There are no excuses for waiting so long to post this, but the last couple of weeks have been a blur. My wife's mom, GoGo, has had several TIA's and is practically immobile. She has been at Amy's brother's house in Birmingham. Amy travels to stay with her two days a week. Sometimes we bring her to our house for a few days. Even though she would like to spend more time here with us, our house is not really equipped for someone in her condition. My mom has spent the last couple of weeks in Trinity hospital in Birmingham. Diagnosis was congestive heart failure and afib. She was able to walk into the hospital but after being in bed that long she is having trouble walking. She will be discharged from the hospital today and will go to rehab for physical therapy here in Talladega. She could be there for up to 20 days or less depending on how well she progresses with the therapy. Although both moms have similar health issues, their attitudes are as different as night and day. Gogo's attitude is very negative, to the point of being mad at God for not taking her on to heaven. She is waiting to die. Of course some one said that she will probably live another 20 years so God can prove he is in charge. On the other hand mom's attitude is positive, wanting to live every day to the fullest, fully intending to regain her strength and get back to her usual activities. She makes the best of every little setback she encounters.
So, with all that has happened in the last year, surgery on both knees, loosing my sister, and now taking care of our mothers, I am glad that I did not spend 6 months hiking the trail. I really miss my sister, because we thought that she would be the one to care for mom. Apparently God had and continues to have other plans. I am glad that Amy and I are retired and are in a position to take part in the care of our parents. In the meantime writing this blog will have to take a backseat, and a low priority. In another month winter will be fading out and spring coming in, bringing with it new opportunities and new changes. Gardening time. Hiking again. By the way, my knees are doing great. I can walk down steps without any pain and I can cross my legs with no pain. There is a little discomfort when standing up from a chair, but that is getting better and better.
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Sunday, January 4, 2015
January 4
Christmas is over and 2015 has begun. Time to settle in for the new year. My new exercise program will begin in the morning. I will start with logging everything I eat, using my fitness app on my ipad. I will also start daily walking with a minimum of 2 miles at the track at Veteran's Park. Also I plan to add treadmill walking 30 minutes a day. I will try this for the rest of January, then consider other ideas.
I also have other activities to do. I plan to begin my woodworking by building two beds. The first thing to do is to clean out one of my buildings so I can have room to work on this. Right now the building is so full I can barely get into the door. When I retired I took everything I had accumulated over the years and instead of going through it then, I just brought it home and threw it into that building. Since I have been retired for over a year it is time for winter/spring cleaning. I admit to being a hoarder, but it is time I got rid of almost everything.
I seldom drive my truck, but drove it to town to walk on the Saturday before Christmas. My wife met me at the track and we went to fill up with gas. After I filled up the gas tank I discovered the truck was a leaking gas. Half of the gas had drained out over the weekend. The truck is a 1994 Mazda B3000 cab plus. When I took it to find out about the leak, I discovered that the gas tank is no longer made for that model. I made several inquiries online trying to find a new tank. The day before Christmas eve I found a used one at a salvage yard in Munford, about 10 miles away. My truck is now ready for hauling. Looks like this week will be a lot of work.
I also have other activities to do. I plan to begin my woodworking by building two beds. The first thing to do is to clean out one of my buildings so I can have room to work on this. Right now the building is so full I can barely get into the door. When I retired I took everything I had accumulated over the years and instead of going through it then, I just brought it home and threw it into that building. Since I have been retired for over a year it is time for winter/spring cleaning. I admit to being a hoarder, but it is time I got rid of almost everything.
I seldom drive my truck, but drove it to town to walk on the Saturday before Christmas. My wife met me at the track and we went to fill up with gas. After I filled up the gas tank I discovered the truck was a leaking gas. Half of the gas had drained out over the weekend. The truck is a 1994 Mazda B3000 cab plus. When I took it to find out about the leak, I discovered that the gas tank is no longer made for that model. I made several inquiries online trying to find a new tank. The day before Christmas eve I found a used one at a salvage yard in Munford, about 10 miles away. My truck is now ready for hauling. Looks like this week will be a lot of work.
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Hiking again - January 1, 2015
It has been a long time since my last post. Sorry about that, but my new years resolution is to do a better job at posting on my blog. A lot has happened since Thanksgiving, but the time has just flown by. My wife's mother, who is in poor health, has spent a couple of weeks with us. She had been staying in Birmingham at Amy's brother's house. Amy, and sometimes myself, go over every Tuesday and Thursday to stay with her. We have been doing this since October.
We started a new Christmas tradition. Amy and I and our moms ate Christmas hamburgers on Christmas day. This was the first time we did not spend Christmas day with any of our kids. Our daughter Emily and her family (Craig and Kale) when to Indiana to spend Christmas with Craig's parents. Our other daughter, Katy and her group (Scott, Kinsley, and Cooper) spent Christmas day with Scott's mom and her family. Our son, Jason and his wife, Shelley spent Christmas with her parents in Ashland. Therefore we began a new tradition by cooking Bubba Burgers on the grill. After lunch we took GoGo, Amy's mom, back to Birmingham.
Katy, Scott, Kinsley, and Cooper did come to spend a week with us. They will be returning to Virginia in the morning. It is always great when they come to visit. Jason and Shelley came over this past Saturday so we could all get together for lunch. That was a really good time. I forgot to mention that Baxter, Katy's dog came too. Also Jason brought his dog, Brooks, a chocolate lab that is as big as a horse. It made for a full house and a fun time.
Scott wanted to do some trail running, so I dropped him off at Adam's Gap on the Pinhoti Trail. I parked at the Cheaha trailhead and was supposed to meet him somewhere on the trail. I walked the Cave Creek trail and ended up missing him at the connector with the Pinhoti, I knew I had walked 4 miles when we finally got communication on Scott's walkie-talkies. I should have turned and gone back the same way I had come, but I decided to continue on the Pinhoti back to the parking lot. My cell phone went dead after 8.4 miles, which was still about 2 miles away from the parking lot. Needless to say, I can hardly walk today, but there was no problem with my knees. I had forgotten how rocky and steep that portion of the trail was, and decided to go really slow to protect my knees, I finally finished after the sun went down. A lot farther than I had planned, but a really enjoyable hike. My legs were begining to cramp a little at the end.
We started a new Christmas tradition. Amy and I and our moms ate Christmas hamburgers on Christmas day. This was the first time we did not spend Christmas day with any of our kids. Our daughter Emily and her family (Craig and Kale) when to Indiana to spend Christmas with Craig's parents. Our other daughter, Katy and her group (Scott, Kinsley, and Cooper) spent Christmas day with Scott's mom and her family. Our son, Jason and his wife, Shelley spent Christmas with her parents in Ashland. Therefore we began a new tradition by cooking Bubba Burgers on the grill. After lunch we took GoGo, Amy's mom, back to Birmingham.
Katy, Scott, Kinsley, and Cooper did come to spend a week with us. They will be returning to Virginia in the morning. It is always great when they come to visit. Jason and Shelley came over this past Saturday so we could all get together for lunch. That was a really good time. I forgot to mention that Baxter, Katy's dog came too. Also Jason brought his dog, Brooks, a chocolate lab that is as big as a horse. It made for a full house and a fun time.
Scott wanted to do some trail running, so I dropped him off at Adam's Gap on the Pinhoti Trail. I parked at the Cheaha trailhead and was supposed to meet him somewhere on the trail. I walked the Cave Creek trail and ended up missing him at the connector with the Pinhoti, I knew I had walked 4 miles when we finally got communication on Scott's walkie-talkies. I should have turned and gone back the same way I had come, but I decided to continue on the Pinhoti back to the parking lot. My cell phone went dead after 8.4 miles, which was still about 2 miles away from the parking lot. Needless to say, I can hardly walk today, but there was no problem with my knees. I had forgotten how rocky and steep that portion of the trail was, and decided to go really slow to protect my knees, I finally finished after the sun went down. A lot farther than I had planned, but a really enjoyable hike. My legs were begining to cramp a little at the end.
Scott after we met up.
This selfie was taken from one of the views on the Pinhoti.
Scott was ready for another run today, but since I can barely walk from sore muscles my hiking is done for a couple of days. He will have to wait for his next visit to do more of the trail. For me, I am going to start my weight loss program tomorrow. Today it's time for football games and one last big meal with blackeyed peas and turnip greens.
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