Catching up
Coming up for air, finally, and trying to catch up with everyone's news.
For me, life continues its hectic pace. I participated in NaNoWriMo again this November, and I must say I'm really think that month is jinxed. I had a lot of fun writing, have a book I am excited to finish, though I'm not all the way there yet, and I "won" again. That was the good part of the month.
Mom took a nosedive that month, and I really wasn't sure what was going to happen with her. I'm glad to report that she has recovered quite well, and though she is not very fleet of foot, she's doing much better. She was sleeping a lot in November, had some strange swelling in her face, and in general (still) is much more sedentary than she had been, which is bad in that her legs swell more, but is good in that she doesn't always move around a lot, which means she has less chance of falling.
The doctor recommended her for hospice service, and also signed the paper to give me Durable Power of Attorney for her. However, when Mom was evaluated for hospice, she was deemed not eligible, and was recommended for Home Care. I was greatly relieved, until, a few weeks in to the care, found out that this is just a temporary thing, and is supposed to address specific health issues only. Just ask me what I think is wrong with elder care here in the US. I think its scandalous. And I resent the attitude of health care workers who seem to think I either should be home with Mom all the time, and are surprised when they call and want to come to the house and find me at work for the day. I'm looking for some day help during the week that won't break our pocket books. Fingers crossed.
I came back to work after my birthday in August and found out that our bookkeeper was being let go, so the month of September was terribly busy for me, as I took up the slack until a new bookkeeper was found. The partners did a good job with the new hire. No one was more thankful than me. She's a good fit, everyone likes her, and she's a firecracker with the accounting.
The other big news is that I've lost about 40 pounds since I started Weight Watchers in June. I feel like a new person. My feet are happy, and I can now fit into clothes I hadn't been able to wear for years. Glad that what seemed a rather foolish thing to do--hang on to clothes I couldn't wear--turned out well in the end. It's nice to have a few things to wear and not have to do a lot of clothes shopping. I find, however, that my brain sometimes has a hard time catching up with the body. I'm slowly gaining confidence in what my legs are actually able to do. I equate the weight I've lost to two twenty pound bags of cat litter. It's no wonder that sometimes when I'm walking the halls at work I feel light as a feather--relatively speaking.
The photos behind the cut are from my three days at Mt. Rainier in early September. Our weather had been beautiful up to that week, but I had a good first day of hiking, and, a first for me, had a ringside seat in my room at the inn for a bang up electrical storm. It was quite a spectacle, as the elevation there is about 5,500 feet. We were in the clouds, and it was near impossible to locate any of the lightning strikes. I just sat a chair by my window, sipped wine and watched the show. I didn't try taking any photos, which I regret, but there really wasn't much to see. The storm lasted a couple hours or more. Quite a night, and quite enough excitement. Except for things here at home, life has been quite calm since then.
Ah, except for the morning I went out to my care and found someone had broken in the passenger side window. They pried the glove box open, and I still need to get that fixed. Thankfully, there was nothing much for them to take, and though they strewed stuff around the front seats, as far as I could tell they didn't take any of the registration. Left me the current stuff, which was a relief. Takes a while to feel safe after something like that, though.
The morning after the storm. Fog kept creeping up the river valley. Late the afternoon before, I watched from my room as the fog came up the valley very suddenly, and just as quickly retreated.
Though near the end of the flower season, they were still profuse in the meadows. This gives you an idea of why I kept thinking there were flies or bees following close behind me. I kept hearing buzzing, but the bees were all busy with the flowers...
A telephoto view of Eagle Peak, at the west end of the Tatoosh range, and Mt. Wow. Or Tumtum Peak. Can't remember which it is...anyway, the one whose top is just peaking out of the fog.
The mountain. It was still a bit unsettled, weatherwise, and I finally went back down about lunch time. After seeing the storm the night before, I had no desire to be caught out on the trail if there was any more thunder and lightning.
In order to get up where I could see the view in the previous photo, I had to negotiate a rather steep but short stretch of trail. The photo doesn't quite show how steep the trail looked--and felt. I had to talk myself up the trail, after a couple of false starts. Don't know why I'm such a wimp these days. But all was well. I got up just fine, and came down unscathed and the better for conquering my squeamish self.
Dead Horse Creek. I still want to know how it got its name. Hmm, maybe I just have to write a story about it, instead...
Lastly, I noticed this tree the night before, a bit before the storm began, but after the clouds had settled on us. The next morning it looked like a normal tree with brownish colored limbs, but in the fog, it seemed quite silverly mysterious.
For me, life continues its hectic pace. I participated in NaNoWriMo again this November, and I must say I'm really think that month is jinxed. I had a lot of fun writing, have a book I am excited to finish, though I'm not all the way there yet, and I "won" again. That was the good part of the month.
Mom took a nosedive that month, and I really wasn't sure what was going to happen with her. I'm glad to report that she has recovered quite well, and though she is not very fleet of foot, she's doing much better. She was sleeping a lot in November, had some strange swelling in her face, and in general (still) is much more sedentary than she had been, which is bad in that her legs swell more, but is good in that she doesn't always move around a lot, which means she has less chance of falling.
The doctor recommended her for hospice service, and also signed the paper to give me Durable Power of Attorney for her. However, when Mom was evaluated for hospice, she was deemed not eligible, and was recommended for Home Care. I was greatly relieved, until, a few weeks in to the care, found out that this is just a temporary thing, and is supposed to address specific health issues only. Just ask me what I think is wrong with elder care here in the US. I think its scandalous. And I resent the attitude of health care workers who seem to think I either should be home with Mom all the time, and are surprised when they call and want to come to the house and find me at work for the day. I'm looking for some day help during the week that won't break our pocket books. Fingers crossed.
I came back to work after my birthday in August and found out that our bookkeeper was being let go, so the month of September was terribly busy for me, as I took up the slack until a new bookkeeper was found. The partners did a good job with the new hire. No one was more thankful than me. She's a good fit, everyone likes her, and she's a firecracker with the accounting.
The other big news is that I've lost about 40 pounds since I started Weight Watchers in June. I feel like a new person. My feet are happy, and I can now fit into clothes I hadn't been able to wear for years. Glad that what seemed a rather foolish thing to do--hang on to clothes I couldn't wear--turned out well in the end. It's nice to have a few things to wear and not have to do a lot of clothes shopping. I find, however, that my brain sometimes has a hard time catching up with the body. I'm slowly gaining confidence in what my legs are actually able to do. I equate the weight I've lost to two twenty pound bags of cat litter. It's no wonder that sometimes when I'm walking the halls at work I feel light as a feather--relatively speaking.
The photos behind the cut are from my three days at Mt. Rainier in early September. Our weather had been beautiful up to that week, but I had a good first day of hiking, and, a first for me, had a ringside seat in my room at the inn for a bang up electrical storm. It was quite a spectacle, as the elevation there is about 5,500 feet. We were in the clouds, and it was near impossible to locate any of the lightning strikes. I just sat a chair by my window, sipped wine and watched the show. I didn't try taking any photos, which I regret, but there really wasn't much to see. The storm lasted a couple hours or more. Quite a night, and quite enough excitement. Except for things here at home, life has been quite calm since then.
Ah, except for the morning I went out to my care and found someone had broken in the passenger side window. They pried the glove box open, and I still need to get that fixed. Thankfully, there was nothing much for them to take, and though they strewed stuff around the front seats, as far as I could tell they didn't take any of the registration. Left me the current stuff, which was a relief. Takes a while to feel safe after something like that, though.
The morning after the storm. Fog kept creeping up the river valley. Late the afternoon before, I watched from my room as the fog came up the valley very suddenly, and just as quickly retreated.
Though near the end of the flower season, they were still profuse in the meadows. This gives you an idea of why I kept thinking there were flies or bees following close behind me. I kept hearing buzzing, but the bees were all busy with the flowers...
A telephoto view of Eagle Peak, at the west end of the Tatoosh range, and Mt. Wow. Or Tumtum Peak. Can't remember which it is...anyway, the one whose top is just peaking out of the fog.
The mountain. It was still a bit unsettled, weatherwise, and I finally went back down about lunch time. After seeing the storm the night before, I had no desire to be caught out on the trail if there was any more thunder and lightning.
In order to get up where I could see the view in the previous photo, I had to negotiate a rather steep but short stretch of trail. The photo doesn't quite show how steep the trail looked--and felt. I had to talk myself up the trail, after a couple of false starts. Don't know why I'm such a wimp these days. But all was well. I got up just fine, and came down unscathed and the better for conquering my squeamish self.
Dead Horse Creek. I still want to know how it got its name. Hmm, maybe I just have to write a story about it, instead...
Lastly, I noticed this tree the night before, a bit before the storm began, but after the clouds had settled on us. The next morning it looked like a normal tree with brownish colored limbs, but in the fog, it seemed quite silverly mysterious.