Mid-July Update

   Hey gang..... Update time from "The Falls." July is half gone and we still have only had about 3 days above the century mark temperature wise. Next week we have a couple of days where the projected high doesn't get out of the 70's!! If this is "global warming" then I'll take another heaping helping.

   Lanita and I are planning a "flying ass road trip" for late August. She is taking three vacation days from work so we plan to tear out of here after she gets home and changes Tuesday afternoon. She prefers to take advantage of the coolness of the night and just drive straight through to St. Louis so we should be at our hotel between 4 and 5am with any kind of luck. Shower and grab a few hours of sleep then go see the kids and grand-kids early afternoon on Wednesday.

   I have reserved a room for us at a very nice hotel about 5 miles from my oldest daughter and her family so we're close but not too close. The hotel has both an indoor and an outdoor pool (I think) so we'll probably have the grand-kids come out to play in one of those while we're there. We're planning on two days there and this will mark the first time I have even seen two of my grandchildren. Of course Lanita has never seen any of them so it's all brand new for her. As far as both of my daughters are concerned Lanita was like a second mother when they were little and her daughters have always been considered "sisters" to my kids. 

   We'll probably rip out of there Friday around mid morning and head south to Shreveport La. to visit my youngest daughter and her family. I've already booked us into Diamond Jacks Casino & Resort there which should be pretty nice and make Lanita happy. (Jacuzzi tub AND gambling? She's all about that!) :-) 

   Like at St. Louis this hotel is roughly 5 miles from the kids so we'll not be imposing on anyone at either location. I think the last time Lanita got to see Joann was when Lanita's youngest daughter got married here in Texas. I can't remember if Joann brought either of her daughters with her that day or not..... so this may be the first time she's seen any of them too. We will probably stay there until Sunday and then head the Genesis north west and slide back into The Falls late afternoon. We are both really looking forward to the trip!

   Here in The Falls I had to put my mom into a care facility as she became too much for me to manage on my own here at the house. Between increasing dementia and Alzheimer's and becoming completely incontinent it was beginning to affect my health too both physically and emotionally. The facility we finally placed her with specializes in both dementia and Alzheimer's so they are used to dealing with all the different stages of those items. Mom seems to be fairly happy there and the staff thinks she's a sweet lady....... except when they try to get her to do physical exercise. She *refuses* to do *anything* which requires either physical or mental exertion and will yell at the staff if they try to get her to do either! As a result she is back to spending 18 to 20 hours a day sleeping. 

   Lab results kept indicating a steady decline in her kidney function too so the facility recommended we contact a hospice agency. At this stage what they basically do is provide a second set of eyes and a second opinion on both diagnostic and medication issues. If both doctors agree on matters then they proceed. If not then they consult until they do agree on what is best for mom. While it's easy for one person to make a judgement or a clerical error it's much more difficult for two people to make the exact same mistake. 

   Otherwise we are gradually making progress on things around the house. We still really need to focus on getting my storage/workshop building built on the lot though. Much of the stuff around here that requires maintenance also requires access to much of the shop equipment which is buried in the storage space that I'm paying rent on but which is off site. Several window frames require much of the wood to be replaced but that wood needs to be cut to the proper length, width and shape so it matches what is there now. At this point in time I lack the ability to do that due to lack of facilities and equipment. Also we have a door sill on the second floor which leads to the outside that needs to be reworked completely before winter arrives. Some of the concrete scratch coat will also need to be repaired too. 

   Today was "kill all the stinging things" day. Lanita was up on a ladder at the front porch while I was still thinking about getting out of bed this morning. Several *huge* wasp nests were on second floor window ledges above our primary entry point to the house. The proximity to the main entrance alone was a hazard since they would occasionally swoop down on folks trying to enter or depart. In Lanita's own words.... "Sorry! You must DIE!"  (she's somewhat allergic to their sting too so they really did have to go) I think between the two of us we went through three cans of that extended reach spray this morning. While checking for additional nests we found two more but they were so high up on the building that we could not reach them. We'll need to get a ladder back there to get them. 

   On other fronts (and honestly I can't remember if I wrote about this previously or not) Lanita and I managed to get up to Fort Sill right after my 65'th birthday so I could update my 1980's vintage retired military ID card. I was shocked in that we were leaving the administrative building with my new card just a couple of minutes after my scheduled appointment. 

   From there we scooted on over to Oklahoma City and spent a night there and paid a visit to the Riverwind Casino..... which we pretty nice. We plotted a course to the Choctaw Casino in Durant Oklahoma next via back roads so we had a relaxing drive. That was also a pretty nice place and we'll probably make a few trips a year back there. She still loves Winstar and wants to make some overnight stays there. 

   I think the last thing for this update is that I got a recall notice from Ford on my big Excursion truck. Some sort of electrical problem had been found with the Cruise Control Deactivation Switch which could cause a fire at ANY time. Didn't matter if the vehicle was running or not! (scary) I made an appointment with the local Ford dealer and had the repair made that afternoon. While there I also ordered the bracket that holds the "Power Stroke" decor piece at the top front of the engine. The Ford place in Mesquite had broke off both screws which held that piece on the engine when they were replacing a fuel filter. When I replace the bracket I'll put some grease on the threads to ensure that the hold down nuts will come off without incident next time. 

   That's it from the wild and wooly far northern Texas border!  As always..... y'all be good and take care of each other!