Not a Good Day

Sometimes I don't know if I can take it any more...Today was one of those days. When I came to Mom's, the door was almost shut....Someone was taking her to the bathroom. I could hear her protesting when I went by. I waited in the dining room for awhile, wondering how one person could handle taking her to the bathroom. I decided to go check. Oh my...the gal was having a time. I helped...Mom hit me, twisted my fingers...I KNOW she could have broken them! She is STRONG for such a skinny little woman. She was bound & determined that she was going to walk. She is agitated today.... I thought maybe she didn't know who I was. But then she started to say Laraine after I took her to the dining room. I took her pic with my cell phone....motioning for her to smile. She did. I showed it to her. "Is that ME?" "Laraine, don't tease me."

I hate that Mom has to be in a nursing home. I hate that she has memory problems. I hate that she can't hear. I hate that she can't walk. I hate that she is stuck there till she dies cause I can't take her out of there. I hate that she'll never be able to come to my house again. Okay...that's pretty bad. I better think about what's good. If she has to be in a nursing home, it's good that she can't remember. It's great that she's in Austin and close to where I live....those 9 months in Blooming Prairie, now that was bad. It's wonderful that she accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord & Savior before all of this. I need to write about that another day.

It's hard........it's hard.....it's so very hard......BUT...God will help me.

A Hiatus

I've been on vacation. Yes...AGAIN! I spent 4 days/3 nights with my very pregnant daughter, Tracy, and 2 1/2 year old Granddaughter, Emma, in St. Paul, MN. Then I went on a ladies retreat Friday/Saturday. Right when I got back into town today, I got a call from the nursing home. Mom had been coughing up yellow stuff, and the nurse wanted to know if I wanted her to be treated in-house or have her taken to the hospital for a chest xray. I returned the call to find that the cough started this morning. She didn't have a fever and was hungry/eating. So the decision fell on me....her advocate. After getting all of the information, I decided that we'd wait to see how she does. She wouldn't let the nurse listen to her lungs, so I knew it would be a traumatic experience for her to be taken to the hospital. I went to see her at 5:30 this afternoon. She was napping at the table and when she woke up, she said that she was cold. She did wake up to eat some onion rings and mandarin oranges, then wanted to go to bed. She didn't know that I hadn't been there for almost a week. She didn't cough.....until right when I left. Did I make the right decision.... the nurse said that she thought that was the best thing to do...to wait and see.

I walked into the nursing home with the lady who bought the farm where I grew up. She used to work at the office, and I've seen her around. I knew her husband has Alzheimers and had been at the other Our House Assisted Living for a bit a couple of years ago, but then she decided to continue to care for him at home. Her husband now lives in the same wing as my mom. He moved in last Wednesday. It's a very, very tough situation.

A Day - A Visit

Today, I spent some time with Zachariah & Kate. I picked them up after work and took them to my house. They headed straight for the swings in the backyard. I pushed them for awhile & then Papa came out. They were so excited for Papa to push them! Neither of them wanted to go with me to see Great-Grandma Emily. Zachariah wanted to stay with Papa. Kate didn't want to go cause "she's in bed." On Saturday, Kristy, Kate and I went to see Mom at lunchtime. She was out of it...sleeping in bed...and I'm sure looked kinda scary to a two year old. Sooo...I told them that we could stay here for 15 minutes, then we'd go see Great-Grandma Emily, then I'd take them home. It ended up to be longer than 15 minutes. After we got there, they both took their coats off on their own (to stay awhile). Zachariah started writing on the whiteboard and didn't want to leave.

More on Texas

I am home after a week in Texas!

Some notes about my trip:
...Got used to the warmer temps & want it here.
...Embassy Suites holds out the soft sheets & white/fluffy towels (vs gray/thin towels) till the end of your stay.
...I miss last week's routine: Got up, threw on my exercise clothes, went downstairs & ate brkfst w/Lyle, took Lyle to school, came back to hotel & exercised for an hour, got some fruit & tea and went up to room to check fb, got around to showering and getting ready for the day....no hurry (except to catch two movies at the theater).
...Beware of rusty cut off pipes sticking up in parking lots...OUCH - cut my big toe on way in to pizza place, which meant a trip to Wal-Mart for bandaids & cream.
...All in all, I had a mighty fine time.
I had planned to write about more things, but don't really feel like it now!

Texas

Here I am....in Texas (Irving - between Dallas & Fort Worth). We arrived here early Saturday afternoon. We visited the Stockyards in Fort Worth Saturday afternoon. We saw 15 long-horn steers (cows anyway, with big horns) being driven down the street by cowboys on horses. We took a 1 1/2 hour walking tour of the Stockyards. It was very interesting. We ate at a "Texas" steakhouse for supper. Yesterday was Easter--- He is Risen. He is Risen Indeed! We went to Prestonwood Baptist Church in the morn. It's a HUGE church about 1/2 hour from our hotel. We went downtown Dallas in the afternoon to see the Kennedy Memorial and went to the 6th Floor Museum. Our GPS is our friend...even though we had our moments (like all friendships). For example... we were in the very right lane of five lanes of heavy traffic. She told us to take the ramp on the left in .8 miles (not sure of the miles, but it wasn't many). I finally got way over to the left lane. (I have been doing all of the driving. Lyle wanted me to get used to driving for when he's in school.) When I got way over to the left, she said, "Take Exit 1A on your right." WHAT? Exit 1A was right there...only 5 lanes to our right. So then she said, "Recalculating." I actually heard her say that many times over the weekend. Traffic usually doesn't bother me, BUT I don't like driving around here. There is a maze of freeways going every which way, with lotza traffic. I don't plan to go to Fort Worth or Dallas again this trip. I asked at the desk and there is a big mall about 15 minutes from here. Maybe we'll find it tonight, so I can go there tomorrow by myself. I need to name my GPS friend! She and I will go to the mall tomorrow.

Last Monday we stayed at a year old Embassy Suites in the cities. I got spoiled. This too is an Embassy Suites but many years old. The hotel itself is nicer...the rooms are bigger but not as nice. The rooms could use some updating, especially the bathroom with peeling/stained wallpaper. We have a balcony off the bedroom...the length of the sliding glass doors...it's one foot wide with cement walls. Can walk out and "stand" to check the weather.
BUT:
1. FREE internet (cause Lyle is taking FlightSafety)
2. 10 floors of room around an atrium with a water falls, ponds with fish.
3. FREE to order breakfast in the atrium.
4. Glass on back of elevators....so see the atrium all the way up...also see other people in the elevators opposite!
5. A suite is sweet....two rooms, three sinks.

Well...that's a little info about my Texas experience so far. Today, I went to the "theater" for $1.25 and saw Dear John and had popcorn & candy for lunch!