Happy Samhain!

My most favorite holiday of the year.  I must admit that it's not been as fun since moving here to the apartment complex as it was back in East Tennessee.  There's I'd decorate and we'd have quite a few kids show up.   Here, not so much.  But, it's the spirit of the thing, so I've gotten some candy (just in case) and have my most evil laugh queued up for anyone who's brave enough to knock on my door.  Trick or treat?  You tell me....

Bwahahahahahahaha!

I'll be heading to Arlington on Friday this week, so that I'll have all of Saturday to get some things done in the yard, and maybe start in on getting Joe's workshop organized enough to know what to keep and what to just throw away. Then back early on Sunday, to get laundry and housekeeping done (plus a little NFL action, maybe).  Then, back to the grind.

The Pacs upgrade went fairly smoothly, and most of our docs are working in it just fine. There's still the daily calls for reminders of how to do specific tasks, which we expected. I'm working now on getting all of our residents (we're a teaching clinic, and have about 40 residents and 6 specialty Fellows working with our docs) onto the new system when they remote in.  I'll probably have to disable their access to get the off the old system and onto the new, but we'll see.

Weekend in Arlington

I just got back from spending the weekend with Gayle and her mom in Arlington.  Now that her dad is in a home, I can visit.  It's been somewhere around 6 years since I've been, and this was probably the first time ever that I've actually enjoyed being there.

Gayle's mom either sleeps, or sits in a rocker in the living room, watching Turner Classic Movies. She responded when I talked to her, but wouldn't even look at me when I walked through to the kitchen if I didn't speak to her first. As much as I've always said I'd like to live to be 100, I wouldn't want it to be like what either of my in-laws are living through.  My father in law had to be placed in a nursing home with a lock down ward, as he kept trying to escape from the more open facilities, and my mother in law's entire world moves between 3 rooms in a house she never leaves. Dying at 80 with most of my faculties in place would be wildly preferable to that.

I'm planning on going to Arlington at lease 2 weekend a month, to help with things that need to be done (like cuttting back the holly bush that is now over the roofline and blocking a couple of windows).  That also should make things easier on Gayle staying there, which she doesn't like doing. Sitting the elderly is much worse than baby sitting an infant...a baby you can plonk into a car seat and take with you, even it it's just a drive to get out of the house. The elderly can't and/or won't go, which effectively ties you to the house.  At least the mother in law is pretty sedentary, and can be left alone for an hour or so, if necessary.

I'll also be going through the piles of stuff that Gayle's father has managed to collect over the years.  He has a woodworking shop that is amazing...if you can figure out which of the 4 cordless drills work, or what is worth keeping in the many drawers and cabinets. I figure that the woodworking shop will be a major attraction when we hold the eventual estate sale.

weddings, strokes and anniverseries

My son got married on the 30th of September.  Gayle and i went to Frankfort for the celebration,and it was a good trip all around.  The weather didn't cooperate fully, but at least it didn't rain.  This was an outdoor wedding, and so of course it was cloudy, very windy and cool.  None of that really mattered, as the ceremony was beautiful ( the bride is an antropology major, and included a handfasting ceremony into the standard wedding vows) and everything came off without a hitch.

Here's a picture of Josh and Maurya, presented as Mister and Ms Allen:

The groom and attendants wore UT orange, and the bride and attendants wore UK Blue.  All in all, a wonderful event. Congrats and best wishes always, kids.

Gayle's dad was scheduled to be evaluated by a new nursing home on Friday morning.  Instead, he was found on the toilet having had a minor stroke.  So, he's in the hospital again. On top of that, we had to give up his bed at his current nursing home due to them wanting $250 + per day to hold it.  We think that he'll be accepted at one with a medicare/medicaid ward, but we just have to wait and see.  He's already been turned down by the Tennessee Veterans Home as too combative, and the same at 3 other nursing homes.  We suspect that the stroke will do away with a lot of the combativeness, at least we hope so.

The end of September brought the 1 year anniversary of my mom's death.  RIP, June.  At least, don't actively haunt any of us...you were contrary enough during life.