Doug left a little after 8:30am. He left me with the 3 slices of left over pizza and part of a box of Wachusett Beer and Jack's Abby. He took the rest. He went to stop by mom's, say goodbye, and then head to Pittsburgh. His mom has some medical things this week, so he's going to help out and go to appointments and things.
Compared to my mom, Doug's mom has done very well the past few years since Doug's dad passed away. I have to say I am so proud of her. A lesson in grace. She bought a condo and has been moving into that very slowly. There isn't a rush - she owns her house free and clear and she's responsible with her bills and everything. She doesn't ask Doug for help, she leans more on Doug's sister. I worry she does a little too much, just because geographically she's so much closer. But Doug continues to volunteer for things, and this time, when he offered, she took him up on it. I'm so happy for that.
I talked to Geoff to let him know that dad would not be home today, that he was headed west instead. He understood and then told me that he didn't want to come up to visit my mom because he had heard me talking with Doug or Linda about how she is being, acting. He said with her decline in health, he didn't want to see her that way.
Yeah dude, I get it. I feel the same way. That's not the mom I know. But.
But not coming to see her, thinking that she's going to be better by Christmas or something. Well, she could be a lot worse. So you go, you don't hesitate. And if she gets worse, you go.
I understand his feelings, and honor them. We had a good heart to heart chat and he said that he wants to come up soon, so we'll figure that out.
And it is actually very good he didn't, because he'd be going to Pittsburgh. Nowhere for him to stay here. I am relieved he has no dog right now, although he was so good at caring for Phineas and I'm sure feels lonely. He has not yet found a job, and in theory yeah, he could have come here, then gone there, and everything would be fine.
Really glad he opened up to talk to me about why he decided not to come, I just wish he'd talked to me before.
Lin picked me up at 10:45. We ran some errands. Mom wanted some money from the bank (not that she spends any but Linda was spending some of her money on Groceries etc, so the stash was depleted a little bit). We got good coffee (yay!) and talked about food I can't eat. We have another friend who has diabetes, has lost part of her foot thanks to it, and how I don't want to be that person, even if I want a slice of strawberry cheesecake. I like my feet more than cheesecake.
We came back to the house after a little toodleaboot with me hitting pokemon stops and making my app happy that I haven't missed a day this week.
I realized it was Monday and not Sunday.
Lin gave me the run down of all the stuff to do and where everything is, what her expectations are, how she likes things, what meds at what time (not a lot - hell I'm on more meds than my mom!) and how to properly set up the coffee pot. I set up the little dish strainer and washed what was in the sink while Linda finished her work for the day.
Mom wanted a PBJ, it was around 1:30 and so we got that set up for her. I also ate lunch since I realized I had not yet eaten myself. So I too enjoyed a sandwich. No J though because I didn't have low sugar preserves. Next run to the store!
After she had lunch, she futzed around finding her paper calendar so she could get things written in it. Linda describes it as "getting a hair across her ass" about something that she doesn't need to get a hair across her ass over. I'm glad we got things ironed out. She has a Dr. appointment she thought was in November but it is is actually October 20th. I'll probably still be here. Then she has a hair appointment on the 27th.
"For sure you're getting a shower before then, lady." I told her.
Lin left, and I already miss her. I tried to convince her to stay. "I'll pay for a hotel for you. You get a reprieve." But she wanted to go home. Okay, I get it. I should have let my hair down. I look weird.
I started a load of laundry, I put things in a box. Mom has like 6 containers of OxyClean spray and 3 bottles of Tide, and 4 boxes of Bounce dryer sheets, and and and. So I combined some of them, got more organized. For someone who has so much cleaning stuff, she don't use it. Linda did. Linda cleaned the fuck out of that kitchen. Whew....
Mom laid down to rest, and I had a long chat with my friend Rob from high school. Then one of mom's friends came to visit. Since mom was resting, she invited herself to chat with me, and that's okay. I want to get to know some of these people who are in her life.
Part of me is incredibly tempted to go to Vel's and get some Scallops but I'll save that for another day.
Tonight for dinner, I offered either cheese raviolis with her favorite tomato sauce, Ragu (not mine... but I did grow up on it so I'm having flashbacks to back in the day) or grilled cheese with or without turkey. She brightened up at the idea of grilled cheese, so I said alright - score! She's been taking lactaid, because for a long time there she was having belly issues and that's part of why she stopped eating. Now we're keeping track of her food. I may put it here in the blog with mine.
Mom's washer and dryer sing little songs when they are done running, and the song startles me every time.
I'm looking at the weather for this week and the temps are going to be really nice. I'll be working on the porch. Just like Porch Life or back at my first house in Maryland, only smelling a little more like an ash tray than I'd like. I'm sure I will mix in some/a lot of cleaning here and there. Use some of that cleaning stuff and clean some things. I went out to lock the porch door and everything smelled like dryer, and it was so delightful.
My big task tonight is to set up the coffee pot. Gotta make sure that's all put together because she wakes up around 5-ish and will hit the start button and go back to bed. I'm sure the smell will wake me up. And then I'll be up. All the way up. There are pills to distribute and maybe a bagel to toast. For her, not for me. We have a lot of eggs so I can make some scrambled eggs or an omelet for her if she wants.
For dinner I made her a grilled cheese and turkey sandwich, she ate the whole thing very happily. Felt like a victory.
My schedule tomorrow is relatively light. I'm hoping to catch up with a few things and I just checked email to see people are having a problem with a thing, but no emergency pages have come in. Old me would call them. Now me says "It's a holiday, stupid. Wait until tomorrow." I answered a few tickets,
She's got a bill from an orthopaedic doctor that I tried to get in touch with in August. They don't have an online payment system (what is this, 1974?) and so I want to call them and get the full balance she owes and get it paid. JC Penney for her life insurance, I can drive over and pay that or set up an account on JCP for her. She always paid it in person because it got her out of the house.
I'm already thinking of ways to get me out of the house. Not just doing my steps and walking around the circle, but actually do a thing. I have her car, and I started it (It hasn't been started for almost 3 weeks) and realize it needs an interior cleaning, and an exterior one too. Car wash? Yeah maybe. A little pokemon drive (daily?) will happen. Take out from Vels! Maybe OoooooOOooooo I forgot a thing at Walmart. Like the low sugar preserves. And the Nilla Wafers for her banana treat!
I'm already feeling all the "I need to be outside" feels, instead of how I feel at home where I never want to leave the house. Ever. I'll make good use of this time.
Absolutely.
And I miss this jerk already. Sad face Linda. Sad face.
digits
exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps. Dedicated 10 walk 2x round the circle.
blood glucose:
8:30am: 156
4:15pm: 162
9:30pm: 165
food:
coffee, water
8am: 2 sausage patties, one egg round, slice of cheese
1:30 Metformin; pb on Keto bread from Arnold (11g carbs minus 8g fiber for a whopping 3 net carbs per slice. Better than 647 and a lot heftier a bread too!)
4:30pm: mixed nuts; wine w/diet cranberry
6:30pm: metformin+jardiance
7:15pm: bowl of rotini noodles smothered in veggies, ground beef, sauce. Mom won't eat it because she doesn't want veggies. So, I shouldn't eat it, but I did and I will again, probably.
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