Rialto Restoration

This is a very poor video, but it does show the neon light on the Rialto, restored to their former glory. There is a big push to totally restore it to its grander. They have already replaced the glass tiles on the front and replaced the projector with a digital system. Now they have the neon restored in time for Christmas. Next, they plan on restoring the interior. It certainly needs restoration, but it has been an ole faithful for "dollar" movies in Searcy.

Post Thanksgiving and the big 65!

The folks at Careway told me this morning that Keri had a fall there last week. Actually, she sat down on the floor in the bathroom when she was supposed to be sitting on the toilet. That is not unusual and I must always be near to direct her to where she is to sit. Just now, as I was putting her to bed, she tried to sit down several times before we were near the bed. I will need to continually watch that.

Yesterday, she woke up talking. It was actually a stream of consciousness that seemed to be grammatically intact, but random and often repetitious. She often said things during Church, often repeating a word or thought of the preacher. She kept it up all during lunch and throughout the afternoon. We left my mom's to come home and the vocalizations continued until I got her in bed. It continued most of the night, but seemed to slack off today. She seems to be much more emotional lately. She will often begin to cry and I can't always figure out why.

Yesterday was my 65th birthday. Mom stayed up extremely late Saturday night to make me the sugar-free raisin-apple sauce cake that Zelda Hoaglan came up with back in 1975, when I was first diagnosed as a diabetic. It was good to be with her on my 65th. I had so wanted Ian to stay, but he headed back to Searcy on Friday. I thought I would get to spend some time with him because we returned to Searcy by 7:30, but it was not to be. He came in around 11:30 and I just told him goodnight.

He called me at 11:00 this morning, having remembered that yesterday was my birthday and told me there was a gift and card at home. He later said that they were still at the shop and he would bring them home tomorrow. It really isn't important, but Keri no longer remembers, and it would have been special if Ian had made some effort. But, as Cookie says, "It is what it is."

Thanksgiving

!!!!!!!! The chocolate pudding worked at breakfast and tonight at supper. She just kept saying she loved it and I never mentioned that her pills were crushed up and in the pudding. I didn't know what we were going to do. We are at my moms for the holidays. I'm afraid it might be a rough few days. We hadn't been here 20 minutes before I was reprimanded for arriving late, driving after dark, and we were headed for another when I reacted. It IS going to be a calm and happy Thanksgiving.

Medicine Crisis!

Keri has reached the point where it is almost impossible to get her to take her pills. She has so many of them, and she begins to cry the minute I lay them on the table. She allows them to dissolve in her mouth and doesn't always understand that she needs to take them with water. Once she begins to drink, we can't get her to put a pill in her mouth. I am getting desperate. I'm heading to her physician right now to get some advice.

Pre-Thanksgiving Lunch at Careway Center

Just finished a pre-Thanksgiving meal at Careway Center with Keri. The staff served lunch to the families of their patients and we all got to visit. It was really nice. I meant to take some photos but forgot until most were gone. Ian came and Keri was thrilled to see us both there for lunch. A good time was had by all!

Thanksgiving Week!

Today Ian and I are going to Careway to have lunch with Keri. This is their Thanksgiving meal that they share with families. Keri is looking forward to it and is dressed in her pumpkin top and matching socks. She cried several times this morning and it was hard to redirect her. It began with taking her pills, of course. We are going to need to do something about her emotional health. We had a rapid, unexpected trip to Mom's on Saturday. I am convinced she just wanted company, but it may have been OCD concern about winterizing her cabin. It was a good trip, but, once again, I got nothing done here. The campus is shut down this week for Thanksgiving and there is no one here, but it is a good time to catch up on some stuff. I especially need to attend to little things like paperwork. It looks like I will never catch up. It looks like I will repeat my resignation at Alberta Children's Hospital so many years ago. I resigned effective the end of June. It took me well into July to complete all my paperwork. Such is life with a procrastinator.

The Christmas Season begins in several days. Keri, Ian, and I hope to go to Silver Dollar City for the Christmas Festival. We will need to obtain a wheelchair for Keri, but I'm determined to do it. We are making every minute count. Our friend, Stacey Peters (AKA Santa Pete) just released his newest portrait. It is perfect, so I wanted to post it in this blog so I would have it.

Observed Changes

The last several days have been more difficult than usual. Keri is getting very emotional and I can't always tell what is making her cry. She is also saying "I'm sorry." a lot. This behavior is especially apparent during pill time. Getting her to take her pills is so difficult. She will pick up a pill, look at it, and maybe put it in her mouth. Then I usually need to direct her to get a drink of water. She then struggles to swallow it. Then we start again. She has approximately 10 pills in the morning, 1 at lunch, and 5 at supper. I tried crushing many of the up in applesauce, but that didn't work. I'm trying it again tonight.

Keri must also have assistance sitting down and getting up. She has fallen several times, because when she decided to sit, there may or may not be a chair nearby. If there is a chair, she can't back up to it, so usually ends up sitting/slouching more than is needed.

She is sleeping some better. I stayed up until 2:30 am tracking Ian and his friends as they travelled back from a concert in Nashville. They appeared to be safely progressing so I went to bed. When Keri had to get up around 4:45, Ian was in bed. I had hoped to sleep late, but Keri was ready to go at 6:15 this morning, so we began our day.

Another Try!

I have been having a great deal of trouble posting anything from my iPhone or my iPad. I mentioned this awhile back, but it hasn't gotten any better. It seems that Blogger, the host, has not updated their program to work with the newest operating systems used on iPads and iPhones. It does seem to be working on my Mac however.

The world has drastically changed since I wrote my last blog. We have elected Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States. I'm not a doom and gloom predictor, but I am frightened. We are just a day away from me being unemployed. Just figurative, of course, but Keri continues to progress and she is not eligible for Medicare until November 2017. All of President-Elect Trump's rhetoric describes a nation filled with egocentric individuals who could care less about anyone else. I hope and pray that it was all rhetoric and that he will reconsider many of his statements as he moves forward. My big regret, however, deals with Clinton. She was the most prepared of any person in our history. I certainly did not agree with all of her policies, but I know her. I know her heart and she would have made the best President we would have ever had. My feeling of loss is tremendous. Hate mongers spread such vile posts about her. They were later proven to be false and started by individuals for political reasons. I strongly feel that people who repost that type of garbage without researching it for authenticity will face the same judgement that people who lye, gossip, and slander will face. I think it will come as quite a shock to them when they have to account for that. There is a gailic saying; "Whoever burns his backside, must himself sit on it."

My Son, Ian

Ian is an extremely intelligent. He is also a very caring young man. He takes wonderful care of his mom when he needs to. He has certainly taken a different track to get to where he is today. I had so hoped that he would get some support at Harding Academy, but that seldom happened. He never measured up to their expectations but they were never willing to help. For example, HA had a rule that you couldn't wear cloths with holes in them. That was a rule we certainly agreed with. We were unprepared for the day he got in trouble for wearing a knit polo shirt with a hole. The hole was the size of a pencil lead and was typical of wear. Ian had to wear another shirt because that shirt "violated the rules."

Anyway, he has become very interested in bouldering, something I would call rock climbing. He tied for third place in the advanced devision several weeks ago, and attended a climbing event near Birmingham, AL this past weekend. Here is a photo of him bouldering and a pumpkin he carved for Zion, the climbing gym where he works each week. I really am proud of him!

We Did All We Could!

Keri and I voted yesterday. She knew exactly who she wanted to vote for and I just helped her select the one she wanted. She only cancelled out one of my votes. I voted for French Hill. He is a dear friend and I feel I owe him my support. Unfortunately, his politics are very different from mine. Keri had no intention of voting for him. Of course, she really doesn't know French.

We are, of course, very worried about this election. When it is over, this coming Tuesday, the world will be a different place. We will either have our first woman president. Keri and I have known Hillary, and her husband Bill, for many years. Hillary would make such a good president. She is intelligent, talented, experienced in world affairs. I certainly don't believe in everything she supports, but she would make a wonderful president. I hope this is what we wake up to onWednesday.

The alternative is terrifying. Donald Trump stands a chance to be our president. I'm afraid, he acts like a petulant 13 year old. I have never heard him maintain his cool in any type of situation where anyone disagrees with him. If he is elected, we will truly see how well designed our political system truly is!

Very Nice Halloween!

Yesterday was a very, very nice day. Work was work and I have no specific memories from there. Ian wanted to carve some pumpkins with his mom, so he bought a couple of pumpkins and picked her up from Careway early. When I got home at 5:45, the living room was more chaotic than usual. Ian and Keri had planned to carve two but only got one completed. Ian designed and carved while Keri helped clean and punch out carved spots.

When our first Trich-or-Treaters came, We got Keri out to a folding chair and spent the entire evening sitting in front. I would hold up the candy bowl and Keri would grab a handful and drop it in the bag. Kay Knife came over and chatted for at least an hour. It truly was a magic Halloween for us.