Monday, May 22, 2023

May 22, 2023 Monday--1:45 am

Good early morning again!

Yup--I'm still on opposite hours.  Oh well.  I'm sleeping longer, so that's good.  No ear drops ever came in the mail.  I found the name of them on the sheet I got after the visit--so Leah picked me up a bottle when she was out shopping on Tuesday.  I didn't bother to call or follow up because I had a bottle and it sounded like something I might need to be using so I figured an extra bottle wouldn't hurt.  None ever came so I don't know if she actually did call in a prescription or not.  Didn't care enough to find out--lol!

I don't have my bone density scan until July 21st.  I have my CTscan, lab work, and visit with the oncologist coming up beginning of June.  So very nice to have appointments so far apart.  :)

Leah and the boys came on Monday to plant my Tango Red Geraniums from Costco. 

They brought my chair from the garage, too.
Each planter has a geranium on either end.
We'll be making a trip to Baker Nursery after they are back from vacation to buy a few more plants.  The petunias did fantastic last year, so some of those for sure.
Monday night McFamily went to visit a farm.  The chiropractor's receptionist (Leah's been going there for years since a car accident--and the whole family goes there sometimes) invited McFamily to come in the evening at feeding time.  Both Ian and Liam got to bottle feed the calves.
They bought the calves from another farm where the mama had triplets!  So rare!  But the mother only has milk for one calf so they bought these two and are bottle feeding them.  Brownie and Blackie.  No, I can't tell the difference--lol!  :)

They saw the adult chickens.  Ian held one but Liam wasn't quite up to that.
Then they went to see the little chicks!
When these chicks are old enough to start laying Leah can buy eggs from her!  Nice!
Liam was brave enough to pick up a chick.
You can tell they are not used to being around farm critters.  But they really enjoyed them!
Looks like a lovely little farm.  
Great picture of McFamily.
What did I get done this week?  The hallway bookcases are all emptied and the tops cleared off!
Just meant a lot of shuffling into the bedroom--LOL!  But they are ready to go!
I made beef soup.  Miscalculated and thawed out three packages of beef stew meat and could only fit two in the big crock pot...so I also made an actual beef stew with carrots, peas, and potatoes on the stove, too.  Leah also dropped off some foods before they left.  Well, she sent Dagan over with them because she was busy packing and getting ready to leave.  Anyways, I am all set for stuff to eat for a while--nice!!

Thursday McFamily were off to Itasca...bikes and all!
What a charming little cabin!

Looks like the boys will share a bed.
They were excited about having a fireplace and wanted a real fire.  It was a little chilly for a couple of days there but bounced back to 80s again here, anyways.
Leah said she'd have pictures after they came back...but she sent those in a text the day they arrived.  Luckily I have figured out how to get pictures from a text to my computer.  Love this one of the family in front of the fireplace.
And Sunday I got this one of the boys on the beach.
Happy Birthday to Leah (Sunday).  She got a whole entire birthday week escape!!  I hope they have just the very best time.

OMGoodness!  Leah has the rotating photos on my TV and I just saw the picture of when I started purging in the bathroom and had the washer and dryer piled with stuff...and there was that Murine ear cleaning kit box.  ROFL!  I had bought it way back long before covid due to my hearing loss getting worse over the years and people telling me it could be wax build up.  But--truth--I was too scared to use it--lol!  Eventually went to the walk-in clinic instead where he told me my ears were clean as a whistle...forgot all about that kit.  Found it when I was purging and tossed it.  Guess I should have kept it, eh?  Probably was expired.  I'd had it 4-5 years.  LOL!

Oh, and I never stick the Q-tips down into my ears.  Kind of swirl them around the outer edge of the top of the inside.  Anyways, I think it is just another thing that has been effected by the inflammation from head to toe.  One day I will be free of it...I hope.

Meanwhile, Ian went to the eye doctor (for the first time, I think) and found out he is colorblind.  Red and green.  I think they said Leah's Grandpa is (brain fog memory).  My uncle was, too.  My Mom bought a purple couch when we were kids and I remember her brother was totally shocked to find out it wasn't a green couch--LOL!  I know I see shades of green-blues, teals, and turquoise differently than Dagan and Leah do...so I might have a touch of it myself.  Mine seems to be seeing shades of greens and blues differently.  But I remember I could see the numbers when I was tested as a kid with those cards with all the colored circles or bubbles.  Are any of you colorblind?  

I remember being tested in grade school for hearing notes.  I was one of two kids in all of Parkview school who was told they had perfect pitch.  Which just had me set upon by choir and music teachers...and I had zero interest.  Got pushed into playing clarinet for a year.  I was horrible at it.  Having perfect pitch doesn't make you musically talented--lol!  I never notice anything different except on those occasions when I hear someone sing off key or hear an instrument played off key...it is a bit like chalk on a blackboard--lol!  I wonder if they test kids anymore for that?  Probably not.  Cripe!  They don't even teach kids cursive handwriting in most schools anymore, I heard.  

You can bet I will teach Ian and Liam cursive.  I already ordered a class with a set of videos and worksheets plus I bought a book all about cursive.  They didn't teach us till 5th grade, if I recall.  Or was it 6th?  Do you remember when you learned?  I loved handwriting assignments!  Seems to me it was somewhere around the same time that they first allowed to use pens in school, too...and my love affair with pens & paper began.  They asked if anyone was interested in having an international pen pal...and I began writing to Valerio in Italy...that's a story in itself!  Yes, I do think that was 5th grade.

Anyways, I'm going to post extra early once again because I just woke up at 6pm.  Yup--days and nights totally flipped.  They'll flip back eventually.  I did get to the bookcases this last week...hopefully I will get through switching clothes this coming week.  As long as I get to one big project I am happy.  My days of flying through projects are long gone--LOL!  No Energizer Bunny these days.  I am more like the tortoise in The Tortoise and The Hare--LOL!  But plodding away in a direction will still get you somewhere.  ;)

Whether you are sprinting or plodding along slowly...have a great week!!  Till next newsletter, my friends...have a good one!  :) :)

16 comments:

David M. Gascoigne, said...

You know what I remember most vividly about very early school days? It was learning to tie my own shoelaces, the reward for which was a little pack of cookies. Talk about incentive!

Anvilcloud said...

I think we may have switched to cursive and pens in gr4. Remember dipping a nib in an ink bottle?

Deb J. in Utah said...

Cute pictures of McFamily at the farm and on their vacation. I am sure they will have a splendid time. It was another productive week for you. I need to get some more things packed as the tenants in our house will be out next weekend and we will start fixing up the place then moving our things in. It's good that you will be teaching your grandsons to write in cursive. I think it is ridicules that is one of the things no longer taught in school. Public education perplexes me. Even though I am a teacher, I strongly disagree with so much of what is taught and not taught. I am glad to hear that things are going well for you, even if you days and nights are still switched. Have a great week! See you again soon.

Hena Tayeb said...

Happy Birthday to Leah. A week long escape sound perfect.
The farm trip looks so much fun.. the kids must have had a blast.
I don't think I know anyone that is colorblind.

DJan said...

I realized I never commented on your post, so I reread it and here I am! I don't know anybody who is colorblind, so that's interesting to learn about Leah. Happy birthday to her and the trip looks like a perfect getaway! :-)

Diane F. said...

Love the Family pictures!!! Happy Birthday Leah!.
Summer is here💕🤗

Far Side of Fifty said...

My Dad could never tell the difference between navy blue, black and brown...so sometimes he wore a blue shirt with brown pants. After so long he would just ask someone ...Does this go together? Third grade...my sister in law taught cursive in third grade. I think we started some in second grade myself but that could have just been our wonderful teacher who had beautiful handwriting! Looks like MC Family had a fun time at the Park:)

Jeanie said...

You've had a pretty great week, I'd say. Love that you have red geraniums. Boy, some serious sticker shock on plants here this year. Ouch! Isn't it fun to see those empty cases? I've been sorting and purging like a crazy woman but so far it's all small stuff and no one can tell, even me, unless I look inside things. I don't know if I'll be ready for my yard sale or not!

Janie Junebug said...

Happy Birthday, Leah! The boys are so cute with the animals. I know Leah will like buying the eggs those chickens produce. The cabin looks a lot nicer than my Aunt Evelyn's at Lake Ottertail with its stinky outhouse and water so hard you couldn't even make decent tasting drinks with it. I'm sure the boys are having loads of fun. You ended up with a lot of meals from your stew meat. I've been eating a lot of chicken and broccoli. It's convenient. My dad always said he wasn't color blind; he was color ignorant. I'm not sure what that meant but my mom was always angry about the clothes he picked out to wear together. One time we were going somewhere. She wasn't home while he was getting ready so he asked me what he should wear. I picked out navy trousers with a yellow shirt. She got home and said for once he was dressed decently. He gave me a secret smile. I'm not sure when teaching cursive stopped. I think David learned it. He was born in 1980. Katrina was born in 1986. When she went into fourth grade the teachers got after the kids for not knowing cursive so we parents asked about it and the third grade teachers said cursive was no longer part of the curriculum. I didn't like cursive lessons because my handwriting was messy and the teacher called me up to the board to make letters and then shamed me for the way I did it. I don't think we ever had our hearing tested.Maybe we did once in third grade. I have a vague memory of it. We had sight tested with eye charts and then the other kids would make fun of me and say you did so bad. Well, of course I did. I still need very high-powered glasses! Not being able to see wasn't like not being able to figure out a complicated math problem. Again, you've accomplished a lot with the cleaning and purging. Hope the rest of your week goes well.

Love,
Janie

Divers and Sundry said...

You and your family always have so much going on! I think that cabin looks like a great vacation spot. I like beef/veggie soup and beef soup, so I'd be happy with either option. Both sounds great!

I remember learning cursive, and we never did use some of those letter forms in our writing. Our kids learned Italic cursive. I don't know anybody who is color blind. I do remember taking that test and the hearing test in elementary school.

The little chicks (and the kids) are adorable, aren't they!

Jim and Barb's Adventures said...

You went to Parkview? If it's the same Parkview, we were not too far apart. I went to Fairview.
What are the odds that both of our blogs have pictures of kids with chickens this week!?!

Rita said...

Jim,
I wrote a long comment and blogger wouldn't let me post it. Grrr! It disappeared. I'm going to try again.
Short version-- went to Parkview elementary in Fridley, MN from 1958-1961--3rd through 6th grade. I don't know where Fairview is or was. Parkview is long gone and turned into a community center I was told.
My suburban grandsons and chickens--not expected--lol!

Jo-Anne's Ramblings said...

Such a lovely lot of photos of the boys having fun seeing them happy and having fun makes one's heart glow. I am like a tortoise myself old and slow

Victoria Zigler said...

Plodding is sometimes the only way to get things done. But that's OK. :)

Sounds like McFamily had a great time with the farm animals and on their trip.

Happy late birthday to Leah.

Jim and Barb's Adventures said...

Different Parkview then. The one I was thinking of was in Roseville.

Rita said...

But still--in all of the United States that's only a different suburb of Minneapolis--LOL!! It is still close. :)