Made Fluffy Dinner Rolls for Vivian's birthday dinner tonight. It's a Cook's Illustrated recipe using the tangzhong method which is now used in a lot of Asian baked goods. What I like about Cook's Illustrated is they tell you the science that makes the recipe work. And when they test a recipe, they tell you what they did, why they did it, what worked, and what didn't.
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Today is Vivian's birthday! Michael made his famous fried chicken with gravy and crumbles. Carole brought her artichoke casserole. And Mary Ellen made a pineapple upside-down cake for dessert. They didn't have all the letters to spell Happy Birthday, so the cake said "Feliz B-day".
Happy Birthday also to Glenn and Jose!
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01/28/2016 Day 6 Mom's Medical Appointment
The reason for my special visit was to go to Mom’s appointment for her blood pressure check-up today; I wanted to make sure she was taking her meds every day for a week or so before her appointment. It was 155/59 mmHg; they want it under 150, so we met with her doctor. While going over her meds we discovered my brother and I should have been giving lisinopril to her twice a day. Oooops! Well it turns out, in order to make it easier to open frequently, Mom has been putting her lisinopril from the large prescription bottle in to a smaller (and older) prescription bottle … which says 1&1/2 tablets once a day. We go back again next Friday to see if having her on the prescribed amount of medication will get her blood pressure under control.
At least once per visit I have Hawaiian food for lunch or dinner; it was dinner tonight. We had kalua pig, laulau, poke, poi, lomi salmon, and kulolo. And the haupia loaded doughnuts for dessert. Foodland has a really great selection of poke. And Thursday is the day that kulolo is delivered to the grocery stores that carry it, such as Foodland. Here’s a photo of the kulolo. (The guy in line in front of us also had kulolo. He said he always shops on Thursday in order to get the kulolo.)
I opened a new account at the Hawaii State Federal Credit Union. I now have a savings, checking, and debit card with a Honolulu address! If I use the debit card 10 times in the next 30 days they will deposit $50 in to the savings account. So I used it immediately at the Longs Drugs and Times Supermarket in the same mini-mall as the credit union. Later in the day I tried to pay Mom’s co-pay and it got turned down. I called and found out it had been listed as “lost”. Apparently when they were opening the account this morning they accidentally issued 2 cards, so they canceled one … the wrong one. I have to go in tomorrow and get a new one. (I’ll be having my retirement check automatically deposited to this new account.)
Do you know who this guy is? And what show he was on? This is what is in my future … watching old reruns during the day. And at night it will be Wheel of Fortune, Big Bang Theory, and FOX News. Yes, FOX News … this might be the most depressing part of moving to Hawai’i.
01/29/2016 Day 7 My New Occupation
Mom tells people I am an "environmental planter”. Which, I suppose, is somewhat accurate. In describing to her what I do I did say that I worked with plants. And she likes plants so I think that’s what stuck with her when I said “environmental planner”, which doesn’t really tell you anything.
Update on the suitcase foot: It held up for the flight here. But it did loosen up, so I got some JB Weld and will be working on it in the next couple of days.
Update on the new shower: Installation started on 12/28 and was completed on 01/07. And Mom loves it! Which is great since she originally wanted to just change the door and grudgingly okayed the shower work. She likes the color (Old Smoke), glass doors, folding bench, 3 grab bars, adjustable shower head, not having to scrub grout between the tiles, and the fact that she doesn’t need to step over the side of the tub. She is now interested in upgrading Dad’s bathroom; which will be one of the tasks when I move here.
The Boys went to the vet today. I was concerned that the edges of their eyelids had lots of dark spots that weren’t there when they were in WA; I was concerned it might be melanoma. They were also coughing more but I wasn’t sure if it was the vog or if they were developing feline asthma like Xander. It turns out the black spots are a response to more sun (like getting a tan). And the vog is probably the culprit but I need to keep an eye on them to see if they continue coughing as the vog dissipates this weekend. Here’s Shiro eating from the WonderBowl.
And here’s Chibi taking over Dad’s chair. (Momo is on the chair I was sitting in when I took the photo of him in Dad’s chair a couple days ago. Since I was in his favorite chair he took over Dad’s chair.)
Xander just got locked out by the Wireless Whiskers feeder. (Note the message showing on the Wireless Whiskers.) I have it set so it limits him to 10% less than what he ate during the calibration period, i. e., he’s on a reducing diet. He is not happy that he can’t get endless food from Mom any more. He goes to the vet next week for a check-up.
01/30/2016 Day 8 Halau Ho'omau I ka Wai Ola O Hawai'i
Mom and I just got done watching a webcast on the Smithsonian website of our friend Suzanne and her husband’s hula troupe, Halau Ho'omau I ka Wai Ola O Hawai’i. They performed at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian today and will repeat the performance tomorrow at noon, east coast time. (Her husband, and kumu hula, Manu Ikaika is on the far right. Their son is to his right in the yellow aloha shirt. Their granddaughter is the young girl playing the ipu along with the women in the first song.) One of the songs they perform was written by Queen Lili’uokalani during her imprisonment. Watch the webcast if you would like to learn more of the history of the stealing of Hawai’i by Americans. The last song, Kaulana Na Pua, is my favorite Hawaiian song; i played it on several Da Coconut Wireless shows that I hosted about sovereignty and the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom. (Click here for Multi-artist video.)
We went to visit Mom’s cousin Doreen today. As always, it is a bittersweet visit; sometimes she remembers us, sometimes she doesn’t, and this is happening all during the same visit. She was better this time; we did not need to sneak out of the house like we had to during the visit in December.
In order to provide some activity I hung Da Bird cat toy out in the cat run at Thanksgiving. When I returned I could not find the feathered bird part. I found it today and put it back up. Here’s Momo in attack mode.
Xander is very attached to Mom. In the evening he follows her all over the place. Here he is stalking Mom.
01/31/2016 Day 9 Wireless Whiskers Refilled
I filled up the Wireless Whiskers today. It was about 2/3 empty after 1 week of Xander, Momo, and Chibi feeding from it. It looks like even if all 4 of them were eating from one feeder it would be able to go for a week without needing a fill up. The WonderBowl also seems to be able to hold a week’s worth of food for Shiro. But I did find out that Momo has learned to squeeze Shiro out when he is eating. And even when Shiro moves far enough away that the lid closes, Momo lets it close on his head and keeps on eating! (It opens up again then tries to reclose.)
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I have read that pets are good for some people with dementia. It seems to make a difference for Mom. When we were kids Mom always said animals belonged outside. And although she complains a lot about the cats, she wants me to leave Xander with her when I move to Kohala. (She does not seem to understand that I will be staying in Honolulu to take care of them. She thinks as soon as I return I will be moving to Kohala.) She spoils Xander, feeding him ice cream when they have dessert, giving him extra food, watching TV with him at night. Here she is letting him know that she is on her way to watch Korean soap operas and telling him he needs to go to the other room to watch with her.
While I was doing yardwork today I think I figured out who cut off the top of the pink ‘ohai ali’i: Dad. I was searching for the lopping shears and pruning saw this morning; they weren’t in their normal place by Dad’s chair on the front porch. After searching for a while I finally found them near the green waste bin, which had been full of the remains of the ‘ohai ali’i. The height of the cut on the ‘ohai ali’i would be what Dad is able to do (he can’t bend down). I will have a lot of work to do to keep ahead of these two! Maybe its a good thing that Dad takes 2 naps a day ...
02/01/2016 Day 10 Wii!
Look what I found while looking for Mom’s blood pressure monitor. I will be checking to see if it still works. If it does, I think it will be a great addition to Mom’s daily routine. And a lot safer; the first block of her walk has no sidewalks and the ground is uneven in places. Plus, if she looks off to the side while walking she tends to stumble. Using the Wii Fit will keep her focused without distractions and allow her to exercise any time of the day, regardless of what else she has going on or whether it’s raining.
One problem with the Wii Fit, however, is the condition of the Balance Board. Not sure how many times she used it since it was bought in June 2009. I will need to read more of the manual to see whether the Balance Board is needed for everything or if I can start her out on something that doesn’t need it. (She had it carefully wrapped up in a plastic bag to keep it from getting dirty but did not take the batteries out of it.)
We eventually did find the blood pressure monitor. But when we tested it all we got was an error message. I figured it was the batteries (that were likely in it since 01/2004 when the last test was done), so I got new batteries and tried again. And still got an error message. Its not pumping up the cuff, I’m guessing the rubber on the diaphragm has cracked after sitting around for 12 years. We’ll be looking for a new one.
We also found her digital camera that she has been looking for. She used to use it a lot before, then about a year ago she said she couldn’t find it. It was in the same drawer she always keeps it in, but had been covered over by a bunch of other stuff. It would turn on but would not take any photos; new batteries solved that problem. The last photos were taken in 12/2014 and the batteries have been in it since then. I’m seeing a pattern here ...
Look what arrived in the mail today! Thanks, Suzanne! This will come in handy for the next home repair project. (The fig bars were to cushion the drill on its trip from Virginia. They are yummy!) She knows us well … its got a rechargeable lithium battery.
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