Wed.

My older sister text me this morning asking if I wanted to hang out together today.
Boyfriend wasn't feeling great physically or mentally so I almost didn't go. But I felt like I was running on empty, not a good feeling, so I made the decision to go with my sister.

 Sister and I  went shopping and out to lunch.
I bought a new Christmas Tree and some new ornaments. The tree is ultra slender. My house is very little. So this tree should be a perfect fit!
I also bought a couple of shirts, some ear buds, Christmas cards, a 2019 calendar (it has pictures of cats and kittens), and a bag to cook the Thanksgiving Day turkey in.....

It turned out to be a nice day.

I was in a much better place mentally when I got home, boyfriend was too............

monday

So the lottery is at a billion dollars plus some!
I have my tickets.
Someone has to win. :O)

thursday

We had a wonderful time (I wish they were still here! I miss them already!) during a visit from boyfriends brother and sister-in-law. While the guys were out doing their thing one afternoon, boyfriends SIL and I went to an antique store I had just found the week prior but hadn't yet shopped. While there I found this old cast aluminum pot. It's huge and heavy! 

I checked online how to clean it when I read that some of the time these pots were used for stuff other than cooking such as draining car fluids in, and bathing. The thought grosses me out. So now I'm not sure if I should use it for cooking. It was 14 bucks. I found a couple for sale on Amazon for 48/53 bucks. So I guess I got a good deal.....unless I don't use it!

I made some salmon patties today to have for lunch and for tomorrow to take to work for lunch. I don't make them often even though I like them. 

I think he's cute and cuddly!

Me and 2 of my sisters cleaned dads house a couple of days ago.

It looks good! He had an aortic aneurysm repair, repaired last week and did really well.

tuesday

So boyfriends family is coming for a visit this week.
They gave me a weeks notice, something I asked for.
I wish though I would have said give me a weeks notice but before
you book a flight talk to me first.
I was scheduled for a 12 hour shift on the day they arrive, and boyfriend has 2 doctor appointments on the day they leave.
It makes it all a big juggling act that makes it feel stressful when it really should just be fun. So I'm trying really hard to just go with the flow...I am looking forward to seeing them!
 To boot,  I talked to my dad yesterday. He had an aortic aneurysm repair a year or two ago..... the repair is leaking..  They've scheduled him for surgery for this Wed to repair the repair.  He wants me to be at the hospital with him but asked that I not tell my sisters about the surgery until after all is said and done. He doesn't want them missing work  or having to juggle their schedules.
I was going to use this week for getting things ready around the house for company.  Now though I'll  use today to get things ready and hope it stays that way until Friday.
Seems nothing is ever easy anymore................

I spent yesterday painting the railing around the front porch and I also gave the porch floor a good washing with soap and bleach. I cut back all the tall grasses, something I usually wait until Spring to do but I got tired of looking at them. :O)~.....looks so much better.....
 The whole front of the house looks so much better.

sunday

I received a snail mail letter from one of my favorite work friends.

She's an 80 year old, African American woman, a nurse, mother, and a widow early on in her marriage. She's a smart, strong, independent woman. I love her.

I haven't seen her in at least 2 years but probably it's been closer to three years.

She was one of the staff members let go several months back when the facility let go most of the PRN staff. She was a hard worker and filled in frequently if she was in town. 

She was a competent nurse and a loyal employee. That loyalty was not reciprocated. 

It's too bad too. She was an asset to the company.

But anyway, she sent a very sweet letter. It brightened my whole week! I was so happy to hear from her and touched she took the time to write.

Family is coming from Colorado the end of next week.

So I have a lot of things I want to get done around the house the next several days.

I'm looking forward to their visit.

We went (boyfriend and I) to the Kentucky Wool Festival Friday.

Mostly it's arts, crafts, and food. Then of course there's the sheep and all of the wool products.

Last year they had nice wool blankets.

I regret not buying a couple of them. I looked for them this year but 

didn't see them. They were a deal for ten bucks!

We had a funnel cake while there.

I haven't had one of those in decades.

It was so good!

Saturday

President Trump repulses me.

thursday

I'm doing  something productive everyday no matter how small or inconsequential it may seem to someone looking in.
 It makes me feel better about myself.
Boyfriends eye was doing better (he has shingles) until our last visit. The ulcer on his cornea was worse, but the swelling was better. The doctor said it's a juggling act right now trying to reduce swelling with steroids while not causing the ulcer to get bigger from using the steroids. He put a eye band-aid in boyfriends eye over the ulcer and plugged the eye to help keep it moist.
The cornea specialist also sent us to see the retina specialist just to make sure the retina was ok. We waited in that office for 5 hours.
At hour five I lost my patience, found a staff member who I yelled and cursed to about the five hour wait. That they would think such a long wait is appropriate boggles my mind. To add insult to injury the specialist seemed pissed that we were even there. "Why are you at a retina specialist when the problem is with the cornea?" The five hour wait then seemed like punishment for being there when the retina doctor obviously felt like it was a waste of his time. There were a million other places we would would have rather been! We did not ask to see this asshole.
I don't know if his question was rhetorical or not. But I explained to him that boyfriend was having bleeding/blood in the iris from swelling, had a corneal ulcer, is type 1 diabetic, and so the other eye doctor wanted the retina to be checked to make sure it was ok and wanted this guy to assess the possible need for an injection in the eye to stop the bleeding.
I told that office that I would never recommend them, and as a matter a fact I would tell every person I know what a crappy experience it was being seen at their office.  (woo! , I told them...lol)
The medical profession would label me a difficult family member. Even though I had a perfectly legitimate complaint. It's how they do things and it's wrong. Some of the time I hate the whole medical profession.
I just felt sorry for boyfriend sitting in that exam chair for 4 hours (1 hour in the waiting room) freezing cold, sugar dropping, back hurting, slowly dying, & patiently waiting  for some egotistical asshole who comes in and treats him like a bother. It still makes my heart hurt and makes me cry when I think about it.

But anyway.......on a more positive note.........I pulled a bunch of tomatoes off the plant yesterday and used them in a salad for dinner. They are so good!
Kitties are well and content.
I painted a little picture of a dog of a you tuber whose cooking show I follow. SHe just seems like a sweetheart of a person. I painted it on a postcard that I will send to her today.
The painting isn't very good but hopefully she will like it anyway!

monday

I made the Oxtails.
They were so fatty and greasy. I should have trimmed the fat
off of them.
They weren't terrible but they weren't great
either.
I'm glad I tried them but won't be having them again!

I finished an on-line course I've been working on.
 Feels good to be done with it!
I also finally finished cleaning all my windows (not counting the windows upstairs), curtains, and got my new curtains hung.
While opening one of the dining room windows, folding it inward so that I could clean the outside of the window, I heard a loud pop. Part of the glass pulled partially out of the frame.
 I'll call the window people today to schedule a visit from them to fix the window.
There's always something!

I dusted yesterday. (I hate to dust)
My ophthalmologist
said he was surprised I
could cross the street without getting myself killed
my vision was so bad. (I didn't know it was that bad until I had the first eye fixed.)
Now that I've had the cataracts removed, and had
my nearsightedness moderately corrected I am seeing dust in my
house I didn't see before. It wasn't pretty! lol
So yes, I dusted yesterday. It looks much better now!

Now something much more serious.............................without going into much detail because it just feels wrong for me to do so..........the coroners' final decision, even though she was "absolutely certain" boyfriends sons death was a suicide, has in the autopsy report (after getting the toxicology report) marked his cause of death as natural, not suicide.
Boyfriend, though still devastated, seems to be dealing better with his sons death since the cause of death was changed. The whole suicide thing was horrible to try to figure out and heart and soul crushing for boyfriend.
I'm confused by the whole thing though........and question some of what I read in the autopsy report vs. other facts.