Good Morning!
We hope you are well. The big story of the week was our weather. We had been humming along with dry and stable weather. I'm glad I got the garden roto-tilled when I did. It is presently a soupy mess. The rains and gale-force winds moved in at the beginning of the week and hung around through Thursday. Thankfully, this weather front didn't happen a couple of weeks earlier, or it could have been the big spring blizzard that has alluded us these last few years. I am still waiting to hear about our moisture totals, which were north of 3 inches. Higher elevations saw some healthy snow totals. We saw a few flakes mixed in, but it was mainly just lots of rain driven at times by winds of up to 70 MPH. This week, we will return to the upper '60s and low '70s. We should see a massive explosion of green and growth with all of this much-needed rain.
One of the reasons for our success over these last 12 years is our approach to be proactive rather than reactive. We deal with a problem early and not wait until it becomes an emergency. We had two electronic failures this past week where I was a bit overzealous. Our wireless home network uses three large "hockey puck" devices that work together to cover the entire house. It has worked flawlessly for years. At the end of last week, one of them kept dropping and eventually won't join our network at all. The following day, the second unit did the same thing. In a state of panic, I felt I had to do something. Judy's speech sessions and much of her day using her iPad depend on wireless access. I found a deal online and ordered a complete set of replacements. While waiting for their arrival, I stumbled into the actual cause of the failure. These units update themselves. Google had sent them a bad firmware update. I was able to correct that and get them back to normal. I guess we now have a backup set if we need them. Another replacement I ordered this past week that will remain on standby is my computer. It started crashing. It is many years old, and I knew the problem was a hardware issue. I found the exact same computer box as a refurbished unit online and ordered it. It was relatively cheap at just a little over a hundred dollars. Again, as I waited for it to arrive, I broke out my aging computer repair skills and fixed it. It was a bad stick of ram (memory). I use it extensively for many things, including these CaringBridge updates.
Speech started off strong. Overall, she had a good session. The emphasis is on answering every question, even in conversation, with complete sentences. She sometimes struggled to find the word she wanted, but she persevered and did not give up. Her ever-increasing vocabulary has helped to boost her progression and, as a side benefit, her self-esteem. Sessions can be messy and fully charged, but the progress, particularly this past year, has been remarkable.
As we loaded up and headed to PT, there was light rain. We got a little wet, but not excessively. On the drive, I remembered that Judy's regular therapist would be gone this week and next. We knew the session would be easier with a substitute in place, as Judy would guide things to her liking. We've worked numerous times with this therapist. She's a great person, but someone Judy can easily manipulate. Much of the session happened inside the parallel bars. They worked on stepping up and over obstacles and other exercises to improve footwork. The sun was trying to make a comeback as we stopped for dinner on the way home.
Kelly came over Friday with coffee and treats, and I ran to the grocery store to do my weekly shopping. We will not see her this weekend as she will be out of town. We will see her during this coming week as college classes have finished for the semester.
I want to make a big dent in my outside chores this coming week; not getting outside because of the weather last week has pushed me into a corner. Temperatures are supposed to be in the upper '60s to low '70s, so I should be able to make some real progress. I can't wait.
Well, that's about it for now. Thanks for stopping by! We always love hearing from you and hope you are all doing well. Please take care and be safe. God Bless. Until next week..................
Judy & Glenn
giliff@gmail.com
