Cough Chat

Yesterday was a really cold day. It is very rare that I stay in my pajamas all day but I did yesterday. It was depressing and as the day moved along I began to cough again. Last night I woke up coughing and wheezing. That pesky left lung has a middle lobe that loves to wheeze. Last CT scan showed what the doctor believes to be a "mucus plug" in it. I am now coughing a lot and starting to feel nervous. My shortness of breath is worse too. I am either getting a really bad cold (which can lead to pneumonia) or some other respiratory ailment. I have an appointment with the lung doctor on Thursday. I also need another CT scan to see if the pleural effusion has cleared up or at least significantly improved. I have had this several times before and by the time I finished the antibiotics it had cleared. This seems to be more stubborn.

I dropped off my papers for the accountant to do my taxes. With the disability payments and medical deductions I wouldn't even consider trying to do it. The last time I tried I made a mistake and he had to straighten it out for me. I stopped by the grocery store and got a corned beef brisket and cabbage to make for Thursday. I will also bake the Irish soda bread which Rob and I love. We have this traditional meal each year and when I am home to make it, so much the better. I have my doctor's appointment at 9 a.m. so I will be home in plenty of time to make everything.

I went by the cemetery this morning. A few rows over there had been another funeral. My mother is not ready to order the stone although she knows what she wants. She is giving Rob and I the graves next to theirs. We already have a stone there facing the other way so we will have to have "our side" carved with what we want. I want a ribbon like banner and Rob wants Celtic style lettering.
Yes, I know it's premature to be thinking of this but I do want to know it will have what I want. There has been much discussion in my family over who the favorite child is and I told Rob under my name to put "favorite child". That would be hysterical. Of course, he wouldn't really do it. I will have to settle for something else such the nickname my grandmother and uncles called me "princess". Ironically, it wasn't meant to be a compliment but more of a joke, because I was like the princess in the story "The Princess and the Pea". If I got sand on my feet they needed to be rinsed immediately. Since several years of my life were spent on the shore of the Chesapeake Bay you can imagine what a nuisance that was. My grandmother gave me sneakers to wear on my feet both in and out of the water to keep the sand off of my feet. The woman could outsmart any child and we loved her for it. I don't know if I mentioned but my cousin's daughters put together a cook book they had made with pictures and recipes of my grandmother's. What a wonderful Christmas present that was! My grandmother always had blue willow dishes and the book is white with blue art. It's amazing. Everyone I show it to is so impressed at the job that Christie and Jenny did. My aunt had one made for my mother, sister and I in hardcover and some smaller softcover ones made for my brother's wives. I am thinking of making one about my Dad for my mother and siblings for Christmas. We have so many pictures of him. I would need to type up some stories. I have plenty.
Well, time to grab some lunch and run something over to my Mom's. I try to see her for a time each day. There is so much still to do but yesterday Dad's clothes were given away (except of course for his shoes.)