Wassup

Life had just been flying by this summer. More so than the winter–hard to believe! Every day seems like the blink of an eye. We’re in a bad pattern of not getting to bed till eleven o’clock (oh, my) and then not getting up till nine or nine-thirty. I’ll have odd days where I’ll get up anywhere from six-thirty to eight-thirty, but I’m usually just so sleepy, I can’t drag myself out of bed and only get up because Mary’s in there talking to the cat, and I can’t possibly sleep any longer (plus, I know she’s awake, so it’s my duty to get up). I never let her sleep later than nine-thirty. Sometimes she wakes up earlier, but sometimes I think she’d sleep till... who knows? It’s a toss up–I don’t know whether to get her up earlier and then have her sleep on me all day or let her sleep later–and still have her sleep on me all day!

Yes, she’s been sleeping quite a lot lately. It could be that the back porch (where we practically live now since it has huge windows and two lazy boy recliners) is too warm. Occasionally she complains of being too hot, but mostly she doesn’t much notice the heat. I recently took her to the doctor because I was certain she had a UTI. He explained that Mary’‘s heart couldn’t function well enough to pump all the fluid through her body when she was sitting up, so she was retaining fluids during the day. Then when she peed after not going for six hours or so, it would be dark and cloudy. When she lays down, it’s easier for her heart to function since gravity isn’t working against it and so things get pumped through and all that retained fluid is processed into urine–resulting in her having to go every two hours. I’ve been trying to get her to go more often during the day, and as a result she goes maybe three times instead of four. Can you understand now why I can’t wake up in the morning? Oddly enough, I often wake up just before she starts ringing her bells. I don’t know whether she makes some other noise or whether I have developed a sixth sense, but she’s always amazed at how fast I appear in her room.
Mary’s also been super shaky lately. She always says, "Shaky Mary!" and I tell her I’m going to have that put on her tombstone. It sounds like a bank robber from the wild west days. I try to get her to breathe more when she’s walking or before she even gets up, but I get so tired of reminding her. Why can’t she just make it a habit? Sometimes she tells me she doesn’t think it works, so maybe that’s why she fights it. Other times, though, she’ll exclaim about how good that breathing is. She just probably can’t remember. I also get tired of reminding her to try to stand up straighter and look out, not down, when she walks. But I know that it’s so very important, and I try to use that occasion to remind myself. I tell her to walk like Queen Mary of the Scots and starts humming some music that sounds like royal walking music to me. I don’t know if it works, bur it keeps me entertained!

We got some rose bushes yesterday that I ordered from the internet (how I love being able to do that). I thought about it for so long that it’s now almost if not in actuality too late to plant them. I just couldn’t decided which colors, much less whether I should do it, since it’s so expensive. I wanted a red, a white, a yellow, another but prettier pink, and another peach/apricot/salmon. I finally decided to do it, but apparently that company had sold all of theirs in the colors I wanted, so then I had to search for another company. I finally found Heirloom Roses in Oklahoma. It took a whole lot of searching (soul and otherwise) to pick the colors I wanted and decide on, yes, five, not three. It was a bit over $100. If Mary knew, she’s have a major cow and probably disown me! Well, I’m paying the piper now, I’ll tell you. The directions say to dig a 2' by 2' hole–and I guess that means 2' deep, too. Well, it hasn’t really rained her for so long, that the ground was like rock. It took me all day and I felt like I was just going to keel over. Getting dinner last night was a major accomplishment, let me tell you! I’ve tried to water the ground that I’m going to dig today, so I hope and pray it will be better. I don’t even know if I can handle it today. But I need to get those other roses planted pretty soon. Mom was an angel and went and got some manure, peat moss and bone meal for me. However, I used the whole bag of manure, so I’ll have to get four more! I didn’t manage to dig 24", I must admit. The middle was 20" and the sides were more like 16". I planted the white first. It already has a bud on it, so we should get a rose soon. I’m so excited! I think if I’m honest with myself, I have to admit that I’m looking for some mental stimulation, some challenge, and roses are supposed to be so difficult, that I thought they would make a good new hobby for me. Gardening in general, really. Since I’m not in school anymore, I’m thirsting for knowledge. It’s like some nourishment that I’ve always received and now I have to cook for myself. (The nice thing about sneezing in a chair that Mary has sat in, although this may be gross, is that you can always find a tissue or napkin stuck down in the cushions!) Oh, a big problem I have with the roses–what to do about the extra dirt that I’ve dug up and don’t put back?!

I guess I’ve been spending a lot of money lately. No wonder I’ve been feeling so good! I ordered something else from the internet–a cordless electric mower. It’s called a Neuton and is supposed to be very good. I got the three-year warranty, so I feel pretty confident that I won’t have to worry about it. Well, I just hope it works out super well. I haven’t cut grass in ages, and I’m nervous about the responsibility. Also, I ended u spending more on the mower than we would have paid the yardman for the rest of the summer, which kind of defeated the purpose of not hiring him anymore. But I’m going to be confident, unlike Angie (who said not to get a mower because Mary might not even be here next summer), that it was a good investment for the future. If I can find an old mower and trade it in, I’ll get $100 back from the city. If I can’t I’ll get $50 back. The mower has a trimmer/edger attachment, bag, extra battery, and mulching blade and plug and it all cost about $540. That’s a lot isn’t it? But I feel good about it. I feel like I’m investing in the future of the world by not using a gas-powered mower anymore. I feel like Mary and I are on the cutting edge of technology, going with the flow, living for the future... Plus, (this is really stupid, I know) this machine comes from Vermont and I’ve had this secret special feeling about Vermont for so long... it must be a good thing! Oh, you know what, I didn’t actually order the mower over the internet–I ordered it over the phone. Yes, I actually spoke to someone in Vermont.

I’d better be wrapping this up. Two quick cute stories about Mary:
–I got some new kitty treats a few weeks ago and opened the bag and handed it to Mary so she could see them. They were hard (tartar control) instead of he soft ones I’ve been getting. A thought flitted across my mind, but I ignored it an left the room. Sure enough, a half-minute later I heard crunch, crunch, crunch coming from the back porch–Mary was eating the kitty treats! I screamed and ran to her and she spit them out. O je. Poor baby.

–I’ve planted about 15 sunflowers in the garden and they’re all blooming now, so we’re getting used to them, but when the first ones bloomed, I cut one and brought it in and put it in a vase for Mary to look at. She oohed and aahed all day, so when we moved into the living room (which we haven’t been doing till nine PM when it gets dark–hurrah) that evening, I took it in so she could continue to look at it. As I sat it down on the table in front of her she exclaimed, "Oh, honey, that’s beautiful! Where did you get it?" I about died. No recollection of having looked at it all day already.

Oh, another–she’s always looking at these ink cartridges I have, so yesterday I let her write with the ink pen (from Germany) that I have. She got an ink stain on her index finger–I had to tell her several times what it was and where it came from.

We’ve been going out to sit on the swing after dinner and reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire till almost nine PM. We’re flying through it. I be Mary has absolutely no idea what I’ve read. But she listens quite attentively. Except when a bird comes to the feeder or the bird bath. So she’s really not listening much! I guess I just like the sound of my own voice. No, it’s also the joy of sharing an experience of a story with someone. Well, that’s all in my head, isn’t it?

Ok, got to go get her up. We really should make a peach pie today, but whether we can do that and dig a hole...oh, I’ll have to get more manure. O je. Everything is so complicated. Bonnie is off for two weeks. I’ve told Gina that we’d like to come visit. I’m nervous about traveling with Mary alone when it’s so hot. I’m nervous about leaving my garden and the cat. It would only be for a few days. I’ll have to see abut taking Mary’s potty chair–it’s so hard for her to get down and then up again. Jim says Gina’s just been sleeping all the time. She started a new treatment and has to be extra cautious about her skin.

Oh, I’ve also gotten a new cell phone. I’ll be switching from Cingular to T-Mobile. I’m going to prepaid. I just don’t use my phone enough to warrant paying $35 a month for it. I hope I made the right choice. I feel good about it.

I’m a real worry-wart, aren’t I?