Made it to the beach and hubby says everything is fine at home.
My plane departure was delayed about an hour, but I made it. The sky was absolutely gorgeous for the flight:
As I mentioned once before, 2024 hasn't been the best year for my family. The year continues....
My Dad will remain in the nursing home and he is now under Hospice care. I visited him yesterday and he was well for what is determined "well" for him.
I was due to go to the beach with two of my sisters and my nieces and their children BUT hubby fell from his electric scooter injuring his right elbow and well it doesn't look like I'll be able to go. We're currently waiting to hear back from Hershey Medical Center to see when they have surgery scheduled. So the beach is on hold.....sigh....
On a happier note....I managed to get third row seats for Duran Duran in October!! YAY me!
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If I order a sandwich out...I like a crusty hard roll. I don't want it on bread or a hamburger roll. I want a sub.
I always look for the little club rolls at stores. They use to be so easy to find and now seem non-existent. Sometimes I will buy the large sub/steak rolls and cut them in half and just use half. Another option is to pick your roll and pull out the bread on the inside to get the roll to the weight you want in order to have the points you want. I always consider that sub rolls should be 3-4 pts.
I was in Walmart and found these in the bakery section (not the bread aisle):
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CC and I went to Evans City, PA/Monroeville, PA this past weekend. We visited the Evans City Cemetery where the movie Night of the Living Dead (original) was filmed and the Monroeville Mall where Dawn of the Dead (original) was filmed. We lucked out on this weekend, because about 3 weeks prior I discovered there was a Living Dead Weekend happening at the mall! So we eagerly bought tickets for that and it was a blast!
Most of the celebrities there were ghouls in Dawn of the Dead but there were some big names there as well: Tom Atkins; Tom Savini and Greg Nicotero may be three you've heard of. A big one for us was Russell Streiner.
Russell Streiner played Johnny in Night of the Living Dead. He delivers the most memorable line of the movie "They're coming to get you Barbara." He was more than happy to say that line for us! He told us how they had no money to make the movie and how they begged and borrowed to get it done.
But, for us, the big draw was Greg Nicotero. He's from the area so happily always comes to the yearly event when his job doesn't have him elsewhere. Greg is a special effects person and was the walker professional for The Walking Dead. He also owns a restaurant with Norman Reedus. If you're a Walking Dead fan, you know who Greg Nicotero is, he's as popular as the all the characters. He's also a very nice, down to earth person. While CC was asking him questions about Daryl Dixon; he apologized for eating candy but he said he had felt lightheaded and needed something and if we see him laying on the floor; we'd know why. I told him I was CPR certified; he told me he could only accept mouth-to-mouth; I told him I could do that! LOL!! Great guy!
So that was my highlight for the year so far!
A few posts back, I said that 2024 has been a bad year for my family. 2024 continues.....
My Dad has been in and out of the hospital, fighting UTI's along with his other health issues. He can no longer walk unassisted and it's hard for him with assistance. Right now he's in a rehab center but will be moved to long term care. Like Mom, none of us are able to provide the 24/7 care he needs. So my family's battle with 2024 continues.
On a happier note!
CC and I went to Evans City, PA/Monroeville, PA this past weekend. We visited the Evans City Cemetery where the movie Night of the Living Dead (original) was filmed and the Monroeville Mall where Dawn of the Dead (original) was filmed. We lucked out on this weekend, because about 3 weeks prior I discovered there was a Living Dead Weekend happening at the mall! So we eagerly bought tickets for that and it was a blast!
Most of the celebrities there were ghouls in Dawn of the Dead but there were some big names there as well: Tom Atkins; Tom Savini and Greg Nicotero may be three you've heard of. A big one for us was Russell Streiner.
Russell Streiner played Johnny in Night of the Living Dead. He delivers the most memorable line of the movie "They're coming to get you Barbara." He was more than happy to say that line for us! He told us how they had no money to make the movie and how they begged and borrowed to get it done.
But, for us, the big draw was Greg Nicotero. He's from the area so happily always comes to the yearly event when his job doesn't have him elsewhere. Greg is a special effects person and was the walker professional for The Walking Dead. He also owns a restaurant with Norman Reedus. If you're a Walking Dead fan, you know who Greg Nicotero is, he's as popular as the all the characters. He's also a very nice, down to earth person. While CC was asking him questions about Daryl Dixon; he apologized for eating candy but he said he had felt lightheaded and needed something and if we see him laying on the floor; we'd know why. I told him I was CPR certified; he told me he could only accept mouth-to-mouth; I told him I could do that! LOL!! Great guy!
So that was my highlight for the year so far!
After reading about how wonderful these are; I finally broke down and paid the high price for them:
PopTarts are very high in points on WW. These are much lower in points and are high in protein. People rave about them online. They are pricy, it cost me $10 for a box of 4. I would have preferred the option to just purchase one, but that wasn't a possibility at my Walmart. Anyway, I just had one and must say I wasn't impressed. It was nothing like a poptart. It was more like a soft sugar cookie with icing and a smear of filling on the inside. I ended up taking them to work and the ladies in the office didn't like them either, so we threw them in the trash.
And for the record, yes I did heat them up. For some reason whenever you say you didn't like them someone always comments that you have to heat them. Weird right? Also don't tell me I shouldn't expect a Pop-Tart as these are a "pastry". Yeah, a Pop-Tart is a pastry too, says it right on the box! And if I shouldn't be expecting a Pop-Tart taste....it shouldn't look like one!
So I turned 60 in January and it was pretty uneventful. My one co-worker took me to lunch and then CC took me to dinner and movie with popcorn! We always do that for each other on our birthdays - dinner and a movie.
CC and I had been talking about doing small trips on occasion; and since this was a big birthday for me...she gifted me a weekend trip! We're going to Evans City, PA!! LOL! That may not mean anything to many of you; but it's where the movie Night of the Living Dead was filmed and we've always talked about driving up to see the cemetery, museum and the mall where Dawn of the Dead was filmed. We'll also be close to Pittsburgh plus roadside attractions along the way. We're heading there the weekend of June 7th and just discovered there will be a "Living Dead" convention at the mall!! We are so excited and got tickets for that. No HUGE celebrities but it will be fun anyway.
On the Weight Watchers front.... as I mentioned, I rejoined and have been going to meetings. Hubby told me just to skip coming home from work and just go straight there. He'll handle all the pets at home. It'll put me there early, but there's plenty of shopping all around!
Another thing....I bought this:
It's a walking pad; basically a treadmill without the holding bars. Now I have no weather excuse for walking! In case you're interested: Deer Run Treadmill.
2024 - what can I say? We're only 5 months in and things just haven't been good.
The first week of the year my mom needed moved from the rehab center to a nursing home. None of us were able to give her the 24 hour care that she needed. However, during that time, the nursing home was saying she didn't qualify for a nursing home; nor did she qualify for assisted living. You're reading that right, too bad for one - not bad enough for the other. During that same week, my brother-in-law, unexpectedly, needed to have quadruple bypass.
Also in January, my one Aunt passed as well as my cousin's husband.
My parents live with my sister J and this was her husband needing the bypass. No surprise she was very stressed. She has my Dad, her husband needs serious surgery and Mom's in limbo. Naturally the rest of us-myself and sisters E & S, jumped in to help with Dad. Brother-in-law came through surgery perfectly and has healed nicely fortunately.
I got the flu in January....which led into my 60th birthday....which meant really no celebration. Though my sisters did take me to dinner. They went out afterwards, I went home to bed. For my 60th year I decided to invest in me by rejoining Weight Watcher meetings and buying a walking pad...neither has gotten much use 😞.
Because my sister hired an Elder Law Attorney (if you have the money, so worth it) we did get Mom into a nursing home. Mom had her good and bad days. I never seemed to catch her on her good days and several times she didn't know who I was; sometimes I couldn't get her to wake up. It was sad and the mother I once knew, was slipping away. I hit a point that I didn't want to visit her anymore; I knew I had to, but I didn't want to (E felt the same). I started going over during my lunch hour; it limited the time I could stay.
Unexpectedly in February, my dog Dexter needed put down. We knew this was coming due to a tumor by his liver; but it just was another thing to happen in an all ready stressful year. I miss my Dexter Doodle Noodle.
The end of February my Dad turned 90! A celebration finally! Not a big one, but we took him to his favorite diner and that made him happy! (by the way, he and mom celebrated 70 years in 2023).
Then March started. At 1:30 a.m. on March 7th, I was awakened by a phone call from J letting me know that Mom had passed away. We knew this was coming; but you're never truly prepared for it. And also, once again, I was 7 days in with a flu! (no meds as the doctor says it was viral). My work is very good with bereavement leave, so I didn't have to worry there; but we had all the preparations, contacting family and such and it just seemed so whirlwind. We went through a lot of photos, reliving the memories. My Dad kept insisting the photos of him in the younger days weren't him. We told him that that must be our real dad - the mailman (inside joke, my Dad was a mailman 😀).
We get through that. And then, Dad is in the ER with an UTI....he was very ill, but doing much better.
The day after the funeral I went to Urgent Care and finally an antibiotic for my flu!! It's gone, but I've been left with a dry cough for a very long time. And of course, allergy season started.....
We spent our first year without Mom on Easter. There will be a lot of firsts this year. Mother's Day was hard.
Last week, Dad was back in the ER with an UTI again! He was there a week and they just moved him to a rehab center; but things are just not going well. He has several medical issues that affect his mind and we just don't know if the craziness (for lack of a better word) is going away this time. More than likely he'll end up in a nursing home. J can no longer take care of him as he can do nothing for himself anymore; we're not sure he'll be able to walk again.
So 2024 hasn't been a good year.
