There are signs that things are improving!

Good Morning,

I knew there was frost and it was chilly outside but I never look at the temperature on the wall. I let one of our cats out late last night and she is not around to come in and eat. I should be more protective but hey there cats. 

I am waking up better; somehow my kidneys were sore from some lifting and that had never happened before; I need to know why they hurt when they normally do not.
There are signs that things are improving! The walker in in the hallway and Laurel is washing dishes in the kitchen. This will only last a little longer and she will crash and go to bed.

Clear

Good Morning,

32 degrees outside this morning. No snow, no rain, cloudy.

We took our cat Tiger Lilly to the vet to check a lump on her left cheek. The vet cut the cyst and drained it; I went to the vet and picked her up; she is still groggy. She wants to go outside. I think it is too chilly out there plus she will not be available outside if/when it is time for her medication.

1600

Laurel was very active today. she has been home three weeks today. three weeks ago yesterday she had back surgery. She was walking around with out any aid and doing household chores which made her feel very good. She is sleeping now.

She cleaned the table of all the household food stuff I had on the table to make it easy on her to see what available for her to eat. She put all the stuff away and washed off the table.

Do you remember that well known folks decided to make the old bible more in tune with their way of life and created the new version.

Laurel

Good morning,

Laurel had called the doctor to tell them about her knee hurting and her ankle swelling and they procribe a medication and called it in to our local pharmacy; I picked it up and Laurel started it last night and this morning she says there is a great improvement.

No Place to Be

The lonely place, the place without thought.
The closest place to death, no reality.
Without light or ego.
Alone without being, no bliss, 

near death, understanding nothing, white or black.

No colors to paint or see, no depth or void.
No awareness or imagination.
No being to comfort or hate.
The lonely place.
No words to even comfort our awareness.
Blank not even black.
No place to be.

Good Morning,

30 degrees and frost. Mom is sleeping; She has been up several times over night I awoke for two of those events.A bowl of cheerios for one of those awakenings.I have had one mug of coffee as I looked over the Face Book pages, the weather channel, CNN and MS-NBC.

My back is better as Laurel Roses back heals; she is somewhat active and learning to live on less medication.

It is quiet here in our area of Western Kentucky. We obey Law.

We do not assume that someone else’s religion or way of life is evil and/or should be eliminated from the planet. I remember, maybe 10 or 15 years ago that one country stopped bickering over religion when they were going to be put on the same terror list as those that were blowing up people elsewhere. 

There is a place in time to act civil and stop the violence. Holidays make it simple because of the reverence of the hours. If you treat the planet with reverence and treat her as a holiday then maybe peace will prevail throughout the planet. 

Sometimes the planet sees what you write and it does make sense for them. We Obey Law

We Want to be Pampered

Good Morning,

Allison came over to help out. She helps. I am sore; Laurel is sleeping. Over night Laurel is up 2 or 3 times. This is normal for her normally but this back condition it made it extremely difficult for her to mend quickly.She is like a fighter in the 12th round with 20 more rounds to go. Yes we have all been there but please..

Ok things will work out, they most always do. The PA had no difficulty letting Laurel go home and had no difficulty letting her do what ever she wanted to do. Back surgery is different today with all this technology. Medicare we want to be pampered.

On Her Own

Good Morning,
It is in the 30's this morning; I never looked. Laurel is sleeping. She is on her own now.

Good Morning,

Sore back this morning; I have had the problem for about a week now. I assume rest is the answer. I have a mug of coffee near by and I just heated the water for tea.

Laurel is sleeping.

We lost one cat; it never showed up in the morning two days ago. It was a calico cat.

In Today's Environment

In today's environment we see the  mixture of, "Have a nice day!" online, "Hope your feeling better!" online and the cards and letters sent to us to cheer us up by mail.

What are endorphins? by Tom Scheve

It's not uncommon to hear someone talk about getting an "endorphin rush." Sex, exercise, even hot peppers -- all sorts of things are credited for these euphoric highs. So what are endorphins, and are they really responsible for our feelings of excitement or satisfaction?

In the early 1970s, researchers were studying how the brain is affected by opiates, such as heroin or morphine. They found that opiates interact with specialized receptors in cells that are primarily massed in the brain and spinal cord. When opiates enter these receptors, they hinder or block the cell's transmission of pain signals. But why, wondered the scientists studying this phenomenon, would these specialized receptors exist in the first place? The most plausible answer was that opioid receptors exist due to the presence of an opiatelike substance produced naturally in the body.

Enter endorphins: your own private narcotic. Endorphins areneurotransmitters, chemicals that pass along signals from one neuron to the next. Neurotransmitters play a key role in the function of the central nervous system and can either prompt or suppress the further signaling of nearby neurons.

Endorphins are produced as a response to certain stimuli, especially stress, fear or pain. They originate in various parts of your body -- the pituitary gland, your spinal cord and throughout other parts of your brain and nervous system -- and interact mainly with receptors in cells found in regions of the brain responsible for blocking pain and controlling emotion.

Until recently, much of what we've learned about endorphins has been gained from monitoring endorphins in the human bloodstream and in rats' brains. It wasn't possible to measure endorphin levels in the human brain without harming the subject, so the role of endorphins in the "runner's high" and other periods of euphoria or mood change were still hotly debated. However, new imaging methods allow researchers to study the ebb and flow of endorphins as they interact with human brain cells, verifying their role in the rush that exercise -- and other triggers -- sometimes prompts.

There are at least 20 different kinds of endorphins, and one kind,beta-endorphins, are stronger than morphine and have been shown to play a part in everything from alcoholism to diabetes to aging of the brain [source: Dalayeun].

Next, we'll learn how endorphins can make us more emotional than an hour spent standing at the craps table.

 

by Tom Scheve

Good Morning,

Clean Up

Good Morning, 

I have not been using Naturally Speaking because I do not want to wake mom early. She gets good sleep this time of morning. Her body mends.

Our cat Loretta is just like a two year old but with no sense; she gets lost easy and overeats because it feels good to eat and throws up. Laurel normally takes care of her messes but lately it is up to me to clean up. I am not the best when I am overwhelmed but I am a constant..

Good Morning,

We are both very busy this morning, I am washing sheets and towels and Laurel is fixing her breakfast and sweeping the floor; I bent over and picked up what she swept. I was on the phone all morning trying to solve a web site problem. I got it resolved (they did).
We are now relaxing watching a little TV.

30 Degrees and Frost

Good Morning.

I have a NARFE meeting at 11:00 am; I have been wearing a back brace because I hurt my back, not as hard as mom but more than normal. I normally rest after twenty minutes and that works well in my situation. She is doing better every day but the pain is the kind you work through and it is frightening at times. The PA said she could do anything and mom has tried. 

Sitting and getting up is something she has no problem with; getting comfortable in bed is now her greatest difficulty (she twist and turns as the pain ripples through her body; she does better when I am laying in bed beside her).

Good Morning,
I made a mug of coffee; my back is sore.I never looked at thermometer, I just looked at my computer screen and it said 33 degrees in Marion, Ky. I am tired.

The United States Social Security Administration

Good Morning,

I am sore this morning; doing tricks with drugs (last post) does not work for this human being. I have said it over and over 20 minutes for this body and rest. My age in mind is young but my body is beat up. In the old days I would have been left behind but today we have a social network to catch us and let us go gracefully.

Laurel is sore but extremely understanding.

It is amazing how every family has to deal with this and some folks are understanding and some folks have problems of their own.
All bandages are off after a nice bath.
1000
Laurel was on her computer (desktop) while I went to the store to get some staples (cat chow, scope litter, milk, tissue and Sprite).

The Lazy Boy and Useful Chemicals

Good Morning,

I normally do not take drugs to alleviate pain. I normally let my body do what it can. If I need to rest, I rest. But with Laurel needing 24/7 help, I am taking 2 Tylenol and 1 Aleve once a day and that works for about 20 hours. I normally take something for my stomach and my dizzy spells. 

I have been trying to find an app for my phone that logs our medication. I think a calendar program would work fine.
Two days ago Laurel said she wanted to sit someplace other than something upright so we put a seat cushion and pillow on her Lazy Boy and she has no problem getting in and out of that machine.
Laurel said a few minutes ago that she felt drugged; that means that the drug feels more like a drug than a pain reliever; that is a great sign. 

Swish

Good Morning,

Deep sleeping for both of us but up every couple of hours to use the rest room; She went back to bed and I stayed up to have a mug of coffee.

We went to bed early and stayed up late watching movies.

As I has said before; our home is small and comfortable; our community is safe as we abide by the law. There are no outlaws roaming the area; everyone in Western Kentucky can shoot the eyes out a squirrel. As the case of my son; we never had a gun in our home but when he went in the military he was a sharpshooter. It is like Kentucky and basketball; when the boys in Kentucky play basketball if the ball hits the rim it does not count (swish).

Crumbs

Good Morning,

We have a princess in bed; she had me remove some sheet balls off the sheet last night. I realize that the medication she is taking makes her skin very sensitive and anything under her she feels.

I cannot do

Good Morning,

I cannot do what my daughter did!

When we got back from our doctor visit for my wife's back surgery I was exhausted. My wife laid down for a nap and I laid down for a nap and I did not hear here when she called because I was sound asleep. She was upset and she decided to do everything on her own.

I doctor said she could do whatever she wanted within reason or common sense.
This morning we are close to back to normal. Laurel is doing much more than what we considered normal but when she sits she is pleased. Tough.
I think every family on the planet earth goes through this at some time in their lives.
Again I will thank everyone for their support. Our daughter is an angel and we did thank her but we could never pay her back if she were a nurse in a hospital. She worked past exhaustion.

1100
Laurel was up until about 30 minutes ago. She is sound asleep now with 3 cats laying about. She spent quite a lot of time on her Kindle Tablet this morning while watching or listening to the TV or movie; plus walking about looking at the snow (very active). (Tea and toast and some time later some treats Eli had sent).
She is getting in and out of bed better.
She moves what she needs to where she wants to be. If I am near then I help.

Back Surgery

Good Morning,

I had back surgery in the 1990's; today back surgery is taken care of with the use of technology that was not used in the 1990's. 

I stayed in the hospital a week and lay in bed a month at home and had 6 weeks of physical therapy before going back to work.

Today (2015) they say, "Back Surgery, no problem; you go in have the surgery and go home the next day.”

Wow!

Tough? Yes.

Good Morning,

I’m using Dragon NaturallySpeaking on MS Word; I will copy this post to my blog. Laurel washed clothes yesterday and I am washing clothes today.

We got a new mailbox but it’s been too cold to replace the old one; it is 29° and cloudy this morning here in Marion.

We have the cat door open; it is cold out and the cats are going in and out, they know about the door; the door has its benefits with the worst are tomcats that spray or wild animals that come in for the food. The doors been open for two days now and seems to be working as it should.

Cold and Windy

Good Morning,

It is very cold outside this morning and windy. I think it is 15 degrees out there. I live in a warm home I pay the utility company and they pipe natural gas to my home. I pay the electric company and with electric wires they provide electricity to my home, I pay the local city water bill and they provide water to our home.

This message is a constant; there are nations on this planet that provide services to the communities across their nations.

When we first moved to this community we rented a home with no heat other than fireplaces and a  potbelly stove. We were told not to use the potbelly stove as it was dangerous as it was; so our first year in this community we burned coal in our fireplace. We asked our landlord to put in a floor furnace and they did. There was 1950 electrical service in the home and old rusty water lines to provide water. We now live in a newer home where the heat is economical. This home is small, practical and economical.

The Flu in Red

Good morning,

the flu epidemic is pretty strong in the South as the map shows; for me personally the cough has been persistent. The worst for us was between Thanksgiving and Christmas. People are telling us that the cough may last four months in some cases.

Mentally and physically I'm fine.

New Mailbox

Good Morning,

We spent our day yesterday in Paducah Kentucky; three doctors appointments. Laurel and I had eye  exams and after noon I had a dental appointment. After all the appointments we did some monthly shopping plus some treats like a new mailbox and some chair cushions. Our old mailbox will be recycled as junk; our old cushions will become cat cushions.

Two Day

Good morning,

January 2, 2015 is the second day of the new year; it is 36° and wet outside. I feel good, the cough is still here, it is annoying. Mentally I'm great; I'm not into physical work anymore and that annoys the folks around me.

2015

Good Morning,

2015: Today marks the beginning of a new year. January 1, 2015 a new month, a new year, A new beginning. I see frost outside our window it looks quiet outside cold 26° gray skies brown trees no leaves.

I think it's time for a cup of coffee.