It has been a long week with my mom watching the ravages of time take hold of her mind. It is painful to watch her slip away from me and my family. On the bright side, she is still here with us, even if her short term memory is approximately 1 minute. However, you can see the panic in her eyes when she realizes she has misplaced her purse, or wallet. I can hear the panic in her voice when I have called to follow-up on something she was supposed to do. I worry that the anxiety will be too much for her heart or nervous system.
Whenever I bring up the subject of her poor memory and my concern for her safety, she is quick to recite a litany of facts she believes proves that she is safe. "I pay my bills, I take a shower and put on clean clothes every day, I eat when I'm hungry." NOT! She has quit paying her bills, although she says she hasn't received any bills, 'cause "I always pay my bills on time."
Well yesterday, the City of Jacksonville turned off her water and electricity. When we tried to pay by phone with her credit card, the card was denied, and then we spent the better part of an hour trying to find her purse, which she reportedly always puts in the same place. NOT! To make a long story short, we did get the power and water back on, but not without a great deal of drama and angst which, of course, causes stress for both her and those of us trying to help.
So, to reduce her stress, we will make all of her bills auto pay. To reduce my stress, we will contract with Life Alert ("I've fallen and I can't get up) so that there is always someone available in case there is an emergency. We'll see how that works.
Proverbs 31
Friday, February 14, 2014
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Oh My -- It has been 3 months
How does my daughter or any of you folks who blog consistently manage to do this? Time just seems to have flown --I mean it's already November. I always have these great ideas for posting, but never seem to quite get them written down. Plus, I am a little intimidated by the whole writing thing -- goes back to my childhood -- Not going there.
So vacation with Tommy was so great -- Only one incident where I think I freaked him out. No real meltdowns. The Wolf Family Reunion was great and really neat to see all those folks. We all traded face book contact info and actually seem to be staying in touch.
Ed and I (Have I ever mentioned that Ed is my wonderful husband of 42 years?) have been to our condo in Winter green twice in October alone. The 1st week-end we spent some time exploring and discovered this amazing town called Grottoes Va with the most amazing Caverns. All of my pix are on my cell and I cant figure out how to download them, but trust me, it was wonderful. Then we went again last week-end and thought that finally, after 11 years, we were going to hit "peak" color. Well, there was a possibility of snow for the week-end, so Ed and I decided we would take the Parkway to the condo so we could take pictures of the Peak" color. Yep, you guessed it, the park police closed the Blue Ridge Parkway just minutes after we started up the mountain. "Peak" color for us was White. Bummer!
Next-up is our annual Thanksgiving trip to Fl and then Nutcracker -- I am so excited and proud -- Danielle, my oldest Granddaughter will be dancing the role of Clara.
night night
So vacation with Tommy was so great -- Only one incident where I think I freaked him out. No real meltdowns. The Wolf Family Reunion was great and really neat to see all those folks. We all traded face book contact info and actually seem to be staying in touch.
Ed and I (Have I ever mentioned that Ed is my wonderful husband of 42 years?) have been to our condo in Winter green twice in October alone. The 1st week-end we spent some time exploring and discovered this amazing town called Grottoes Va with the most amazing Caverns. All of my pix are on my cell and I cant figure out how to download them, but trust me, it was wonderful. Then we went again last week-end and thought that finally, after 11 years, we were going to hit "peak" color. Well, there was a possibility of snow for the week-end, so Ed and I decided we would take the Parkway to the condo so we could take pictures of the Peak" color. Yep, you guessed it, the park police closed the Blue Ridge Parkway just minutes after we started up the mountain. "Peak" color for us was White. Bummer!
Next-up is our annual Thanksgiving trip to Fl and then Nutcracker -- I am so excited and proud -- Danielle, my oldest Granddaughter will be dancing the role of Clara.
night night
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Family Reunions and Travels with Tommy (My special First Grandson)
Sunday July 10, 2011was a beautiful sunny day and the start of our vacation trip to Alexandria Mn. for the Wolf Family Reunion. I anticipated a wonderful and unique driving trip because our oldest grandchild Tommy was traveling with us. You see, Tommy really connected with the Amish when we travelled that way three years ago for the same reason. Tommy was super excited he said to get his Nina and Papa all to himself.
We stayed in Boardman Ohio our 1st night on the road. Ed and I opted to have dinner at Chili's with the hope there would be a vegetarian choice sine the Tomster has been a vegetarian since he was 5. Bonus -- Chili's had a Black Bean vege burger and Mr. T loved it. Of course, by dinner Tommy's medication had worn off and the conversation was non-stop. What an imagination that boy has. I want him to write down these stories so we don't forget them. He wasn't too high on that idea until I bought him a journal and a magical dragon pen to write with.
July 11 --Shipshewana by 3:00. Check in to the Motel (which used to be a Country Inn), dump our bags, and head to town with the local folk:
Really!!! Notice the license plate under the orange triangle. I love this and the buggies have the right of way. There are rules of the road including don't blow your horn to get them out of your way.
Tommy is really in to antiques so we headed for the biggest antique store in town. Beautiful stuff and both Tommy and I could have spent all our money there. I found a trunk at a very reasonable price and planned to get it until my "main squeeze" reminded me that with Tommy in the car, there was no room. Tommy found a powder horn -- (NOT PLASTIC) and purchased it. He was very cognizant of the money he had and wanted to make sure he had money left for the whole vacation. We went across the street then to the "Big Red Barn" and looked at some dining room tables. The store was closing so we were not able to see as much as we waned to. You see, the ulterior motive for driving on this trip was to stop in Shipshewana for furniture shopping. Always a method to our madness.
More to come!
We stayed in Boardman Ohio our 1st night on the road. Ed and I opted to have dinner at Chili's with the hope there would be a vegetarian choice sine the Tomster has been a vegetarian since he was 5. Bonus -- Chili's had a Black Bean vege burger and Mr. T loved it. Of course, by dinner Tommy's medication had worn off and the conversation was non-stop. What an imagination that boy has. I want him to write down these stories so we don't forget them. He wasn't too high on that idea until I bought him a journal and a magical dragon pen to write with.
July 11 --Shipshewana by 3:00. Check in to the Motel (which used to be a Country Inn), dump our bags, and head to town with the local folk:
Tommy is really in to antiques so we headed for the biggest antique store in town. Beautiful stuff and both Tommy and I could have spent all our money there. I found a trunk at a very reasonable price and planned to get it until my "main squeeze" reminded me that with Tommy in the car, there was no room. Tommy found a powder horn -- (NOT PLASTIC) and purchased it. He was very cognizant of the money he had and wanted to make sure he had money left for the whole vacation. We went across the street then to the "Big Red Barn" and looked at some dining room tables. The store was closing so we were not able to see as much as we waned to. You see, the ulterior motive for driving on this trip was to stop in Shipshewana for furniture shopping. Always a method to our madness.
More to come!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
New week, Blessings, Random thoughts
It's Sunday night, Clash of the Titans is on, i'm dreading the work week, but also marveling at how fast January hs flown by. Why can't I get my act together though, and remember the important stuff -- like my mom's B'day. Forgotten once again. I do try to be a better daughter, mother, friend and I guess as long as I am trying I haven't totally failed -- but sometimes it feels like it. Just going to have to do better.
As I consider my quest to be a better person, I am forced to take stock of my many blessings -- my health, 2 beautiful, successful children, 5 wonderful grandchildren, my mom who is still driving, the rest of my family and a husband who loves me enough to continue our life together for the past 41 years. Given these blessings and resources, I'm trying to figure out how best to use them to do better including getting organized and cleaning my house.
Other Random Thoughts:
I want a dog,
and this is the dog I want: His name is Tom and I'm in love. I actually e-mailed the breeder to find out what the next steps are. We'll see I'm gonna need to call in some favors and say many prayers that I make the right decision and that Ed will at least like the idea of a new animal in our lives.
We've been trying to go greener and I discovered a new blog/website: http://www.greengarbageproject.com dedicated to reducing your carbon footprint over a year. The authors produced only 4 pounds of garbage over the course of a year -- Maybe there will be some good ideas I can use.
I worked from home today, Monday -- Love it when I can do that. More next time.
As I consider my quest to be a better person, I am forced to take stock of my many blessings -- my health, 2 beautiful, successful children, 5 wonderful grandchildren, my mom who is still driving, the rest of my family and a husband who loves me enough to continue our life together for the past 41 years. Given these blessings and resources, I'm trying to figure out how best to use them to do better including getting organized and cleaning my house.
Other Random Thoughts:
I want a dog,
and this is the dog I want: His name is Tom and I'm in love. I actually e-mailed the breeder to find out what the next steps are. We'll see I'm gonna need to call in some favors and say many prayers that I make the right decision and that Ed will at least like the idea of a new animal in our lives.
We've been trying to go greener and I discovered a new blog/website: http://www.greengarbageproject.com dedicated to reducing your carbon footprint over a year. The authors produced only 4 pounds of garbage over the course of a year -- Maybe there will be some good ideas I can use.
I worked from home today, Monday -- Love it when I can do that. More next time.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Weekend with Tommy and Katie
My daughter and oldest granddaughter went to dance camp this past weekend and Tommy and Katie got to stay with Nina -- that would be me. Tommy and his dad got to go to the motorcycle show on Sat., so Katie and I took off for "Fancy Nancy" stores. charming Charlies certainly qualifies. Katie had about $100 of merchandise in the basket before we pared it down -- The girl can shop! Tommy was sooooo excited about th motorcycle show he was shaking. He started pacing and actually went outside to wait for dad about 30-45 min before Mark arrived. Thank goodness the show delivered. Tommy had a blast and I think Mark did too. It was an excellent bonding time for them. We finished out the weekend with the ADD compliant film Tron whch bot Katie and Tommy loved. actualy their ADD Nina enjoyed it too.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
And so it begins
This is truly an experiment as well as a leap of faith. My wonderful creative daughter has been suggesting for months that I take on this challenge. I'm not sure my ADD (or whatever it is that allows me to be distracted at the drop of a hat) will cooperate with this ADD-venture. Oh well, we'll see.
The last 5 months have been challenging, to say the least -- I lost my job, quit smoking (what a drag -- no pun intended), diagnosed with sleep apnea (the mask is a bitch and you can see it on my face long after I take it off in the morning), and now I'm wondering if I really want to go back to work. I really want to work independently from my home. I need to design that. Pray for me.
On the plus side, I have had enough time for gardening and as always I hope what I planted will perform as I expect. I've also had time to reconnect with my family and marvel at the wonders of my grandchildren. To them, I am Nina. Either their mom's mom (my daughter Kristi) or their dad's mom (my son Kyle). All of them are awesome.
It's late or early depending on your point of view. I always start things at odd times -- Is that ADD or just poor planning. In my defense, I've been searching the web for gluten-free vegetarian burger recipes so I can help my daughter (who says she missed out on the cooking gene) learn to make her own tasty meatless burgers. Maybe we can work out a trade and she can help me with the housekeeping/organization gene I missed out on.
The last 5 months have been challenging, to say the least -- I lost my job, quit smoking (what a drag -- no pun intended), diagnosed with sleep apnea (the mask is a bitch and you can see it on my face long after I take it off in the morning), and now I'm wondering if I really want to go back to work. I really want to work independently from my home. I need to design that. Pray for me.
On the plus side, I have had enough time for gardening and as always I hope what I planted will perform as I expect. I've also had time to reconnect with my family and marvel at the wonders of my grandchildren. To them, I am Nina. Either their mom's mom (my daughter Kristi) or their dad's mom (my son Kyle). All of them are awesome.
It's late or early depending on your point of view. I always start things at odd times -- Is that ADD or just poor planning. In my defense, I've been searching the web for gluten-free vegetarian burger recipes so I can help my daughter (who says she missed out on the cooking gene) learn to make her own tasty meatless burgers. Maybe we can work out a trade and she can help me with the housekeeping/organization gene I missed out on.
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