how about drinking?

Good Morning, Loungettes! Happy Thirsty Thursday! I'm waking up to lots and lots of fog this ayem. I think we're going to get some rain today and we sure need it, even after the nice steady rain we had the other day. Still feeling pretty tired from the Monday's late night, this getting older and taking so long to recover from something like that is just the pitts!

The puppers say Hi to everyone.

Karen--Good for you for not checking emails, etc at home. And you have a good point about aging not being something everyone gets to enjoy.

Chevy--oh my goodness, it must have been startling when Chris brought DH back home last night! Thank goodness for neighbors who understand the situation and are willing to help. Patience is the key to dealing with the effects of dementia. Lots and lots of patience, and the occasional meltdown to let the stress off. I'm glad you've got nurses coming in to help.

Sunshine--welcome! Pull up a barstool and tell us about yourself! What's your favorite libation?

Wren--hugs to you too. Moving a loved one into a care setting is never easy, but is often the safest and best thing to do for the loved one and everyone else in the family.

Thirsty Thursday

Recipe courtesy Downtown Grill and Brewery, Knoxville, Tenn.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 oz. vodka
• 3/4 oz. pomegranate liqueur
• 1/2 cup sweet ice tea
• 1/4 tsp. grated orange zest

Directions:

Place all ingredients into a shaker, shake. Pour over ice in a glass and garnish with a lime.

From <https://www.cookingchanneltv.com/devour/recipes/2013/09/perfect-fall-cocktail>

Yes ED, I know he has dementia. I was asking what kind of problems he had, for instance, I think you said he was having trouble getting in the car. When my husband could no longer get in the car, I bought a plastic step stool, drilled a hole in it and tied a rope to it, he mostly used it for the truck. But then he could pull it back up and put it in the seat next him. When he couldn't drive any more, and we took my FJ, well then, I would just pick up. Maybe you could get some kind of motion sensor, that a light or a small alarm could go off, notifying you. Of course, nothing loud, as it would most likely scare him.

Hi Sunshine, it's not always doom and gloom here, I just needed to vent the other day. Please feel free to hang out. We are a small group and very supportive of one another and always welcome a new loungette!

Wren, was the transition easy for your husband, or did he fight you tooth and nail?

Haha NM, getting older IS the pits, but I'd be willing to bet there are a few here that would LOVE to be our age!

Karen, 10:30 is LATE! I went to bed last night at 7:30, got up at 5.

I had a neighbor come to my house at night, mind you, I lived out in the country, and she lived down the road a ways and it was winter and had snowed. She was only in her house coat and said that my neighbor on the outher side of me, also not real close, but closer than her, were all murdered and for me to call the police. So and so was laying behind the couch and covered in blood, etc. I don't remember what we did, I think we just called her DH and he came down and got her, didn't even know she was gone.

Had someone come and take a look at my new $800 washer, he said it was the support system and would cost 596$ to fix it! I said, I wouldn't pay 600 to fix a brand new 800 machine! He said neither will Maytag. So, hoping I can get a dif. washer. While he was here, my neighbors were here, they don't like me being alone when a stranger comes by. So, I asked the guy if he services gas stoves, he says yes. I told him about the explosion, and the first thing he asks, "did anyone lift the stovetop?" My neighbor immediately pipes in and says "ya, her brother told me they lifted it to clean it! Well thanks Jim, if he were working with the insurance adjusters, you just ruined any chance I had for them to cover my damages! I was so pissed!

I had to go my injections yesterday, before the service guy gets here. I call the office when I get to the pavement to let them know I'll be there in about an hour, to the meds out of the fridge. I get there, and Lori says to me "can I help you?" I'm just here for injections. Do you have an appointment, I need you to sign in. No, I just come in and never sign in. Oh, ok. I'm usually in and out of there in 10-15 minutes. A half hour goes by, and Lori comes out and says, "I guess I'm confused, are you needing blood work, did you have an appt. with someone?" No, I'm here for my injections. Ok, I'll be right back. Another 10 minutes goes by and she comes back and says, I didn't take your meds out of fridge, I guess I wasn't sure what was going on, but next time I won't forget, I'll remember now. WTH! So now I have to wait for them to get the meds out, warm them up some, but rubbing on the palms of hands, they don't have a warmer. I get in, 5 minutes, I'm done! I left the house at 9:40, I don't get home until 2. Service guy supposed to be here between 12:30 and 2:30. Thank goodness he was running on later side!

Have another adjuster coming today for the stove, Needless to say, I will not be having my neighbors here! I have a gun and I have camera's to which my brother can see and hear everything.

I need a drink! Oh wait, it's only 6:30 am. Maybe I'll just stick to my coffee!

Thanks for the hugs ladies.

Lori - I've struggled with insomnia since I was diagnosed!!! My sleep is improved from what it was 10+ years ago. With help of Rx, I'm lucky to get 6 hours sleep. I generally wake up without an alarm, but I've been setting it since I'm getting up at 4:45. Sorry that you had such a hassle with getting your injections.

Today is my Friday at work. Finished week 1 with students. I have a few kiddos that are quite challenging, It will be an interesting couple months while covering this FMLA. I have no idea where I'll be next. This is a great school.

Jazzy - nice to see you.

Good Morning, Loungettes!Happy TGIF day! Today will be my first time running a major meeting at work, and the other clinical manager would not let me do the prep work, so I'm feeling very uneasy about the whole thing. This afternoon I'm going to have to talk to her about her not teaching me the stuff she's doing, because I need to be able to do those things. I don't want to take them over, but I need to be able to all the parts of my job. I think it's going to be a long day today. On the other hand, even without computer access most of the day yesterday while my computer was updating, I got a LOT of filing done.

The puppers were very attentive last evening when I was going on about being nervous about today's meeting at work. At one point I had both of them trying to get into my lap! They are so funny sometimes.

Karen--it gets harder to adjust to the work week schedule every year, doesn't it? I'm beginning to think there may be something to the idea of a 4 day work week! I tend to eat for comfort, too. I eat when I'm stressed, nervous, anxious, upset, sad, happy, whatever. It's a very hard habit to break.

Goldie--some good ideas for Chevy! Good point about getting older and one I need to remember. Oh my goodness, if a neighbor showed up with a story like that I think I would freak out! $600 to fix an $800 appliance? CRAZY! Just insane! No warranty coverage where it's new? Something just isn't right here. I am so sorry you got caught up in all that at the injection appointment. There really is no excuse when you've called an hour ahead to let them know you are on your way. I'd say you deserve a drink, no matter what time it is!Slip a shot of something into your coffee!

Jazzy--great video, thanks!

Karen--I'm glad work is going well for you and you are in a good school.

Goldie--Oh My that looks YUMMY!!!!!!

HK came back today (will make all the difference as my usual weekend without her will not be as stressful). She feels much better. We both masked all day and "air-hugged."

DsOTD: at Ethiopian Diamond around the corner, a 2018 Robertson Pinot Noir (S. Africa); and roasted and steeped to order Ethiopian Sidamo coffee. I'd forgotten how good it is--would have been a sin to defile it with sugar.

Good Morning, Loungettes! Happy Saturday! Well, thing took quite the turn at work yesterday. I found out at the last minute that I wouldn't be running the meeting like I thought I was, "the game plan shifted the other day" so I was scribe (taking notes) instead. After the meeting the Regional Preceptor apologized for not letting me know the change in plans, I spoke to her about the need to prep for my own meetings, she agreed and said something a little vague about "working on that." So I'm left thinking WTF is going on? Am I ever going to be updated when these changes are made? Am I ever going to be a fully functioning team member? WTH is with the strange tension in the office and all the closed door meetings going on all of a sudden the last couple of days? Are we being closed down or something? Come to the end of the day, the other PCM announced her resignation, effect next month. I read the email and sat there stunned. All this time I've been hearing how overloaded she is, trying to pick up parts of the work to start to unload her, having her block my every attempt, and now she's leaving?!

With all the knowledge that exists only in her head, if she doesn't share it before she leaves, this is going to be one huge mess. This PCM is the last office management person left from before everything started falling apart and is a huge favorite with the staff. The reactions to her resignation email were very emotional. I wish I knew what to think or how to feel. Right now I feel upset that she's leaving, relieved that she's getting out of my way (boy does that sound egocentric!), scared about all the knowledge that is going to be leaving with her, excited about now having a chance to make some badly needed changes in how things are run, worried about what it's going to do to staff morale, and afraid of how much my workload is going to jump.

I was in bed with the puppers last night telling them all this. I asked them what they thought. Apparently, I am an A Number 1 belly rubber, ear scratcher, rump roster, cuddler, din-din provider and snack distributor, so the world will continue to turn just fine.

Goldie—That case manager will be causing totally different problems now! Yeah, having Colt in my lap is quite the experience. Lately he's been sitting on the floor and just putting his head and front legs in my lap, that's a lot more workable. As in I can still breathe! I do not see a 4 day work week in my near future, I was referring to the recent buzz about research supporting 4 day work weeks as better work/life balance with no drop in productivity. And I agree the insurance should pay for the stove. Too many times we pay into insurance but never get anything back from it.

Karen—Wow, that's quite a float team, almost 8 FTEs! You must work in a huge school district. I can see how the variety of experiences would be really interesting. I hear you about feeling old, I realized the other day I'm old enough to be many of the staff members' mother, and not too few of them, their grandmother!

Chi—glad your HK is back on her feet!

Goldie—that carrot margarita look wild!

Lori, for years you've been giving your insurance company quite a "bang for their buck." So it's more than fair for them to give you "bucks for your bang!"

Jazzy, your upcoming shindig sounds wonderful. How great to have the ability to accommodate outdoor entertaining! And it's about time you finally had the right weather for it.

Kim, how perplexing your work situation must be! Frustrating when you don't get to see just what wheels are spinning below the surface until they bubble up and affect you.

I can't imagine having two dogs in bed with me at the same time, but all the while my HK (their "other mama") was away, both cats frequented our bed at night, sometimes with tense results (Heidi considers herself the "alpha" and lets Happy know it).

Kim - sorry for the work situation. Yes, I work for a large school district - the largest in CO - 90K students.

Jazzy and Lori - no I'm not retiring the end of October. I'm covering for a maternity leave and the gal comes back Nov 1st. Then onto a new assignment but don't know yet what it will be. I think this year plus one more. I'm part of a float team of SW/SPs and we cover FMLA, maternity leaves, vacancies, help with special assessments etc.

MinusTwo- oh yes, we have a lot of wineries here and never knew the history of wine making until I lived moved here. Yes, the catholics who came with the Spanish planted the vineyards to have the wine for communion. I also worked part time at a winery here back in the late 1990s for about a year, believe it or not! The winery was called Anderson Valley Winery, and I worked in their tasting room and helped with events (they used to do a lot of weddings there). I learned so much about grapes, wine making, etc. They were well known for making some special wines for balloon fiesta, and it was a busy time for the winery with pilots who would come in and buy cases and cases of vino during their weeks of stay here. I also used to work at their Labor Day wine festival, and there are a couple more festivals now over Memorial Day and July 4th weekened, both up north here and further south. They grow most of the grapes down south or they source them from Colorado. The industry and has grown and changed as I have lived here and the wines have improved in time. I had some reserve petite syrah from a winery here recently that was as good as any I have had out of Napa or Sonoma.

And yes, I have been to Casa Rodena which is in the north valley. They do some really nice reds, and have a beautiful property and do a lot of events there. I was there for a special brunch with one of my prof org boards in January and they have a great tasting room so it's a good thing to put on the list for your visit.

Goldie- only five of us, about all I can handle anymore (four guest plus myself). Been checking on dietary restrictions/preferences today and decided the pork dish will come off the menu, chicken fajitas and some nice grilled salmon will be the main meat dishes. Getting things done around here to be more ready. I have little to no time/energy, etc. during the week to work on house stuff with this crazy job of mine.

Chi - Gruet does great sparkling and some good chardonnay too 🍷

Good Morning, Loungettes!Happy Monday Monkey day! It's noticeably darker in the ayems when I'm getting up, going to be getting up in the dark again pretty soon. Sigh. This always seems to happen all of a sudden.At the same time we're getting heat and humidity building up again for the next couple of days, then the temps will drop into the 70s during the day. At least they aren't predicting snow yet.

Jazzy--working at a winery must have been a lot of fun as well as quite the learning experience.

Goldie--I'm not totally sure why the other PCM has been holding on to the work and the knowledge so tightly, I wonder if it's out of fear of losing control or things going wrong. I'm also hoping that she's going to be willing to share what she knows now that she's leaving. I wonder, too, if she's uncomfortable with the process changes being made, like having the nurses manage their own visit schedules. Considering how much you have been through this last year I'm not surprised you are tired enough to nap. It is so not right that you are waiting this long for scan results, no matter what they are. You shouldn't have to work so hard to get scan results. I wish there was something I could do to help.

It rained today and I’m always blown away by the beauty and frequency of rainbows up here. Enjoy 😁

What a view!! Great photos of the rainbow.

Gorgeous rainbows!

I can't donate blood any more, either. Originally, the donation protocol for bc survivors was being off active treatment for 5 yrs,, then 1. But I found out recently that because even though my ocular melanoma is still in situ, its location between the iris & ciliary body means it's highly vascularized (and too dangerous to excise); and if & when it metastasizes (50-50 chance eventually), it does so not via the lymph system but rather the bloodstream. Therefore, I'm barred from donating at all, even organs postmortem. What's illogical, though, is that you can't "give" somebody cancer: it's not a pathogen but is your own cells--and if they get into someone else their immune system will recognize them as foreign--and reject & destroy them. (That's why transplant recipients must take anti-rejection immunosuppressant meds for the rest of their lives). It's frustrating--I began donating in college at age 19 because it was the one form of charity I could always afford. I have a ribbon full of "gallon donor" pins. Bob is a "power donor:" every 10 weeks he gives packed red cells...and I get a little bag of Cheez-Its for picking him up afterwards.

No alcohol Sun. night. At Big Jones tonight ("Chef's Southern Tour" tasting menu) I had a glass of "Love Drunk" OR rosé of Pinot Noir and half a glass of Albariño.