Christmas is coming

For the past several years, I have done little in the way of decorating for Christmas.  This trend was started with Sally who over the years became a minimalist holiday decorator. But I have some old stuff in a box in the garage. This year, however, Val convinced old Scrooge to do something to liven up the place.  So we bought a (very) little tree and some lights. I put some lights up on a couple of trees outside.  The string said 100 lights (per tree) but it looks pretty sparse. Oh well, better than nothing. All the neighbors have stuff up and, although they haven't said anything in the past, today when I was putting up lights, one said that she was happy that I was doing it this year.

Val's mom (93) has finally moved out of her home into a care facility. Val's stepdad recently died at 94 after years of failing health and blindness from macular degeneration. Until recently they were living unaided in their home and Dorothy (mom) was still driving. For the past year or so, her memory has been deteriorating and she now has clearcut dementia, probably Alzheimer's disease. So Val has been very busy cleaning out her mom's house and getting ready to sell it. There is 93 year's worth of stuff in it and so it is a major undertaking. Val's children (2 "girls" and one "boy"--now 50) are taking what they want and the grandchildren (7) are also seeing if there is anything they want as a memento. They are making a dent and soon anything that is left will be donated.

My back is still a problem. I think (hope) the physical therapy is helping. Some days are pretty good and others are not. So far I have avoided surgery, but I am thinking that it still may be necessary. 

My newest ailment of aging is a problem with a tooth. For a number of months, maybe as long as two years, I have intermittently had a feeling of sensitivity in one tooth--an upper right molar. It seems to come and go and sometimes for weeks or months there is no apparent problem. The dentist has taken several films but has never seen anything. The tooth has previously had a root canal and a crown. Well, this fall the sensitivity returned and he thought there may be a low grade infection. A course of amoxicillin seemed to help but he wanted me to see an periodontist for an opinion. Well, the periodontist took a digital x-ray that had much more clarity and could be blown up. When he looked at it he just shook his head and said that the tooth had to come out. There was evidence of erosion of the bone under the tooth probably due to infection. So I went this week and had the tooth extracted (interesting experience--seems like your jaw is being fractured with all the cracking going on), but I didn't have any pain at the time. Even when the local wore off, the pain wasn't bad. I had some Vicodin but haven't needed much of it and now the pain is nearly gone. After the extraction he put in a bone graft (freeze dried bone, he said) and then sewed it all up. In a few months the bone will be incorporated into the jaw and an implant can be placed followed by a crown. This all happened so suddenly that I didn't see it coming. But so far so good.

Val has been looking for houses since her house was sold. Her furniture is in storage and it is costing a fair amount of money just sitting there. This week she found a home and made a bid that was accepted. Closing will be in a couple of weeks. The house is in Sugar Land where I live and is only a few miles away. We plan to still spend most of our time together, but this gives her a place to have her own space and a garden that she really misses.

Last week we went out to our favorite park near here to see the wildlife and birds.  It was good day to go and we saw at least 8 alligators and a variety of interesting birds. If you want to see some of the pictures you can find them here. One of the interesting ones I will post here of an alligator stalking an anhinga.