Saturday, December 16, 2017

KoKo visits Santa 12-16-17

It was a festive day at PetSmart in Brea.  They offered free pictures of one's pet with Santa and he is a really good "natural" Santa.  Apparently he is the dog trainer at the store, so he has a good rapport with the four legged shoppers.  
 
KoKo had a bath this morning with a thorough brushing afterward and we were off to see Santa.  Nobody in line, so we were the next up following two darling French Bulldogs who were very photogenic.  But not, of course, as darling as KoKo.
 
Merry Christmas to all of you from Del and KoKo!
 
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Friday, December 15, 2017

Friday Feet 12-15-17


 
First Blogged 7-15-11
 
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Thursday, December 14, 2017

A Rental Car 12-14-17

Several weeks ago when I was returning from San Diego in stop and go traffic, the lady behind me forgot to stop.  She didn't hit me very hard, but we did the right thing and moseyed over to the right and got off at the next exit.  It looked to me like just paint scrapes, but she had lost her front license plate and the screws were embedded in my bumper.  So, we exchanged info and she called her mother while we were doing that.  The mother wanted to talk to me and told me they would pay to repair the damage without going through the insurance company.  So, okay.  But it took me a few days to get estimates.  I called her and told her they would have to replace the bumper, so the cost would be $1,083.00!  Seems like a lot, but the estimates were all about the same and I wanted to take it to some place convenient for me.  I did that yesterday and called Enterprise Rentals because I am uncomfortable being without a car.  The body shop thinks it will be ready on Friday and I am really hoping that will happen. 
 
The rental is a Hyundai which I have thought are good looking cars, but I wouldn't want to own one.  And now I KNOW I don't want to own one.  First of all, I am used to tall car (my Lexus 330RX) and with my bad hips I have a hard time getting in and out of a low car.  Open the door, turn around and lower my butt to the seat, then struggle to lift both my legs over the door sill and swivel to face forward.  Same getting out.  It is a struggle.  Secondly, I am used to a tall car (Lexus, etc.) and in this Hyundai I am so low that the lights coming at me and those in my mirrors are right in my face so I felt like I was about half blind.  Guess I will be home before the sun goes down about 4:30pm tomorrow night!  Thirdly, it is soooo noisy, more road noise than I am used to and a sort of tinny feeling to go along with it.  I read a list of the cars with the most fatal accidents and this car was on the list.  Whoa!  
 
On the good side it is a festive Christmas red which matches my habit of wearing red during December.  It has a display panel that shows the time, date, day of the week - handy for a forgetful old broad like me.  My first car was red, the only red one I have owned.  It was a 1956 Mercury convertible which I drove everywhere with the top down.  That was before I wore a hat all the time and I had to stop at a convenience store to buy a straw hat when I went out in the desert.  I tied in down with a scarf - I wasn't lovely, but my brains didn't fry. 
 
One should have these adventures once in a while, just to find out how others live, I guess!
 
I went down to sit with Bette today and met her very nice doctor.  Bette is in hospice, but she still has a grip like a wrestler.  Ouch!  I'll try to go down tomorrow again.  She told me today that she is going to get better.  From her lips to God's ear! 

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Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Those sad times come more frequently. 12-12-17

I went to sit with my friend Bette Bradley for an hour today.  I probably shouldn't refer to her as "my" friend as she is actually everyone's friend.  Such a great lady, always with a good word and a smile.  She is 93 and has been in a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) for the past few weeks.  She fell in her bathroom and damaged her tailbone.  And I have been told that her body is just shutting down.  She is on a lot of pain medication, because she has a lot of pain.  But she knows who I am and grips my hand with strength, so much so that I winch! 

I have sat with people in declining health before and I have been in a coma myself, though many decades ago.  At that time they used oxygen tents, a plastic structure that enclosed the entire patient, coming down on all sides of the bed.  When I would rouse a little I would think I was inside of a huge ice cube and it was very cold.  But sometimes there would be a  hand reaching under the tent to hold my hand in her warm one.   I don't know if I would have died, but I know that her hand was a life line.  And I have always felt that without that hand I might have just drifted away.  Bette is not in the same situation, but I just know that having someone there when you wake up, even just a little bit, is a good and welcome thing.  So, I will go and sit with her as much as I can.  Her daughter is there to tend to all the business and arrangements and spends as much time as she can with her mother.  But she can't be there all the time and I hope to fill in the gaps as much as I can. 

I don't want her to go, but if it is her time, then I would like to make her as comfortable as I can.  It is the last gift I can give her. 

 
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