Merry Christmas Everybody!!!!  Have a great day!

It is almost Christmas!  Are you ready?????

Mom is all set as far as medicaid is concerned.  So am I.  We went ridiculously early to social services this morning.  The guy yesterday said they do interviews from 7:30 am to 11 am so I made sure we were there at 7:30.  We waited until 9:15 to see a worker.  Yup, that is 9:15 am.  They called the first person on the list (we were #3) at 9:00 am.  If they aren't going to start the interviews until after 9, could he have not told me that?  It would have been nice.  The lady was very nice and I guess she is now our caseworker.  She did apply for food stamps for us but (as I suspected) together we get too much money to get approved.  Individually, we don't have enough, but as we live together we get too much.  Yes, food stamps would have helped immensely, but we are doing alright, it isn't like we are starving or going hungry, we are doing okay.  My biggest worries are mom and her illness and my illnesses.

Mom is sleeping in her chair next to me.  When she wakes up she asks me random questions that don't make any sense, I just answer and smile to myself.  She was awake at 4:30 this morning.  Yup, that's what I said, 4:30 am.  Not pleasant for me.  I need a nap, but the roofers will be back shortly and then they will wake me up.  Okay, they are back now.  Mom somehow knocked over her water, she just noticed that.  She does such silly things.  Okay, some annoying things too.

In some ways I am not looking forward to Friday.  I haven't put up the tree and have decided not too.  It is in the family room which I have nicknamed the dungeon.  It is difficult to get into and then to find the tree?  Forget it.  I also then would have to decorate it in some burst at a time.  Just not up to it this year.  Mom really doesn't care, so I am not going to do it.  We aren't going to be home for Christmas anyways so it isn't like there will be presents under it.  I am nervous on how mom is going to take staying at Tillie's for the night.  I am bringing the sedatives with me just in case along with the rest of the medicines we need to take.  I also am not wrapping any presents but Kathy's kids.  Mom really doesn't care and we are opening them before we leave for Windsor.  This is probably her last real Christmas.  I anticipate her being more out of it next year.  I hope I am wrong.  Her memory is going slowly and from what some other friends say, she has about a year of good (well, to her good) memory left before she won't even know me.  We shall see what 2010 brings.  I hope a better year, although 2009 has definitely been better than 2008 was but not as good as 2006 and 2007.  Those years rocked!

I hope you are enjoying your season and finding time to relax!

Yesterday I saw Anne!!!!!!!  We met up for about 2 1/2 hours.  It so awesome to see her again.  I miss her so much.  I like having my girl once a week, not this every few months if I am lucky.  But I do understand, slightly difficult to see her often when she lives in NYC.  She likes it there a lot so I am glad about that.  She spent 2 years in Japan teaching English before she moved to NYC.  I made some candy for her for Christmas.  I am making candy for Andrew and Tillie too.  Tillie told me not to get her anything for Christmas so I am making her candy.  I don't listen very well to comments like that.  I also bought her a book mark because I know she reads a lot.  I can't believe this week is Christmas.  So hard to believe it is here already.  I haven't wrapped a thing for me or mom yet.  Not sure I am going to as wrapping slightly confuses her.  She will be confused enough with the holiday and us spending the night away from home.  At least I will be there and she won't be alone.  We don't need another Friday night.

We are watching Frosty the Snowman.  Mom loves this movie, so do I.  I love the song so much.  Frank played it for the Christmas Concert.  He did a good job on it.  Mom is sorta watching it, her eyes are closed as usual when TV is on.

I called the doctor this morning and asked what to do about Mom when she is having a bad night.  She will call me back with information.  Mom has been alright for the last couple of nights.  I am anticipating a kind of bad night tonight because the roofers are here and it is confusing her a bit.  They are giving me a bit of a bad headache.  Where is the hotel when you need one?  Okay, so I don't have the money for a hotel, but it would be quieter and perhaps a bit fun for a change.  Then again, Mom doesn't do very well with change, so maybe the hotel would be a bad idea.  She keeps answering the door when the roofers bang their tools like knocking on the door.  It is difficult to know the difference.  

I have two lessons today and two tomorrow then none until Saturday when I have one and I also have one on Sunday.  We are getting ready for the benefit concert and competition now.  Always looking forward for another performance.

The doctor just called back.  She is sending a prescription to the pharmacy for a sedative if this happens again.  If it happens more frequently or the sedative doesn't work, then I am to call again.

Well, time to go!  I have candy to make for Friday, well, Thursday actually since that is the day we are leaving.

Last night was a nightmare.  Not only for me but for mom.  I called the Alzheimer's society and they didn't really have anything very helpful.  Yeah, she kept wanting to go home.  I told her she was home and she agreed but then wanted to go home again.  It was like this for 3 hours.  She was so confused and upset that it was horrible for both of us.  So I called the society and they said to go along with the delusion.  However, if I did that, she would have left the house looking for her house.  So, a bad night all around.  I called Tillie and asked her if she would ask at the home what they do about these things at night.  She is going to look into it for me.  I am grateful for support.  Any one has suggestions, please let me know!

Other than that, things are alright here.  It was book club today!!!!  How fun.  We all loved the book that Maggie picked, "the Christmas Sweater," by Glenn Beck.  It was such a good book.  We are reading "The Other Boleyn Sister" for next month.  I loved that book so much.  The movie was good too.  Katie is going to get it out of the library when she goes to work next and Aggie, I think, may have it.  The other Katie is going to go and buy it, so is Maggie.  I love book club.  It is so much fun.  I was glad both Katie and Katie were able to join us.  Both of them had to work last time.  

I am ready for Christmas except for wrapping and the tree.  I am going to put the tree up tomorrow and wrap the presents too.  Mom and I are going to make candy tomorrow to for Christmas presents for Andrew and Tillie.  Andrew decided after all to go Tillie's for Christmas.  We haven't seen him in about 3 years since he moved to London, Ontario.  It will be nice to see him again.  We will be alone with him for about 3 hours Christmas Day while Tillie goes to see her husband in the home.

I hope you are having a good Christmas season and enjoying all the joys it brings!  Merry Christmas!

I had sewing today!  Finally we are back only to take off 2 more weeks for the holidays.  I don't mind though because when we start again in the new year, all three girls will be starting new outfits.  They are doing so well.  They all have a skirt with a coordinating top to go with it.  I am so proud of them.  Their smaller sister, Sarah, will be starting a skirt with me.  She is to young to use the machine but she can help me with other stuff like pinning and basting, easy things.  She is excited to start.

I finished the ornaments.  Just in time for the concert.  The concert was last night and it went well.  Next on the schedule is the benefit concert and quickly followed by competition.  They are two events in a row.  I figure my students can perform their competition music at the benefit concert.  I have some people already confirmed to perform, I am just waiting for some more.

I hope you are having a good day!

You would think I was torturing Mom this afternoon by making her wash her hair.  Every time we do this it is a trial.  She is afraid of being cold, which I understand, but still, one needs her hair washed and she doesn't do it in the shower so it is done in the back sink.  I now have her wrapped in a blanket with a towel on her head.  In about a 1/2 hour we will go up and blow dry our hair completely dry.  It takes a few hours to get this done.  Thank goodness I don't have much to do these days.  It is just one of those things that you deal with memory loss people.  At least she didn't cry and go on and on this time like she did last time.  I turned the heat up to 78 (it's rather warm in here now) so she wouldn't freeze and we did it fast!  So now she is almost finished with the process.

I have finished the ornaments for tonight.  I just have to fold the programs, and we are all ready!  I can't wait.  I know I have too, but it just isn't arriving so fast as I would like.  I love the concerts, they are so much fun.  I love watching the kids perform, they get so proud of themselves when they play or sing well, the smiles are unbeatable!

I ordered girl scout cookies today.  I will be ordering some from Rachel and Rebecca too, Mom loves girl scout cookies and they freeze beautifully so I am ordering a few for her.  At least she will eat a few at a time of those.  The other cookies she will eat occasionally, so I don't buy them any more.  No point as they usually end up in my tummy and goodness knows I don't need them!  I need to lose weight and lower my cholesterol not raise the stuff!

It's a decent day, I started a new medicine today, celebrex, so I shall see how it goes.  I hope it works, the arthritis is just as bad as the fibromyalgia.  My head is sore today, I woke up with a bad headache again this morning but it is almost back to it's regular one!

I hope you are enjoying your day!

I am almost finished reading the new Alzheimer's book.  it has been helpful in some ways and some ways terrifying.  I am not ready for what is coming.  I am not sure anyone could be ready.  Mom moved the front door gate this morning.  She didn't go out, but nothing like having the front door open and the gate moved.  I tightened it tonight so that maybe she won't be able to move it.  She has been a bit calmer this week.  I think this will be her last real Christmas.  We are going to Tillie's for the holiday and I wanted to go to Richard's for New Year's, but that won't happen.  He wants us to come in the summer when the weather is better.  I guess he is right, but I miss those kids!  A lot!

I will finish up my sewing tonight.  I will have the program finished too so I will be ready for the concert tomorrow.  We have 11 students performing, 2 are going to be absent due to school events and most students are doing 2 pieces each except my little one.  She is only doing one song because she was absent for a few weeks and never finished learning the other Christmas song.  I can't believe how much she has grown.  I have known her since they brought her home from Russia at 6 months old.  Now she is 8.

I hope you are having a good day.

I have one student this afternoon.  I can't wait.  Charlie won't be here today because he has a Christmas Concert for his mom's nursery school.  That would be adorable to see.  He is going to play his tenor sax while the little ones sing Jingle Bells.  I hope they tape it so I can see it.  I have to finish my ornaments tonight.  I can't wait!  I love sewing although I haven't been very ambitious lately for new projects.  I have to send the presents to the kids early next week as soon as I finish their ornaments.  

After the new year I will be taking pictures of the violins and be putting them up on eBay.  I don't know how to do this yet, but I will learn.  I also have 4 or 5 cellos that need to be painted and sold.  I hope that I can sell of them for a decent price.  I will post pictures as soon as I take them.  I have about 25 or so violins and violas.

10 days until Christmas!  I am not that excited as I usually am about it.  It is almost like, yeah, whatever.  I haven't pulled the tree out and decorated it yet.  I also haven't wrapped any presents.  Mom doesn't seem that interested right now either.  I know that this is probably one of the last Christmases she will have with some sort of memory.  I anticipate that next Christmas she will probably be completely out of it.  She is sleeping next to me in her chair again.  I am watching Cold Case, it's a rerun but one I haven't seen before.  

Not much happening today, I hope you are having a great day.

Yesterday was a really busy day for us.  I was very glad for that.  We met Debbie after a lesson at Tim Horton's and then we had Gracei's play in the evening.  I almost forgot about the play but fortunately I wrote it in my planner!  Thank God for planners.  Without them I would be lost most days.  Today is also a busier day with 3 more lessons to go.  I love Mondays because they are so busy and I get to see the students.  It brightens my day a lot.  On the days where there is no lessons, life is dull and boring.  Mom is sleeping next to me in her chair as usual.  The gates are working really well and I am able to get some sleep.  I feel like I am making up for months of no sleep because I am sleeping 10 to 12 hours with at least 5 hours straight through at a time.  Yeah!  finally!  sleep!

I am almost done with the ornaments.  I will be done by Thursday since that is when I need them.  I have a few students paragraphs ready for the concert.  I don't have the order yet, I will do that later tonight after dinner.  I think we are going to go and get dinner because I am too tired to cook or even heat up something.  We will have enough money for it, so that is good.  I am not taking any time off from teaching during the holidays, if the students want lessons, I will teach.  it is entirely up to them.  I know that Bob and Charlie are planning to have lessons during the holidays.  I don't know about anyone else.  I will be letting my students know that I am teaching if they want lessons.

Not much else going on.  Just had a lovely time with Debbie and the play was alright.  I will be seeing Debbie at bit more because she is going to sing in the benefit concert in February and wants some help to get ready.  She is planning to come and see my students at the concert on Thursday.  I hope next year I remember to sign up for the hall way earlier than I did so we can have a Sunday afternoon like we usually do.  When I sign up for the spring concert I will sign up for Christmas at the same time.  then it will be done.

I hope you are having a good day too.

Hayley came to pick up her packages this afternoon.  We got about 2 hours with her so I was happy about that.  I can always use more time but I will take what I can get.  I also had one lesson before that.  I worked on the ornaments too.  I am also almost finish with them so I am really happy about that.  I will be finished by Thursday which is the day of the concert.  I will be working on the program tomorrow.  I have one paragraph so far.  I expect more before the concert, or at least I hope I will.  Goodness knows my students don't want me to write the paragraphs for them.  I tend to gush completely crazily.  So, they are going to want to write them themselves.  Speaking of which, I need to face book Lily's dad so I can get her paragraph.  I forgot to get it this afternoon.  Silly me!  There, I messaged him.  She is so adorable and growing so fast.  I can't believe she is going to be 12 already.  Time just flies away from me sometimes.

We are watching Numb3rs.  It is a great show.  It is on late so we have to wait for the DVDs to come out.  We just finished watching season 5.  Apparently, season 6 will be the end.  I am sad about that because it is so fascinating.  I am watching the special features and they are interesting.  Mom is sleeping next to me in her chair again.  Nothing new there.  She does this all the time.  I wish she wouldn't sleep during the day and sleep at night but I guess I won't be getting my wish anytime soon.

I am reading an interesting book about memory loss and the issues that come up with it.  I am about 1/2 through the book now.  Mom wants to read it too.  I don't know what she is going to understand, I know she won't remember what she read, but hey, if she wants to read it, she can.

Pain is medium today, my head has been better through out the day, it started off bad and then improved.  My hips are not so good because of the weather, which I expected.  I also expect my knees to be bad.

I will be visiting with Debbie tomorrow!  Yeah!  I haven't seen her in a few years since she has been in college and going to India.  I am really excited about seeing her after Katie's lesson tomorrow.  I don't know what we will do, but it will be fun!

I hope you have a great evening and a wonderful night!