Up With Ruts

As I get older and get to know myself a little better, I am beginning to understand one thing about myself:  I  don't like change.

I would really like to be the kind of person who thrives on new experiences, finding new ways of doing things and being adventurous.  But no, I am a stick in the mud old fuddy duddy who really enjoys a nice, comfortable, boring rut.

Things are busy, lately.  Both Greg and I have had some kind of stomach problem that has lasted for around a month and a half.  Not bad enough to call in sick to work, but bad enough to be no fun at all, and it just won't go away.  Greg has had it worse, and he went to the doctor last week.  Hopefully test results will show that it's something very quick and easy to get rid of.  We are, as the saying goes, sick and tired of being sick and tired.

All of those changes that I mentioned earlier are starting to happen at work.  The first of several major changes happened last week, and it's been stressful for everyone.  The second and third major changes will happen at the exact same time mid-October, and we are all extra busy trying to prepare.  The fourth major change, our company moving to a whole different building or our department moving to a different area of our current building, is still hanging over our heads like a cloud of doom.  We don't even know when we'll know.

On Wednesday I'll drive up to Georgia to spend some time with Mom, and on Friday we'll go out to lunch to celebrate her 90th birthday.  Saturday I'll have breakfast with her and then drive home, and will hopefully be home in time to have a nice dinner with Greg to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary.  We took two vacation days to celebrate, so Sunday, Monday and Tuesday will be all about having fun and relaxing.

One good thing is that I'm now old enough to recognize those things about myself that I might have been reluctant to acknowledge during my thoughtless youth.  I can at least plan ahead and make it a point to take care of myself.

Old

My mom got some bad news:  Her hearing loss is being made much worse by a problem within her inner ear, which is distorting the sounds she hears.  The doctor said her ability to understand sounds went from 90% two years ago to 20% now.  There's nothing that can be done about it.  Her hearing has gotten noticeably worse in the past few months, even with her hearing aid, but we were all hoping that a new hearing aid or an adjustment would help.

Every now and then on the phone she has to ask me to repeat myself, but mostly she can still understand me when I speak to her. It's harder for her if there is any background noise, or if the person speaking isn't clear.  Sometimes she holds the phone up to her answering machine to see if I can hear her messages, because she has so much trouble making out what they are saying.  It was tremendously upsetting for her to find out that it wouldn't get any better.

Overall, at almost 90, she is in pretty good shape.  Everyone at the retirement home just loves her, she is the "sweet" one who tries to help out and be kind to people.  Her mind is fine.  She walks perfectly well with the aid of a walker/rollator, which is really only there to keep her steady in case she needs it.  Her vision is good enough to do crossword puzzles and read the newspaper.  She gets tired easily, and her back hurts because of her osteoporosis, but she is in better shape, I would guess, than the average 90 year old.

I'll be driving up to visit her next week on September 28th, and we'll be going to a birthday lunch celebration with other family members on her birthday, Friday September 30th.  I know she misses Dad so much it's hard for her to celebrate anything.  Some days I can tell she just feels tired of living.  I hope her birthday celebration cheers her up, at least a little.

Say Something Nice

A group called Improv Everywhere put a lectern with a megaphone and a sign that said "Say Something Nice" in New York City, allowing passersby to say whatever they wanted, and videotaped the results.  The whole story with photos is here:  Improv Everywhere.

Some people just walked by and looked, some took a photo of the lectern, one guy said literally "something nice", but a lot of people said "I love you", or "have a great day".   Some people got more creative, and played guitar or sang.

I just love this.  I don't watch the news because it's needlessly upsetting to me, but I do listen to NPR every day, and lately that has been just as upsetting.  Sometimes I need a reminder that people are, in general, pretty neat.

(There is a short commercial before the video, sorry)