Riding the Waves of Life

Is Fresno "playing fair" in the Wal-Mart Fighting Hunger challenge?

2010-12-30T08:59:00.000-07:00

Is Fresno "playing fair" in the Wal-Mart Fighting Hunger challenge?

I’m retiring this blog...

2010-10-28T10:05:00.002-06:00

I last posted that I was on my way to Minneapolis to visit family. Believe it or not I wasn’t on a computer for 3 weeks! (except to download pictures for Meg). I have been debating about going private or starting a different blog. I think I’m going with the later. I will post my new blog address on my facebook page or you can leave me a comment with your email address. I am so glad that I have spent the time to document parts of our life. Being such a visual person, the pictures take me right back to the day they were posted! You’ve served me well little blog. Now I just need to figure out how to preserve it so that I have the memories forever.

Going to Minneapolis

2010-10-02T07:26:00.002-06:00

On my way to see Megan, James, Ava and Fischer, Woo Hoo!

October 1st...It’s that time of year...

2010-10-01T11:08:00.005-06:00

I have officially reached my image posting limit (s0 no picture)

but I wanted to let you know about Halloween City.

I had some time to kill yesterday and found myself next to this store.

I was surprised to see how reasonable their items were priced.

If you are a halloween lover like I am, or not, go the their website and find a store near you.

(There are a couple here in town)

i ♥ photos...thumbs up!

2010-10-01T09:14:00.002-06:00

Jesse brought this car home one day and had it in the DI pile.

I quickly took it out and told him the kids would love it.

“You don’t need anymore junk mom”!

True but this was not junk, too me anyway.

Well I’m here to tell you that Mason loves this car.

He takes driving it around very seriously.

The first day he said to me “I need the keys grandma”.

OK.

I promptly ran in the house and found an old set.

Best little car ever!

I’m going Private...

2010-09-28T15:45:00.010-06:00

I think it’s time to take my blog PRIVATE.

I would hate for you to miss out on our exciting life...haha

So...leave me a comment with your email address and I will send you an invite.

~or~

email me your info:

turq365@gmail.com

Thanks so much and keep following!!!

i ♥ photos...her possibilities are endless

2010-09-27T09:21:00.003-06:00

future high jumper, cheerleader, grasshopper...

i ♥ photos...goalie

2010-09-26T00:59:00.000-06:00

~soccer goalie extraordinaire~

i ♥ photos...dragon slayers

2010-09-25T19:06:00.004-06:00

my diary of a mad caregiver...Jon and AD visit

2010-09-24T10:39:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I picked my brother Jon and sister in law AD up from the airport.

On the way to Provo we stopped by to pick up mom.

The first thing she said when we walked in was “are you here to take me home”?

HEART WRENCHING!!!

We drove to Provo to meet Maddy, McKelle and {hottie} Blake-McKelle’s boyfriend for lunch .

Then we strolled around BYU campus for a bit.

Talk about weird memories.

We think mom remembered Jon but honestly we are never sure what she knows.

i ♥ photos...Tim says...

2010-09-24T00:08:00.000-06:00

“ you have to warn me before you take my picture so I can hold my stomach in”

Haha that cracked me up!

i ♥ photos...bragg’n rights...

2010-09-22T00:18:00.001-06:00

i heart faces photo challenge week ”smirk"

2010-09-21T12:31:00.002-06:00

~No words needed~

See more smug mugs here:

i ♥ photos...kids, campfires and smores cont.

2010-09-20T20:26:00.005-06:00

~daddy i can’t breve~

i ♥ photos...kids, campfires and smores cont.

2010-09-19T19:57:00.001-06:00

Recommendation on the traditional s’mores...

The gigantic marshmallows don’t melt the extra thick Hershey bars

which I personally find essential when eating a s’mores.

Placing your unmelted s’more in a pie tin isn’t real effective either.

The graham cracker burns!

So what really happens is this:

Gkids simply burn the marshmallows to crispy critters and hurl them through the air while

consuming several pounds of chocolate ( leaving gma with no sleep eating snacks ) and leaving broken graham crackers all over the grass for the ants to carry home.

All in a gma’s weekend night!

i ♥ photos...kids, campfires and smores cont.

2010-09-18T23:15:00.000-06:00

~Baylee’s little devil~

i ♥ photos...kids, campfires and smores cont.

2010-09-17T19:48:00.000-06:00

~kids...fire...oxymoron~

i ♥ photos...kids, campfires and smores

2010-09-16T19:24:00.002-06:00

Over the weekend some of the gkids spent the night so we decided to have some good old fashioned fun.

Jesse hauled out the portable fireplace.

We had your traditional gigantic marshmallows, Hershey bars and graham crackers.

We twisted wire hangers for roasting.

Let the party begin:

After that we checked out scary youtube videos.

About what you ask???

Funnel Spiders!

Oh, then after that we watched the original "Karate Kid”.

Fun night...many more to come!

i ♥ photos...got their attention!

2010-09-15T23:02:00.000-06:00

John snapped this picture last weekend when the gkids were over.

We had been talking about spiders because we have a funnel spider in the front yard.

We decided to look them up on the web (no pun intended)

because Jeremy was convinced it was the most poisonous spider in the world.

Well, he is somewhat correct.

The funnel spiders in Australia are potentially deadly,

but the spider in our front yard is not.

We came across several You tube videos about spiders.

Check out all of their faces...haha!

welcome...FISCHER...

2010-09-14T21:05:00.004-06:00

You can only imagine how excited we are to welcome baby Fischer to our crazy family!

8lbs 21in

Cute as a button!

Clone of his big sis
(only darker version and with hair)

Mom had a rough go but is doing OK.

Pappa is ecstatic.

Ava...the jury is still out.

CONGRATS!!!

Gkid #13...our new lucky number!

i ♥ photos...balls and faces don’t mix

2010-09-14T11:08:00.002-06:00

Last week the guys had a night game (10PM).

Jesse caught a fly ball, it bounced out of his mitt, hit his face and dropped to the ground.

Next thing that happened was blood streaming down his face.

Needless to say his face swelled, black eyes and pain!

Jes has been complaining that he couldn’t feel his teeth on that side of his face.

John recommended he get an X-ray.

Finally, Jesse went for an X-ray yesterday.

Yup, fractured!

Not his nose,

his face plate!

Next stop...Oral surgeon.

Sports and our family...

Not a good thing!

chaia’s birthday party...

2010-09-14T10:14:00.000-06:00

iheartfaces “vroom, vroom” photo challenge week #37

2010-09-13T16:37:00.008-06:00

I was asked to take engagement pictures for my daughter and future son in law.

I know tim thought I was crazy when I suggested he climb into this old, rusty, train.

Being a "perspective" son in law Tim reluctantly agreed.

My daughter climbed the rusty ladder in her stilettos.

It turned out to be really fun...

for me!

Click the camera to see lots more pics

i ♥ photos...this funnel spider is what lurks in the hole...

2010-09-12T19:04:00.000-06:00

i ♥ photos...what’s lurking deep down in this hole...

2010-09-11T12:40:00.000-06:00

i ♥ photos...megan’s birthday

2010-09-11T12:31:00.002-06:00

Don’t we all love the many faces of Megan???

Happy [late post Sept 8] birthday...

We can’t wait to celebrate your birthday[s] in person.

Just a couple of weeks away!

PS today is Megan’s DUE date...

Will Fischer co-operate?

i ♥ photos...sunglasses!

2010-09-10T15:08:00.000-06:00

i ♥ photos...Jeremy the giant

2010-09-09T21:53:00.003-06:00

Jer is the kind of kid that likes to take things apart!

He wanted to fit into this car sooooo badly the other day.

Had I said yes..he would have transformed it into a convertible!

~Jer, back in 2004 when he actually fit in one of these cars~

i ♥ photos...pulling out the old bernina

2010-09-08T16:45:00.000-06:00

i ♥ photos...louie

2010-09-07T15:43:00.000-06:00

i ♥ photos...Remember those who gave their lives

2010-09-06T12:23:00.000-06:00

i ♥ photos...chaia...happy 5th

2010-09-05T01:04:00.000-06:00

i ♥ photos...until we meet next year

2010-09-04T12:28:00.000-06:00

i ♥ photos...feeding the birds w/my sunflower seeds

2010-09-03T11:39:00.001-06:00

i ♥ photos...right at home [in the garage]

2010-09-02T09:28:00.000-06:00

i ♥ photos...lots to love

2010-09-01T14:51:00.003-06:00

~Brendan and Julian~

matching suckers...had to get that pic :)

fall...love it, love it, love it

2010-09-01T11:58:00.004-06:00

How cute is this ???

Check out

tatertots and jello

for directions on how to make this perfectly spooky

halloween wall art.

i ♥ photos...never can say good-bye, no, no, no, no

2010-08-31T02:57:00.000-06:00

~last hug~

i ♥ photos... maddy

2010-08-30T01:33:00.003-06:00

~My beautiful niece heading off to college~

i ♥ photos...summer joy

2010-08-29T13:38:00.001-06:00

My diary of a mad caregiver...mom do you remember?

2010-08-29T11:00:00.004-06:00

I haven’t written much about my mom the last month.

~No news means good news~

AD picked mom up and brought her over to the house yesterday.
She was showing mom their new kitten on her “face to face”.

AD also had Jon (mom’s son) speak with mom on her “face to face”
but she doesn’t remember who he is.
She will say she remembers but we know she doesn’t.
Mom doesn’t know how people are related to her.

Mom has adjusted well to her new surroundings, better than expected!

YEAH!

At first we thought it wasn’t going to work but we were told to give it some time.

Now...she is happier than I have seen her in quite some time.

She has her own space, that would make anyone happy!

There are however a few issues we’ve had to address:

someone shrunk her nice wool sweater

her white blouse is now a silver gray

she refuses to bath (no surprise there), but it has to be done

her hair hasn’t not been done (washed, etc)

she’s had a few cold meals

and

sour milk (which she says was fermented)

most are all fairly minor, easy fixes.

In the beginning, mom told us that a man kept going in her room at night.

Of course we checked that out thoroughly.

It seems that she was going into the wrong room (the man in that room never moves out of his chair).

But...the other night when my brother took mom home-about 8:30PM,

he was totally taken by surprise when a man came walking out of mom’s room!

There is a new resident in the cottage and he does wander into mom’s room!

Of course they all do some wandering but this issue needs to be taken care of ASAP

as well as mom’s hygiene and food issues.

We had a little heart to heart with the director of the facility...things had better be a changing!

I told the director that for the amount of money they charge,

these are basic needs...

needs that shouldn’t have to be addressed!

the old saying...

“inspect what you expect”

caught my thought...Hubble

2010-08-29T09:49:00.003-06:00

Yesterday we made a trip down to the Clark Planetarium, specifically to see the

Hubble 3D IMAX MOVIE

I knew the Hubble captured amazing images of space but I didn’t know the story.

The movie is only 45 minutes long and would most likely keep the attention

of small children as well as adults.

I found it so inspiring and worth the price of admission!

I won’t say much about it except for Hubble has found universe upon universe, hundreds of billions of stars newly forming and dying- hundreds of billions of light years away.

An ocean of beauty one of which boggles my mind.

“In the process of going to the moon, we discovered Earth” one astronaut stated in the film. ...

to experience it was to visually see planet Earth for the first time. .....

i ♥ photos...AD

2010-08-28T23:19:00.000-06:00

i ♥ photos...dancing in the rain

2010-08-27T18:05:00.000-06:00

i ♥ photos...sleep my babies

2010-08-26T11:02:00.002-06:00

This is what I found in my bed last night.
Chaia had taken all the itsy bitsy dinosaurs,
covered them with my turquoise blankie and put them to bed, in my bed!
So cute!

{I’m not a proud gma or anything!}

a bit preoccupied...having some cheese with my whine

2010-08-25T11:00:00.011-06:00

Not that anyone cares, but I have been a bit preoccupied.

Spinning my wheels.

Not taking care of business, so to speak.

Venting about nothingness.

Obsessing about catching hornets.
Overeating..(4 very large sugar cookies in 2 days).

Spending hours upon hours on the computer.
{creating photoshop brushes}

And then, not even blogging about it.

Not posting my daily pictures.
Not posting important birthday wishes.
Not doing my ADL’S.

Being a slug.

I hate slugs.

Pity party.
Cry me a river...

Time to make lemonade out of lemons.

{lemonade gives me heartburn}

Anyone have suggestions on a good recipe?

Maybe I need to do some old fashion service for someone in need...

I’m sure the picking is ripe, these days.

Ok, so i caught up on pics for the last few days.

If you want to check them out clic me...

i ♥ photos...check out these bad boys

2010-08-24T10:57:00.001-06:00

i ♥ photos...create your own LEGO set

2010-08-23T12:44:00.002-06:00

Jer created an ice cream cone

The set finally arrives

Lego box

Lego pieces created and ordered

Lego instruction sheet

You may or may not know that if you have a child that LOVES Legos
(like Jer) they can create and order their own Lego set through Lego “design by me”!
Let me tell you...Jer loves creating Lego designs over and over and over online!
Now, the good part is that a child can use their imagination to create anything they can think of.
The bad part is, they can actually buy it (it takes a while to get it).
Why is that bad you ask?
The kits sets are EXPENSIVE!
On the flip side...how exciting for a kid to create, design,
and have their own Lego set delivered to the door.
The joy on their face i priceless!
Kids create everything from the pieces to the instructions and even the box cover.
This tiny little set cost about a $1plus per piece (the shipping and handling was half the value)...
but I think the satisfaction of seeing a project through from start to finish is probably worth it!

At least one small set :)

i ♥ photos...waiting for a flight that never arrives

2010-08-22T22:53:00.000-06:00

i ♥ photos...special hornet catching sauce

2010-08-21T10:56:00.000-06:00

i ♥ photos...thunderstorms

2010-08-20T09:39:00.002-06:00

According to KSL...

A new Record rainfall in SLC (for 15 minutes) was set between 11:47 am and Noon with .88" of rain,

breaking the old record of .78" in 1954.

Yesterday Jesse and I were outside watching the clouds come rolling in, slowly we thought.

There was a weird greenish tint to the clouds.

Next thing we know it starts pouring!

Of course I grabbed the camera!

We have a “dry creek bed” in our front yard.

I had always wondered what it would look like as a river...

Got my wish!

All the retaining ponds filled up quickly with several feet of water and as you can see were over flowing into the street.

We even had a duck pond for a couple hours in the school yard next door.

Love summer thunderstorms!

i ♥ photos...why buy toys?

2010-08-19T10:39:00.000-06:00

One of Jaxon’s favorite things to do is watch the washer and dryer spin around and around and around.

His other favorite thing is to push all the buttons he can reach and reset the cycles.

Got to love it.

Why buy toys when the washer and dryer hold their attention forever???

I Heart Faces - Weekly Photo Challenges & Photography Tutorials

2010-08-18T09:55:00.000-06:00

I Heart Faces - Weekly Photo Challenges & Photography Tutorials

i ♥ photos...sunflowers

2010-08-18T08:40:00.000-06:00

iheartfaces “got to wear shades” photo challenge week #33

2010-08-17T08:21:00.006-06:00

Jer’s first trip to California.

First time at the beach.

First time to be buried in the sand.

Wear’n grandma’s shades.

Soak’n up the sun,

ahhhh...

California dream’n

see more shady faces here...

i ♥ photos...kitty or cow

2010-08-16T00:01:00.005-06:00

Jocelyn, Julian and Brendan had a cat named “Cow”

When they moved “Cow” went to a new home.

We have a cat named “Kitty”

(very convenient when you need to call here kitty, kitty, kitty)

Little Brendan now calls our cat “Cow”.

I’m guessing he thinks all cats are named “Cow”.

~cute~

i ♥ photos...the family that plays together stays together!

2010-08-15T00:55:00.011-06:00

i ♥ photos...chaia

2010-08-14T08:40:00.000-06:00

i ♥ photos...when pigs fly

2010-08-13T08:50:00.002-06:00

i ♥ photos...

2010-08-12T00:07:00.002-06:00

slideshow of a bunch of goofballs...

2010-08-11T12:45:00.004-06:00

i ♥ photos...jump

2010-08-11T08:17:00.003-06:00

Last night the girls and I played outside for a couple of hours.
Then we decided to make s’mores.
I don’t know why but they tasted so good.
I ate way too many :(
That’s the bad news.

The good news...
I’ve lost 12 pounds since January and didn’t even realize it (my last checkup).
Hmmmm...
It must have been the totally stressed out diet!
(I don’t recommend it)

I just read another blog and found out that today was National S’mores Day (8 10 10)

Who knew???

i ♥ photos...wink, wink

2010-08-10T10:02:00.000-06:00

I’d forgotten about this pic and I think it’s so scary it’s funny!

i heart faces photo challenge week #32 ”SURPRISE"

2010-08-09T21:36:00.013-06:00

As soon as I saw the iheartfaces challenge for this week was SURPRISE

I immediately thought of this pic!

I had gone to the apple store and happened to have my camera.

There is a fantastic water fountain across from the store.

It was a very warm spring day and there were at least a dozen fully clothed kids

running wildly through the bursts of water!

They ran in and out screaming and squealing with delight.

I watched this little guy for quite some time.

His soggy striped pants had caught my eye.

He wasn’t sure what to make of all this.

He inched closer and closer to the shooting water.

Then all of a sudden the water stopped.

nothing.

It looked safe so he decided to move in just enough that when the bursts of water

caught him straight in the face he was totally surprised.

Such a cutie and I’m guessing he dressed himself?

See more surprised faces here.

i ♥ photos...grounded

2010-08-08T19:26:00.000-06:00

The second part of the balloon festival was a little disappointing.
The wind blew so hard that it was next to impossible to get the balloons upright.
Try as they may they never got this balloon up.
Just as we were leaving this huge ball lit up for a second.
The crowd cheered.
It was beautiful!
I can only imagine how awesome an entire field of glowing hot air balloons would be.
Next year, I hope.

i ♥ photos...pure.joy

2010-08-08T11:00:00.000-06:00

How sweet is this face?

i ♥ photos...up, up and away

2010-08-07T12:46:00.001-06:00

We all got up at 6AM to go see the hot air balloons at the festival in Sandy.

Due to strong winds they were unbale to take off so....we were home by 8AM.

But, we had a great time!

my diary of a mad caregiver...Dorothy

2010-08-06T15:40:00.002-06:00

~Dorothy~

Yesterday I went to visit mom. She was sitting on the couch with a couple other residents watching “Home Alone 2”. I was happy to hear she was laughing.

I looked around and noticed there were a few new, female residents.

Except for mom the regulars were not there.

I walked down the hall to check mom’s room and found that the regulars were in their rooms but Dorothy was no where to be found

“Where is Dorothy I asked”?.

Oh, you didn’t hear , answered Pam (the nurse)?

She got sick the other day and well, she never got better.

She died!

How sad I felt...I always enjoyed visiting with her.

I won’t say that she was sweet in fact she could be down right ornery.

I always complemented her on hair.

She would smile.

Dorothy was confined to a wheel chair.

She would always try to get up but never succeeded.

I will miss her.

i ♥ photos...beep, beep

2010-08-06T13:36:00.002-06:00

Just driving my car.
beep, beep

check out these awesome violins...

2010-08-06T13:13:00.002-06:00

Jackie ordered these cool violins for Gentry, Gill, Jocelyn and Baylee.
What budding violinists wouldn’t love them!!!

i ♥ photos...the look

2010-08-05T20:59:00.000-06:00

looks like a great photo opp...

2010-08-05T01:32:00.004-06:00

On the schedule for this weekend! Check the details here.

i ♥ photos...what’s on your shovel handle?

2010-08-04T09:40:00.000-06:00

i ♥ photos...lunch w/linda

2010-08-03T00:04:00.000-06:00

Linda ( far left) came for a visit a week or two ago.

I was fortunate enough to have lunch with her, Alicia and the girls (Jocelyn included) .

Chaia, of course is not in the picture because she was taking pics...with my cell phone.

Turned out pretty darn good .

I think we have a budding photographer in the family :).

a gift for the soul and the eyes

2010-08-02T10:32:00.000-06:00

The sky last night was absolutely amazing last night.

We always get interesting cloud formations around us and overhead but the sunset last night was spectacular!!!

Jesse and I were sitting in the living room when this burst of gold appeared in the window.

Jesse went outside and yelled “mom, come here and bring your camera”.

First gold and turquoise then fade to pink and grays.
What a gift for the eyes!!!

i ♥ photos...fire in the sky

2010-08-02T00:26:00.002-06:00

i ♥ photos...totally bugged

2010-08-01T00:11:00.003-06:00

i ♥ photos...kids wear your helmets!

2010-07-31T00:05:00.000-06:00

i ♥ photos...hide & seek

2010-07-30T00:57:00.000-06:00

~brendan~

i ♥ photos...doggie tales

2010-07-29T00:33:00.007-06:00

I’m not quite sure what the animal magnetism is with Bear but he as another girlfriend!

This little cutie shows up on our front steps every morning.

Maggie is her name and she is sweet as can be.

Bear plays hard to get.

Bears ex-girlfriend Roxie is no longer in the neighborhood

(she found a new home or I should say her owners found her a new home)

Those two were truly in LOVE.

See their love story here...

i ♥ photos...braces, again!

2010-07-28T11:32:00.000-06:00

This morning both Jer and Nat got braces!

Jer was sooo excited until his teeth started to hurt.

Nat is in braces for the second time. I had braces twice myself.

Word to the wise...get those retainers cemented permanently.

my diary of a mad caregiver...walking with mom

2010-07-27T21:30:00.002-06:00

I love this pic of Quinn holding mom’s hand!

Mom was so happy to see Quinn

good to see her smile , yeah!

~ Nydia one of our favorite caregivers - love her!

We took mom over to another wing to visit Noreen. She yodels and sings ALL day long.

Noreen is 92 years young and she brightens mom’s mood!

i ♥ photos...popsicles

2010-07-27T21:27:00.001-06:00

i ♥ photos...pampering mom

2010-07-26T22:18:00.000-06:00

i ♥ photos...blowing out imaginary candles

2010-07-25T22:22:00.001-06:00

want to really mess with your kids...

blow out imaginary candles!

Seriously this was so funny-the little kids couldn’t quite figure this phenomenon out!

i ♥ photos...happy birthday jesse

2010-07-24T00:15:00.000-06:00

i ♥ photos...hard to say goodbye

2010-07-23T23:03:00.001-06:00

Mom usually does OK when we visit except when it’s time for us to leave.

Then she follows us to the door and taps on the glass side door window

while we are walking out the door.

It’s heart wrenching!!!!

my diary of a mad caregiver...24 hour hours after the move

2010-07-23T23:00:00.000-06:00

mom & a new friend

Mom acclimates to her new home much better than any of us anticipated! Yeah, what a relief!

i ♥ photos...try to catch me...

2010-07-22T09:13:00.001-06:00

i ♥ photos...gilli willi

2010-07-21T09:34:00.006-06:00

my diary of a mad caregiver...moving mom

2010-07-21T08:53:00.013-06:00

So much has happened over the last few days I barely know where to begin.

First...I have to say I have the worlds most patient and loving husband.

He is a true gem!

Second...I have the worlds BEST kids.

They are willing to do whatever it takes and they do it!

Third I have awesome gkids, they bring me such joy and happiness!

REWIND...

About a month ago my dad and siblings arrived here to discuss the fate of my mother.

[This sounds so morbid]

We decided that it was best all around for her to have professional care.

After 2 years of caring for my mom 24/7 I was burning out!

I started visiting as many facilities as possible.

We had hoped that mom could stay in the assisted living a mile away but after a trial run we knew they were not equipped to deal with an Alzheimer's resident.

I came across a facility in middle Salt Lake [what I refer to as the 50 yard line],

further than I would have liked but beautiful none the less.

I knew the minute I walked in this was the place! no pun intended.

Loved the staff, the cleanliness, the layout.

There was no doubt in my mind.

Now the hard part...moving mom.

My wonderful kids, gathered her things, loaded her furniture and we moved it to her new home.

My plan was to have her room completely set up before she walked in so when she asked to go home we could say you are home and take her to her room.

We hung her pictures, marked all her clothing, arranged her closet.

Everything as close to what she knew as possible.

Jackie had taken her home to her place the night before.

She brought mom into the facility just as we finished the last detail of setting up her room.

I would love to say it worked, but NO.

Mom was fine until she realized she was staying, for good! She would not be fooled!

First off she was embarrassed that everyone was there to witness the event.

Second, she was NOT going to sleep there alone.

Third, she was going to get out of there come hell or high water

and tried over and over to push the door open, this is a lock down facility.

Mom either doesn’t know or won’t except that while her body is healthy her mind is not.

In her mind she believes this is a punishment, or a crazy house, or that she’s being abandoned.

{In reality, when she dies [if in here] it will be from being pampered to death, seriously}!

Yes this moment was difficult but mentally I was prepared.

It’s done.

Disclaimer: The comments and images reflected in this blog are not intended to offend, defame, purge or humiliate anyone or any party involved directly or indirectly. This blog is intended to document my mother’s battle with Alzheimer’s. All images are the intellectual or personal property of the blog owner; [Riding the waves of life/Diary of a mad caregiver]. Image usage (hotlinking) is strictly prohibited without the written consent of the blog owner; [Riding the waves of life/Diary of a mad caregiver].

i ♥ photos...silly tween and a new friend

2010-07-20T00:12:00.000-06:00

i ♥ photos...happy birthday AVA

2010-07-19T08:38:00.000-06:00

i ♥ photos...a gift

2010-07-18T23:19:00.001-06:00

i ♥ photos...katie

2010-07-17T23:04:00.002-06:00

i ♥ photos...in the pink

2010-07-16T09:12:00.000-06:00

i ♥ photos...full bloom

2010-07-15T09:14:00.000-06:00

my diary of a mad caregiver...trial run

2010-07-14T18:13:00.006-06:00

We are making the very difficult and painful decision about where mom will stay for the next few years. We found a beautiful assisted living a mile away and it would have been so convenient. But life isn’t always convenient. Mom needs a facility that specializes in memory care. Assisted living facilities mainly deal with coherent, physically challenge people. The facility suggested we give it a trial run for a couple of nights so we thought we’d give it a try. The state law is clear- if a resident wanders either into someone else's room or out of the facility they can not be housed there. So the fear that mom will wander is the issue, we simply don’t know. I took mom over for lunch and all was fine. Natalie and Jaxon accompanied me and mom seemed ok. After lunch I told her that I needed to run a few errands and would be back in a couple of hours. As expected she freaked! She begged to go with me and when I told her she couldn’t she begged Natalie to take her. Just at that moment the facility’s hair stylist arrived and we told mom she was there to get her hair done (it wasn’t a lie, she got her hair done). After promising we would be back in a couple of hours we slipped out. By the time I arrived home (1.5 miles) I received a call from the facility explaining that mom needed me to assure her I would be back! I’m thinking...NOT A GOOD SIGN. Long story short...Natalie, Jackie and I arrived for dinner. By that time mom was surprised to see me but relieved. We ate, I gave her her meds and waited for her to pass out. Never happened! In fact she knew something was up when we didn’t leave right away. After 2 hours passed and she was sitting on the edge of her seat I finally told her that she was staying the night in the beautiful room and I would be back first thing in the morning. She shot straight up!

OH NO I AM NOT!!!!

You take me home...

You need to get me out of here!

I will pay you $100 to take me home!

She begged the CNA to help her escape whispering don’t tell her (me) that you are helping me.

~then~

Mom headed straight for the door and tried to get out!

This facility is not a lock down and residents can come and go as they please.

She could slip out at any time and probably not be able to get back in.

Our fears where confirmed!

This is not the place for mom.

John turned to me and said "I wouldn’t feel good leaving her here tonight

and why traumatize her knowing she won’t be living here”. "Let’s take her home”.

So....I asked mom if she wanted a root beer float (her fav),

By the time we got home she was fine.

i ♥ photos...100% bored!

2010-07-14T16:56:00.000-06:00

i ♥ photos...

2010-07-13T20:25:00.000-06:00