a timely donation, a box, MLK/GOP, doctors, and covid

As volunteers at SHARE we'll bring something home occasionally that we want or need. The Elders generally take a few things like snacks or frozen pizza at the administration's urging. This week a box of dried garbanzo beans showed up which I've been keeping an eye out for at the grocery store and haven't been able to find because Marc wants to make falafel and it requires dried garbanzo beans. So, yay! Maybe there's falafel in my future.

I finally got the two trumpet flower pieces boxed up and ready to send out Monday. I always double box my work. First I wrap the piece in bubble wrap and put it in a box with preferably 2” extra space all around which I fill with foam so that it is well cushioned on all six sides. That box goes into a bigger box with ideally 2” of space all the way around that gets filled with peanuts, when I have them, bagged in the plastic bags that the newspaper comes in so they don't scatter, or foam or, in this case, some honeycombed cardboard that the new vanity came packed with and crumpled newspaper. I have very limited choices of box sizes out here for the outer box. The ideal size I needed was 14” x 16” x 15” Walmart has always had a medium size box 16” x 16” x 17” tall, easy enough to cut down the height. Did they have it on Wednesday? No. The medium size box they had was 14” x 19” x 17” tall so I was looking at taking the thing apart and cutting it down in length as well as height. But then Thursday someone brought in a donation in the old medium size box which I immediately claimed and cut down the height by 2” and got it done. Have to wait til tomorrow to send it out because MLK Day.

And so today the hypocrisy shines bright from the GOP and Republican congresspeople as they post on FB and tweet about what a great man MLK Jr. was and how he fought for equality in life and justice for people of color, really all Americans, while at the same time they are passing legislation that suppresses the vote of people of color or obstructing legislation that would expand the rights of Americans to vote and in some instances lying outright like our governor Abbott who tweeted “Nearly 60 years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. articulated a vision of freedom, equality, & opportunity in his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. He inspired hope in our nation. And that beacon of hope & liberty still burns bright in Texas.” while he and our Republican legislature are actively suppressing the vote and trying to prevent the history of this country's suppression of black people being taught in our public schools.

You might remember the last crown I got last October, they had a hell of a time getting a temporary crown, took like four tries before they got one that didn't break apart either before or while they were adjusting the bite, and the fourth successful one came off later in the day. When the permanent crown came in I asked the dentist if it was going to stay on considering the trouble they had with the temporary. Absolutely, he said, I'm using the strongest glue available. Well, Friday morning as I was eating my oatmeal for breakfast, it came off. Not only that, it's got a hole in it. I go in tomorrow morning.

And speaking of doctors, I went to the ophthalmologist this afternoon. You might also remember last January when I got my eyesight tested the optometrist said I was developing cataracts (as well as age related macular degeneration) and should go see an ophthalmologist late summer about it. A little late but better late than never. So good news, she says I am developing a cataract in my left eye but it's not bad enough for surgery yet and while she sees a few gray spots in my right eye she wouldn't call it macular degeneration. She seemed a little skeptical of the optometrist and wanted to know where I had gone. She says I have 20/20 in my right eye which is doing my far seeing and 20/50 in my left which is doing my close up seeing and could correct my vision with glasses but as long as I wasn't having any problems seeing or reading, which I'm not, it was up to me so I declined. Come back in a year unless things go south sooner than I think they will she says.

Covid finally hit my family. My grandson Mikey tested positive last Monday and Autumn tested positive after she got back from Ecuador last week, but not Jade so all the girls went and got tested Saturday. Autumn is still positive as is Robin now but not Jade or Sarah. The two boys and Audra are getting tested later this week. In other news Mikey and Audra and, of course, baby Paisleigh, have decided to move to Arkansas where her family lives, where Audra is from. There's a tiny house on Audra's parent's property that they are going to move into. This isn't surprising really, we all expected that they would move to Arkansas eventually. Gonna miss that baby though.

Minnie this morning...

What do you mean it's time to get up?