Illness and Social Events

Illness and Social Events

Have you ever wondered why the elderly never tell anyone they are feeling sick, or even a little down? I'll tell you why they have no where else to go, and if they don't tell on themselves then it's okay to go out with others socially and have a good time. And if they have to sneeze or cough, they give out of this world excuses why they did those things. I see this everyday in my husbands uncle, and now I have been witnessing it in some other friends.
These older people remind me so much of the students we have at the high school, they are just like the little kids in the elementary school. They don't want to miss anything fun, and that might happen if they aren't at the social events because they are running a fever or throwing up. My own daughter,(11) missed one day and I think that about killed her, literally. She usually gets sick on the weekends and then is fine come Monday morning. The other daughter(13) has no problem staying at home when she's sick. I think the eleven year old gets that from her father, He's out feeding cows and hogs, and running machinery even when he's sick.
This past week I was feeling the affects of an allergy attack. Never had one of those before. Couldn't see much even with glasses. Eyes were puffy, sneezing, and blowing the nose, I thought I was going to die. All I wanted was to be left alone and rest, but no... I had to fix meals, clean house, and run the family (girls) everywhere. {that's not an easy task with limited sight. I took a lot of back roads to and from town.
When you are mentally and emotionally drained, you could careless about the social events. Our big Social Event is having the entire family (18 in all) coming to our little house for Christmas, and we decided to put laminate flooring in the front room, before they all get here, bad timing on our part; so needless to say we have NO Christmas out as yet. The girls are getting a little worried. I told them it will happen I Promise, before the 24th. And to top that I haven't done much shopping. I guess that will come about in time, too. I just want to finish this last class and have some breathing time.
Class will be over in less than one week. It's been a long haul, but I have almost finished everything. What an accomplishment, Hooray!

I will try and keep up this blog I have rather enjoyed writing and relieving some penned up frustration. As Dr. D. once stated it's good to rant and rave.

Everyone have a Very Merry Christmas and a Safe and Happy New Year.

In God's Name Bless You All,

Nancy Zerger

End of November/ 1/2 way done with class

Can you believe it we start on our fourth week tomorrow Dec. 1, 2009.
I have learned so much about Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, and Ning. I have asked other staff members to read over a paper or two, and they ask me the same question I had to ask myself a while back "What's a Ning?" I tell them it's like Facebook and MySpace, but with out a lot of advertisements that seem to get in the way. I also tell them it's a great place to blog, to read other blogs, I also told them it could be used for education, if we weren't blocked like so many other sites we aren't able to use.
While researching the Ning site, I found so many blog that were meaningful. I found a blog about a magazine called "No Depression." I had never heard of it, but it sounds interesting I'm going to check it out some time soon. My 13 yr. old daughter saw and interview with Stephanie Meyer, author of the Twilight Sagas. She was excited to see that on the blog. I found information about Regional news reports from APR/NPR, other parts of news stories gave statistics about changes in the USA. The last two blogs I found were about the medical field and future employment opportunities. The blog about careers was interesting, it was giving a different twist on current jobs and ideas for future jobs. I like that because who knew we, my generation, would be using computers to communicate with people you wouldn't normally get to know or even take college courses online.
I guess, it's time to finish for the month and put away the Thanksgiving decorations. Can't put up the tree yet, as we are buying and putting in laminate flooring in the living room where the tree is to go. I hope to have it up at least a week before Christmas. We have the family (kids, grand kids, and parents) 18 in all coming for Christmas and that's a house full especially for our small house.
Enjoy what is left of class, and enjoy the coming season.

Nancy Zerger

Twitter, friend or foe? Who knows, not me!

Personally, I don't know what I am going to do with a twitter account later. May be my kids will use it. I use Fce book sometimes, never use texting on cell phones, and I'm doing good to get to this page again. The URL for my twitter page is http://twitter.com/Georgezerger .

I can get there but have no idea what the numbers above the text box are for, and I can't seem to get anything posted.

Life: Manage it or just let it go?

How simple of a title but things happen and that is all part of LIFE. This week we are just trying to manage LIFE.

Trying to remember how to do this blog was a struggle, trying to remember the address I used, and the passwords were all very difficult. Of course if you don't Blog, or use twitter, or IM on a regular basis, it's very hard to get into the site.

As I stated I have my teenage daughter to help me out, Oh MY what a life saver she is. She is the one who named this blog.

So much can happen to a person in six to 10 weeks that are so much more important than a password, or web address. I guess it's important that the address and password get written down somewhere, or you have someone to remember what they are.

I have a friend who tells me all the time that she has Half-Timers, not Alzheimer's disease. She says that she remembers things or forgets things only half the time and it's only when it's necessary.
Of course, this is not a funny subject, my husband's uncle is in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's and it is very difficult for everyone around him. We all remember how he was several years ago, and those days are gone and so are some of the memories. My husband works with him everyday, and he has to remind him what they are going to do on the farm that day. He has torn out fences with the tractor, that have been there for more than 20 years. He has trouble running some equipment, which he has ran for most of his life; he just turned 77 years young. He has no one left to turn to because his wife past away 9 years ago this past October. He doesn't get out, and has not indicated that he is too interested in seeking any other companion or any other friends he wants to talk to. I used to give my husband a hard time about being connected at the hip, where he was his uncle wasn't too far behind. But, all kidding aside, we went to a birhtday party this past weekend to an older cousin who turned 80 today, and My husband's uncle was ready to leave after 15 minutes of being there. We drove for over an hour to get to the party to begin with, needless to say we didn't leave for 1 1/2 hours later. He has no sense of time, except when it's time to eat and to leave (sometimes). I monitor his mail so he doesn't waste his money on trash solicitations, his sister who lives 35 miles away pays some of his expenses but he hasn't been able to manage money for many years.

What do you do? Continue to manage life as it comes along, or do you just let it go?

Nancy Zerger