Jumping Party

Saturday night a few blocks away they had a LOUD party.  Asked Arny why the police did not put an end to it…he said that many of the people in attendance were police, which explains much.  So we decided to have a “jumping party” of our own Sunday, and as you can see, little Parker jumps the highest, hands down…or is that “Paws down”?

Actually is was sister Patty’s birthday…we are now the same age for a few months. And before you all start feeling “bad” for my mom, once I popped out at 11 lbs, 11 ozs, there was no chance of her having any more natural children.  As the fourth child, the RH factor hit me real hard, which hit her real hard…especially when she had to leave the hospital without me.  Sandy was adopted when she was seven, and Patty, Sandy’s biological sister, was unofficially adopted as an adult.  Anyway, today was Patty’s day, and we had a wonderful dinner.  Above is her “non-birthday-cake”, which is a marshmallow, cool-whip, pimento cheese and fruit mixture.  Sandy and Patty went up to Reno Saturday to celebrate, and Sandy normally makes this dish.  Today, I made it, put it in this cake-sized dish, and spelled out “Happy B-Day” wish some fancier marshmallows.  It was a surprise which we all enjoyed…that dish is normally saved for special days like this, and Patty had no idea it was going to be on the menu.



Donna made her eggs, Arny barbecued some Tri-Tip and Corn on the Cobb, and for desert we had Ice Cream with fresh berries.  Patty brought her two dogs, and her daughter Ashley, who came late, brought her dog Leo, so poor Skruffy was totally outnumbered by the four other “leg lifters”…but she did not seem to mind, she can out bark them all.

Not much o a sunset tonight, never did get all red like a good sunset gets.  Oh well…the night was still young.

Because tonight was the Big Super Moon, officially called “lunar perigee”, it is the largest moon of the year.  Here in the Valle we still had haze when it first came up.

Sure makes a good picture.

Mom Came HOME….Butttttt….

Mom came home today!

Butt….

It was only for a four hour visit again.

(Told my sister Patty that I would use that Butt Shot on the blog)

We broke her out of her “jail” for another four hour visit at home, this time to her home instead of my sister’s home two doors down.

Marcia and I fixed lunch, bacon-lettuce-tomato sandwiches with chips and fresh strawberries, blackberries and raspberries.  Mom said it was the best food she had in nearly a week (remember she was home for Father’s Day, which means Arny’s BBQ, so that means it was the best food in nearly a week.)

You can just see the relaxed feeling she has being at home….she is planning to come home on Friday of next week, and we feel she will be to the point where she can do that.  She is getting out of bed nearly by herself right now, and walking with her walker, and with the lift-assist chairs that her and dad have, finishing her recuperation at home is probably the best thing.

    

It was a relaxing visit….

 

.....as you can see.

As Sandy and I returned mom, this 1931 Model A, was parked out front.  What struck me was seeing this old car, about the age of mom, in running condition, but in need of love and affection….much like the people inside of the Nursing Center.  My brother-in-law Arny has the ability to make this Model A (above) look like this Model A (below)

He has restored many an old car, some made into hot rods, some into original condition (although he typically added extras such as air conditioners).  With people, doctors can never get them back to “original condition”, although they do fairly well about getting them into “running condition” when certain parts break down.  

However, with people, the aches and pains of being old just don’t go away. This old Model C sure shows its aches and pains, which made it fitting to be parked where it was….in a handicapped parking space in front of a Nursing Center.  I hope this old car continues to be in running condition for many years to come.

Mom Takes Bigger Steps – New Motorhome Chairs

Mom got in and out of bed many times today, sat up for over two hours, read the newspaper for the first time since Sunday (she reads it EVERY DAY), and had a pretty darn good day.  It hurts to walk, but the pain was much less than yesterday...tomorrow will be even better.

    

Sisters are in Las Vegas to see Celine Dion.  Every year after their busy season (both are very busy from just before Christmas through April with their jobs) they try and get away for a few days to a week.  This time they went down to Southern California to visit relatives, and then over to Vegas to “just see Celine” (and what ever else happens in Vegas…stays in Vegas).  Mom asked me to ask Patty to take of selfie of themselves and send it via text.  Well, here is mom looking at their selfie text.  Later, Patty sent one of Sandy playing the penny slots, and from the looks it, she must have won it big.

Tomorrow mom transfer to Pine Creek Care Center, skilled nursing home for physical and occupational therapy.  Marcia had a little over 3 weeks of this when she had her hip replaced a few years ago, and we are hoping that mom can get home in 2.  Pine Creek is just over 2 miles from their home, so it is an ideal spot for this….and Medicare.gov rates Pine Creek 5 out of 5 stars.  It is nothing fancy, but they have what it takes, and the staff were real real nice to dad and I when we visited today.

After we left the hospital we visited the La-Z-Boy just down the street.  We have decided to ditch the couch and get two recliners, which should be in by late July.  La-Z-Boy recliners have a feature that most do not….the back can be easily removed making them easier to get into RVs. They have a lifetime guarantee on frame, springs, reclining mechanism….but not on padding or upholstery.  The guarantee does not include labor, but the parts under the guarantee can be typically easily replaced by a handy person.

 

The recliners do not swivel or rock, per our request, and they will be leather and a color similar to above.  They will be made in July, should be delivered by late July, early August…we will know in a week or so if we were able to lay claim to the two already scheduled to be built in mid-July.  If not, then ours will be built in August.  La-Z-Boy recliners are not cheep….but as they say, “You get what you pay for.”  Since they are all over the USA, if we run into problems we should be able to get things taken care of easily enough.  With this addition, now we just need to get the engine tuned up, hoses checked and probably replaced, and I think we will be ready for an Alaska trip next year. 

Our Memorial Day Celebration

My brother-in-law Arny sure knows how to barbeque!  More on that later….

The day starts out much like any other day….dogs wake up, wake us up, but with it being a holiday, they had to wait an hour for their “Uncle Arny” treats they get every morning.  It’s a bit hard to let them out, then get them back in with this little “mouth” (above) shooting off her mouth….but she did pretty well this morning, and Sandy and Arny got a well deserved extra hour of sleep.

When the drapes at the door are open, it is the clue to let the dogs out.  Weekday mornings, with Sandy headed to work before 6 am, the drapes are open very early…today it was around 8:00, and the dogs were out the motorhome door a few seconds later.  Moments later Uncle Arny opens the door with a cheerful “Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning!”, Bubba dances, Skruffy barks, and the ritual begins.

   

Lay out the treats at the table, break them up, give them each a piece, a pat on the head, personalize dog talk, until the treats are all eaten.

Ok, it really isn’t Bubba using the toilet, but it is a fine entrance into our next, unpleasant segment.  This morning, of all days, we had a problem with our Vacuflush Toilet System. 

For who knows what reason, this motorhome has a Vacuflush Toilet System, one found on boats, similar to one I saw on Amtrak once.  We think it is because the drop from the toilet to the Black tank is not good enough for gravity to take care of.  Regardless, today ours backed up.  It ended up being an easy fix by activating the vacuum switch causing a build up of vacuum pressure, enough to unclog the clog.  Thanks for Arny in helping me diagnose the problem, and showing me how to activate the vacuum switch (upper left in diagram above that I found on the Internet.)  We will get a small plunger which research has shown helps too as long as you are careful...but this switch will be first, plunger if building the pressure more does not work.  Never fun to work on toilets so early in the day…but for that fact, neither is it fun in the middle of the day, end of the day, and certainly not during the middle of the night.

It wasn’t long before the family had gathered, the ribs were cooking, and it was time to eat.  Ribs, Marcia’s Baked Beans, Donna’s Deviled Eggs, Coleslaw, Bean Salad…yum, another great barbeque.  Three types of Ribs, dry rub, marinade, and with rub and BBQ sauce...all Arny's secret recipes. 

   

Dad prays over the food and a special Memorial Day prayer.

Sister’s Sandy and Patty dig in first…but it is really them getting mom and dad’s plates for them.

   

Dinner is over before we knew it….the ice cream cake is gone too.  In the picture on the left, with her back to the camera wearing a dark blue shirt is my other sister Donna, with Marcia to her right, mom, dad and Patty fill out the circle.  Picture to the right is Arny and Sandy, of course, Arny is doing what he does best….petting the dog.  That is one of Patty’s dogs.  I was having a hard time getting a picture of the four dogs all together, so Arny got up and said, “Hold on, I know how to fix that!”

So around the circle, left to right….Parker, his brother Charlie…both coming from a shelter, and they are real brothers.  Then Skruffy, and finally Bubba.

The dogs enjoyed their visit, chasing squirrels, birds, sniffing this, sniffing that, showing off who can roll in the grass the best.  (Bubba won if you count the amount of junk one gets on their fur.)   It was a fun, relaxing day for dogs and humans.  Had it not been a bit of plugged up start, and just a little on the hot side at times as it neared 4 pm, it was just a wonderful day.  And each one of us knew that today was brought to us through the great sacrifice by others…..