Runnin Around

Whew what a morning of doing two loads of her laundry,
breakfast and lunch and the obligatory dealing with nutty-ville.
Nutty-ville includes her putting her little xmas tree away,
trying to put her phone 'away', food and vitamins in her dresser,
trash bag in dresser, cookies- well, you get the idea...
everything hidden.
The memory care place will not return my months worth
of emails asking where she is on thier list..
All the forums I read I have never heard of this happening to
anyone.
I do not have the mindset to deal with more stress-
but a phone call is in order.
Oh, mother's neighbors here gave her christmas cards!!
At least she can enjoy those :)

Christmas Card

The other day my mother got a christmas card from her son.
The return address was from Ohio, her home state.
She has an obsession with 'going home' and once again this
was triggered.
She started getting really sad and upset asking questions
about dead relatives and wanting to go home...
I felt kind of bad as I sneaked her only christmas card away
and hid it in my bag....
Sometimes you just have to do things to remove the source of
agitation or sadness, even if it goes against 'logic'.
This is also why I changed the address of all her mail to come to
me even though she asked about bank statements and bills.
She didnt understand them and it would cause her great distress.
***************************************************
Her language and understanding has really gone downhill this
year. I am always astounded what she thinks I said when she
repeats it back to me.
Things like "ear on my ankle" . I swear, no wonder they look at
you like "wut?" but they cannot say "I didnt understand you".
So they sit there in a daze.

Activities

The other day I brought beads and stretch cord for mother to make a bracelet
to the community room here.
We were joined by friends who also made a bracelet also.
Next they were playing 'Go Fish' with my childrens cards..
these are Great cards for people with dementia or eyesight problems.
A good time was had by them as I did my 'Bent & Wiggly'
word find puzzles.
 I take mother to the community room here every day,
Many people come up to her and admire her coloring, beading,
or her puzzles.

Sunrise Syndrome

Who knew! what mother does in the morning has a name
I underlined the symptoms she has.

Here are the symptoms-

cognitive instability on arising from sleep.
Sunrise Syndrome a condition in which a person with
Alzheimer's wakes up rising in the morning and their mind is filled
with delusions which include include beliefs about theft, the
patient's house not being their home, a spouse is an impostor, belief
an intruder is in the house, abandonment, spousal and paranoia, people
eavesdropping. Sometimes the person may carry over content of a dream.

One observation is that Sunrise Syndrome is different from Sundowning
because the person may wake up in a confabulation mind set. During a
Sunrise Syndrome conversation with the content may filled with
confabulations; verbal statements and/or actions that inaccurately
describe history, background and present situations.

Sundowning in contrast displays as confusion, disorientation,wandering, searching, escape behaviors, tapping or banging,
vocalization, combativeness; the demons of anxiety, anger, fear,
hallucinations and paranoia come out.

She's Ready to Go

Mother called me so early I didn't get the phone because I was asleep
with ear plugs in.
She called again soon after and said she was ready to go.
Uh, I am asleep, its too early to go anywhere, go to bed.....
I walked over to "ground" her.
Her door was open.
She was fully dressed with a coat on, hearing aids in and everything.
I got her cereal and plugged in the TV..
she was a tad teary thinking someone had been there and she was
supposed to go somewhere.
I vigorously rubbed her arms and shoulders and scritched. her head
to get her "back".
Needless to say, I am tired, and she will be back in bed soon only
to be back up at it again :P

Flip of the brain switch

Driving home from getting our hair done yesterday.
mother and i were rocking to an alternative rock station on the radio.
she was clapping her hands and saying 'goodie' when the song came to
an end.
i just kept seat dancing to the next song, but my mother suddenly
came back from being completely involved in the previous song...
only she came "back" completely lost.
She had No idea where she was or Anything !
I tried to bring back the "happy" but the moment had disappeared with
the song. Instead I was brought back to the land of the lost and barraged
with questions and her groping around for non existent purse , is this your hat,
where do i live, etc.....
Can you imagine suffering from sudden amnesia and the person
whom you sort of recognize just responds with aggravation at your
fear ?
It is So difficult.......

Tday

Tomorrow I am having a church group deliver a meal for mother.
It will come here and I will take it over ..
I really do not know how long I am going to be able to get
away for to go to friend's home for T-day dinner.
Probably i will go over, come back, give mom hers, return to friends.
She will be pretty "buggy" stuck inside alone :(
I hope she doesn't get into trouble.
she starts to not think well and get really screwed up.
this causes anxiety leading to fear.
None of my friends/acquaintances, who care for
their loved ones with alzheimer disease, can leave them alone...
I am only able to for a couple hours,
and even then my neighbors say
she stands in the open doorway :(
UPDATE
my sister is saying this morning she will come over :O
*faints*

yipes

After I got mothers breakfast-
 i was away at the grocery store, my mother's neighbor's
sink backed up into my mother's tub.
Industrial drain chemicals, garbage, and brown water filled her tub.
I arrived to find this mess with mother trying to
rinse off her hand.....
I soon realized, after calling for maintenance, that she had
put her hand into the caustic water !!!
WTH!!
i had her put her hand under running water for quite a while.
Removed her ring and put analgesic antibiotic on it
with a light gauze . She has no idea what when why.
So far no blistering and redness has gone way down.
my other neighbor just informed me that while i was gone
mother was standing in her doorway wondering where i was.
Here i remove all chemicals and dangerous items from
her place and trouble comes up her drain- ugh.

Ninja Caregiving

Covert removal of junk and things that cause confusion
 or danger has been going on. My bf and I whipped up
a plan where I would put items into a drawer and he
would go in after i left with mother on a walk and take them
to be gone through.
I have to go through every page of papers and envelope
for hidden old photos etc.
Only one thing,
now what do i do with this pile of stuff at my place!

Stressed Out

Yesterday's doctor visit with mother was a tiny hell.
Stuck in the little room for 45 min with a person getting into
everything , all those racks of notepads, exam gloves, alcohol pads.
Her saying the dr had gone to lunch, open the door, lets go home,
the gown is hers, where's my (keys,glasses,purse)
I had to physically stand in front of items and she would push against
me. I even, for the first time, told her to knock it off.
 The dr had to sneak out the gown.
Needless to say, not much examining happened.
She was so adamant on leaving , that i didnt even get to
schedule another appointment  because I was blocking her from
going out the front door.
This was day three(?) of her acting stuborn/insistent and snitty.
Changes are coming
and knowing this causes me fear.

Mornings

Each morning lately I find mother either still in bed asleep,
or wandering aimlessly around not knowing what to do
with herself.
I turn on the lights, plug in the tv, and get her cereal with banana.
The other day she called me not knowing where she was
and thinking "everyone is gone". It was an hour earlier than
i usually go over.
The time change is always a pain in the ass with meals...
we are hungry an hour "early" , tired an hour early, have to walk
earlier because the sun is going down and she is ready to go
back inside an hour earlier.

Took a tour last week of the place she is on the list to live.
It was an amazing place.....

Ya Never Know

I was just reading the  Alzheimer forum and laughed when I read
" although I want to look forward to seeing (mother)
 I kind of dread it because 
"Moms like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get"

hahahahaaaa, SO true. 

Cannot let it get to me

It is quite difficult not to let things my mother does get to me.
Like this morning I didnt get there to get her breakfast
before she ate a klondike bar. I set out breakfast anyways.
Or finding a bowl of food in her dresser drawer.
Leaving her for a half hour and going back to find
her entire closet rearranged so she cannot find anything.
Cereal box and other items hidden so that
"they" wont take them.
Pulling everything out of storage room and then saying
there isnt anywhere to put them away.
It is interesting she does everything to her own detriment,
a battle against herself.... one hiding things the other needs..

Why am I not sad?

Found this in the ALZ forum---

" I try to think of mother's decline as a natural progression of her life. 

We all will die. 

ALZ is harder on the patient and family members than some diseases, but in the end any terminal disease is just as....well, terminal.

To get me through I concentrate my efforts on how to manage the disease, how to help mother feel loved, content, safe and comfortable. I don't let the disease and the decline bring me down because it saps my energy.

How do I not let it bring me down? I guess this is my magic pill (maybe not suitable to anyone else): I try not to feel sorry for myself nor for my mother for having ALZ. I feel sorry for a lot of things, but not for declining and dying. All that is a natural part of life. I try not to look at her as being a shadow of herself, but as the same person she has always been. For every step of the decline I try to do what is best for my mother and leave the grief for the day she dies.  "

Exactly.

Inspiring Award

Thank you SO much for nominating me Joy
and saying my little entries are "pithy" and you like my spirit.
That made me smile and feel good.
http://cleaninghousebook.blogspot.com/2014/09/how-inspiring.html

Sorry i dont have time to play the game right and I sure dont know 15 people
But if you want to get to know me, go to my profile and look at my personal
blog....
I grew up in the country.
Love my cat and ball jointed dolls.
I love to take things apart.
Love nature and bird identification.
I have a patient and kind nerdy kindred spirit boyfriend.
Started caring for my mother in the 1990's when my father left her.
I was verbally physically sexually abused neglected by her
as a child and teen.
My father was an extremely volatile man.
I forgave them both after much studying self help and growth books.
....I became both their caregiver at one point.

Who Am I ?

Poor mother woke up yesterday scared.
She didn't know who she was or what to do.
I gave her a long hug .....
Then got on her robe , got her breakfast .
She was fine after the grounding hug.
Washed her hair in the sink and got her into a nice shower.
She was still sore from our trip to the beach the day
before. Definitely the last time for that.
Best just to sit in the car like we have been and watch
the gulls fly by.
At least I got photos :)

New Tv

After years of dealing with mother pushing the buttons on the front
of her tv and completely messing it up, I bought her a new one.
A 23" flat screen with no buttons on the front.
i bought her a small one so she doesn't think the people are in the
room with her.
Also, since she hides the remote, I duct taped it to a cord and attached
it to the tv stand.
So far she seems to have adapted to it.
She is still thinking crumbs are bugs, even as I show her they are not.
One day I made the mistake of demonstrating by showing her the
clean counter, then showing her cookies and putting the crumbs on the
counter as she watched.
" Bugs !! " she cried..... Oh brother, that didn't work.
Logic does not work if the brain is broken.
Also i think it is cataracts .

Dad called

He wanted me to come shave his head.
Amazed he still remembers i did that for so long.
wanted to post a pic but blogger thinks i am on a phone.
He sounded good and the photo my sister sent he looks great.

Water Streaming

water streaming down mothers walls
all afternoon , night , and today.
thats right, it is a holiday weekend and no one is doing
anything about it except coming into her appartment
and saying wow and leaving.
ceiling falling down dresser ruined, photos,
and i am running around so pissed trying to get action.
mother thinks paint bubbling is bugs-
I left after that-
talk about adding crazy ontop of it.
.
Well, they finally broke into upstairs after I threatened calling
the fire department.
By then it was coming in the opposit side of the wall in her
bedroom. Had to save portrait of her mother as water streamed
down the wall.. pulled all the furniture away.
what a mess.

Bugs

A new symptom today
thinking spots have legs and are bugs.
Having a linoleum bathroom floor that is full of spots
must have been very frightening for her.
I had her get close to the floor and touch it to see that
they were not bugs.
She was astounded at when viewed closer, the
wiggling legs disappeared and it was just the floor pattern.
She agreed with me it must be her eyes.

New sypmtoms are handled calmly by me,
but they really knock me because they make me fear my
abilities to help.
My father saw bugs too! But i just bought him bug spray
and it didnt bother me at all!

memory care facility called and said she is on list
but still awaiting a bed....
I met with VNA today and will figure out help for
future.

Still Perturbed

I brought mother to her Senior Assessment a while ago and the doctor's comment
to me still pisses me off.
I asked him to write to the memory care place that i put mother on the list
a couple years ago.
He replied " Are you sure you want to do that? What will you do with yourself? "
I said " I have a life waiting for me "
What the hell ?????
 i have been caring for this woman since the eighties !
Yes, I do not know who I am without this,
but I sure as hell want to find out !
My father being in a home and not having to worry about
him is the best thing that happened to me.
Another thing that is irritating me is they gave her a new test.
The old test she got a zero.
This test she got a thirteen.  i was listening outside the door
and could hear the lady coaching mothers answers
" shoe, pen " etc.
The whole thing was / is aggravating me.

Abuse across the generations

My niece is still clinging to the fact her grandmother
hit her. Spanking and hitting were not forms of punishment
by her mother which adds to the trauma she still has even after
all these years .
Unfortunately memories of neglect and abuse still come to
mind for me also, even after I forgave and 'moved on'.
The fact that it happened never goes away
but dwelling on it is not helpful.

Where did I go?

Well it happened yesterday.
I had prepared myself and it really didn't bother me.
my mother looked at me as I was preparing dinner and said
"Where did _____ go ? "
Yep, she was looking me in the face and asking where i went.
I smiled and raised my hand and said " I'm right here "
and giggled.
She looked at me for a second and then laughed, embarrassed,
covering her face.
She has been more symptomatic these past couple days.
One hint the disease is progressing on a particular day
is her skin is warm.
This symptom comes and goes, but when it happens I
know she will be extra confused.

Zero Memory

Spent the entire afternoon with mother at a huge
block party where we live.
She ate a hotdog and chips and two icecreams!
I brought her back to her place at the daily same time
and went back alone to walk about and socialize.
Then returned to her place an hour later...
"Looks like a nice day out, have you been out yet?"
she says.
I describe what we did all day to her amazement.
She remembered none of it .
I was exhausted and she couldnt understand why.
Such a strange disease !

Father

My father called me last week
he sounded great
still pretty sharp, I was amazed.
Too bad the nursing home has no outdoors area at all
but he was happy to talk and he does stick his nose
out the door there.

One of these days, Alice....

went to mothers and her disposal was going and
Everything was unplugged and no electricity in half the place.
Had to go home and get my screw driver because i had screwed the
breaker box closed. Not sure how she blew the breaker,
but i think it was from yanking the tv plug.
havent found the dish liquid yet god forbid those
"boys" take it.

laundry

"Thats not dirty" she says taking the sheet out of the basket i just
put in. So i reply Is this one dirty? pulling out the top sheet from
basket. "yes" Ok, very good! i say
and deftly wrap the other inside in a quick
move making them look as one and into the basket it goes.

You gotta laugh

Just read this on the Alz boards and it made me laugh bigtime.

"he almost fell asleep at dinner but he refuses to go lay down and take a stinking nap, he adamant about getting into everything like a 2 year old.  I'm about ready to rock him to sleep, with a real rock.  GGRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "

Now there is someone who knows what it's like and has a great sence of humor
man it made me laugh

So Sad

my friend whose husband has dementia just showed
me her bruises from last night.
They were all over her wrists and arms, legs and ribs.
She said he attacked her in the middle of the night
and she was screaming her lungs out and no one heard.
She said she thought she was going to die....
His nickname is "Happy"......

Hot and Humid

So glad I unscrewed the breaker box and turned
off mother's heat while she was in the bathroom.
Her apartment is comfortable
but she kept turning on the heat!
It is hot and humid out.
i also put away all her winter clothes and took
away her long underwear to give to a friend.
She called me this morning and I felt like
someone was speaking to me in a foreign language.
You know, where you acknowledge them and
make positive responses but they are speaking
gibberish.
She understood me though, when i said i had
to get dressed and would be right over.
Screwy how she thinks someone is going to
steal her cereal, spoons,dish liquid,coffee mug,
tv remote-- you name it
and hides them to her own detriment.

Friends via Dementia

Got to talk to a friend today, she is trying her husband in
daycare. He is turning mean and I knew it wouldnt work
out but didnt say anything. It is just that I tried my mother
for a couple hours and she got extremely angry, and she
doesnt have the angry type of dementia (yet?)
Anyways, we got to laugh at the craziness of taking our
loved one out only to have them deny it.
I remarked at how I just got mother in the door
after three hours outside and she
said "its a nice day, lets go outside"
GAH !!

Mother

Bought more beads but this time they are not ones for children.
Mother made a beautiful necklace.
She is so afraid of making a mistake when it comes to
things like this. there has to be exact numbers of each bead
and they have to be the same shape.
I just need to relax and let her sort for an hour
where I would just go ahead and string them.
At least we are out in public so I can talk to people.
I have to be there at or before four thirty or she tries to
make her own "dinner". Taking everything out of
the freezer, refrigerator and opening cans.
god forbid i am a second late, especially since i was
with her all afternoon.
No, I did not "celebrate" mothers day.
but i did go to an old friend's house to work on
her computer. Brought mother with me.
It didnt help me like i thought it would
but it was sure nice seeing all the birdies outside.

Father's 90th

Children and grandchildren came to celebrate !
The diner set up a party table and we all had a great time
seeing eachother.
I hadn't seen my neices and nephew for years.
I was surprised my father had on stained sweatpants
and slippers, but at least he was there and very happy.
A big chocolate cake, his favorite, was accompanied
by singing.
After the party, one sister and her kids came to see mother.
They hadnt seen her since they were children.
Of course she was elated to have people over
even though she didnt have a clear idea who they were.
They all wore the necklaces she made, even the reluctant
son. Ha !
They all stayed over night at the other sisters house
and returned home the next day. Too bad some didnt
come but dad was happy and thats all that mattered.

Father

Well I did it,
after many many months I saw him.
There was just no way I was going to the nursing home,
so I met him and my sister at the diner.
The waitresses were very surprised to see me and all
came to talk.
About a half hour later they came in..
it was very strange to see my sister doing what i
was doing all those years. It was an eye-opener.
It was pitiful.
He really should be in a chair.
He was happy to see me and I showed him lots of
photos. Later, I sat next to him and held his
hand and he thanked me for all I had done for him.

Unfortunately, I found out that my sister has not
been paying his credit card bill when it was rejected.

I found it interesting that the waitress hugged her,
I never received that when I was going there all that
time....
Came home and found that mother had not eaten the
lunch I had left for her.
Walking over to her place after getting back I wondered
to myself how the hell i took care of both of them
all that time.

Agitation

i knew this week was going too well and the circle would come
around once again.
Mother awoke me this morning bouncing off the walls
and even after I went and got her breakfast
she called repeatedly- I even answered in the shower!
I took her to pharmacy with me and goodwill
made her lunch and lay down only to be barraged 
by sales calls and her until 3 when I decided wtf not going to get
a nap and took her for walk and made her dinner.
Oh, her 87th is tomorrow.

Father

They found him wandering around confused.
Urinary infection once again.
I cannot imagine him living this way
with a catheter and prostate cancer.
He may be 90 in April.

Like A Balloon

My mother is like a balloon.
Every day at some point Alzheimer floats her away
Into a world of complete confusion.
I grab the string
and pull her down
To ground her once again
for a little while....

Amazing Interaction

After being in such a confused state this morning
my mother for the first time actually recognized someone!
Not only recognized her, but interacted with her!
She playfully bumped the other person's wheelchair
with her rollator saying "Oops!"  laughing.
Went over to the girl and did this- I am amazed.

Calming Down

Mother was quite confused this morning.
At least I can go right over and get her back on track.
 unfortunately I am still a-quiver with adrenalin an hour later.
Spoke with a woman here who is going through
this alone with her husband. She takes him out for a
car ride twice a day! She cannot go grocery shopping or
anything any more and her children dont want to stay
with him because they will fight with him.
I cannot imagine going through this without
a computer for information.

Funny

Helping mother wrestle into clothing always makes us laugh.
She usually has on too much with wearing longjohns underneath.
This morning I helped her on with a shirt only to find that the shirt
under it was backwards.
So off came both shirts and with them up came her brassiere.
Her floppy boobs had to be put back "in" and I had her
lean forward to do this trying to coax them into place.
omg it was so funny we were laughing.

New Lessons and Insight

I just read this post and learned a few things.
http://cleaninghousebook.blogspot.com/2014/03/dementia-mysteries.html

My father has the "grip of death" that would bruise my arm,
the only other person I know that did this was also what I
would call a 'mean' person.
Perhaps it is a matter of loss of  fine motor skills instead,
I was quite surprised reading the post!
Another thing I had read but knew already was how people
with dementia have a narrowed field of vision.
I already naturally touch my mother before doing things
like put her hearing aids in.
If I dont she is startled even though I am right there beside her.
I think it is more a state of mind more than an actual vision
problem. She can only focus on what is in front of her.
It has taken me years to keep my mouth shut while she walks
and eats. omg this has been so hard to learn!
She also insists that i speak to her face - something she used to
do before she got her hearing aids.
 Now I realize it is a case
of focus. Especially now that her brain is hearing nonsense
as well as speaking it.
I am Always learning

Mother's Window View

While sleepily laying on her couch looking out
her window my mother said
"That's nice, (pointing out the window)
I like that".....
This was amazing and made me happy.
When she moved in here, she hated the view of the cliff
out her window.
It actually isnt that bad covered with trees, but many other
residents dislike the lack of 'view'.

Ramping up Removal

Today I brought my covered cart and ramped up the covert
removal of things from mother's place.
Cleansers from under kitchen sink, hair crap from bathroom,
toaster oven power knob, and stove knobs.
I will bring the cart daily to toss things into.
My concerns besides protecting her health,is preparing
for strangers going in there.
For me that means removing any thing of value,
ok there isnt much of anything left, but just to check & remove.

Ping Pong Ball

Took mother out for lunch yesterday.
It was nice, but now I think it was a mistake.
That afternoon, last night and this morning
she has been pacing and unable to settle down
bouncing around like a pingpong ball.
I made her breakfast and sat there till she finished,
she had put her dinner in the refrigerator.
 this is the stage I told myself that I would get help.
 i have called agencies before, but the decisions to
be made overwhelmed me.

Hiding Things

Mother has always hidden things but it is ramping up lately.

This morning she said she really didn't like what she had for 

food so I went over to make her daily lunch.

I always check to see what she had for breakfast.

The raisin bran was gone. I knew there were two boxes.

Thank goodness she has only a one bedroom apartment.

I found a coffee mug in the linen closet,

a cereal bowl and coffee mug in her dresser,

and the two boxes of cereal hidden in her closet behind

her bathrobes. 

Some men where here and they were going to take them.

Ah, yes. 

She is always talking about "those men".

She did have some workers in there the other day though.

Wouldn't want them stealing the cereal now would we !?

Gotta laugh.

Master Magicians

People with dementia are masters at making things disappear.
Went over to do mother's laundry and the entire laundry basket
and dirty laundry was gone!
WTH?
found the basket empty.
Ugh.
I tried to find the dirty underwear and clothes
but was pretty much unsuccessful. Picked through
the closet  and looked around the place.
I dunno....
Started her shower for her, but this knowledge is fading also
for her.
Understanding the spoken word is now failing,
going the way of not only speaking gibberish but
hearing it also.

People here who do not have their mothers anymore
have sort of adopted her. They get tears in their eyes
as they speak to us....

Alzheimer Face of Fear

Yesterday after happily putting our puzzle away
my mother suddenly looked at me in fear.
"Where am I?  I don't know how to get back"
I gave her a reasuring rub and pointed out our building
saying thats where we live, I live there too.
Reassurance is an hourly thing with her as far as my telling
her where I live and that she isnt alone.
The large look of fear that pops on her face as I
lead the way to places is disconcerting
but always met with my smile and
" Its OK"
and most importantly,
a hug .

Unrecognized Hunger

Poor mother doesn't know she is hungry!
Sometimes I get caught up in things and dont get over
to feed her at noon.
At times I find she has made a sandwich, but today
she was sleepy and full of " I dont know"
Made her a salad with tuna on it and brought her back to life.
She gets up so darn early and has breakfast then.
I put on a cd of mommas and papas to get her going.
it is so cold outside!!! Another day of inside walking.

There are some blogs that I would love to comment on
but cannot and this is one of them.
http://cleaninghousebook.blogspot.com/

Quote

From the alzheimer forum I read--

"" Do the best you can because you are the guide so they are not alone
 along this crappy journey.
Good luck to you....
a survivor of there and back again and almost done.""

This is why I am caring for my mother, so she isn't alone in her
confusing world.
A world you wake up after a nap and don't know where you are.
Not very many people have someone.
An anchor to keep you from floating away, to protect from danger,
to lead....
One day I will need the same...
we all will....

Sweet tooth times Ten

Just got back from sitting there till my mother finished her dinner.
Her background is one of eating natural with no pasta.
Chicken and brown rice, fish and lots of fruit.
 tonights dinner was chicken parm. and she was very reluctant to
eat the chicken. She brought her plate back into the kitchen after
a fussy dispute with me.
She opened the refrigerator and bent to get jello and I said
"no desert till you eat your chicken" (hahaha)
This exchange was familiar to her I found as she
returned and finished it.
I was over multiple times today with groceries and laundry,
lunch, walk, and dinner, spending time over there with each...
and yet she just called not remembering a thing and wondering why,
and where she was....
I went over all the things we did and that I live close by,
trying to reassure her...
Such is the day of mine and hers....

Window Block

I snuck a wooden dowel into mother's and dropped
it into the window track. She didnt notice what I was doing
and I actually couldnt even see it after it went in !
I figure even though it is a couple inches short
it is better than the window being wide open.
She is still able to do 100 piece puzzles although
sometimes she gets discouraged if the pieces
are all the same color. If this is the case, she just
lays them all out haphazardly but flat in the space.
I continue to sneak out trash and food that is past prime.
On grocery day as I take items out of bags into her
fridge, I remove stuff and put it into the bags,lol.
On laundry day, I put worn through shoes, worn out
stained clothing etc. under the dirty laundry and
toss it out down the hall on the way to machine.
Very slowly I have gotten rid of alot of confusing
clutter.

Open Windows

One thing that my mother has done since this disease started
is open her windows with the heat or airconditioning on.
It drives me Nuts!
Her oil and electric bills were outragious in her last place.
Here she isn't billed for it but i am still upset at the waste.
Going to try to put some kind of wooden dowel to block it
but i think she will just take it out. She is a very determinded
person when it comes to things like that.
She worked at her fuse box for years trying to open it after
i had maintenence screw it shut.