Today I am 71 years old, plus one day.
Yesterday I was so surprised to find a birthday balloon, gift bags, and a card waiting for me on the table by my chair in the front room shortly after I woke. Sylvia had set it all up while I was sleeping.
#SeniorLiving #personal #birthday
by Roscoe
... sort of.
Insomnia has always been something I've had to deal with. Waking in the middle of the night has become such a frequent habit for me that I've come to think of myself as a natural segmented-sleeper.
Often I'll put head to pillow by 10:00 PM or so, wake fully after about three or four hours, then spend another hour or two working at the keyboard or surfing the Internet before falling asleep again. With two alarms set, one for 5:00 AM and the second for 6:00 AM, to ensure I'm awake enough to start the coffee and wake up the wife and help her so she can be at work on time, I'm hard-pressed to get the seven or eight hours of sleep I need. Especially if my “insomnia break” lasts longer than two hours, as it frequently does.
If I eat too much too close to bedtime, my insomnia will be accompanied by a touch of indigestion. That's why the “Antacid” tablets are on the table near my bed. Chewing a few will sometimes help me fall asleep again.
And during the allergy season these insomnia episodes are often accompanied by purely evil sinus woes. Hence the allergy pills are kept close, too.
These over-the-counter medicines don't always put me back to sleep, but sometimes they do.
#SevenTwoProject #SeniorLiving #personal #health
by Roscoe
Yesterday I received a text message from the Grand Knight of my Knights of Columbus Council here in San Antonio, TX. He told me about a temporary situation our Council is facing and asked me, as one of his officers, for my help. Of course, I told him I'd be happy to help.
This morning I found the above image sent to me by a brother Knight in the Philippines. It's the cover of a publication from his District pertaining to their mid-year organizational meeting. God willing, I'll be meeting some of my brother Knights of the Visayas Jurisdiction later this year when I'm in Cebu City.
Whether I'm here in South Texas, or 8,500 miles away in the Philippines, I'll be connected to and working with my brother Knights. It is comforting to know that.
#SevenTwoProject #SeniorLiving #personal #KnightsOfColumbus
by Roscoe
... is to remain quiet and let the world roll on by. This is one of those days. And I'll probably have many days like this for the next several weeks, for as long as the cedar fever season lasts. My reaction to the mountain cedar pollen coupled with side effects of the medicine I take to blunt that reaction lowers my mental state and my attitude to sub-optimal levels. Given the fact that my grip on reality is not all that tight even at the best of times, making it through cedar fever season safely is especially challenging.
Focusing on the moment at hand, restricting my activities to those I KNOW I can handle, being patient with myself, etc., all these little life skills will be important for me to hold onto and practice diligently. And, of course, I'll keep reminding myself that I've made it through other cedar fever seasons, and I'll make it through this one, too.
by Roscoe
As this first day of 2020 begins it finds me quietly working in my home office. January's paper planner pages have replaced December's in the binder, and a record of my daily activities has begun.
The posting of this snapshot starts a new project. (You all know I love my projects, right?) As I turn 72 y/o this month, we'll call this my Seven – Two project. Each week of this year (a block of seven days) I'll try to post two pictures to Roscoe's Journal and I may occasionally share them elsewhere. These will be snapshots taken by me, or pictures taken of me, or something I dredge up from one of my archives scattered hither and yon. We'll see what I come up with. It could be fun.
Hope you all have a happy 2020, and may you enjoy your projects, too.
#SevenTwoProject #SeniorLiving #photography #personal
by Roscoe
... and less than a week to go until New Years Day. This seems like an appropriate time to share a few thoughts about the year soon to end and the one about to start.
Health-wise I have my sixth primary care doctor in the six years I've been enrolled in the US medicare system. I have not been displeased with any of my previous doctors, nor have they been displeased with me. The changes mostly came from insurance company and medical group realignments. For a 71 year old man I'm in acceptably good health, and I'm thankful for that. Routine lab work done every six moths or so with the followup doctor appointments allow me to keep a close enough watch on my physical condition.
A new eye doctor this past summer gave me the most thorough eye exam I've ever had, and gave me a diagnosis I've never had: compound cataracts in both eyes. They're not quite bad enough to require surgery that my insurance will pay for, but they're headed in that direction. The best corrective lenses I can be prescribed only give me 20/40 vision. When I can no longer be corrected to better than 20/50 I'll qualify for eye surgery. The doctor expects degeneration to that point will be very gradual. But it's still something we'll need to monitor on a yearly basis. The doctor chuckled when he said, “You know, you'll never have 18-year-old eyes again.”
Hopefully 2020 will see a major change in my living situation. S and I are planning a summer vacation to the Philippines which may well be extended to a permanent move. Getting the logistics worked out for that is challenging. Complicating this is the very recent news that the Philippines may be changing the visa requirements for US citizens entering their country. It still isn't clear if, what, and when those changes will be made, but I'm following that news very closely.
All things considered I feel good about my 2019 and I'm looking forward to my 2020 with joyful expectation.
by Roscoe
09:30 on Christmas morning finds things quiet in the house.
My main chores of the day are already accomplished. I've done my cat-sitting duty for the next door neighbor while she's on vacation (made sure water and cat food are set out, cleaned the cat litter). And I've loaded Sylvia's PM pill boxes for another week.
This afternoon I'll be taking Sylvia out to see a movie. Hope we enjoy Jumanji: The Next Level as much as we did Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle when we saw it at the theater. I suspect we will. Lots of light-hearted laughter, good for the soul.
And the adventure continues.
#SeniorLiving #personal #chores
by Roscoe
... today's gloomy, drizzly rain has been welcome. It's kept me inside where I can rest.
Taking S to dinner this evening then doing a bit of shopping before we return home will be enough extra activity for today. We'll see what the weather's like tomorrow. Maybe I'll get some more work done on the front yard then. Maybe.
#SeniorLiving #personal #chores
by Roscoe
... it's to cold to work out in the garage, so I'll settle for working on inside chores again today.
After I get S off to work in the morning I generally finish my breakfast, catch a YouTube video, and doze for a bit. That mid-morning or late morning nap is a luxury of the retired life I've come to appreciate greatly. And that was my pattern today.
Still before Noon I ordered S a Christmas gift and a birthday gift online. The merchant promised a delivery before December 24 and I do hope it arrives on time. And I babysat an Operating System upgrade to my big laptop. That upgrade from Linux Mint 18.3 to 19.3 was pretty automatic, but I still had to watch it happen and follow a few special directions as the process moved along.
This afternoon will find me sorting through paperwork in my home office, throwing out the unnecessary stuff that has accumulated and looking especially for a work order from my doctor that I'll need to take to the lab for some blood work to be done soon. And I'll be spending some time on the stepper exercise machine.
And the adventure continues.
#SeniorLiving #personal #chores
by Roscoe
I hope it will be.
Last night's 3-hour sleep by itself doesn't give me enough rest to make it through this long day confidently.
Watching old Westerns on TV early in the morning was calming, mid-morning yardwork was relaxing, and sewing a button on the black suit coat I intend to wear this evening gave me a boost in confidence. And this short nap I was able to squeeze in between the afternoon basketball and football games may be all I need to make it through lectoring at this evening's 5:00 Mass and the Council Christmas party immediately afterward. Hope so.
by Roscoe