Pawrents Prater

Leslie, I sure hope you won't have to wait so long for your appointment. So far we have been told it usually takes a year to get an appointment with the neurologist and we should be glad it's only October. But we want dad to get started with whatever treatments he can to slow down the progression of Parkinson's or hopefully help prevent future strokes.

Sadly the guest room is not all cleared out yet, but you can see progress. Little bits at a time.

I'm afraid I don't know much about muzzles, either. Sorry I can't offer any help there.

Dee, the beans for the name may be for coffee beans. Sorry the shakes didn't come out with your meal. Mmmm a club sandwich sounds good right now.

Glad the senior center is reopening and hope it won't be long before they are back to 5 days a week. And that would be bad if the guest of honor at a 105th birthday party was out of town. Good thing you gave them a head's up.

Dee, we don't think a stroke caused dad's fall three yeears ago. That was his knee giving out and he lost his balance and fell backwards. In fact they checked him for a stroke at the time of the fall and didn't find any evidence.  We think the stroke may have happened 9 or 10 weeks ago. That is about the time he started saying he wasn't feeling right and things were different. If Parkinson's is part of what is going on with him, we think that has been going on longer, a couple of years if not more. Dad's PCP wants the cardiologist to do a 24 heart monitor and an echocardiogram. Beyond that, don't know if they will be adding blood thinners or not. What mom and I have read online trying to educate ourselves a little is that if you have a silent stroke then you are far more likely to have a massive stroke. My dad was not in the military. His vision was too poor to be eligible to serve. He's legally blind without his glasses. Guess they were affraid he won't know who to shoot if he lost his glasses. hehe.

Ginger, I had thought about a medical alert device for my house at one point. I had been playing musical furniture a few years ago and couldn't get any help moving it up and down the stairs. So I tried to move some by myself and nearly took a tumble down the stairs with a dresser. And I kept thinking how long would I lay there at the bottom of the stairs with a dresser on top of me until someone came to check on me. I don't move furniture on the stairs alone any more.

Anick, sending a gentle for Teddy. I have to be careful with Cheeky and the heat and her heart. So I can relate. One more reason to be ready for fall. Pippi doesn't do well with the heat any more either. I hope Teddy keeps feeling well for a long time to come!

- Laura (Pippi, Cheeky, Inky and Nimbus)

Anick, as long as Teddy is happy and eating, I say let things be! he sticks around a long time! His mother lived to be 15, right?

Dee, sorry about those shakes! I would have been tempted to ask for my money back! I use two of my crock pots a lot. the 4 quart and the 6 quart. I bought an Instant pot a few years ago and I STILL have not used it!

Ginger, I am glad to hear the knees are a bit better. I woke up this morning and my foot is hurting! I have no idea what I did to it. Hoping it improves soon, but if not, will see the doctor in a couple weeks anyway.

Leslie, I had a muzzle for one of my dogs once, but didn't use it much. It was to keep him from barking at night, but I just couldn't bring myself to leave it on him. It was a cloth one with a really cute material.

Oh Laura, I hate to hear about how your dad's health is declining. I know it is hard and your mother is not up to being a full time care giver, so I hope progression of whatever it is goes very slowly. A friend of mine just had to put her dad in a nursing home and once he is better, she does not think he will get to go home, but rather to an assisted living facility.

Carol, Tango really should have worn a muzzle when I took him to the vet! He was a reall stinker! Great idea about the calming collar! I had one for Sparkle for awhile but she improved, so once it wor=n out, I just stopped using it.

Laura, musical furniture? Ha! GREAT idea not to play on the stairs when you are alone!!

Ginger, I got attacked by a dog once. He belonged to our neighbor and he somehow got into the back yard with my dogs. I went into the back yard to fill up their kiddie pool and saw the dog back there. He kind of growled at me and I said, "stop it!" and he did. I went to the pool to watch it fill, then went back to turn the hose off. I guess he didn't like that, so he attacked my finger. I pulled it out of his mouth and he bit my arm. I pulled that out of his mouth, blood flying everywhere and managed to make it into the house. My dogs just watched the whole thing! At this point, I was hysterical! My brother grabbed a baseball bat and was going to go out there and get that DOG OUT OF OUR YARD! I hysterically told him "don't go out there!" My dad took me to the hospital where they cleaned it up. The neighbor paid the medical bills and that was it. All this to say that it really hurts! Ha ha! There is now an F shaped scar on my arm that I say stands for the f***er who attacked me.

 Milo's mom! I hope it's just grand! 

Ouch, that sounds painful Lisa!

There are several stores that are about to open up within the next few months. There's construction going on all over Trussville, Alabama. We are getting a new Ollie's, Pet Supplies Plus, Mexicali Blues, Pinchgut Pies & I don't know what all else. We've already got a new Steakhouse/Mexican place that just opened & another one coming. I plan to go on my birthday. I am going to check out the "bingo" slot places. They have to call it that because they really aren't supposed to have slots like this. I want to go before it gets shut down.

Again, I have alot of work to do. I'm tired. I might take some time off today.

Lisa, my sister has an Instapot and loves it. I have wondered about them. I have a small crock pot I use all the time because most of the time I am not cooking for a crowd. Then I have a large one I keep on hand in case I do need to cook for a crowd, but it rarely gets used. I like to get a pork tenderloin and cut it into three pieces so I can have a smaller roast for myself from time to time. I generally cook one and put the other two pieces in the freezer for another day. They fit nicely in the small crock pot and it doesn't take up a lot of space on the counter.

An air fryer is another thing I have thought about. Has anyone used one of those?

Thankfully we a good ways off from having to think about a nursing home or anything like that for dad. And with any luck we can keep it a good ways off. All the more reason we are anxious for him to be seen and medications to be added or tweaked so we can slow this down and even more so get him feeling better. He has been saying for a couple of months now that he has no energy and just doesn't feel right. If part of it is Parkinson's it sounds like there are some good medications out there that can make a difference and slow things down.

Yeah, musical furniture. The table, which is current in the dining room is going to the craft room on the second floor. But before that can happen the big chair in the craft room has to come down to the living room. Before that can come into the living room the double rocker in there has to go the dining room, which will become the guest room. And before that can happen I have to make it through the rest of the boxes in there, catch up on some laundry (mice had gotten into some of the boxes so a lot has had to be washed), and shuffle some bedroom furniture to the other side of the room. Then there will be room for the rocker, which makes room for the chair, which makes room for the table. Simple, right? hehe. I have made good progress and there is a light at the end of the tunnel on the boxes, but it's still slow going. I do a little at a time, but it's getting there.  Oh, and I have to figure out what to do for the firestop between the two floors and close the walls back up where the plumbing work was done.  I want to do that before a bunch of furniture is in the way for getting to that.

Dee, yikes on the plug in air freshener melting. Thank goodness you noticed that. How scary.

Ginger, sounds like things are doing well in your area with new stores opening. Now you've got me wanting Mexican food. hehe.

Carol, that is great that Pooks isn't bothered by the heat. Cheeky has had trouble with it for two or three years now. And this year Pippi seems very intolerant of it. When she goes out in the heat she is panting right away. Then even when she comes back into the a/c she pants off and on the rest of the day. She just can't seem to take it at all this summer.

Hmm. For that matter I don't take the heat well either. hehe. It zaps my energy quickly, and I can't catch my breath either.

- Laura (Pippi, Cheeky, Inky and Nimbus)

I have an air fryer. I have not been too adventurous with it, but have made chicken fried steak. It was good, but not as good as the kind you fry in oil! I use it a lot to cook frozen french fries, and now some frozed foods are giving instructions for the air fryer. A friend told me she did a whole chicken in hers and it turned out great.

Laura, you made me laugh with your tale of the musical furniture you want to do! I made a bit of progress on my craft room, but with no air conditioning in there, I just haven't been able to do any at all last month!

Leslie, that is hysterical! Toby getting his evil powers from the hot asphalt! Maybe he would wear booties? If you could get them on him, that is!

Dee, I tend to use the larger one, and always make way too much! Since there is only two of us, I need to learn how to cut down! Laura, good idea about cutting up the roasts!!

Carol, I love how loving you are with your animals! It is very heartwarming!

Ginger, that is cool about your area doing so well. Like Laura, I now want Mexican food, too!

Good morning everyone Happy Friday
Toby I would hope Lisa has windows to open in the sewing room if no air conditioner or a fan to sit in there while working.
Lisa great you have an Air Fryer I do not have one but di has all those new kitchen gadgets she likes cooking in her air fryer but Rosemarie not allowed to use it unless Di is there/
Laura I just use the since I found that melting in the receptacle. When Dallas go out to potty she quickly goes and back in the house except the day she caught the snake I guess it caught her attention and she killed it. I hope it was just a garden or black snake.
Carol I don't blame you for carrying Pooks around and spoiling him.. No danger of him getting hurt that way.
Ginger neat that you have a lot new places opening up near you.
Hugs Dee, tori & Dallas

My son got an Insta pot this year. You can use it as an Air Fryer and Pressure Cooker. I've made a breakfast thing it with sausage, bacon and eggs. My hubby has used it and of course our son cooks in it. I like when he cooks cause I have no clean up to do. He does it all ! It's pretty east actually and if you don't have any of the cook books for it then looking up things on line and using your own imagination is very good! Like an old time pressure cooker you have to let the steam out if that is how you are using it. Also be careful because its hot in there. I did burn my arm getting hamburgers out of it, but all is well. It is alright for cooking anything. I bought a wooden cover from amazon to cover the top of our oven so the InstaPot sits there. We have things to use/cook with for it bought on Amazon. So try it, you just might like it!
I never had animals as a kid except fish until I was 13. So I treat them all with the care I would hope to be treated with. They are all gifts from God and he's counting on me!
Carol & Pookah