It is very hot today. Thank goodness for air conditioning! I get heat sickness very easy. If I am out for as little as 5 minutes directly under the sun without a hat, I can be sick for days. It is an annoying problem. However, I have learned how to deal with it. My biggest concern now is making sure Mom is not in the heat very long and that she is hydrated. So far she is cooperating. We both were wiped out again today, don't really know why as we didn't go out in the heat very long, just in and out of the car to Tim Horton's. We get priority parking as I have a handicap sticker so it isn't like we are parked far away from the door. I slept for 3 hours this afternoon, this was after I got up at noon. I am a lot more sore than usual because of the heat and humidity. It is very humid out today. Ugh, for me. I don't really like summer very much. I never really have as when you get sick from the sun and heat, how can you enjoy it? Fortunately, I don't have the sweating problem my older brother has. He sweats very easy and that has to be hard for him as he loves the outdoors and sun. I am still unsure of when he is coming to visit.

I made reservations for a hotel in Kalamazoo to see Kathy and kids. I can't wait. We are staying at a hotel that has a pool inside. There were other hotels near by that have pools too, but they were outside and with the heat problem I have, not a good idea. Also, if it is poor weather the kids can't swim, this way, no matter what they can swim. I hope to remember to bring my camera so I can take pictures of the Kathy's family. I just love her kids, they are so adorable and great, even the toddlers! Okay, I probably have as much patience at times as Kathy as I deal with similar problems. Alzheimer's and toddlers often behave the same. Mom's understanding level at times is about at a 3 year old. As long as I keep that in mind, I do fine, when I forget, oh my, I start yelling. I haven't really yelled in a while since she came home. Even though it was awful when she was gone, it did help a bit to recharge my batteries. I am much calmer and less easy to anger now that she is home so maybe some good came out of her being in a home. Other than that, I can't think of any good that came from her being there.

I have a couple of lessons tomorrow, but other than that, we will be hiding inside this week. I may even buy extra stuff at Tim Horton's this week if the heat index gets higher. I don't want either one of us to get heat sickness. It really is awful and to add it to the extra pain, ugh, is all I can say.

I hope you are staying cool as the heat wave continues!

Two regular links to check out!!!

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/fma/fibromyalgiaaware_2009winter_v2

www.heathmattersshow.com

It's Independence Day! July the 4th! 4th of July! How ever you want to post it! It is an awesome day in our history. I sure was lucky that out of all the countries in the world my parents moved too, it was here. I was born in Canada, but that was actually an accident. We lived in Michigan, but they were visiting my Grandparents when I was born and since Mom was Canadian and Dad was British, the immigration papers didn't include the all important choose at 18 which citizenship I wanted. We found that out later when I was about 8 or 9. Boy was Mom ticked at that! Although, I think our family is living the American Dream because we come from another country to this one for a better life, and it has been overall. My niece and nephew are the first Americans in the family, just as my children would have been if I could have had any. That was my dream, that our children be the first Americans. Although, I definitely feel American, having been raised here all my life. Both my older brother and I haven't become official citizens because we wanted our children to be the first Americans, like the forefathers. Kind of weird, I know, but what can I say? We are living the Dream, our way. My parents worked very hard to come to this country and the only complaint my brothers and I had was, couldn't they have picked a warmer state???? Michigan gets really cold in the winter!!! He he he! Seriously, I am proud to live in such a great country. It really is the best country in the world and I love it so much. I am so thankful for all the men and women who serve in the armed forces and protect and give us our freedoms. We have such great people who are serving, both past and present. It really shows what people are willing to sacrifice to give strangers they don't know a better life! I am thankful everyday that I live here in the United States of America, not just on Flag Day or the 4th of July, but everyday. Thanks to all who give us our freedoms!

Outside of it being a great day just because what day it is, my head is a bit worse than usual and my tummy isn't much better. I think it is just going to be a lazy day because I don't really feel well enough to go to a movie. Mom is doing alright today, not as much hallucinating as yesterday, although it is now normal for her to see 2 small boys and 1 small girl. That would be Richard, Andrew, and I as small children. She doesn't see them all the time, just some times. I have to tell her they went home and then she says okay and doesn't seem to see them anymore. Just all apart of Stage 6 Alzheimer's. I hope this stage lasts for a very long time, because Stage 7 is the end and she will have no way to communicate and will be bedridden. We have enough trouble with her pressure sore now, I can't even think about what will happen then. Though I do know, she will be here with me. There is room in her room for a hospital bed and we will have help coming in to see her daily, so I know she will be taken good care of.

Have a happy 4th! Be safe and enjoy the time with family and friends!

I almost forgot something really cool happened yesterday. My uncle's girlfriend, Michelle, brought us 3 to 4 days of homemade dinners! Yup! She drove 1 1/2 hours to our house and brought us dinner. How cool is that? Rather cool if you ask me. We are going over again next Saturday, which I am rather excited about. Mom enjoys the visits so much. I don't know if Andrew will be there or not. I think Tillie is planning to bring her great grandson, Warren there. She is babysitting him that day because his grandparents are going to an adult only BBQ. How unfair for the little guy, but what can he do about? Not much. I would like to have a family BBQ this year, but I just don't see how we can afford that. I looked into plane fares to Richard's, but it is almost $1000 for us to go. No specials right now, so no plane ride for us. i don't think Mom could handle the 5 hour trip either, and the way home was split in 2 so that would be even worse.

Anyways, wasn't that just too cool of Michelle to do that? She is a really good cook. She is going to give me a couple of easy recipes that I can do and not have to stand for a long time.

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.

Two regular links to check out!!!

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/fma/fibromyalgiaaware_2009winter_v2

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!