Sunday, February 26, 2012

Everything from Bingo to Obamacare!!

My Facebook Photo
Life continues to be busy and, thankfully, I seem to be slowly recovering my energy.  The first part of last week was taken with getting my oldest kitty feeling better.  He had become very lethargic, seemed to have difficulty eating, and developed a limp in his hind leg.  Then on Sunday morning he had some kind of little "spasm", for lack of a better work, on the bed, after which there was a lot of licking and tongue contortions.  After a few minutes, things settled down.  Later in the day, as I was checking on him, he yawned and revealed a new snaggle-toothed look......he had lost one of his upper canine teeth!!  I immediately went to the bed and, sure enough, there was the broken tooth.  So, on Monday he was off to the vet.  She suggested giving the leg a little time to resolve itself, which is what I expected.  But, the dental problem was a bit more complicated.  He had Feline Resorptive Lesions, which I'd never heard of but is supposed to be very painful (and accounted for his difficulty eating and all the repercussions of that).  Needless to say, this involved dental work - cleaning, remainder of broken tooth removed and a molar removed - and $$$$$$$.  But, he is an absolutely precious kitty and I had to do it for him.  He was in the clinic from 8AM until around 3:30PM.  I was concerned about the anesthesia, but he got along fine.  It took about 3 days for him to be fully become himself again, but he is eating more easily and better, and the limp has gone away, too.  So, all is well at this point.

That was Monday through Wednesday.  On Thursday I had lunch with a friend, whom I hadn't seen in a while, so we had a good catch-up.  On Friday my mother went to Bingo at Indigo Pines.  Once she was settled at the Bingo table, I took my book and found a nice reading spot.  It was there that I encountered the Kissing Bandit!!  He was a 95 year old man who approached and asked if he could kiss me!!  After some insistence, I allowed him to kiss me on the cheek, thinking that would be the end of it, but no!!  Finally I just said, "No, you sit there and I'll sit here!"  He talked about his farm in Kentucky, his wife passing away, his mother dying in childbirth, and his daughter who lives in town but doesn't visit as often as he'd like - a really sweet, sad, heart-wrenching experience (except for the kissing part).  I kept wondering whether, in his earlier life, he was a warm, caring, sensitive man or just a letch......but whichever, there is a sadness about him now.

Bingo went well and she/we met more nice people.  We're meeting with Jennifer on Monday to discuss cost, availability, etc........and I'm hoping it will not be totally prohibitive. Lest things become too easy, she mentioned today that she'd like to check out the assisted living facility in NC!!  At least one part of that is good.....the assisted living part.  IP is independent living and I'm not sure my mother is able to participate as much as she thinks she can/will.  Twice recently we've gone out and had to cut it short because she was not feeling well enough to go on.  It's a fine balance between someplace that will keep her stimulated and interested when she's feeling up to it, but will look after her in those times when she isn't......without being too depressing. Think good thoughts for us.

Then, out of the blue, I received a letter from my doctor saying that she is going to a VIP/concierge/boutique kind of service to the tune of $1500 "membership fee"/year........reducing her practice from around 2000 to 500-600, with a guaranteed base income.  As much as I like her, that isn't anything I would be interested in on any level.....and I'm disappointed that she's taking that route.  When having lunch with my friend, she recommended another female doctor who happens to be right out our back gate.  So on my Thursday walk I stopped by her office and got my name on her new patient list (she will be taking new patients in May).  My neighbor (R) received the same letter from our doctor and called to say that the medical profession is likely to go in that direction because of "Obamacare".  She complained about the price of gas, the tax in the healthcare bill on the sale of homes, and our moral decline as a nation, all of which seems to fall at the feet of President Obama.  You can imagine how that went over! We had discussed the real estate tax associated with the healthcare plan a long time ago, but she assured me that this was something different.  From the best I could gather online, it was the same old, tired scare-tactic email that went around early on.  I forwarded her the links to the info I found and asked her to send any information she might find to verify her information.  Haven't heard from her since.....

"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts."   --Daniel Patrick Moynihan 

Other than that, I've re-done the finish on my kitchen table top.  Rather than putting a polyurethane finish on it, I sanded the spots that needed it and used Restorit, an oil based product.  I think it needs a second coat, but I'm pleased with the results thus far.  I've also looked high and low for a bathroom carpet (which needs to be long and narrow) - bringing them home and taking them back!!  Finally I went to Home Depot and had a 12 foot wide carpet cut  to the width of the bathroom.  In a stroke of luck, the guy who helped me was a personable, helpful kind of person.  He happened to mentioned that "of course" I knew that it was easier to cut the carpet  from the back  than the front.  Well, I didn't know that, but it turned out to be the single bit of information that made the whole process fast and easy.  I rolled the carpet from the door to the end of the bathroom, folded it over and cut it to shape to the doorway and vanity at the other end.  I had thought of that option as the last resort because I didn't think I could cut it and have it look nice - and I probably could not have had I not run into the right person at the right time.  Many thanks for small blessings!


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