Been a Long Time Since I've Seen This (Wordless Wednesday) and Words for Wednesday

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Linking up with Wordless Wednesday, Catsynth, Keith, and Sandee at Comedy Plus.     

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Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and has become a moveable feast of word or picture or music prompts to encourage us to write stories, poems, or whatever strikes our fancy.   

This month, the prompts are being provided by River.

This week's words/prompts are:

1.mosey  

2.quicksand  

3.ashes  

4.wire  

5.wild  

6.twisted

and/or:

1. clowning  

2.spilled  

3.villa  

4.reliable  

5.trusted  

6.mountain

Charlotte's colour of the month is Vivid Tangerine.

use either list or both, or mix and match, just have fun.

Once the hospice accepted Grandma, there was no CLOWNING around.  They are a "hospice at home" company, meaning their goal is to keep the patient as comfortable as possible and at home until the very end of life.

There is an aid who comes Monday through Friday.  This is going to be RELIABLE through her whole hospice journey, thankfully.

Ms. Tish doesn't MOSEY around, she can get Grandma bathed and her bed changed faster than QUICKSAND can swallow a gnat.  (Please note, i just made that up to use the word, i actually have no clue how fast quicksand will trap something as lightweight at a gnat, it might not even react.  A small lizard, maybe?  Not a quicksand expert here.)

She is good, and there's no SPILLED water being cleaned from the floor after, either, like when i was doing it.  What can i say, i'm also no expert at this part.

Ms. Tish is also TRUSTED by Grandma a whole lot more than we are.  When Ms. Tish turns her from one side to the other, or works to get her feet separated when they are TWISTED in a sheet, Grandma is very quiet and cooperative.

When i'm trying to turn her to change her, she is constantly yelling she's going to fall.  She's in the middle of a bed, with almost her whole body weight centered over the middle or just barely to one side, and she claims she can feel herself falling.  It makes for some WILD moments when the aid is not there, which, of course, is most of the time.

This is a MOUNTAIN we're all going to have to climb together, finding a way to make Grandma feel safe when we are caring for her instead of Ms. Tish.

Personally, i'd rather be on a VILLA in a mountain in Italy about now, watching a sunset in salmon pinks and Vivid Tangerines, and i'm just saying this, of course, to lighten the moment.

Then there's the nurse, Ms. Sandy.  She comes every Monday and Thursday to check on Grandma, and will come more often as she gets nearer the end.  We've convinced Grandpa, who as a doctor is always extremely concerned about addiction when it comes to giving pain meds, he can give Grandma pain meds whenever she asks and if she becomes an addict at this stage, who cares and who can blame her?  She's hurting, sometimes very badly.

Ms. Sandy and the hospice medical director and Grandpa are still working out which of her other meds, besides the pain meds, she should still take and which are unneeded.  The answer is probably most of them.

There's a podiatrist who works with this hospice and who is scheduled to come out today to tend to her very sore feet.

What has burned to ASHES was my hope there would be more hospice help at night.  This place has someone on call 24/7 in case of emergency, but they only schedule their people to come out during the day on weekdays.  I'm trying to talk Grandpa into getting a sitter two nights a week.

I spent Monday there and stayed until Tuesday morning, taking the night shift.  She had me up every single hour for something, to be changed, to have a blanket put on, to have the blanket taken off, to ask where everyone was and express surprise it was the middle of the night, to tell me the WIRE wasn't right (her phone needed plugging in).

Therein lies some of the trouble.  Grandma keeping her caregivers up all night when we have stuff to do during the day while she can just nap is going to wear us out faster, but it's the nature of this stage of life.

It's also the nature of it her mind comes and goes.  One moment she's fine, the next she is convinced she's at her brother's house (he's been gone for years) and we are lying when we tell her otherwise.  These things happen, we are learning to roll with it.

If you are a praying person, please pray we do right by her, no matter how long or short this time lasts.

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Today is:

Agricultural Reform Day -- Sao Tome and Principe

Ask A Stupid Question Day -- teachers wanted to get students asking more questions, so they started this day, telling them to ask even if the questions were stupid; now, it's a holiday on the last school day of September each year! 

Celtic Tree Month Gort begins (Ivy)

Day of Liberation of the Republic of Abkhazia -- Abkhazia (disputed territory on the Black Sea)

Do Something Wacky With A Grandparent Day -- just not the monkey bars, please; old bones don't knit fast enough; whatever you do, take some pictures!

Eleusinian Mysteries -- Ancient Greek Calendar (the Greater Mystery Rites, date approximate; mystery rites of Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis, one of the most sacred times of their year)

Independence Day -- Botswana

International Translation Day -- International Federation of Translators www.fit-ift.org

Kokkeisetsu -- Chinatown, Yokohama, Japan (Chinese National Founding Day in the largest Chinatown in Japan; through tomorrow)

Medetrinalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (festival fruits offer to the goddess of medicine)

Monkey Bars Day -- a day to go see if you can still do tricks on the monkey bars, because the internet wants to kill us and let the machines that would never do anything so silly take over

National Hot Mulled Cider Day

National Mud Pack Day -- give yourself a facial

National Women's Health and Fitness Day -- US

St. Gregory the Enlightener (or Illuminator; Patron of Armenia)

St. Jerome's Day (Patron of archaeologists, archivists, Biblical scholars, librarians, libraries, school children, students, translators; Saint-Jerome, Quebec) 

     also an Apache celebration of Geronimo, the Native American who was named after this saint

Truth and Reconciliation Day -- Canada

Anniversary Today:

Haleakala National Park is established in Maui, Hawaii, 1960

Birthdays Today:

Dominique Moceanu, 1981

Marion Cotillard, 1975

Jenna Elfman, 1971

Crystal Bernard, 1964

Eric Stoltz, 1961

Fran Drescher, 1957

Deborah Allen, 1953

Victoria Tennant, 1953

Marilyn McCoo, 1943

Z.Z. Hill, 1935

Johnny Mathis, 1935

Angie Dickinson, 1931

Elie Wiesel, 1928

W. S. Merwin, 1927

Truman Capote, 1924

Deborah Kerr, 1921

Buddy Rich, 1917

William Wrigley, Jr., 1861

Rumi, 1207

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Millie's Book: As Dictated to Barbara Bush(Publication date), 1990

"Murder, She Wrote"(TV), 1984

"Cheers"(TV), 1982

"Love Child"(Single release), 1968

"The Flintstones"(TV), 1960

"Tea and Sympathy"(Play), 1953

"The Red Skelton show"(TV), 1951

"Porgy and Bess"(Opera), 1935

Little Women(Publication date), 1868

"Les pecheurs de perles/The Pearl Fishers"(Bizet opera), 1863

"Die Zauberflote/The Magic Flute"(Mozart opera, K. 620), 1791

The Gutenberg Bible(first section, publication date), 1452

Today in History:

Rambam (Maimonides) authorizes Samuel Ibn Tibbon to translate the Guide of the Perplexed from Arabic into Hebrew, 1199

Anesthetic ether is used for the first time by Dr. William Morton, who extracted a tooth, 1846

German scientist Hermann von Meyer announces the discovery of the first fossil of an archaeopteryx, 1861

The first Portuguese immigrants arrive in Hawai'i, 1878

The world's first commercial hydroelectric power plant begins operation on the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States, 1882

Hubert Cecil Booth patents the vacuum cleaner, 1901

The first manned rocket plane flight, made by auto maker Fritz von Opel, 1929

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Yemen join the United Nations, 1947

The World Series, featuring the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers, is televised for the first time, 1947

The U.S. Navy submarine USS Nautilus is commissioned as the world's first nuclear reactor powered vessel, 1954

James Dean is killed in a road accident, 1955

Mexican-American labor leader César Chávez founds the United Farm Workers, 1962

James Meredith enters the University of Mississippi, defying segregation, 1962

General Suharto rises to power in Indonesia after an alleged coup by communists, and massacres over a million Indonesian people suspected of belonging to the Communist Party, 1965

BBC Radio 1 is launched and Tony Blackburn presents its first show, 1967

Ethernet specifications are published by Xerox working with Intel and Digital Equipment Corporation, 1980 

The Dalai Lama unveils the Canadian Tribute to Human Rights in Canada's capital city of Ottawa, 1990

The first images of a live giant squid in its natural habitat are taken 600 miles south of Tokyo, 2004

The controversial drawings of Muhammad are printed in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, 2005

A 315-billion-ton iceberg named D28 calves from the Amery ice shelf, Antarctica, 2019

Canada observes its first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, honoring victims and survivors of residential schools for indigenous children, 2021

Land, including the world's oldest living rainforest, Daintree National Park, is returned to the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people in Far North Queensland, Australia, 2021

The UK becomes the first major economy to give up coal for electrical power, 2024

Internet provider AOL discontinues dialup service, 2025

Good Gets Better and Better, a Ten Things of Thankful Post

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We’ve reached Thankful Day after a banner week and it’s time to celebrate.

We’re thankful for Grandma, it was her birthday this past Thursday, she is 87.  

I’m thankful i noticed Grandpa, who does a great job taking care of her overall but not so great at the little details, hadn’t been cleaning her ice maker and it needed help.  It’s now on my weekly list to check.

We’re thankful for Carl’s move to his new place.  I’m going to break this one down.  He’s a special needs adult, his parents are getting to the age where he needs to be in a safe place because they won’t be able to take care of him forever, and the place has been found.

     I’m thankful i was able to be there Monday as they madly rushed around packing for the move, cleaning, advising, repacking and doing chores Ms. V just didn’t have time to do.

     We’re thankful the trip up was safe, and Ms. V, Rocket Scientist Brother and VetTech Sister-in-Law got back safely although they were delayed two hours while tornado debris was cleared from the freeway.

Other thankful things about it:

     The place he moved had a banner on their administration building which said, “Welcome, Carl!”

     The leader of each area of the campus met with them and gave them contact information.

     The dietician went over what Carl may and may not have to eat (Ms. V needs him to limit sweets as he’s prediabetic and he won’t do it voluntarily).

     The chief NP nurse (they have an infirmary staffed 24/7) went over his meds list, and they will hand him his meds daily at the times he needs them.

     The vocational specialist interviewed him extensively about what he did in his job at Mall-Mart so as to match his skill level to a job he can do and enjoy, with work at the set hours of 8-noon Monday through Friday like everyone else.

     He will have a set schedule, no more getting bored and sleeping a lot because he doesn’t have much else to do.

     Like everyone there, he will be taught to keep his room clean and have it inspected daily!

     Like everyone else, he will have a house chore each week so as to contribute to the house he’s in (his first chore was sweep the porch each day of this week).

     He will have free time after work at the same time as everyone else and there are lots of activities he can choose to do, and there won’t be any impediments to him doing them (at home, he had to consider if friends were off work or not, or if he had work the next day, etc.).

     There is compulsory PE every day and because he’s new, he will have to take the life-skills class.

     Our little social butterfly made his first friend within an hour and as his family left, he was walking with his new friend to go watch the pickle-ball games!

Carl and friend, heading to the pickleball court.

If any of his family and friends needed confirmation this was the right place and the right choice for Carl, thankfully, we have it.

Another big thankful event of the week, the pastor emeritus of our church has been noting for over a year my Sweetie and i are driving awful old cars and have no way to replace them, so when he and his wife moved he gave us his old car, a Honda with plenty of life left in it (at least several years).

He never said a word to us until three weeks ago, but it seems he and a handful of people have been praying over what to do for our car situation for a year!  I’m thankful for our church. 

I'm thankful #2 Son, the budding mechanic, looked it over.  He suggests changing out the O2 sensor as it keeps making the check engine light come on, but that's not a big deal.  He also sent a video to our friend Mechanic Wes to see if he recommends changing out the motor mounts, also not expensive when the work is done by family.  #2 Son is impressed with how nice the car is and how well kept and maintained, and we're very thankful. 

I'm thankful for our little Annie.

She continues to be a joy, we have fun walks, play and read, and each time she sees me, she greets me enthusiastically, calling out, "GG!"

Last but never least, the cat shelter is doing well.  The kittens are being preadopted so fast it's hard to keep up with their surgeries and there were two more adoptions last night while i was there.

Please write up your own list and link up to Ten Things of Thankful, where Clark and his co-hosts always have a warm welcome waiting

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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Today is:

Birth Mother's Day -- the day before Mother's Day, for all the women who have made an adoption plan for their babies

Cornelia de Lange Syndrome Awareness Day -- shedding light on this rare genetic condition 

Europe Day -- European Union

Festival of Matsu/Mazu -- Southern China and Taiwan (Taoist goddess of the sea who protects fishermen and sailors; often worshiped in sea-faring areas surrounding China as well, although some local dates will vary)

     Ma Zu, Goddess of the Sea’s Birthday -- Buddhism; Taoism

Independence Day -- Romania (1877, from the Ottoman Empire)

Lawn Mower Day -- a rotary blade mower was patented this day in 1899

Lemuralia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (first of 3 non-consecutive days dedicated to getting rid of the spirits of the malevolent dead; rituals performed today, the 11th, and the 13th)

Letter Carriers "Stamp Out Hunger" Food Drive -- US (place non-perishable food items by your mailbox, and help stamp out hunger in your area)

Liberation Day -- Guernsey; Jersey

Lost Sock Memorial Day -- they go to the hozone layer!

National Babysitter's Day -- US, giving recognition to the babysitters who make your date nights possible

National Butterscotch Brownie Day

National Moscato Day   

O. Henry Pun-Off World Championships -- Austin, TX, US (at the park behind the O. Henry Museum, presented by The P.U.N.Y. [Punsters United Nearly Yearly])    

Olympieia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (spring festival for Zeus; date approximate)

Remembrance for Gudrod of Gudbrandsdal -- Slavic Pagan/Asatru (pagan martyr)

Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Fairies Founded -- Fairy Calendar

Stay Up All Night Night -- as declared by George Mahood of Northampton, England, everyone needs to relive the excitement of staying up late like you always wanted to as a kid at least once a year

St. Beatus of Lungern's Day (Apostle of Switzerland)

St. Nicholas Albergati's Day (Patron of learning)

Sun Awareness Day -- like Melanoma Monday, a few days back, a day to remember the damage the sun can do to skin and stock up on sunscreen, if you haven't already

Tear Tags Off of Mattresses Day -- yes, you can!  If you bought it, you're allowed to.

Victory Day / Victory and Peace Day -- countries that didn't celebrate V-E day yesterday, mostly Russia and former SSR's

Windmill Day -- Netherlands (on the second Saturday of May each year, more than 600 windmills, including many that are now national monuments, are open to the public)

World Belly Dance Day -- to celebrate the wonderful art of belly dance 

World Fair Trade Day -- sponsored by the World Fair Trade Organization; this year's theme is "The future of responsible trade." 

World Migratory Bird Day -- original date second Saturday in May, but the WMBD organization encourages you to celebrate when birds are migrating in your area; this year's theme is "Shared Spaces: Creating Bird-Friendly Cities and Communities"; one celebration that is on this date:

     International Migratory Bird Celebration -- Chincoteague, VA, US (walks, talks, tours, art, and children's activities, all outdoors with the birds)

Xotira va Qadirlash Kuni -- Uzbekistan (Day of Remembrance and Honors)

Birthdays Today:

Rosario Dawson, 1979

Steve Yzerman, 1965

Tony Gwynn, 1960

Billy Joel, 1949

Candice Bergen, 1946

James L. Brooks, 1940

Charles Simic, 1938

Glenda Jackson, 1937

Albert Finney, 1936

Glenda Jackson, 1936

Richard Alonzo “Pancho” Gonzales, 1928

Mike Wallace, 1918

Howard Carter, 1873

J.M. Barrie, 1860

Belle Boyd, 1843

John Brown, 1800

Today in History:

The first battle recorded with what is considered historic accuracy and detail, the Battle of Megiddo between Thutmose III and a large Canaanite coalition under the King of Kadesh, BC1457

Christopher Columbus leaves Spain for his 4th and final voyage, 1502

Thomas Blood, disguised as a clergyman, attempts to steal England's Crown Jewels from the Tower of London, 1671

British inventor Joseph Bramah patents beer-pump handle, 1785

The city of Reno, Nevada, is founded, 1868

The Vienna stock market crash (Der Krach) heralds the Long Depression, 1873

The first horse-drawn bus makes its début in the city of Mumbai, 1874

Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show opens in London, 1887

The first horseless carriage show in London opens, featuring 10 models, 1896

The lawn mower is patented, 1899

Australia opens its first parliament in Melbourne, 1901

The steam locomotive City of Truro becomes the first steam engine in Europe to exceed 100mph, 1904

The Australian Parliament  first convenes in Canberra, 1927

Edgar Bergen and Charley McCarthy take to the airwaves, becoming an overnight radio sensation, 1937

Rainier III of Monaco becomes Prince of Monaco, 1949

Sam and Friends, with Jim Hensen and his muppets, debuts, 1955

The FDA announces it will approve birth control as an additional indication for Searle's Enovid, making Enovid the world's first approved oral contraceptive pill, 1960

Iranian Jewish businessman Habib Elghanian is executed by firing squad in Tehran, prompting the mass exodus of the once 100,000 member strong Jewish community of Iran, 1979

The South African parliament chooses Nelson Mandela as president, 1994

Estonia ratifies the European Constitution, 2006

A report reveals that hackers using fraudulent ATM cards in February, 2013, stole $45 million, 2013

The fossil of a Chinese feathered baby dinosaur is formally given the identification of Beibeilong sinensis (baby dragon in Chinese), 2017

The discovery of the oldest viral DNA, a form of hepatitis B in 7,000 year old skeleton found in Germany, is reported, 2018

French adventurer Jean-Jacques Savin (72) successfully crosses the Atlantic Ocean in a barrel arriving in Martinique; the journey took four months, 2019

A full published report of the contents of an Anglo-Saxon tomb found in 2003 in Prittlewell, England, is hailed by archaeologists as being Britain's equivalent of Egypt's tomb of Tutankhamen, 2019

Navajo-American composer Raven Chacon receives the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his work "Voiceless Mass", 2022

George Harrison’s “Here Comes The Sun" becomes the first Beatles song to register a billion streams on Spotify, 2023

Large Hadron Collider scientists manage to turn lead into gold for a fraction of a second, 2025