I've Gone International

I am able to track visits to my blog. It doesn't tell who visited, but it tracks the number of visits and from what countries. I have been visited by Japan, Australia, Germany, Brazil and of course the good 'ol US of A. This World Wide Web thing is pretty cool!

Pray For Meeeeeee

I've been moving Mom's stuff from Kingston a little bit at a time. Mainly because I don't know what to do with it. I've downsized her things twice now but there is still a lot of stuff. I came across this cute little box. I opened it and found 50 or so small strips of paper with names on them. I remembered she told me one time that it is a prayer box. I'm not sure if it's like a raffle and you pick a name and that's who you pray for, or if by virtue of your name being in the box you're guaranteed a prayer. I think it's the latter. I started reading all of the names. Some of the people I didn't know, but most of them were relatives. She had the names of all of her kids and grand kids and spouses and great grand kids. Julie and her family and Lorrie and Brian. Everyone was covered. I was getting a little worried though because as I was reaching the bottom of the box I hadn't found one with my name on it. Does she think I am perfect and I don't need prayers or does she think I'm so far gone it wouldn't do any good to pray for me? She had Shane and Dina in there twice. What does that mean? I was relieved as I retrieved my name from the pile. It said: Joe, Patti and.......Ellie. Yes, she even prays for Ellie! How sweet is that! I'm learning a lot about my Mom by going through her belongings. She kind, generous, loving and a bit of a pack rat.

My Favorite Things

Oprah has her list of favorite things and I have mine.

Moroccan Oil. Makes your hair shiny and soft but not greasy. Kind of expensive but well worth it, especially for people with thicker hair.

Bolthouse Farms Yogurt Dressing (Classic Ranch). Ranch is the only one I've tried so far. It's creamy like regular ranch, but has less calories. It doesn't have that sweet taste that some light dressings have.

Country Heart Candles from Maximum Scented. They will actually scent an entire room. Some of the ones I have tried are: Christmas Cookie, Baby Powder, Peppermint, and Vanilla Walnut. I usually pick the white or off white colored candle scents because some of their colors are pretty bright.http://www.maximumscented.com/plugins/MivaMerchants/merchant.mvc

Magic Eraser. If you've never tried one, you absolutely have to. It works the best on vinyl and plastic. It takes scuff marks off of wall and floors. It's amazing. If you use it on dark surfaces, you may have to rinse because sometimes it leaves light marks.

Crystal Light. If you've stayed away from it because it's "diet", then you're missing out. Regular lemonade flavor is my favorite. Bryan even likes it and he definitely doesn't do diet.

Aromatherapy Hand Soap from Bath and Body Works. Smells great. Coming up in August is their annual sale. The sale price makes it as inexpensive as the store brands and it is so much better. I always stock up during the sale. They make nice gifts too.

The Incense Match. If you have a little hippie in you, then this is a little incense for you. It comes in a matchbook and the incense looks like matches. Light it and let the paper part of the match ignite, then blow it out. It burns for about 5 minutes. I have found though that when I lay the match down to let it burn, it goes out really easy. To remedy that problem I use an alligator clip (some like to call it a roach clip). I put the end of the match in the clip and set it upright. Works perfectly. You can get them online There is also a store at Glenbrook that carries them. I think it's called Earth Magic or something like that.
http://incensematch.com/

Marques De Paiva 100% Colombian Medium Dark Roast Coffee. It's a Member's Mark brand from Sam's Club. I first had it at my brother's house and have been a fan ever since. It's not mild and not too strong. It's just right! Lorrie who doesn't really drink coffee will drink it when she visits. Of course I have to have it with Creamora creamer and a teaspoon of Splenda. Mmmmmmmm. I just have to remember to keep it away from my computer.

Last, but definitely not least....Riunite D'oro Wine. If Brian Ottinger is reading this right now he is probably cringing with disdain. Brian is a budding connoisseur of wine and Riunite doesn't fit into that category. I'm sorry Brian but I like what I like. Plus I'm cheap like your Dad. Riunite is $9.99 for about 1.5 liter size bottle. At least it doesn't come in a box. The D'oro is a sweeter wine, but not syrupy sweet. If you like a sweeter wine, then try it. The 750ml bottle is only $6.99 and is available at your fine grocery stores everywhere. Although the Walmart that I shop at doesn't sell it and that pisses me off.

Acceptance

I never know what I will see or hear when I go to visit Mom. It's like the unpredictability of a child. You never know what a kid will say or do and it's the same with my new friends at the nursing home. My first encounter yesterday was with one of my lost friends from the other day. I'll call her Marge. (I'll have to find out her name.) Marge is in the hallway and she reaches her hand out to me. I naturally reached out and took her hand. I had a flash back of a lady at the nursing home where my grandparents were years ago. She would reach out her hand and try to grab you and bite you. Thankfully Marge didn't try to bite me. Marge says; "Help me! I'm stuck here and I need to get out. My son-in-law and daughter put me here to die. Help me!" How do you respond to that? One would think that my training as a nurse would prepare me for that kind of encounter. It's hard to give a rational response to an irrational question. I told her I was sorry she was upset, but I was not sure what I can do for her. She says; "If you don't do something I'm doomed!" The nurses were completely ignoring our encounter leaving me to fend for myself. I squeezed her hand and told her it would be ok and then I just had to walk away. Awkward and uncomfortable??? YES, very. I saw her later and she was smiling. More than likely she doesn't even remember our exchange. I continued on my adventure and went to the dining room to find Mom. There she was amongst the sea of silver heads. It's funny, she always seems shocked to see me. Maybe it's because I've seen her everyday since she been there and before she moved it was only once a week. For some strange reason I find it easier to see her there. I dreaded visiting her at Kingston because it was hard to see her failing in her abilities. She started out there being able to walk around and socialize and ended up being confined to her wheel chair and recliner. I guess I was in denial and if I didn't see her, I didn't have to deal with it. Being in denial is like walking up a steep hill. It's hard work ignoring what needs to be done. You take a step and think; I can't go any farther. I don't want to go any farther. I'll just stay here at the bottom of the hill and be perfectly happy, all the while knowing that if you were at the top of the hill the hard part would be behind you and you could focus on what's in front of you. (Wow! I am so deep.) I think I may be nearing the top of the hill of acceptance. I know I can't change anything. I am done pitying myself. I am ready and willing to make this the happiest time possible for her. It's a process.

Back to my adventure. As I am sitting with Mom I hear some commotion at the next table of two. One of the ladies is yelling at my friend Ruth and I hear; "don't spit on the floor! It's not sanitary!" Like I said, you never know what you are going to hear.
Mom is a good eater, but a slow eater. She is usually the last one left in the dining room. There were about three residents and some aides left in the room when another resident came back in to the dining room. She wandered around a little and one of the aides asked her if she wanted to play the piano. The aide says; "we love to hear you play." I thought hmmm, maybe Mom can enjoy some nice music. She began to play and as I tried to figure out what song she was playing, I soon came to the realization that she played the piano like my grand kids do. She didn't pound the keys like they do. She had somewhat of a soft touch. When I looked at her she had a huge smile on her face. I could picture her as a three year old girl doing the same thing. I looked at Mom. There she was, furrowed brow and wrinkled nose. It's becoming her signature look of disgust. Bryan stopped by to visit, but he missed all of the fun. Good times, good times.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Zona! Have a great day.

Day Number Four

Minor set back today. I walked in to Mom's room with more of her clothes and she looks at me and says: "Why are you bringing all that stuff? I'm leaving on Sunday!" "Who told you that?" "You did!" "No Mom your staying here now." "Forever?" "Yah." "Oh crap!" On the bright side though....I found her missing clothes. I routed through the laundry room myself and found them. I made some new friends today too. Ruth, Bernice and Betty. All of them at different times came up to me and told me they were lost. Aren't we all. Ruth is my favorite. She was disgusted that she didn't know where she was going but she laughed about it, then she leaned in close to my ear and said "Shit!" then she giggled. They trip me up though. I'll be talking to someone and it will be going along pretty good and then they tell me about the beaver that lives in their closet. It's hard to keep up. Mom's roommate scares me. If I get anywhere close to her side of the room she says: "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" It not what she says, but how she says it. Glaring at me with no expression and speaking very quickly in an accusatory tone. I tell her what I am doing and shes says: "WHY?" in the same gruff manner. Then that's it, end of conversation. She told the aide today she wanted candy. She didn't have any so Mom offered her some of her chocolates. I asked the aide if she could have some and she said no because Irene is diabetic. Irene says: "chocolate!" "I'm sorry Irene the aide said you can't have chocolate." "WHY?" "Because it may put you in a diabetic coma and you will die." I didn't really say that but I kind of wanted to. Actually she may be the best roommate for Mom because she is quiet,(most of the time) doesn't snore and she has an awesome 40" flat screen TV. I didn't take Mom's TV because Irene's TV is big enough for both of them to watch. The aides closed the curtain between the two beds to get Irene up and Mom says: "They pulled the curtain up too far I can't see the TV." I'm not sure she realizes that the TV belongs to Irene. I don't think I'm going to tell her either.

Five Finger Discount

Patti's TOTD #12: If you are buying something in a box where you can't actually see the item, open it before purchasing. You would think that if you make a purchase that is all boxed up, all of the parts and pieces would be there. It's bad enough when the manufacturer forgets a screw or some other part of the item you purchased. However, it is frustrating and down right wrong when someone has stolen something out of the box that you just purchased. Check before you buy so you don't have to make a return trip.

I bought a set of pans at Target the other day. Should have been three pans, two lids, and a steamer. Everything was wrapped up in plastic with the stickers still on the pans and packed nicely. I removed everything from the box and realized that one of the pans was missing. I counted and recounted. Then I noticed that one of the other pans actually had dried food stuck on it. Some son of a bitch bought it, used it, stole a pan and then returned the rest. I hope that the jerk that stole the pan is walking with a pan full of spaghetti sauce and the handle breaks and sauce spills all over his white carpet. This isn't the first time that something like this has happened to me either. I ordered an electric toothbrush online and when I recieved the box, it was empty. Again, someone probably returned it and they didn't bother checking the box. I was at Walmart tonight buying light bulbs. The first box of 4 that I picked up only had 3 bulbs in it. I gave the box to the clerk and he told me stories of what he has witnessed people do to steal stuff. I just hope that the honest people in this world still out number the dishonest people.

Day Number Three

Mom didn't hate it today! Allelujeh! She still doesn't like her bed though. She actually slept in her recliner last night. Gotta make a call see if I can get her a different bed.