I'm still around...I think?

My memory is terrible! I forgot to mention ? ? ? yesterday. See, what I mean? I look all around searching for a clue but nothing jumps out at me.

Boo is still around and she is becoming more and more like me. She can't always stay on her feet and she is deaf and missing quite a few teeth. She has ingrown claws but she still purrs and wants to sit on my lap. She does not have any distress that I can see so I just want that to continue. She finds a sunny spot every morning and moves along with it, just napping.

Our landscaper has made his annual or semi-annual trip to our yard and it's looking wonderful out there. Every day we see more plants beginning to flower. Of course I don't know the names of all the plants; that's something that our oldest daughter can do. Speaking of which...she sold the Plant Barn. She still holds the mortgage on it for the new owner, so she really hopes he will succeed. Her sister, our middle child, still works there, doing the bookkeeping for the new 'owner'. Our son, and the youngest child, has moved to Idaho. I'm sure it's a nice place to visit, and I have done so in the past, but I can't envision ever living there. Our youngest grandson is still looking for the power company lineman job and in the meantime he has a job working for a communication company...He is like me; hates boring jobs and loves working outdoors. Our youngest granddaughter is heading toward her 3rd year at the University of Arizona, Tucson, where she is on the women's basketball team (wheelchair). Our oldest granddaughter has a baby daughter, our great grandchild and she is 11 months old.        

I am still a patient of Enloe Palliative Care and getting great care. Of course it's not free. We still pay (&paid Social Security for years) plus our supplemental insurance. I don't know how some of our elderly can survive on the pittance that the gov't throws to them. We have one of the least efficient health care systems among the 'wealthy' nations. I think we are in 23rd place now.

Health care here in Chico is abysmal! The only care you can get if you are indigent/or in a hurry is the emergency room at the one hospital. We have just one pulmonologist in a city that has lots of elders. Luckily, he is one of the best doctors in town. A lot of doctors have quit and hired themselves out to the hospital as 'Hospitalists'. The hospital then does the billing and gives the doctor a salary. The people that the doctor used to employ? They are out of a job and on their own. The town is still just a dusty spot on the road. Nothing to see here folks! Move along...

Health...I hate to keep on talking about it...but it's a big part of my diminished life. Close to 20 years ago, I was training for my 6th marathon (Portland again) when my spine gave up and I had to surrender myself to the health system. And I am still here. I lost about 45 pounds and now I have to use a walker if I'm interested in staying upright. I am!

We had such great dreams for retirement. I was going to enter marathons all over the country. I managed to get in Anchorage, the Redwoods and 3 in Portland. But still missing were Catalina Island, Duluth and a dozen more. We managed to get in the P.F. Chang 1/2 Marathon in Phoenix.