Yippiiiiiiiiii

We did get a bit of rain and I have not watered for a couple of days, what a saving of energy------but now I have started mowing!  Wow there is no end! lol

I took Mother to get a perm today and Jack had a couple of hours on his hands......he had a small crisis but handled it and didn't even mention the problem until I stumbled on to the evidence!  Wow again I was impressed with what he was able to do and how much this handicap area in our wing of the house is so wonderful, and how much he is able to do now on his own.

There is peace in Happy Valley tonight!

 

 

This morning is beautiful Scottish weather.  The damp overcast sky and the slow easy day.

  I spent the morning baking and cooking for the week because the weather put me in the mood to be in the kitchen.

Jack is so much more able to do things that are seemingly small but they take time and multiple steps for me.    This is such a big help and I am constantly being surprised by some task that I had been doing for him and now he usually does it for himself.   He even gets through the night and days with tasks of a personal nature without my assistance.  This really frees me up to do other things, I am not less busy but busy with other tasks..LOL

Is there a rule you can't wash your car in the rain?  Well, I did and people passing by honked at me! smiles  ( maybe because it was Sunday in a small town?)  Car washing for me is like lawn mowing therapy.

This afternoon I am doing as little as possible.............or at least try to.

I wish I had the facilities for putting pictures in this journal.

Today we went to a local small town fair.  This is not a county fair but a town fair.  We missed the jams and jellies on Friday because we were not sure of the date, but a friend's grandson was showing livestock today and we made the effort to get to the "fair".

I think every pickup in the 25 mile radii had to be parked around one building in this small town.  It was really just a shelter with one side boarded up and the rest fenced.  There were bleachers for sitting but it was warm and we sat on the outside watching through the fence.  Actually Jack sat, I stood, and I seated Mother inside with her friend.

 Parking was random, you find a place grab it quick kind of random.  This was actually in a residential neighborhood and driveways were fair game. 

 We did see some beautiful cattle, not many but the highschool students and 4-H club members had prepared the animals and groomed them beautifully.  We saw  the "showing" of some of the cattle and the beginning of the sheep/lambs.  Some of the participants were both so small and young that you couldn't believe they were attempting to show.(one little girl looked like maybe kindergarten/1st grade and her lamb wasn't very old either)   

This event was truly family.  From the toddlers playing in the sandy walkway with his truck to the grandparents strutting around beaming their pride in their offspring. 

 The air was filled with animals voicing their disgruntled opinions of the morning's events, the microphone used by the judge, excited voices of the audience, and the usual traffic on the main highway nearby.  Because it was getting rather warm we didn't stay long but it was  an outing that we might try again for the county fair.

Our next stop before coming home was the "HOP and SACK".  Jack had not been in one of these convenience stores so we decided to see if there was something in the store we "needed". LOL  Of course we did come home with a bag of "stuff".

Here in the country----our outings are not too exciting, but we make our own fun!

 

.......................peace............

Picked up the great blood pressure digital thingy. 

 This was not one of the rather inexpensive ones because they have small wrist wraps, this one should do the trick cause Jack has thick wrists. 

 Have had a lot of fun trying to make it work.  If you know what your blood pressure is normally then it is easier to see if the device is working properly. So far it is just fun! lol

Peace........(it has been a better day)

wet stuff

I think that wet stuff was rain!

I think I recognized the great lightening and thunder display and sound effects at three this morning, as part of that wonderful wet stuff!

I think all of us will feel better and not so cranky with the easing of the heat.  Me especially!

Gas prices down to $2.85, that made me feel better!

I am counting today as an "off" day........let's see if I can made it work! LOL

Peace......

 

 

It occurred to me that in the past 8 months, I have not had a day off, an afternoon off, or even a few hours off.

This is the plight of a full time caregiver.

  In California,I could get as many as three hours away from the house on occasion.  I could spend this time with a friend, shopping, or just playing nickels at the casino that was 20 minutes away, and much of the time Jack would go with me. 

Jack is becoming more and more self-sufficient so that it would be easy for me to be gone several hours at a time now, or we could find adventures together.

  But by moving and accepting the responsibility of my mother, I have eliminated many opportunities.  She feels I am going off and leaving her if I even go to shop at the neighborhood store, or the town that is 8 miles away.  We have wanted to go out to breakfast, lunch, or an evening meal but she only wants to go to certain places and actually refuses to go to some restaurants.   Taking Mom with us isn't always an answer, she can't always set in the car if we want to shop and she isn't able to navigate some large stores.  Some stores do not have a "waiting" area.

Exercising the option of a few hours of licensed homecare is beginning to be a probabilitiy that she won't like but might be a necessity.  I have to look to the future and aging isn't something that goes in reverse. 

My goal in moving was to spend quality time with my mother while I could.  I  don't think I realized how complicated this would be .

  Taking care of Jack is something we have worked out to be a "together" task that gave us an unusual closeness and an enjoyable time together.

What I am finding with my mother is her constant struggle to "control" her environment and me within that environment.   I understand this struggle far better than she realizes and Jack is helpful in supporting me and listening when I really need to "talk".

I think I am chaffing under this "control".

The last couple of days I have experienced a feeling of "need" to break the routine.

Going to church this morning was my choice.  But I wonder if this was a good choice for today.  I am having difficulty with the complexity of the socio-structure of even a country church.  A friend told me to wait a year before I tried to understand, that small towns were very complex in their simplicity.  

Selling our home,  doing away with most of our personal and household items, moving to another state, acquiring a whole different system of medical insurance and care, leaving behind our whole social structure of friends and family, living in someone else's home and essentially under their subtle control, and down-sizing to one room has been more than an adventure.

Have I taken caregiving to a whole different level?  I believe my extensive educational background, 40+years experience of dealing with gifted and also troublesome children, and annoying administration (lol) has given me the ability to do this job! Does that sound like my resume?

peace.......peace.......peace...........

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday...........

Fed peoples.........

Fed felines.........

Watered.........

................going to the local little church with mother........

 

Peace

What is it with my toes?

A wasp stung me twice on my right foot  right at my big toe.

Clorox is good but it started hurting and itching in the night, lacking anything that would do any good....... I resorted to toothpaste that worked for a while.

I got up at 2:30am and it was a long day of a bothersome toe.

All day I was bothered with pain, itching, and the annoying discomfort. 

Lanacane spray that my mother found last night worked wonders and I had a good night's sleep.

I baked a frozen pizza yesterday.........of course half of it sits quietly in the refrig....wonder if cats like pizza?  Mother tasted and decided that pizza was not one of her favorites! LOL I already knew that.  She had chicken, green beans, salad, mashed potatoes and gravy, and peaches for her lunch.

Some days I prepare so many different meals.  This morning jack and I had  cinnamon rolls for a change.  Mother wanted pancakes, and she got pancakes with the edges crispy like she likes them.

Our little country store is trying so many things to get people to stop and buy.  Today they are starting bar-be-que sandwiches.  We might try that.  They plan on starting pizza next week.  Hope they can find things that will make business good.  Gas is 3.01 here in Country USA.

We had a little water stand on our driveway so Jack and I had talked of a drain pipe to take the water to a tree (like Pat's idea).  I started to see how thick the grass was and how wet......I had help with one cat holding the hoe blade the other holding the handle. Igave uplest one of them would get hurt or the hoe would slip and get my foot.....goodness not a toe hurt! lol.......I retreated and they decided that I had graciously prepared "bathroom" facilities for them.

Peace....................

Buffalo....not wings, the real thing!

Jack's therapist had an encounter with a large herd of buffalo this morning on the way to our location.  They took charge of the highway through the wildlife game refuge in the Wichita Mountains.  The animals are in charge and the driver waits! lol

Jack is doing lots of arm and leg exercises and walking with a cane several times a day.

We did have a rain last night...... I didn't have to water this morning.

Peace........

........................Jack saw an advertisement on TV for deep brain stimulation treatment for Parkinson's Disease.  He was interested in keeping the information for future reference.  The clinic was in Cleveland.  I  picked up a recent magazine and handed it to him.  The  magazine cover story was about Michael J. Fox and his struggle with PD.  This treatment has electrodes implanted in the brain and a battery pack in the chest to send impulses to the brain to block  tremors and other symptoms.  Fox had had brain surgery and this treatment was preferred since no brain cells were destroyed.

At this point Jack's condition is considered minor or light to  the medical world but not to him.  We will keep this information available for the future.  So much is being done now with medical research.  It was interesting to also read that each case must individually be medicated and regulated by the patient.  Fox takes medication amounts on a "as needed basis" much as the doctor instructed me for Jack.  

Jack's physical condition included other medical problems and PD is only one of the rather minor ones.

I hear thunder..........yippiiiiiiii

Peace. 

 

 

 

 

Clocks clocks clocks clocks clocks clocks clocks

This house has so many clocks................it is unreal!

The room we are in has 6.........The kitchen.......6!

Need I go on?

Is this unusual?

The bathrooms have clocks, the bedrooms have clocks, I don't think there is one in the laundry...I must take care of that situation! LOL

And at last count there were 8 phones!

PEACE......tic tic tic tic tic tic ring tic tic tic tic ring tic tic tic tic ring tic tic tic tic ring tic tic tic ring.................

The rest of the story.........................

The question was asked:  Why did the cat bite Jack?

We had no idea, Jack was riding by in his power chair, the cat was laying on a chair near the doorway that Jack was going through.  The cat just reached over and bit Jack on the hand that was operating the power chair.  Jack was not touching the cat, teasing the cat, in anyway interacting with the cat.........we have no idea.

However the cat doesn't like noise and at the time there were raised voices in the kitchen.  My mother won't wear her hearing aid unless it is an extreme necessity!  She had gone to bed and had gotten up and come in the kitchen to see what all the "banging" was!  Now she can't hear  what you are saying to her BUT  she CAN  hear  the least little noise!  I explained that it was the sliding screen door that I had been closing . It was off the track and I was having problems getting it closed.  The patio is next to her room.

 

Well, the cat was in "our room" and I think he was getting aggitated with the noise and Jack just happened to be the nearest source.  Anyway Jack had the bloody hand and it took two hours to calm my mother down as she went into the I am so sorry MODE.  

Of course Jack and I had to be the ones to suffer the consequences.  Thank goodness the outing helped and Jack's blood pressure was good when the two nurses came in the afternoon. Their visits coincided with each other although the purposes were different.

And that is the rest of the story........two women in one house is a volitile situation! LOL

Another day has begun and I am ready to dance to the piper!   Peace.........

We ran away!    

After my mother's cat bit Jack last night, I wanted to check with the doctor to be sure we had taken care of the situation correctly.

Then we went to Altus to breakfast and time to ourselves!

Yea!

We had overcast skies most of the day so that helped with the heat!

Peace.....................

 

thanks.........

HOT!  ROLLING BLACKOUTS THREATENED!

Have lots of water caught up...no electricity...no water!

104 right now...107 tomorrow......

Caregivers have to have plan "B" for no air-conditioning.  Spritz bottles and hand held fans?  Closest big stores are 40 minutes to an hour away....no Malls handy either.  Keep the car full of gas that is now over 3.00 a gallon.

Have to have the car out of the garage, electric garage doors!

I have been watching 6 kids play in the yard next door under shade trees and ride their bikes; they are so acclimated to the weather.

Peace............

 

WHINING IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL!

This is my mother's house.

If she wishes to start cleaning and sweeping at 6 in the morning, then who am I to say otherwise.  Except she doesn't see well, and turns on LOTS of extra lights, and the broom is not quiet as it bumps the corners, ceiling, behind the doors,etc.  As I said it is her house.

Now the cats are aware that the "peoples" are up and food is forth coming.  And to express their joy and expectations they start the chorus of "meow" with all voices joining in.

 

Of course I have been awake since 3am.  Full moon!

She was annoyed that I did not wake her at 3, needless to say I tried to explain I had planned on going back to sleep, not staying up.  

 I need quiet time that is MINE!

Well, the day has started and without Jack to make my laugh over the circumstances, I just could not do this.  He is so wise, patient,  full of compassion, and so caring about me as well as my mother.

I am blessed with a really great helpmate!

Thanks, I needed to whine!

 

Tuesday.........

Still hot, no rain, thundered twice(lol), life goes on!

We got in 12 steps yesterday and lots of exercises.

Things seem to be looking up!

Peace...............

Sunday----all day!

Church.......at 9:30  till 10:30 in the morning while it is cool.

The rest of the day was relaxed.

You think this isn't Country USA......I asked mother what she would like most for lunch and she said beans and cornbread!  Will she ever get enough? LOL

So that is what we had Bar-be-cue/cornbread/ ranch beans/salad/ fresh local grown cantalope.

The cats tell the time, they start arriving between 4:30 and 5 to have afternoon tea.  As I have said before I have the ice tea, they have yummies. Today was sardines--especially for Hisser Cat because of her leg which looks bad but I can't touch her to take her to vet.  Others has small serving/ then meow mix/ then cold milk/ now tell me these cats are spoiled!

The family of "peoples" gather to watch the feline visitors eat then entertain with their individual personalities, though it is hot.  Now the cats are beginning to gather in the "park" when the hose is watering the trees.  Now I have to feed the peoples.....Peace and a pleasant evening to all of you.

 

 

Saturday afternoon.................

Sunny and warm.

Jack just took another cane walk and is getting stronger.  He is sticking to 10 steps until those steps come with ease.  But he said he didn't get winded walking across the floor that way.  The "reacess" nurse had asked him about the ability to breathe after the walk.

We took a field trip this morning! lol  Loaded up and went to farmers market and a rummage sale, Christmas in August Gift Bazaar, and in general just has a great time.  Remember this is Country USA !  And some simple pleasures top the list.

I have found that the daily hose moving provides entertainment for some of the  younger cats.....they attack the hose and then ride from one flower  area to another.  I feel like I am pulling a couple of sacks of feed or something,, just the usual cat "hanger-oners".

Peace.........

What a lovely day!

No rain but a forecast which gives hope.

Therapist helped Jack in his walk this morning and together they decided the straight cane was the best tool for Jack to use.

The wounds on his legs are significantly better.

Schwan's man brought happy food and announced he will go on vacation now!

Insurance broker brought the certificates for my LONG TERM CARE insurance.  I am reading too many horror stories and decided  a couple of months ago that I needed the long term care insurance.  Jack's health and age prevented his acquisition of such care.  Mother has insurance that takes care of her in the home.( She is 87 and takes no prescription drugs or is under the care of a doctor and of course with me here she has not needed to activate her insurance--but her agent wants her to begin using it.)  I want my daughter to have this help when I reach the age of needing some additional care.

The home nurse comes this afternoon at 2 and then we hope it clouds up and gives the trees and grass a bath.  Our poor trees and grass are suffering greatly even tho I have watered some of the trees I am not sure that  the trees recognize my efforts.  However, the cats enjoy the damp earth around the trees as they take advantage of the "park" in the afternoon and evenings.

After Jack's 10 step walk yesterday, he managed 9 this morning for the therapist.  But decided that the pain medication was needed a little early and is taking a brief rest before the nurse comes.  Mother took us out to lunch (this means picking up lunch at the senior citizens center in the town 10 miles away) As I have said before no real restaurants in the area that have wheelchair accessibility, and those that do are too far away.

Peace and a good afternoon for all of you....those of you who stop by...your comments ARE really appreciated. Mickey and Bob, Happy Antiversary!

 

 

Chair fixed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not only that but the arms have been readjusted to better accomodate Jack's posture in the chair!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am a happy camper...........and I think it might cloud up and rain tonight!

Peace!

I gave into the service neglect routine...........................

Well, the good news first!  Jack took 10 steps with a cane!  He showed me how he did it when I wasn't  here and he is being cautious!  I am so proud of him!  I hope they will let him have the therapist  for another 10 visits and maybe he will make his goal!

About the chair part:

I finally gave and and called the service department.   You will love this!  We were just swamped this morning..............But I will have him call you...................he did and said he would do the paper work and be  right out...........an hour later he calls and I ask if he is lost.........no he is still doing the paper work! lol  He tells me how much it will cost like I am going to tell him I will shop around! lol......then he says he will be right out in about 30 minute!  Let me tell you I am not holding my breath!

The schedule  has changed a little for tomorrow...................the therapist at 8.........insurance agent at 10.............Schwan's at 11............and the nurse at 2!  The Evaluator will be here at 9 on Friday, that freed up tomorrow a bit.  Also, we will get the chair finished today.

This has been my clorox fix day!  Everything got a bath, I said things not the cat or the humans!  The last time I did this a neighbor came in and said,"Oh gee everything smells so good I am going home and clean house!"

Peace...............

 

If you could not walk...............

What is this? 

July 24th I took Jack's  chair to have batteries put in, that wasn't the problem and a part was ordered.  The  store said  just a few days, definately by Friday, for sure by Monday.  They called yesterday.  Had the part.  I asked when could they install the part.  Well they would bring it out yesterday no later than this morning!

Bring it to us was their  idea!

It  is  almost 12 on Wednesday..................if you could not walk you would understand how much Jack needs that chair. 

 He went out with me to water this morning.  It  was great to have him outside with me. 

 We are getting into the red on the batteries and need the recharging part to recharge these brand new batteries. 

Where is that man????

Do I call and cry????

Do I call and ask nicely "where the heck are you?"

Do I just mark this up to customer service that really doesn't care except for the money they make????

Ok, so they want to come tomorrow  morning............so does the therapist, the nurse, Schwan's delivery, and the agent for health insurance.

And  what does Jack  say?  He just shrugs his shoulders and smiles.

I want to kick something!

But I have a broken toe that still is mending!

Peace..............(the world will not stop if  the part is not installed today, but Jack will soon stop without the part. I am not learning patience, just frustration.  Like the  The Oklahoma Highway Patrol Office in Altus, Oklahoma, does not have handicap van parking.  You just unload passengers into the street!)

 

 

 

Tuesday's Triumphs!!!!!!

Jack took 6 steps with a cane today!!!!!

He has been wanting to be able to get around with a cane especially in case of an emergency, and he is doing all kinds of exercises and strength building activities to get his legs working again.

He has a wonderful therapist that comes to the house twice a week. He also does wound care.  But they have been doing activities that will help Jack achieve his goal. 

This might not sound like much of an achievement to anyone who walks without a walker or cane......but this has been years in the process.  Several years ago Jack brought his cane on a trip back to Oklahoma because he felt he was close to walking.  But other problems came up and the walking took a "back burner"! 

Thank- you God, thank you Carter Home Care, and thank  you Brian Hillary.

 

Peace...............<smiles>