SO familiar. I kept staring. I apologized & said that she looked so much like my cousin's daughter. She laughed & said, "That's because I am." It was Krystal, Jenni's oldest daughter, Luana's granddaughter. After Krystal left the room, Mother bemoaned the fact that she can't see. She asked me who she looked like, I said she looked just like her mother, even down to the dimples in her cheeks. Except she has dark brown hair & her mother is blonde.

They were all so nice there. The doctor was this cute little girl. I know, if she's a doctor, she's not a little girl. But such a sweetheart & petite. I said to Mother, I'd certainly go to her if she had her own practice.

Mother has been concerned that the lump on her thigh is a blood clot. Her leg is bruised all the way around her thigh & down into her calf today. The big lump is still there. So, I asked the doctor. She said no, it was a surface lump & where Mother is on coumadin, it wasn't likely to be a blood clot. I said that Mother's INR level has gotten so low that sometimes she's had TIA's, little strokes. They took Mother's protime & did some blood work. Her INR was high, 3.8; her hemoglobin was low because of all the blood she lost. They were concerned because Mother's protime was so high. I said it wasn't that high. Therapeutic level for Mother is between 2.5 & 3.5.

The doctor told me I should've taken her to the ER & had her leg stitched. I told her that I didn't take her to the ER because Mother doesn't like the doctor's up here. Her skin is so fragile that stitches won't stay in. I guess they could have used butterfly bandages, but I didn't think they'd believe me.

Anyway, they took x-rays of her chest. First time I had seen a chest x-ray of Mother. You could certainly see the wires they'd wired her chest shut with after the open heart surgery & the pacemaker & it's wires.

Instacare is in the same building as Dr. Carlson, Mother's primary care doctor. The Instacare doctor walked across the foyer & talked to Dr. C about her protime level & hemoglobin. He said that her cardiologist follows her protime. Dr. Larkin, I-care doc, said to have the INR rechecked Monday. We'll have it done Tuesday because that is the day that Mother has the CPAP followup with Dr. C. We have her INR checked before we go to Dr. C.

Nick's been on one all day & Don didn't make things any better when he authorized Don-Mike to be on the Verizon account & not Nick. grrrrrrrr.

I woke up late & prolly wouldn't have woke up when I did, if Nick had not awakened me. He asked me what time I needed to be to work. I said I needed to be there at 9. He said that it was 9. I jumped up, grabbed my clothes & was almost dressed when the editor of the newspaper called to see where I was. I told him as soon as I put my pants on & took my meds I'd be there. Then my supervisor wanted to know what my problem was. She's already warned me that it doesn't matter how long I've been there, I can be replaced, sigh. Well, I have news for her, when they replace me, they'll have to pay the new person more than I'm making! The last 2 people, that I know of, make more an hour than I do. The next time the government raises minimum wage, I'll finally get a raise. I mentioned that to the business manager & she said, "We'll see." I said, "No! I'll see. The next raise will make minimum wage more than I make an hour." She said, "Oh."

Then Don was huffy when I mentioned that the dog hadn't been fed. I told him that I had not done my weekly hard drive back up at work because I would have been later than I was picking Mother up for DUP. We go to lunch on DUP day, because the new DUP captain has ruled that there will be no lunches at meetings, only refreshments. And, of course, refreshments always means sugar. So, next month, when it's our turn, mine & Mother's, to have DUP at Mother's house, we will serve tomato soup in mugs & little triangle grilled cheese sandwiches, LOL.

Tuesday is not a day that Mother gets a home-delivered meal. And, like this morning, I'm usually running late & don't have anything to eat in the morning.

Right after DUP I'd taken Mother to Instacare, came home & taken long enough to heat Mother's supper up. I stopped at the grocery store & came home. Don got his outdoor stuff on & I told him to wait, I'd walk down with him. We walked out of the garage & I couldn't see because it was so dark. I mentioned a flashlight & he said he was ok. I said I wasn't. He huffily told me to go back & get a flashlight. I told him I'd be glad to when I dug myself out of the snowbank I'd fallen into.

Then, Nick decided he didn't like the soup I'd made tonight. I gave him 3 options that he could fix himself. Don-Mike told him there was garlic bread. I'd cut generous hunks of garlic bread - 2 soft inner pieces - which is what Don-Mike & Nick like.

So, I'd been running all day. I was grateful Don watered & fed the dog. He's done that for me the last 2 days. Tomorrow, I'll make a conscious effort to feed Mufasa earlier in the day, before the vet visit. Tomorrow is a vet appt for Prissy. If I had another cat carrier, I'd be able to take Sammy with & save an office visit. He has been in a fight & has a bad eye. I'll try for Friday afternoon for Sam.