Paying my last respects

I am waiting up for 2 of our cats to come in from playing night games, yawn. Little buggers.

I probably could read another chapter of Alma while I'm waiting. This is the same place I got to the last time I attempted reading The Book of Mormon in 100 days. Lent is over, meaning the push to successfully complete the challenge of celebrating Lent is over. It was especially important to me after I failed so dismally last year.

Sam just came in, without a mouse. Now for Marsha.

Don, Mother & I went to the mortuary last night for Gwen Hulse Wheeler Cottle Fish's viewing. The new mortuary is SOOO nice. Today I took Mother to the funeral at our church. We could only stay for part of it because we didn't think to reschedule Mother's hair appt. But Mother was there for the life sketch, which Edna & FayeLynn gave. They stood together & talked in turn. It was really well-done. I wonder if they practiced. They mentioned Mother. Five of her 10 grandchildren gave "Memories of Grandma." Each of her 4 children were represented by one of their grown kids & both of FayeLynn's daughters spoke. It was a stretch for most of them, as her grandchildren are not active in the church. Derick, one of her grandsons, said, "Public speaking is not one of my strong points." He did very well. Public speaking is not a strong point for a lot of people who are active in the church. Most of us do get a chance to practice though.

I took Mother to her hair appt & went back to the funeral in time for the ending of the bishop's remarks, Robert Child sang "That Wonderful Mother of Mine," accompanied by his wife, Karen, who is also our (mine & Mother's) visiting teacher. The benediction was given by a stepson, Scott Fish. I went out to the cemetery. Gwen was buried in Dayton, next to her first husband Fay. After I picked up Mother, we ate at the Subway & then I took her back down to the church for the family luncheon so she could visit with Gwen's sister Venda.

It is so strange to look out the window & see Gwen's house sitting dark. It's strange to drive by during the day & see the drapes pulled. In the funeral today they said Wheelers moved into that house in 1953. I was just small. The house burned in the mid-'50s & Gwen & the kids lived in Glendale while Fay rebuilt their house. For virtually all of my life, Gwen has only lived 3 houses up the street.

Well, Marsha is in, so I'm off to bed.

Moving in May, 5/3

I did it again today. I took a walk for 15 minutes. Today was worse than Friday. Today was what I expected Friday to be. I walked right after dinner though & had a serious pain in my abdomen. It wasn't a stitch, it was right up there where the ulcer/gall bladder pain comes & go. I had to rest several times.

I also walked down & fed the dog before I went over to Mother's so that I wouldn't have to feed him in the dark.

We had a serious thunderstorm. Lightning & thunder & then a deluge. I told Mother I hoped it didn't blow the birds nest out from under the eaves. Speaking of birds, there was a live bird flying around in our house today. I had my hearing aid turned off & was working on one of my online communities, adding a forum for food storage, & missed the whole thing. We're wondering how it got in. There's a couple of ways that come to mind. A cat brought it in & it wasn't dead or it got in through the hole in Nick's bedroom. I thought that had been sealed up, but Don wasn't sure.

I'm grateful for friends that have similar health problems today. I realized that I didn't have any lexapro & hadn't taken it yesterday. That explains the bad headache & shakiness. I called Kim & asked her if either she or Shari takes lexapro. It seemed like one of them did. Kim does & luckily she had some extra. I ran over to get one & she gave me 2. She takes the same dosage I do, whew!

Tonight I was filling Mother's pill boxes & she didn't have any coumadin. She was wondering who she could borrow a pill from & remembered that both Arlene Wanner & Gwen Fish take coumadin. I told her to call Arlene & see if she could borrow a pill. Arlene takes 5 mg pills of warfarin, which is generic for coumadin. The doctor doesn't want Mother taking the generic because her protime is so hard to keep stable. I figured 5 mg of warfarin was better than nothing. Mother was supposed to take 6 mg this evening.

So, tomorrow I need to get 3 scrips for me & 2 for Mother. I need metformin, lexapro & lisinopril, my blood pressure pill. Mother needs coumadin & cardizem. I remember we took those bottles down on Tuesday when Mother had her protime because there were no refills left. Becky, Dr. Otrusinik's nurse, said she'd call them in to Preston Drug. I immediately spaced it, sigh.

Mufasa did what?

Tonight Mother asked me if Gwen (Fish, neighbor up the street) or Heidi (whose married name I do not know, but Gwen's granddaughter whose parents, Mark & FayLynne Owen, live down the street) had called me. I said no, & asked why were they going to call me. Arlene (Wanner, neighbor across the street) said that Gwen had called her & told her that our big dog had bit Heidi & broken the skin. Now, if Mufasa had bit Heidi & broken the skin, why wouldn't they call us or come & tell us? Heidi is a grown woman & I think is on her second marriage. It's not like she's a little kid & couldn't come to tell us that our dog had bitten her.

I know Mufasa hasn't been out on his own all this week. Don took him out for a walk on Monday on a leash. They went around the block. On Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, he was out, but he didn't get away from me. Eddie & Don came down to help me untangle him from the trampoline. Then yesterday, Don came down & held him on his leash, while I cleaned out the kennel. Or at least thought I had the kennel cleaned out. I left a pile of doo doo in the middle of the kennel & walked through it, **GROSS**

A few times before that, we'd let him out, but he'd come right back, with the exception of one evening, it was the night of Don's service dinner. I thought we'd lost him for sure, but he soon came bounding back, jumping on Don & dancing around.

Then there was the day that someone let him in the house. So, I'm a little torqued that Arlene & Gwen are again spreading rumors. I'm glad Mother let me know so that if a police officer comes pulling up to the door & tells me my dog bit a neighbor, I am forewarned.

Mufasa has "bit" us. He mouths us, but if he intended to bite, he'd have bitten. He could've chomped down on my wrist & broken the bone. He doesn't have a mean bone in his body. He's just an overgrown puppy that's not used to be caged up & has boundless energy.