Betty’s Week

I was an early bird Wednesday morning and glad I was because John Beshears was picking up the Coffeeville Couriers that had been delivered along with our paper. I had left my van running with lights on, which I usually don’t do, so when the back door opened I expected one of our policemen to be checking to see if I was okay, as they often do when I’m outside loading.

Little problem with communication—I’d not been told to expect Couriers to be in our office and that someone would be picking them up. My first thought was that they had been delivered to the wrong destination and as soon as I unlocked the room to our phone, I’d call and give the Coffeeville personnel directions as to where they were. 

John had not expected me to be there, but we enjoyed a short visit and he was on his way to get the Couriers into the post office and I was off on my usual delivery route.

As per usual, Linda and I discussed ways of solving some of the Valley’s, Mississippi’s and the nation’s problems. We have such good solutions—I’m surprised that all these smarter folks don’t discover them. We’d gladly share our knowledge, but we doubt that anyone would listen. 

At Dunn’s, Paula waited on me and she was just the person I needed to see. On the Monday after Easter Woodland Hills will host the Yalobusha Baptist Spring meeting, and since I’m the Social Chairman I have to plan a menu for the dinner following. 

I’m making it easy, with help from Dunn’s and Larson’s. Paula assured me that it would be no problem for them to supply eight pounds of barbecue on that Monday afternoon. Now I know that’s great eating, as is Larson’s chicken tenders. Haven’t gotten that order placed, but plan to do that today (Monday). 

All my church cooks have to supply are baked beans, potato salad, cole slaw, desserts, buns and rolls. The church has wonderful cooks, so I know everything they cook will be delicious. Don’t worry, I’m not going to be lazy—I plan to do some of the cooking.

These meetings are always wonderful times of fellowship and learning more about our association’s business. We also get to hear some good singing and an inspiring message.

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Grocery shopping late Wednesday afternoons is usually just snacks and supplies needed for the nursing home and a salad, sandwich and fruit for my Thursday and Friday lunches. Found so many bargains that I took advantage of that my cart filled up. My favorite sausage, Jimmy Dean, was on sale for less than $2 a pound and I’m cooking the sausage and sausage gravy for our Easter breakfast. 

Picked up eight pounds (Don knows when to put items on sale for me, Thanks.) Also was out of baby limas and purple hull peas and they were priced much lower than normal—had to clean out my freezer to make room, but I got a few packages of these. You just can’t beat our Larson’s for quality and price. 

I occasionally have to run to Piggly Wiggly, Kroger, or  Wal-Mart in Batesville and I find, for the most part, the items I buy are a few cents higher than if they are  bought at home.  But if you’re out, you can’t wait on the purchase. Also, shopping in Larson’s is so much fun—that’s where I do most of my visiting and I also like keeping my money in the Valley.

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Driving over to Batesville Thursday morning was very pleasant—not much traffic. If you’ve not traveled the Eureka Road this spring you’ve missed a lot of nature’s beauty. I’m sure other roads and highways have also been very pretty. Right now on Eureka, the azaleas are in full bloom and they are abundant—many yards are just covered. There is also a lot of wisteria left, even though TVEPA had to remove much that was on their rights-of-way. There is an arbor of wisteria on the right just inside the Batesville city limits that would make a perfect wedding venue. 

I do like wisteria, even though I know it’s invasive and takes lots of management. I have one vine that just popped up in Ed’s rose bed and I’m just letting it grow—deer ate all the roses, but they don’t seem to bother the wisteria. I may just get the boys to build me an arbor so it can cover the whole bed.

Arriving early Thursday morning at the nursing home, I found Mom already awake and she had a horrible cough—very severe chest cold. When I left her last weekend she was fine and no one had told me what to expect. Finally a nurse came in and explained that none of the staff had a cold and as far as they knew Mom was the only resident with one. Since she never leaves her room, one of us must have brought the germ in. 

She ate most of her breakfast, eating between coughs, drank her coffee, milk, and juice. Then she sat in her chair most of the day. When we put her in bed  middle of the afternoon I expected her to take a nap, but she didn’t and when I left Jimmie was feeding her a sandwich for supper and she reported that when she left Mom was still awake. Don’t think she slept much Thursday night, because Friday morning I could not wake her up. She finally decided to wake up abut 1:30 and I warmed her breakfast up and she ate her oatmeal, drank her coffee, milk, and juice. She seemed fine, except for the cough. Her pill nurse came by and she took her meds and she gave her a shot, and Mom advised her that it hurt. Then her wound nurse came in to change a bandage. He’s a young man, probably in his mid 20s. He treats her like she’s a queen and she loves it and him. She let him remove that bandage with very little fuss—if anyone else had tried this there would have been a fight. I held her hand, but she didn’t even try to pull away. Told him Mom loved him and we didn’t  want to lose  him. 

His reply was, “I love it.” It is wonderful when you have such caring people taking care of your loved one and all of Mom’s nurses, CNAs and even housekeeping are top notch.

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Talked to Jim a few minutes ago. He called to check on us. Had heard the reports of our back weather over the weekend and wanted to see how bad it was. Was glad to report that the only thing we’d had was lots of rain and some wind. Even the wind was not scary, just blew some flower pots around and debris off the trees. We do sympathize with the folks further east of us, especially those in Monroe county. We still remember the day before Easter in 1984, so we can truly sympathize.

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Remember that Sunday is Easter. Get out and worship at a Sunrise Service (there are several in the area), or at a special regular time service, or even a special meal. If you don’t have a home church, any church in the area will welcome you with open arms. The holiday is a time for the fun eggs hunts, but most importantly it’s a celebration of life. 

Christ died on the cross, arose on the third day, to provide a bridge for all us sinners back to the only true God. God gave His Son to die on that cross for our sins, the Son accepted this awful death because of His  love for us, and all we  have to do is accept this the most wonderful of all gifts.

Happy Easter!