It's Christmas where we celebrate family

Oh Doris...
This Christmas season it the first year my mom has celebrate with my family.... Seeing the joy on her face when Cory, Sandra, Xeke & Aris (and Xena the great dane) arrived was priceless. Seeing her read to her great grandkids is priceless. I have feelings of overwelming emotions. She keeps telling them she is their great granny...
We explained to them granny can't hear very well, so Aris gets right up to granny's ear and talks to her. Granny responds the other ear Erika, I can't hear you. Aris changes ears and repeats herself. Granny now remembers her name is Aris Marie, Marie just like her mom's middle name Ellen Marie.
Watching Granny hold Luca and tell us how much she is filling out is priceless. Xeke has been struggling with a cold, taking it easy laying on the couch. Granny turns on a kids channel for him to watch.
For the past month Granny has been telling me how much she hates Christmas, It was getting on my nerves to hear her so depressing. I kept telling her she needs to make new memories & look forward not backwards.
She has blossomed seeing my kids & their families. I can't wait for her to see my youngest Brian tomorrow.
I feel some sadness when I think of how many holidays my mom has missed in my family, how many special memories she could have had & I am taking my own advice as looking forward to new memories we are making now.
I laughed so hard when she told me when Cory & Sandra were out clearing the driveway Xena came up and licked her face.... She grabbed a kleenex and wiped that slobber so quick.
It isn't always easy having her live with us but I wouldn't change it for anything. I am learning things about my mom that I never knew.
I am learning to show her I love her & not worry about how she shows her love to me. That isn't important. She's my mom for better or worse, it doesn't matter.
Last week her doctor received her records & saw she wasn't taking thyroid meds.. oops that fell thru the cracks... She is now on her meds & in only 6-8 wks should be back to normal, more awake then sleeping.
  A couple weeks ago she borrowed a pair of my jean, never mind they are too big and long. She got a little huffy when I asked for them back so I decided to buy her jeans for Christmas... I ordered online twice, made 2 trips to the store, returned 4pr exchanged 3 pr before scoring the perfect jeans. The look on her face was priceless when she put on a pair this morning and they fit perfectly... She is going to be so surprised when she gets 2 more pair..
I look forward to this next year, the things I will learn about mom's childhood, things about my parents marriage & who knows what else...
Merry Christmas

Just a little jiggle...

Last Sunday Granny was all ready to go to church with us. The previous week we had a miscommunication & left without her. Oops
So before church begins we gather in the foyer to have coffee, chat, etc.
We are sitting at a table with my friend L, and Miss D comes up & sits down. She starts talking to Granny. Granny notices Miss D. is wearing a Christmas shirt with flamingos in a line across the front (think breast area) dressed as santa girls. Granny looks at Miss D & said "I think if you give those a little jiggle you can make the flamingo dance!" Miss D kinda looked horrified & said "I don't  believe I want to have them dance". L & I were laughing so hard. Poor Miss D, a kind hearted soul innocent, never married, trying to make small talk with Granny. I still laugh when I picture Granny shaking her chest at Miss D....

Yesterday Granny & I ventured out to Wally world... always an exciting trip to say the least. When we first arrived all of the little motorized carts were being used. Granny stated she would just walk.. I'm thinking ok, this is gonna take forever... after checking out the mittens & scarves I decided to check to see if any carts were returned. Yes!! there were 2 of them..Yippee...
Of course about this time it dawned on me I needed to drive the thing out into the store and locate Granny...... In my head I debated was it worth being seen on the silly thing.... So I unplug it, read the directions & headed out to the mittens...
I gotta say once I got over the feeling of people are going to think I'm lazy or what's wrong with her she too fat to walk the store ( Yes I am guilty of thinking that about others) I kinda enjoyed watching people quickly move out of my way.... Did they really think I was going to run into them? I was totally in control of the cart.... I swear...

Time of Thanksgiving

1 ~ 3 times a week Granny has a home health care worker come in and help her bathe, clean her room, etc. This week I am especially thankful for Tena coming over... Granny exclaimed "you can help me shower then you can cut my toenails" Inside my head I was cheering... That would had been my job if Tena didn't come over 

2~ Sunday Granny fell in the kitchen while we were at church. She failed to use the panic button she is paying for to call for help.... Crawled into the living room & pulled herself up on the footstool.
I asked if she needed to go in to the emergency room, she answers no, no I'm fine...
Monday morning she gets up with new aches and pains... I repeat let's go in and have you checked out, she responds no, I'm fine... even dances a little jig....
Tuesday afternoon I take her to a doctor visit, he checks out her knee, takes xrays, she then brings up falling. According the xray her hip is great, no problem. We spent 2 hrs total. She's going to have the screws in her knee removed. Good I think she'll have less pain...
We get out to the truck & Granny proclaims in a wobbly voice, I need to go to the ER... I respond really! Ov  vey, I said fine, can you walk in or do you need a wheel chair.. Wheel chair she replies...
I park her in the lobby & park the truck, as I walk in 3 ladies are helping her stating She fell on Sunday... I loudly say SHE REFUSED TO COME IN!!!!
After 2 1/2 hrs she was declared fine... after multiple xrays, blood test,  observing, she is fine....
After we get back to the truck in her normal non-wobbly voice she suggest stopping for tacos for dinner...
I am thankful she didn't break any bones.....

2~ While I'm thankful hearing aids I would be so much more thankful if she turned them on instead o telling me loudly she can't hear me.....

I've heard it is hell to get old & I believe it more and more every day..
I've decided I am not going to get old, I am done aging as of today..... 

the abnormal is our new norm

Life has changed, things have settled down, the abnormal is becoming the norm in our home...
Granny is no longer like a newborn baby sleeping the majority of the time. She is finding her place in her new home. We now have an alert button necklace for her, I believe the idea of the alert button has calmed her, knowing she can get help if she falls is a biggie. I went back to work this week, just 2 days, however this is different for granny to be on her own for the day. She did her own laundry, washed, dried, folded and put away... Impressive... I now know she will be doing her own laundry...
We have set up a gal to come in 3 times a week.
We are moving forward, still have moments of frustration, however not as many. I am trying to be more sensitive, put myself in granny's shoes. I would feel the same as she does I think questioning why I am still here, why doesn't God take me.
I have been working on upholstering a chair for the last 1 1/2yrs. (that is a whole different story) All I have left is the cushion and the back... I pulled it out and asked for granny's help. Her face became bright, her eyes glazed over.... she came alive... She got out her notebook and started taking notes on how to finish this chair (finally) & even how to fix what I didn't do correctly.. Even down to refinishing the legs vs replacing them (my idea).
I do believe I will be pulling out the rest of the unfinished projects around here.....

Is it wrong to call a funeral a vacation.....

On October 13th Michael's mother passes away. Mike had left the previous Friday for Tampa-St. Pete & was able to see his mom before she passed.
It was arranged that I would fly out the 17th. My daughter volunteered to granny sit for me. So she packed the whole house, little Luca & came to my home.
Granny has been a wealth of info concerning Luca... She poops up her back because you ate something that upset her tummy, She cries cause you ate something, She's crying & drooling because she is teething (Luca is 6wks). . Luca needs her tonsils & adenoids removed because she has a little snort when she cries...  Never mind the crying is normal crying and fussing for Luca.
Poor Shannon! a week of granny info is granny overload.
Shannon, Luca & granny got ready to go to Wally world... where granny decided to wait in the car ~ for over an hour...
Shannon put a pork roast in the crockpot at 12:45, at 6:45 she asked granny if she was getting hungry yet, Granny replies no I think I will have peaches later for dinner... ov vey
And the stories that are being told over and over...
Shannon was lucky enough to listen to Granny chew skittles with her dentures.... 2 very large bags of skittles... one piece at a time.
While I was melting in 90+ degree weather, we were concerned with the weather in Michigan ~ chilly rainy, freezing.. Oh yea as of right now we heat with wood... My poor city girl has no idea how to start a wood stove... We have 2 electric heaters which do ok, now we have a total of 3... Whatever it takes so Shannon doesn't have to start a fire. Granny was giving advice such as let's call the chimney cleaner, he would know how to start it..... Never mind it was 1:30 am. Granny lived  with only wood heat for 40+ years.. She must have blocked that out.
I owe Shannon so much.. It meant a lot to me to be able to support my hubby during this time. 

I can't hear you...

Somehow Doris has lost her hearing aid.. WHAT I CAN'T HEAR YOU...
It is either on the little table by the bed or in my dresser or in my chair or under the bed or maybe the bathroom... It's like searching for Waldo, where is the darn thing.... Day 3 of where's my hearing aid is set to begin....

Yesterday Doris found a wal-mart receipt, after looking it over we decided that Miss J took the debit card shopping... 2 pr yoga pants, 4 new eye shadows, couple t-shirts, and the list goes on... to the tune of $95....
Doris still owes the caregiver for last month pay, imagine her surprise when I deduct $95 from it & include a copy of the receipt...
Imagine taking advantage of an old woman who is confused at times... Miss J. can only hope she never reaches that point in her life & has someone treat her the same..
I can only wonder what other ways Miss J. took advantage of Doris...

So last week hubby went back over to the apt to get the final load of granny's stuff. There seemed to be a problem with the kitchen sink.... $300 later we find a dish cloth had been run thru the garbage disposal.. and the plumber had been to the apt 3 times since June when she moved in..
Note to self: buy a cover for our garbage disposal...
While all this is going on I was moving grandkids toys to the basement (sorry kids no more pink room) & tripped gracefully, ended up cracking a few ribs.... Ugh now I am off work for a couple weeks, which helps me get all the ducks lined up to continue working.
Thursday evening Granny started reading her address book to me, Yep and even gave an update on each person. She finally made it to Z and then started all over from Z to A.. I quickly sent a text to one of the former care givers Miss T. finding out she acts confused, goofier when she has a UTI...
Seriously I have never had that myself however I am far from 76yrs. Once she started on meds she was back to her normal self. :)
I am finding out there is more to taking care of granny than I thought or even knew about.
On the plus side Granny was able to get a perm so her hair doesn't look horrendous anymore... (her description not mine).
Life continues moving forward.

life changes whether you want to or not...

Oh Doris - a blog about momA little over a week ago I got a call from my mother "Doris", she wanted to come & visit for awhile.. and never leave....
Short story is She was living in an apt 2 1/2hrs away from me with a caregiver Miss J.
Mom wanted to move closer to me however Miss J. would tell her things like all I wanted was her money (there isn't any money), I wanted to control mom, etc...
Hubby & I arrived around 8:00pm packed up the truck & started home. We have been empty nesters for a couple of years now. Having someone permanently changes things a lot.
For instance no one walks around in their underwear anymore... clothing isn't an option it is required.
The thing we are learning about older people is their filters are broken... They tend to say anything & everything on their mind.
Hubby now knows that Doris' stools have form to them.... Yep he was speechless. At a family gathering we learned that sex with grandpa was good, really really good! My daughter just replied something like that is good grandma....
As hard as it is to have mom live with us, I am thankful we are in a position to have her move in. When she dies I will have no regrets...
Oh Doris