Today will be a quiet day for us. Not much going on but that is okay. The bit of excitement we had earlier today was when we were at Tim Horton's and Mom nearly passed out. Fortunately, there was a really nice lady there who told me to go and get Mom seated and she would bring us our tray. She even got Mom's milk out and the straw in for us. Wasn't that the sweetest thing? I mean, really, how nice can you be to complete strangers. Definitely an angel in waiting in her. Mom is still a bit dizzy when she stands. I gave her some of her dizzy medicine. If it doesn't improve, I will have to take her in and I really don't want to do that to her. It is so hard on her in the ER, she doesn't know which way is up and what is going on. But, if it is necessary, I most certainly will have her looked at. We don't need her to have any problems right now. She has enough of them.

Overall, I must say, we have been very lucky. There are SO many nice people out there. We often have doors held for us, or our trays brought to the table to us, and just a host of other things done for us. We are very blessed with that. The people in this area are very nice and friendly to others. Only once can I remember a dirty look from someone when I was taking Mom somewhere. I don't remember where we were, but it was like, why is she out? kind of look, you know what I mean? That was several years ago too and Mom was much better then. Kind of makes me wonder what the woman would think of me bringing Mom out now. Mom enjoys getting out of the house. She is in the living room for her rest time. I will probably join her soon as I am a bit tired today. My knee is pretty sore today. Stupid knee, it was supposed to be better by now like it usually is. Usually the knee acts up for a few days and then goes back to normal. It should be fine in a few more days. It is just a fibro flare up.

Kathy is in town this weekend! Today is her brother's wedding reception. It should be lovely. I bet the family is having a good time. Tomorrow, Kathy and I are going out for a short bit of time. Mom loves visiting with Kathy. She is coming too. I am glad Kathy doesn't mind. She totally understands that I can't leave Mom alone in the house at all. Who knows what I would come home too? I don't mean a messy house or something like that. I mean, would she still be in the house when I got home? She may wander off and that would be bad. She hasn't wandered in a few weeks, but that doesn't mean she is done wandering. Kathy and I are going to Applebee's for lunch/dinner. I am excited about that. I have a gift certificate from Christmas to use! How cool!

I think most of today will be a Walker, Texas Ranger season 8 day. Mom enjoys the show and we are almost done watching the entire series. We then will move on to either Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Mysteries, JAG, TJ Hooker, or Scarecrow and Mrs. King. She loves all of those shows. Today, I am also going to list all of our bills and then pay some. I bought new folders and notebooks to keep better track of our bills. I have done pretty well, but I like to be super organized and I don't feel just keeping the bills on the table is organized enough. They need to be filed and put away when they are paid. I bought a new expandable file (it's pink, of course) for them too. The notebooks are Tinkerbell. She is just wonderful and one of my favorite Disney characters. Of course, we all know that Pooh Bear is my favorite!

I hope this finds you doing well!!!

Mom did awesome with the dentist. She was here for about 30 minutes and Mom did just great. She was scared, but they were really good with her and now the bad teeth are out. Thank goodness we did it time before the infection would get into the bloodstream which is exactly what the dentist was worried about. The teeth were whole too, sometimes they aren't and then that is a problem, but Mom was fine and caught in time! She took 2 children's melt away Tylenol to help with the pain. I hope it doesn't pain her very much today. She seems to be doing just fine right now. She is playing with the Joann's flyer.

My stomach isn't doing too well right now. I took some medicine so I hope it improves shortly. It should, but one never knows.

It is beautiful out again today. This week has been such beautiful weather. Nice and pretty looking and cooler weather!!!! I mean, how can you go wrong with this type weather. It is perfect summer weather for me.

I went grocery shopping alone again!!! Carolyn came to stay with Mom while I went. Fortunately, my tummy got better as I was shopping and now I am back to normal. I joined Sam's Club too. This way we can get our Ensure for Mom in bigger quantities. I also got me an Adkins shakes. I don't know what they taste like but some days I just don't feel like eating much food and these would be good for me. I didn't have too much to buy because really, it wasn't so much we need food as we needed toilet paper and paper towels. That was what we were out of. I plan to do a big shopping of that type of stuff next month at Sam's Club. We have the empty cabinet space in the back room to put them in plus there is room in the upstairs closet, now that we can get to it.

All in all a good day. Mom weighs the same. The nurse just weighed her so she hasn't lost the 2 pounds she gained in the hospital so that is really good. I made her say, "I, Mommy Paxton, am doing really really good today." She repeated after me. I want her to say these things so she realizes how good she is doing.

I hope this finds you doing well too.

The weather is so beautiful out right now that I hope it stays. Okay, I know I am being a little crazy because the weatherman did say it would be hot again next week. Yuck. I don't like being hot. I think I have said this every hot day we have had. I must be a broken record. I have 2 students today, one at 2 pm and the other at 5 pm. I am not visiting my friend for knitting today as she is not feeling too hot. She has a summer cold and we all know how yucky those can be. So, get well soon Heather B-T! I hope it doesn't go through the rest of the family and her little boy and husband don't get it. Her daughter already had it, so hopefully she won't get it again. That's always the worst. You are over it and then, bam! it is back.

Mom is doing fine today, a few meltdowns before she was full because she was hungry. She is hallucinating a bit more today than usual, although right now it is okay and she is not hallucinating. She was about an hour ago and it was making her cry. Poor thing, nothing like hallucinating to begin with but ones that make you cry have got to be worse. At least she isn't frightened by them. Usually she sees people that aren't there. I think she is looking for me and my brothers from when we were smaller. I tell her they went home, much easier than telling her they aren't there because to her, they are there and she can see them. This is very common in stage 6 of Alzheimer's. Very common. She is entertaining herself with an empty envelope. She does this often and I often think, I should just hand her empty boxes and envelopes and stuff for her to play with. Naturally, when I do, she doesn't want to play with them. Just like a child, I guess.

I am tired now. I wasn't earlier when we got up, but I am now. I think after my 2 pm lesson I am going to take a wee nap. I hope Mom takes one too because she didn't nap yesterday and I don't like her not taking a nap 2 days in a row. Just for fun, I am going to map out a way to Seattle, Washington. It is 2400 miles away and a 36 hour drive. Hm, should I just jump in my car with Mom and go? I wish! My brother lives there and I miss his family a lot so does Mom. Andrew is much closer, just a 2 hour drive away. Problem there is he is never home so going to visit him is not too much of an option. I knew that driving straight through to Seattle was about 2 1/2 day drive, but of course I would not be driving straight through, you got to answer Mother Nature, get some sleep, and stretch. It would be bad to drive straight through because by the time I got there I would sleep for a week to recover. The 5 hour plane ride is much better for us. I am hoping we get to see him before Christmas.

I am still waiting on my back disability. I called again today, the gentleman doesn't know what the hold up is either. I hope they call me back like he has asked. I would like to go and see Richard, but I don't think Mom could do a plane trip. It could be hard on her. I don't know. I know Richard said he was coming here before the end of the year, I am just impatient. I miss him and his family a lot, and I mean a lot. Mom misses him too because right now she asks about the boys quite frequently. It is hard to tell her they are away because she cries and I don't like her to cry.

We went out with Aggie after her lesson. It was so fun. She is such a nice young woman. I can't believe she is 20, but she is. Wasn't she just starting high school? I know, I know, time sure does fly. Of course, Abby and William were just babies the other day to me. Now they are 11 and 9. I haven't seen them in over 2 years now. I feel like we are missing so much. Anyways, back to the Aggie girl. We went and had a sandwich and pop with her. We do this before she moves back into school. She leaves for MSU tomorrow. She is starting her junior year already. I don't know how often I will see her for lessons this fall because she is starting to work at Macy's. She is keeping an eye on Christmas turtlenecks for Mom size medium since she often works in women's clothes.

Frank will be here shortly for his lesson. His mom just called, they are near by but stuck in traffic. I know how that goes.

Mom is possible seeing the dentist tomorrow here at our house. The dentist she saw a the nursing home has a mobile practice so she may see her here tomorrow to get those 2 teeth pulled. We will be making an appointment in September for her cleaning and for filling the three teeth. I want her to have the teeth all taken care of because it can cause some serious problems for the little person. I don't want serious problems for the little person. She certainly doesn't need it.

Anyways, I hope this finds you doing well and having a good day. It has been a good one for us too. Going with Aggie, lessons, relaxing, and resting. Lots of fun and relaxation for the day. Tomorrow is also possible grocery shopping unless for sure the dentist is coming, then I may have to cancel shopping and be home.

Face book is being totally stupid at this point. Everything is freezing on me, so forget that for right now! I hate it when it does that. I am not that computer savvy so anything that is out of the ordinary is bad for me.

We are having a pretty good day so far. We had our usual. I forgot to give Mom (and mine) her medicine before we left like I usually do so we had a few meltdowns at the restaurant. She was hungry and having the hunger meltdowns. She was pretty much fine once she finished her food. Of course, it is easier to have her finish her food with medicine already in her. I get so mad when I forget like this because she does feel better with her anxiety medicine. The other two, well, yes she needs them, but they aren't detrimental to her feeling fine like the anxiety medicine. Naturally, as soon as we came home we got our medicines.

We are using a new service at Walmart for the pharmacy. They now call you to let you know your medicine is ready. It is really cool and very helpful. Like I just ordered Mom some anxiety medicine as it is almost (but not quite) empty and the message said tomorrow after 2 pm it would be ready. Well, within a half hour I got a message from them saying it is ready for pick up. How cool is that? We will be going to pick it up tonight I think. I also want to take Mom over to Old Navy as they have hoodies on sale and I want to see what colors and styles they have. Mom wants a pink one, so that is what we are going to get. A new pink hoodie for mom. She needs a few for fall and winter this year as she only has 1 for winter and 2 for fall. For summer we have about 5 or 6 of them, but not the heavier ones that she will need this winter. I am hoping for a nice light blue one too. She looks so cute in hoodies. I would post a picture, but I can't find the cord to the camera and the computer right now. I have been looking but no luck so far. I know it is in a box because I saw the box a while ago. I thought, oh, I will remember this is where the cord is, but no, I do not remember where I saw the cord.

It is a quiet day for us. Angela is on her way for Mom's bath and hair wash. I don't know if Mom will take a nap after that or not. She might. It all depends on how tired the little lady is. If we don't go to Old Navy today that is fine. We can always go Friday. I plan to get her hair cut Friday anyhow so whenever we go is fine as long as we go while the hoodies are on sale. I am not really tired right now, but I thought I wasn't yesterday and I slept for 2 hours. It was very refreshing although sometimes in the afternoon when I sleep my dreams seem so real to me for some reason. I don't have that problem at night, just the afternoon, I wonder why? Hm, who knows. It's me and I do strange things.

It is pretty nice out. We aren't suppose to get heat again until next week. Ugh, I hate the extreme heat we have had this summer. It gives me such headaches.

I am still waiting for the company to call me back about the hospital bed. I want it out of our living room, it is hogging up a huge amount of space that I need for other things, like the children's table and chairs that are strewn in the middle of the room. They are in the way, not to mention the wheelchair of Tillie's is in the hallway and that is so in the way, I hit it every time I go by it. I have a prescription to get Mom a wheelchair that I haven't filled yet. I am going to this week. I don't like the wheelchair of Tillie's as it is too hard to push so I am hoping for one that is easier to push, if not I won't fill the prescription. Mom's orders are for a lightweight chair so I am thinking it should be easier to push and put in the car. Right now my scooter is in the trunk and Mom's walker is in there too. Mom doesn't like her walker and won't use it. I think she should, but she hates it and you can't make someone use something they hate. I have tried and it doesn't work very well. All that happens is that I get upset and so does she. Not very helpful.

My knee is still being stupid. It isn't as bad as yesterday but I was expecting by now it would be better. This is getting ridicules. I mean, really, get better all ready.

I hope this finds you doing well and enjoying your day.

Mom and I were watching the news but I had to turn it off because she was getting upset. I don't know if this means she is getting another infection. I certainly hope not. She cannot go through this again. I mean it has only been 2 weeks since the last one. I will keep an eye on her for the next few days. However, the stories on the news were sad and about murder and car jacking and similar so I do understand her getting upset. We already saw the weather and that was the important thing that we needed to see. Mom is slowly eating her dinner, a piece of chicken breast and an ensure. I stopped giving her anything else because she wouldn't eat it. She would be full so what was the point?

We are watching "Holmes on Homes" on the HG TV channel. Mom and I like this channel a lot because it is calming and and non violent or upsetting to her. I like the house hunters show, it is interesting to see people by their next homes. Someday I hope to buy my own house, but it certainly doesn't like that will happen any time in the near future. I don't need a big house, just one that has a room for teaching. Our house is the perfect size for what Mom and I need. I just wish we could use the family room. I hope to try it again all next spring to see if we can use the room. Mom redid the room a few years ago. She ripped everything apart, the floor the walls and had it drywall and did some waterproofing. She did a great job. Mom added insulation in the floor and more on the walls to see if she could make the room warmer. Unfortunately, for her it wasn't warm enough but I hope that we have enough blankets plus the gas logs will warm the room for us to use. I love that room. We do need to put new foam in the cushions in the sofa and chairs so that they can be used. We have to get another TV because we don't have one down there. We brought it up to the kitchen because we watch all our TV at the dining room table.

We are having a pretty good day. Mom did alright with her physical therapy. She didn't do great, but okay. Her right leg was really good, but the left, well, that wasn't so good. It was like she lost focus. I think we should start with the left leg next week so that if she runs out of steam again, it would be okay. I had one lesson, Charlie. I got all the new music that I ordered, unfortunately, it was for alto sax not tenor so all but the 2 books I needed are going back because I can't use it. I am rather disappointed. This is the first time this has every happened to me from this company. Usually they send exactly what we need. Good thing it was on approval and I don't have to pay for it because I don't need it. I will be taking care of that tomorrow. I am keeping the 2 books because those I need for sure. As a matter of fact, they certainly came in use today as Charlie started the first volume today. I was excited that he moved up to advanced volume 1 today from the Intermediate.

My knee is still giving me issues. It is hard to straighten at times and when I was rolling over in bed it hurt to put pressure on it. Rather annoying. I hope it gets better soon because it is really getting in the way with helping Mom walk and get up. It has been going on since Saturday night and I am getting very frustrated by it. My head is okay, just the usual headache, since it is cooler out it isn't so bad like it has been. My right arm has bruises on it. They are huge and look like someone beat me up on my arm. I bruise so easily because of the medicine I take for my blood disorder. I have to take blood thinners everyday so I don't get another blood clot. Boy, I don't want to go through that again.

I hope this finds you doing well and having a good day. We have had a pretty good day especially since I was able to take a brief (2 hour!) nap before Charlie's lesson! I woke up when he arrived.

It has been a good day today. Mom is doing really well and I am not bad. My left knee is giving me problems, but that will go away in a day or so (it usually does). I called the bed company and they will pick it up this week. I told him she just didn't like it. When she is farther down she may need one, but not right now. I did talk to Tillie and told her and she is disappointed about it but what can either of us do? Mom really didn't like. She doesn't do well with change and that was a big change. If we need one in the future, then we will call this company back, but not until then.

We also are not getting a dog. With Mom in the condition she is in, her physical therapist and doctor both say she shouldn't get one. I can always get one later in life after Mom is gone, right now is the time for it.

I had 4 lessons today. I was expecting 5, but young Miss Calli has a sore throat so it is best she stay home and rest. I had the Muglia girls and Bob. The girls are doing really well. Hannah and Natalie are working on Mozart's Alla Turca. I love that piece. It is one of my absolute favorites. All three are working on a Sonatina by Clementi. I just love Clementi's Sonatinas. They will play many of them during their time with lessons as there are so many to chose from. Frank will have his lesson later this week as he has Marching Band practice this evening. I remember marching band. I loved it when I was in high school. It was the highlight of the school year. We even were able to go to Florida and march in the Orange Bowl Parade New Year's Eve. After the parade, back at the hotel, the band teacher and chaperones threw us students a New Year's Eve party. It was great. My friends and I had a good time together. I hope to find some pictures of us so I can submit them to the reunion committee for the slide show. I think it would be fun. Karlyn and Kathy had a great time (as far as I know) too although we didn't room together. So I am hoping Frank has a good time with his marching band whatever they do.

It is so nice out today. It is nice and cool. The sun is out now although it rained a bit earlier. I didn't mind. Our grass can use the rain. Mom is better in weather like this than she is in too cold or too hot weather. Mom is in the living room relaxing right now. She didn't want to come into the dining room with me. Hey, whatever the little lady wants (within reason of course) the little lady gets. She wasn't really sleeping and she hasn't had a nap today but she is very alert today so that is great for us.

Angela, the home health care aide, came to give Mom a bath this afternoon. She looks so cute after a bath. I hope to get her hair cut this week. Lori, the physical therapist, was here too. Mom did so well with her exercises, it was truly awesome to see. She lifted her legs up nice and high and did all her reps. It was great. Evelyn, the nurse, is on her way to see Mom. She is coming 2 times a week for about another 3 weeks then she will drop back to 1 time a week for 5 weeks. After that she will be done. Mom doesn't qualify for regular Medicaid, but the social worker is looking to see what programs are out there to help us. I hope to there is one that will help with the bath and the hair. That does truly help me. I can have Carolyn come and stay with Mom when I need respite care, but the bath and hair wash help me the most. Mom is very cooperative with Angela too, so that is good. She has adjusted to that perfectly. She does get nervous to do a few tasks just like she does with me, but nothing more than the usual. I warned Angela what she gets nervous about so she knew ahead of time. I wouldn't want to surprise her.

Well, I hope you are having a good day. We certainly are. The pain level is medium, except for the knee. That is quite painful and it is almost time for another pain pill. It started on Friday night and has improved some. I sat on the couch with my feet up and that is what caused it. When I sit with my feet up it has to be on the chair because the couch is at a bad level for me. Silly me. The furniture was all moved around which is why i didn't really notice where i was sitting. Have a great evening!

The bed will be going back. We tried it out and Mom hates it. She cried in it and kept saying out, out, out so when I took her out it was so hard for her. The bumpers and the railing are nice, but she is so tiny she can't get over them very easy. When she becomes bedridden, then we will get the bed back but for now, she will sleep upstairs. She just isn't bad enough off for it. Yes, there are days when going up the stairs can be hard for her and take some time, but those are not the majority of the days. She just had too hard a time with the hospital bed, worse than going up and down the stairs.

Mom seems to be back to normal today. She brushed her own teeth like she always used to. She came down the stairs no problem. She even got up from her chair a couple of times by herself, with no help from me. She walked around the kitchen by herself too without any guidance. She is definitely having a better day.

I have decided that the hospital bed that was delivered needs to move upstairs because Mom doesn't like being downstairs from me and I am too nervous to leave her on that level by herself. There is just too much that can go wrong. I will see if Mom likes the bed and if it is easier for her. I do like the bed and I will move over Mom's bed and then put the hospital bed next to it. This way both beds will fit in her room and she will be near me. The man that delivered the bed said he could move it anywhere I would like. I will be getting stuff for it this week after our money comes in as it is a different size than a regular twin bed. It is the size of a dorm bed, or an extra long twin and of course, I have no sheets or blankets that size. I also will make up Mom's bed and find her bedspread to cover her old bed this week so that it looks nice and ready to be slept in if someone needs too. We shall see how this works.

It is a better day for me too. I don't feel stressed out like I did earlier in the week. I also learned from my friend, Deb, that us Fibro people can get chest pains that mimic a heart attack but it is just the fibro. I think that is what happened. Yes, I am still going to the heart doctor to make sure my heart is fine, but I do think it was a stress attack and nothing more serious. I have been under stress this summer with all that has gone on. Mom and I need to go away again and have some fun. Next weekend on Sunday shall be fun because Kathy will be in town and she and I always have a blast. I can't wait to see her. I hear Applebee's calling our name. We are going there because it is the last gift certificate I have from last year's Christmas present from my brother's family. I loved the gift cards we got. It was a great idea and Mom and I and Kathy have thoroughly enjoyed using them. I will be starting to save up for Christmas presents when our money comes in. I will be socking away some so that we have enough for our Christmas presents. I am going to get Mom some new books and probably a couple of new outfits or something like that. It is a long time until Christmas so I have plenty of time to shop. I like to start shopping early so that I don't spend as much money and it is spread over time so that I can get what I want for people. This year, we are putting up a tree for the first time in a couple of years, unless we aren't going to be home again. In that case, we will not have a tree depending on when we won't be home. If it is just Christmas day, then we will have a tree, but if it is for a week or so, we won't. Then again, Mom really loves Christmas decorations so we will see what shape she is in. This past year, she has really gone down. It was like she zipped through the end of stage 4, straight through stage 5 and has settled in stage 6. I am hoping she stays here for a while longer. Stage 7 is the last stage and they are usually bed bound and have zero communication skills at that point. At that point I will be able to have hospice here 24/7 to help me. I do hope that stage stays away for a long, long, long time.

We have a different type week for our schedule this week. Monday will be super busy for us. I have my lovely 3 girls lessons, then I have 2 more while Mom has physical therapy and her bath. I am looking forward to the week though. I think on Friday we will have time to get her hair cut. I think she will look so cute with a bob and bangs. I want her hair just below the chin level because she looks so cute with it at that length. She hasn't had bangs in a long time, but I will ask the hair dresser since she is the expert but I think bangs will look cute on her.

We stopped for a treat at Starbucks and they messed up my drink. I was rather mad since they screwed it up, I can't drink it. Mom is slowly drinking her strawberries and cream drink. I wanted a chocolate one, and they made it with coffee. I hate coffee so I didn't drink mine at all. I will let them know next time we go that they messed up.

I got my Richard Simmon's exercise DVD yesterday and the new foodmover. The foodmover is purple, one of my favorite colors. i have already started to use it, although the starbucks was not on the list so I suppose it was better that I didn't get to drink it.

It is nice and cool out today! So beautiful that when we went out I was sad that we couldn't go for a walk. Although Mom is walking quite well today, I don't want to push it and have her fall or anything so no walking for us! I hope this finds you doing well and enjoying your day!

Okay, so, well, as most of you know I didn't feel very well on Thursday. About 6 pm I thought, wow, I really don't feel well and I feel strange so I loaded Mom up in the car and we went to the emergency room. Where I got stuck for an overnight visit. Why me? Can't they just fix me and send me home. I called Tillie to come and take care of Mom for me and she arrived with Maia about 10 minutes after we got in the hospital ER room. I had had a EKG so we waited for about 3 hours before I got a room. Apparently, the EKG was normal because we waited and waited and waited. They couldn't have done anything for me without someone with Mom because they will not leave her in a room by herself. It is a good thing but it does put me in a bind at times. My friend, Heather said next time, call her and they will help figure out what to do with Mom so she is safe and I can get the help I need. I really didn't know what to do with Mom because I knew they wouldn't be able to leave her and if it turned out to be serious, then what. Fortunately, Tillie was available and came over with Maia. They were in the room with me until about 12:30 am when I had to stay the night. I did learn a very important lesson, it is impossible to sleep on a stretcher all night long with no sleeping medicine. I imagine it is difficult in the first place, but no sleeping medicine, that is even worse. Needless to say, I am so exhausted today it is unbelievable. I foresee a long nap in the future this afternoon for me. I foresee one for Mom too. She is so tired too because she had her schedule crazily screwed up because of my ER visit. It was difficult for her to deal with this as she doesn't understand what is going on with everything. She is much better today though. She came down those stairs like usual, I got her dressed like usual without any problem. The only problem she is starting to have is some days she doesn't remember how to brush her teeth. This has been ongoing, so today was no problem. I just brush them for her. I am not that good, but I do get the job done. At least she has clean teeth twice daily. It is important to me that her teeth get down because she has some work that needs to be done and I don't want anymore work than necessary for her, so she has always taken good care of them, now it is my turn.

A social worker is coming her today to speak with us about Mom. It shall be interesting. She should be here very shortly.

Tillie will be going home afterwards. Next week will be a different schedule for Mom. She will have her physical therapy on Monday and Tuesday because Lori is having surgery on her eyes. It is a necessary, not a wanting thing she is getting done. Angela is coming to give Mom a bath on Monday too and I have my lovely Muglia girls on Monday so it is going to be one heck of a day. I can't wait! It will be so fun. I am going to work on some sewing this weekend so I can have Natalie's skirt done. It is almost done, but I have a couple of small things to finish. I have a couple of things to finish on Sarah's skirt too. I can't wait until our schedule calms down a bit, by fall we should be back to normal.

The social worker is going to find out some info for me that I need so that is good. Mom came down the stairs today like normal. She is back on her schedule today. I am glad she is back to her schedule, she is sleeping in the living room right now. I will check on her again shortly.

Angela is here giving Mom her bath and hair wash. She is so good with Mom and Mom can be difficult when she is confused and upset. But from the sounds of it, Mom is doing alright. I think it helped that we went early to Tim Horton's so we would be home by 12 noon for Mom to take a small nap before Angela gets here. When she is done, I will put her in the living room for another little nap before we go to Heather B-T's house.

I am not feeling very well today. I took my vitamin (for macular degeneration) and I had food with it but my stomach is still upset. I don't get it. I did have a major pain on my right side earlier but it is almost gone right now. My head is normal so I don't understand the stomach issue. Whatever, who knows with this stupid illness and everything else that goes with it. It drives me crazy at times and this is one of them. I am slightly dizzy too, but not too much today. If it doesn't improve we won't be able to go anywhere and I want to see my friend and her family. Mom and I so enjoy our visits with them.

Mom didn't do too well on her physical therapy yesterday, she couldn't do much because it was so late in the day. The therapist and I agreed she needs to come earlier because after Mom naps and it gets close to dinner she just can't focus as well to do her exercises.

It is a bit hot out today but it looks absolutely gorgeous out through the windows. Maia's boyfriend, Mark, cleaned the dining room windows. They are wonderful now. I didn't even notice how dirty they were until he did them. He did both sides, inside and out. We have the type of windows that you can do both sides really easy in the house. No need to go outside at all.

I have another load of laundry to do but I need Mom's dirty socks (and mine stuff from yesterday) so I can finish up the laundry. Now that it is caught up, it is really easy to do. I do about 2 loads a week, sometimes 3 and that's that. Pretty cool, huh? With just the two of us, we don't have much laundry like we did when 4 of us lived here. I remember having to do about 2 loads per day just to keep up. Now it is a piece of cake thanks to Maia and Calli. Calli brought most of my clothes upstairs for me. That was really nice of her. I just have 2 baskets that need to be emptied. I need to clean out 2 drawers this weekend and then the clothes can go in them and it will be up to date in the Heather room.

Not much going on right now with Mom getting her bath and hair done. We do have a busyish type day though which is very nice. Tomorrow, not so much busy because all we have is the physical therapist coming. I am planning to finish Natalie's skirt so it will be ready for her for Monday when I finally get to see my girls! I can't wait! It has been an entire month since I have seen them. I should know in the next few weeks what our sewing schedule will be. We haven't sewn since June and that is just too long for me. I miss my girls a lot. They are such nice young ladies and they are so eager to learn. I can't believe the twins will be in 9th grade and Lydia is in 8th grade this year. High school already and close to high school. Crazy if you ask me, simply crazy.

Next week I am going to get a memory card for the camera. I am going to take pictures of the violins and violas and then post them. Once I have a memory card I will be able to post pictures of stuff and that will be fun. I think I know how, it is just a matter of getting the memory card. It is a pink camera! I love pink!

I hope this finds you doing well and having a good day. I hope by the time we are ready to leave I will feel better. So far, it isn't looking to good, but, hey, I have some time before we leave.

I am waiting for the physical therapist to call to come here. She varies her times so I don't know when to expect her. I hope she comes unlike last Wednesday she didn't get to Mom, her schedule was just too full. We had to skip one last week, which I don't like, but we aren't home Thursday afternoons, we just aren't. I already have plans and her day is Wednesday, not Thursday. She did come Friday though which was good.

So far today Mom has been feeling very anxious and nervous for some unknown reason. She had a few meltdowns at Tim Horton's, not the hunger kind, or the thirsty kind, just the unknown kind. I asked her if she was nervous and she said yes. I gave her medicine when we came home for that. She isn't feeling nervous and anxious now and she hasn't melted down since.

She hasn't been drinking as much as she used to and that is bad. Yesterday she only drank 1 ensure and that is the lowest in a while. She was up to 3 to 4 a day, but now she is back to 1 to 2 a day. I have to get her back up because she has a new sore on her tailbone, it is tiny and I would like to keep it that way.

I was able to go to the store without Mom last night because our neighbor came over and stayed with Mom for an hour. I was so thankful for that because I needed to get a few things and Mom just wouldn't be able to do it. I have to ride in a scooter and can't push her in the wheelchair which is what she needs. She did rip a page out of my bookkeeping book for lessons, and it was a page I use. I was not happy but what can I do? I have since moved it even further away from her. She did pretty well though and I was back within an hour. It was nice to scooter around the store without her for a change. I even stopped to get a Starbucks! What a treat!

I am tired today for some reason. I didn't nap yesterday but I did get up early and didn't sleep very well so that is probably why. I plan to move us into the living room for a rest after I am done here. It is a dull day here as we don't have anything except physical therapy. I am hoping for a few more lessons come this fall, but if not, that is alright, we are doing okay now that the car is paid for. Boy does that help a lot. I can catch up bit by bit on medical bills because of that. I have to call the dentist for Mom today because I need to make payment arrangements and an appointment to have her 2 teeth pulled and 3 teeth filled. 2 are new fillings and 1 is an old one that fell out. I have known about that one for a while but we haven't had any money to do anything about that. With payment arrangements I will be able to get her teeth fixed before she has any problems with them. I hope to do this in September or October latest. Yes, August would be best but we haven't finished paying for the visit to the nursing home in June but I will find out about when we can have the appointment today.

It is nice out. It is a bit warmer than it was yesterday but the humidity is low. It is possible rain today, but since we are home all day, I don't mind. I hope this finds you doing really well and having a good day.