Author Archives: Charlie Hudson

About Charlie Hudson

Off with my combat boots and onto writing best describes Charlie my two careers. Born in Pine Bluff, Ark., and raised in Louisiana, I count myself as a military veteran, wife, mother, freelance writer, and author. What was intended to be a quick two years in the Army became a 22-year career instead, and somehow in the process, I discovered that I was an inadvertent pioneer by serving in several positions that had previously been held only by men. By the time I was in Desert Storm and later Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti, women in leadership assignments was more widely accepted. My love of writing never left me though whether it is a short article that highlights an animal rescue group, penning the stories of a female police detective in the Florida Keys, or presenting issues about aging that Baby Boomers need to address, or working on a corporate proposal. When my husband, Hugh, also retired from the Army, we relocated to South Florida where we can both enjoy the underwater world in dive sites all around Key Largo. We do break away though to still travel, and especially visit the Washington, D.C. area where son Dustin is a professional dancer and lives with his wife, Samantha.

Progress and Other……

Posted on by
Reply

In the on-going tussle, the promised aide to give my sister a shower did not show up yesterday as promised. Hopefully she will come today as will the promised PT. On the other hand, using the walker is becoming easier and I think we’ve worked out a way to position a chair in the master bath where she can sit to be able to brush her teeth.

I did use their wonderful pool the other day. It also has the soft chlorination system as we have which is a great feature. It is a huge pool with an actual deep end and a shall “sunshelf” which serves two purposes. At only a few inches deep, it is perfect for certain leg exercises and for simply lying down to have water under you and relax in the sun if you are that type. The two dogs also love it as they walk back and forth in it. The custom design of the pool was to combine fitness training with recreation.

 

More Delays….

Posted on by
Reply

In the manner anyone who has been through this will recognize, there is yet another delay in getting the home health support started for my sister. “The scheduler is out” is the same issue 24 hours after our first call. The promised wheelchair for yesterday was in fact delivered although it was 8:00 p.m. A nice young man who had two more stops programmed.

On the other hand, the supplemental private-pay care needed for a while responded almost immediately with a text (might have been email) verifying the conversation and had set an appointment to come this morning. A very pleasant young lady who is in fact recently moved to Houston. She speaks highly of the company and if she is typical of their staff, that is a positive indicator.

Family Afternoon…

Posted on by
Reply

First night at home for my sister went better than expected and they had already planned a “Glad You’re Home” lunch with the grandchildren. Although I have seen the photos of them growing up, I’d never actually met them. Grandniece is starting sophomore year at parents’ alma mater Baylor and her brother is about to be a senior in high school. They are quite fun and do look more like their dad than their mother. Their dad prepared quite the feast with a favorite for each of them plus a little. It was definitely a “mixed grill” kind of meal and not surprisingly, he prepared extra for them to have leftovers to take with them. Oh, grandniece is not only majoring in pre-med, she has spent her summer training to be an EMT. She’s close to completion although I’m not sure she’ll have time to finish certification before she has to return to college.

I did have time to go for my walk along the lake again and there was a different mix of people out.

Out of Rehab…..

Posted on by
Reply

The usual long time to get paperwork done to discharge my sister. Successful movement into car and then home into fancy recliner. It has the correct kind of back support for her. The assessment for home care won’t happen until tomorrow though instead of today which means actual care probably won’t be until Wednesday. The wheelchair that was supposed to be delivered today apparently will also be tomorrow. Fortunately, that is okay. There are a couple of new medications and those are being picked up now. There are some other things to work out and we’ll see how all that goes.

 

 

Another Day of Prep….

Posted on by
Reply

We are splitting time with my sister today. Her husband went in early and I am going in a while for an afternoon visit.

I had a chance this morning to go on one of the walking paths my sister told me about and I can really understand now why she loves this area. The path – actually trail – goes in different directions. The one I took was mostly by the small lake which also has part of the golf course on the other side. The houses along the lake are nicely landscaped as can be expected. The houses are across the paved path so don’t have direct access to the water, but a lovely view and about twenty steps from the back of the lots to the water. No swimming and no way to put a boat in, but there is catch and release fishing with numerous spots to comfortably fish from the bank. Only other joggers, walkers (to include dog walkers of course) and cyclists were out. The incredible amount of mature trees are a benefit except in the situation of the storms which as I mentioned recently wreaked havoc with massive tree falls and downed power lines for more than a week. There is still a lot to clear out and will probably take at least another week.

 

Genuinely When Life Interfers….

Posted on by
Reply

This extra long gap is due to a completely unexpected twist. As I was headed for the Louisiana trip, I had word my sister had fallen and broken her leg. This all occurred as Houston also was clipped by the hurricane and therefore phone services were impacted as well as lots of power outages. My sister managed to get through to my brother who called me. Then there was a gap until we learned she had been transferred to a rehab center. Which brings us to the fact that her being released from the center was going to be problematic due to a number of factors I won’t get into. Therefore, my sister really needed me to come and help out for a bit. The entire week has been muddled not being certain of when she would be discharged, etc., plus me trying to make arrangements for things to get done or put on hold and what have you.

Anyway, I am here and will go see her tomorrow to spend some time and provide my brother-in-law a bit of relief. She will be discharged Monday and that way I can be there to find out what assistance will be provided for how long and where the gaps are. Then comes finding out what actual resources are available here.

More to follow.

Long Lapse….

Posted on by
Reply

A stretch of days with ups and downs to impact my usual busy schedule. I have a situation with my sister that includes me spending at least a week, more likely twelve days in Houston to help with her post-rehab after surgery for a broken leg. That means scrambling to get a number of things either taken care of before I leave or figure a way to handle while gone.

On the “really, why now?”, front my high-speed printer went crazy and it wasn’t very old. Decided to swap from HP to Cannon and that’s all fine and good except after install, it isn’t working properly. No doubt some weird little thing that the Geeks can clear up once Hubby has a chance to get with them. I do have the other printer that can do for now.

The pool is finally finished and they cleared up the mess of the last two weeks. It definitely looks better and hopefully we won’t have to go through this again. My desire to have some sort of easier automated way to turn the hot tub on came at such a ridiculous price, I can’t justify it. Part of that is the lights we had replaced were far more expensive to replace than expected, but going with LED should also mean they last for a long time.

On the “up” side, Hubby’s presentation, “Photographing the Everglades”, on Friday went well despite the stupid mistake I made with getting a small projector. I completely misunderstood what this thing was and he was gracious about it. Now to figure out if there is anyone out there who can actually use this thing and maybe get another one. The issue is it can only be used in an almost completely darkened room and the images can’t be seen well from much of a distance. In other words, it’s great for a small conference room; not so much for anything else. It certainly is small and easy to carry.

 

And Now for Some Trees……

Posted on by
Reply

This does seem to be the summer of those annoying, but necessary expenses in maintaining a house. I already discussed – or think I did – the pool work we’re part-way through with. And as I have posted about previously, the back yard gets out of control and has to be seriously cleaned up every few years. This time though we are taking a slightly different approach. We had one of our traveler (fan) palms removed a while back. The more Hubby has looked at the remaining three and as troublesome as they are at times, he wants to go ahead and get rid of them. It’s a combination of new shoots constantly sprouting that have to be dealt with and the fronds that drop more often than the other palms. The only real downside will be the orchids that have grown well on them, but maybe we can find another spot. We might also decide to get some air plants instead and put them in baskets on the fence.

And our landscaping guy we’ve used for years did ask me about whatever the small tree is next to the generator. That was planted in the last “refresh” by the other landscaper we use for the big changes. Problem is the way it grows makes it difficult for the generator service people and the guy last time did mention it. According to our regular guy, apparently if he cuts is way back, when it re-grows, it will be straighter and not get in the way so much. It makes sense and then hopefully, it will be good from then on.

Third Full Day, LA Trip and Home….

Posted on by
Reply

Last lunch with family was yesterday; my cousin who is my age and his wife were able to join us and we spent a pleasant few hours with them. Fried chicken and fried okra from the local place and then a cup of Bluebell vanilla ice cream as I hadn’t picked up dessert when we went. My aunt always keeps plenty on hand and it was the perfect amount. Although Many has grown to the point to have a Walmart and a McDonalds, none of the chicken franchises have taken hold. The drive back to Shreveport was fine and in making reservations in the area of Bossier City where I usually spend the night, I was not aware of the construction tearing up parts of I-20. I had seen it on my way south Friday and considered changing my reservation, but thought getting through wouldn’t be too difficult. It wasn’t exactly, but what I hadn’t noticed was there was only one exit closed down and yes, it was the exit I needed. I hadn’t turned on my navigation system because I know that exit quite well. What I didn’t know was the alternative route. After making one wrong guess, I allowed technology to prevail. For some reason, I had also decided to try the Hilton Garden Inn instead of the usual Hampton which is close by and as luck would have it, they were short of staff and the room wasn’t ready. I had already intended to take a walk and that was as good a time as any. Granted, in my regular clothes in 90+ degree heat wasn’t my first plan. I certainly didn’t go for a fast walk and I did try out the shower not long after I got into the room.

The Hilton Garden Inns generally have an on-site bar and bistro and the menu looked adequate for my purposes. In fact, my vegetable in-take had been lacking and the bartender said their tomato-basil bisque was quite good. I paired that with another appetizer of three pulled pork sliders. The soup was excellent (obviously homemade) and the sliders were good.

Trip home was annoying only in the sense of a tight connection in Dallas made tighter by a slightly late arrival. However, for a change, the luggage in Miami came out more quickly than usual.

2d Full Day, LA Trip……

Posted on by
Reply

A leisurely morning and I did safely get bag and myself down the tricky staircase. Was able to start the day with a nice walk around the quiet streets although there was some traffic at 6:16 a.m. Oddly enough, I think I was the only guest at the inn. I did have an early lunch to be able to get into the well-known Lasayone’s. This is the old-fashioned Southern cuisine place that made the Natchitoches meat pies famous. All comfort food and yes, even they have added a few healthy options. I suppose someone orders that occasionally. The place looks pretty much like it did when I lived there fifty years ago. I don’t remember when it was actually opened.

Last on my culinary list was crawfish. Turns out the place in Many where we went for dinner was one of the few sit-down restaurants, Bayou Crawfish Hole, but considering my lunch, I opted for the crab cakes topped with crawfish ettoufee and only swiped two fried crawfish tails from my cousin’s platter. I was able to visit with her sister for a few hours. She came by my aunt’s house before she had to leave to drive to Mississippi where she was going to see her daughter and family. My other cousin, the one my age, and his wife might be able to come for lunch today. I’ll run out and get friend chicken for everyone and stay until around 2:30 before I leave for Shreveport to spend the night. I have to be at the airport at 4:30 tomorrow.