Daily Prompt: 1984

You’re locked in a room with your greatest fear. Describe what’s in the room:

As I sit here trying to determine what my greatest fear would be, I think of where my life was in 1984. My fears then are incredibly different from today. I wouldn’t like being locked in a room, period. Wait, it just hit me how to write this up.

I’m in my favorite chair, in the living room at my parents home (since I was a mere 17 years of age in that year), I’m reading a mystery. The door to the kitchen is to my right, the couch is against the wall to my right and the door to the front yard is in front of me. The fireplace is to my left. There are windows  to each side of the fireplace. The television is between the fireplace and the front door. The laundry room door is to the left side of my chair. The ceiling fan is bustling above, moving just enough air to keep the room from being stuffy.

My fear is sitting on the screen of the television, a good twenty feet from me. Sitting on the screen of the television is a tiny, harmless, dinky spider. In my mind it is enormous.

It is just sitting still, not moving an inch.  My mind is telling that is the largest critter on earth and it is staring at me, waiting to attack. I’m feeling like a mid-morning snack.

A prickly sensation is running all over my head and the back of my neck feels like every hair is standing at attention. I break out in a cold sweat. The spider is just sitting there. I slowly stand up and attempt to get up the step to get into the kitchen, but the door is locked. That door isn’t supposed to lock. I do not understand. I can’t get near the front door, it is too close to that spider.

I sit still and just continue to read my book. Someone will be home shortly and let me out of here. They also have to get that nasty creature off the television.Cuz, I ain’t touching it! 🙂

Raising Mom

At this point in my life, I never thought I would be taking care of my mother. It is what God has led Barry and I to do, so here we are……raising mom.

She was in a situation, at her new home, that was not a safe. James, her new husband, I say new…..I should have said her husband of four years.

The home he provided was not the best place for her to be. I will not go into details about the situation, but let’s just say mom needs to be with us, than her husband.

Having mom move in has been an experience. She acts like she is afraid of Barry and is trying to raise me again. She treats me like I am ten years old, not 47. 

Having her around, has been amusing, as well as a huge challenge. Mom is a breed of her own. She believes in being treated right and will quickly let you know if she feels if she has been wronged.

I’ve written several posts about mom’s exploits, but believe me….I have only written about the tame ones.

One of my many lessons, since she moved in, was on how to freeze pork chops. Needless to say I have had my kitchen for over 20 years. Guess what? I was doing it the right way! As Gomer Pyle would say, ‘Surprise, surprise’!

Mom and I share a love for gardening and houseplants. I discovered my plants were not looking well and I could not figure out the problem. I found out, Mom trying to helpful, had been watering my plants too! I know, I know…she was just trying to help. There are certain things I am totally capable of doing is handling my plants. After throwing out the plants that were not going to survive and re-potting the others, I am now the only person watering them!

Mom and I sat down and went through the household chores and I have asked for her assistance with a few things and she knows that I will let her know if I need more help!

I have to admit, I love having help with the laundry. I hated laundry before becoming disabled, but I simply adore finding cleans clothes in the closet when I need them. So does Barry.

Mom’s memory is declining, ask her she’ll tell you there isn’t a thing wrong with her or her memory. She is overall in better shape than most people we know.

She doesn’t drive after dark any longer and I set her medications up for her by the week. She wasn’t handling them well. Mom can think at times that she is a doctor and will decide which pills she needs and the ones she doesn’t. I settled that issue and just started doing them for her, hint, hint….

If she needs directions, we get them for her. If I need to go with her to an appointment, I go. Our biggest problem has been her adjustment to living with Barry and I, as well as our adjusting to her.

Mom does not know what the word quiet means, nor does she know how to be that way. I am beginning to think she likes to hear herself talk, because she never STOPS! There is always this constant chatter.

I have a huge family and mom always seems to go on for hours about relatives, never heard of in my lifetime. She can’t find her keys, but she remembers all of these people. After numerous head butts, she is starting to understand that she needs to be a little quieter and not to talk as much in the car.

I enjoy the time I have with her in the mornings, when we first get up. She does all the talking while we watch the news. I’m starting to believe she corners me in the living room on purpose at that time of day. It takes an hour of waking up for my voice to wake up, so I get the pleasure of hearing about her crazy dreams. There are times that it is hard to distinguish whether she is describing a dream or a hallucination.

This morning was a little strange. The first thing she asked this morning was if ‘we had seen it?’. When questioned further, she was talking about a little girl in a rocker floating around house. How so you respond to such?

If I can get mom and Barry on the same page, things would be copacetic in the house. Barry doesn’t like her un-nerving me and questioning everything we do. She is also having to adjust to the ‘New Barry’. My life would more stability  if those two could figure each other out. It’s in God’s hands, I’ve been praying…..

Time Reblogged…….

******This is a re-blog. I felt it was appropriate to post it again, cuz that old dislike is the word ‘Time’ is coming out again. I have something go wrong and I feel like crap-ola. All the doctor’s office can say is give it time, they will come in. I truly do not like being in this position. One thing has changed since I wrote this, I have been reminded that I am not supposed to worry about things. I need to put it in God’s hands, he is in control. So much has gone on since 2009, I had kinda forgotten that huge fact. I am actually beginning to feel more at ease about my illness. I do not like getting worse, but I have to remember, I’m just getting closer to him. Honestly, being able to give a little of this worry up is wonderful! I’m loving the peace!*****************************************

I learned to hate that word several years ago. When you are healing after anything to do with the brain, everyone’s favorite thing to say is ” Time, just give it time.”. I do not know about anyone else, but both Barry and I can be a tad impatient. Time is a word impatient people can’t stand.

I have to admit that I enjoyed paying Barry back with a few time comments. You have to understand my husband’s quirky sense of humor. I know he thoroughly enjoyed telling me “Give it time.”. He smiled and giggled a little too much after saying it. I turned it around and now use it on him just a little. I tried to hide my snickering.

Ok, well down to the news I need to share. My visit to neuro-oncologist was quite informative. He gave us more information than we have ever received from other doctors. He confirmed that I do have Cowden’s Syndrome. With my medical history, he doesn’t feel the blood test is necessary. He is scheduling an MRI of the brain and a full body PET Scan. He says he hopes they are both negative, but to be prepared for the possibility. Said it could be as simple as the thyroid cancer not being totally removed or something else manifesting in the neurological symptoms that have been popping up. Here we go again with that word, TIME! Barry and I are praying and giving it to God. If it’s meant to be……….

 

Assume the position!!!!! :-) :-) :-) :-)

By the title, I can say, I don’t mean what you think. I’m referring to the position Barry had to assume to dry his pants in the Walmart bathroom.

Barry was being a sweety helping me find a cart a Walmart. The area the carts are stored in is dark. As usual, the staff at the local Walmart, had failed to plugin anything to recharge.

On top of that, the second cart he tried had a wet seat. Poor Barry sat down in it. We stopped by after church, so he was in his Sunday clothes. We went to the family restroom, where we attempted to clean him up as much as possible.

We discovered the seat was wet because someone had urinated or had a diaper leak in the seat. As Barry squatted in front of the hand dryer, it became more and more evident exactly what he sat in. He looked like he was trying to do some form of ‘booty dance’. It was funny, but it wasn’t, ya know! I felt so bad for him…….

Barry went to the car and got out of his pants, covered up with a blanket and waited while I picked up mom’s meds and a few groceries.

You should have seen Barry running in the house with his pants in his hands when we arrived home.

Walmart not only does not plug the carts up to recharge, apparently they do not clean them after someone urinates in the seat.

I go to Walmart to shop, because of these carts. I cannot walk more than 200 feet without needing to sit down. It troubles me, that I cannot trust the carts to be somewhat sanitary. I cannot get sick. I clean the handles and wipe the seat before I shop, but this one was in a dark area and the seat was nasty.

What is a disabled person to do? If stores are going to provide these carts, they should take care of them.

Then on the other hand, as customers, we need to plug them up if we can and let them know if one is dirty.

What is happening in this world? We used to care about each other. This world needs to change. Badly……

The “New” Barry is at it again!

Barry went to Kroger alone this afternoon. While at the store, he was to pick up items to make fresh salsa for tomorrow night.

My adorable, little husband gets a bunch of fresh cilantro  and a sprig falls off as he bags it. Instead of tossing it in the garbage, he puts it behind his ear and continues his shopping. He said he had everyone pointing at him and giggling like school kids.

He said the clerk checking him out, asked between giggles, if he was aware he had something behind his ear?

He smiled, stated, “Why, yes ma’am, I do. I’m hoping my wife will mistake it for mistletoe.” and walked out with his purchase. He said he looked back and she was laughing uncontrollably.

My husband minus his filter, you gotta love him!

Crazy Dream…….

 

I woke this morning thinking to myself, ‘that is the craziest nonsense I’ve dreamed lately’. Most of the time when you wake up, you can remember bits and pieces of where your dreams have taken you through the night.

When I climbed out of bed this morning, I felt like I was in the middle of a real situation. I told Barry and Miss Maggie ‘Good Morning’, and Barry told me to ‘get my lazy tail up, I know what happens when I miss breakfast’. I haven’t a clue what he was referring to, but it played right into my dream. You’ll understand in a few minutes.

Now to the crazy part:

In my dream, the world we live in was a  little (lot) different. Anything considered unhealthy was illegal.

Eating at a fast food joint was illegal. There were only a few still open, and  they ran you thumb print, searched you, and checked your car before letting you in the door. Then there was a cover charge to get a table, $20.00.

McDonald’s and Zaxby’s were the only two brave enough to stay open. I guess it’ll take a nuclear disaster to get rid of Mickey D’s.

If the police caught you in the parking lot, you could be arrested. They drove through regularly to check car tags. They kept track of who frequented the restaurants and when.

Soda was another thing that was outlawed. As a Diet Coke addict, this is the one that would have me in permanent residence under the jail. I just do not see myself hiding in a closet to have a Diet Coke!

You had to get up eat a healthy breakfast, healthy lunch and supper and eat two nutritious snacks daily. They somehow monitored your activities at home and at work. If you were caught, it was off to jail.

You got a public flogging if you fed something unhealthy to a child under the age of 12. The law was drastically toward keeping our children healthy.I was in the middle of being flogged when Barry woke me.

My sister visited that day, the dream was still in my head. My nephew asked for a drink, I knew all I had on-hand was Diet Coke. It actually crossed my mind about what would happen if I gave him a soda.

If you had a bad mouth, it was a public flogging. Anything that was ugly and deemed inappropriate in society today, was illegal in this crazy world I was dreaming about.

I thought about it all day, trying to figure out where this craziness came from in my head. Until I remembered we had watched “Demolition Man” the night before this dream.

I do not ever remember a dream affecting me like this. Maybe, it was something I ate. By the way, we have not frequented Mickey D’s in quite some time!