Confessions of a Grandma

 Loss seems to be a bigger part of life as each year passes. Miss Pat is one of the most beautiful people I have had in my life. Tall, athletic, and socially active. A wealth of life experiences and keen intellect peppering her conversation. A warm, generous and caring friend to everyone she met. Even into her nineties she was driving herself where ever she wanted to go until just about this time last year. Then a fall and slow physical recovery. Mobility lost. Subtle slips in memory. Her family in the north decided it was no longer an option for her to keep her home in Florida. They found her an assisted living place near to them. She fiercely resisted and then she adjusted quickly, making new friends and starting a new phase of an eventful life. Her son brought her to Florida to say good-bye to her friends here. A dozen of us gathered in my home to wish her well and laugh and reminisce. And let our hearts break just a little bit and let tears push at the back of our eyes even as ...

 I have been way under the weather for a few days now. When I get sick i go dead white with maybe a tinge of gray. People find it scary. So I don't get sick all that often but I have had the flu a few times, strep throat, and bronchitis. I can really tell the difference and am usually certain I know what the problem is. I also have a doctor who doesn't get all huffy about my self diagnoses. But COVID has changed our lives.  I was certain I had bronchitis and I knew what my doctor would prescribe. I called for a televisit and I wasn't at all surprised that she asked me to do a COVID test (negative) but she also called in my prescription for treatment of bacterial bronchitis. I felt 50% better with the first dose and running on about 80% after a full day. I am tired and ready for bed at 8 P.M. -- but I didn't spend the rest of the day in bed. I am sleeping in the spare room with Levi. Don is immunocompromised in so many ways he has found all kinds of outside projects to d...

 I recently read somewhere that tuna topped with potato chips has become a popular sandwich. Don has apparently been making such sandwiches for years. I've never tried one. Chips on the side are fine with me. Another sandwich Don makes that I'd never had but have come enjoy is tuna, egg and onion. I prefer my sandwiches to be open-face or else using Arnold's sandwich thins. This combination works well for open-faced. And canned tuna, eggs and onions are pantry staples. We both love BLTs although we don't have them often. A BLT and an ear of fresh corn, buttered and salted, always seems like the quintessential summer supper to me -- something to be savored like the annual Christmas feast. A grilled cheese and tomato soup says fall. I guess I need to work on a winter and a spring sandwich! Today my lunch was yogurt and blueberries and right now I need to get busy making my oatmeal muffins that are my most usual breakfast with a cup of coffee. I must be hungry right now!

 Linda Reeder was so right in her comment to my last post. The humans are being trained. I was concerned about how fast Levi inhaled his food. Granny Annie mentioned a dish that was designed to slow down a dog's eating so I checked it out and bought one. First try dinner went from a one minute, 45 second affair to five and a half minutes on Friday night. About five minutes for his two meals on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday morning. Sunday supper -- he picked up the dish and carried it until some spilled out. He set down his dish and ate his kibble off the floor. I don't think I will give the dish high marks but I think the puppy is quite clever.  I will stop being an obnoxious new puppy parent soon.

  Highly food motivated is a term I have recently learned.

 PUPPY PICTURES: OMG! He is growing so fast! Definitely the teething/chewy thing gong on but he seems quite smart -- training is much easier and faster than I would have expected. I think years of being a special education teacher is paying off -- task analysis, patience, consistency, and reinforcement. He had quite a good time playing with that other puppy in the mirror!