Random 5 for July 28 – Busy, Parkinson’s, dental, family, guests

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A whirlwind week – Why do things always pile up in the same week? When you make appointments months in advance, there is nothing going on. Then wam, bam, thank you ma’am, you’re overloaded. It was that kind of week. Looking ahead I should have rescheduled but in my head I’m still 30 and capable of anything. Just wish my body thought it was 30! Even better I wish it looked like I was 30! Note to self: Shroud the mirrors!

Heartbreaking – This past week I learned that an old friend has advanced Parkinson’s. I saw him about a year ago and he was on a walker cautiously navigating on his own. Now he’s wheelchair bound and needs round the clock care. He’s a few years older than me and one of the most athletic people I know. It was very sobering. “There but for the grace of God go I.” That’s all I could think about. Fortunately he has a wonderful spouse to manage his health. We should all be so lucky to have that support.

That’s how we all feel!

Evil tomatoes –Last year I had a huge dental issue which resulted in biting my lip until it was raw. It took months and months of a mush diet until it healed and I didn’t re-injure. Dang thing happened again just as tomato season came into full production. Now I have tons of tomatoes that are painful to eat. I know it’s a first world problem but there are tomatoes on my counter taunting me. (Yes I caught them doing a Rockettes’ high kick! Little buggers!)

Today is the reunion! – This afternoon my family will gather to share stories and overeat. We try to capture some of the old world recipes (strudel and Mom’s potato salad) and find commonalities to reconnect. I am always surprised at how similar we are. It’s always interesting and there will be stories. Today’s weather is predicted to be the last “nice but very warm” day before a week of rainy weather. Whew! We just made it.

Sasha’s first crowd! – New cat Sasha is fearful of strangers. She came from a feral litter. She is very social in her own known tribe (which includes the beloved husband and me). Curious to see what she does. Hide all day? Sneak peaks around the corner? The grays will come out to see what’s going on and Mollie will say “Whatever!”

So how was your week?

 

 

72 thoughts on “Random 5 for July 28 – Busy, Parkinson’s, dental, family, guests”

  2. Hope your reunion is wonderful and the cats navigate it OK 🙂 Sorry to hear about your friend – it is always a shock when someone your own age has something medically serious going on like that. Hope your mouth is OK!

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  3. Family reunions are always fun. Especially if you see people you haven’t in a long time.

    I wonder why feral born cats are so skittish. My grey is like that. No strangers and often will be startled by something I do that he didn’t expect.

    My last cat Lily was also feral born and she refused to socialize with anyone but me. She didn’t startle so much like Tim does though. He’s a true scardey-cat. 🙀

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    • For the first 8 years of Jake’s life, my stepkids who we only see a few times a year never saw him. It was a family joke that there was no real Jake. After he got old, he was too lazy or too slow to run away.

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    • There was! I was really too busy to eat much and the good news is that yesterday I took my teeth for a trial run and they didn’t devour the inside of my mouth. I’ll be good for a while now.

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  6. Running very behind on blog posts these days. Sorry I missed the reunion. I’ll bet you had a wonderful time. How’d Sasha do? My dad has a cat that hides whenever company comes. I’ve only seen him peek around a corner twice in 16 years. His other cat is like a dog. Greets people when they come in and loves on them.

    Sorry about your friend’s Parkinson’s. My father-in-law had it, so I’m familiar with its effects. 😦

    It’s so great that you all can gather for those reunions. My mother-in-law (when she was alive) tried so hard to gather us all together in the same spot at the same time, but as the family grew, it got almost impossible to do.

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    • It is hard. We were lucky. This year everyone was available. We were missing one because he got sick but everyone else was there. That’s unusual. We have a lot of young adults in their 30s and 40s and they have better things to do!

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  8. Having watched my dad struggle with Parkinson’s until his death I just ache when I read of others. It’s such a hard disease. And so very hard on the caretakers. Your comment about “there but for the grace of God” is so true. My dad was strong and able until almost 80–he was lucky. And then all of a sudden…so we can’t take a day for granted.

    I hope the reunion was wonderful. So important!

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      • We think we could look back and see some signs of my dad’s “impending” Parkinson’s, but that was only looking backwards. We didn’t really see it clearly until things began to get very bad. And he really did change very, very rapidly. Maybe it’s because as we’re older we expect some failings, and don’t see the small things as symptoms. It’s very hard to see, I know. 😦

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  9. A year! That seems so fast. I am saddened and sobered, as you said. The lip-chewing problem–I have often wondered when I bit my cheek if it would heal before I repeated it again. Now I know what happens if it doesn’t. I had no idea. That wax that kids used to use on braces (when they poked into cheeks)–no good? Hmm…

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  10. Hope the reunion is full of fun (And Sasha finds a spot to huddle down in without the others smugly snarking stuff about humans and having to tolerate such events)
    Seeing friends is sometimes sobering – despite best efforts, we get what we got in DNA sometimes. They are making strides in Parkinson’s and other old age problems – but we all hope it’s fast enough.
    Sounds like you’re ready to enjoy the day and the crowd (yummy, too)

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  11. My week was rather peaceful, but my weekend was awfully busy.

    Wish my body thought it was 30 too. Wouldn’t that be nice?!

    I’m sorry about your friend. Even if you feel young and healthy, hearing about friends and neighbors suffering from terrible things can make you feel old. When my previously young and lively neighbor came down with alzheimers, it was a terrible shock. As you said, “There but for the grace of God …”

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  12. My wife had an implant last week, and is the middle of a mush diet herself. Well, I think it’s the middle; in fact I have no idea how long she’ll have to be careful eating. I forgot how long your odyssey lasted. Sorry for your current tomato-less condition. I hope the reunion goes off nicely. – Marty

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  20. Hope you have a great weekend and Sascha adapts OK.
    Sorry about the tomatoes, shame you;re so far away as I could have helped you out seeing as we lost half of a major plant!
    Reorganising the food budget, which actually is going to be a good thing. Will be walking more to save on car fuel, which has got to be good for the diet too!
    Grateful to whoever invented ceiling fans. This heat is exhausting.

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  28. My week too was very busy and I’m ready to hide away to decompress for a few days. If I had a house full of people arriving this afternoon, I would be in a state of panic right now. I hope this day is a huge success for you. Have lots of fun with your peoples 🙂

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