Where are my tickers going?

I noticed that the tickers for my book challenge posted on 12/27/09 are disappearing. Where are they going??

I will finish The Book of Mormon today!! I am so excited. I didn't quite read it in 100 days, more like 103 days, considering there were 6-7 days I didn't read. I think that is pretty awesome. Luana, my aunt, said she read it in the first 30 days of her mission. Our bishop challenged us to read it by Memorial Day & that is tomorrow. I will finish it tonight.

I filed it under Re-Reads & since I can't find the pin on the original ticker, here is the pin for the new one, rereads.

Northern or Southern Hemisphere?

Tonight Don & I went to the grocery store & it was snowing. It just makes me sick. I said to Don as we walked into the grocery store, "I thought we lived in the Northern Hemisphere, not the Southern." We should be going into spring & summer, not fall & winter as the Southern Hemisphere is.

When we came out there was easily an inch of snow! It has been snowing off & on all day. At midnight it is 28° F out. As Don went to bed, he commented, "At this rate, there won't be any fruit in the valley."

Tonight, he & Nick were explaining how the earthquake in Chile could have such a huge impact. So, I googled it & found this interesting article: How the Earthquake in Chile could change Earth's axis.

Home-delivered meals are yuck

My mother reminds me of school-aged kids. I guess all institutional food is not very appetizing. Which brings to mind a quote from M*A*S*H:

Well, what's the slop du jour? ~ Hawkeye

I may have to explain this quote to Mother, so I can ask her what the "slop du jour" is on Monday, Wednesday & Friday.

Yesterday I left work to go check on Mother at lunch. I try to check on her 2-3 times a day now. For about 6 weeks I went over every day to give her a Spiriva treatment - a daily maintenance Rx for COPD.

A couple of weeks ago, I came back to work & told Rod about a dinner that Mother thought was terrible. I had to look in the paper to see what the menu said it was. Then I poked around in it & decided that was probably what it was supposed to be. Yesterday's meal was probably the worst I have seen. Again, I had to check the menu in the paper. I think I'll just cut the menu out & post it on the bulletin board so we know what she is supposed to have.

When I went back to work yesterday, the first thing Rod asked me was if I had seen Jim. I asked if he meant my uncle Jim. He said yes. I said no, the truck wasn't out in the alley. I sat down at my work station & about half an hour later Jim came back. He asked how Odetta was. I said she had survived Saturday, the siblings party, but she didn't seem to be doing very good when I had just visited her. I didn't tell him, but she looked sick, her eyes were pain-filled.

Rod quipped, "The Senior Center meals are going to do her in." We talked a while longer & Jim left.

Yesterday's meal was supposed to be a chicken enchilada. Mother had eaten about half of it. But she said she didn't like it & I could have it. I ate a couple of bites & wondered if they had served up barf. Mother told me later she had put vinegar on it trying to make it taste better.

I said Nick would probably eat it. He likes chicken enchiladas. Nick wouldn't eat it either. He said he threw it away.

I like the fact that she gets meals, especially where she can't see to prepare her own meals, but it is institutional food.

Annual sibling party

Today was the Porter Siblings Party. It was Luana's turn to host it this year. Bernard & Maxine drove their van & brought Keith, Onda & Larry. Madge wasn't able to come because she hurt the last 2 disks in her back. Larry said the doctor said it would take 2-3 weeks for it to heal. Dorin & Lucy weren't there either. Dorin isn't well enough. Luana drove up Cub River & brought Vaudis down for the party. Mother & I were there.

After we ate, Luana called up to Dorin & Lucy's, but no one answered. They decided to take a couple of plates of food up anyway. Mother didn't feel like going, so I don't know if they found anyone home or not.

We were taking pictures & I didn't get very many again this year. I was sitting visiting with Mother & snapped this picture with my cell phone. I told Bernard to close his eyes. Now I look at it, I don't think Larry was really asleep either, LOL. I KNOW Keith & Jim are.

Mother & I got over to her place after the party & I was so tired, I laid down & slept for 3 hours. Mother took a little cat nap. She was really tired too. The sisters had gone over to her house & walked her over. I had planned on getting her in the car & driving her over. The sisters had suggested it too, but she said it was harder to get in & out of a car than it was to walk. She was gasping for air so badly by the time they got her to Luana's she couldn't speak. They were panicking. They told me to run over to Mother's & get her inhaler. Maxine took off at a run. Now, I can't run, I'm too old & stiff, but Maxine is 8 years older & obviously in much better shape than I am. Maybe I'd better start jogging, LOL. We took her portable oxygen tank & inhaler over. She said she'd had 3 treatments before she ever got there, sigh. She's only supposed to have up to 4 a day. I don't think she takes it right.

I went over to Luana's this morning & was helping her mix the salad & fix the veggie tray. The plan was that I would be there to meet & greet while she went to pick up Vaudis. I said I could go get Vaudis, but she had to check on Karol Lou Anderson & she'd just go. As Luana was leaving, she told me to cut the cheese (for the veggie tray). I stood there & looked at her & said, "Do we really want to cut the cheese?" She didn't catch my little joke. So, I explained it. She was horrified, hehe. She had never heard that before. I said maybe her kids hadn't dared tell her. So, during dinner, she mentioned it. Vaudis, Onda & Keith had never heard it. But the rest had, LOL.

Gotta tell this cute little story Maxine told.

A little boy asked his mother where he had come from. So, she explained about Adam & Eve & how we are descended from them. Still confused, the boy went to his father & asked the same question. The father said we are descended from monkeys. Really confused now, the boy went back to his mother. His mother, hearing what the father had said, told the little boy, "I told you about my side of the family. Your father told you about his side of the family."

By then, I'm sure he was completely confused.