Event-filled Birth Day

Here is what my day was like - not over the top, not terrible - just another day in the life...

After not sleeping much, I stayed up and read for a long while. Here is my review-ish of the book I finished: You Say Goodbye and We Say Hello: The Montessori Method for Positive Dementia Care by Tom and Karen Brenner. This is, admittedly, the first caregiver book I have read. As such, it made a good impression on me. Things I liked - it focused on the positive, it had some good activities and suggestions on ways to connect with someone going through dementia and Alzheimer's, it was an easy read (short and fairly to the point). I also liked that each chapter was the title of a Beatles song. Things I didn't like: book design in general was not great - the Guideposts were not as pithy as I would have liked (little bubbles with a "key" thought in them) - sometimes the book was a little repetitive. It also felt like it got thin at the end. Still, all in all, I would recommend it. Now I guess I have to read the other five books I bought. Sigh.

Also, before I was out of bed, the aide service called to tell me that our current aide had stopped working at the agency. Suddenly. I don't know if she quit or was terminated. I hope she is ok, mentally, physically and emotionally! Anyway, that means no aide yesterday. Maybe a new one on Thursday. Not looking forward to breaking in a new one. Sigh. I just hope she is half as good as our previous one was.

Am I the only one who thinks that Kate Middleton is gorgeous? (That was a total non sequitur (my program thinks this is misspelled...) - sorry - surfing while writing...)

I did try to nap off and on throughout the day - but never managed it for some reason. First there was getting up and getting ready for the day. Then getting mom lunch - a sandwich, half a banana, chips and some yellow glop - which is actually orange - sweet potato with butter and brown sugar - she loves the stuff - I know what to feed her when she needs to be fed and doesn't want to eat (when that happens...). Then I headed to the Smith.

There is a movie being shown tonight - Tuesday, April 9 - at the Smith called Chasing Ice. Looks pretty and depressing. The primary person is coming and giving a talk before hand - and the Smith needs to make sure that happens smoothly. So I spent an hour yesterday - not including the hour to download the file - making sure that a Mac could talk to the projector at the Smith and that everything would be pretty easily set up for projection and sound. After having to go to the HWS library to pick up a dongle (I hate that word) that connected my old mac to a VGA cable, everything worked scintillatingly! But it did eat an hour+ of my day. And before I knew it, it was time to make dinner.

I had planned on cooking two things besides dinner. Cooking is used loosely in this situation. The first was hummus - which I did accomplish. Yum! The second was deviled eggs - which I really need to make - but probably won't until tomorrow - that have avocado and bacon grease and bacon bits in them - wow! In other words, I haven't made them yet. Sigh. I did, though, cook a decent dinner - of steak, yellow glop for mom, and artichokes. Two of the big ones that were surprisingly tasty and delicious. Reminds me of when I was in Paris as a youth - on a semester abroad - when I lived primarily on artichokes and fresh made mayonnaise. I alternated that with pizza. Both of which I could get for a dollar. I had spent my discretionary funds on taking some Commedia classes so I had very little money left over to spend on food. Later I learned that the faculty would have been happy to lend me some money. I did earn a little money as a life model - I hope all of those pictures have been burned and that no one was blinded by the sight...I was young, in Paris and just loved living like I was a starving artist, which I guess I was. Anyway, I digress. That was dinner. No cake. That is one of the terrible things about not being in a relationship or having a large network of really good friends here in Geneva - no one to make a cake for me. Maybe I will make brownies tonight. And stick a candle in one. Or maybe just forgo the candle...

After dinner, I decided not to go out. It was Monday in Geneva and the sidewalks are pretty much rolled up and put away anyway. I played a bit on my xBox (gotta love my xBox) and then watched Castle (I don't know why I enjoy that show so much, but I do - maybe it is the tongue in cheek writing - maybe it is the occasional glimpses of Molly Quinn (yes I am a cradle robber at heart) or maybe it is the occasional reference to Firefly!

Then bed. And today, I answered all 80+ birthday wishes on my Facebook page! Warm and fuzzy (like a rotting mushroom with mold on it - how does fungus grow mold? Weird...)