Black Days Ahead

Still not over Black Tuesday of 2016. What a horrid thing to happen to the world. What happened confirms that there is no supreme being watching over us...we're all alone on this planet. Love the ones close to you because the morons who voted that narcissistic, racist, sexist troll in are not going to love you or even be kind to you. We're doomed to a dystopian world. Fun, right?

Late Night Ramblings

It's 11:30am. I went to sleep about 10 but then was awakened by my mom walking down the hallway. I got up and found her in the kitchen. She was looking for "Homer", an old boyfriend she used to see after our dad died. Homer has since died and I guess he's easier to remember than our dad is since he died 2 years ago and our dad died 9 years ago. Anyway, I got her back into bed and about 15 minutes later she got up again and said her mother was bringing her something and wanted to sit on the porch and wait for her.  Her mother died about 66 years ago. I got her into bed again. Hopefully she'll stay in bed this time and fall asleep and I can get some sleep too. I'll say it again, I wouldn't wish dementia/alz on anyone. It's horrible. I hope other care givers all over the world can get some sleep tonight to face another day in purgatory. There are bright moments to be sure but they are few and far between since her disease has progressed. She was such an independent, regal, smart, tireless and optimistic person that it's heartbreaking to see her deteriorate. Sometimes I pray for her release and then feel bad for doing so. Thank goodness for my husband who helps me get through each day and also our children and grand children who offer the support they can. Friends too, like Elaine. They all are angels and I couldn't do this without them. The posting says I posted this at 9 something pm, I wonder if the blogpost server is on west coast time? Cause it's almost midnight my time.

It's always something

It's been a crazy busy four days. Busy with lots of hurry up and wait times. You see my husband broke his left tibia in two. The break is just below his knee. He had surgery twice before  on that leg, the first one because of a cancerous tumor, the second one because he broke the rod they put in it to give it strength. He also had a hairline fracture of his tibia that didn't require surgery.  So we are now in the waiting room waiting for them to give us the news on how it went. Thankfully we have great family support and great support from some terrific friends, and you know who you are. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers please because it's going to be long rehab for him.  I'll keep you posted on his progress.

Catch up on a hot November Sunday



Our mom Nellie, Mike, Cyndi

Cyndi, Frankie, Pam, Evie

Things are going pretty well.The mobile unit came with a group that included a doctor, speech therapist, and an aide. They ran a swallow test on mom and as suspected it showed that she has dysphagia and is at high risk for developing pneumonia from aspirating liquids and food. We had a follow up visit that gave us tips and information on the types of food and drink we should be serving her. She also had to make a trip to the dentist to repair a filling she had been picking at and finally flicked out. Since no water can be used to cool a drill, wash out, etc. they had to do an acrylic one that while not pretty at leas filled the hole left and will prevent anymore decay from setting in. She then had a blood test to check her potassium level. So it was a busy few weeks for us all. She fell last week coming out of the bathroom and Frank got to her before I did and he picked her up and put her on her bed. Luckily she did not hurt herself. She's very wobbly these days so falling is a something we have to watch out for. At a physical therapy session they showed me how to fall with her and let myself take the brunt of it. Hope I don't have to use that technique but something learned is always a good thing.
We did the early voting thing. I went by myself and then my husband and granddaughter went. Wanted to take mom and brought home a sample ballot but she really didn't know what was up. Also (and this made me cry when I saw it) she has trouble signing her name. When the physical therapist had her sign her visit paper mom was printing letters and she printed an 'n eo' and then an 'L' on another line. First time that ever happened. She also forgot how to brush her teeth. I put the toothpaste on the brush and get her started and then she is okay. The decline is slow and painful to watch but she seems happy and we are able to keep her comfy, clean, and fed. I think there are more good days then bad days.
Yesterday our grandson (who just got his Cosmetology license) came and cut my hair, our granddaughters, and mom's. He did a great job and we all good. :-)
The photos are some I found and I don't know if I posted them before but if I did just ignore them. ;-) The one with mom was taken a few months ago when they were taking her to a dance. The one of the brothers and sisters was taken in August when Evie was here.

Things are going pretty much the same. No word on when they will come do the swallowing x-ray for mom but I guess it will be soon. She's doing fine, a little wobbly when she walks and a lot confused in the afternoon. I did find a new term for a phenomena that a lot of caregivers experience. When caring for a dementia patient you sometimes find that they can appear as if nothing is wrong with them in front of strangers or people they do not often see. This behaviour is called 'Showtimers'. The patient can muster up the strength to be at their best, for a while and sometimes it can appear to others that they are not suffering from dementia. My mom has done this but it gets harder and harder for her to do it these days. Again, this disease is horrendous, maddening, and frustrating. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

We got some rain and today this morning the temperature is cooler but it was around 90 yesterday. Sigh, this up and down temperature mode is annoying but it's common for central Texas.

Photos

There photos here. Frank's brother Richard came into town for a conference and stopped by for supper and a visit with us. All the men came by as you can see. Second photo is of Richard and Frank. Third picture is of the flyover of the space shuttle. Not a good photo because it was misty and cloudy that morning and the plane was already gaining altitude by the time we saw it. Still it was fun to watch it fly by.



space shuttle flyover-austin, tx 2012



After Christmas

Tiny village decoration

Hope everyone had a great Christmas holiday. We got to visit our daughter and her family in San Angelo while my brother came and visited our Mom which made for a good time for everyone. We ate some good food, chatted a lot, and opened some nice thoughtful gifts. Thankfully the traffic was light for us going and coming and so was the weather. I took my camera planning on taking a lot of pictures but I only took one! Guess my memory is getting bad too. Guess the coming New Year is the next thing to celebrate. Not much to that one though. We try to stay up to see the new year in but sometimes when the clock strikes 12pm it finds us snoozing. ;-) The sun is shining brightly this morning and it's supposed to be in the 60's and 77 on Saturday! I hope the hot dry New Year's Eve is not a portent for our hot dry weather to continue on the rest of the year. We could really use a cool wet summer but I guess we'll have to wait and see what Mother Nature will bring us. One thing this sunny dry weather will bring is the dreaded Cedar Fever...some is here because my eyes and ears itch. Sigh...at least it is seasonal and will go away in about 5 or 6 weeks.

Winter hass arrived...sort of

Fall leaves I saw on one of my walks

It still looks like fall around here even though winter officially arrived yesterday. Also so did the rain! Got an inch around here! It was nice falling asleep to the sound of falling rain.
Hope everyone who plans to be on the road this Christmas holiday to visit family and friends stays safe and has good weather.
Many thanks for the kind words I've gotten on my annual Christmas poem.
Well, I'm having a problem with Google this morning so I'm going to cut this short and post it before the browser has a fit again. Stay safe out there and have a Merry Christmas!

Sometimes Making a List Can Make You Sad

I was updating my Christmas card list today and became very sad when I saw how many of my friends on the list had died. One is too many but there were more than that to delete on my list. One I only learned had died after I sent my cards out last December. I emailed her and noticed she failed to email me back but I just figured she was busy or traveling. Not so. She was dying from a brain tumour but never said a word. I did keep emailing her since the emails always went through but I should have called and asked why I hadn't heard from her. When I did hear some news it was from her husband telling me of her passing. So here is my goodbye to some wonderful people that I used to write to and should have written to more. Sandy Ahara, Marie Russell, Eddie Gardiner, and Bonnie Carr. Sadly Eddie's wife and our good friend Betty Gardiner is in a nursing home suffering from advanced dementia. I wrote my annual poem dealing with this subject before I updated my list so I guess they were all on my mind. So write or call or visit  your friends and loved ones while you can because they won't be here forever.

Blustery Day

Wonderful walk this morning. Around 35 and windy, almost feels like winter. Not many people out on the Hike and Bike Trail though, just a few runners and a couple of people walking their dogs.We had three days of light rain and even an early morning thunderstorm and it was all great. Wish we had more.
Did walk over to the Occupy Austin site but there are few hardy souls out there right now. One young man I talked to said they are planning in Occupy Foreclosure type protest which is to occupy empty homes that were foreclosed on. I don't know how that will go over with those who own these properties but I guess we will see if this protest takes place.
Here are a few more photos taken over Thanksgiving week.

Frankie, Pam, Lauren

Waiting on news of sisters foot surgery

Cyndi's foot a week after surgery

Evie and Frankie

Awwww

Boogers

Felt kind of achy yesterday so I was plied with alka-seltzer plus and slept a lot. Better today but still a little boogery...know that's not a real word but it describes my condition at the moment.

We had a good time this past week. Had all our kids here and grandkids too. It's been a long time since we've had them all here at the same time so having them all here was a real treat. Evie traveled here from Seattle and it's the first time she's been here for Thanksgiving in about 10 years. Pam came in from San Angelo. In the pictures you can see that Cyndi is on crutches. She is on them beause she just had surgery to have some screws removed from her heel. Her body was rejecting the metal in the screws and lots of inflamation and infection was growing on the screw heads. She feels much better now it has all been removed and can walk for short periods of time. Stitches come out in a week or so. Second family pic back row, me, Lauren, Pam, Frankie, Frank, Derick, front row, Evie, Cyndi, Mom, Krys

We started decorating for Christmas and took these photos when the outside was done. No decorations on the inside right now.

The little birds shown in the photo appeared today (Dec. 1) on our windowsill. Don't know if they are baby cardinals or bluejays. Usually baby cardinals are mottled but these little ones have different coloring so it's hard for us to tell what they are. The tiny bird with the black and white face is a chicadee. It's so much fun to watch them interact. Speaking of interacting I thought the photo showing 'family interaction was very telling of todays methods of communicating. True we were not having a meal at the time but we were sitting around the table talking to one another...

while others were talking and using different tech methods of communication at the same time.

Evie riding the train!

me, Evie, Krys

G-Kids Lauren, Derick, Krystal and oh...Fanita too

family where I can't see me! Too short ;-)

Family interaction?

Family

Chicadee

young cardinals or bluejays?

April fooling around

Did my walking this past week, averaged 3.2 miles a day for 5 days which is good for me. Weather was perfect for it too, 50's with a light breeze every morning this past week. Wish it could stay that way all year long. We had nice visit with Frank's brother Richard who stopped by for a few hours on his way to San Antonio. They had a good time telling on each other. ;-) Cyndi and Frankie got to stop in and visit with him too.

Confusion reigns

Needless to say the holidays and having family visitors have wreaked havoc on my walking schedule. Between December 19, 2008 and January 3, 2009 I walked sporadically 2.00 miles to 3.500 miles. I didn't get the 5 days in a row but I did get in enough time not to sabotage my walking program...I don't think. ;-) Our kiddos have come and gone and now all our little chicks are back in their own nests. It was fun when we had them all around us.
Frank has been enjoying the many, many, football games going on but is bummed that his beloved Bama didn't win their bowl game. Still, he's happy they made it there. I think there have been surprises in the winners and losers of these games but that's the way things go. I hope the Longhorns don't blow it.
More photos. 1. Fanita getting sleepy 2. Evie teaching Derick to make egg-rolls 3. Evie and Lauren locked in a wrestling hold 4. Quieter coffee time for Evie and me

Walking stats for October 27-November 1, 2008. 3.661, 3.673, 3.508, 3.435, 3.657, none. Our brief stint of fall weather has gone but it's still cool enough for early morning activity. Mornings in the high 50's to 60's and afternoons in the high 80's.
Found a nice site that let's you match up your concerns with each candidate and check the poll percentages concerning, age, gender, etc. See How They Run
We had a quite Halloween, just about a dozen trick or treaters came by the house.
Saw the Obama 'infomercial' and didn't really see anything new, at least to me. The lasting image I have of it is that poor woman trying to straighten out her arthritic fingers. Ouch! Must say I'm cautiously optimistic about the Dems winning the election but I will not rest easy about it until November 5th...if we win. If something disastrous happens and we don't win, we are going to be very, very, sad. If you're into watching political videos you may chuckle at this 'Joe the plumber' one. Check it out about 12 seconds in...hehe
Some more photos...1. My UFO shot. Looks like a tiny UFO flying above the purple bushes. 2. Olivia on Halloween, she said she was a 'dead body'. 3. Our Mom dressed up for her Senior Citizens Halloween dance. (Ain't it a shame when your 81 year old Mom and 13 year old niece have more of a social life than you do?) 4. Krystal looking adorable as a Goth Doll 5. The jack-o- lantern is filled with doggy biscuits on the Hike and Bike trail. Click on photos to see larger size.