Up and at 'em

I get to go into the Smith again. I think I will go in sooner rather than later - get up, do my morning ablutions and then head into get the lighting equipment set up. I don't want to be in the way of the sound people taking away their stuff. I jus need to get through this and then I have an easy week or so. Huzzuh! 

Hopefully tomorrow I will get to looking through my papers for any of the 1099c's that I am supposed to have had from the creditors who forgave debts to me under my bankruptcy. I don't remember receiving any, actually. Not that I paid much attention to anything around that time, being sort of mentally and emotionally shut down about it. Not a high point of my fiscal life. 

Oh yeah, I forgot that we had snow last night. Not feet of it, just an inch or two that stuck. Yippee.

What happened?! Eeeeeeeek! Look at the time. Zzzzzzzzzz

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.

Between then and now

I have always liked that turn of phrase. Between then and now - as if time were both time and space.

So, since April 18, what has been happening to keep me from writing? Well, I had a torrid and roller coastery attempt at a Long Distance Relationship. Sadly, in the end, there was nothing there. It was, though, quite enjoyable in parts. And I did so enjoy having someone special in my life in even such an odd way. I will admit that much of my waking time was spent on that, er, relationship? for the past two weeks. Wow, was it really only two weeks? Seemed a lot longer. Weird. Time is weird.

Of course, other things happened during that time. First, the issue with the long past due bill got resolved. I was bearded at my door - we "discussed" the issue and he agreed to take $.50 on the dollar. Surprisingly he wanted to keep us as clients. Whatever. He promised to bill monthly. I will believe it when I see it!

What else? Oh, a lot of stuff has happened at the Smith. More movies of course. I took mom to see two: Ernest and Celestine - which she didn't like - and Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush - which I think she did. The week of April 23 was really busy at the Smith and I felt like my head was about to explode at one point. I don't think it actually did, otherwise I might have noticed. I tried to take a day off - last Thursday - and still spent two hours doing Smith work from home! I do see a respite coming later this month - a trip to Maine is the current plan. One more big concert - then a long inhabitation by a dance company. Have to get through those before I am footloose and fancy free for a bit. Yay!

Meanwhile, at home, mom has started a couple new behaviors. The most disconcerting is finding she has fled her bed and gone downstairs to lie down. Maybe I really do need to buy her a new bed. And put a child gate across the top of the stairs. Luckily, she still believes that she can't get around too well, so I am not too worried that she is going to head outside - but that has become a bit more of a possibility at this point. Eeek!

And that is all the big news that I can think of at this point. Oh, I have been playing too much Words of Wonder on Faecbook...

And now for another epiphany-let

My only big accomplishment for the day was paying bills. Yay. But at least I got most of them paid. I still have a couple that I am doing today. I don't know why paying bills is so traumatic for me. Oh, yes I do. I would rather use any money that we have for fun things - like food, and travel and such. Where would mom and I travel? That is a darn fine question.

I took a walk downtown. The library got in a book that I put on hold. A friend suggested I read Water for Elephants. I have seen the movie and vaguely recall enjoying it. She said the book was, of course, better. And so far, she is right. Anyway, I walked downtown, also went to the Smith Opera House, the bank and to Madia's Market. I figured it was easier to get things there, which was sort of on the way home, than to get home and head back out to Wegman's, or even walk to Wegman's on the way home. Madia's did not have an awesome selection of produce. Not a surprise really - but I did get some brussel sprouts which turned out to be fresh and happy. And corn - which was actually better than the picked over corn I usually end up with from Wegman's. Might just have to swing by there today (Friday) and get more corn when I head out for food shopping.

My epiphany-let isn't really all that earth shattering. When I was getting the rest of the edible chicken separated from the non-edible bits the other day, the chicken was still hot. Not fun on the fingers. Other times, I take the chicken out of the fridge and it is really cold. Also not fun on the fingers. So, here is the epiphany - when I take the chicken out of the fridge a few minutes before I start to work on it, it becomes warm enough that my fingers are not numbed quickly! Yay!

Does anyone think I ought to feel guilty about recycling old New Yorkers and other magazines? And does anyone want mom's old huge electric typewriter? If not, it is getting recycled. You must come and pick it up - I ain't shipping that sucker anywhere!

Drove to Ithaca last night and had a pleasant evening with a nice woman! Yippee! She suggested a new-ish place down there. We sat outside and watched the sun set and the stars rise. It was awesome! (Little in-joke there...)

A second Alzheimer's Book Review (and more)

I stopped reading the other book that I had started - it was too out of date and just plain useless feeling for me to continue. Instead, I started this one, book three of six, that I ordered to read up on this whole Alzheimer's and Caregiver thing.

Alzheimer's Essentials, Practical Skills for Caregivers by Gordeau and Hillier had some good bits and some not so good bits. First off, it feels very scholarly and dry with a few feeble attempts at levity. Not an excellently written book, nor was it well edited - graphically and design-wise not scintillating at all. And the subtitle is a little misleading - I think "General Knowledge for Caregivers" might be a more accurate description of the contents of the book.

Overall the book contains decent information that a caregiver certainly needs to know, some of which is really, really depressing. One thing they said really amazed me - that some caregivers have their life expectancy shortened by 15 years. That is a lot of years. Good thing that I am decent at stress management and release. They kept harping on day care and providing a lot of social interaction. I know that mom is not much social interaction. Still, this is a tough one, especially here in Geneva and on our budget (or lack thereof). I liked the science bit about Alzheimer's and was sad that it was at the end instead of in the beginning with all of the symptom information. One thought presented that is tough for me is to buy into is to always agree with the patient - that s/he is always right. Um, no. I do agree that lying is sometimes easier and better for mom, though. Still, I don't think I will let go of being right sometimes. Ok, most of the time. That being said, I do try to make mom right as often as I can - restrain myself from correcting small things, validate and approbate as much as I possible. There is a lot in the book about preparation and planning, legal issues and such. All in all, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who thinks they might have an Alzheimer's patient in their future - or present.

Here is the more: I am about ready to get the side, screened in porch, ready for summer. I did a lot of work out there yesterday and might even be able to sit on the porch today. That would be nifty. Sadly, the weather is supposed to take a turn for the worse starting on Thursday. Glarg.

I also sorted a box of papers from 2007. It smelled of cat pee and mouse poop. Does mouse poo smell? Hmm. I don't know. That was a pretty painful period of time in my life. Lots of sleepless nights over money matters. I probably ought to have declared bankruptcy then and there - would have saved me a lot of money and grief over the years. And I wouldn't, obviously, be doing it now. My life, would have been tremendously different. Oh well. C'est fromage.

Felt Like Saturday and a few epiphanies for good measure

Now why would it feel like Saturday? Maybe because I have to work on the real Saturday? Hmm. But I did get a few things accomplished, despite the Saturday feel of the day.

I called the realtor that my friend Ted had spoken with about working to sell the house in North Carolina. No word from her back, yet.

Speaking of no word, most of the music that I ordered hasn't arrived. The second copy of Rhapsody in Blue did arrive and though it is easier, it still is really hard. I think I will have to wait a bit before delving into it more deeply. Instead, I am working on the second movement of the Moonlight Sonata. And I am thinking of working on the third at some point. Eeek.

I also paid the last bill of the month. Yay. Speaking of which, the city assessors office called and reminded us that we needed to get some paperwork in to apply for money off mom's taxes! How awesome are they and is that? I will try to do that Monday, or at the latest, Tuesday. I neglected to make copies of the tax stuff that Karl did for us. Sigh.

Not much else of note transpired yesterday. This morning I had a bit of a nightmare about working at the Smith. There was a party being prepared and I was hanging out with everyone when I a) missed the person I was currently enamored of and then not much later (in dream time) b) realized that I was late for working at the Smith. The last part of the dream was spent trying to find my black clothing and not being able to. Eeek!

I had a minor epiphany this morning about relationships. I wouldn't mind being the first person that someone else thinks about in the morning and the last person they think about at night. Other than themselves of course. And their blood kin or adopted kin. Or there best friends who might be going through difficult or exciting times. Or their neighbor. Or their goldfish that died four months ago...I know, it is a lot to ask, but it would be nice...

Another small epiphany - about dinner at home for mom when I am not around. I actually had two thoughts. One was that I could order food and have it delivered. There are some difficulties here - but nothing that couldn't be overcome. And the second was I could make something cold and leave it in the fridge for her. I am leaning towards that option for this evening. We shall see.

In rereading the above text, I realized something else that happened. I fell for a TV infomercial. I bought a little drain snake thing that was supposed to grab hair out of my drain. Right. Luckily I didn't pay what was asked on the TV. I found it for $.09 plus a lot of shipping (still cheaper than anywhere else I could find). So, although it doesn't seem to function as advertised (what a surprise), I am not out a whole large chunk of change. Yay!

Trying to keep it simple

I hate talking about money. Really, really hate it. It gets my blood boiling in fact. Mom loves to talk about money. I tend to answer a few of her questions and then remind/tell her that I don't like talking about money. She usually drops it. For a little while.

Other times, she asks questions and I know that the answers don't really make much difference. For instance, paying for the dentist - mom's question - did it cost a lot - my answer - yes. Or no. Depending on my mood. I gave her a dollar amount once and she got all confused. She can't really tell the difference between $10 and $1000.

I just try to keep my answers as simple as I can. And I aim for truth most of the time. Not that it really matters since she, sadly, will probably forget that she asked the question and what the answer was. I mainly want to make her feel as if she has been listened to. And that her questions get answers. Validation. :)

Speaking of hating talking about money, I saw a cool presentation on an alternate financial system - one that does not stem from a debt based economy. Not many details but it sure looked better than the evil system we have now...(I was going to link to the video but can't find it - apparently a decent sized group of people also dislike the current financial system - but changing it isn't going to happen easily (or quickly if ever, sadly))(I love parenthetical comments...)(And ellipses!)

Effective day yesterday - I got a lot done. Fought my way (gently) into two bank accounts online that I haven't accessed in a while (three years for one and at least 5 years for the other). Paid more bills, organized a few papers, put together more Publisher's Clearing House entries...Yay!

Went downtown and watched a friend eat dinner - that was exciting. No, it was, really. Maybe exciting isn't the right word. The evening was way more pleasant than I am making it sound. Anyway, we had a nice time and that is a good thing. Good days - gotta love them! Today, off to the eye doctor and perhaps some shopping. I need some new clothes - underwear especially! (Did you need to know that?)