Scary

Last night, I was feeling a bit exhausted for some reason or other. So I got mom upstairs and put Sound of Music on the tv for her. Earlier I had gone to Walmart (ewww) to look for pull up diaper type undies for her - they didn't have a great selection so I will have to try Rite Aid and see what they have - though they are considerably more expensive - and while there, I decided to look at Blu-ray players for mom's room. Found them, eventually, picked one and set it up when I came home. Anyway, I then went to bed and to sleep - figuring that I would wake up (or be woken up) at some point by mom and would turn off the player and the tv at that point. Sure enough, mom woke me up and wanted to go downstairs - at 2 in the morning. I was not amused. And that scared me. Just how unamused I was. I know I could have answered in more loving and reasonable terms - or just let her go down stairs - there are boodles of reasons why her going downstairs at 2 in the morning was not a good option for anyone concerned - but I didn't. Eventually I got the real reason out of her for why she wanted to go downstairs - she wanted more food. Not a big surprise. Got her to agree not to go downstairs and to go to bed. Got her cold water and some fiber bars and tried to go to sleep myself, which I eventually did, I guess. Since I eventually woke up again (to find her "reading" in the orange room/room at the head of the stairs). Sigh.

That was part of my exciting weekend. Woo hoo! The good thing is, I didn't have to go into the Smith  on Sunday (though I did help one of my projectionists with an issue over the phone). Not quite a day off - but less time spent Smithing than I did most days last week.

I love that I live in the "snow belt" and we are getting maybe 3 inches of snow in the next big storm, while people south of us are getting feet of snow! Yay! Then again, boo. I haven't gotten to use my snowblower too much this year. But I will probably go out and use it at some point tonight.

My hair has been shedding in the shower a lot - no, not getting bald, thank you very much mom - which is normal. Sadly, the drain had gotten very clogged. I tried to plunge it, to no avail. I tried using a little cheap snake I had gotten (it actually wasn't all that cheap) which didn't work effectively (probably user error) and thought a lot of "free flowing drain" thoughts - which also didn't miraculously clear up the clog. So, at Walmart (ick) I went to the plumbing area and looked for a more professional snake - found one but it was designed for toilets and I wasn't sure if it would fit through the metal thingies (technical term) in the drain so I opted not to purchase it. There was, though, in a big red bottle, a drain cleaning product called "Hair Clog Remover." Hmm, I wonder what it does...so I bought it and brought it home and followed the instructions and just now ran some water in the tub and it drained immediately! Huzzuh!! Hairless! (The drain, I mean)

TIAA - mom's retirement company - just sent her a note saying, amongst other things, that they think her life expectancy is 99 years old! Eeek! I should live so long.

My life is now complete. Again. Still?

I have seen Taylor Swift's belly button! Ok, she made this big thing about never showing her belly button - ever. Then she had a picture taken of herself wearing a bikini that exposed her navel! Eeek!! I don't think my life will ever be the same...

Yesterday, I was minding my own business, noticing that it was almost time for the movie at the Smith to start playing, when I got a call saying that my projectionist hadn't shown up. Why are they telling me this at 7:25 pm? Why didn't they tell me before that point? When I threw on some shoes and hustled over there - I live 5 minutes from the Smith by car - the volunteers told me that they hadn't noticed that there was no projectionist - despite there being no sound from 6:30 to 7:00 and then no pre-film slideshow from 7:00 until when they noticed. Grrrr. And grrr for my projectionist who forgot to add the assignment to their calendar. I started the movie, told the volunteers and a person I knew in the audience to call me if anything went wrong with the movie. Nothing did. Yay. I came home and played for a bit before heading back to the theatre to turn everything off and put out the ghost light and lock all the doors. The only thing that made up for this was getting to have a beer out at the Red Dove.

I actually had a nice, though brief, time at the Dove (or the Squab). Chatted with some prominent Genevans and one of my favorite bartenders. The beer I had was a Naked Dove Scotch Ale. I generally like Scotch ales - though something salty would have been nice to have with it.

Before all this, though, it was Pizza night!! Which means that I got a slice of pizza and mom got stuffed shells. We shared onion rings - Cams has delicious onion rings.

One of the things I have done for mom was to buy paper toilet seat covers. Unfortunately she is unable to use them anymore - a combination of a lack of dexterity and a lack of understanding how they function. So I get to put them down for her. And if I don't, well, she isn't happy. So, they are a mixed blessing. At best. Today, I think I need to look at adult diapers or depends or something. Maybe start with light pads. I bought her a lot of thicker pads, but she doesn't remember how to use them, and she put at least one in the toilet bowl. Eeek!

Egg Snow Soup

I think this is the second or third time that I have tried to make egg drop soup. Maybe second. I doubt the last, unless my situation changes radically in the next month. Mom liked what I made. I thought it was bland and scary looking. Not like egg drop soup at all. Well, not like Chinese Restaurant egg drop soup.

Not clear and the egg became particlized and not streamer like

I had to go back and doctor mine with some soy sauce to make it more palatable to me. I think next time I might double or triple all the spices and see if that helps. And I just looked online and found some thoughts on how to make the egg be more streamer like. So, maybe I will revisit this in a couple of weeks. For now, mom will get soup with some of her next meals. Huzzuh!

Today is bill paying day - and working on my retirement (hahahahaha) day (i.e. putting together Publisher's Clearing House mailings). I love that I can pay most of my bills electronically. Yay! No stamps!! Or envelopes. Or any of that brew hahahaha.

Got the bills all paid - now I have a bunch of things to mail on Monday. Yay. Off to do a light yoga and work on lunch. Then a shower - then off for some Smith work and some shopping. (Maybe not any shopping...)

Lunch is done - I couldn't face eating last night's leftover, leftover, leftover Chinese food for some reason. Hmm. Now time for a shower. Yippee!

All clean and ready for more of my day. Heading to the Smith in a little bit. I probably won't do the shopping - I need three things - 1) A new to us stove - need is a bit strong for this - the oven doesn't work, but the burners on top do. Who needs a functioning oven, really? 2) Something to help me unclog the drain in my shower - I am thinking to try a small plumber's snake if I can find a reasonably priced one at some point - has anyone noticed that I have quite a bit of hair? (On my head - and not a lot in weird places on my body - so far) and 3) A new disc player for mom and her bedroom. The one I bought at big lots was worth what I paid for it ($25). Just not overly motivated to do any of that shopping at this point. Sigh.

Games I Play

Yes, I am a player. If you didn't know that before, know it now. I like to play. I believe that play is part of what keeps one young at heart. Unfortunately, I do play the badder sorts of games as well. Let's start with those.

I need to play games with my mom. Most of them are for her own good. Whenever I go out, I am "going to The Smith." Even if I am not going to the Smith - that is where I tell her I am going. I sometimes add Wegman's to the places I am going and to the things I am doing. More information than that just starts her brain whirring - and that can be sad. I try to keep mom as calm as possible.

At home, whenever I need to "escape" from my mom - because if I didn't escape, I would go even crazier than I already am - I say I am "going to the bathroom." She can't really deny me going to the bathroom(even though she sometimes tries to). When I eventually return, I might tell her what I was actually doing - within reason. Playing xBox is just "playing," working in the kitchen is just that. Working on the computer (which includes checking Facebook - I mean, come on, that takes a lot of time and effort...)

Next is the answer game. Mom used to ask the same question over and over again. She still does, but the question has become "What am I doing?" or some variation of that. It is really hard to answer that. I am not one for giving her activities - when I have given her activities she gets even more stressed out. She doesn't do much, so my answers are pretty simple most of the time: You are going to the bathroom, you are lying down thinking happy thoughts, you are eating your lunch.

Just for your information, mom's cognitive skills are declining appreciably. I can say a sentence I said six months ago and today she can't parse it. I need to keep my sentences down to about five words to maximize her listening comprehension. No allusions, no big vocabulary words. Sigh.

I play games when I make meals. Ok, not so much play games as sometimes make two meals - or one and a half meals. For instance, if I make salmon for my mom, I will make something else for me. Or tonight, we had salad, hamburgers and sweet potato tots. On my salad I added green olives and mild banana peppers - two things that mom has made clear she doesn't like. And for our hamburgers (which I marinate in Worcestershire Sauce and stuff with cheese) and tots I added a few pizza pockets - again things that mom doesn't like. And I play with recipes - making things I have always wanted to make. Mom says she loves the egg drop soup from Main Moon on Exchange Street. Well, we are out of it - and there is still Chinese food left over - so I am going to make some egg drop soup for her. Yippee?

I try not to play relationship games, but I am a gamer, so...

Ours (which is in the attic) looks like this

Speaking of gaming - I love all sorts of games - from tic tac toe to chess, from old maid to bridge, from Stratego to well, anything. I own an xBox. Our first video game console was the Odyssey. I have had two NES's - both stolen - from the same house - on successive years (sad story that). I love to play pool. I wasn't a big arcade gamer, but did enjoy a few. Played lots of games on the computer and still like to. I don't have a lot of games on my phone - but the two I have currently (well, I have three but I don't play one of them too frequently) are bridge (yay!) and Word Jigsaw. I love them both and use them as rewards or time fillers.

Anybody want to play?

Tried and Blue

After posting that gratitude blog bit yesterday, an attack of the blues came upon me. Luckily not a huge one, but a little one. Sigh. This too shall pass. And then for whatever reasons, I didn't sleep well and got up really early. And stayed up. I did, at least, have a nap - well, I sort of meditated  - after I got back from an early morning at The Smith. And I am feeling a bit happier today - though exhausted and sore around the eyes. So, a quiet night at home is called for. Hmm, I do that most nights....

Last night, I wanted to finish the puzzle, so I put on a movie that mom and I could watch together. She was awake for most of it and liked it overall. It was Robin and the 7 Hoods - one of my favorite movies from my childhood (it came out in 1964). Stars Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Bing Crosby!

Yes, the puzzle is done. And I won't be starting a new one until I get my puzzle transporter thingie. Which won't happen until February.

Just enough pieces!

At some point last night, the geek me had a thought - how many times did I touch each piece on average? Who cares? I do. I know that I touched each piece at least once. 1000 touches. I probably touched each piece 3 times. Some pieces I probably touched as many as 20 times. (Maybe? I will have to give that some thought). Anyway, lots of touches.

I really do have it good, all things considered

This is an obligatory post. A post of gratitude.

Life is, in general, great. I have a roof over my head, food in my belly. I am not particularly sick. I do not lack for acquaintances and friends. Yippee.

As far as mom goes, I am grateful that she is not displaying a lot of the behaviors that I read about here and there - she is still, overall, quite a nice person. She sleeps a good bit. She eats on her own. She still has an appetite. Ok, maybe too much of an appetite, but that is still a good thing. She can manage better on her own than she lets on when I am around, but that is ok as well. I feel ok leaving her for a few hours at a time. All in all, I am lucky that mom isn't more worser.

That being said, I am feeling really, really, really frustrated with my mom just now. Sigh.

Second topic: I realize that I am hug deprived. I love my mom, and hugs with her are ok. But they are just sort of dim versions of comforting hugs. Or even dimmer versions of hugs with a romantic partner. Or so I seem to recall. Yes, I am that hug deprived. I am thinking of buying one of those hugging robots - does anybody want to buy one of my (slightly used) kidneys? - or something like that.

Puzzledom - I am almost done. I am now at a point where I think they sent me too many puzzle pieces and they aren't all going to fit!

Nubbins

When working on a puzzle, there are, of course, many different ways to do so. Color, or patterns on the pieces - sometimes looking for the "right" shaped piece with the right number of "nubbins." I don't think everyone calls them nubbins, but I do. A puzzle piece in most puzzles can have anywhere from no (or none) nubbins (the protruding round bits) to four nubbins. Recently I sorted my puzzle parts into the number of nubbins - and in the case of two nubbins, into three distinct piles - nubbins on opposite sides, two nubbins next to each other pointing one way, two nubbins next to each other pointing the opposite way. Am I crazy or what? There are probably twenty or thirty pieces that I ought to be able to find this way - which still will leave me with a tenth of the puzzle that will be better served by color or pattern matches (until nubbin matches again make sense). Baby freakin' steps. Mom has started to ask me what I am going to do after I am finished with this puzzle. My glib response - start another one. Right now it is a bit of a slog - but if I do a few pieces each time I sit down...

No picture of the puzzle today - it would be hard to really tell what has been changed since last time.

And that's it for today's post. We'll see if more inspiration occurs tomorrow...