We added to the family this week. Yes, it happened at the last minute on Friday, but we welcomed Lady to the family. She is a little thing which is perfect for papa for walking and handling. The first night she jumped into papa's bed and slept the whole night. Last night she either slept on the couch or in her new bed in the kitchen. We are letting her roam a bit unless we leave the house. Currently, she is sitting on the back of the couch looking out the window - she likes to check out the neighborhood. Lady is putting a little spring into papa's steps as he was really upset when Buddy returned to the rescue. If you remember, Buddy was returned to the rescue as he was a bit much for papa (something he admits now) and when he bit my brother-in-law that was the last straw. Of course, at the time I had all these jokes in my head about brother-in-laws, but I did not say them out loud - I showed such restraint...LOL! Hopefully, the picture I am putting below will appear on the blog- sometimes you have to click on the actual link to see the picture.
My mom had a good week. I must admit it is always interesting in the nursing home a few days after the full moon. All the residents were quite feisty toward the end of the week - including my mom. There is someone that always wants to sit at the table where we usually congregate and my mom is not quiet about her dislike for this person. She tells her to leave or talks about her and I think to myself - mom are you a mean girl? She really does understand most of the time what's going on around her and she tells me stories about the other residents. She also tells me who to stay away from or ignore. It is like dealing with a child when I say that's not nice and you should not talk about people that way. Her response is I don't care and she gets pouty. It's interesting to see the changes in other patients behavior and attitude as well. One of the nicest men there who is extremely gentle and easygoing is suddenly refusing to get dressed or showered. He just says, "no thank you, I'm good." When the staff says ok, maybe later he responds probably not. The other day they never convinced him to get dressed or wash up. The next day he was dressed, but he was not too happy. It is sad to see some of the patients moving into the next stages of the disease. I am sometimes very sad by the time I leave during the day. If you know anyone going through this disease you understand what I'm writing about. I just try to keep a positive attitude what do you do?
My dad has a horrible cold and I convinced him to stay home two days in a row. He does not want to miss seeing my mom daily. He went to visit yesterday and was so miserable - mom even said: "stay home until you get better." He is dressed this morning, but he decided to stay home from church and visiting. I think he forgot that tomorrow and Tuesday he won't be visiting either because he has appointments and such. I am worried about him, but hopefully this cold will go away in a few days. He is running a little fever this morning so I'm hoping it breaks today. I'm taking airborne a lot so I can stay healthy. I was hoping to open up the house today and air out all the germs, so this afternoon I may keep in him in his TV room and open the rest of the house. I just want some fresh air to clean out the winter air. Of course, he has the heat on. Are you cleaning out the winter germs in your house?
I have not been reading too much except for local newspapers (love them) and some murder mysteries. I gave my dad two books: "Dirty Old Boston" by Jim Botticelli. This is four decades of pictures of the transitioning of Boston. I actually sat the other night and went through the book and recognized neighborhoods and events from my time living here. I also belong to the Facebook group for this book and the pictures are fantastic with many being provided by local people. I also started "Boston Irish" by Bill Brett (photographer) and Carol Beggy. It is basically a pictorial with text of 260 people and their heritage. I am halfway done with this and it is very interesting. What are you reading.
I had a wonderful dinner last night catching up with my friends Paul and Jackie. I traveled up their way as they were getting ready for a color guard competition. It was fun catching up with them and hearing the news of the family. Need to catch up with a few more people soon.
Funny story of the week. Remember that old joke about how many people does it take to change a light bulb? Well I lived it this week. The kitchen light bulb went out as I turned on the light. I grabbed the step stool and was removing the glass cover when my dad appeared. Why do men appear when they are NOT needed? Any way, he says did the light bulb blow? I said yes dad. He says I'll get you a bulb, really I can't believe it blew? I looked and said this takes 60w as he handed me 120w. I said papa this is too high, he says: "that's ok I like it bright!" I thought to myself, no wonder the light bulbs are not lasting very long. Did not say it out loud I swear! Any way, I am putting the glass cover back on and papa says: "did you remove all three screws?" I said yes! He says: "why I never do that?" I said oh well this is how I change a light bulb. When he left the room, I sat down and started laughing. I did say to myself - guess I never learned how to change a light bulb the right way either. Not sure how I survive in the world. What's your funny story of the week?
My youngest nephew Brian turned 14 yesterday....WOW! The baby of the family is a nice young man. He will have ACL surgery on Tuesday - either a skateboarding or scooter accident I can't remember which. Keeping my fingers crossed that all will go well!
I am going to leave it here today as papa will be pushing me out the door soon. I hope you have a good week. Take care. Chat soon. Marie
“The person who says something is impossible should not interrupt the person who is doing it.” author unknown
"You deserve an amazing life; life is good and meant to be enjoyed to the fullest." Greg Adenauer, Abundance
"One way to love yourself and take charge of your life is through the practice of gratitude. Practicing gratitude increases self-awareness." Veronica Smith, Loving Yourself
Referrals are always appreciated.