09/02/2014 I want to start this post by thanking my parents. There are many things I can/should/will/have thank(ed) them for but this one really hit home recently. When I was a child my parents FORCED me to take care of my teeth by making me floss, brush my teeth and go to the dentist ALL THE FREAKING TIME. I hated everything about the dentist (and hated the dentist, who was a good family friend.) After I left my parents home and was out on my own, I was terrible about making dentist appointments. Once I had kids things changed. I had to set a good example by taking care of my teeth. I never really gave my teeth much thought. Yeah, they served a purpose but I just figured they would always be there. Like your feet. I now think back to my grandparents, Mom’s side. They kept most of their teeth in a cup by the bed. My parents always took care of their teeth, especially my Mom. They still have their teeth, at 89 and 93. Sure, as a child I had lots of fillings. Actually, more than normal, because I was a sloppy brusher & a candy eater. I can vividly remember getting fillings. LOTS AND LOTS OF THEM. The dentist always used to say, “Raise your hand if it hurts.” Hell, I dislocated my shoulder waving so hard and all of a sudden he was blind. I bit him. A few times. I was in agony, or was I? Perhaps I just immensly hated his hands in my mouth. I hated hearing him continually reprimand his nurse, “MISS OAKS!” She was flipping terrified of him. She quivered in fear. It was awful. Me? I just bit him and hated him. It would have been better if my dentist hadn’t been good friends with Mom and Dad. He was one of the guys Dad skied with yearly in Aspen. He was OK as a person, but he was my DENTIST. He had Highlights magazine in the office, but there were never any lights on when you walked in. He was too cheap. As I got older my parents would drop me off in front of his office on E. Third St and I would go upstairs to the dentist myself. After a few of these drop offs I realized I could skip and just not go. Well, that worked. ONCE. Anyhow, off or on the subject, who knows? My kids went to the dentist, got braces, retainers, had perfect teeth AND then went in the military and they stopped wearing their retainers. WTH? Retainers aren’t all matchy matchy with BCD’S?? (Military glasses are called birth control devices. They make you so ugly nobody would want you.) Or so they thought. The boys both take care of their teeth now though, that lesson they learned. The reason all this tooth crap is in my head is, we know someone who is 85 and is missing about half of his teeth. He went to the dentist and they are going to pull ALL HIS REMAINING TEETH and make him some new choppers. Going through this at any age sucks but doing this when you’re 85 is highly unusual. We will be keeping an eye on him.
*UPDATE: Teeth are gone and in SIX weeks he will have new ones. I made him some jello, should have made it with rum instead of water, he would have LOVED that!!
We made a short list of “have to do before company comes” and are gnawing away at that. One thing is completed, FINALLY! Two to go and then clean up. The bathroom has been “almost” done for months. Well, it’s now done!!
Bill is working on completing the handrail in the stairs. It’s a necessary component, especially since the stairs are narrow in the center and concrete. It’s almost completed.
The handrail was quite an engineering feat. There are so many twists and turns and different levels in our stairway that it made it a time consuming task. They look really nice though and definitely add a huge amount of safety to the stairway. Especially if you’ve had a few drinks!
Once the last piece is done then it’s on to the pantry. Bill is going to build another shelf unit to put in there then finish the drywall around the front and paint it. We really need more storage in it and I think the extra shelf unit for cans will be great.
Last Wednesday we ran our friends’ Watchie and their dog Milagro to the vet again. And again, the vet wasn’t there. The assistant called Dr. Calderon and the Watchie spoke with him. After the conversation he said he wanted to wait until the vet came back before he had the dog put down. We will go again this week, although the vet will not be there. The assistants will be at the clinic and can euthanize the dog if that is the decision that is made. Neither Bill nor I look forward to this, we are both crazy about dogs but this dog isn’t living a quality life and it’s sad. We know how difficult it is to let go. We are more than willing to help our friends in any way possible and if this is a part of it, then so be it.
{I just found out the vet, Dr. Calderon, who normally comes to the island on Wed. (from the mainland) will not be on the island for a minimum of 4 weeks, maybe longer. He is tending to some health issues of his own. I hope that he is well soon and can continue to do what he loves, taking care of animals. He is really quite an awesome man.}
After we took Sebastian and Milagro home we decided to go to Parrot Tree Pool to cool off. I made a drink in my 1 L cup and took another water bottle with another drink in it. We decided to stop by Walters and see what he was up to. He decided to join us at the pool. I was the first one in, it was dreadfully hot outside and I so wanted my internal temperature to cool down. WELL, I WAS IN FOR A SURPRISE!! The damn pool water was as H O T as the air. It was not even an iota refreshing. BUMMED. Nevertheless, Walter ordered food, Bill had a few beers and I drank both of my drinks, on an empty stomach all while standing/floating in a HOT pool. After awhile we decided to head home with a stop at Eldon’s grocery store before. We dropped Walter off and went to the store. I remember getting lettuce and paper towels and Fresca but that’s it. We did see Stef and Jurgen there and I think I said to them, “I’m drunk.” At least I realized it.
I didn’t get wild or crazy in the store and we made it home with no complications. I peeled off my suit and laid down on the bed and promptly passed out. I’m not sure how long I slept but when I woke up I was still drunk. I had a salad with too much olive oil on it for dinner and went back to bed. I had a headache and fell asleep dreaming of a pool with cold water in it. Or was it Vodka in the pool? Cold cold Vodka..
After my snooze I posted on FB : Drunk grocery shopping should be an Olympic sport. Or, at least a reality TV show.
Below is the Facebook message between Jurgen and I after my post.
Jurgen Derer you just got home?????
Debbie-Leigh Crofutt No Jurgen, we’ve been home but I passed out for a bit
Jurgen Derer hope not at eldon’s
Debbie-Leigh Crofutt no, I waited until I was home.
Saturday evening Bill and I went to Walter’s house for dinner. His friend Myrt was there, he’s lived on the island for a long time and Qui Qay, who is an islander and a good friend of Walters. Walter made spaghetti and I took a huge (way too much) salad. The meal was very good, he also had bread with artichoke and pesto on it. Nice evening spent talking and laughing in his kitchen. We’re both glad Walter’s back, he’s fun to hang out with!
Sunday it was super windy and looked like rain all day long, but it never happened. Bill finished the bathroom and I cleaned out the closet. It still seems like there is so much to do before Sharon and Paul come. Sharon is bringing an extra suitcase filled with all the crap we’ve ordered. Stupid stuff you can’t get here, like shoelaces, nice pepper grinder and good peppercorns, cat and dog toys, black salve, clock hands, mod podge and a variety of other things we wanted (notice I didn’t say needed.)
I am still walking the dogs every morning. I really want to quit but I can’t because they LOVE it so much. All 3 of them wait for me, it’s our routine, go for a walk, pee and poop, Lucky does his hysterical thing which is: pee, then kick all the dirt with his back legs while sneezing the whole time. He has me cracking up every morning, except when I’m not paying attention and all of a sudden I’m covered in dirt. Then I’m not laughing. He is a silly boy and he loves me so much! He puts his front legs on my lap and stands on his tippy toes so he can get closer and nuzzle under my chin. This drives Highway craaazy. He bites Luck’s back legs and makes all these weird guttural noises. Luck and I for the most part ignore him. We are worried about Dooce. She seems fine, has her normal amount of energy (very little) but she pukes up her undigested food soon after she eats. We changed her diet to rice but she is puking that up too. Kind of sucks because now there is no vet here…We are not going to feed her today and tomorrow give her small amounts several times a day and see what happens. I hate pet issues..We also started her on some Pepto Bismol, boy she didn’t like that.
Yesterday while walking the boys I had something get in my Flip Flop and stick in my toe. I finished the walk and had Bill look at it. There was a thorn of some sort in my foot. He got it out, all was fine. Until last night when it started hurting and I noticed my foot was swollen. He looked again but didn’t see anything. I took some Benadryl and it is OK this morning. Just what I need, another Alien.
We went to see one of our workers the other day down in Oak Ridge and ended up taking a little ride to an area we haven’t been before. These are some photos I snapped along the way.
The above photos were all taken in and around Oak Ridge, a small community to the east of us. The photo of the road is our view on the way home from Oak Ridge.
Bill and I both went to the orthopedic specialist from Georgia who has a practice here. Bill went for a follow up visit and I went because I am having a lot of pain in my knee. While he was checking my knee he asked if Bill and I had the same surgeon. I said no, that my surgery was done in Bellingham. He asked by who and I said Christopher Van Hofwegen. Dr. Terry very casually said, “I trained him.” SMALL WORLD. He said I have a small pad behind my knee cap that is inflamed and is causing the pain. He suggested I wear shoes with support (OMG, NOT FlipFlops) when I walk the dogs, especially since I have such a high arch. He gave me some exercises to try to strengthen the area and hopefully alleviate the pain. He also said that in order to fix and completely rid my ankle of the resident alien he would need to cut it open, remove the metal plate and round off the bone. Well, doesn’t that sound like fun? I won’t be doing that since we have no insurance! I’ll live with my Alien, it is what it is.
I’m outta here, places to go, things to do. Well, not really. Tomorrow I’m meeting Janice @ 8:15. We’re going to the schools to visit with the children. I would love to go on a regular basis and have story time with the kids, really looking forward to this. I’ll have lots of photos for my next post!
In the meantime, do what I do everyday…
Mermaid on a Raft 