Small real life update.

Here's my short update of goings on in real life.

Me: I'm good, same old same old really. I've gone to working only 2 days a week :( because of my husband's work schedule at his new job. But it does leave me a lot of time with my kiddo, and too much time to watch tv, blog, and spend time on my iPod! I've taken a recent interest in Twitter parties- they are lots of fun and I've even won a few prizes! I've also been trying to make a little money for Christmas- I couldn't afford Christmas presents for my family last year (except for my husband and kiddo) and I would like to change that this year, because I love to give gifts to my family!

Husband: I don't think I mentioned here that he was fired from his job at the beginning of August. We were pretty ticked at the time. We moved from WY to NE just for that job and he was the store manager. He was demoted with no decent reason right after our daughter was born (talk about adding stress!) demoted again a few months after that, and fired in August. They never did give him a good reason, and when he called the company's main office they wouldn't talk to him; it was always just "She's not in today- call back tomorrow." Ugh.

Anyhow, they did us a favor. My husband got a better job that he really loves, and!!! it lets him work full time from home! Money is a little tight since he was out of a job for over a month, but we are barely scraping buy. He is a lot happier, we see him a lot more (which isn't always a good thing, hahaha), and he's even lost 10 pounds all while eating more, just because he isn't eating junk food all the time and he isn't as stressed out. A good deal, no? :)

Curly Girly: She is doing very well and being completely a 2 year old. She climbs and talks and plays and throws tantrums, just like a normal toddler. She watches too much Sesame Street, which annoys me, but it has taught her all of her alphabet letters, and her numbers from 0-9! I've been trying to teach her to count (she can count to 3 sometimes) and that letters make sounds and words, but I'm still just amazed that she knows so much. Baby and toddler brains are just amazing!

She has also had more adventures than I have ever had! She went to 2 birthday parties this month, and at one of them, she got to ride on an ATV, which she loved! She also got her nails painted for the first time at a party. I had to work during both parties so her daddy took her and I missed out on all the cuteness. :( But at least she's been having a good time and has some cute, well-behaved little friends to play with.

Other family news: My mom has been sick, so good thoughts and prayers are always welcome! It is a brain tumor which is not life threatening, but it's still not supposed to be there and doesn't make her feel her best. I am hoping her doctor figures out the best course of treatment soon! :) Get better soon, mom!

Non-family news: My friend Millie finally got out of the nursing home! Unfortunately that means I can't visit her because she lives too far away for me to walk. However, her son brings her in to shop where I work sometimes so I still get to check up on her. :) She looks immensely better since she's out of the nursing home. Her face has better color, her hair looks nicer, and she seems much happier. She also says that the food is better at home too. :) I am so glad she's out of that place. I miss visiting her but I am glad that she's back in her house and feeling better. She has to have someone in her house 24-7 so they are looking into home care people and will hopefully find someone soon. :)


So that's all for now! :) Sorry this wasn't as short as intended!
-duckyone.

Old people in the future

 I took Curly Girly to the nursing home to visit my buddy Millie again (she's doing well, in case you were wondering), and she was sitting in her room watching Dragnet. The last few times I have come to see her, she's been watching Little House on the Prairie. She also tells me that she likes to watch Lawrence Welk. (Well, not watch, since she's blind, but you know what I mean.) I haven't seen a single episode of any one of these shows. I think I've seen maybe a few minutes of Little House once or twice. All I know that they were made before I was born. In the case of The Lawrence Welk show, that was made even before my parents were born. As I was walking out, I saw a lady watching I Love Lucy, which is also really old, but I've actually seen that, and it's pretty funny.

So I bet you're wondering why I'm rambling on about what old ladies watch in nursing homes. It just got me to thinking. What will I watch when I'm a little old lady in a nursing home? I can just picture me sitting there in a wheelchair, watching Saved By The Bell or The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. If that's what's going to happen, I'm all for it! 

"Now pass me my prune juice and bowl of peppermints, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is on!"

-duckyone

Greetings from my Elmo nightmare.

No interesting or "funny" stories or dirty Sesame Street jokes today. We finally decided on a day for Curly Girly's 2nd birthday party, so I have been up to my eyeballs in Elmo eyeballs (and noses, and mouths, and other assorted Elmo bits). I am finally getting some use out of my Cricut that I bought recently! I have the Elmo's party cartridge (of course, and it's the only cartridge I've bought for it so far) and I am putting it to use. Last night I assembled birthday invitations last night at like 2AM (except for one defective Elmo hiney which I need to recut) and I am happy with them. They have pop-up Elmos inside! Tonight at about 1AM , I assembled 22 Elmo rectangles that will become a banner once I string them all together. They say "Happy Birthday [Curly Girly]" and they turned out nicely!

What's up next for the Cricut? Elmo name tags for the goody bags, thank you notes, and perhaps Elmo faces to put onto party hats if I can find red party hats. Finding party hats is apparently difficult, since Walmart stopped carrying them and so did the local party supply store. Guess I will be ordering them online. While my Cricut adventures don't look professional like they show on TV, I am happy with what I have made so far. After the kiddo's birthday, I will post pictures of the Elmo madness. With all the Elmos I have glued together thus far, it's a wonder I don't dream about being red and furry and wake up in a cold sweat.

In non-Muppet news, Curly Girly and I went to see Millie again. She was much more cheerful this week, and showed Catherine some birds that the nursing home has. Curly Girly wanted to get to the birds so bad that I had to keep her from banging on the glass. Millie's son and daughter-in-law were there visiting too so we all looked at birds and had a chat. Curly Girly got lots of comments on her curls, of course. We are planning on going again next week to see her. Her daughter-in-law said hopefully Millie will be out of there in a few short weeks, so prayers and good thoughts for her speedy recovery!

Now, it is insanely late and I should be resting up to chase after the kiddo again tomorrow. Assembling more Elmo stuff will probably wait until this weekend on my days off from work.
-duckyone.

Millie

I have a friend named Millie. She is a little old lady. An awesome little old lady. She is 77 years young. She is almost completely blind but still cooks her own meals, lives by herself at home, and walks around her kitchen island to get exercise. She is thin but concerned about letting herself go. She always wears matching outfits, and must have had them a long time if she knows what to put together without seeing them. She watches (well, listens to, anyway) Lawrence Welk on Saturday nights while eating a Banquet tv dinner. She tells stories of her dad who was a music teacher, her husband, her four children, and growing up in Nebraska.

Now, I don't go actively looking for little old ladies as friends. Millie and I just happened to find each other at my work. She needed help getting around the store to buy things, and I like to walk around. I think I was pregnant with Curly Girly the first time I helped her, and at that point walking around really helped me out since I was swelling all up. She walked around the store and I held onto the cart, guiding her around and reading item labels and prices for her. When it came time for her to pay, she had her money all set up where she could find it, and she trusted me with her wallet and checkbook.

I last helped Millie around in June. Her Wednesday visits were habit to me. The other workers "saved" Millie for me, and even if I was on break, she would wait for me to come back. I went on vacation the last week of June, and when I came back, she didn't come in. "Next week," I thought to myself, and worried to myself even though Millie was fairly healthy and active. What if she decided she liked another store better? What if she was broke and needed help (I knew she had hardly any money)? What if she was sick? I waited Wednesday after Wednesday. No Millie. I looked up her phone number and tried to call her. The number had gotten disconnected. At this point I was really starting to freak out.

I went in on Saturday on my day off to pick up some milk and bread. And there I saw her! Millie was there, in a wheelchair, with her daughter in law, doing some quick shopping. I asked her what had happened and she seemed pretty upset. She had some illness that seemed fairly minor to her (her daughter in law seemed to mention it was a little more serious), and got put in the hospital. From there, she got sent to a nursing home. "My kids put me in there!" she said sadly. I found out she was staying fairly close to where I live and I said I could visit her if she didn't mind seeing Curly Girly too, which of course she didn't. Today, I loaded up Curly Girly in the stroller and walked over to see her.

I found Millie in the dining room (tried to get there early but I fail, oops), sitting with a couple friends but looking rather angry. I said "Hi, Millie!" and she sort of snapped at me until she realized who it was. And when she found out Curly Girly was there too, she brightened up. She was really upset to be there, and asked how the weather was, and if we had walked over. She asked how I was, what new things Curly Girly was doing, and how my husband was, and if he had found a job yet. She told me she was doing her therapy every day, trying her best to meet all the requirements to go home. She says she needs to get out in a month or she will lose her house. I don't know the specifics of why she is there or whether or not she will be getting out soon. I stayed there maybe a half hour talking to her, until the wee one got antsy and wanted to leave. We gave her a picture that Curly Girly colored to brighten up her room- I figured even if she can't see it, she would appreciate it, and Curly Girly cutely said, "Byebye! See ya!" and waved.

As we left, I was stopped a few times by little old ladies oohing and aahing over Curly Girly and her hair, and she would wave and say "Byebye!" as we walked away. I felt sad leaving Millie all bummed out, but Cury Girly seemed to brighten the day for a lot of people.

So why am I telling you this long story? Because I wanted to tell you that it doesn't take much to help someone out or make their day a little better. I didn't set out to make friends with little old people. Nursing homes sort of give me the willies a little bit. But I found an unexpected friend, and it only takes a little effort to cheer her up.

My own grandparents (dad's parents) were in nursing homes for many years, but I didn't get out to visit them often. I visited my Grandpa a few times in there before he passed away, but it made me so sad to think of him in there because I knew how much he hated it, and I didn't make it in there often to see him. The last time I saw him was on his birthday, 4 months before he died. We ate little ice cream cups and the nurses went on about his pretty blue eyes and great personality. By the time my grandmother was full time in a nursing home (from assisted living), I had moved 2000 miles away and couldn't readily go visit her. The last time I saw her was when I went to Massachusetts last June to see family. Curly Girly was just wee and non-curly at the time, and no one had met her yet so we were rushing around trying to see everyone we could in just a week. We made the trip to New Hampshire to see my Grandma, and boy am I glad I did. Of course, I didn't know it at the time, but that would be the last time I would see my Grandma.  She seemed in good health, but soon after I went home, she took a turn for the worse and she died 2 months later. Curly Girly had a good time visiting her Great Grandma- she was fascinated with the tennis balls on her walker, and we got a picture of the three of us, which turned out really nice and I still like to look at it. I'm not sure if things would have gone differently if I had known it was our last visit with her; I am just glad that we had a good time and I have good memories of that visit.

Take time to visit your loved ones, young and old, sick or healthy, because you never know when the last time you will see someone will be. Make friends with someone new and unexpected, because you never know when someone really cool will cross your path. And be nice to people, because you never know when you might make a difference or make someone's life a little easier or happier.

-duckyone