Random Acts of "Kindness"

Posts tagged ‘FRIENDS’

I MADE IT

I shouldn’t brag. In fact, it is something I really didn’t want to do. I wasn’t even trying! But evidently I made the list. What am I talking about? Somewhere there must be a list of people who are gullible or rich or ? I will admit that I’m gullible, and I am rich but not in money — I’m rich in blessings.

What list? There must be a list of people who are vulnerable, ready to be scammed. I was trying to think of what might have put me on that list. I used to friend anyone who wanted to friend me. That was until I accepted a man — who was so proud of his endowments, that he sent me a photo. I must admit that I wasn’t impressed. I immediately took him off of my list and have become more discriminating about accepting male friends. I have a husband who I love and who loves me.

If that wasn’t the cause, I don’t know what was. I’ll admit that I don’t remember how many times in the recent past I have been given the opportunity to part with our hard earned money. If I went through my notes, I’m sure I would have many examples. Recently I received a phone call from my grandson. ?? A couple of questions proved he wasn’t. I’m always receiving the opportunity to lower our interest rate. Are they legitimate or a scam. I don’t play along long enough to find out.

In my thought ramble SCAMMED I detailed how a phone call and an e-mail almost had me convinced that our credit card or bank account was hacked. Thankfully in those cases I was protected by “my friends” or my experience to avoid danger. Recently I responded to an instant message on Face Book from a “friend”. She wanted to know if I heard the good news. I thought she heard that there would be a change in the election results. NOPE! She had received 150,000 dollars and had seen my name on the list of folks who were also going to receive money. Thankfully I asked her a couple of personal questions which would have proved who she was. She disappeared.

I would love to be tossed off of the list. Hopefully, if that can’t happen I’ll keep my smarts about me to stay out of the traps. I’m sharing with you so you will have more knowledge to avoid the scams.

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HIDDEN TREASURES

I thought the appropriate title for this thought ramble was BURIED TREASURE. Oops, I already have one of that title. This title is just as appropriate. It just dawned on me that the anniversary of the fire is in a week. Both my mother and my brother passed over, I would have also except I guess I needed to stay here for my father.

“My friends in high places” are very good at what they do. A whole day can go by and I don’t become aware of their help. One day this week, I PLANNED to exercise — I changed into exercising clothes and put the dvd on the TV. Robin came downstairs, wanting to go out. I tried to get her up early, so we could go for a walk. She ignored me. I have to admit that she got me up at 5:00 AM, went outside, did her business and returned to the top of the porch. The pond of water on the sidewalk had turned to ICE. At 9:00, the pond of water was covered by snow. The snow seemed to be gritty, I thought if I was careful I could take her for a walk. Exercise plans went on hold. I put on my boots, hoping that their traction would keep me upright. I found a penny on our walk. “In God We Trust” it reminded me.

When we came back, it was too late to do the exercise that I planned. I did a fast Tai Chi and continued with the day. I had planned to make soup. I’ll admit that I didn’t follow the recipe, but the results were delicious. Of course, neither my husband nor my son wanted to try it.

Trying to salvage the day, I examined the contents of the drawer that holds our check books. I had many, many check registers and many, many unused deposit slips. I didn’t want to put the check registers back in the drawer. They moved to the filing cabinet, except there was no room. I had to pull out a handful of assorted paper. Looking at it, I have no idea why it was in the filing cabinet until I came across a couple of gems. I found the notice of a good friend of mine that passed away in 2003 at the age of 97. She is still often in my thoughts. I also found a letter from a friend of mine with a comic strip that gave me a good laugh. The person in the comic strip joined shopping anonymous and when she was tempted to go shopping, she call me and we went out to drink. I have to admit that I phoned my friend and arranged for a shopping trip.

Now I’ll admit that I realized that “helping hands” had influenced the day. I could detail the many things that have occurred this week, but I’ll try to keep this ramble on the short side. I was scammed this morning by a friend on the I-pad — only it wasn’t her. I asked a couple of personal questions that only she would have had the answer too and the person disappeared. I didn’t fall for the promised money. This afternoon, the mail brought prescriptions for my husband that I hadn’t ordered. One he would need in the near future — the rest, I’m puzzled. Knock knock — is anyone home? That is when I realized that an important anniversary is close.

THANKS EVERYONE.

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NEW YEAR

NEW YEAR

A person whose blog I read doesn’t use titles for her blog — she uses numbers. Since I have written more than 250 thought rambles and have a very hard time coming up with a new title — I admire her forethought.

So Christmas is right around the corner and evidently I’m receiving more “help-“. I know than I AM NEVER ALONE, but usually my “helper’s” remain behind the scene, not actually visible to others. Whatever is going on with the formation of this thought ramble IS NOT OF MY DOING!

I planned to bake cookies, my husband and my son suggested that I should save my energy for other tasks. We are trying to reduce our weight — good cookies wouldn’t help. My daughter also agreed. I guess I have listened. Don’t mark your calendars since it doesn’t happen often.

There are many new books published to help with weight loss. I guess I’m with many others who have tried and tried, Weight Watchers, Fast Metabolism and others. Since I eat healthy, don’t guzzle soda, or snacks — their programs don’t produce the desired results. Not that I’m giving up — I’m trying to find something that will work for me. I’ve learned that diet programs DO NOT. If anything surfaces that actually works — I’ll share. I have good motivation — my knees hurt or yell depending on the day.

Since my family thought I shouldn’t make cookies, I decided to bake bread pudding. Looking through my cookbook — the first book I actually put together — I found so many recipes that reminded me of friends, and parties of by gone years. Many of the recipes have a footnote — who the recipe is from or the occasion.

I was looking for a recipe for bread pudding and I actually found one that referenced my father’s mother. She didn’t like to share her recipes so I’m not sure where the recipe was from. It also had a note that it was too sweet, so I cut the sugar and it was still too sweet. But the first batch was very small, big enough so that I could sample. My son liked it too so I doubled the batch. Fast — easy — worked for me.

I’m not making New Year resolutions. They NEVER seem to work for me. I’ll resurrect ones that I have made in the past — this year I might succeed. New this year — DAILY PRAYERS FOR OUR WORLD, COUNTRY AND CITY. Sadly the trouble and violence is growing.

My wish for you — safe and healthy 2017.

Just so you don’t think I have completely lost my mind — the spacing I saw as I wrote my thought ramble, completely turned to normal when I posted it on Wandering. I guess they like to “play” too.

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WISDOM

I can not take credit for this. I recently discovered that my age is affecting some of my decisions. I had to buy a new pair of boots. Last year’s pair of boots had heels that were worn, not badly, just bad enough that my knees and hips were being affected. Buying shoes regularly is bad enough. Buying boots is even more of a challenge. I’m really not concerned about the fashion. First, they have to fit over my SLENDER? calves. Next they have to be warm. Since many of my hours spent outside are spent walking a dog — I NEED my feet to be not only dry but warm. Next they have to be reasonably priced. I was surprised when the first thing I did was to turn the boots over and look at the tread.

The first pair that I looked at had a sole that was rather smooth. The next pair was better — the sole wasn’t smooth, the tread was evenly spaced, and zippers on the sides would make putting them on easier. The last pair that I looked at had a much better sole, tread looked like it would be safer on slick and icy surfaces. They had laces instead of a zipper — roomier, I would be able to wear heavier socks plus they were designed for colder temperatures. Only then did I try the last two pairs of boots on. I bought the pair with laces and better tread. For a change, price was not my guiding issue.

I was surprised that the tread on the sole was my guide, not a fashion statement, or the price — my age is showing. I told a friend about my experience this morning. She said it wasn’t my age that is showing, I’m using my wisdom.

I like the sound of that.

Recently I was invited to a Christmas breakfast. I don’t remember when we first started this gathering. It was quite a few years ago. The ladies were still living in their own homes, now they live at Resurrection Senior apartments. The oldest of our group will soon be 95 at Christmas time. The hostess is a young 92. I’m probably the youngest. When she phoned with the invitation I was most grateful that I had the day available. In fact I arrived a bit early, just in case she needed some help. For the most part, the table was set, the casserole was in the oven and the tomatoes were cut. She was making coffee. And that is when I was able to lend a hand. Her coffee pot had issues — the filter blocked — coffee and grounds everywhere but in the coffee pot. Exactly how it happened we couldn’t tell, but it was a mess — all over the machine, and her counter. I was able to clean up the machine, the counter and the pot. I couldn’t figure out how to put the machine back together but soon coffee was perking again. Three walkers lined up in her bedroom, one an expensive Rollator — I was one of the most able bodied in attendance and I was happy to lend a hand.

Other gatherings might have surfaced in my memory, maybe that is why I was early. I might have remembered that my assistance was helpful before. I don’t know but I was happy that I was able to attend, grateful we could all get together again. And maybe that experience, and seeing their walkers helped guide me to pick out the safest pair of boots for this winter.

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PACKING

I’ll admit it. I was worried. My knees have continued to give me problems. They were better — meaning I wasn’t in continuing pain. BUT .. and it was a BIG BUT — I had trouble getting out of the car after we had driven a distance. I was having trouble getting up from a chair, the toilet .. in other words my body wasn’t working as it had in the past. And we were planning to drive to Lookout Mountain, an 11 hour drive away. I didn’t think we would make it in one day. My husband probably could, I knew I COULD NOT! And I was afraid I WOULD NOT be able to get out of the car.

So I began packing for a short stay, including an overnight in a motel. I thought two bags would work out well. One for the extended stay, one for overnights. I forgot that in all of our recent travels, we were staying at places that already had some of our bathroom supplies — toothbrushes, paste, etc. Then I remembered our preferences for drinking and eating. Okay, the bags increased to three for me. My husband was on his own — not only his medicine but also his ham radios. Oh, then I had to add a cooler for his insulin. He remind me that he didn’t have a truck.

Just in case I would forget things, I had help from the other side. My knee hurt, more than usual. Remember the various creams and ointments to help with pain. I had trouble sleeping. REMEMBER TO TAKE SLEEPING AIDS. I was warm in every outfit I put on. I had packed the summer clothes away, putting out the winter wear. WHAT WAS THE EXPECTED TEMPERATURE? Summer 80’s was forecasted. Luckily I had tee shirts and clam diggers still out.

I don’t snack a lot, but while I was packing I was EXTREMELY hungry. Time to buy some snacks and
water for the car. I remembered my tea, my husbands sugar, peanut butter and jelly…. instant coffee and small bottles of wine. Apple cider vinegar was a challenge but I found small glass dressing or wine bottles. Crackers for munching. I was trying to stay with healthy options, so no chocolate.

As more challenges arose, I finally realized I was receiving HELP from the other side. Since we had only been home from the camper for four days before we left again. I will admit that I’M EXTREMLY GRATEFUL FOR THEIR HELP. I will also admit that I was frustrated when so many things were going wrong! My husband took into consideration my traveling concerns and we stopped often. My eyes were bothering me when we left so he did the driving. (He loves to drive!) My feet were also swollen, I brought sandals for the drive. I also wore my half compression socks, only going up past the ankle. Thankfully my knees behaved, the trip was less stressful than I had feared. I could get out of the car. Both of the motels were dog friendly, but Robin had stayed home. Their breakfasts were good, one better than the other. The weather was delightful, sunny skies — dry roads, good traffic. LOVELY TIME!

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MORNING WALK

Looking outside on our last Saturday morning in the country this Fall, I saw fog or rain or mist — definitely gray skies. Robin didn’t care, she was ready to go for a walk. Words of Wisdom in Queen of Heaven’s morning reading instructed “Allow yourself to belong to God.”

Not sure of the weather, I put on my rain coat and rain pants — heading for the street instead of taking the nature trail, turning East towards our daughter’s trailer. I saw one of our neighbors holding onto a large container with a hose, spraying his trees. I was curious — what was he spraying and why. I know fruit trees are sprayed in the spring to protect the fruit from bugs but why spray in the Fall? I soon learned he was spraying the trees to discourage the deer from consuming the leaves. Most of the leaves were missing from one of our young maples. So were the buds off of a flowering bush, not to mention our Hosta’s had made a tasty snack. He offered to let us use his container but I thought it would be to our advantage to get our own. Thankfully I bought the last deer/rabbit fence spray with hose at our hardware store.

I had taken our car to the hardware store, giving Robin a ride. Have car — will travel. I stopped at our neighbor’s to thank him for the information, his generous offer — we had the last container at the store. Leaving his place, I met our friend’s daughter and husband. When I inquired as to her parents plans for the weekend, I learned she really didn’t know. Her sister might drive them out to save their gas. I thought I would phone and invite them for supper if they were coming out. When we saw them last weekend –their truck was loaded to the top, stuff going home for the winter — preparation for Fall close. My husband thinks we NEED A TRUCK.

On the road again, I saw the truck of the person who does our winterizing. I asked Sue if she had called him. When I phoned her, on Friday, she hadn’t called, but when I saw John on Saturday — she was on his list. I mentioned we had keys to her trailer. He suggested that I get her keys and meet him at her trailer. He was working on Saturday because he was way behind. Sue had been having trouble with her door staying closed and he explained the steps she needed to take to keep the door locked. I told him that we would leave our furnace on when we left, he could schedule our winterizing when it was convenient for him.

Back at the camper, I phoned our friend only to learn they weren’t coming out. I’ve used up most of the meat in our freezer but I planned to go to the store if they would come for supper.

Definitely a DIRECTED morning. I’m very glad for the information received and the meeting of friends. I’m very glad we had walked the street rather than the trail.

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MY PLANS

Would you like to laugh with me? My plans? I don’t know how often I make plans and God Laughs We had planned (?) to attend the exercise and nutritional class at the clinic –two weeks in a row. The first week, we received a phone call that the roofers were available to install the sky light in our roof. It had been back ordered for more than 3 weeks. The second Wednesday our car was in the garage and we were waiting for ADT to fix our carbon monoxide alarm that went off on Tuesday.

I had given myself a birthday present. I arranged to go shopping with my friend who fell and broke her hip in December. It was the first time she and I had wandered out alone since she fell. I was able to put her walker in the trunk. The waitress at our favorite restaurant not only remember us, she remembered what we ordered. We were able to get a motorized cart at Wal-Mart, finish shopping and get purchases and us safely back into the car. We proceeded to Wendy’s, where I got her walker out of the trunk. Returning, I put her walker back into the trunk only to discover the taillight on the fin of the trunk hanging in the breeze. That would never do. I did not have tape in the car. I could not push the light back onto its holders. My next stop was only a short distance away. They DID NOT HAVE TAPE, THEY DID NOT HAVE GLUE. I bought large band aids and taped the light to the fin. We asked my friend’s husband to bring tape down when I dropped her off. It wasn’t needed. I was afraid the city streets would cause the light to become detached from the electric. I didn’t tell her until I dropped her off that she was my birthday present. I was glad we went out. I discovered that I had the strength for the task at hand. We both had a MARVELOUS time. We will need to repeat before a long time passes.

Our car went to the garage the next day. Because the electric was still attached they were able to glue it into place rather than replace the part for a few hundred dollars.

We had planned to go to the country on Thursday. Thankfully we were able to proceed as planned. Evidently we were not supposed to go to the clinic on Wednesdays. Either it is no longer of benefit to us or we need to wait until our traveling is through.

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KNOCK KNOCK

When I’m not paying attention — I get hit on the head. I’ll bang my head into an open cabinet, something will fall out of the frig or freezer, maybe something cascades from the medicine cabinet. The end result is one of my body parts whimpers or yells. Sometimes I have an idea what I am overlooking. Many times I am at a lost.

Since I don’t see nor hear “my friends” in high places. They use other means to get my attention. I’m often at the right place to see something or talk to someone. The other day my knee was yelling as I walked to the bank. I saw a younger person on a older scooter, the kind with front and back wheels and a handle. She had a dog on a leash. I was struck by her imagination — I wondered if a sore knee kept her from walking her dog normally. I overheard her tell her dog that she couldn’t go that way, climb a high curb and I wondered.

One of my reasons for wanting to stay in our house rather than move to the country — if I can’t drive, I can get around the city via public transportation. I can walk to a grocery store, the bank or a drug store. I can walk 6 blocks to the EL train and go downtown. I don’t have to drive.

My husband and I attended Smokey Joe’s Cafe, a play at Drury Lane. During intermission I talked to the woman sitting directly behind me. She shared a story. Her uncle, a young 100 years of age just renewed his drivers license. I heard of other people in their 100’s who were driving, but usually out in the country. When I asked where he drove she told me the North side of Chicago — not rural by any means. In fact — a high traffic area. So I wonder, will I be able to continue to drive as I continue to age. Time will tell.

I often hear of many people who are in their 90’s, with good quality of life — still accomplishing their life’s work — Jerry Lewis, Betty White, Tony Bennett just to name a few. I’m often reminded of God’s promise to Abraham “That He would make him numerous as the grains of dust” Sirach 44:21.

I’ve been getting bumps rather often lately. I didn’t know if I needed to make a few phone calls to make sure our roof’s skylight would soon be installed. Phone our home insurance to inquire about the remaining check. Phone to set up an appointment for podiatry care for my husband. Many things were put on hold when we were in the country.

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BIKE

I’m sure it is my fault. After all, I mentioned that I needed to write a few more thought rambles. I asked for ideas. I asked for “help”.

We are still at the camper. My husband took our two bikes out of the shed and inflated the tires. I used to LOVE to ride a bike. Notice the past tense here. The last time I had the bike out, I got HOORIBLE cramps in my right thigh. So bad I couldn’t move, let alone walk. When they finally let up, I walked the bike back home. I don’t want to remember how long ago that was. I know it was before the ulcer on my left leg. When the doctor treated the veins on my left leg, I asked him to treat the veins on my right leg too — so I would be able to ride a bike. I will admit that I still get cramps in my right thigh. I will admit that I have a stationary bike at home that I haven’t been on either.

The bikes were out of the shed. The tires had been inflated. I convinced myself that I should see if I would be able to ride without a cramp. We camp on a hill. It is a challenging ride up or down but I thought going down hill would be easier. I planned a SHORT ride — to the bottom of the hill, and I would walk the bike back home.

First, walking through the kitchen — my right eye started to hurt. I didn’t know if something fell in it — like an eyelash or a bug or ?? I did know that it HURT. As a matter of fact I couldn’t keep my eye open. I have eye drops in the bathroom and treated my eye to a couple of drops. I told my husband what had happened and said that even though I wasn’t tired, I was going to lie down and rest my eye. I heard the phone when our daughter phoned. I get her voice mail often — I don’t often get her voice.

I put the storm windows on the bunk room windows. I don’t think anyone will be sleeping in there again this year. Night time temps are forecast to go down in the 50’s. Extra storm windows on the East side won’t hurt.

I put my socks and shoes on. I prepared to ride the bike. My husband came up onto the deck. He was replacing the floor in a shed and ran out of screws. Have scooter will travel. A short time later, I returned with needed screws. I hate to admit that I didn’t bring my eyeglasses and needed help getting the screws. I thought the store was getting ready to close and wanted to beat the closing. Thankfully there was someone to help me.

Preparing to ride the bike — I saw a friend walking down the street. After talking to him, I realized my foot hurt and I needed to sit down. One, two, three — delayed again — I realized I wasn’t supposed to ride the bike today. If I don’t try it before we go home, I’ll have to practice on my stationary bike at home.

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PLAYMATES

I’ve been given a gift that I’m very grateful for. I neither see nor hear my friends in high places but I KNOW they are there. Are they always there? I have no idea but they make their presence known. If I’m having trouble doing something, if I send a “help” request up, it is often answered. The help might be anything from finding something lost on the floor or in the fridge or my glasses somewhere in the house. Now I try to keep the requests to a minimum — function through life on my own, but I have learned that it is very nice to have “HELP” that I can count on.

Sometimes the “help” comes without my asking — it usually is to remind me to do something or NOT do something. Recently I have been going to aquacize, exercise in the water. The campground has provided Styrofoam weights for us to use. I had arrived early and decided that I would bring a few sets of weights to the side of the pool. I picked up a set and immediately lost one. Retrieving the wandering weight, I picked up another set only to have the same thing happen again. It didn’t take many more wandering weights to remind me that I didn’t use them, I had too much enthusiasm and damaged my shoulder. I do the exercises without weights. Only after I loudly exclaimed: “I’m not planning to use the weights myself.” was I able to bring three or four sets to the side of the pool without any more trouble.

I opened Queen Of Angels to “Angels as Playmates and Confidants” one morning. It had been a chilly night and I wanted to see if our furnace was working. I raised the temperature on the thermostat and as soon as the furnace had finished its cycle, turned the thermostat back down. Going out on the deck later, I noticed a plastic bin that we had stored wood pieces left from the building of the deck was melted. It had been just fine the night before, I couldn’t figure out what had happened. It was only after some time passed I realized the bin had been in front of the exhaust of the furnace. The heat had melted the side and the top. It could have started a fire and I had all that lovely fuel inside. Needless to say “LESSON LEARNED” and the melted bin is no longer on the deck. As a matter of fact, the stored wood has now been burned in a campfire. I did remember to say “Thank You.” If we had left that bin were it was on the deck , and returned home. If the furnace had cycled off and on a few times, we might have had a fire.

I’m VERY GLAD I have “friends in high places.

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