Not much.

There is not much going on this week and it has been GREAT ... a much needed laid-back kind of week.  The cold that my oldest son brought home has made its way through the younger set.  My oldest was well enough to go see grandma yesterday in her new facilty and it was a pretty decent visit.  She is still confused as to where she is, but when we walked in, she was sitting in her room, with her roommate, reading and did not seem to be upset about anything, so that was good.  We gave my son a tour of the place.

The kids have been trying to get over the cold, reading and watching a little TV, mostly reading and it has been really quiet around here and that has been a nice change.  Our phone has been doing that thing it did a while ago, where it rings and it is a long, long ring and when you pick it up, it is just static.  It's annoying, but since my nerves are not completely on edge like they have been most of the year, it is not bothering me quite as much.

My youngest son's school has gotten a bit derailed by this cold and he's not finished yet, but he expects to be today.  We'll see, I guess.

So now I have 2 homeschool graduates and only 1 student for the next 2 years.  He has made a few decisions about his schooling.  He wants to take a musical instrument such as steel drums or violin (not sure why these particular ones) and wants German to be his language study.  Fine with me.  I won't teach them, I'll just find something he can use to teach himself.

If you have a dog for a hood ornament. ...

You might be a redneck.

We came home from shopping to find Piper lying on the car, like that's a normal thing for a dog to be doing ... 

What to do, what to do?

Now, what to do with the summer?  We've made a list of things we need to accomplish.  I have a ton of phone calls to make, I need to work on getting my mom's VA benefits and just a bunch of things.  Now that mom's life has settled down a little (I pray) I have a lot of doctors appointments and things I need to actually go to.  I've been doing a lot of rescheduling due to 1 crisis after another.  It's been very frustrating and stressful and I am hopeful that this summer will be a time of getting things done, seeing friends, enjoying my whole family being in the same house.  I also hope that we (meaning everyone besides me) get the pool up and running so that I can get in it and exercise.  I find exercising in the pool to be so much easier and I can do it longer so I have been looking forward to that all through the fall and winter. 

So far, we have not  done much.  There was the long holiday weekend and my oldest son brought home a cold, which the younger son has now caught.  So I guess we'll pass that thing around for a while before we begin doing anything. :-)

We have been catching up with our oldest, seeing films and videos from his phone and showing him ours, like the film of it snowing really hard the day after he and his friends went back to Mississippi after spring break.  (His friends had wanted to see snow and it had been stubbornly sunny all week. ).  We got to see his band in action, singing a song, with him playing bass guitar.  It was fun.  I didn't take him to see his grandma yesterday because of his cold. 

He's here!

Our college boy and all his stuff and his poor dented car are home!  

Yesterday and today.

Yesterday my husband and son and I were all 3 trying to work out part of the accident details so that my son can come home.  We have gotten the car ready to make the drive home and my son is coming home today (woot!)  but he will have to go back to Mississippi on July 1 to appear in court.  Anyway, we get to see him, so that's good.  Yesterday I was talking on Facebook to a friend and we decided that their family should come over today after the prom-recap meeting we are having at lunch, so now we've got 2 things to look forward to today.

We've recently found out that the bookmobile comes to our church parking lot every couple of weeks, which is not far from home, so Thursday, we went to the bookmobile and stocked up on books and also returned a ton.  It's handy to go out there, although the selection of books, of course, is not that big.  We may be able to ask the librarians to put things on the bookmobile for us in the future though.  I tell you, gas prices being what they are, you've got to take advantage of opportunities like this.  I try and go to the library when I am in town, but now that my mom is in a different town, in a different direction, getting to the library has been a little more complicated.  This year, it seems, everything has gotten more complicated.  Sigh.

Just a note on what we are reading lately as we have been reading some good stuff:

Me
The Rosie Project
Paradise Fields 
Queen of Babble in The Big City

Girl
Jinx

Boy
Percy Jackson - All of them.

Together
The Wells Bequest

Still here.

We are mostly still here.   Oldest son has not gotten to come home yet due to the snafu with the car accident.   He is staying with a friend.   I hope we get it all worked out soon.   Over the weekend,  my daughter finished the last of her assigned school work and so quietly and unceremoniously finished high school.  Youngest son is taking his time finishing 10th grade.  Life goes on.  We're doing the one-day-at-a-time survivial method, but I hope/pray that we get my oldest son's situation resolved and my mom continues to settle in and we will have a little breathing space.  Whew.  Middle age is kicking my hiney.

Since these pictures have been making me smile this week, I'll share another one. 

A little rest, then.

I had a little rest over the weekend and now I am going to get busy.  I've got to go to pick up mom an hour away, bring her back to our county for a doctor's appointment, then take her back.  We're going to the pain management clinic and I hope/pray we are not in there for too many hours this time.  I'm taking my art journaling supplies just in case I need to de-stress while there, which I more than likely will.  Then I have to get my son's car registration updated because he was in an accident over the weekend and his registration was not up to date.  So joy.  I tell you, if it's not one thing, it's another around here.  He's okay but for a couple of hours on Saturday when we didn't hear from him and wondered if Mississippi state law would require him to go to jail or his car to be impounded, was a bit nerve racking.

Sigh.

It was fun.

We had a good time at the prom.  It was a lot of work but it was worth it, I think.  When I got there, thinking there were 5 or 6 hours of work ahead, I thought - why do we do this every year?  But then later when the kids are dancing and having a great time, and then when the seniors are recognized and told to dance with someone special and my daughter picks her Dad, I realize why.  It was very sweet.  There was one of the girls we didn't know who was a bit annoying at the beginning and one girl, who despite there being 9 chaperones in the gym with the kids, kept running down to hall to our improvised  break room and saying she was just looking for the parents, wondering where all the parents were.   Is it just me or is that kind of odd?   Anyway, it was good and now we can resume our regular lives.  My oldest son is coming home on Monday.  He was in 2 weddings this weekend.  I hope to get a good picture of him in his wedding finery since I have good pictures of my other 2 in their prom finery.  :-)

Prom today!

We've got prom today.  I said that to my mom the other night and she said "you're going to prom?"  and yes, well, actually I am.  The kids are having a prom, the homeschool families are putting it on and I will be doing registration and helping serve the food.  I spent yesterday afternoon doing some decorating and last night making cupcakes.  Today, I've got to go out to the gym and help them hang gossamer and then take my daughter to her hair appointment, then hopefully have a quick nap and  then we're off for a photo session and then to the prom.  I hope it goes well and everyone has a good time and I don't get too worn out.  :-P

A picture of last year's prom.  :-) 

More busy-ness.

I need it.  I have been feeling so terribly sad over mom's situation and I feel that being busy helps.  This has been a great week for seeing our homeschool group family..  We saw them Monday and Tuesday and we'll see them today and tomorrow since today is prom decorating and tomorrow is prom!  Yesterday, we did the last thing we needed to get done before prom, we went to whole foods and got some gluten free cupcakes.  I could have made cupcakes, but my kitchen is a mixed kitchen with gluten free people and gluten-full people cooking in there and I don't currently have dedicated bowls and pans for gluten free.  I really should do that soon.  I was afraid there would be another gluten free kid there at the prom and that kid might be really really sensitive to even a molecule of gluten and might get a molecule of gluten from my cookware, so I bought them. 

Before we went to whole foods we went to visit mom and we actually had a good visit!  They are treating her so well there at her new facility.  We went for a walk in the garden (luckily there was a break in the constant rain) and sat and talked in the dining room for a while.  She seemed okay.  She didn't want us to leave, but when we did leave, she was hugging and kissing one of the workers there.  I felt the knot of tension that has been in my stomach ease a little bit at that moment.  I'm still praying it continues to work out. 

Looking forward to the excitement of tomorrow.  I sure hope all this rain stops!!!! 

Busy-ness.

We went to Indiana yesterday and stayed all day long and did the rest of the prom planning and dance lessons and got home around 9:30 last night.  Then today, I got up and worked and then called the Veterans Administration and re-made a doctors appointment I had had to cancel last week, then did some dishes and then got ready, went to town, went to the pharmacy, the grocery, the library and got my son a haircut and then went to a graduation party.  It's 8:00 p.m. and we've only been home a little while.  Tomorrow, I will go see my mom.  Please join me in praying that she will get used to her new surroundings and be happier.  It's been a very sad time lately.  I am glad that I still have the kids and their activities to distract me. 

Field Trip/Planning Meeting.

As I have mentioned before, one of the members in our homeschool group moved to Indiana last year.  They are still active in our group when they can be and since we love them, we visit them as often as we can   The prom for our group is this Friday and due to snow days and broken down vehicles and other things that have happened this spring, we haven't done some of the planning.  So today's the day.  We are going to get together and prom plan and have dance lessons and delegate responsibilities for the big day and then hang out and enjoy each other for a while and then drive home.  I've had some pretty tough weeks lately and I am really looking forward to it, despite the long trip.

I went to see Mom last night and she was not very happy to be where she is, she doesn't really know where she is, but I was fortunate to get to talk to the director and she reassured me that for less than a week being there, mom is doing fine.  We went out and walked around the gardens, looked at the chickens and all the veggies and flowers growing.  My brother is going today to see her.  Please pray/send warm thoughts that she will settle in.  We have found a really, really good place for her this time, but now it all depends on her ability to cope and get comfortable.  I pray she is able to do that.

I carry this big, HUGE, guilt load around that I should bring her into my house or move into her house and take care of her.   Everyone I have talked to about this, feels that this is not a viable choice for me, in my situation, with my personality and that people with Alzheimer's who are kept in their own homes, often beg to "go home" but I still struggle with it.  Honestly, I wonder if I'd make it a week. 

Oh well, big day today and I am going to focus on that!

FIELD TRIP!!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

It's a bittersweet one for me, the first one that my mom is not in her home and the first time my oldest son is not home for Mother's day.   So I am going to try my best not to focus on the bitter, but focus on the sweet.

The now one of a kind dress.

We had straps put on, the bodice taken up to fit (kind of, it's still a bit big) and a blue underskirt sewn underneath so now it has 8 skirts.  It's heavy, but I think it turned out very pretty.  The blue and silver makes me think of Frozen, maybe because we've watched it about 4 times this week.  :-) 

Art stuff.

For the first 2, I was playing with the gray markers.  I never use them, so I have a bunch.  It was fun making the pictures in gray scale. 

Nothing much.

I didn't do much of anything today,  a  little work a bit  of nagging about school, a little cooking , a tiny bit of cleaning...so here are some pictures  of the dog for no particular reason except that she is cute.

Okay, day one.

Mom slept last night at the new assisted living/memory care facility and I called the nurse this morning to ask how she had done.  When I called, she was talking and laughing with a group of women over breakfast, so good news.  The night shift also reported that she had slept reasonably well.  It's a small victory, and I expect that when I go visit, she will tell me to take her home, but for today, just today, I am going to take this small victory and treasure it.

At one point yesterday, I was able to appreciate the fun-ness of my kids and my husband.  We were talking about my excessive art journaling which is therapeutic to me.  The worse everything gets, the more I need a sketchbook and markers in my hands.  We were talking about this and my family took a moment to be thankful, that I didn't take up drinking or drugs or playing the drums or bagpipes.  :-)

Yes, I have been art journaling this awful week, whenever I get a minute.  It helps.

Today.

We are moving mom to a memory care facility.  I think it is probably the best in the state and it is certainly the best we can barely afford (for a while).  We will have to be scrambling to sell her house and things to try and come up with money for the long term.  I pray that the long term will bring more happiness, peace and less anxiety into mom's life. 

Bad to worse.

Things with my mom's situation have gone from bad to way worse and we are moving her on Monday.  Please pray for our family.  Thanks.

Getting on with it.

So after I curled up in the fetal position for a while and cried, I got up and started trying to find a new place for mom.  As a homeschooler, I am in the very fortunate position to be in a huge email group with other homeschoolers in the state.  I asked for suggestions and got 6 different suggestions of memory care facilities.  I contacted them all through their web sites yesterday and asked for them to call me.  A couple of them did and I have appointments to tour them today.  I feel better.  You have to mourn and then you have to get up and cope.  That's all there is to it.  The one lady I talked to on the phone was very comforting and talking to her made me feel better yesterday.  I am hopeful that the facility that she runs is a good one and that mom could be happy there.  I talked to her about management of behaviors enough to feel that she knows how to handle mom, now I will need to see how well the rest of the staff and the facility look.  We may be moving mom again very soon.  I don't know how I feel about that.  The place she is in is the kind of place we thought we wanted, a family atmosphere, but once your loved one is in a place like that, it's kind of awkward walking into someone else's home ... I don't know how to describe it.  It's just been hard and maybe this new place, though farther away, will be better.  I pray it will.

While doing all this yesterday, I was also working and training for work.  There was a deadline of getting all the training done by 04/30/2014 and that made me have to squeeze quite a bit of it in.  I had a webinar and some Ted talks to watch and a couple of quizzes, one on HIPAA and one on mistakes to complete.  It was funny because the first quiz, the one on HIPAA, they had told us that there was a quiz and we had 3 attempts to pass it and if we didn't pass it, to call human resources ... all that scary stuff, so I took 7 pages of notes during the webinar, only to find that the quiz was 13 questions long and easy-peasy, so easy I could have answered it without even watching the webinar.
For the second quiz, I didn't take any notes, I just paid careful attention while art journaling and hoped I would be prepared for that quiz ....  It had 1 question on it "I watched the videos on mistakes."  Yes/No.  I wonder if anyone flunks that one?

The kids are doing fine, with everything I guess.  They are both reading a lot this week since we have a recent trip to the library, drawing, knitting, crocheting, all the stuff they have been grounded from for the last few weeks a lot of the time.  May is here and the school year is drawing to a close.

I guess I'd better start coping with today.

Have a good one folks!