I went grocery shopping by myself today! Yup, all by myself. It was really nice that I didn't have to worry about how Mom would walk through out the entire store from one end to the other. She stayed home with Carolyn. I got Mom some new colored pencils and coloring book. I got me a Star Wars coloring book! I just love Star Wars. Mom is playing with the table cloth again. I don't know why she does this, as long as she doesn't land stuff on the floor I will be fine with it, I guess.

I watched Oprah today, it was an interesting show. I have seen similar ones and the second part will be on tomorrow. It was on hoarding. One of the first symptoms of Alzheimer's is Hoarding. It isn't talked about much, but it is. Mom was a hoarder. Our house looked pretty bad. Cleaning in wasn't the issue, we could clean it up, it was getting rid of what we didn't need. She wouldn't get rid of anything and grew angry when people tried. I gave up because I figured she would eventually get rid of some stuff. Every so often she would just throw stuff away in anger and then she would start over again. I had no idea it was Alzheimer's so that I could have gotten her help and we wouldn't have the amount of stuff we have. Tillie and Maia have cleaned up and donated a lot of stuff. Yes, some stuff should not have been donated (like all of Mom's dress clothes, a couple of tools for the kitchen and a couple of pans) but mostly it has been a good thing. Mom is so far gone now she doesn't know it is her stuff that is gone. I have a lot of stuff too that I am going through. I have a bit of a problem with hoarding as I don't like to get rid of any of my stuff. I don't know if I am ready to have the family room done because a lot of that stuff is mine and some of it is crafts kits. I do crafts when I am feeling better and sometimes I do them with my students so I want all the kits. I plan to have a craft day in November before Christmas and we will do the bead crafts which will get rid of one of the bead kits if not both of them. My office just needs to be organized, my music needs to be put away. Katie was going to help, but she hasn't been able to yet. I am hopeful she can do it this month because I need to know what I have and it is difficult for me to stand to put away the amount that is out. I am not getting rid of any of my music as I still teach and need it. I also want to put up my other computer in the office and the printer and hook up the scanner so I can scan pictures and be able to post them.

Other than shopping we are going to get me a new pair of tennis shoes. I really need a new pair so we are going in a few minutes to go and get me some. We are also going to stop at Toys R Us and pick out a new backpack for Mom. The one I got is too big now that I think of it. I want something a bit smaller. I want to return the one I bought, but I can't find the receipt right now. I am hoping to find it this weekend.

We don't have plans this weekend. I plan to read the book club book and finish another book I bought. Mom and I will probably watch more of Walker, Texas Ranger season 7 and then we have season 8 to watch too. Next weekend is my Uncle's! So this weekend will just be quiet which is fine by me. We have new coloring books that need to be broken in. Maybe we will go out eat one night, or at least do take out as Mom doesn't eat much anymore and going out to eat with her is a bit of a money waster as she doesn't eat enough. We do have a busy week planned for next week though, which I am excited about. We will be meeting with Georgette and with Wendy a couple of days for lunch and tea. How cool is that? I can't wait to hear all about Wendy's camping trip with the family. Calli and Frank will both be back from camps so that is awesome and I can't wait to hear all about it! We may be visiting my friend, Laura, too. So a very busy week with friends is ahead of us! Fun times!

Well, we are off to get me a pair of new shoes before it rains again! I hope you are staying dry and cooling off!