Tired

I have been so tired lately all I want to do is lay down & sleep. I do fine until I slow down & then exhaustion just overwhelms me. And the headaches, ow. I haven't had headaches like this for a very long time. So, when I complain -- murmur -- everyone tells me it's stress. Well, yes, I've been under a lot of stress lately, but …

Yesterday I went to Logan with Nick. He wanted to go to the Verizon store & order the brand new phone that was just released online yesterday. Today he is pacing, driving me nuts, waiting for the FedEx man to deliver his phone.

Anyway, at the Verizon store we had an incredibly long wait. I finally got a chance to sit down on their little padded bench that only holds 2 people. I looked at the floor longingly & thought I would be happy if I could just curl up on the floor in the fetal position & go to sleep. But even though I fantasized about the possibility, I knew a 60-year-old woman would never be able to get down there, much less curl up in the fetal position. For one thing, I'm too stiff, for another, I'm too fat. And can you imagine the furor it would have caused?


I don't know what this thing about age is. I was 50 for years before Mother finally informed me I was 55, not 50. But my age has suddenly come to the forefront of my mind again. How can I be 60 years old? I still feel like I'm in my 40s, not elderly.

Anyway, back to being tired. Last night I woke up in the middle of the night. I never wake up in the middle of the night. I was so tired, I couldn't sleep. I even went to bed before my usual bedtime of midnight. But while I lay there awake, I could hear my C-Pap machine was making a noise it doesn't usually make. I wondered if it was my mask. But I felt all around it & couldn't feel any air coming out. Finally, the exhaustion overtook me & I fell asleep, but not before I had scooted clear over into the crack between the frame & the mattress. Don doesn't like the air blowing on him. I wondered how many nights it had been making this whooshing noise.night

This morning I woke up & the first thing I did was take my mask off & look at it. I still couldn't see anything in the light of day, but last night I had wondered about the clips that hold the cushions onto the mask. In fact, I had pushed the clips on the side, but had forgotten there was a clip at the bottom. I pushed the clip at the bottom & heard a distinct click. Ah-ha. I didn't get all the clips pushed on the last time I cleaned my mask, and now I don't remember what day that was. It could have been last Saturday or 2 weeks ago. I put the mask back on, turned on the machine & no more whooshing.

But, looking for a picture to enhance my blog entry, I discovered Amazon sells CPAP supplies cheap!! Maybe I can afford a new mask at those prices.

While he was at ComputerWise, I took a picture of the mountains to the east.

East mountains of Cache Valley, 3000 N. Main, 5/19/11

Another blog

I just found another blog to add to my list of favorites: A Garlic Story. I need to go over to Mother's & check on her. It's also my turn to cook tonight & tomorrow. I thought I'd do my cooking over there. The guys can come over & eat there. That will give me more time with Mother & I can cook in a clean kitchen :) I can also bake those cookies I was going to do the other day when I crashed & burned & took a 3-1/2 hour nap in Mother's bed with her CPAP machine.

I voted

 I voted today. We'll see what the verdict is tomorrow. Mother even got out to vote. Everyone but Nick did.

They have the voters split up by alphabet. Mother voted first. Then I went to the table for the first of the alphabet. I told them my name & spelled Bartlomé & specifically said, without an h. A lady came over & said no, that's B-a-r-t-H-l-o-m-e. So, they find Barthlome with an h. They're reading down through the list, JoAnn, Layne, Randy ... you're not here. I said, no that's Barthlome with an h. I don't have an h in my name. "Well, that's different," she snipped at me. It's like Nick said, I should have said to her, "I know how to spell my own name." Anyway, I bent over to sign my name & said, "Well, the Barthlomes over here paid to have the h put back in their name. We didn't." I even told her that I spelled Mikel & Nickolas without an h too. So, I voted for the city councilmen, but was still a little miffed.

Next, we had to go to another table & vote on the hospital bond. Again, two different election judges. One for the middle of the alphabet, Monson, & one for the beginning of the alphabet. Camille Saxton, a member of our ward & former Relief Society president, was the election judge for the first of the alphabet. She had no trouble finding me.

Don-Mikel called to see where we voted & I told him the Robinson Bldg. I called him back & said that when he voted for the city councilmen, he was going to have to spell his name, & tell the election judge there is no h, because she is so dumb. Don met Don-Mike at the Robinson Bldg. He said Don-Mike went first, said his name & said, Bartlomé without an H. Don said they flipped right to it & he & Don-Mike had no trouble. I told Don I was the pioneer then, I broke the ground for them.

I am so tired & have had a sore throat all day. I woke up with it. I thought it would go away like it usually does. I always wake up with a dry, dry throat. I sleep with my mouth open. That's why the CPAP mask is a full face mask, so that even though I sleep with my mouth open, the air pressure still keeps my throat open so I can breathe.

Did I, or did I not, do what was on my to do list for the day.

• I forgot to pay McKenzie Law Office, due Friday, Oct. 30.
  
• I forgot to pick up Nick's meds at the pharmacy Done & no co-pay for my pills!! W00t W00t
  
• Mother needs omeprazole
• I HAVE to send the Verizon rebate. I NEED that $50.
• I HAVE to pay the storage shed company. Today, I took Don-Mike's $50 & part of Nick's rent & got 2 money orders. I will pay storage tomorrow. I also wrote out a check for Mother's storage payment.
  
• Pampered Chef - I lost the order & now people are wondering where the stuff they ordered is. I'm wondering where the orders AND THE CHECKS are, sigh.

This was not on my list, but I also wrote out checks for Mother's rent & home-delivered meals, took her retirement checks to the bank & deposited them.I also took the check to the Community Center & put it through the mail slot. That saved her a 45¢ stamp

I am so tired. I waited for Don-Mike to come home & now I'm off to bed. I took my potassium pills this afternoon at work. Choked on them, as usual, even though I broke them in half. I guess trying to stuff 6 fairly large pills in my mouth at once doesn't work, sigh.

Moving in May, 5/13

Today was Mother's 6 month clinic visit with Dr. Otrusinik at the Regional Medical Arts Building in Logan. He was quite pleased. Everything checked out. We updated the prescription record in her chart. He wants to do an ultrasound in 6 months, giving her more time to use the CPAP, to check on the pulmonary hypertension. She hardly used it the first 3 months, but with the new CPAP mask she uses it a lot more.

Because I knew I wouldn't get my 15 minute walk in, I was going to park out by the street, but I knew Mother needed to get her walk in too. So, I parked in handicapped parking & then instead of taking the elevator, I took the stairs. OMG, by the time I got to the third floor I was dying. I was so out of breath. By the time I got in to the doctor's waiting room, she was already in the examining room. Less than 10 minutes later, we were out again.

We walked to the car & Mother only had to stop once to rest. She likes that section of handicapped parking better. I'll have to try & remember to park there again.

We checked at Cache Valley Oxygen for a CPAP pillow. OMG, they are $57!!! We also scoped out a step stool for Mother to get into Don-Mike's pickup, a grab bar for the shower. It is a suction cup-type that has a lever to hold it in place on the tile for $27.95. There is also a handle, $29.95, that has the same type of suction cup to attach to the tub for help in & out. So, no drilling of holes in the tile. And, as Mother pointed out, we could take it with us when she comes home.

We went to lunch at Juniper Take Out. I suggested that now it is nice weather, Mother & I could walk out on the sidewalk. She agreed, which really surprised me.

She wanted to stop at Dollar Tree in Smithfield. Unbenownst to either Don or I, we were just a few cars apart. When I pulled into the 3-second lane to make the left hand turn, I could see Don's car. We were on the phone with each other :) He turned around & came back. By the time I chased Mother all over that store, I got my 15 minutes in. When I finally caught up to her I was puffing & said, "My gosh Mother, for an old lady you can sure move fast." Just a few months ago, she could never have done that.

And, of course, I walked down to feed the dog.

Pickups, walking & babies

Here is Nick standing in the "new" driveway by his '69 pickup today, about 15 to 4. I'm glad it wasn't blurry. So many of my pictures turn out blurry.

This was a farm pickup & he found it out in Whitney in a field, sitting there rusting. Not sure what was wrong with it. He & Don-Mike fixed it up & he got a lot of years out of it. He traded it, plus some cash, for the Corvette, which they are now trailering home.

One of the T-tops blew off the 'Vette & the owner stopped, picked it up out of traffic, called Nick & told them to get off at the next exit. They did & he returned the T-top. They put all of the loose stuff in the camper shell on Don-Mike's pickup. They took Don-Mike's "new" diesel pickup.

On to walking. A friend had a link on her blog for a blog named Little April Rose. April's mommy has a link to Kayleigh Anne Freeman. In reading the condolences for little Kayleigh, I ran across a link, out of the thousands of comments, that intrigued me, Random Thoughts of a Great-Granny Grandma. See how blog browsing just kind of snowballs?

I read one of Great Granny's posts & thought it was interesting. It kind of summed up my day today:

1. Tell us how you sneak exercise in when you can't "get to they gym" or "the treadmill is broken" or whatever. What do you do at work/around the house/etc. to move more?

I certainly tried to be creative today. I knew I wouldn't have time for a straight 15 minute walk. I tried to get through work by 11:30 since we had DUP this afternoon & the books were being audited. I knew we would need to eat lunch. I parked out in the farthest corner of Stokes parking lot. For the local people, it was where the pink Victorian house used to be on 2nd South. I walked across the parking lot & down to Lewiston State Bank. Once I got my money, I walked down to the deli, opposite end of the grocery store & bought a couple of 3" sandwiches, a small bag of chips, a small macaroni salad & a small cherry pie for lunch. Back out to the car.

This evening, after supper at ChesterFried Chicken, we went back to Stokes to see if they had some postage stamps. I wanted to mail the DUP audit to the company secretary. However, I still have 42¢ stamps. The post office was closed because by now it was after 6 p.m. The post office used to have a vending machine, but no more. We went there & I walked in, only to find a metal sign over the wall where the stamp vending machine used to be. Stokes only have 44¢ stamps. I had Don park out quite a ways from the entrance & walked in & back out.

When Mother discovered that we were looking for 2¢ stamps she said she had some in the cupboard at home. Sure enough, she did. So, I took one & got the audit in the mail, woo hoo!!

Then, this evening, I walked down to feed the dog. Don walked with me & he watered the dog while I got the food out of the shed. Don had to make a special trip to the grocery store last night for dog food. He got the 50# bag. Now, tonight, I see the cats are almost out of food.

The second part of this was:

2. Let us know how your week went. Let us know your goals for next week. Not your long-term goals, just your goals for next week.

If you follow my blog, I let you know how my week went almost every day, LOL. Goals are to continue to walk daily, make the bed daily. One of my big goals for this week was to get MY wash caught up. I needed undies & socks. Undies washed, folded & waiting to be put away. Socks washed & in the dryer. I'm hoping I won't have any orphan socks. I have 9 orphans. I really wish I could find the mates.

Now, back to Kayleigh, April Rose, & Baby Jonah. Jonah is my cousin Loraine's grandson. He was born at 24 weeks gestation in September 2008. Loraine's dad, Jim, told me about a blog that Tanya & Dave were keeping of their baby Jonah. I started following Jonah's blog. I checked it morning & night. Dave & Tanya are sometimes very late in updating it & I couldn't go to bed without checking the blog. I was having a hard time sleeping back then. Sometimes I'd wake up in the middle night &, almost without volition, start praying for Jonah.

Now that I'm off the femara, the new CPAP helps too, I'm sleeping better. But one blog leads to another & now I have a whole list of blogs to check. My main ones though are Jonah, Kayleigh & April Rose. I have my blog list set so that those blogs that have new entries rise to the top, like cream, LOL.

Mother's Day 2009

I walked so much yesterday that this morning I woke up aching all over. My back & hips ached & my legs just felt heavy. My neck ached because I left my contoured pillow at the hotel. On my way to bed, in the dark, I might add, I found a pillow in a stack at the end of the bed. I promptly fell sideways, catching myself. My leg was aching from trying not to fall on the scanner in the front room. I scraped it on a magazine holder. So much for trying to be quiet.

My legs were feeling heavy because I had a cat laying on top of them. I had another cat using my tummy as a pillow & the third cat was not on me, but near me.

I walked down to the dog three times today. Once to feed him, he's out of food again, sigh. Then I got back to the house & realized I'd left my walking stick down there, so I turned around & walked back down to get it. The third time was to take a neighbor down to see him. Mufasa did not like the neighbor. He snapped at him.

I also walked down to the city park again from Mother's. I had my walking stick today. I need it to steady me. I really want to get one of those cool carved ones.

Dare I admit we broke the Sabbath by going out to eat? Mother said she thought I'd choose to go to Deer Cliff Inn, they opened yesterday. Don-Mike started taking us to Ogden to Chuck-A-Rama. He turned onto Airport Road in Logan & I asked where we were going. He said Ogden. I said no, Golden Corral. I said I might have said Chuck-A-Rama, but I meant Golden Corral in Logan.

I explained my reasoning for choosing Golden Corral. I didn't want to spend over $100 for a meal at Deer Cliff; I didn't want to go clear to Ogden. It had been a while since I'd been to Golden Corral & I like Golden Corral. The price has raised at GC, but it may have been for Mother's Day. They had carved turkey, ham, roast beef & steak. Don said the steak was better than the prime rib at the Borderline Grill in Franklin.

Nick took his car so he could leave when he wanted to & not wait for us. I wanted to go up to University Inn & see if I could retrieve my pillow. No luck. Darn it. I'll have to buy another one. It's a contoured one & is nice cuz I can sleep on my side with my CPAP on. I'll check at Cache Valley Oxygen because Mother gets a discount at CVO. They have pillows, just like what I had called CPAP pillows. The one I had was not called a CPAP pillow, but it's the same thing. It may just be cheaper to buy another one like I had that is not called a CPAP pillow.

Lent, Day 40

The last day of Lent & tomorrow is Easter Sunday, Christ's resurrection. The time in the tomb is almost over. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'd never really thought of the meaning of Lent. I think I'll have a deeper appreciation of Christ's sacrifice for us. Perhaps I should watch The Passion of the Christ every Easter season.

Last night was a very rough night for me. I put my CPAP mask on & the hole had ripped bigger, air was just rushing out. So, I thought I'd try Mother's old mask, but I hate that mask. It hurts. So, I had no choice but to pull out the full face mask I got. I fought with that all night. This morning when Don got up for work, yes, he had to work today, I got up to put the salve in Prissy's eye, then hauled out the CPAP bag & pulled out all the literature on the mask. I messed with it for about an hour, got it to fit & laid down & went right to sleep.

Tonight we went to the grocery store & I thought it was 11, closing time, but it was only 10. I'm so tired & have such a headache. I'm hoping tonight is better.

I have my phone calendar set to chime 4 times a day so Prissy gets the salve in her eye. Nick has been a great help & Prissy's eye is starting to look better.

Today Eddie was standing in the door & saw Chris Garrett's big mastiff bite Colton Hull. Colton was over on Gwen's lawn & I don't know if the dog was playing or what, but Colton kicked at him. Chris called the dog home & put him in the kennel. Colton was crying, so I went over to Hulls & rang the doorbell. When Cindy came to the door, I told her what Eddie had seen. The dog had bruised Colton's shoulder, but it hadn't broken the skin. Like Eddie said, the dog is bigger than the kid. Matt was supposed to be watching Colton, but usually when Matt is "watching" Colton, Colton is wandering the neighborhood. I guess Chris was watching his dog too, he was in the driveway & the dog was roaming the neighborhood.

Colton said it was Spillet's dog, the people that lived across the street. They've moved & taken their animals with them. They were there today, but their dogs weren't. When we left Hulls, Eddie said Chris & the Hulls, Matt & Cindy, were yelling. I guess that's one benefit of being hearing impaired, LOL, you can't hear your neighbors yelling at each other.

Tonight when I went to feed Mufasa, I told him that was why I don't let him out. I can't control him & I don't want him wandering the neighborhood.

Lent, Day 36

We have some idiot racing up & down our street & revving his engine right outside our house. I'm so tired of the "kids" on the corner. I was so psyched Saturday, I thought they had moved, but ... no such luck, as we can hear. He does it at 2 a.m. in the morning. I was talking to a neighbor about half a block away about this neighbor a few weeks ago. He called him "ignernt." It tickled me. Something I didn't expect to hear. It's supposed to be ignorant, but means rude, LOL. Supposed to be Cache Valley-ese, but supposedly found in Canada. Hell-oooo!!! Some parts of Canada were settled by people from Cache Valley.

Anyway, today was much better, health-wise. Again, the attempt to get to bed by 11:30 failed & I made it to bed by 11:55. I was awake at 6 this morning & couldn't get back to sleep. My CPAP mask is ripped & air was leaking. I didn't want to get up & disturb Don. So, once he was up & out of the bathroom, I was in the bathroom & up for the day. I guess I'll have to try Mother's "old" mask again (above).

Speaking of CPAP masks, Mother wore her new CPAP mask (left) until 5 a.m. THIS MORNING!!! Woo hoo!! The longest she has worn it since she got the CPAP machine. She just kept the mask on her face when she got up & went to the bathroom. That's when it has been coming off in the past. Don-Mike told her to take the hose off the mask when she goes to the bathroom in the middle of the night & leave the mask on. She said she did that last night. I asked if it didn't bother her & she said yes, but she hurried. I wouldn't be able to do it, I'd fall or hyperventilate or both.

She said she didn't feel very good this morning when she got up. She'd had a weird dream. I told her it was good for her to dream. People with sleep disorders usually don't fall asleep soundly enough to dream.

I cut Don's hair tonight, almost gave him a buzz by using the shortest guard we have. A buzz will be the next cut, no guard on the clippers. The short hair looked so cool, as in not warm, but not cold , LOL, I was tempted to do it to my own. He actually looks cool, as in sharp, with the short hair too. Could be I'm prejudiced :)

Mother's protime was 2.7 today, within normal limits, keep on the same dosage of coumadin & recheck in 2 weeks.

A work day tomorrow & vet appointment for both Brackin & Prissy. Our vet is in Richmond, Utah. I picked up a cat carrier at the vet's today on our way home from Logan. I'd have forgotten if Mother hadn't reminded me. With 2 cat carriers, ours & the vet's, I can take both cats. Then Don can return the vet's carrier on Thursday on his way home.

Lent, Day 35

Today I woke up at 9:10 when Don-Mike woke me up. I had been awake earlier, but decided it was too early to get up & evidently went back to sleep. I need to be to work by 9 a.m. on Monday, so I got up, hurried & got dressed, took 2 meds, lexapro & metformin, grabbed my 2-liter bottle of Diet Mt. Dew & ran to work. I knew I wasn't going to have time to stop at the Conoco & get a refill.

I parked behind The Citizen & bent over to retrieve my cell phone off the floor of the passenger side of the car. I felt really dizzy. When I sat up, I was dizzy & clammy. I thought I was going to pass out. I sat there with one foot in the car & one foot out of the car. I thought they were going to come out & find me dead in my car. Shortly after I started working at The Citizen, one of my coworkers didn't show up for work one Friday. Walt Ross, the owner at the time, tried calling her off & on all day, but she never answered. He finally called her daughter to see if she knew where her mother was. The daughter found her dead on the back step of her house, one shoe on & one shoe off. It was in January.

Anyway, I decided I wasn't just going to sit in the car, I could make it to the door. I was actually wondering if I was going to make it across the alley. I stopped just as I got across the alley, but told myself I could make it to the door. I made it to the door, then encouraged myself to make it to the time clock. I punched in & then bee lined right for the editor's office. I walked in & Rod, the editor, said, "RaNae you don't look very good." I said I wasn't dead yet, so I couldn't call in sick. Just then Doug Webb, the senior mortician, walked up to the door. Rod quipped, "RaNae, he came to get you." Bob, assistant editor, said, "He's too early." LOL We all laughed &, of course, Doug didn't know what we were laughing at. I told him & then Vicki came in & said I didn't look very good. I said I felt terrible, but I thought it was low blood sugar. She had some mini dark chocolate-filled peanut butter bars. She gave me one & I ate it & sat there for a few minutes. I was amazed at how fast I started feeling better. Color came back to my face & I was able to get up & go to our work station. Jessi, our supervisor, said she was going over to the Conoco to get a drink & asked if she could get me something. I said yes & asked her to get me a muffin loaf. I gave her some money. She soon came back with it. I gobbled it up & felt better. I've had a headache all day & have just felt generally crappy.

Don-Mike traded in his '06 Mustang today for an '04 Chevy Silverado 2500-HD (heavy duty) 3/4 ton 4x4 with a 6.6 liter V8 Duramax diesel engine & an Allison 1000 automatic tranney. He got it for $19,900. The salesman said if he hadn't brought in the page from the Internet he printed it would have cost him $2,000 more. He only got $9,000 as a trade-in for his Mustang. He's pleased with the pickup. He's been wanting a diesel for a long time. One of the ladies he works with told him it was about time he got a truck he doesn't have to work on, LOL. It's got a short bed with a camper package & a towing package. It has a running board so it's easy to get in & out of. It has cloth seats & he wanted leather. He had leather in his 'Stang. He has 4 other trucks. I wonder if he'll get rid of any of them.

Last night I would have made it to bed at 11:30 except I spilled a glass of apple juice as I was reaching to get something behind the recliner. I can't believe how upset I was. First, I was upset the glass had been left there half-full. I'm sure Nick forgot where he put it. He's getting so bad at remembering. Second, I had to clean it up. Third, I wouldn't make it to bed at 11:30. I did make it to bed at midnight, but I hadn't got any soft water at Mother's to fill the humidifier of my CPAP machine. Today, I forgot to get distilled water at the grocery store or to run over to Mother's & get any water. Tonight I'll have to use hard water & remember to get some tomorrow.

I have to work every day this week. It's the Tourist Special Edition. I'll have to take Mother to the doctor tomorrow for her pro-time. Wednesday afternoon I have to take Brackin in for his booster shots. Prissy has an infection in one of her eyes. It's gray. I've probably waited too long & she's blind in that eye.

Palm Sunday

Another day of General Conference, therefore no local church meetings are being held, thus a holiday for Don & I from the library.

Bedtime last night was - drum roll please - 11:30 p.m. Wake up time was 9:15. Nick woke me up, but I was laying there without the CPAP mask on my nose. He figured I was awake. My nose was so plugged up, I couldn't breathe through it, sigh. I haven't been taking my Zyrtec-D because Nick needs it & I've been giving it to him because Medicaid won't pay for Zyrtec. I guess I'll have to buy some OTC so we can both use it. My mouth was so dry. We're out of prilosec too. I've got to buy that also.

Now, for confession time. I was sitting on the bed, ready for bed at 11:30 p.m. I turned out the light at 12:30 because I finished reading an Anne Perry book, A Christmas Beginning. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's past due at the library & I need to return it. I have 2 other books out too. The librarian told me she couldn't renew one of them anymore. So, I need to read that too, or just bite the bullet & return it.

Don is finally doing our taxes. He needs a couple of things, but that's why I wanted the taxes done now & not April 15. I can look for them now, I've got a couple of days to do it. It's probably out in the basket of mail on the front seat of the car. I've been going to sort through it at Mother's.

Don-Mike's decided it's time to upgrade his daily driver. Nick found him a truck at Axtell Chevrolet in Logan. Speaking of dealerships, Tapper Motor in Montpelier has closed. Not that he was planning on checking with Tapper, but I remembered when he was talking about checking Hunzeker Chevrolet in Soda Springs.

Well, it's noon. Onward & upward, or in other words, I need to get up, take my meds, get dressed & go over to Mother's.

Lent, Day 33

I follow a blog called "A Year of Crockpotting," you can find it down under "Other Blogs I Like to Read."

Here is a recipe I want to try, Crockpot Albondigas (Meatball) Soup. We really like meatball soup. Later in the comments she says you can use parsley if the mint weirds you out. The mint weirds me out.

Today's entry is Poor Man's Chili Crockpot Recipe. She says it is similar to her Clean Out the Pantry Soup. We call our clean out the pantry/freezer soup Minestrone Soup. I fixed that last night. I used pork broth left over from some pulled pork we had a few months ago. I don't do very good at labeling stuff I stick in the freezer. Never quite sure what I'll pull out. I didn't drain any of the veggies, so my soup was quite "broth-y." Is that a word? So, I wanted to thicken it. I used 1/2 cup bread crumbs. I found that in an allrecipes.com recipe.

Here is the real reason I decided to blog this, Crockpot Rice Pudding. I love rice pudding. I love crockpots. I just don't like to CLEAN crockpots. I was afraid if I didn't put it somewhere obvious, I'd never find it again. May never find it again anyway.

Speaking of a word being a word, I told Mother yesterday that I don't like to bathe, rhymes with lave, which is where she got Javen out bathing. How do you spell bathe-ing?

Since RaNae has a long "a," I sometimes get in trouble when someone says "Hey!" I mistake the long "a" for my name, LOL. This happened to me earlier in the week. I was SOOOO embarrassed. No one saw me, so it was ok.

I was at Stokes grocery store in their new little dining area which has an outside door. It is only an exit door with no handles on the outside. I was standing there getting myself a soda refill & I heard someone yell, "RaNae! Open the door!" And I heard some pounding & the door rattle like someone was trying to get in. My first thought was how did anyone know I was standing there. Second was that it was an emergency door & I couldn't open it. I stepped back to see who was at the door. No one! No one was at the door, but I could still hear the rattling. Now, remember, I have a substantial hearing loss & a hearing aid. A lot of times I can't tell where a sound is coming from. So, I thought maybe it was the door into the store. I turned & looked there. The doors were standing wide open & there was no one around. I KNEW I had heard the door & someone call my name demanding to be let in. I was still hearing things so I swung around. There on the wall is a large screen TV. There was an animated show playing. I think it was "Kung Fu Panda," with this huge panda shaking a door & demanding to be let in. He had yelled, "Hey!" not RaNae. LOL

Last night was a miserable night. I got to bed a little after 11:30, maybe 12 again. I decided I was going to use Mother's "old" CPAP mask, the one she's been cursing for the past 3 months. I don't like the mask over my mouth either. When I breathe, the air blows on my mouth. She'd been complaining about that. When Don finally came to bed at 1 a.m., I had enough of the "new" mask. I ripped it off & put on my old nasal mask. I loosened it. When I woke up this morning, I thought maybe there was something in the fact that a too tight mask might have something to do with my toothache. By afternoon though, the toothache was back, not as fierce as it has been, but it's there.

Don-Mike woke me up about 10. He said I was moving so he thought I was awake.

Lent, Day 32

Yesterday, The Preston Citizen was the talk of the town. It was so fun. I've had a hard time not talking about it. My poor family heard all about the April Fools joke we were going to play on the town.

There was a mixed review. One lady was so angry, she canceled her subscription. Another lady called & reamed Rhonda out because it was so tasteless. My aunt Luana didn't think it was funny either. One lady was crying at the Conoco because the county had gone bankrupt. Yet, people were laughing & loving it, too. I went into the Conoco today & saw that there was not a single copy of The Citizen on the counter. I asked where all the Citizens were & the clerk said they sold like hotcakes. There wasn't a single paper left when she went off shift yesterday afternoon. A lot of times Hidie has to pick up a whole stack of papers from the Conoco because they haven't sold.

So, here is a rundown of the April Fools joke we played. The Citizen was spelled Citzien. The top of the paper where it says "... bringing you the news since 1890," says "... bringing you the stuff of 1890." The top kicker says "DEQ closes Franklin County Landfill, page 16." The bottom kicker has a picture of the PHS cheer team's trophy saying they won the stunt contest at state & says, "PHS cheer team wins rumble competition, page 15." Then the Index has things like Illegals, page 16 (DEQ), instead of Legals & Hitchin' Post instead of Weddings, Boonies instead of Rural Route, Eatable Page instead of Recipe Corner. I don't have the paper in front of me, but there were other things like that & each of them reference a page that isn't even there, LOL.

The three main stories were county goes bankrupt with people driving to Soda Springs (45 miles north in Caribou County) to license cars & etc., Montpelier City (45 miles east in Bear Lake County) wouldn't answer any questions about whether they were in trouble or not instead of Preston. A band of wolves kills an entire herd of sheep, using a Bear Lake ranchers name. The final one was alligators found in Glendale Reservoir. The pictures were of the county commission chair, Richard Westerberg, standing on the front steps of the courthouse with a sign posted on the door that says, "Closed until further notice." He's standing there with dark shades & this little smirk on his face. Another picture has a picture of Glendale Reservoir with an alligator near the shore (which was put in with Photo Shop). The third picture is a picture of Robert Crosland, the PJHS science teacher, holding his alligator with a big grin on his face. Everyone knows that Cros teaches at PJHS, but the caption reads he is the PHS biology teacher :D

The stories are jumped to page 2 & at the end of each story is APRIL FOOLS! Page 3 is the REAL front page & everything is back to normal. Citizen is spelled right, the index has correct information AND pages. The kickers are correct too. It was a challenge to jump the real front page stories to other documents, so it took longer to get the jumps right.

Today, I went over so Mother could take a bath. I didn't get over there until 2. Don-Mike fed her such a big lunch, she had to sit & let it settle before she could take a bath. She didn't have her hearing aid in because she was going to take a bath. I asked her if it gave her out to take a bath & she said no. I said, "Bathing gives me out." She said, "What did he do?" I said, "Bathing gives me out." She said, "I heard you. What did he do?" I'm a little frustrated by now. I went up to her & said distinctly in her ear, "Bathing gives me out." She said, "Oh, bathing." I said, "Yes, what did you think I said?" She said, "Javen gives you out." I laughed & laughed over that. "Javen? I haven't seen Javen for a long time." Javen is our little neighbor boy. He's 4 & is on the autistic spectrum, so yes, he could give me out. But it's winter & I haven't seen him for a long time. I did watch him & his big sister come running out the other morning & clean off their aunt's car before school. Javen was cleaning the grill & the head lights & Burkley was brushing off the windshield. It reminded me of when my kids were little & Nick wouldn't ride the bus.

Anyway, Mother told me to go over to her house & take a shower. That gives me out too. I just hope that once the femara is out of my system, bathing won't be so tiring.

Luana let Mother borrow a toilet riser & Mother's been complaining about how the bathroom stinks. So, while she was in the tub, I decided I'd clean the toilet. I knew I wouldn't be able to clean the whole thing because I'd get tired. But I thought I'd see how far I could get. I took the riser off & went out to the laundry room & got some Borax, came back dumped some in & cleaned the toilet. I'd taken my water pill late & the shower running was causing some discomfort. I thought I'd use the bathroom while the shower curtain was shut & Mother wouldn't know. Well, I forgot to put the toilet seat down & I fell in the toilet & screamed. It almost gave Mother a heart attack, LOL. She's yelling, "What's the matter?" So, there I sit with my feet in the air, my butt in the toilet & I ripped open the shower curtain & said, "Nothing! I fell in the toilet." She said, "How are you going to get out?" I said, "I'm going to stand up." LOL

We had a fun time, which was better than leaving her in tears like I did last night. She was upset over her new CPAP mask. She spent about a half hour working with it.

I asked how it went last night & she said she got a tooth ache from the mask being so tight. I laughed & said that must be why I've had a tooth ache the last few weeks. My CPAP mask is too tight. The head gear is stretched out so much, I just keep tightening it. It's hard to get it on at night. Actually, that is something that can happen, but I didn't know it until I read it in the literature yesterday when I was trying to adjust Mother's new mask. The new mask just fits over her nose, which is what she's been wanting all along. She also said she couldn't keep her mouth shut & it was hard to breathe in the mask. I said that was why she had the other mask, to go over her mouth.

She asked how you're supposed to keep your mouth shut. I said I didn't know, I'd done it for 10 years, until the last few months before I got the new CPAP machine & the pressure was too high. For over 9 years the pressure has been set at 11, but I was having problems with it & so the doctor ordered a new sleep study & they found that I only need the pressure set at 8. Before the change, I'd rip the mask off because the pressure was too high. Other times the CPAP machine would stop & start & stop & start or just stop all together.

Last night Don made it to bed at 11:30 & I, of course, didn't. I woke up at 10 this morning, to see someone walk through the hall. I called out, "Who is that?" Eddie came back & said, "Me." He didn't have service today & so he got to come spend the day.

Lent, Day 16

Saturday, 10:46 p.m. I can't remember what time I got to bed last night. I turned the computer off at 11:30, so it was probably close to midnight by the time I took my meds, folded & hung up my clothes in trying to find the bed. I do know I woke up at 9:02 this morning, sat up in bed & kept dozing off. I had taken off the CPAP mask & turned the machine off, but the next thing I knew, Don was bringing my cell phone in at 10:30 telling me Debbie was on the phone. The only Debbie I know is the lady that works in the church library with us every other Sunday & I knew it wasn't her Sunday, I knew that even waking up, how I don't know. It was Kim, calling me to tell me to disregard her voice message.

I didn't do my Saturday routine of filling med boxes. Nick hasn't gone to bed yet, but he'll soon be coming & asking where his evening meds are. I hope I have enough to fill the med boxes through the weekend for both of us.

Oh, today I went to Franklin to the egg farm to get eggs. Mother wanted to ride with me. On the way back through Franklin we drove past the relic hall & Mother said there were 2 deer on the relic hall lawn. I asked if they were real deer. Around here people put out wire deer for Christmas & a lot of Christmas decorations are still out. She said they looked like real deer to her. So I flipped a U-ie, & sure enough, there were 3 deer. I tried to get some pictures of them with my cell phone, & I did, but not very good ones.

I told her she wasn't blind enough that she couldn't see deer. She's always been good at spotting wild life. When we lived over in Rich County, Utah, she'd say there were some antelope or some deer & I would have totally missed them. One time, still in Woodruff (Utah), I was taking the boys trick or treating & hit a deer. The boys saw it coming but didn't say a word. I hit the deer & promptly had hysterics. I was only going 5-10 mph so I didn't kill it, I hope.

I'll try to remember to download the pictures before 11 p.m. tomorrow & post them.

Lent, Day 4

I'm a week ahead of myself. Tonight I told Mother that Daylight Savings Time starts tomorrow, but tomorrow is the 1st, not the 8th.

Giving up late nights is certainly a challenge. I've done my daily word search games already & checked my blogs & one message board, cleaned off the bed & cleaned my CPAP humidifier & mask. I noticed I have a tear on my mask. Just what I don't need. I know the mask is almost 2 years old, but instead of getting a new mask like my old one, I listened to what they said at my sleep study AND they said I needed a full face mask. I got the full face mask & I HATE the full face mask.

Anyway, last night I got to bed at 1 a.m. Yes, you read that right, 1 a.m. I slept until 12:35 today. Almost slept the clock around. My headache was at a 1 or 2 today instead of 5 or 6 like yesterday.

As far as decluttering, that didn't happen either.