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This morning was not an improvement. Susie could not walk, and she has really failed to wake up to this day. She is half-asleep much of the day.

She could not walk this morning, so I had to carry Susie to a rollator and roll her to get some food and water. I then helped her dress, and Susie finally managed to walk with her rollator from the bathroom to the chair in the living room.

I had to do more laundry. I will remake the bed tonight. I may have Susie sleep on the other side of the bed to get to a wheelchair. We have some other options too that might work.

Work was a mix of Zoom meetings and me rushing to check on Susie. I managed to use GrubHub to order lunch. I had a gyro from Gyro House. Susie had her fav of a Chicken McNugget Happy Meal with apples.

While all of this was going on, I also scheduled Susie’s upcoming appointments. Susie has Physical Therapy at 10AM in Portland on Thursday (tomorrow). The Occupational Therapy is scheduled for January (!) with Susie on a waitlist for a sooner date. There is a dentist appointment next week too.

Jeff showed up at 1ish. He did all the work on the last bathroom, and we decided to remodel or refresh (as we are leaving the floor plan alone) the master bathroom. We are following the same plan as the last remodel. Jeff picks what he likes in gray colors as if it was his bathroom. He sent me pics of tile samples, and I agreed to them. Work will begin the Monday after Thanksgiving. Note, there will be more handles on the bathroom after he is done and a taller toilet.

Also, Jeff will make a few minor fixes to the main bathroom and power wash the deck (slippery with moss). We talked about some electrical updates as a follow-up job. Susie and I will have to move out of the master bedroom while the work is done. It will take a week (or more). It should be done way before Christmas.

Next, 1-800-Got-Junk trucks showed up. We cleared out part of the garage and some broken items that have accumulated at the house. The old day bed is gone, as is the junk on the deck and other aging items that have been slowly ruining in the garage. This is one of the things I wanted to do on my sabbatical.

Corwin is starting to clear out some of his stuff. But, again, we have been on Covid-19 bunker mode, a 1400 sqft house with people who buy too many things. It looks like Sears, a bookstore, and gaming store exploded. So tomorrow, I will move some board games to the cleared shelves in the garage. I also plan to take a lot of books to Good Will and other local booksellers. Sowly getting to our post Covid-19 house.

Dinner for Susie was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a glass of milk. I had a cheeseburger I ordered from McDonald’s at lunchtime (Corwin split it with me) and some clam chowder soup.

Susie is ending the evening watching an old western, For A Few Dollars More, while I am still doing a bit of housework.

I am hoping for a better day for Susie on Thursday.

The morning started after a night of broken sleep. The pain in my leg woke me up a few times. I was able to manage it with Tylenol. It made the 6ish start hard.

I managed to start all the meetings and get dressed and all shiny for my first video status meeting. Which was at 7:35. It is a meeting between the USA and India-based development for data conversion software.

After that, I had a few more status meetings. I checked with Susie, and she was not ready to get going. I did get her the meds for the morning, and she took them.

Susie was stiff and half asleep still but finally started to move around 10:30ish, and we had a plodding walk to the bathroom. Susie was able to dress and started to wake up.

Susie could sit down more safely (not just dropping into the chair) in the living room after getting dressed. I then got her a breakfast of apple sauce, toast with jam, coffee, and milk.

The shoe company was quiet for me, and soon I had Susie up again and then dressed for outdoors. We used the wheelchair outdoors and got into Air Volvo.

We managed to get to the doc without incident. We spoke to the doctor for an hour, and he had to do the paperwork. We also did a blood draw for Susie that the lab managed on one tiny vein in Susie’s hand with one try. Various therapies and processes have now started–it all starts with your doc referring you.

It was past 4PM now. No lunch so far, and dinner time is just a bit away, and thus I decided to take Susie out. McMinneman’s Cedar Hills Pub is right there.

Susie had 1/2 a beer and me a full one. Evan called and was just around the corner, so he joined us. Susie had more than just me to talk to!

Susie ordered a burger with cheese and bacon that she ate just most of the burger and some of the bun and fries. I had a pasta item as it was Vodka sauce to see how their’s taste. Evan had a white pizza.

We had a nice break from the house. We returned home without issue. Again we switched between the wheelchair and then to the walker (rollator) in the house.

Susie was falling asleep in the chair at 9:30, so I got her in bed. I had done a load of laundry of soiled items so that I could have things ready. I am doing a load of laundry every day now. I managed to get to bed at 10ish, which is early for me, but I was tired.

My sleep was interrupted again by pain. I managed to use aspirin to stop the pain and then later Tylenol.

I am rushed a bit today so sorry if I left any typos.

Monday is my second Monday back to work. Next week Nike has given us the holiday week off. I started a bit early, still waking a few times, and forgot to set my radio to wake me. So I still was up at 6ish.

I started a rushed morning as I have Zoom status meetings all morning.

Susie was tired and did not want to get going in the early morning.

I finished all my meetings and got Susie her meds.

I finally got Susie going about 10:00ish, a bit late, and she is clearly not a morning person.

Susie was cleaned up and dressed. She still cannot get out of the bed without my help, and her initial steps are stiff and unsteady. Once she connects to her walker (the one with wheels and a seat) and gets around the old sharp and massive bed frame (thus the need for a hospital bed), she can walk. Susie leans to one side and sometimes puts too much weight on the walker, but I guard her the whole time.

Susie can dress herself this time. I do not have to hold her up and somehow dress her simultaneously (I need Spiderman powers for this new role). Susie can use her walker to get to her chair and sits down safely. This makes me hopeful.

Susie needs me to pull her out of the lovely leather chairs that are deep and comfy. Previously, she could get out of them. I will wait for a PT person to solve this, or Susie remembers how or gains the strength to do this.

I make Susie her fav, scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese (medium sharp) and toast. A glass of milk is also welcome. I had a banana and coffee, so I slipped in a bit of egg and toast too.

Aside: Someday, I will have a non-stick pan for eggs. Corwin cleaned the kitchen last night for me, but the pan I used for the egg is soaking in cold water overnight.

I did put on the Bloomberg News for Susie, which interested her a bit (she did nod off in the afternoon). News is always good as it provides some exciting subjects here and there.

Susie watched TV for the afternoon. She also started back her usual meds and vitamins. The message in MyChart from the doc said to return to them. One med overlaps the other, so I will ask about that at Tuesday’s meeting with the doc.

For dinner was a fav, McDonald’s Happy meal (with apples), for Susie, and for me, a taco salad and a potato from Wendy’s. I like their chili, and a salad just works for me.

I managed a nap during the afternoon, and Susie and Corwin let me sleep part of the early evening as I was pretty tired.

Susie managed to stay up to 10:30ish and managed to change her clothing with me just guarding her. The PT folks in New York City said that Susie must be guarded, so I stayed with her.

Susie needs more Tylenol as the pain in her shoulder bothers her most when she tries to sleep. I have the other painkiller ready; it needs food and causes sleepiness if Susie gets more pain and Tylenol is not enough.

I did more laundry and have 1800GotJunk scheduled to help clear out well junk.

I ordered the groceries (forgetting to order bananas) and will have them delivered Tuesday night.

Pain in my right leg has returned. I suspected it was a reaction to the chair sitting and Zoom meetings at Nike. In NYC, the pain and stiffness went away. However, Monday night, it was pretty painful. I finally had to take some aspirin for it to stop hurting enough to sleep again at 4:30ish.

I am hopeful as it was not a great day, but there were slight improvements.

Sorry, I forgot to take some photos.

I started Sunday a bit later and was happy to get the extra hours of sleep. I seldom sleep until 8ish and never straight through, but I did get more sleep on Sunday. Despite having to lift Susie a few times, I also did not have any new pains that did not work themselves out in a few minutes. So it was a nice start. I wrote the blog in the morning.

Susie frustratingly was unable to walk this morning. She managed, with much help, to get out of bed and sit in her rolling seat walker. We then did everything needed, and I had to pick her up and place her in the chair in the living room.

Thusly, I was online for the church meeting, Zoom, that covers “Joys and Concerns.” Most of the time in the meeting was used to discuss the unexpected resignation of our Pastor Jefferson. I had to pop off to help Susie.

Susie needed some help, so I was late for the next church Zoom group meeting hosted by Joan. Our church is in conflict with the district, and there is a committee for that. Much of the time was used to discuss that. I resigned my membership in the Methodist Church after the anti-gay policy called The Traditional Plan was accepted by the General Conference. I give no money except for a few outreach programs, but I help cook and be helpful. Not being in church leadership anymore or a member prevents me, so far, from even reading the report. Sunday, I heard in the meeting that my work in the past had been called out as faulty, but later I was told that I misunderstood the discussion. It is frustrating.

Susie continued to need help all morning and into the afternoon, almost every 90 minutes. I turned down a quick chance to step out and have a beer. Today, I just continued on with laundry and a little housework.

I ordered the same lunch again from Red Robin. A small burger for Susie and a chicken breast plate for me. Before it arrived, I finally managed to get dressed. I had to help Susie a few more times.

Ice skating was on at 1PM, so we had that on. I rested a few times as my muscles are complaining a bit.

Susie did manage to get out of her chair without help once and did walk to the bathroom with her walker twice and even to the bedroom. That gave me hope and reduced my frustration.

Seeing our new limited, I did cancel Susie’s appointment with Zerida on Mondays as she cannot walk well enough to be safe with Zeriada and her driver. So I will wait until we have PT and other folks helping. That new help should be at least ordered on Monday.

I made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Mariah and her little dog Ramone came by, and we watched Sunday Night Football. Kansas City crushed Las Vegas. Susie is always delighted to have visitors with pets.

Returning to dinner, the sauce was from a jar, and I baked all the meatballs left in the freezer in the oven. It was still a bit of a homey meal. Something to lessen the stress for me, something I can control. Corwin cleaned up the kitchen for me later.

I ended the night watching the new chaotic next Doctor Who episode. I liked it as it is the next chapter in a story. Doctor Who has returned to its original model of telling a story over multiple showings.

Susie went to bed after that at 9ish. Still a bit early, but it was a challenging workout for her getting up and down so many times on Sunday. I followed her to bed at 10:30ish.

 

I was up around 6ish again and slept better. I find that it takes a week sometimes to get the time change to change one hour. I was waking at 4 for a while and finally now at 5. Now, I can go back to sleep at 5, so the re-aliment to West Coast time has finally started. The fall-back clock change shortens the jetlag too.

I had a banana and coffee that I made. I did the usual thing of reading my emails, and I put the Nike computer away for the weekend. If I leave the Nike laptop open, I will start reading and doing work stuff instead of having a weekend. So I close it and move it off the table.

Susie was going about 8:45, which meant my shower and getting ready for a 9:30 haircut would not happen. I then helped Susie get going. She still could not get out of the bed. Her speech was better than the day before, but she still struggled to get words out and communicate.

Once Susie is moving, she can do things again. I asked Susie to say her numbers, and they were hard to understand, and she slurred over the number five.

With Susie dressed and having breakfast, I got dressed. Susie was much better after some food and water. However, she is still struggling to get words out.

Evan came over after some pickle-ball games. He helped me clean up the recycling and trash bags that had accumulated by the kitchen. Things look much better now.

Evan hung out with Susie while I folded the laundry. A mass of laundry had accumulated even before the trip to NYC, and, sadly, I had planned to finish it when I got back from NYC after a short trip. I managed to get it folded and at least ready to be put away in a laundry basket.

Evan and I popped off to get take-out lunch at the local teriyaki place just minutes away. Susie had a chicken bowl, Evan some noodles and shrimp, and me some shrimp and beef teriyaki.

Leta called to remind me that ice skating was on the Italy Grand Prix. Susie watched that with an intensity that made me happy.

Evan fell asleep in the chair and then borrowed the spare bedroom for a bit. I had emptied the suitcases and moved them off the bed. Yeah! Finally, not living still out of a suitcase. Which meant there was more laundry to do. So I continued on with the laundry battles.

I also managed a 30 min nap. Then, back to the laundry and helping Susie to get to the restroom. Each time she is more capable. I am hopeful.

I found my Phantom mask in the luggage while finally unpacking!

I found a fav movie we have not seen in a while, The 13th Warrior, which was made before The Game of Thrones or before Vikings were sexy on HBO. Seeing it again, it is clear that this movie, mostly forgotten, hints at the future styles. Evan and Susie watch that while I cook.

I get out some bone-in pork chops from the freezer–the best item I think Schwann’s sells. They are thin and do not need extra salt. I fry them in butter in the big metal pan. I add Herbs de Provence to the chops before I fry them. I like the herbs to be pressed into the side when they fry in butter.

Before starting the chops, I wash six large-ish carrots and place them in a glass dish. Sprinkle with salt and drizzle olive oil on them. Then, I bake them for 40 minutes (I think–I was not watching the clock), often turning to keep the caramelization from not happening on one side (meaning: don’t let them burn). This makes a more fall flavor instead of the regular steaming carrots.

I make stuffing out of a box; Stovetop Cornbread, using 1/4 stick of butter, I melt and get hot in a saucepan and set aside. Next, I use an electric teapot to get the hot water for the stuffing. Then, I dumped the packet into the butter, added the boiling water, stirred, and covered it.

We paused the movie, an old DVD we have had for years, and enjoyed dinner. We finished the film, and I always enjoy the show’s cheerful ending. I recommend The 13th Warrior.

Evan left as we put on the Svengoolie show, it was getting late. Today the show was presenting a genuinely awful movie this time, The Indestructible Man with Lon Cheny, Jr., I mainly looked at the hats, suits, and insanely revealing dresses used in the 1950s. The movie is like a telescope back into the 1950s moviemaking.

Susie decided it was time to head to bed, and so, I, not having any issue missing parts of the movie, helped Susie get to bed. She was able to do most of it on her own now. She also could say her numbers without slurring them. While still difficult, more words and sentences were working for her. I am hopeful.

I finally went to bed at 10:30ish, trying to get over the time change.