In All Different Directions!

As usual, our family is going 90 mph in all different directions these days.  Here's what we've been up to for the last 3 weeks...

Alyssa 

Alyssa has added more days to her work schedule at Milk + Honey. She's really enjoying her weekly Apprentice program - learning a lot and making a good impression.  This week, she has models coming in to get various styles, so she can be "checked off." When she completes all of this - probably in 3-4 months -  she anticipates being "given a chair" at the salon. Very exciting!!
We all had a lot of fun fishing and sailing at the end of last month at Lake Texoma - see more at A Long Line of Lake Lovers. And, then, a couple of weeks later, Alyssa had a wonderful trip to the beach with Josh's family. She LOVES the beach, so 4 days at a lovely condo in Corpus Christi was perfect! They caught quite a few fish, saw a few dolphins and maybe even a shark. It sounds like September, when the crowds have died down, is THE time to do a beach trip!
Alyssa's "Wedding Update" is that she found The Dress. Next stop...Invitations.
On a side note... Alyssa's fiancé, Josh, turned 21 since I last reported in.  After our fishing trip, we decided to get him a bow fishing kit.  With all the carp at the dock, I think he'll love using it there. He's already being practicing and is becoming quite good with the bow! He loves "outdoor stuff" so I'm glad we found something for him on his "Big Day."

Katie 

Katie finished her summer work at Cinemark. Luckily, she's been accumulating free passes (one of the perks of working there!) so I anticipate more movie watching for all of us!
We've been busy shopping for "L.A. Clothes" - since most of her NYC wardrobe is for much colder weather than she'll see in southern California. She is not sad to leave that New York weather!
She's been having a lot of fun with Zumba classes at the local 24 Hour Fitness.
We're working together on a cookbook, so she'll be able to make various dishes that she grew up enjoying.  She probably won't be home for Thanksgiving this year, so she wants to learn how to make all of our family specialties! :::sniff, sniff:::
Katie's been a huge help to me with getting Grandma to her multitude of dental appointments lately. (See below)
And... I just realized that the next time I "report in," I will probably be back from taking her to California. I'm going to miss her!!

Michael

Michael has been busy trekking across Nicaragua. He teaches in the eastern side of the country, but is often called back to Corazo area for Peace Corps training classes and workshops. It doesn't hurt that his girlfriend lives in La Paz and her family kindly allows him to stay there with them.  Considering his pay is about $100/month, and his food options are pretty bad where he lives, I'm happy that he has a family who feeds him whenever he's there!
Michael has had very little communication lately because his computer crashed. This is not an easy fix in a 3rd World country. Kathya thinks she knows someone that can fix it, but we'll see. In the meantime, she loaned him a computer from her family to take back to his house in Muelle de Los Bueyes (south central Nicaragua). Only problem was, he confused the 2 power cords and took the wrong one back. Considering mail is completely unreliable, he has to wait a couple of weeks to get back over there to get the right cord. All of these computer issues are troubling him because he and Kathya are trying to work on her Visa to come back to the USA with him for Alyssa's wedding next April.  Only about 10% of Nicaraguans who apply for visas are granted one, so we're a little worried. Cross your fingers!
On Wednesday, Michael experienced a 7.6 earthquake which occurred off the coast of Costa Rica but shook Nicaragua as well. He felt the tremor and said it lasted longer than any he remembered in Alaska or California. All day long, Nicaraguans anticipated a tsunami from the quake, but by the end of the day, the warning was lifted without any tsunami. He called to tell me about it, before I could hear about it from the computer or the news.  I'm glad because I would have been worried sick if I couldn't find out about him.

I found a different video and shared it at my earlier blogpost, "Mom! It's an Earthquake!" 
But here's CNN's report on this earthquake, with experts, maps and explanations:

Sue

After a couple of months of exercise (including weekly with Michelle, the trainer) and wishy washy dieting, I stuck with the Fuhrman Diet. And lost 7 lbs. in 2 weeks! For some reason, I fell off the wagon and ate all kinds of unhealthy stuff. So now I'm back on board. The diet is primarily plant-based. Crazy, seemingly excessive, amounts of leafy greens as well as 1 lb. of cooked veggies and 1 lb. of raw veggies, at least 4 fruit, and 1 cup of beans. That's the minimum! Really makes for a messy kitchen though. Oh well.
I offered to help my longtime friend, Linda Dobson, with her publication Parent at the Helm. The books she wrote really helped me tremendously when we first started homeschooling, so I am happy to help her out with PATH. I've written a few pieces and now I'm learning Wordpress, behind the scenes. I really like it so much better than Blogger, but I'm not sure about moving everything to a different blog. We'll see. If I can figure out the Wordpress "themes" down the road, I might do it.
And speaking of road... I'm looking forward to Katie and my road trip to California at the end of the month! Driving there, flying back.

Ron

Ron is still ordering parts and working on the motorcycle. Luckily, we have Grandma's Toyota Camry for him to drive to work.  He's had a couple of really great sailing weekends. He's doing different things with the sails, so he can control the speed and the ways the sails catch the wind. And, he bought the decal for the boat name change... O Susie Q.  We'll take a picture the next time we go up there (or he might go up while we're gone to California.)
I've never had a boat named after me! Kinda cool!

Grandma

I was sitting at my dining room table when my mom came up to me.
"Look at this," she said casually and placed a whitish almost plastic looking thing in my hand.
"What is it?" I asked.
"My tooth!"
Why this grossed me out, I have no idea. My kids have put far worse into my hands in years past. But this really bothered me.  Oh well.  I got over it.  Grandma's "chipped" tooth turned into 6 visits to the dentist and oral surgeon!  She needed a root canal, a crown lengthening, a post being added, a temporary tooth, and still a permanent one to go in there! Wow!
She's really enjoying all the activities that her apartment complex sets up. So, in spite of her forgetfulness and real need for a lot of help, I'd like her to stay there as long as possible. We're talking about how the next step is to move in with us - and she isn't resisting that. But, just like with the car, why resist until it actually comes to pass? Then, we'll see how she is with resistance. Hopefully, that's a little ways off.

Grandma's Car

This is my mom and her friends in her 1st car. It was 1948 and she was home from college for the summer.
She was so disappointed to learn her dad wouldn't let her take it back to school with her
- she was just to use it while she was home on Summer Break.
They called this car, The Doorknob Car, because it actually had a door knob instead of a car door handle.
She looks happy, though, doesn't she?

I wrote Whatcha Drivin'? last fall about taking the car from my, now 82 year old, mother.

She's still not happy about it.

It's such a strange predicament to be in. My mother was always a "take charge" person. She worked outside the home while most of my friends' moms stayed home.  I'm only mentioning that because it's part of what makes this so uncomfortable for me. It's such a strange turn of events.

Her forgetfulness continues to increase.
Her balance is shot.
Her ability to process what's being said is...sketchy.

But at every opportunity, my mom asks me when I'm going to let her drive again. She wants to pick up her friend and drive to Mass. She wants to go to the grocery store, or Walgreens, or out to grab a hamburger.  Truthfully, it would be SO much easier if I just let her. And the odds are, she'd be ok. For a little while. We've all seen some terrible older drivers.  Yet, there they are, motoring along side us on the roads. Until they plow through the pedestrians at the local farmer's market. ::sigh::

In all of my blogging this past Spring, I forgot to mention that at one point, Mom took matters into her own hands. I was having a particularly frustrating day. Her conversations seemed to be on a loop, and I was telling her for the umpteenth time that she wasn't going to drive. I told her that I would come get her and take her. But I'm sure she could hear the exasperation in my voice. It wasn't that it irritated me to take her anywhere. It was more that she required the same conversation to happen 3-4 times in the same hour.

A couple of days went by and I didn't hear anything from her. This wasn't typical. So I called her:
"I should tell you something," she said very matter-of-factly. "And you're not going to like it."
"Okay?"
"Martha took me to Carmax and I bought another car. Because you must just want my car."
"What??"
"Yes. You were not nice to me and I just got mad and decided to do it myself."
"What do you mean I wasn't nice? I've spent at least 4 hours with you every day for the past week!"
"Your tone."
"I cannot believe you did this."
"I did. It's an older Toyota Camry. I like it. It's silver. It has a lot of miles but it was only $5000."

I was shocked, really. Granted, she was being encouraged by her friend, Martha. The two of them talk a lot about how "These kids think they know everything." Even when we are trying to listen and help all the time.

So I took the Honda back over to her and told her to keep them both. I was frustrated.  So both cars sat in her parking lot.  Most of the time, she didn't drive - just to Mass, and to Walgreens and HEB. A few days went by. and we talked more calmly about it. She agreed that much of it had to do with pride. People in her apartment complex frequently asked her where her car was.  It must be so hard to watch your children take away your independence, piece by piece.

Of course, true to form, she added, "You know it's really all your own fault. I was mad that you spoke harshly to me and I wanted to show you that I could too go out and get whatever I wanted."

Glad we got that settled: My fault.

Within a couple of weeks, she got sick while Ron was out of town. I needed her car to get groceries for her. From that point on, I just didn't give it back. She had a couple more small falls in the apartment and then started to see her own foggy moments. I've pointed out to her that the brain's ability to process is NECESSARY when you drive, and I think she's seeing that. Of course, then she forgets and we start over.

She's asking less frequently, probably because I'm very conscious about how I word things. I refer to it as HER car.  I don't try to get her to AGREE to the decision about driving - something I was always wanting.  I had to just let that go.  I gently say, "OK, well, I'll come get you and we'll go do that."

Of course, some parts of a personality stay strong. Like today, when I was going to be out all day, I asked her if she needed anything before I left the house. Her response?

"Nothing really... except my car."

:::sigh:::

"Of course. See you tomorrow, Mom!"


Related blogposts:
What? July is Over?
Blogposts about Grandma

Busy Lives

Update Time....

Michael ~ We don't hear from Michael every week and this is one of those weeks where we didn't.  If you had asked me if 5 or 10 years ago if this could ever happen (the not talking to him part), I would have never been able to imagine it. I might have even burst into tears at the sheer THOUGHT of not speaking to him daily. I only say this because I still run into people who feel this way about their children. And somehow, Life just takes care of it. They grow and go off on adventures, and luckily, it doesn't usually happen all at once. And you just kind of ease into it. I feel a little sad, writing that now, but he's happily cavorting around on adventures, and that IS what he wants. So that's what i want for him. I'm still planning to spend a couple of weeks in Nicaragua in November/December, when he has a work break. And he'll be back here for Alyssa's wedding in April. There are moments when I miss him terribly - but it's not constant, like I always thought it would be. I guess this is just what having adult children is like. :::wistful sigh::::

Katie ~ Katie is firming up her apartment options for Los Angeles. She and two of her friends are doing the paperwork to get a really nice 3 bedroom gated community apartment. Plenty of room for Mom to come visit!! She's working a lot, trying to save as much as she can for the California Life!  She and I will probably drive out there around the 15th of September.  It will be here before I know it!
Tomorrow, our friend Ari is coming over to do new Head Shots for auditions out there. Ari does great work, so I'm sure her photos will look wonderful. Katie's also making it to lots of free Midnight Movies because of her job at Cinemark. Fun!!

Alyssa ~ Alyssa is in Wedding Mode - big time. This week, she tried on dresses, signed with a caterer, made all the food selections, did a second meeting with the florist for minor changes - and I'm sure there was something else, but it tires me just to write all that!  Wedding planning with the internet at your fingertips is an entire different ballgame than when I got married in 1987!  Pinterest pictures, blog suggestions, online registries - wow! It's pretty cool, really.  Alyssa's other big news is that Milk n' Honey offered her a position in their new Apprentice Program. She started this week. Lots of studying and hands on work. It's going to be hard, but it will be so great to learn even more.

Ron ~ Ron has had some motorcycle problems this week. He broke down on the side of the road. Bummer - especially when it's 100 degrees by 11 am! But all that is forgotten because he's heading up to Lake Texoma in the morning for 3 days! This is an exciting trip because Katie, Alyssa, Josh, and I are all going to go up there on Sunday. The kids are so excited to go fishing there. We're all going to sleep on the boat!! I'll let you know how that goes. :)

Tonight's dinner:
Lemon Pepper Tilapia
with a hearty veggie soup/stew
Delish!

Sue ~ I'm not really sure where my week went. I spent a lot of time taking my mom to dental appointments. She had a crown fall off, so she has quite an extensive "treatment plan" for it. She'd love to be driving herself to these appointments, but there's just no way she can manage it. She doesn't agree. It's a hard spot to be in - for both of us. I'm still working out and trying to figure out what to eat. It's hard to know what to do - high protein, low carb? plant-based, non-dairy? high veggie, nothing processed? What does "balanced diet" mean anyway? It certainly changes depending on who you're talking to! But the exercise seems to actually be changing the shape of my body, and I'm down a couple of sizes. That' a good thing! Ron got the ladder attached on the boat, so I'm looking forward to lots of swimming at the lake this weekend.
Oh! And I have been busy this week blogging daily for the NaBloPoMo challenge. Some of the days, I even wrote more than one blogpost! I'm sure my friends are getting tired of seeing my Facebook Updates! haha!


Forgot to mention, Grandma is going to stay at our house this weekend with all the dogs! I think it will be okay. I guess we'll see!

Related Blogposts:
Videos, Boxes, and Even a Wedding
Ron's "New" Boat
July Update: What? July is OVER?

What? July is OVER?

July seemed to pass by in a blur for me.  It looked very much like June with the exception of getting my Mom ready to move into a one-bedroom DOWNSTAIRS apartment.  Her dog, Pepper, tends to pull on the leash and she simply isn't that steady on her feet.  But after culling and packing, the movers came and loaded all her stuff. We still have to unpack and figure out what goes and what stays. It's difficult to get rid of things that were from her house in Dallas, but have no place in her life here.  And living amid boxes and packing paper muddles her thinking quite a bit - so we're all spending a lot of time together.

I'm giving lots of thought these days to coping with aging parents, and focusing on compassion. My mom turned 82 this month - on the 21st.  We celebrated with lots of food and family. We even took a little trip to Dallas for her to see her sister, Marilyn. My Uncle Jack, her brother, died a year ago last August. They
were all three very close at one time.

Alyssa's still wedding planning and working a few days a week at Milk & Honey.

Katie's working at Cinemark and daydreaming about her move to Los Angeles in September.

Michael's Nicaraguan adventures continue. He's planning to come back for the wedding next April and Ron and I are going to go see him in November. (That reminds me to get working on my passports!)

Ron gets to the boat 2-3 weekends each month. I even went and had a great time! I'm no sailor, but I can help Popeye out from time to time. Of course, when we went the wind died down as a storm approached. So these are photos of the windless afternoon and the evening with the storm in the background.  On our drive home, the storm clouds just kind of stuck on I35, so we traveled in rain all the way home.

And, me, I'm still working on my health issues. Trying to manage my food, and working out at the gym 5 days/week.

Life certainly looks different around here!

Whatcha Drivin'?

For my mom, it's all about the cars.

I've never met a woman more into cars than my mom. At 81, she is still busy looking out the window identifying cars she likes and dislikes as I drive her to the grocery store or church.  In fact, when she turned 80, she bought 2 cars! Paid cash. Test drove it with all of us watching or riding, biting our nails, then driving it off the lot to her senior living apartment complex. But things have shifted a little now. And she's not happy with me.

The first car I can remember isn't even really a memory for me. It's a photograph. I think it's a 1958 Hudson. It could be an Oldsmobile. My dad's not around anymore to tell us. My mom isn't really a reliable historian anymore.. We were a one-car family so my mother didn't drive it unless my dad was at home. Just trips to the grocery store.

Next it was a big black Chevrolet, probably from the late 50's. My only real memory of it was it sitting in the garage. I must have been under 4. My mom called it Big Blackie.

The first car I remember riding in was specifically my mom's - a blue Corvair.  My little brother was only 2-3 and he could start in the back seat, but he'd end up standing straight between the 2 front bucket seats. My mom really liked that car. She'd smoke her Chesterfields and turn on WHB, the local music station. We sang along to Beatles songs and trekked off on carpools to school, ballet, or Mimi's house. Corvairs had motors in the back and made a little humming sound when you drove. I always felt like we were on the back of some big bug, zipping along.

Times were good for a while so then we became a 2 car family. My dad bought a baby blue Cadillac. There was so much room!! I only remember riding in it to Mass on Sundays, so I'm guessing kids didn't ride in that car much. I was so impressed that it had a cushioned armrest that I could pull down in the middle of the backseat. A perfect divider for my brother and me...he could stay on his side, and I could stay on my side. Why that mattered, I don't know.

So a few years passed and the tide turned, as it so often does. A man was in our garage buying the Corvair. My mom was sad to see it go, but she shuffled us away, quoting a line from her favorite Doris Day song, "Que Sera Sera."

Then they came for the Cadillac. They were coming for the furniture too, but that's another post entirely. We moved in with Mimi, my mom's mom. And my dad took a bus to Dallas to find work where my aunt and uncle lived.  Before he left, he went to his cousin's used car lot. He came home with the car we called, The Pink Buick. No A/C and the heat only came out on one side, but it had a radio. That's all we cared about. We sang along to Nancy Sinatra...she couldn't really sing - but neither could we!



Later that year, we'd take that Pink Buick to join our dad and start our new life.  It's normally a one-day drive from Kansas City to Dallas, but the Pink Buick could only go 45 mph.  So my mom, brother, and our Siamese cat, and I piled into a hotel room in Atoka, Oklahoma. The only thing I remember about it is that we had to cross Hwy 69 on foot to get to the restaurant to eat, and our cat, Tang, chewed her way out of her cardboard cat carrier. We left it at the hotel and endured her yowling under the seat (as only Siamese cats can do!) for the rest of the trek to Dallas.

My mom continued to drive the Pink Buick for another year or so. Knowing now how much she loves cars, that must have been a really hard thing for her.

Times improved for our family, and we were back to our buy-a-newish-car-every-4-years plan. We had mauve Cougar, a Lincoln Continental, sporty Subaru, the gold Nova, and a Chevy Chevette.

I guess because I was young and somewhat self-absorbed, I didn't pay much attention to my mom and her car fascination. Maybe she didn't speak about it to me. I didn't really care about cars, as long as I could have somebody's keys on the weekend. My mom told me a story about when she was a teenager. She was the youngest of three and she desperately wanted to drive. So they pushed the car out of the driveway, silently, and started it up down the road where her father couldn't hear. I don't remember if she got away with it or not, I just remember her face glowing with pride as she related this crazy story of sneakiness and defiance. I thought, why are you telling me this?? But her love of driving superseded all parental reason! ha!

When I was a teenager, my mom had a job later that would require that she drive a lot. That was her reason for why she wanted to get a new car all the time. And once my dad died, she did.  I lost count of how many cars she traded.

Then she started to have trouble with her driving. Initially, she was having angina, and would have to pull over to the side of the road to let the feeling "pass." We were raising kids all over the country, and I'd ask my uncle to check on her. She'd downplay the whole event, and I let her.

Then she had a fender bender that wasn't her fault. Next she was T-boned as she entered an intersection without really noticing the oncoming traffic. Then she backed into a neighbor's parked car. Finally, she put her car through the garage wall, stopping only because of the kitchen stove and counter. And, actually, the insurance rep took me out to the garage when he was assessing the situation. He showed me burned rubber marks on the indoor-outdoor carpet that she had in her garage. (I know, only she would have carpet for her car!) The skid marks indicated that as her car was slamming into the kitchen wall, she was pressing on the gas pedal instead of the brake. She panicked and pressed the wrong pedal.

You'd think this list of "problems" would have caused a lot of alarm for us. And it did, to a degree. But we didn't live in the same town and she was a really good bluffer.

Fast forward to 2009. My mom moves to Austin to be closer to us. Her health is so-so, and it's clear she is more forgetful. She comes with her Chevrolet Trailblazer. She wanted to give it to Alyssa for her 16th birthday and buy a new car for herself.

So in February 2010, that's what happens and she bought herself a Nissan Sentra. By the end of the year though, she's not happy with how low she is to the ground. She wants to trade it. But after riding in the (now Alyssa's) Trailblazer, she doesn't like the sound of it. She wants Alyssa to have the Nissan and she wants to trade the Trailblazer for something else.  We trek over to CarMax again.  We scour the lot, she knows what she likes.  She opts for a Honda CRV. Great car. The scenario I gave at the beginning? That was what was happening when she was test driving the CRV.

We rationalized that it was okay to let her drive because, a) she really only drives a few beaten paths - church, WalMart, my house, Walgreens; b) she sounds really confident about driving; c) she's had no little crashes, or car incidents since she moved to Austin; and, d) she loves cars.

We joke about my mom's mom, Mimi, driving. She was only 5 feet tall and she drove until she was about 88.  She'd have 2-3 small fender-benders per year. Visualize this: tiny woman, sitting on a pillow to see over her '66 Chevy Impala steering wheel, bending down to reach the lighter to light her cigarette. Her foot would slowly come off the brake and she'd roll into the car in front of her.  This happened 4-5 times! One time, she got sick - her annual pneumonia hospitalization because whose lungs can withstand anything after smoking for 80 years?!  While she was in the hospital, my mom, her brother and her sister, sold her car, packed up her apartment, and moved her from Kansas City to Dallas.  She never was specific but I think losing the car was the hardest thing for her. She was a quiet woman, and she'd just say to me under her breath, "they never should have taken that from me."

I think that really affected me. I was very sensitive to the fact that I didn't want to take my mom's car from her before it was time. I wanted to learn from Mimi's experience.  She and I would talk about "when the time comes that she has to give up the car..." And years ago, we set the age at around 80.  As 80 approached, she wanted to push it further down the road.  After all, she wasn't as bad as Mimi.  And, did I SEE some of the old people MUCH worse than her driving in the apartment complex?

Even though she didn't have any wrecks, it was clear that she was having difficulty. She'd get lost. She'd weave in the lanes. She was really unsteady on her feet, and she managed some of her balance issues with the steering wheel. She'd have trouble figuring out if the lights were on.  She was pulled over for speeding in her neighborhood. Her judgement was slowing, her reaction time even slower.

Still I wrestled with what to do. When you're the only one making the decision, it's a lot of pressure to get it right. I can't blame a relative saying I had to do what they wanted. It all comes down to me.  I was explaining to Ron that it's so hard because you can't see where The Line is. You want to be able to let her get as close to The Line as possible, without going over it. But you're in the dark!

Alyssa seemed to understand that I wanted to take in Grandma's feelings. But Ron and Josh kept telling me that it was time.  And the worst part about The Line? What if the way you know you crossed it is that she runs over some kid darting out in the church parking lot? Or what if she's like that elderly man who slammed on the gas, thinking it was the brake, and ran over people in a California Farmer's Market?  We already knew she had done that before - maybe 5 or so years ago. And she was worse now than then. So...

I talked to her about taking the keys to the CRV. I talked to her about what we were seeing. I talked to her about the potential crises that could occur if she DID have a problem. She agreed that she was close to being of age to stop driving, but the time was not now. No, I could not have the keys.

Great. :/

Because my mom is really sexist, I knew I'd have to bring Ron into this. He went with me after work, and this time HE did the talking.  He was soft spoken and explained to her that it IS the time. And it's really one of those things that you simply have to trust that your family has your best interest at heart. She agreed with that.
Although she semi-jokingly cut over to me saying, "I know you just want my CRV," then chuckled.
Ron reminded her that she knows I'm not a "car person."
"I was just joking," she said.
A few more things were said about how we'd pick her up and take her wherever she needed to go. She didn't argue with him. He reached for the keys and took the car key off her keyring.

For a month now, we've been driving my mom wherever she needs to go. She comes to our house to eat every other day now. We're finding out that she's been bluffing a lot in some of decisions about bills and her apartment and her medications.  I'm confident that we did the right thing, and I'm so very thankful that we didn't have to have any "car incident." She still won't sign the title over to me though. I asked her if she was just waiting to get mad at me and then call the police saying I stole her car?
She laughed saying, "No, I just know you'll get tired of coming to get me for everything and you'll give me the keys back."

We both try to laugh about it. We know none of it is really negotiable anymore. We've made a decision where The Line is, and there's not really any going back on it.

And, just when I thought she was adjusting, she told me this weekend, "I'm still very depressed about the car situation.  I keep waiting for this feeling to pass, but I cry a little in the mornings."

"Really? What makes you cry?"

"I look out the window for my little black car in my usual parking place under the tree, and it's not there." She pauses and adds, "I was talking to my dog-friends at the apartments. They all think you shouldn't have taken my car. My friend Martha said, 'these kids! They think they know everything!'"

"What did you say to her? How about 'My family cares about me so that's why this happened?"

"No. I told her 'yeah. And mine's the worst!' Then we watched this tiny little old lady get into her great big car and drive off."

"Oh, mom.  How 'bout I take a picture of the CRV, and we tape it on the bedroom window pane?"

Mom glances into the distance, "Maybe I should get a mini-Cooper. I like those cars. I think you're too big for that car, so maybe you wouldn't take THAT away from me. I could just go to the bank and withdraw money and buy it outright."

"Yeah, but you'd have to have me drive you there - and that's not going to happen!"

Aging, it's not for wimps.

May 2012 - There's a Part 2 to this that I haven't written yet. Mom's friend Martha took her to the Car lot and they bought mom a car - paid cash, didn't tell me until a couple of days later.  Sheesh. I'll write about it soon.  Maddening!

Halloween 2011

For years we've been big Halloween Celebrators.  It was a fun opportunity to decorate and dress up. It didn't take long before it became "Katie's Holiday."  She LOVED it. All year long, she loved it. I'd have to slow her down from decorating the house - she'd want to start pulling everything out in September. Year after year, we'd bargain to get her to hold off on the decorations until October 1st.

But this year, Katie's far away doing her own Halloween. At first, I had such a hard time with it. Nobody there to pull out the decorations with me.  Ron pulled the rubbermaids down off the top shelves in the garage, but it just felt... off.  Still, Halloween presses on, so I'm simplyngoing to rise to the occasion.

So, first we have our pre-party costumes for the dogs...  

But Buddy's shark outfit was too small and we traded it for a pumpkin costume.

At the last minute, Alyssa decided to join the festivities and found a costume to wear to Avenue Five. Hopefully, she won't have to cut anyone's hair wearing this...

Grandma has her lovely headgear. And, she's bringing "a friend" to our house to hand out candy. They live in a Senior citizen apartment complex and kids don't typically trick-or-treat there. So she's bringing her Bulgarian neighbor to see what this is all about!

Then...after a day of shopping and cleaning.... time for more last minute decorating on the patio!

My favorite witch guards yummy snacks

Gracie, the Sheriff

Last minute glitter eyelashes - A MUST!

  And now we're ready! Josh keeps Gracie on her leash. She's trying to get used to being around children. They rush at her and scare her. But that's no problem because Buddy greets everyone! He looks pretty cute in his pumpkin suit, and the kids are quick to offer him to Trick or Treaters who show the slightest interest in him! Most respond that they already have dogs, and they know that trick of trying to palm their dog off on passersby.

Grandma is about an hour late with her friend, Tudor. He is from Bucharest and has a very thick accent. He didn't realize Grandma wasn't going to drive so that was the delay. No worries. They sit on the front patio while the early trick-or-treaters come by.

Sorry so blurry :(

Still getting used to Ron's new camera

Then the Trick-or-Treaters come out in droves. Alyssa commandeers the hand-outs once I realized that Tudor and Grandma were allowing the kids to grab hands full of candy from the basket! I even had to make another run for candy - before it was even dark! Lucky CVS is just up the street! Monster Mash music is pouring out our upstairs windows. Several other houses have competing music. Halloween is now in full swing!

There's still a burn ban going on. Temperatures are cooler but no rain in sight. So that meant we had to ditch our plan to have a small fire on the front patio. Instead, we opted for orange and purple twinkle lights in big jars. That's why Gracie's face is so orange...the glow from the twinkle jars!

I really think I'm going to create a video about Halloween Patterson Style, similar to what we did for Father's Day... obviously not in time for Halloween this year, but VERY soon. While we're still in the mood. There are so many great memories, we'll walk down spooky memory lane together! 

 

Grandma Visits & Ends Up Hospitalized

Grandma came in this weekend from Dallas to see Katie's show. The next morning, we were running out to Lakeway to take Katie to a class. We had stopped earlier to get coffee and all was well.  Grandma began to complain that her stomach was hurting, so we dropped Katie off and and were going to run over to the nearby Wendy's. Grandma's stomach pain grew more intense. She wasn't able to get out of the car. I started up the highway, thinking we would see some small Emergency Clinic or something. I called 911 to see if they could direct me to one. At that point, Grandma passed out. The 911 operator instructed me to stop driving, pull over, and they were sending an ambulance.  And that's what happened. Firetruck. Police car. Paramedics. Ambulance. All meeting us in the Valero parking lot. They had a hard time reviving her as her blood pressure was so low. She has a terribly low tolerance for pain. It looked like a possible vagal response.

They got her out of the car and into the ambulance. We all raced up the highway to Cedar Park Hospital. By then they had some fluids in her and she was conscious but confused.

Funny story. In the E.R., we had several different nurses. One was a volunteer fireman and ex-Marine. He was big. Early 30's.  Grandma made eye contact with me about him. He continued to talk to us and reach over her to adjust various tubes/wires. So Grandma says, "You have... nice arms." hahaha. We laughed. It spread throughout the E.R. I heard the others at the nurses station tell our nurse, "I don't know if we can ask him to do that...since he has such nice arms!" Then a smaller Asian nurse came in. He walked up very seriously to my mom and said, "So what's wrong with MY arms?? Thanks a lot!"

In the end, she was later diagnosed with ischemic colitis, anemia, mysterious syncopal episodes, and treated with meds and 2 Liters of blood transfusions.

She also has really bad Restless leg syndrome and that flaired up last night. So after multiple meds for that (none of which were really the correct ones...) she was up half the night with hallucinations, restlessness, etc.

But since her acute symptoms with the anemia and the colitis seemed to be resolving, she was discharged to our home this afternoon. She's still a little confused. I'm not sure how long she'll be here. If the confusion is primarily residual from all the meds last night, she'll be better soon. If not, we're looking at moving her down her.

She's 78.

oh yeah, she brought her dogs so I have 4 dogs here too!