Hello Puffed Tacos!

As you can see in the photo, the puffed tacos were professionally cooked and for your information
tasted delicious.

I just got back from San Antonio, Texas,
where I was hoping to eat a plate of chicken puffed tacos.
I went to three different restaurants that advertised "puffy" tacos, but they were terrible. (So is that name. ha!) They were too large, too flat, not crisp, cooked in cold oil so soaked with oil [yuk], and finished off with tomato sauce instead of a couple fresh tomatoes pieces, etc.

As soon as I got back to Nashville, I decided to see if I still could make a good puffed taco. It had been 28 years since I had made any. It was great to cook them and teach my daughter and her fiance how to make them.

Before the Kids arrived, I cooked a ground turkey "guiso" rather than beef to be spooned inside these tacos shells. After a few spoonfuls of this mixture in the middle of these taco shells, I put thinly sliced lettuce and a few fresh tomatoes on top. To die for! They were just perfect. I'm so content that puffed tacos still exist in my life.

Apparently, San Antonio has "lost it." Our chain of 12 El Rancho Mexican Restaurants were the "originators" of the puffed taco in San Antonio and sold thousands from 1941 to 1980. I was hoping that the city would continue the tradition. Nope. Their loss.

Guess

Okay, this is the story...

Part 1. I was ignoring Lexi by typing at my desk. She sits on the couch and is able to reach out and touch my shoulder sometimes that makes me freak out. I think I am alone till I feel this touch. Whew.

Part 2. To entertain Lexi and to keep her busy so I can work, sometimes I take a whole walnut and throw it so she will go chase it. It bounces and makes a lot of noise on my linoleum kitchen floor, so this is fun for me also.

Part 3. Today, I was very busy since it is close to Christmas. Lexi is sitting behind me with something rolling around in her mouth. I know I hadn't thrown a walnut, so I try to look in her mouth but she will not let me have it. I chase her all over the house till I corner her. I have to pry her mouth open and what do I find? NOT a walnut, but the little lamb from the Baby Jesus Nativity Set that is on the kitchen table! They are similar in size but do NOT make the same sound in her mouth.

The end. As you see, all is okay. After a stern talk to her I moved the chair back under the table so this wouldn't happen again. I found a walnut and threw it into the kitchen!

About 50 Babies Crying...

Okay, it was early in December
when I went to Walmart
to buy lots of my
favorite hot sauce.

I walked by this aisle when a
WALL OF BABY DOLLS
began crying
and making noises--
ALL at the same time.
Scared me! Took my breath away!

You know,
when I walk by the CDs
at Cracker Barrel,
I expect to hear
some country singer start singing,
but this was totally unexpected!

Day time...what shall I do?

You know as I watch Lexi bark at a squirrel that's climbing down on the left side of the tree, I remember that working five nights a week, I usually got purple bags under my eyes, slept only 6 hours maximum during the day, ate irregularly-- usually around 3:30pm and 2 am, had constant bloodshot eyes, and gained back the weight I had lost in 2008. This was mainly from no exercise. You know it is not proper to do jumping jacks in the hallway of a nursing home. ha!
BTW: When I noticed and became concerned about the purple under my eyes, I Googled "purple under eyes." The article said that I needed more sleep! duh!

My job was to keep My Lady safe! I had to be in her room 12 hours each night to be sure she, who was very active, did not climb over the rails or fall on the floor. She had an alarm on the wheelchair, an alarm in the bed and a 6 inch pad next to the bed for safety.
When I first met her she had callouses on both wrists from the wheelchair that rubbed on her as she went up and down the hallway all night. She would run into people that were in the way, or twisting the hands of a patient who was waving at her but appeared to be trying to restrain her, or pulling down the pants of a patient that was just in the way. This is life in nursing homes...
However, the callouses are now gone! Go Sylvia! These last 9 months My Lady has slept peacefully all night in her bed. She has been comfortable with me in the room especially when I constantly reassure her that I was going to be there all night waiting for her to wake up. She loved that and would be at peace.

I was also useful in setting schedules for each of 5 people to work night time from 7pm to 7am. It took all of us to cover the 168 night time hours per week. This time had to be emailed every two weeks to an accountant to write out checks so that the Techs would receive their checks in three days. If those checks did not arrive, I was the one who got the phone calls from the Techs. "Where's my check?" whine...

It has been good money for a retired person who did not mind sitting in a semi dark room with a 40 watt bulb, writing this blog, playing games on my laptop, reading books, watching cable TV in the room, and playing solitaire on my new EVOG4 phone. Also, I loved what I did with the money; but now, I have gone back to retirement budgeting... sniff.

What an experience for me. I will never forget it. It has been a blessing! When asked, "What will you do with my life now?" I tell them that "I plan to sleep at night."

Time to turn another corner...

It is late fall, the leaves fell off the trees this last weekend and I am quitting my job in the nursing home.

This job was totally out of my comfort zone. I did not know how to be a caregiver.
With the help of some skillful and caring Techs, I learned.
I was asked to help with this Lady for about 3 months which was the time she was expected to live after she experienced a series of heart problems. She was in a "Do Not Resuscitate" DNR status.

Oh My! By my 3rd week with this family, I was called to meet her daughter in ICU at Vanderbilt Medical Center where I found My Lady with tubes coming out of all orifices. Kinda creepy for me. I spent the night with her.
Actually, I saved her life that night when a young nurse pulled an IV needle out of her hand and did not check to see that it had stopped bleeding. About 20 minutes later, I just happened to get up out of my chair to see how My Lady was doing. I found her IV hand on a pillow in a pool of blood that was dripping onto the bed. Yuk! What a mess! I quickly called the nurse back and another followed. They said nothing while they cleaned up the mess. I wondered if this was usual??? I thought about mentioning it to the doctor; however, when the cardiologist came in very early the next morning, he said that he was surprised she was still alive and left. (?)

However, the 3 months have became 13 months. My Lady has become more stable and healthy. She looks great today. She has a strong will and wants to live. It is time for me to leave.
Bye.

"What straight teeth you have Grandma."

I received a message on my computer today when I was trying to download some photos that said that I did not have enough space on my "start up drive." Where are those Geeks when you need one?
Now this phrase may mean something to Geeks of the world, but today it made me go "lookin." So as I backed up my computer and was in an external drive, I came across this old photo that my Kid had left on the hard drive before she "handed it down" to me. ha!
Now, I ask you, does that look like my Kid? Well, yes. The only other time I've seen this face was, when as a child, I made her eat liver.