It has been a rather lazy type day around here. I had Lily's lessons, Aggie is on vacation (hopefully having fun in the sun!). After that I was so exhausted (I have no idea why I am so extra exhausted) that I sat down on the chair in the living room and closed my eyes for a few minutes. 4 hours later I woke up. This is the second Saturday in a row I have done this. Now last Saturday, I had a great excuse, the wedding the night before. This weeks excuse? I have none except I have been more tired this week. Stupid illnesses, is all I can say. They certainly get in the way sometimes, don't they? I am hoping to be a bit more awake tomorrow as I hope to take Mom to see Toy Story 3, if we are both feeling up to it. Mom is a bit more weepy today than usual, so I shall see how she is doing tomorrow. She is also hallucinating a bit more today than usual. That seems to be the most difficult to deal with, her imaginary friends and people. Usually, I say they went home. You never know who is going to pop up and visit us in her imagination. And of course, at times they say mean things to her or tell her to do stuff she doesn't need to do.

The sky is a beautiful blue without a cloud in it today. I would love to say I enjoyed the afternoon, but as I slept through it, I will have to look outside for the blue sky this evening. I think we will be watching Walker, Texas Ranger Season 6, disc 5. We have a couple of episodes left before the end of the season and time for the next season. Of course, we have season 7 all ready. I just remembered there is a Dollywood 25th anniversary special on at 8 pm. Mom loves Dolly Parton a lot. We have seen her live in concert a few times. When I was in my 20s, Mom got season tickets for a local professional theatre around here so I went with her to see several concerts. We got to see John Denver right before he died. We actually got to see him 2 times. It was great concerts. I couldn't take her now, the amount of people would really confuse her.

I hope you are having a good day whatever you are doing on the July 3, the day before Independence Day.

I went grocery shopping all by myself today! Wow! Carolyn came to stay with Mom. I won't need to go for a few weeks now. I didn't think I bought that much stuff, but apparently I did. So we won't need to shop for a couple of weeks. Which actually would probably work out well for us money wise. Mom is doing pretty well today. Yesterday, when I mentioned that Carolyn would be coming to stay with her while I shopped, she got upset, but today, she was fine. Lori came while I was gone so that was good too. Mom had her physical therapy this afternoon while I was gone. Carolyn said Lori said she did pretty well. The idea is to keep Mom as strong as we can. I have been checking her going up the stairs and she has been fine. She doesn't get sore from doing it so I don't know what was up last Friday except she was exhausted. Tillie told me Mom looked like she was in pain on Friday going up the stairs. Well, I have checked by watching her and she looks fine. Lori checked too and said she was fine. Last Friday was a very busy day for her and she was simply exhausted when we went to bed at 1 am.

I am taking Mom to see Toy Story 3 this weekend. I really want to see Eclipse by I am not sure Mom could handle that movie. I know she was fine with the first two, but this one has a big fight scene that could scare her. Not sure what to do with that. I am checking with some of my friends to see what they thought of the fight scene. I just love Twilight, both the books and the movies. We shall see what happens later next week. Maybe I will just go and have Carolyn come and watch her. Who knows. I know she still likes movies. We will be using her birthday card from the Emerton family. When I mention it, she seems excited.

I had a big headache this morning, but now it is back to the normal pain. My arm is a bit sore from carrying in the groceries, but it is slowly getting better. I will be hiding mostly inside this weekend as it is supposed to get rather warm. Outside of the movie, and our usual Tim Horton's, we will not be going out. I got groceries today, so no need for anymore now!

It is actually really nice out right now, sunny and warm, but NOT humid!! That is the key, no humidity, that is what kills me with pain. The higher humidity, the higher the pain, it is just the way it is.

I hope your start to the weekend is going well!

What a busy day! First, we woke up to have Mom go to the general surgeon. He said Mom's pressure sore is a Stage 1, so that is good news for us! Yeah! He said at this point nutrition will be the most important thing. If she can gain some weight, that would be good too but protein, protein, and more protein! Just like the nurse said. I was glad to hear it wasn't any further than the first stage and it can heal nicely. So now I just need prayer for Mom to eat lots of protein! She did finish all the chicken in her dinner, she just didn't finish her vegetables (mostly the sweet potatoes). I have an ensure with high protein on the table for her to finish drinking by bedtime, so I am not too worried about her not finishing her vegetables.

After the general surgeon's appointment we headed to Tim Horton's for brunch. We were 1/2 way finished when our friend, Rosemary, arrived! Talk about timing! Mom had gotten a tuna wrap and a donut, but for some reason, this time she didn't like her tuna wrap. I went and got her a muffin so she could have that. While I was in line, our other friends came in for their snacks. I spoke to them for a few minutes. Apparently, they asked Ossana (the cashier) how we were doing and found out Mom had been so ill earlier this month. As they were leaving, they made a point to come and tell Mom that they were glad she is feeling better and home again. How sweet was that? I thought it was pretty awesome. We have such good friends around us.

Then from Tim Horton's we headed straight over to Heather B-T's house. Callie, as usual for the lovely young lady, came out of the house as we were walking up to the door. She loves helping Mom in and out of the house. She has such compassion for a 10 year old. I foresee her compassion just growing and growing as she gets older. She is such an amazing girl, simply amazing. Acer was still resting when we arrived. After we had been there a while, he woke up and joined us downstairs. He and I read a couple of books together. One of his favorite books he knows by heart. Reminds me of Andrew and I when we were that age. Mom would read to us and if she missed a word, we would let her know it. Kind of funny to think about now. Acer also has a couple of musical books that are really cool. Each page has a song that goes with it and you play the song on the side of the book. I did manage to get a couple of rows of knitting done while I was there. Not too much, but some. Someday, Mom's scarf will get finished. I am just sure when it will get done. I do have until the wintertime to finish it.

We are just relaxing now. Mom is a bit tired. She has already asked to go to bed. I asked her to stay awake a bit longer because it is so early right now. it is only 630 pm. I don't really like her to go to bed earlier than 8 pm otherwise she is up so early the next morning and that is not a good thing for either one of us.

The new plan for nighttime is working well. I put a bed liner underneath her. She doesn't need it for the lining part, but I don't like her to close the edge of the bed. So I put the liner underneath her and then I can move her into the center of her bed. It has worked really well since we started two nights ago. I also tuck a pillow under one side of her back and side so she is not completely on her back at night. This way the pressure is not completely on her pressure sore. We don't need that to get worse, we need it to improve.

I have a bad headache now, it started this morning, improved some, then came back during dinner. I had to take a pain pill to help it go back to the normal headache. I do ache a bit more today than normal, I am not sure why. It isn't humid or too cold or too hot out today, so I am at a bit of a loss of why I ache so much.

It is beautiful out today despite the extra pain. We have had a great day today. I hope you had a great day too. Happy July the first!!!

I met with Georgette for lunch today. It was a lot of fun. I expected the physical therapist to arrive between 12:30 and 12:45 like she usually does, but she didn't. She called at 1:30 while we were about to eat lunch so she came later today around 4:30. What a near miss that one was. I am glad she was able to fit Mom in today. Mom did really well with her exercises today. She even joked with Lori. It was amazing. She didn't do all of her step exercise on the right foot, she seemed to get confused with that today, but she did everything else just fine.

It has been a good day, not a whole lot going on in my head today, it seems kind of stuffy. I think I may be getting a cold. My throat is a bit sore and my head and nose are a bit stuffy. Rather annoying. I hope I don't get one because I don't want Mom to get it too. I don't think she would fight off a cold very well. She isn't really stronger enough.

It is really nice out again. It is supposed to stay nice until it gets hot this weekend. Supposedly, though when it is 90 degrees this weekend, there will be no humidity. I hope not. That gives me a headache. Speaking of headaches, I have a doozy right now. It was so bad this afternoon, but I am out of my pain pills. They should be at the pharmacy refilled right now as I called in the prescription last week. It needed a doctor's approval though so that always take some time. I could really use my pills right about now. I think we will head to bed early tonight. Mom sees a new doctor tomorrow for her sore. I hope they can do something about it.

I hope you are having a good day.

It is really pretty outside today with the blue sky and white puffy clouds. It is a bit cooler than it has been, but I don't mind. I like the temperature better than the 80 degrees and the 90 degrees. My head doesn't ache as much with this weather.

Mom is in the living room taking a bit of a nap. I had one too, but only for about an hour where as she is still sleeping two hours later. That is fine. She needs the rest. We had to get up earlier today and I think she woke up from pain in her back early. She doesn't sleep in the middle of the bed enough so sometimes her legs fall over the side of the bed and that hurts her back. I am going to get a body pillow to put behind her so she isn't really laying on her back which she shouldn't do with a pressure sore anyways. I can alternate sides every night for her.

I only have Charlie today, Zach rescheduled because he has a really bad headache. He is coming tomorrow. Works for me. We are also meeting Georgette for a late lunch tomorrow. It will be fun.

Kathy is supposed to be checking her schedule for the rest of the summer to see when a good time for us to come and visit will be. Mom and I are planning (okay, I am planning) to stay at a hotel with a pool so the kids can come and swim while we all visit together. It should be fun. Mom loves watching the kids play. I don't know when my older brother Richard is coming for a visit yet. Sometime in July.

Mom has to see a general surgeon now for her pressure sore. I don't know if there is anything that can be done about it, but Dr. Gradolph wants us to see one so we will. I will be making the appointment today. She has gained 5 pounds now since she has been home. I am so excited about that. I don't know how she did it, and I don't really care because she did. That is all that counts. She gained 5 pounds. She now weighs 86 pounds. I also will be getting her a donut type cushion to sit on where ever we go because that will help with the pressure on her bottom. Poor thing, she is so tiny, she is just a little bitty thing. She is only about 5 feet 3 1/2 inches tall, although she is curved over a bit more than she used to be so she isn't much taller than me now and I am 5 feet 1/2 inch tall.

It has been a good day so far. I hope this finds you doing well too.

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www.heathmattersshow.com

It's Monday! Ugh, and I am tired. We had such a full weekend it was wonderful. Exhausting, but wonderful.

The nurse was here early for Mom. She called to say she was on her way while we were at Tim Horton's. Oops! So I bagged our stuff and we headed back home. We got here just before she pulled in. Talk about great timing! She said Mom's pressure sore is doing better but we need to follow up with the Doctor. So I will call this afternoon for an appointment this week. Poor thing, as if she needed something else to deal with, right? She is not eating well this afternoon like she did yesterday. She ate her donut but isn't eating her muffin. She takes a bite, puts it down, forgets about it, then I remind her and we start again. She is just distracted for some reason today. I am excited about her eating dinner though because Michelle sent us home with left overs!!! Yup!!!! Isn't that great??? I think so. I also need to go to the store to get her Ensure with protein today because we are out. We will do that after Frank's lesson or Callie's, depending on who is last for a lesson. I know Patty had said something about making Frank's lesson earlier, but I haven't heard from her yet. Whatever works best for her, works best for us. That is what I told her.

Other than 3 lessons and a trip to the store, not much going on today. I was going to clean off the table, but I think other than looking for bills that need to be paid, that will be the extent of my cleaning off the table. Emptying the bills will help, just won't totally clear it all.

I emailed Kathy today to ask her when a good time for us to visit would be. I figured it would be easier if she just told us when to come rather than the other way around because she is the one with the kids who have camps and such, and we don't. Our schedule is so much more flexible than hers. Other than teaching, physical therapy, and the nurse visit, we are pretty open for visiting.

Mom is being very careful of where she puts her water on the table now. She nearly tipped it over awhile ago and now she is being completely careful. It is kind of funny to watch. She is at least eating her muffin again. Sometimes she provides some rather interesting entertainment.

Aggie is having a make up lesson today for the one she missed on Saturday. She and her friend, Elena, went to Lansing to give a surprise birthday party to one of their friends. It worked out rather well for me as we were so tired after the wedding I slept in until noon and that is when her lesson usually is. Lily missed hers too because she was so tired from the wedding. It was such a good night. Looking at Lily made me realize how much she has grown. I remember her as a 3 year old, and then her 6th birthday party, the first time she went to a movie with me and her sisters, the first time she went with me alone, and I could go on. She is now 12 and it just amazes me how fast she grew. Rather rudely, I might add, I don't like how fast she has grown, I want her to stay little a while longer. I just get used to one age and then, bam! it's changed to another. She will be in 7th grade this year. I remember her starting kindergarten! It seems like yesterday.

Callie and Frank are having lessons today too. Both are doing really well. It is a lot of fun teaching them. Callie and I giggle a lot during lessons, we can't help it. We get our work done, but we do giggle a lot. Frank is playing such amazing music that it is awesome to hear and hard to believe how good he is at times. He always gives me the low down on whether or not it will sound good though, depending on his practice before lessons. Sometimes, he is right and it isn't quite ready to be finished, but other times he is wrong. He should be finished with the Mozart piece today, I am hoping anyway because he needs to focus on his competition songs in the next few weeks. Competition is about 3 weeks away. We won't be going because Mom can't sit in a car for 6 hours. I just don't see how she can. Maybe I am wrong, and she would be fine, but I can't really take the chance to find out. Maybe she would be fine on the way there, but what if she isn't on the way home? Too much uncertainty to find out. Frank will do fine there, he has competed before and his dad is going with him. It will be a good Dad/Son weekend for them. I just have to remember to give him a note saying he can pick up his score sheets.

It is beautiful looking out, a bit on the warm and humid side, but hey, it's Michigan and what can you do? I hope this finds you doing well and having a great start to the week!

I am so tired. We spent the day at my Uncle John's house with his family. My younger brother, Andrew, was there with his new girl friend, Angela. She is very nice and her father has Alzheimer's too, so she totally understands Mom. A very important detail to me. She was very kind to Mom. Andrew served Mom her dinner and I was thinking, oh my, that is way too much food, she is never going to eat it. Well, she did, every last bit. I couldn't believe it. She even had fruit and ice cream after. I mean, man, how awesome is that? She ate her whole dinner, something she has not done for 4 months. I have to give her 1/2 of cup here, 1/2 of cup there, and beg her to eat that and then finish it off with an ensure drink. Not today, she ate the whole thing. Michelle, my Uncle's girl friend, gave us enough left overs for 2 days. The last time we were there in May, Mom ate pretty well too, but not as good as she did today. We were all very impressed about it. I think this week I am going to get a roast and cook it in the slow cooker so it will be very tender and then cut it up into meals and try serving that to her to see if that helps her eating at all. All I know, is I thought this wasn't going to be a good eating day because she at 1/2 of her cheeseburger for lunch and it turned out to be fantastic. We had a really good day there, we really did. Michelle and Jayson (my small 3 year old cousin - who is so adorable) will be coming to visit us soon too. I can't wait, that will be awesome too.

I am so tired right now though. I can't think of anything else to say except it was a great weekend. Started off with a great wedding, then a nice and relaxing Saturday, and then another great day at my Uncle's. I like these kind of weekends. I hope we have more soon. Maybe when Richard is in town we will take him to my Uncle's too. That would be great. I just don't know when Richard is coming. My niece turns 11 this week. Oh my, it is hard to believe, I remember when she was born. Such a tiny thing she was. I fell in love with her at first sight. Same with my nephew. Both are the joys in my life, I just don't get to see them very often as they live in Seattle and I don't.

I hope your day and weekend was as great as ours was! See you tomorrow!

Yesterday was a very full day for us. An absolutely wonderful day filled with family and friends, and some new friends. It started like every other day for us. We got up, went to Tim Horton's, ate brunch and then came home. Mom's physical therapist, Lori, arrived about 12:45 pm for a 1/2 hour of exercise for mom. She is doing pretty well although she doesn't have the attention span to always finish the exercise. She does some leg exercises and then she walks a bit to show Lori how her walking is doing, and lastly, her stepping exercises. I am to work on her stepping exercises with her too, to make her stronger. Lori wants Mom walking as much as she can. She wasn't really pleased that Mom was going to be pushed in a wheel chair for the wedding. Her opinion is that Mom can walk and should walk as much as she can. There will come a time when she can't, and then you use a wheel chair, but not until that time.

A bit after Lori left, Tillie and Maia arrived. Tillie was coming to the wedding with us to help with Mom. We sat around and talked a bit before it was time to get dressed for the wedding. Maia's boyfriend, Mark, came to pick her up. He called a few hours earlier because he was worried about her. Maia was coming over with her Mom and they always shop first. Hey, why not, it is fun! They stopped at their regular places. I don't particularly care for shopping so I am always glad they go before they get here. Sometimes, I like to go, but not very often. I can't walk very well or very far and shopping is difficult for me. I do like to go and shop at Walmart's because they have scooters I can ride. We don't go very much because we don't need anymore stuff. We are in the process of downsizing our stuff, so shopping for more would defeat the purpose.

At about 4:30 it was time to dress for the wedding. Mom had a pretty blouse with a nice pair of pants and a jacket to wear. The wedding ceremony would be in es garden, but the reception would be indoors, so I had to make sure she would be warm in the reception. I wore nice dress pants and a nice top which I, of course, managed to get food on during dinner. I was very upset with myself as it was a really nice, expensive top. Tillie wore a skirt with a top and a jacket. Mom looked very pretty in her little outfit. We rarely have a chance to get dressed up these days. We just don't really go anywhere to dress up at.

We arrived at the wedding about 6:00 or so, maybe a few minutes before. We waited inside for a few minutes before we went out to the garden to be seated for the wedding. Once we were seated it was only a few minutes before the wedding began. I have only been to religious wedding ceremonies before so it was interesting to see a non religious wedding. It was a beautiful wedding. Then we went in to the reception. It was a great dinner, amazing choices for the buffet dinner. Difficult to choose, let me tell you. The staff at Addison Oaks were great, one of the managers came over and asked if I wanted a staff person to help get Mom's food. How cool is that? Mom stayed in her chair and I and the waiter went to the buffet line to get Mom's food. Tillie stayed with Mom while I was gone and then she went to get her food. Mom and Tillie stayed until the bride/groom dances and the parent dances were done. Tillie was unfamiliar with the area and wanted to get back to my house before dark. I stayed until about 10:30 pm. It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, Tillie got lost on the way home so we both got home about the same time. Mom was having a hard time getting in and out of Tillie's van. She isn't used to climbing into a vehicle and Tillie has a van, so of course, the seat sits up higher than mine does. It freaked Mom out getting in and out. Mom couldn't walk very well to the door, she almost fell on the stairs, so poor Tillie, had to practically carry Mom in the house. I felt bad for Tillie, but even more for Mom, she must have been very scared to do what she did. We should have all gone home at the same time with Mom in my car and she probably would have been fine. After I got home we sat and talked until about 1 am. I got Mom into bed pretty quickly, she went up the stairs pretty well considering how tired she was. Only had a bit of a problem at the top of the stairs, which sometimes happens when she is tired. I got her into her pjs and to bed rather quickly, I was pleased with how easy it went. Then I headed to bed.

Tillie had to leave early this morning to help Maia pick up some furniture in storage. She is moving into a new house later this week. So, we didn't see her this morning as we got up at about noon. I was so tired. After we got dressed and had brunch, we came home to relax. I fell asleep and ended up sleeping for 4 hours. I guess I was a bit tired. I don't know how much Mom slept because she was awake when I woke up to make us dinner. We have had a very relaxing day, with mostly filled with sleeping to recovering from the big day yesterday. Tomorrow we will be going to my Uncle John's. It should be a fun day. We are leaving around noon or so, after we are finished Tim Horton's. We won't be staying too late though as we both get tired rather easy and it is a 1 1/2 hours drive.

We have had a couple of good days. I have had a bit of a bad headache for a couple days now, I hope it is gone tomorrow. I hope your day is good too.

It was a good day today with only 1 small blemish. When one is going to knit with a friend, remember to bring the knitting! Yeah, what can I say, I was so excited about visiting today, I left the project at home.

We woke up a bit late today, noon again. I have been so exhausted this week, I don't know if it is the heat or what, but boy, have I been tired. Mom was awake already, just lying in her bed quietly as usual. She is not a loud person in general and with the Alzheimer's, even quieter. She just sits or lies quietly waiting for me to get up. When we went to leave for Tim Horton's, we ran into our neighbors, Richie and Amy, who were working outside in their yard. It was a brief visit as Mom was having a weepy morning. She cried through a bit of the brief visit. Then we were off. She did much better when we sat with our friend, Rosemary. Mom ate really well this morning. I was pleased. However, at dinner, she didn't eat much. She drank pretty well at Heather's house this afternoon. After several tries of a water bottle for Mom, we found one. Heather had an extra one with a straw that Mom seemed to do well with, so she gave it to us. How sweet was that? So now Mom has a nice new water bottle that we can take everywhere with us. We picked up Heather from the car repair store. She has to get the van fixed after the incident on Monday with the tire on the freeway. What an awful thing to have happen. Boy, who knew a tire could cause so much damage. Hope she gets it fixed rather soon as she does need the van to transport the small children to their activities. Mom did pretty well at the visit today. She started by sitting on the love seat but moved to the piano bench as she was getting uncomfortable. She seemed to enjoy sitting next to Callie on the piano bench. Mom likes Heather's two children a lot. I can tell because they make her smile when they play and Mom likes to watch them. She has improved a lot since she came home last week.

I picked up Elyse's wedding present today. I looked at picture frames but they didn't have any ones that really jumped out at me that said this is it! So, I quickly abandoned that idea and went with a gift certificate for a restaurant. I will sign the card and put in the gift cards tonight. I hope they like it. I am excited about the wedding, I think Mom is to some extent. She doesn't really remember what Elyse looks like, but she does remember who she is. She hasn't seen her in a few years. I hope everything is going well at the rehearsal tonight.

I haven't cleared the table yet. I will have to do it after I empty the garbage in the kitchen and do mine and Mom's hair. We have to get it done tonight because tomorrow afternoon will be rather busy with Mom physical therapy and Tillie arriving. I will get it done eventually, I have to because there is no where for Tillie to sit at the table if I don't, plus I need to find a few bills to pay. Once I move the bills from the side of the table and organize them a bit better, it will be alright. Besides, Mom keeps playing with the pile in the middle of the table. She has already brought it down once this week. She gets to hear me say, leave that alone it will fall. I have a couple of books to move out of the pile and that should help. I also have some laundry to do, I hate doing laundry. I keep putting off that job. I have some laundry to do for Mom.

When we got home from Heather's house, a baby bird fell out of the nest that is on top of our outdoor light. The bird is so tiny and somewhat fluffy looking. I moved it out of the way so no one will step on it. I hope the Mommy bird takes her back into the nest. She needs to live.

I hope the day has been good for you as it was for us.

It was a rather lazy day in the house today. The physical therapist came to work with Mom this afternoon. She did a few exercises with her and then had her walk a bit. All in all she was here for about 1/2 hour. The nurse came after that. She checked Mom out. She put a pad on Mom to help with the sore she now has. With the newest weight loss of Mom, she got a sore. I was not happy about that. As if she needs something else to go wrong. She took it all in stride and tries to eat and drink as much as she can. I have to make sure she eats protein because that is what heals the sore.

We both took naps after the nurse left. I am so tired today it is unbelievable. At least I can sleep in tomorrow. I am looking forward to that. Friday is the wedding. I can't wait for that. I have to clean off the table tomorrow. I have bills that have to be paid. In the worry about Mom I forgot to pay the house payment. I will be taking care of that tomorrow that is for sure. Can't get behind on our house payment. We are meeting my friend, Georgette for lunch next week. I think that will be so fun. She is a lot of fun and always filled with great stories about what is going on in her life. She has been and is a great friend and supporter. She supports me so much in keeping Mom home as long as possible. She agrees with me that Mom can be home for a very long time and that the house can be fit to meet Mom's needs. She likes Mom a lot too, which is good. Mom does really well when we meet friends for lunch or tea.

It is rather hot and humid today so we are hiding in the house today. We did go out for our brunch as usual. It was crazy because we got there right before a big downpour of rain and left just after it ended. Talk about good timing. We didn't get wet at all. One thing weird happened while we were there. This young man, teenager, got a bagel to eat and then proceeded to ask an older gentleman and a woman to loan him $12 for his cell phone bill. Both, naturally, declined. He didn't ask us but I would have said no too. It was just too strange. It did break up the early afternoon though. What a strange incident.

We had an earthquake today!!!! Yup, I felt it. The center was near Ottawa, Canada, which is a ways away from us, but we felt the effects. I thought I was dreaming, but it turns out I wasn't! We have had them before but very few of which I am glad because I wouldn't enjoy them on a regular basis.

I hope this finds you doing well.