Mom is getting a shower. We have a home health care aide here to help Mom. It is such a relief to have some help. She is very nervous and I am downstairs out of the way. The nurse is one her way too, so we may have some overlapping in time. Oh well, can't help that. Mom will look awfully spiffy when she is done. I picked out a cute t-shirt for her and she is wearing her new maroon hoodie. I just love her in hoodies. She looks so cute. I can hear her crying because she is nervous but I know she will be fine in a bit.

The nurse has arrived too. Oh my! Our house is getting crowded and the Physical Therapist is on her way.

We had all 3 people at the same time today. Not too much overlapping. The nurse checked Mom before Angela dressed her so that was good for Evelyn and Mom. Lori arrived right when Evelyn and Angela were finishing up. I now have Mom's schedule. Angela is going to come Mondays and Thursdays around noon time. Evelyn is coming the same days as Lori, Wednesdays and Fridays. That leaves Tuesdays open for sewing with the girls so far. Let's hope it works for them too. I am not sure about their schedule, but I will find out. Ugh, as much as I want help, scheduling can be a bit of a problem. Mom is so wiped out from the bath that she is taking a nap. I don't usually like her taking a nap at 5:30 pm but she was falling asleep in her chair and that is not good so I had no choice. With Angela coming at around noon time now, she will have her regular nap time after her shower or bath. Mom smells so nice with the freshness of the bath. We both have fresh heads too. I did my hair after she got her hair and bath done. Mom was afraid of the water coming down on her so Angela did it from the bath tub and used a cup to rinse her head. She should get used to it very soon.

I am tired today too. I took a nap this afternoon. I have been taking naps more often right now, I don't know why, but I am more tired these days than usual. I think the heat and humidity has made me ache more which makes me more tired.

I had to take another pain pill today because of the pain in the head. It is supposed to cool down this weekend and next week so I should get some relief. Thank goodness for that.

We have a busy weekend ahead. I am excited about that. We are going to Laura's for lunch tomorrow and to my Uncle John's for dinner on Sunday. Very busy, rather exciting. Not much time for naps though, but if Mom gets tired, she can sit on Laura's and Uncle John's couches and take a nap so can I if necessary at my Uncle's house. I also have 1 lesson at noon tomorrow. How exciting is that? I haven't seen Laura in a long time so catching up with her will be a lot of fun. We saw my Uncle a few weeks ago. I am not sure if Andrew will be there, but Nicole and her children may be so that will be cool.

I hope this finds you doing well and staying cool. It has been a really hot summer so far. I need some relief.

We had a good day. I will write about it tomorrow as my wrist is really sore and now so is my head. I hope you had a good day too!

We just came back from Mom's Neurologist appointment. She was shocked at how thin Mom was. I explained what has happened since we last saw her and she was surprised. She would like to know when Mom goes into the hospital. I will call her and keep her updated if there is a next time. As for the crying and anxiousness, she has add Lorazapan again, this time with the heriparodol. (however you spell them) She use them as needed so probably every morning she will need it until she calms down and then probably as she needs them. I feel so bad for her, she wakes up to tears and goes to sleep to tears. Well, hopefully this will help the little Mom. We are having a good day so far, she has only cried a bit and once in the doctor's office. I have to have her gain at least 10 pounds so that she is up to close to 100 pounds. It is actually 13 because she weighs 87 pounds right now.

We will have a home care worker for several weeks this time. I was smart and did not turn this help down. Her name is Angela and she is the daughter of the previous nurse, Sherri. We really liked Sherri but she is going on vacation so no new patients for her. I will keep her number though for the future reference. Angela is coming on Friday to give Mom a shower and do her hair. I am excited for this. She knows we have a shower chair and that we have a regular shower head and not a hand held. We have tried to change it, but we need a plumber because of the type ours is. Something doesn't come out when it should type thing. I can't afford a plumber right now, so it isn't going to get done at this point. Maybe in the future. We shall see.

I took a good nap today. I had some really weird dreams though. Not that that is unusual, I have often have weird dreams in the afternoon. Mom slept a bit too, not sure how much since I was asleep. She just stayed in her chair while I rested and then we went to the doctor's. Tomorrow is a big day and I am so excited for it. First up is the blood test, okay, I am not excited about that. But then, we are meeting Mike for lunch! We haven't seen him in 2 years so how cool is that? Then Zachary has a lesson and lastly we head for Heather B-T's for knitting. I love busy days like this. Somewhere in here I have to fill a prescription for Mom's new medicine. I will fit it in somehow. I figure we will drop it off in the morning and pick it up in the evening or drop it off this evening. That will work perfectly. Tomorrow will be the 2nd time in a week that I will be going to Max and Erma's! Tillie and I went there on Sunday. I hadn't been there in 2 years and now I am going 2 times in one week. Go figure!

It is really hot out right now. I hate this kind of weather. It is really bad, super hot and muggy. It looks like it is going to downpour soon. Probably will. I hope this finds you doing well and staying cool! It sure has been a hot summer so far! My head is pounding from all this humidity and mugginess. I am used to it to some degree, but still, it is a drag to have a pounding headache instead of just an ordinary headache during the day.

We are both rather tired today. The stress of the weekend, I think has added up. I put Mom in the living room at 3 pm and she is still sleeping 2 1/2 hours later. She is so exhausted. I will wake her up when the nurse gets here. It isn't the same nurse. Darn, I am sure I will like this one, but I really liked Sherri. I am sure Mom will like the new one too. No big deal, really. I am just surprised we are getting home care again, but hey! If it will help the little person feel better, then I am all for it. I have to pick up her antibiotics tonight before 8 pm somehow. I am not so sure I should have Mom go with me again, but we will see how she feels. Maybe someone can run here and stay for a bit with her or maybe she will be up to going. We are only picking up medicines and that is it. No shopping at all. I would rather do it tonight than tomorrow because she hasn't had an antibiotic at all today and that is not good. We don't need the infection coming back again. She doesn't need another visit to the hospital. I am glad this one was short. I got her some Cranberry juice to drink because Bob said it helps keeps those infections away. He was told to drink it from his doctor when he had two infections like Mom so I got some today for Mom. I also got more hangers because we didn't have enough to hang all my clothes.

For the first time in 2 years, all of my clothes, except what I am wearing, are clean. Yup, all of them. Calli brought them all down before her camp and Maia and Tillie washed them while I was teaching and getting Mom yesterday. I have one small pile to hang and a few to carry up, but that it is. They are all finished! I am so happy about that. I can see what I have and what I want to keep and get rid of. Very little will go since I purged 2 years ago and the only clothes that are left are the ones I want and fit.

I plan on Mom and I relaxing tonight after I figure out the picking up the medicine problem. We had lunch with Georgette and that was so fun. We haven't seen her in a month! She had a good time up north most of last month. We talked about competition, lessons, Mary Kay, and all sorts of good things. I can't believe it is almost time to think of competition! Wow, summer has gone fast in some places and dragged in other places. I am glad it is almost over because we haven't had a really good summer with the little Mom getting sick a few times and being in the hospital. I hope the rest of the summer is good for her. We have a nice and busy week ahead of us. I am really glad about that. I like it when we are busy!

It is hot and humid out. Just plain yucky! It isn't suppose to improve until the weekend. Ugh, so I anticipate a painful week. i hope yours is better!

Mom is home! She is very exhausted (more than normal) and kind of ornery. It was actually kind of funny but she threatened to kick my butt (use the a word instead - which she never ever uses) and you get the picture because Tillie and I were trying to get her up the stairs. I don't look forward to the stairs tonight. Tillie goes home tomorrow morning at around 8:30. I will still be sleeping and hopefully Mom will be too. I am keeping her up a bit because I want her to sleep really well and long! Tillie put up another railing for the upstairs so we have a railing on each side of the stairs now. I hope it helps us get Mom up the stairs tonight. I dread that but we will get it done.

It has been a decent day despite 2 lessons missing. Frank is back from camp but needs a week to practice and Aggie forgot about it. Calli is back and she had a great time at camp. She really enjoyed it. It rained a lot at camping with the family so they came home a bit early. She is at day camp this week. I love hearing about kids and their camps. I loved camp as a child and I want every child who goes to camp to have a good time too.

Tomorrow I am meeting Georgette for lunch and I am really excited about it. I haven't seen her in a month and it will be fun. I do have one student at 4:30 but we will back long before the lesson. I have to get Mom back on her schedule tomorrow. I figure by Thursday or Wednesday she will be back on schedule.

I am in a bit of pain tonight, partly because of stress and partly because of weather. It looks like it is going to storm tonight. I hope I sleep through it. I hope this finds you doing well.

Mom is ill again. She has another urinary tract infection and is slightly dehydrated. She also does NOT have a pressure sore on her bottom. It is a scab from the old. So one good thing there. She will be in the hospital for a few days, poor thing. She was doing alright when I saw her earlier in the day. When she started falling asleep, I came home and napped too. I am so tired because I didn't get much sleep last night. I took her to ER after she was not seeming herself at about 9 pm. I got home around 1 am and I was up by 9 am because I thought I was just going to pick her up from the ER. Wrong! No, when they say she is staying overnight, they mean in the hospital, not in the ER. I didn't know that. I asked the nurse how long would she be there and she said at least a couple of days if not a few more to get rid of the infection. I wonder how long Mom has had this as she didn't act like herself on Friday either so I am thinking she had it a few days ago too plus she had on and off tummy aches this week. I thought it was just constipation, but maybe it was the infection. It is so hard to know these details. But anyway, she is being taken care of and that is what counts. I am going to see her again this afternoon. The one thing I won't do is after all this put her in a nursing home to regain strength. Been there, done that, not happening again. Anything she needs will come to the house where she is comfortable and happy. I am so not going that route right now again. If it becomes necessary in the future, well, that is then and I will worry about it then.

I am in a lot of pain because I walked all over the hospital getting to Mom's room because I thought she was in emergency. Next time I will get a scooter and ride to Mom's room. I am not sure how to get there because I went to and from her room rather strangely so I would be near the ER where my car was. My legs and hips are really sore. I had to take another pain pill. I hope it feels better soon because it is pretty bad right now. I am heading out to see her again shortly. I do have to change schedule of one luncheon this week because, I think, that may be the day Mom comes home. We shall see. We are going to lunch with friends 2 times this week! I am excited about that.

It is getting hot out again, but my pain is from stress and the extra walking. I know better now, if she is staying overnight, she is not in the ER! I hope your day is going well!

I just woke up from a nap. There was the coolest article that Barb found posted on face book. Here is the link. You just got to read it.

You Know You Have Fibro If… | Cranky Fibro Girl
www.jennyryan.com

It is so true and funny at the same time. I laughed pretty hard when I read it. I love the one about the shower. I have a chair in my shower/bathtub because I can't stand long enough to take one. I was exhausted (even though I got up at noon) that at about 2:30 I went and took a nap. Mom was still sleeping when I woke up. I was having wild dreams that seem so real that I woke and saw that I was fine and home. Strange how dreams work.

Not much going on today. Monday is our busiest day and the day that I love the most. Thursdays, and Tuesdays are the next busiest. The rest are just boring unless we have plans for things to do. Fridays will be busy again starting next week and then every other week which will be good. Saturdays should pick up a bit in the fall with at least 1 lesson. I am looking forward to fall so much because this week is going to be hot and humid again and that just makes me ache. Not that it takes much to make me ache, but super hot and humid does.

I read all my blogs that I follow and today is pink Saturday. As soon as I figure out how to post pictures I will start doing a pink Saturday too as I love the color pink. I also will be getting a memory card for my (pink!!!) camera this week so I can take pictures of my violins and violas. I think tonight we are going to Joann's to get some boxes so I can start painting again. I love painting. I also want to paint a couple of signs for our bedrooms. They are fun to do. It is almost time for dinner and I don't know what to make me. I thought cooking for 2 was boring, well, I was wrong, cooking for 1 is worse because Mom only eats a chicken breast for dinner now and it takes her about an hour to eat the whole thing. I don't know, I don't get it either, she just doesn't feel hunger like the rest of us do. It is a weird thing but she will eat it and she needs the protein.

I found a new sore on her tailbone, it is very tiny, yet there. I almost cried. I forgot to cream her one morning this week and it arrived in the evening. Talk about fast! Anyways, I have been pouring the ensure plus down her and making her eat her chicken since we know that will heal it. I am not too worried about it because I am doing everything I can with it. It is a bit swollen near there but no breakouts. I don't know why it is swelling underneath but since there is no breakouts I can only wonder. No, I don't want a breakout to find out why it is swelling either. That would be awful for the little Mom, she would just be in pain from that. I have a new cushion for her to sit on. I don't know if she likes it or not because she doesn't comment much. She hasn't complained about it yet, so I think it passes the muster for her.

I think maybe tomorrow we will go and see a movie. It is a possibility if we don't fall asleep instead which is what has happened the last few times we were going to go. I don't worry or get upset if we don't see it in the movie theaters. Mom has such little time left that I have plenty of time to go after. I can always buy the movie on DVD and watch it here at home with her. The last time we did go, she fell asleep and that kind of bothers me because she is missing the movie then. I do need to order the Disney's Oceans movie. We want to see that one. We just got the Percy Jackson movie as I loved the books. I read them last year. I borrowed them from one of my students brothers. It was very cool and interesting. I need to see that first and then I am going to loan it to the Muglia girls so they can see it. They wanted to see it in the movies but never got the chance to, too busy.

Anyways, it is absolutely beautiful out right now. No heat, no humidity, no rain, just sun and cool breezes! Our air conditioner hasn't even kicked in for the day! Talk about nice!!!! I hope this finds you doing well!

We have had a lazy type day. We got up and went to the usual, then Mom had physical therapy and did alright. It took some doing but she finally finished her exercises. She was having a hard time with the left leg for some reason. Some days are good, some days are not and it all depends on her. I cooked a roast in the crock pot and Mom didn't want any. I plan to separate it up and put it in the freezer now that it is cooked. Mom likes beef but who knows what is going on in her mind. I was disappointed that she didn't like the meat. I think it was a bit chewy for her, but still, I thought she would like it.

I took a long nap today even though I didn't sleep that badly last night. I was reading at the table last night so we ended up going to bed a bit later than usual. Mom slept in too. We tried the baby monitors that I bought last night too. It is so loud! I mean, really, really loud! White noise, so for about 2 hours I couldn't sleep until I was exhausted and turned it off, which is probably why I am so tired today.

It is nice and cool today, not hot at all! I love it. This is my kind of summer weather. Supposedly showers and massive heat wave next week during the week. Yuck, I can't wait until fall. I am such a fall girl so is Mom. Mom is putting a tissue on her head right now. I don't know why. Her head isn't sweating or dirty. I meant to get her hair cut today, but I fell asleep instead so we will go next week. I want her hair cut before we go to my uncle's. No special reason, just want it done by them.

Not much going on this weekend, we don't have any plans except our usual. I, hopefully, will start some of the Christmas ornaments that I have been meaning to start. My hands have been very painful lately so I haven't started anything. I wonder if Tillie would like to do any. Hmm, or Maia? Maybe, crafting with friends are so fun. I can't wait until Monday when I get to hear all about the camps Calli and Frank have been attending!

It is really nice out here today. Hope it is for you too!

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!

A rather boring type day. I am not complaining, just pointing it out because around here, an exciting day is not always a good thing. Last excitement? Mom was in the hospital! Although I would say that going to Kalamazoo was exciting! Mom had physical therapy this afternoon. She did okay, not too good. She just couldn't do much today, she is very wiped for some reason. I had her in the living room for a rest and she took one, but I don't know how long she slept because I was sleeping. I don't know how much she slept last night either. I do know she was awake around 8 am because I had to go to the bathroom at that time and she was awake. I didn't go in though because I wasn't ready to get her up, I thought maybe she would go back to sleep but maybe she didn't. She is playing with the Kleenex box and tablecloth. As long as she doesn't rip it, I don't care. She can, however, shred the tissues as we have another box that we use. This is here play box that surprisingly is still full.

She is crying a bit more this afternoon than usual. It has been like this for a couple days. i don't know if that means her medicine needs to be changed. We have an appointment next week so I will ask. We accidentally missed the appointment in July. Oops! Not good on my part. Fortunately, we were able to get an appointment right away. Tuesday, we will be going to lunch with my friend, Georgette, so that is going to be fun. She was away up north a lot last month. I know she tries to spend as much time at her cottage as she can in the month of July. She takes the entire month off from teaching. I only take off when I am on vacation out of town. I find with the students vacations that is all i need to do although if necessary I would do the same. It just hasn't been necessary for me.

I filled out an application for a website that promotes lessons. I hope they add me to their list, it would help me out a lot. Of course, my own website will help even more so that is what I am in the process of doing. I get to have the first look at it next weekend. I am very excited about that. I hope it brings some new students my way. I am looking for about 7 more regular, weekly students.

In September, Maia, Danielle and family, and Mom and I will go to the zoo. It has to be on a cooler type day because otherwise Mom and I will melt. If it is too hot, we can't go. But I figure by the time Maia wants to go (near the end of the month) it should be perfect zoo weather. I am excited about it because both Mom and I love the zoo.

I was going to get some of the craft kits out but I took a nap instead. I was so tired that I had to go and lay down, while sit down in my chair with my feet up and my blanket and I sleep for about 3 hours. I don't usually take short naps, usually they last anywhere from 3 to 5 hours. Sometimes it is the best sleep I get all day.

I have a bit of a bad headache which I expected since it is so hot and humid out. I think it is about 90% humidity out today which makes it feel like it is over 100 degrees. Ugh, we only went out for our usual, and we drove through because Lori was on her way. I didn't want us to be late. Mom finished her donut in time for Lori to begin. It is supposed to be cooler and less humid tomorrow. I am going grocery shopping tomorrow by myself and I can't wait! it shall be great because I won't have to worry about Mom getting tired out while I am shopping. It is our monthly shopping. I just have to get a other things to like new crayons and coloring books for us. They are on sale right now. I do plan on taking her with me to pick out a new backpack, I don't like how big the new one is. I am going to get her a small cloth one like the one I carry. Or I may get me a new one and let her use the one I use. Either way, it will work out well. I am going to look to see if they have sweat pants out for sale yet too, because I need to get Mom a new pair in case of an accident and she needs to change her pants. I am going to get her a black pair since black goes with almost everything. I am looking forward to shopping on my own. I won't have to worry about Mom getting tired or walking to slow or fast because she does both. Sometimes she walks so fast she almost falls. I found that out when we went to get a few things the other day. Several times I thought she was going to go head over heels but she didn't. It was rather scary. Walmart is just too big for her to walk in. I won't have her do that again.

I hope you are having a good day.

It has been an interesting day so far. Mom had MAJOR meltdowns in Tim Horton's today. I asked what was wrong because I knew she wasn't hungry as she was eating and she said she felt "ashamed". I asked why and she didn't know. I assured her she did nothing wrong and has no reason to be ashamed at all. She, of course, is over it now and doesn't remember it, but wow, can you imagine? She feels ashamed. Today is a definite I HATE Alzheimer's day. Mom has no reason to be ashamed, she doesn't do anything wrong and what she does wrong is usually a symptom of her Alzheimer's (like her temper tantrum last night by throwing a fork with chicken at me). She doesn't do anything wrong. When we got home I immediately called my friend, Donna, who knows a lot of this disease, and she said it was probably the part of Mom that is still there trying to get out and can't. Donna said I did the right thing, but man oh man, poor Mom, in tears and upset because SHE feels ashamed. Fortunately, she is fine now and doesn't feel ashamed at all. This broke my already battered heart. She is in the living room sleeping now.

My pain level is pretty high in my head because of this upset, but the pain pills are kicking in. I tried to sleep a bit in the living room with Mom but head won't shut up so I can't sleep. We didn't get up too early today, noon, so Mom is probably rather tired as she wakes up early and just lays there waiting for me to wake up. I have no students today because Zachary can't make it this week and Charlie is at band camp so it will be really quiet today. I am reading the book club book and it is good so far. I don't usually like short stories because I always want more but these are good. It is the "Ford County" by John Grisham. I like his books, they are always entertaining. We are having book club at the end of the month. We will possibly have to miss next month because Bob and Maggie will be out of town for 2 weeks, one being the usual week we have book club, so we will just go straight to October. I have the perfect book that I just finished and loved. It is called "Cleopatra's Daughter" and it is wonderful. It is new to paperback and I got it in Kalamazoo when I went there for vacation. I am ready for another vacation, but I think we are done for now. Okay, I KNOW we are done for now, but still, can't blame me for wanting another one. I know both Mom and I would love to take a vacation from our illnesses, especially the Alzheimer's. I would like a vacation from being exhausted all the time too, but hey, I can still do some stuff so that is good. As long as I can teach, I am a happy camper. Without teaching, like would be awful, so I won't think of that now.

It is really really hot and humid out today. It is supposed to possibly rain and thunderstorm today and tomorrow and then it will cool down. I can't wait for the cool down. This weather is just awful and I can only think of my friends who live in hotter places than this! What they must be going through! Stay cool and try to have a good day!!