Lego Adult Build brings a Surprise

Something very different happened this weekend.

As some of you all know, I dig Legos. It all started when a neighbor boy gave me an old Lego minifigure.

When the neighbor this summer chucked all of her childhood Legos into the dumpster we shared...well, I did some dumpster diving and it took off from there.

Over the summer I decided to add a skid steer, a 4 wheeler, a motorcycle, and a truck for my Lego folks to get around on. 
I had so much fun with the toys this summer....

Remember Squatch? He and Hobby have searched all summer to find relatives. And Big Foot and Yeti have been too shy to step forward...
Well eventually that story will be told. I've got a lot of catching up to do...

So, I knew fall would bring cold weather and that I'd be spending time indoors. I decided to break down and order a Christmas Lego Build. I ordered Santa's Visit from Lego. It comes with nearly 1,500 pieces and is considered a Lego Adult Expert Build. 
What more fun could that be? 
I'd have a Christmas Lego Set to display!

Here is the view of the box:

When I unpacked the box and showed it to Rich, he was fascinated. Thankfully he didn't ask me how much it cost. [$99.00 😲]
He wanted to know what it was all about. When I pulled out 9 bags of Legos out of the box and set them on the table, he was even more curious.

In fact, so curious, that he started to separate the pieces as I called them out for the first build of the Christmas Tree and the fence for the yard of the house.

 He even started to play with it.

In fact...
He is so engaged in searching for pieces and seeing how it is done [he can spot where the pieces go rather quickly], that I don't do any building unless he is there too.

There are those who consider something like this a waste of money. After all, what are toys? Right?

Something very wonderful happened. For 3 days now, we have been engaged together between the times he has to rest... building a Lego Set.

He actually sort of engages in laughter and play. Like when I wanted a photo of him helping, he set his inhaler on the chimney and his nasal spray on the doorway. Huh. Funny Guy!

To engage in more play. I made him his own personal Lego Person.

Here is Rich and I:

Funny. Rich decided that the Dove should go in the tiny Lego Frying Pan and he'd stir it with an egg beater.

So what can I conclude?

Rich doesn't do puzzles as they don't interest him. But this is a puzzle in 3D. 

Lucky for us I have another build waiting in the wings.

I hope this engaging fun continues. 

We even had some more fun last night when I put some other Lego figures in the set and had one Lego gal chasing another Lego person with a frying pan.

It makes me wonder if Nursing Homes and Senior Centers would ever consider something like Duplo Builds for Seniors as engaging for those who just want to do something with their hands even though they have arthritic hands?

Just a thought.

Crisis? What Crisis?

I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine who lives in the southern part of the US. [She lives alone with her 3 dogs. It was her love of her Dachshunds that actually brought us together.] 

What price do we pay in becoming elderly? What price did the Pandemic take on those folks who have health issues and have taken precautions since March 2020? 

If being elderly wasn't bad before hand, it certainly is more so now. Isolation is one part. Older people are shunned by younger folks. I was as guilty as the next guy. 

I started to understand how difficult it is for some to age in place when my MIL started to fail at recalling things and moving around. Her issues were mostly invisible until she had a fall.

I realized that my husband would not be able to be on his own if I were not here to take care of him. It is a sobering thought. If something happened to me, what would happen next? [Working on that.]

My friend in the south has no one. Her husband is gone, her son is gone, and her cousins she was close with are now gone too. She lives on her own and has dealt well with her health issues and is trying to keep up with life. She has no advocate to help her deal with working around her medical issues.

She has no one to help her deal with her insurance plan either. Sometimes the effort to work around the ins and outs of a medical plan is confusing and difficult. Reading an insurance plan is as clear as mud. 

Years ago, I thought I'd start a private business in just helping others with their insurance billings and resolving issues. What I discovered was dealing with my husband's health was a full time job. It taught me a lot about dealing with doctors, getting approvals, and dealing with medical billings.

Thank goodness I had a degree in Medical Billing and Coding [it is obsolete now since so many things have changed, however it gave me insight as to the difficulties doctors and clinics face too].

I would love to see insurance simplified, but I don't have the answers.

So how is a person who has an insurance plan from the state of Massachusetts get coverage in the southern US? The words 'out of network' pop up. What does that means to the patient? How can that patient find out? 

How does that person make an appointment in their local area to get treated for a pressing issue? Do they put it off because it is too complicated to get an answer? If they do, does that make their risk of a fall or risk of living independently so much worse? Where do they go for help?

I've found good help in working with ADRC who directed me to the county social worker for my MIL. That started the ball rolling that eventually helped with issues she had. I couldn't deal with all of her care at the time and deal with the care my husband needed too. 

My brother was extremely active in caring and assisting my father as he aged and did an incredible job at being his caregiver. 

People need advocates. Caregivers need breaks or they suffer horribly. Compassion Fatigue is real. 

Yet there is no obvious help unless a person digs for it.

Elder care is exhaustive and difficult. Here is long, but very good article here at Vox. The subject is not a popular subject and the discussion surrounding elderly care is an uncomfortable one for many people. 

So when my southern friend stopped talking to me on Sunday...and I could hear her crying I felt totally helpless. My heart strings broke. I was her weekly contact. She was lonely, she was

lonely...

And I could not fix it.

I did get her laughing before we signed off on our phone call and I asked her to please find out where the nearest senior center was to at least go and find some company. 

No person should suffer that loneliness. 

This crisis is growing. And I have no idea of how to fix it.

I've been told that I 'was' so 'lucky' to be able to quit work and stay home to care for my husband. 

Hmmm. But my thoughts on that are for another day.

Let us not forget how to care....

B I N G O

How fun.  Today was show and tell.  My mom took me to the Senior Center to show me off to her friends and tell them I was the daughter from far and away.  


I enjoyed it so much.  Mom and I dressed in the same colored turtlenecks and then mom found two matching hoodies.  We dressed like 'twins'.  Her friends said I was much my mother's daughter.  :)

That makes me proud!

After the other Seniors had their lunch we gathered to play Bingo.  Now let me tell you I cannot recall the last time I played Bingo.  I have the general idea, but these folks have something called Postage Bingo, Cake Bingo, and Line Bingo.  We played with 6 cards.  What a hoot!  I had so much fun it was down right awful!

Everyone ought to go and play with some Seniors.  I visited with a man called 'Red', who was very interested in cameras.  We discussed film cameras and he had some rather in depth questions regarding Digital Cameras.  It was rather fun and one of the most enjoyable days I've ever had.

My visit ends tomorrow.  I'm supposed to go with mom to do something in the morning and I'll be heading home before noon...what a fun visit we've had.