Bits and Bobs

It's pretty obvious when I'm feeling depressed; I simply have nothing to say.  I've noticed that this is true on the blog, during the water aerobics class, or around the house.  I don't write and I don't talk. My aerobics participants keep asking me if I'm feeling okay because I'm not smiling and being a cheerleader -- my normal function in the class.  I respond I feel fine and I do; I just don't have anything pertinent to say and it's takes too much energy to smile and carry on a cheery conversation.  The GP has prescribed serotonin and I've been taking it faithfully for a week and I think I'm beginning to feel a bit more upbeat.  It's not that I'm sad, really, it's that I'm just disengaged.

 Meanwhile, I'm vegging in the house.  Except for making sure Hubby gets at least one decent meal a day (EVERY day, oh my lord! I'm sick of cooking -- Hubby won't eat just a cold cut sandwich which I'd be perfectly fine doing right now in this heat), I'm sinking into my books.  The TV only goes on when Hubby's home.  The DVR is now over 50% full -- which means I've got over 100 shows taped.  I've been through five books just this week -- found a lovely series by Anne George about two crazy old Southern sisters that I have loved and was very disappointed to learn that George died in 2001 (explaining why her Kindle books were so cheap on Amazon).  Then I downloaded the new mystery by J. K. Rowling -- and I love it.  Marion Chesney (the author also known as M. C. Beaton) wrote on Facebook that she was really pissed that Rowling had written a mystery now -- like there weren't enough mysteries out there -- but then apologized when she delved into the book and discovered it was wonderful.  So of course, I had to have it, too -- and Chesney was right, the book is good.   I've been reading enough so I have to recharge both Kindles and the Samsung every day.

Gussie has been sick and really scared the pee-waddin' out of me last Friday.  He vomited all over the bed and then, when I moved him to the floor for the next bout, besides vomiting, he had runny diarrhea.  What a mess to clean up.  Even worse, though, were the sad eyes and the pitiful moans.  We had to carry him outside to pee (and vomit some more).  Then he would just lay on the floor and give these sad whimpers and pant.  I lay beside him, rubbed and cajoled and he just looked sadder and sadder.  We talked with the vet, we made an emergency appointment for the next day, and I worried all through the night.  Gus wouldn't get on the bed (after all, he'd already covered it in vomit) so I'd get up every hour or so and lay beside him and croon to him.  He looked so pathetic that I began to worry that maybe this was it for him, but by morning he was ready to go out on his own and sniff the yard, by noon he began noshing out of Luie's food bowl, and by evening he consumed his own plate of boiled rice and hamburger and was quite the chipper little lad.

Hubby has been going to see ENT (ear, nose, throat) doctors -- he now has two.  One handles his sleep problems, the other is working to get the phlegm out of his throat.  Why we need two I'm not sure.  The initial doctor didn't seem concerned about the phlegm, just worried that Hubby has severe sleep apnea.  So we got a second consult and this doctor is concerned because he believes Hubby has suffered from severe acid reflux for years and this has caused the problem with his singing voice. This doctor has increased the prescription count considerably.  I've lost track of just how many pills Hubby is now required to take each morning and each evening. Add in the two cardiologists and the nurse specialist, the orthopedist, and the GP and we see one doctor at least once every week for something or other.  Next up Hubby wants to improve his hearing and we have to meet with the eye doctor.

The AC went out on the pink Lincoln and Hubby has been suffering without it.  Six or seven years ago he had heat stroke and since then, heat has bothered him terrifically.  The AC can be fixed as soon as the old parts can be found and the wiring replaced (I'm not sure of the technical details) so the car needs to be kept by the mechanic for a couple of days.  This means we will soon be driving around in the older gray Lincoln which has enough problems that I don't feel safe with it.  Thankfully, during this current heat wave, the house has been blessedly cool and the central AC continues to run just fine (knock wood).

The old gray Lincoln seven years ago

 On Monday I toddled up to Fantastic Sam's and got a perm and hair buzz cut.  This always helps lighten and improve my disposition. 

I've been going to water aerobics but Hubby has demurred since the center decided to refurbish the men's dressing rooms and closed them off to the public.  He could use the men's bathroom but, I guess any excuse not to get wet in a pool, is acceptable.  

We've had two evenings without electricity.  Storms didn't knock us off the grid but something went haywire with KCP&L.  One night we were without power for over three hours but the Kindles had already been charged for the day, so I wasn't much concerned.   I did begin to wonder if dinner that night was going to be pints of softened ice cream but then the power was restored and the Haagen dazs was still solid, so we ate melon and tuna fish instead.

That's the news from our neck of the woods.  We keep plugging along, singing a song, side by side.