Surgery
I had noticed a little cyst on the outside of the lower eyelid of my left eye and made an appointment with my ophthalmologist to have it removed. It seemed an easy thing to do for an eye surgeon, but when he came in to the room and said, “Good morning, how are you?” I could not help asking, just to be sure,
“I’m well, thank you, but how are you? Do you have steady hands this morning?”
“Oh yes, Miss Ronny. I do surgery inside the eye through a microscope, so this is easy for me,” and we both laughed. And with that he proceeded with bright lights and a needle and alcohol and a scalpel and tweezers, and ten minutes later he applied Neosporin and gauze; no stitches needed. Hooray! Another doctor’s visit was behind me. Tomorrow I may apply mascara again and can look people in the eye.
Movies
The bus (and the new Cadillac) took 13 of our residents to the theater in Apex to watch Downton Abbey. While it was a television series we had only watched it once in a while, so I knew most of the actors and the characters they portrayed. The movie is a sequel to the original series, and I have not had such an enjoyable evening in a long time! The plot included a visit of the King and Queen of England, an attempt to shoot the King during his visit, and even two men who discovered their love for one another and went dancing in a gay bar (imagine, in those days!). The incomparable Maggie Smith (Dame Margaret Natalie Smith CH DBE, born 28 December 1934), as Violet Crawley, Granny, urged Lady Mary Crawley (Michelle Dockery) to keep Downton Abbey going after her death. But don’t let me spoil the story, go see the movie if you have a chance. I love Lady Mary, the British accents of all actors, the happy endings for many of them.
I just read about a new movie, now in the theaters: Judy. Played by another one of my favorite actresses: Renee Zellweger, the movie shows Judy Garland in the final years of her life. What a fascinating performance that will be: Renee does her own singing! I love movies!
Talking about movies: the movie producer I met early this month is about to release his new movie just in time for Halloween! My Soul To Keep just got nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Acting ensemble, Best Music, and Best Cinematography at the Chicago Horror Film Festival! Good news heading into the October 4th release! WOW. Personally, I don’t think I would enjoy watching a horror movie, but if you want to see something really scary at Halloween, go see the Best Picture produced by my new friend My Soul To Keep.
AKC Good Citizen Dog test
On Saturday Lani and I set out to do the fifteen minute test at the testing center, after six weeks of training. Alas, she did not get the AKC certificate yet. Of the ten test points, she failed three, all having to do with sitting down when meeting strangers and keeping calm when meeting other dogs. She is not consistent yet in her behavior. So on we go: on October 12 we will start the next seven weeks of training, this time with distractions. At the end of that she will have another chance to get the coveted AKC Good Citizen Certificate.
OLLI class at NCSU
I have taken a three-week class at NCSU, presented by a docent of the Dementia Alliance of North Carolina. I enjoyed two weeks of incredibly informative information on the differences between Dementia and Alzheimer’s: the symptoms, the progression, the chemical and physical changes that are happening in the brain of people with dementia, understanding their loss of memory and ways we can help. It has been so interesting for me, because I did not know anything about it. I am a resident in a retirement community because we planned ahead: when we would reach our eighties, we wanted to live close to one of our children. At a retirement community like this one almost everything is included in the rent. Of course it is expensive, but not much more expensive than owning and maintaining your own home and the grounds, the cooking and cleaning, taxes and so on. Many people who move here, however, are far in their nineties because they wanted to stay in their own home as long as possible. Wile memory loss is not a sign of normal aging, in many cases it does come with age. And so we have many mentally healthy nonagenarians here, but also many in various stages of memory loss. I am thankful that I was able to learn more about it in this professional class so I can help people around me who may need help one way or another.
It’s a Wonderful World!
Until next time,
Ronny