Short Monday, calendar change, Mama’s knee

Monday morning, December 31, I was the only person in my group to show up at the office. Our director came in about 8:30 and promptly sent me home. “There is nothing going on.” She told me. “Take the day off.” I did not let the door hit me on the way out. I thought about getting the materials I needed to build the roller doors for the goat barn, but I decided to wait. I spent the afternoon instead getting the measurements I needed to build the doors to fit the rails I now have in place. By the time I had worked outside three hours or so my cough was starting to worsen. I spent the rest of the day inside helping Mama get ready to take down the Christmas decorations and at the same time repackage all the totes she uses to store those decorations. I lugged twelve totes of various sizes to the house from the wellhouse. The following day, I needed to find places for only eight. Some of the items were set aside for Cori – to be taken down to Honduras at some point this year. Some were set aside to give to one of the Wycoff brides to use in her craft business. All the stored totes now have a detailed list of the contents written on the lid. We tested all the strings of lights and discarded those that did not work properly. We threw away things we saw no purpose in keeping. We gave away items as stated above. Only the little tree Mama keeps in the picture window of the dining area was left decorated for Christmas. Mama mentioned several times through the evening that her mantle looked too bare. I rather like it.

In the place where the Christmas tree stood, Mama and I put a plantstand we had painted the previous day. It is able to hold Mama’s large Ivy plant as well as six small Aloe Vera plants. It looks nice where we placed it. It is a welcome addition of green to the living room. We need to find places to put the fourteen pots of Aloe Vera plants we have in the sunroom. It has not gotten below freezing in the sunroom yet, but it has gotten very close. So far, seven of the fourteen have been re-homed. Mama has discovered that the Aloe plants are something she has great success growing. Honestly, they are difficult to kill, but Mama has potted and repotted from our original plant and now has a vibrant nursery of Aloe Vera. Now we just need to keep them alive through the winter. I do not have room in the wellhouse for those potted plants. At least, not without making some significant changes to the layout of the large plant containers I now have resting there.

Neither of us stayed up to see the New Year in. For me, it is a non-event. A calendar change. Steve Matero wrote, “I remember 2018. Seems like it was only yesterday.” And so it was. Now we start working our way through 2019. I spent the holiday inside. Mama would not let me go out. My cough was too bad for me to work out in the cold. It was not overly cold. Only 30° but the wind was howling all day. It would have done me in to be out. As it was, my cough got deeper through the day despite the precautions – so did my voice. I spent the day helping Mama repackage her totes, cooking beans for our New Year’s Day dinner and rearranging the kitchen cabinets. Now if only I could find a solution I liked to store all the spices we have. By the time Victoria got home, Mama and I had finished all our work in the living room and were settled down for the evening. That was about 7 pm. Mama went to bed shortly thereafter.

Going into this New Year, our health insurance provider is unwavering in their denial of coverage for the surgery that could release Mama’s knee to it’s full bend. We have received several denial letters over the past two weeks. I assume that means our doctor’s office keeps applying for the coverage on our behalf. Since Mama and I lack to funds to pay for the surgery out of pocket, she has pretty much given up. She is resigned to staying the way she is -even to the point of not doing anything to exercise or encourage more movement in the joint. She is just happy when it does not hurt. So, I do not expect any improvement unless the herbal regimen I have her on helps her body soften and dissolve some of the scar tissue interfering with the knee’s mobility. It is a longshot, but it is all I have to offer that requires no effort on her part; nothing that might result in pain of any sort. I have no idea where we will end up with Mama’s knee, but I do know there is more recovery possible if Mama was willing to fight for it. Oh, well.

We have some exciting things ahead of us this year, God willing. For the most part, we are looking forward to it.