Tom's Diary

03:40 AM: Woke up early again today.  So I thought I’d come over here to the office and write a little.

06:00 AM: Wrote more in the letter to [Prism], although it’ll still be a week or so before it will be done.

06:50 AM: The guy who’s spreading the gravel for me came by and took me to breakfast with him and a few of his buddies.  After that, we went to the quarry to get the first of two loads of gravel.

09:00 AM: On the   Wheelchair Ramp Project: In the process of spreading more stone and gravel in the east parking area and surrounding driveway.  One load down already today and Dick is off getting another. 

10:15 AM: Another gray and rainy day today, with temperatures running at around 41 degrees at present.  Not much fun working outside in this dampness and cold, but it’s a great day for dumping shale; the rain keeps the dust down when you dump.  However, the bobcat operator says he doesn’t want to continue in this rain.  So he’s going to call it a day and come back tomorrow, weather permitting.

11:00 AM: Created a skeletal design document for the Wheelchair Ramp Project, that gives the basic measurements of key elements of the proposed ramp’s structure.  I put it up  here   to enable those helping me with this project to follow what’s going on with it.

01:00 PM: Richard G. stopped by.  He liked the shale job, although he did notice that we had lots of 2B stones in the quarry waste we hauled in.  He suggested that this might not be good on the driveway with winter coming.  Why?  Because he said that since 2B doesn’t pack very well, we’ll probably have a lot of it spread into the surrounding yard when they plow the driveway this winter.  So, I’ll talk to the bobcat operator tomorrow and see about having some finer material brought in.

01:10 PM: First snowfall of the season is occurring right now. 

01:40 PM: Leaving shortly to pick up Mom.  I hope the roads aren’t too slippery.  Yes, it’s still snowing. 

03:00 PM: Picked Mom up.  Now, we’re all having a salad bar at Hoss’s.

04:00 PM: We’re home!  Mom likes her new nest in the back sitting room.

05:00 PM: A momentary power outage seems to have wrecked my print server computer.  It won’t boot now and the hard drive does not even start up.

05:30 PM: Just got back from the drug store to get Mom a new battery for her Accucheck glucometer.  An error code 9 means a dead battery.

05:45 PM: In the process of doing Mom’s laundry from the nursing facility.

06:30 PM: Updated Mom’s med sheet to reflect the changes that were made by the doctors since she’s been away.

07:15 PM: Going grocery shopping to pick up some stuff specifically requested by Mom.

09:30 PM: Looks like we have a quarter to half an inch of snow in the grassy areas.  It won’t stay long.  But its whiteness makes it feel a lot like Christmas, which I’m highly looking forward to.  I really love that time of year.  Always have. 

09:45 PM: Sister Mary Ann leaves us after organizing Mom’s kitchen to make it easier for her friends, who do not know her kitchen that well, to find food, utensils, dishes, towels, Etc. when they’re here helping her out.

11:00 PM: Talked with [Emmy].

11:20 PM: Gave Mom her bedtime pills and insulin.  Fired up the east end gas heater.  Hopefully, that will warm up her bedroom a little, since she wants to sleep in it tonight. 

12:26 AM: I’m off to bed.  Good night.

Tom

04:20 PM: We arrived home with Mom from the nursing facility.  She seemed a bit grumpy and very tired, although she did perk up later in the evening; she began sounding like her happy self again.  That was nice. 

We had trouble at first getting a good blood sugar reading from her because, as it turned out, the battery in her glucometer was bad, and so was the spare I had.  So it’s probably not a good idea to buy ahead on those 2032 batteries, as they don’t have a very long shelf life it appears.  But we bought a new battery from the drug store up the road and it worked well. 

More insulin should be ordered tomorrow for her.  We found eight or so viles of expired insulin in her refrigerator.  I suppose that that’s what happens when she has to go away for almost a month.  Also, she needs more test strips for her glucometer. 

Mary Ann brought some homemade meatballs that mom really enjoyed.  This surprised me, as Mom typically avoids red meat, as it turns her stomach to borrow her terminology.  Afterwards, Mom wanted to fold her laundry that I’d just taken from the dryer.  She seemed anxious to get back into the home routine.

With all the grocery shopping and organizing around the house, tonight was quite a busy yet still enjoyable evening.

I got Mom’s med sheet updated, although I was not able to print it due to a failure on my print server computer.  Looks like a power surge we had earlier this afternoon might have damaged it.  Until it’s fixed, I’ll just dispense her meds up here in the office, where I can read the med sheet on the screen.

Tom

Went grocery shopping with sister Mary Ann tonight, with the bulk of it for stocking up Mom’s refrigerator.  The list of what we bought follows:

• Bred (multi grain) from Pepperidge Farms (1 loaf)
• Gingerbread mix (1 box)
• Diet, caffeine-free Pepsi (8 liters)
• Del Monte stewed tomatoes with peppers and onions (4 cans)
• Lay’s Potato Chips (1 bag)
• Del Monte sliced peaches (4 cans)
• Hellman’s Mayonnaise (1 small jar)
• Campbell’s Tomato Juice (1 six pack)
• DelGrosso’s Spaghetti Sauce (2 jars)
• Diet, caffeine-free root beer (8 liters)
• Lebanon Bologna (1/2 pound)
• Napkins (2 packs)
• Murray’s Cookies (3 packs)
• Bananas (1 bunch)
• Kleenex (2 boxes)
• Rice Krispies (1 box)
• Musselman Apple Sauce (one pack)
• Baby carrots (1 bag)
• Hand Soap (1 big bottle)
• Ritz Reduced Salt Crackers (1 box)
• Bigelow Tea (for guests) (1 box)
• Peanuts in the shell (1 bag)
• Packaged Salad (1 bag)
• Chicken Pot Pies (3)
• Kraft Sliced Cheeses (2 bags)
• Milk (1 gallon)
• Italian Salad Dressing (1 bottle)
• Onion Dip (1 container)
• Large Eggs (1 dozen)
• Salmon (2 pounds)
• Haddock Filets (1 box)

Total costs: $161.98

Tom