Pot Pourri (or potpourri) today

Is it sad, weird or good (or all of the above) that I sometimes do things that are at once not necessarily the healthiest or best thing for me in the name of saving money and not being wasteful? In this particular instance, I am talking about using up old toothpaste. Mom went through a phase, while she was living alone, of buying a lot of toothpaste even though she didn't need anymore. Which means we have at least five or six tubes of it lying around. Mom is still doing a decent job brushing her teeth. And I brush mine. My preference, though, is tooth powder - no fluoride, healthy ingredients, in a teeny container that is recyclable. But in order to not be wasteful, I have just gone through my second tube of mom's unused fluoride toothpaste. So, which is this? Sad? Weird? Good? Hmm?

I just read an interesting article about Alzheimer's. It was trying to get inside the heads of both the caregiver and the afflicted one. I was just thinking about the issue of mom's fear of being alone - it isn't as pronounced as some people's apparently. She doesn't follow me around. Mainly because she is afraid of moving around - tottering on her pins as she says. Also, I was thinking about her quality of life. Am I spending enough time with her? Finding enough things for her to do? An adult day care might be beneficial - though the idea seems iffy at best, there doesn't seem to be one around here and it would probably be way too costly at this time. Sigh. She does get a little bit of not-me socializing when the aide, Jenny currently, comes to visit two days a week for two hours per visit.

Speaking of Jenny, she came yesterday and mom got showered and her sheets changed. Yay! I had thought to take mom out to dinner as a reward, but she was feeling anxious about it - so I brought Chinese food home instead. At the buffet, one of the girls followed me around and spoke Chinese with me. I think she can't get over the fact that I speak decent Mandarin. If I see her again, I will ask her if she wants help with her English. That worked out so well last time...

Saw a fun movie last night - not great but the kind of movie I love - Safety Not Guaranteed. Quirky, romantic, dark here and there. Good stuff. Definitely worth a look if you like dark romantic comedies. And who doesn't like dark romantic comedies?