Casa del Tena

Hello, yes, we're still alive

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 02:12:11 GMT

The computer has died not once, not twice but thrice since I last posted. We were rescued twice by our friend Richard, who seems to always leave something behind when he visits. I'm thinking of instituting a cap swap - one of Alan's for one of Richards for one of Carl's..... how long will it take before all the caps find their way home again?

In the 7 month posting hiatus, I've gone permanent part time at the school district I was temping in, and Alan has gone from full time down to half at his security job. He's been looking for something else full time, without a lot of luck. In the meantime, I work all week, and Alan works all weekend....

My so-called part time job has been anything but lately, as it turns into a bit of a madhouse in the summer, oddly enough. The fiscal year ends June 30, which is unfortunately all too close to the end of the school year. Trying to get responsible parties to clean up their respective accounts in the midst of end-of-year festivities was, um, an interesting excercise, mostly in futility. It didn't help that one of the worst offenders in ignoring financial clean-up detail was retiring, so had even less motivation than usual. We are now madly processing orders, invoices, new hirees, et cetera in view of school starting back up again in September. Last fiscal year's DOE reporting is due 9/1. The teachers come back the last week of August. The annual audit hits mid-September. I'm supposed to be restricted to 30 hours a week, but have been working just under 40 for the last 5 weeks straight, and will most likely work overtime for the next 4 - 6 weeks. Yipes!

And just for a little bonus irony, after today's department meeting, after going over our various audit reconciliation responsibilities, in which overtime was not only authorized but encouraged, one of my bosses (I have 3, but one is 'school year only') skipped out before all the worker bees..... abnd the other is out of vacation.

In hound news, Casey managed to get himself a tear on his left shoulder, courtesy of grand-dog Osa. Not her fault, Casey instigated it, and both were too busy having a good time to notice. Of course, the big doofus pulled most of the stitches out himself.

Missy has a heart murmur and may need to go on medication. I had planned to wait a while before pursuing treatment, but she's not handling the summer heat well, so that may change the schedule. I hadn't observed any of the symptoms we were told to watch out for until quite recently. (sigh)

Osa has been staying with us for quite a few months now. Her parents are still building house #2 - 13 months and counting - and her fondness for the temporary-next-door-neighbor's chickens became overwhelming. It certainly overwhelmed two of the hens (more pets than egg-producers, unfortunately). Discretion being the better part of valor, Osa has been on extended vacation. Luckily, Nonna and Grampy have had plenty-o-practice in pilling the unwilling, thanks to the late much-lamented Buddy. Osa is on a tetracycline and niacin regimen for her canine lupus, surprisingly similar to the one my cousin is on for her human version of the disease. She hates taking them, but down the hatch they go, four big pills, morning and evening. And I even get Osa to wag her tail and prance afterwards (Grampy, not so much).

Becky and the kids came here for Ruby's birthday a few weeks ago. She is now very proud of turning three, and tells anyone who asks, and anyone who doesn't. The week after they went home, she sent us a drawing, featuring a purple crayoned snarl purporting to be cats and a rainstorm. Her mother tells us it was all her idea to draw it and send it to us. We've always had lots of cats, and it certainly has been raining more than enough. I think the mosquitoes are nearly as big as the hounds this year....

Upcoming - Joy's 50th birthday party on Saturday - pot luck BBQ, as she doesn't want to cook or clean up for her birthday. Smart woman!

In two weeks, Alan's sister and brother-in-law are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. Their kids are throwing a surprise party. Luckily, they don't read blogs.

We're throwing a small shindig here for Mom's 80 birthday on the 22nd. My sister is coming out from Ohio and one of my aunts is coming from upstate NY. The rest of Mom's siblings can't really travel anymore, at least not the distance they'd need to get here. We'll just have to do our best to make things festive. And I'm crossing my fingers that it won't pour the whole weekend.

Snow, snow, snow and more snow

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 20:24:42 GMT

Yesterday's drive home was, well, interesting. I tried taking the interstate down from Tilton, thinking the plows would be out and working hard.

NOT.

The usual two lanes were down mostly to one, although the occasional loon did pass me by, stirring up the white stuff like mad. My top speed in the (almost) clear bits was a whopping 52 mph, although there were some stretches where any enforcement of the posted 45 minimum would have been absurd.

I was grateful I only had to go two exits south.

The worst bit of the drive home was the last five miiles, starting from the exit ramp (totally unplowed, not even once). Elm Street had been plowed when the snow was perhaps an inch and a half, so was tough going on the hills. Our lovely little mostly unpaved dead end road didn't see a plow until around 8 pm last night, so the first 50 feet was god-awful. I did at least make it up the hill to the upper driveway.

Today, I've shoveled both front and back decks, and done one pass down the stairs to the cellar/lower driveway. Alan got out the snow-blower and did the driveway after the plow's first pass this morning. It's still coming down (10 inches and counting), so I'll undoubtedly have to go through it again at least once tonight.

It's supposed to snow more tomorrow. And Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on which channel you watch.

At least I don't have to work Wednesday.

Power's back on, hip, hip hooooorrrrrraaaaayyyyyyyyy!!!!!

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 02:03:00 GMT

The ice storm that struck southern New Hampshire and Vermont did a number on us these past few days. Our power went out at 1:30 am Friday (exact timing courtesy of the computer battery backup alarm). A tree went down across Elm St, and was *still* hanging on the lines when I went off to work this morning - four days later. Power and internet came back up shortly after 4 this afternoon, though the phone is still dead.

We've been running the generator on and off, and using the wood stove and oil lamps in between. Pups have been managing pretty well, although they were pretty nervous about crossing the back deck to get to the yard on Friday. I scraped the worst of it off the deck and Alan threw some sand down for traction, which helped.

I spent most of the weekend driving circuitous routes to get into town, so trips that generally take 10 or 20 minutes were running 1/2 hour or longer. I took Rte 3 up to work Friday morning, as US 93 was reportedly pretty slippery. I could tell on the way home that a few trees had fallen into traffic lanes on 93, but by the time I got there Friday pm, they had been cut back enough for safety.

On Saturday, I tried my usual short way back home from the hospital (Mom's assisted living facility is on hospital grounds), only to find that the last bit was blocked by yet another tree hanging on the power lines. I had to go halfway back to town to circle around.

Our friends at the former Kettle & Crane never lost power at all. Not only did my bank branch just down the street from them lose power, their website was even down for a while on Saturday, which surprised the heck out of me. FSB must host themselves out of their main processing facility in Franklin. I tried to access our accounts online from Mom's, but no go until Sunday.

Over 300,000 households were said to be without power on Friday. This morning, the number I heard quoted as still out was 138,000. Some are expected to be out till the end of the week.

Ouch.

And now, a brief moment of respite...

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 15:08:55 GMT

from all the Thanksgiving holiday hooplah.

My sister and her two sons were here from Ohio (arrived on Wednesday, left this morning). Mom was here on Thursday for turkey dinner. Becky, Alex & the kids came in from NY as well (and stayed at the Dan'l Webster, went home yesterday). Kevin was a country not heard from, perhaps just as well, as we would have run out of chairs.

On a somber note, it was the first time Barb, Mom and I had been at the same Thanksgiving table since Dad died on turkey day 30 years ago. I though of putting his flag out, but decided that would be morbid and didn't. Fortunately, Becky's kids and the various dogs kept us hopping too much to dwell on past history.

My nephew Vinnie brought his 6-month-old puppy, Lola, who's an adorable maniac. Percy and Pippin between them kept stalking the poor girl all weekend. Lola is 1/2 pit bull, but you'd never know it. The other half is god-know-what. Guesses range from German Shepherd, (coloration and build) to Wire Hair Terrier (coat texture and face, not to mention the lack of height), to Irish Wolf Hound (she has that grizzled wolf hound face), but nobody really knows for sure other than her mother, who's not telling.

Becky's dog Osa stayed with us as well, and happily played with Lola out in the fenced yard. Lola can still fit under the back gate, so it was a good thing Osa was there to keep her busy. Hopefully, the next time Lola visits, she'll be taller. If not, Alan may have to re-build the gate so it goes all the way down to ground level.And of course, we still have Casey, and Missy-the-foster-hound. So four dogs and seven cats underfoot, not to mention two pre-schoolers, a baby and a teenager. Matt (13-year-old nephew) and Ruby (two-year-old granddaughter) hit it off real well and kept goofing around on the couch, roaring and growling at each other. Who would have thunk it?

Dinner was turkey with cornbread-chestnut stuffing, mashed potatoes, Harvard beets, zucchini/summer squash with basil. home made cranberry sauce, home made sour cherry and cranbery chutneys, and home made corn relish (from local corn, too).

We finished up at Rob & Joy's house, with the usual dessert buffet . We had 11 people, Joy had 20, so it was quite the mob scene. I brought 3 pies, two kinds of cookes, a ricotta strudel and a pumpkin roll, Joy had a pie and a cake, Brekke (Rob's sister, the J.P.) and Drew brought more pie, another friend brought cookies and pumpkin dip (really great with ginger snaps), Louise (Rob's mom) provided real whiped cream, bless her heart. Tamiko (Joy's mom), nearly swooned over the ricotta strudel, which made my day, since I made it with her in mind. .

I expect to spend the rest of the moring running errands, and the rest of the day making up this year's holiday gift batches of cranberry ketchup and caponata. Hopefully, the grocery store will not have run out of cranberries....

but for the moment, the house is blessedly quiet for the first time in 3 days.

I have a cowd in by dose....

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:44:06 GMT

which I most likely caught from Becky last weekend....

Thanks so much!

(sniffle, sniffle)

Nearly two weeks later....

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 21:16:37 GMT

We're still working on the Halloween candy. I should be out of town more often....

The end of 2nd generation politics...

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:56:54 GMT

...at least for now. Sununu lost, Jean Shaheen gets his seat. Although it won't surprise me if he rears his head again in the future.

Both Dems kept their House seats as well. Pretty much an all-blue election this year. And this in a generally conservative state....

Mom and family update

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 19:55:03 GMT

Mom had chest pains a few days back, not a good sign given that she's already on various medications for her a-fib and hypertension. She did at least tell the nurnsing staff, and then pretty much napped through it. Her PA came in to see her while I was there, and wasn't happy about Mom's description of the pain. Lee (the PA) scheduled her for an EKG yesterday morning (Mom refused to go into the hospital overnight for observation, since, 2 days later, she felt fine). I haven't heard the results yet. I'll call on Monday if I have heard by mid-morning.

She's having more and more memory / brain function problems.

She called my cell phone Wednesday night to ask, semi-hysterically, why neither I nor her financial advisor hadn't shown up for our scheduled appointment. She also emailed Neil, who politley responded that the appointment was scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Of course, Mom didn't see his response until the next day. Neil tells me he has been saving her emails. Good thing, as she apparently hasn't yet realized how off-base she is.

I've forwarded a few oddball emails to my sister, and saved some of the classics myself, but it seems to me that Mom's competence is eroding more and more rapidly. A year and a half back, she was perfectly capable of making her own investment choices, but now she can't manage to follow the varous publications she's had subscriptions to for many many years. She just has me file them without reading a darned thing, a mamoth waste considering their cost. Proxy materials arrive in the mail, and she has no idea what to do with them now. Two months after the stroke, she was still handling all her own correspondence, including proxies, with reasonable clarity.

It astounds me how many solicitations wind up in her "Bills to be paid" folder, which I then have to weed out. Most of them are for various charities or for more investment publications. When I ask about the charities, most of the time she has no idea who they are or what they do, and then tells me to throw them away. As for the investment magazines and newsletter solicitations, she mostly says something like 'But I might want them, I just haven't decided yet." So far, I've managed to avoid any more portfolio-related subscriptions, particularly after she charged $2900 for one (related to oil speculation , which she's never done) to a credit card, and then spazzed out over the cost and canceled it.

My sister and hew two boys will be out from Ohio for Thanksgiving this year, so Barb will get to judge Mom's condition for herself. It's quite a contrast from a year ago when Barb saw her last.

Several of Mom's siblings are in failing health as well. My Uncle Walter (the youngest of the 6 siblings) has just been diagnosed with lupus. He had a painfull rash over much of his body, when to the local emergency room, and found out his kidneys were failing, both courtesy of the lupus. His wife Ronnie has fibromyalgia which is not responding well to medications, so I suspect they're not going to be able to remain in their own home much longer. Uncle Bruce was placed in a nursing home when his diabetes and heart problems got too unstable to be managed at home, leaving Aunt Joan (a quivering bundle of nerves under the best of circumstances) at home fending for herself. Her daughter Laurie lives near by, but as a single parent, she had plenty enough on her plate already.

In more cheerful news, Becky and her girls were here for a week (we didn't get to see Alex, as he's saving uphis time off), presumably their last visit until well after Baby Boy is born. His due date is October 30, and both girls were born on their dates. A Halloween baby? We shall see.

We mostly spent the week with the girls around the house, but did take a day to go to the Deerfield Fair.
It was a little rainy, but fun. One of the shows was the Flying Wallendas, who did their best in spite of the weather. The did a shortened version of their famous high-wire act, and did some stuff on the ground as well - a unicycle act, acrobatic dogs and some juggling. Amber went on her first roller-coaster ride with Nonna (the only adult in the group up for it, as Mom is way too pregnant and Grampy is still adjusting to his lwer-than-ever blood pressure thanks to his 'new' meds, Ruby couldn't go on most of the rides as she's still too short, but did manage to go on the carousel (first time), and a motorcycle ride (all by herself!). Ruby is about the same age that her big sister was for her first carousel ride, but handled it much, much better. Both girls officially like caramel apples better than candy ones, and had the sticky faces and fingers to prove it. Unfortunately, we forgot to bring cameras. Pfui.

Election info sites

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:37:43 GMT

One of my incoming emails today was a semi-monthly newsletter from singer-songwriter Pat Wictor ('A Few Choice Words", signup on his website, www.patwictor.com), containing a well-crafted plea for thoughtfullness and respectful discourse during the election season. I'd quote it in full here, but it's copy-righted. He ends with a short list of his favorite websites that actually discuss issues, rather than merely bopping from one sound bite to the next. His suggestions were:

On the Issues: http://www.ontheissues.org
Issue-by-issue breakdown of speeches, writings, and votes by all the candidates for President (including the independents), as well as candidates for Congress.

ProCon.org   http://2008election.procon.org/ Also an issue-by-issue breakdown, with a different methodology and sources. It highlights how candidates' issue positions have evolved (flip-flopped, in electionese) over time.

FactCheck http://www.factcheck.org/ Dispassionate debunking of rumors, half-truths, and fabrications peddled by the candidates and their allies.

The Living Room Candidate http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/ A collection of election-year commercials, curated by the Museum of the Moving Image, with brief summaries, from 2008 back to 1952.

More good resources to research the candidates:   http://smartvoter.org/2008/11/04/preslinksnov.html

Again, these are Pat Wictor's selections, not mine, but they seem to me worth checking out.

Belated Turkey pic

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:07:14 GMT

We found an old roll of film - mostly family shots from last November/December, but we apparently finished up the roll in early spring with a few local wildlife shots. One of them is a tom turkey in full romance mode.

Busy, busy, busy

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 22:51:22 GMT

My computer at home is suffering from a nasty virus infestation and is currently un-bootable (Thanks so much, honey!) so have been making do at the local library until I can get baby repaired. Hopefully without losing the recent pix in the shared folder, which weren't backed up...

Two weekends back, we went to help my step-daughter and son-in-law move out of their house and into a temporary space. I managed to jam my left middle finger, which still hurts a bit, but we got all the big stuff out and the storage shed mostly clear, which were the priorities. They closed on the house sale a week ago Friday, so they still had a couple of days to grab the odds and ends and clean up after we left. The highlight of the big move that Saturday was seeing the kid's big green jungle gym get towed down the street (it was going next door) with one of their friends riding (more or less) on the back, halloooing all the way. Hysterical.

Our camping trip last weekend was great fun, as always. Our former upstairs neighbors and their two boys, along with our former across-the-hall neighbor have been getting the site next to ours, and we generally organize ourselves across both sites. We brought the canoe and paddled across the lake a couple of times (and walked around it a couple of times as well). And it only rained one night, and cleared up promptly in the morning. If we could just take the dogs, it would be perfect.

Casey spent that weekend next door with Holly (also a grey), so he was pretty happy. He spent the previous one with our ex-neighbors, where he gets to play with his other best friend, Kira the Rottie.

Our most recent foster, Tucker, was placed on Tuesday, so we're now waiting for a new hound. I spoke with one of the foster coordinators, who says they're expecting a return in the next week or so. I don't know the color, size, age or much of anything else, so I guess we'll see when we get him. Poor guy.

Today's big event was the annual GPA Concord Greyhound Reunion (and BBQ - Casey loves hamburgers), so now he's sacked out, totally exhausted. We did get to see a couple of our former fosters, including Mr. Peabody. He's settling in well, and they're considering a second hound, so he has some canine company. He's such a sweetie pie, and it was good to know that he's well-loved and appreciated. Another foster, Amy Antonio, took first place in the 'baldest butt' competition. She was the last foster we had when Buddy was diagnosed with osteo-sarcoma, so I remember her placement as being fraught with stress, as we really wanted her out of the house so Bud wouldn't break the affected leg trying to keep up with her. Her new family is still very pleased with her, and have trained her to do a couple of tricks in the 3+ years they've had her. I would have loved to see O'Doul, but he was placed pretty far north (up near Conway), so we haven't seen him since he was placed. Maybe someday...
Mom has been wacking out more than previously. She's now convinced that someone is messing with her computer when she's not there. They probably have been, most likely at her own request, which she then, of course, forgets. She keeps putting junk mail in the folder I use for bills-to-be-paid, because she can't tell the difference any more between solicitations and real bills.

She freaks out when medical bills show up from prior months, still unpaid because they're still in the process of fighting it out with the insurance company. She's convinced someone is going to take her to court, even though some of the bills in question indicate fairly clearly that they're waiting for insurance claims to be processed. One of the ones that got settled recently was for doctor visits last December, and another was for stuff back in New York from two years ago, prior to her stroke. Clearly, not exactly a quick procedure. The NY one was sent first to her old address at the Atria - I'm amazed they're still forwarding stuff, but they even send up the junk mail.

She can't really handle email anymore, because she can't remember what to do, what icons to push when or where, even though I've written up instructions for her. She can't reliably dial phone numbers with area codes, because she gets confused part way through and can't remember what she's already dialed. She wants to print out scads of knitting and crocheting instructions off the internet, even though she can't knit or crochet any more. She's tried, and can't follow the directions - I think she forgets where she is in the process, and has trouble holding either needles or a hook. But she persists in looking up any and all free instructions she can find and printing them out, then wants me to hole-punch them for her and put them in a 3-ring binder, so she'll have them all for posterity. It makes me nuts, because it feels like a whopping big waste of my time.

She left a message on my cell this morning (which she calls constantly in preference to my home number, in spite of the lousy cell reception at the house), all concerned about the 50 or so boxes of junk she still has in a rented storage facility. She wants me to bring them all over in the next two days ("because the weather will be good") so she can sort through them. She doesn't actually sort through anything, she has ME do it in front of her, and has at least six boxes in her second bedroom now which she hasn't had time to deal with, or space to store other than piled up on the couch. After all, printing out more knitting instructions and filling up binders with them is so much more important.... [head-desk, head-desk, head-desk]
Ah well, life is such fun...

a belated update

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 01:09:33 GMT

Took Mom out to lunch for her birthday (her favorite - Chinese food). That's our sodium intake for the next couple of weeks, but boy, was it tasty.

Got a phone call this morning from my sister-in-law with less than wonderful news. She went in to see her doctor regarding increasing incidents of chest pain, and was told that there are no further procedures left to try (she's already had a quad by-pass). They've got her on an experimental drug to help oxygenate her heart, but it doesn't look good. And this is after last month's bad news that her husband's sister has been put in a nursing home due to her advanced Alzheimer's. As you can imagine, J. is unhappy in the extreme about his sister, and worried about his own neurological future. Now this news about F's heart will knock them both for a loop. When she needed the by-pass, the news made J. pass out in the hospital. From what F. said this morning, she's taking it as a virtual death sentence, and I doubt hubby is taking it any more easily.

We're heading out of town tomorrow to help B. & A. move to a temporary housing situation. They're selling the house they built, but only a couple of acres of property. They're building another house on the remaining acreage but at present, it's just a cellar hole. So, for the moment, they'll be renting a place a few miles away. And we get to come back in a few months and do it again....\

Our foster pup may have a new home, he goes for a home visit on Saturday. We're dropping him off with the foster coordinator tomorrow morning, but may not get him back on Sunday night. Sigh (for us) and yippee (for Tucker).

Next weekend is our annual camping trip with our old neighbors up at White Lake. I'm crossing my fingers for good weather...

That's 'all the news that's fit to print'>

Happy Birthday, Ellid!

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:58:11 GMT

May your day be filled with lots of good things (especially chocolate!).

Yolanda the doe wandered through the yard the other day...

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:55:49 GMT

She came up the hill from behind the compost heap, across the back yard, under the laundry lines (just visible at right), then past the apple tree and up into the trees between us and the neighbors.

Her fawn was hippetty hopping all around, looking remarkably like the hounds when they've just let out of their crates after one of our longer absences. Zooom, Zoooom, Zoooom! Two or three mincing steps, then, zooom, zooom, zoooooom!

Fawn in front of the garden shed with a couple of female turkeys, also enjoying the late afternoon shade.

I have seen too many emergency rooms this year....

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:27:10 GMT

but what else can you do when your honey has chest pain?

A week ago Thursday, I get woken up at midnight with a request to drive to the ER.

He's been complaining about feeling 'off' for a couple of days, it's not getting better and he's uncomfortable enough that he can't sleep. So, off we go. Luckily, it's only a 10 minute drive through the back roads.

They did the usual blood tests and cardiac monitoring and determined that he wasn't having another heart attack (sigh of relief), but scheduled him for a session in the catheterization lab Friday morning, admitting him to the progressive care unit for monitoring in the meantime.

I got back home shortly after 4 AM (and had to let the pups out, of course) and crawled into bed. Of course, Jasper and Percy wanted to crawl under the covers for the cuddle they didn't get the night before. At 6 am, everybody wants to be fed breakfast as usual. Sleep? We don't need sleep, we slept the whole time you were out! Crawl back into bed. By 7:15, kitties think its time to play "Pounce on Mom". Give up on sleep, shower, go back to hospital.

He was supposed to go in for the catheter testing first thing in the morning, around 7, but they had two major emergencies come in (one major heart attack at 6 AM, someone else at 10 AM with collapsed veins), so we basically sat around and waited until after two. Not that I mind waiting for those other folks who clearly were having a much worse day than we were, but poor Alan was starving, since he couldn't eat until an hour after the test and any ensuing procedure. I had gone home around 1-ish to let the long-legged-beasties out, so of course I came back just after they took him in. Sat around in the surgical waiting area for the next three hours (luckily, I'd brought a book), until the cardiologist on call came out to talk to me.

So, net result was, when they looked at the veins around the heart, he had some new narrowing next to one of his stents, and a new narrow spot on a different vein. They gave him two more stents, and again, kept him overnight in the PCU for monitoring. He was discharged on Saturday, with assorted holes and bruises (from the IV's and catheter) to keep an eye on, and orders to lounge around watching TV until Wednesday.

He's been fine, and has started doing some minor puttering around the house, as he feels up to it.

Tomorrow may be a long day, but we'll see how he feels as we go.

We'll start the day at the Canterbury Fair, which we try to get to every year,. This year our buddy Steve's band is playing, so it should be extra-fun, as we'll probably hang out with Lil and Cathy,too (Steve's wife and sister-in-law - Lil's brother is the bass player, his son plays lead guitar, daughter-in-law sings amazingly well). Lunch will be the town's annual BBQ chicken dinner, always a winner.

Assuming we're both still up to it, this will be followed by late afternoon / evening at Hebron's Town Day festivities, another annual must-see, accompanied by their annual town chicken BBQ. Yes, that's right, two chicken BBQ's in one. day. The last part of the Hebron Town Day is a charitable auction, always a lot of fun, and usually some useful stuff cheap.

As all events are outdoors, we can even bring the hounds, although I suspect new foster Tucker may have a tough time keeping his long nose out of the BBQ. There's usually a GH rescue outreach booth set up, so it would be particularly good for potential adopters to see a hound (or two) walking the ground with happy adoptive parents.

Both events also feature a humongous used book sale, not that either of us needs to add more volumes to our home library... I found myself considering bringing the little red wagon to haul new finds back to the car, but wonder if that's just asking to give in to temptation too easily. Thereare antique tables and craft booths at Canterbury, and a huge white elephant sale and more craft booths at Hebron, so the opportunity to come home with way more junk that we started with looms ominously. Note to self - leave credit cards and checkbook at home!

In other news, Mom has come to realization that she's no longer up to managing her investment portfolio.

She actually asked me to find her a full-service broker locally last week [tries not to keel over in shock]. I got on the phone with the folks that have been handling my retirement funds for more than 10 years and had a meeting with one of them yesterday at Mom's apartment. Mom seems to like him (thank heavens!). He took copies of Mom's statements and other financial paperwork, and will get back to us with a plan of action in a week or so. I'll be happier with her funds under management I know I can trust, as well as having it all in one set of hands, much easier for administration purposes. It' will be something of a pain to get everything switched over, but worth it in the long run.

I know some of her investments should have been sold off and reinvested in different market segments a while ago (this isn't exactly a great market for REITs, duh...), but it wasn't worth squabbling with Mom about hiring an investment counselor or broker (whom she used to say were all crooks). The thought of taking the time to get up to speed on it myself wasn't particularly pleasant, plus there's the downside potential for Mom deciding I hadn't done a sufficiently good job with her money, even less pleasant. She's finally accepted that her memory impairment is just not going to allow her to handle this stuff any more. I'm glad I kept my mouth shut until she got there on her own, as she's much more likely to be happy with the results now, [hoping not to have spoken too soon].

Hopefully, things will be relatively calm for a while now, I could use a break...

To answer your questions...

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:36:34 GMT

Felines are fine.

New foster dog - lovely red goofball named Tucker, even taller than Casey.

Percy is still hissing & growling at new foster, big surprise. Younger sib Tony is imitating big bro. Tucker now stays many feet away from small felines. Pip and Jake keep trying to cuddle up to Tucker, making for some amusement.

Mom is having back problems, big time. Apparently her fall out of bed 3 weeks ago injured her spine, which went undetected until Sunday, due to her spinal stenosis and arthritis. We went to the fireworks up at Steele Hill on Sunday night, and missed the phone calls on my cell due to 'the rockets' red glare'. I didn't know she'd been in the hospital until the next morning, when she was back at Granite Ledges again.

Her doctor is trying to arrange an MRI of the spine today or tomorrow, to be followed by some new-fangled bit of 'surgery' in which they apply glue to the broken bits to stabilize the spine and keep the pain down. Unfortunately, the break is unlikely to heal on it's own, and she's having a horrible time of it.

We were supposed to go to a friend's house in New Jersey this weekend, but cancelled, as we don't know when the MRI is, never mind the other procedure.

Alan built a new shed (the roof collapsed on the one next to the driveway over the winter), added a ramp from the upper driveway to the front deck, and re-did the railing on the back deck. Busy boy, he's been.

And neither one of us has had any luck finding a job. Bleah.

An honor not to be missed...

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 01:27:30 GMT

And I thought ex-presidents just got libraries...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/washington/25rename.html?ex=1372132800&en=85ab8ed522ec0e4a&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

And the synchronized flush next January 20 is just one more reason to anticipate the day with glee.

Thanks, Ellid, I needed a chuckle or two.

Definitely not lawn ornaments

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:12:24 GMT

It's been quite the week for wildlife. A. got all excited when he spotted the first racoon we've ever had in the yard, up the maple in the middle of the yard at the corn cob feeder he keeps stocked for the squirrels. I grabbed the camera, but too late, he got scared off when A. stepped out onto the deck. Last seen scampering off downhill through the trees at a smart clip. A. tossed out an extra corncob or two, indulging in the wishful thought that the racoon might return. No joy there, but the deer were happy to oblige.

We've had a few turkeys through the yard as well. My sister was here for a long weekend visit (mostly spent with Mom), and got to see the male in full strut. Unfortunately, she forgot her camera at home, and it was too far away for her phone. I've been trying to get shots over the last few days, but it's not cooperating much. Phooey.

And this morning, while letting the hounds out, I got to watch a pair of pileated woodpeckers inspect the pine trees. I could hear another one up on the ridge behind me as I watched the two patrol the perimeters. Eventually they flew off towards the Town Forest. It's only the third time I've seen Pileateds since we've been here. Definitely a banner day.

In a concrete gesture of optimism,

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 15:39:11 GMT

we bought a market umbrella & stand for the deck yesterday. After all, spring is springing, if only in theory. Now if only the snow would melt off the adirondack chairs, currently frozen to the ground out back, stuck in a foot and a half of the white stuff. Maybe by June?

We also took pity on the five does who have been attempting to eat the spillage from the bird feeders. They are occasionally trying to stretch up high enough to reach the actual feeders, which are a bear-proof 15 - 20 feet off the ground (most of the year). Of course they've got a bit of a boost from the snow, but not emough. So we bought a big sack of mixed grains and a salt lick for them. I'll have to hack an opening in the snow so I can get out into the yard, a rather daunting task, given that the heap at the bottom of the stairs is still taller than I.

I' have recently been reminded that things are worse elsewhere. Thanks to the Concord Monitor, I now know that, further north, Stewartstown NH got over 19 feet, about twice what we've had. And we still have 9 more inches to go to break Concords record of 120 inches. The joys of a truly local newspaper - the announcement of the 07-08 season having moved up in the records (to third place) was on the front page. Above the fold.

Warning: general grumpiness about the weather (or: where the hell is spring????)

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 21:46:57 GMT

Have spent small parts of the last couple of days admiring the 2 square feet of non-snow in the yard (directly over the septic tank, of course). I refuse to characterize it as lawn, since the poor little patch is still abysmally brown.

So what do I wake up to this morning.

MORE EFFING SNOW.

Thank my lucky stars, it was under an inch and has mostly melted off already.

You can almost see the arms of the adirondack chairs in the back yard, but the garden bench in the dog's area is still mostly covered, with just a hint of the back peaking through on one end.

(sigh)

One more way to get fouled up by health insurance...

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 23:23:11 GMT

Once you have health insurance, don't ever move.

OK, Mom moved from NY to NH on December 10. I can vouch for this, I drove.

Of course, I can't vouch for it to Medicare, because a) I'm not Mom and b) Medicare is the part of the Social Security Administration, the only institution in the U.S. that doesn't recognize a durable power of attorney. The only way to have anyone appointed to act on behalf of another person with Medicare is to prove that the individual in question is no longer competent to act on their own behalf. Which would be easier than having to get Mom on the phone every time we need to tell her something. Mom is nearly deaf in her left ear and can't use her right hand very well. Try picking up the phone with your left hand, tucking it into your right shoulder and dialing lefty (assuming you're not a lefty already). (bangs head on desk)

We called Social Security on December 11. I can vouch for this, I dialed the number and was on the other extension. No, wait, I can't vouch for this, I'm not Mom... (bangs head on desk).

I dial the Social Security Office in New York, and put Mom on another extension. The ever-so-helpful person on the other end of the phone verified her identity according to protocols set up online (by guess who) and assured us that the new address would be automatically shared with Medicare. Did not happen that way. Address change did not get processed.   (bangs head on desk)

Mom's health insurance, HIP of NY, doesn't cover her outside of New York. OK, we knew that, so I did some research and signed her up for a Medicare supplement plan up here in NH. However, HIP can't take her change of address from me, they coordinate their address info directly with Medicare. Who hasn't got the address change. (bangs head on desk).

I call HIP's customer service line multiple times over the past two months, am told alternately that the address info should get updated any day now, or that we should pursue this through Medicare via their 800 number. Mom's assisted living facility has a block on 800 numbers. (bangs head on desk) If I call Medicare from home, Mom can't authorize them to speak to me, so they won't tell me anything, including the fact that they don't have the address change on file yet. (bangs head on desk)

We receive bills from Mom's various doctors and therapists up here, stating that Medicare rejected the claims, saying they should be submitted to her primary insurance - you guessed it - HIP of NY. I know already HIP will reject these claims because they are for routine care outside their provider area. I finally call the local Social Security office, pour out the whole tale of woe and convince someone to at least verify the address they have on file - the old one in NY. (bangs head on desk)

We take Mom out in the snowy muck, get her into the Social Security office and have her address changed.  This time, hopefully Medicare will get it, HIP will uplink to Medicare and realize what I've been telling them all along, she no longer qualifies for their plan based on her change of residence and 'disenroll' her. Disenroll??? This is a word??? (bangs head on desk)

The day after our trip to Social Security, she goes into the hospital with pulmonary embolisms. Not fun, but caught in time. They put her on a heparin drip, then fuss over coumadin levels for a few days. Now they want her to go back into a rehab facility for about a week, to build her strenghth back up, as is usually the case when she gets out of the hospital. Medicare won't approve her stay in rehab because HIP is her primary.... (bangs head on desk)

I did manage to verify that the address change has gone through, but now we have to get HIP to rev up their computer, into Medicare, verify the information and (shudder) disenroll her. The very nice admissions lady at the rehab center finally got through to HIP's 'Medicare Disenrollment' (there's that word again !!!???) group and wormed out of them the very secret fax number to which I can send a letter urgently requesting them to get up off their collective butts and tell Medicare she doesn't qualify for HIP and take her back NOW, please. I did so, but why, oh why, couldn't they have told me I could do this two months ago? (bangs head on desk)

This could have been fixed BEFORE she went to the hospital... (bangs head on desk)

Need chocolate....

Life is so weird...

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 22:06:42 GMT

Have spent much of the last few days dealing with Mom stuff (back in the hospital again, not fun), mostly her insurance (still fouled up thanks to Social Security not recording her address change to NH nearly 3 months ago), and thought I'd catch up on LJ posts.

http://www.marshmallowpeeps.com/

I wondered momentarily if H had slipped some LSD in my tea...

Gacked from Ellid

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 18:00:29 GMT

IF YOU'RE ON MY FRIENDS LIST, I want to know 36 things about you. I don't care if we never talk, or if we already know everything about each other. Short and sweet is fine ... You're on my list, so I want to know you better!

BE HONEST! COPY FROM HERE THEN SEND DIRECTLY TO ME IN A REPLY (or reply here, your choice). THEN REPOST THE EMPTY QUESTIONS.

1) Are you currently in a serious relationship?
A.

2) What was your dream growing up?
A.

3) What talent do you wish you had?
A.

4) If I bought you a drink what would it be?
A.

5) Favorite vegetable?
A.

6) What was the last book you read?
A.

7) What zodiac sign are you?
A.

8) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Explain where.
A.

9) Worst Habit?
A.

10) If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride?
A.

11) What is your favorite sport?
A.

12) Do you have a Negative or Optimistic attitude?
A.

13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
A.

14) Worst thing to ever happen to you?
A.

15) Tell me one weird fact about you.
A.

16) Do you have any pets?
A.

17) What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly?
A.

18) What was your first impression of me? (hmmm...careful!)
A.

19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
A.

20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
A.

21) Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
A.

22) What color eyes do you have?
A.

23) Ever been arrested?
A.

24) Bottle or can soda?
A.

25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
A.

27) What's your favorite place to hang at?
A.

28) Do you believe in ghosts?
A.

29) Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
A.

30) Do you swear a lot?
A.

31) Biggest pet peeve?
A.

32) In one word, how would you describe yourself?
A.

33) Do you believe/appreciate romance?
A.

35) Do you believe in God?
A.

36) Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?
A.

Ahh, tax season has begun....

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 17:56:21 GMT

I can say that without my few remaining brown hairs turning white, knowing that I'm not responsible for W-2 or 1099 production for the first time in, well, many many years. Hubby's first tax document turned up in Friday's mail (his first 1099-R ever from his GE Pension), one of my two measly W-2's showed up earlier and Mom's 1099-DIV's have been turning up for a week or so. And I can look at them more or less academically, without that chill reminder of tasks yet to do, and reconciliations to pull one's hair out over. It makes being unemployed feel almost peaceful....

Note to self - do NOT succumb to the temptation of employment if it has anything to do with taxation...

But before I go...

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 15:31:20 GMT

WELCOME HOME ellid!!!!

(imagine baloons and ticker tape parade)