I hope everyone had a safe and happy New years, whether they celebrated it or not.  Here's hoping 2010 will be a better one for everyone out there.

Here we are in a real freeze with the windchill at about -4F.  I plan on staying inside as much as I can.  Kinda sucks when you get older and you can't handle the cold the way you used to.  Plus when it's this cold it's really not good for mom to go out there either.  She's having more problems going down steps.  At least the back door has the step down to the porch and then from there just the step down to the patio.

Mom is getting a little more progressed.  She has started falling out of bed.  Sometimes in the middle of the night.  Time to invest in a guardrail.  I haven't gotten to any of the local home health aid stores yet.  I only know of one definitely.  Shouldn't be hard to look up the names and locations of the others.   Until then the gardener is letting me borrow jungle boy's as he's not using it right now.  There is also the goodwill store and resale shops to check out.  I almost forgot about checking out Craigslist for that till a friend reminded me of it.  I usually suggest that site to a lot of people for different things, but didn't even think about it for that.  So after getting it set on the bed (gardener told me it holds hers and jungle boys weight combined so it'll hold mom no problem) it should keep her from getting seriously hurt.  Maybe even let the bruises forming on her knees to heal up faster.

On the lighter side the duck and gardener had fun with their pregnant bellies.  While I had mom out Christmas shopping they took markers and decorated their bellies with Christmas pictures and took a pic of them side by side.  They set it as my background on the desktop.  I just have to locate it then I'll post it with some others.  It's too cute. 

I'm gonna try to get back on more and post.  I had to stop for a while,  The stress got the best of me with different things going on that I started to develop a nasty case of psoriosis on my hands.  It got too painful to even think about doing anything that you have do more than just use the mouse.  Most of the chunks of dead skin are clearing up.  Now it's just down to lots of cracked, sometimes bleeding skin.  As long as I 'grease up' about every hour or so it's not so bad.  But then I gotta wait for a lot of it to soak in before i can do anything.  It really sucks.  But what can you do?

Till next time hope all is well with everyone.

I got the opportunity to help a total stranger in need today. I stopped in Tarjay to see if they had any good day after bargains (they didn't), then I checked the movie section to see if the movie that Eewie's been wanting might be on sale yet (it's not).

Suddenly, a distraught woman's voice asked a couple right near me whether they could possibly spare her a few dollars for gas, as she'd come up to visit her mother in a nearby nursing home, where her husband had gotten unimaginably drunk and abusive, gotten into a fight with her brother, and stormed out of the place, leaving her and her son (I'd say about 15 months old, give or take) stranded with an SUV running on fumes, basically. So after waiting about 2 hours for him to return, and even calling the police to no avail, she'd driven out to Route 59 to find a gas station on her way home in Chicago Ridge.

She came to a pretty gentle stop right in front of Tarjay, whereupon her SUV had skidded off the road into a ditch, and she had to use what little money she had on her to get it towed out. So she was hoping that this couple could spare her a few dollars for gas. They shook their heads, staring at her like she was rat poison with a social disease or something. Her kid was crying hysterically, and she seemed to be on the verge of it herself.

So I told her that I could spare her a few dollars, I wished it could be more, but since my husband is also quite the thoughtless mofo (who, I must emphasize, CAN NOT blame any of his behavior, verbal abuse, general uglymindedness, etc., on alcohol or any other external substance!!!), it was all I had on me. She thanked me profusely, looking about ready to burst into tears of relief, so I pointed out to her that the very first thing she needed to do was to calm down, as it wasn't helping her son any to have her go to pieces, and that she was at least lucky enough that neither of them had been hurt. The police had told her at the scene of the accident, though, that the city had no program in place to help her out of her temporary bind.

They're only equipped to hassle teenagers...

So I brought her to the snack bar and bought her a cup of coffee, and a little dish of macaroni and cheese for her son, then sat down with her and encouraged her to take deep breaths and do her best to keep her wits about her, because it was nasty enough weather to drive in if one is in a calm, rational frame of mind. I also pointed out that her husband cannot destroy her, break her spirit or drive her off the deep end without her consent and cooperation, so if she allows him to do so, then he has won. If, however, she manages not to let his behavior get to her, then she has won, period, end of discussion. And since she's the mother of a toddler, she obviously must not scare easily; is she going to let a mere man beat her? If so, what hope has she got against a toddler? Or preschooler? Or, God forbid, teenager?

She did manage to calm down and try to think things out clearly, and I had her follow me across the street to Meijer, where we put $20 gas into her SUV, which I figured should most likely get her home. She thanked me profusely, and said that she wished there was some way she could repay me.

I told her that all I ask is that she remember my kindness in her hour of need, and the next time she comes upon someone legitimately in need of help, she is to pass it on if at all possible.

I feel better than I have in awhile...