Butcher day.

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Getting up and out was pretty easy, in spite of yesterday.  I'll get to yesterday soon enough.  And, really, there were a few times where I carried a leg of beef or something, but mostly it was cutting and... figuring.  I won't say I did the best, but as time went on I became more comfortable with cutting the meat.  There is a lot of meat on a bovine though.  I knew there would be, and I have seen cattle, but on the butcher table it looks like a lot more.  I worked for about five hours without a need for a break, at which time we were done.  My mother took a clue and decided to go in and help the ladies package the meats shortly after we arrived.  It is the way things work.  She was quite glad she did though, she finally got some feminine companionship for a while.  I doubt if they talked about one mechanical thing, save maybe a bit about men.  Hard to tell though.  And I probably talked my host's ear off, but I don't get the chance to talk to people all that often.

When it was all said and done, I was offered what I wanted.  I had no idea what to take, so I let my mother choose.  She asked for, and got, more meat than I thought was right, and I mentioned that, but the deal was pretty much done.  They had a large grinder, and ground three and a half or four boxes of hamburger, plus they had a box of roasts and one for steaks.  She asked for a box of hamburger, six smaller packages of roast and steaks.  *sigh*  I was thinking more like four packages of steaks and roasts, plus maybe six hamburger.  I just hope they are okay with what we got.  Never mind, I won't do that again.  I have also said if he needs help like that again, I will do it just to help.  And, while speaking with him, I have put my name on a list for a hog, hopefully in February or March but I will take it when it is ready I suspect.

I was pretty done when we got home, but my mother wanted to do a few other things.  The Christmas lights, the extra we needed for the other evergreen on my front lawn, went up.  Then she wanted to work on a bit of trimming.  So, she started that.  She didn't seem to be doing well, and shouldn't touch power tools anyway, so I began the thing.  The sawsall didn't do so well.  I grabbed the pruners and that worked much better.  I got what she had wanted to do, so sat for a spell.  While I was resting, she grabbed the pruners and went to trim out the sproutings around one of my trees.  Nope, I was done.  If she wanted to do more, she was welcome to it.

Then we  ate one package of the steaks.  I wasn't at all sure what to expect.  Hmm, steaks are, well, steaks.  This was quite good.  All the talk of the roasts being a little tougher, so needing extra cooking, does not extend to steaks, at all.  Now I know!

Ah, yesterday.  We got up and made the trip without any problem.  I went to the blood lab and did that.  Then I went to the clinic and signed in.  It wasn't too long of a wait, then my name was called.  First they did my weight, and yeah, I have gained a bit with my mother here.  But she or I prepare three meals a day, mostly.  Or at least two good ones, with snack bars in between.  Then they took my blood pressure, it was 218/141.  They freaked, called it a medical emergency, got a wheel chair, and sent me to the emergency room.  Uhrm, it's been about that for... months?  That was a six hour ordeal.

While there, they mostly waited to see if it would come down.  It fell and rose irregularly, but not by much.  Finally they gave me a couple of things orally, though they had hooked me up for intravenous right away, just in case I suppose.  Then they gave me a medicine recommendation.  Oddly it included two medicines I no longer take (one for diabetic/nerve for 'hot feet', and one for diabetes that I quit two doctors ago).  They didn't include a water pill or my main high bp medicine.  So, I set up my medicines to include what they didn't and exclude what I don't take, albeit on much lower doses than I had been on at full steam.  Gah!

My brother called while we were there.  He panicked, and decided to fly out for a few days.  So, he will be coming in Thursday, leaving Saturday.  Crazy, but... okay.  While he was speaking to my mother, he had asked if he would be welcome.  Silly man, of course.  While he didn't talk to me for years, I did keep trying to talk, and even meet with, them.  Plus, he is the worry-wart sort.  A visit will help him see that there is very little truly wrong with me, save some odd numbers.  I am no closer to a stroke or heart attack than he is, perhaps less.  I'm just tired, a lot.  This will be the first time my brother, mother, and myself have been together since his wedding.  And it had been years before that since we had been together.  Plus it is Thanksgiving!  Hey, a bad ticker ought to be worth something, right?

But tomorrow?  Off.  I need the day down.  While in the kitchen my mother said she was going to do some cleaning tomorrow.  I said I was doing nothing... no... thing... tomorrow.  Then she said, we need to get the (older but good) 20# bags of beans and rice to the car tomorrow.  And I repeated I am doing no...thing... tomorrow.  She gave me a hurt unhappy look and I trucked none of it.  My guess is as soon as that hits the vehicle she will want it to be driven to the charity right there and then, because we need to clean out the vehicle enough for three people and baggage.  Nope, not tomorrow.  We really don't have another day, or time on the day we pick him up, so...  It will just have to sit there.  Perhaps, while he is here, he and I can drive it in.  He can't lift, with his back, but he and I could escape de'mommo for a bit and just talk, while she cooks.  Oh, we will help, he knows how to cook a bit too, now, and does so as well.  But three cooks in one kitchen... only if we all have little jobs.  Yep, maybe.

So, how has YOUR last few days been?  :p  Actually, it's all good.  I am tired, I need tomorrow off (plus the freezer should be arriving, ugh), but I am doing pretty well.  My home is set up, I have dry food laid up, I have a bit of beef laid up, I'm heading for pork laid up, I've been having a great time with my mom, plus I get to see my brother!  And, I am back on medicine.  Yeah, not bad.  Just tired.

Good night.