I Didn't Forget -- I'm Just Lazy!

So, as usual, I have to play "catch-up." Just some random thoughts about the first half of November.

November continued with me catching up with friends and getting back into the Gatesville life. Saturday I went to the Temple Bird Mart to meet up with the ‘bird folks.’ Had a great time visiting with old friends and just being back in the bird world. I also had a great visit and lunch with Andrea and her husband, David, at the Chinese Buffet in Temple. Seems strange to meet with Andrea and not have her son, William, there – but he has grown from the ‘lunch with Mom and her friends' and is now active in the world of college students.

I found a cage for Tinga so she can finally get out of the pet crate! It has it’s own stand on wheels, easily moved about. I can easily lift the cage off the stand so will be easy to strap and secure to the table when we move. When I got the cage into the RV it is some larger than I thought. It didn’t look that big in the vendor hall while it was standing next to a large macaw cage! Oh, well – we will make room and Tinga will have a nice home. While in Iowa, I bought a roll of plastic carpet protector, cuts easily and will come in handy with the cage.

The news of the massacre at Fort Hood still seems to be the topic of conversation. Fort Hood is just a few miles from here – can hear the tanks firing when they are on maneuvers on the range. Many families here have family and friends at Fort Hood – and many people in town work on post. So this truly brings a tragedy like this home to all of us.

Sunday after the bird mart I woke up ‘plugged and congested.’ Had a hard time catching a good breath of air. Sunday lunch with Johnnie and her family and back home to bed. It was a downhill skid with the lungs from that point. I do believe that I have attended my last bird function.

So, with congested lungs, I decided to go to the Laundromat – get the washer going and lean against it to get some good vibrations going to the lungs, then on to the dryer with my back to the dryer to get the heat to the lungs. OK – don’t laugh, this works!

The foggy dreary weather is not helping with the lungs. It is a great excuse to keep the crock pot going with soup. Made the mistake of making some bread pudding in the crockpot. Started it one evening to cook overnite. About 3AM the aroma of bread and cinnamon came drifting into bedroom. hhhhmmm…time for a midnite snack? I pulled the same stunt later in the month when I put some apples, cranberries, oranges, cinnamon and brown sugar in the crockpot to cook overnite. I gotta stop doing that!

November in Gatesville, my social calendar is full. Lunch with Brenda, Mary Jane, Cindy, coffee and Sunday dinner with Johnnie and the get-togethers and coffees and visits keep my days full.

It is definitely an expensive stay in Gatesville. Oil change on a diesel truck isn’t cheap! Eating out with friends! Central TX is also where I tend to the business of insurance, safety inspections, license plates, voting, getting the truck serviced, the RV maintained, the tires on the RV and truck maintained. It is also the time to squeeze in all of my medical appointments and the medical care for the critters.

On the list of ‘essentials’ was figuring out why the tail lights of the RV only worked on one side. It definitely wasn’t an RV problem but a truck electrical problem. It was also essential that I get the wheels turning to get my oxygen moved from VA suppliers to Lincare or some other nationwide provider. It has been harder and harder to get my oxygen tanks refilled along the road since the VA provider is located in Waco, TX!

Over the month of November, VA and I were about to come to parting ways. Initially I had been scheduled a doc appointment and lab work. I was still in Iowa when the appointment came due. When I called about rescheduling, they informed me to ‘call when you get back to Temple.' That is exactly what I did; they refused to reschedule my lab. They did make a doc appointment for November 17. That was a totally useless appointment since I had no lab work for the doc to review. Doc scheduled lab for the following week. This did not allow enough time for a return doc appointment to get my meds reordered. By then I was down to my last week of meds. My prescriptions had expired and the doc would not renew them until the lab. Fortunately I had some essential meds ordered while I was delayed a month in Iowa. The VA doc didn't know this and it would have left me without these meds. Not a good situation.

After this experience, I will try to maintain the doctor in Iowa as my primary and find a doc in Rockport to be my “Winter Texan” doc. Eventually, VA can be avoided. I've already stopped using them for my eye since they do not have the meds ordered by Wolf Clinic. Until I get my oxygen squared away, I’ll keep only my respiratory doc at VA.

The middle of November brought 40 mph wind gusts 33 degrees -- Must be back in Iowa!!