A Very Busy Week

It was one of those weeks. My sister had to take our mom to the ER On Tuesday for a UTI. Such a hard thing to diagnose when you are older, complicated by Mom’s Alzheimer’s, but it is so often what ails our seniors. Often there are no visible symptoms, so I wish they’d just check them regularly.

They called my sister after Mom wouldn’t wake up that morning (usually she is up early) and then was weak and listless and couldn’t walk on her own. She was in bad shape when my sister picked her up to take her to the ER.

The hospital gave her IV antibiotics and by early evening my sister had her back at the memory care facility. She was doing better, though still not great. I picked up her prescriptions and when my sister finally decided she was settled, she agreed to leave and let me take over until Mom was in bed.

We didn’t want to leave her on her own. She kept trying to get up and we worried about her falling. Her facility, like most, doesn’t have enough people working to take care of the extra care many need. They do the best they can, but we know we will always have to supplement.

As if that wasn’t enough, we got word on Thursday that Mom had COVID. Someone at the facility tested positive and when they did tests on everyone else, six of them were positive. Mom had no symptoms when I saw her Friday morning. I took over an anti-viral her Nurse Practitioner prescribed on her day off. Yay for health care workers who go above and beyond!

I also took Mom a couple of large Cadbury’s bars. Chocolate is her real medicine! She was quite happy with them.

Wednesday I got to cross another performer I have long wanted to see off my list. I have loved Joe Jackson since college and never seen him live. I kinda didn’t this time either, but I did hear him. 😂

I didn’t chose my seat well not knowing the venue, and didn’t realize my view of him was going to be totally obstructed. These massive speakers were between me and him (he was on the left side of the stage.) So I could see his band beautifully but had to stand to see Joe.

The crowd being around my age bracket, there wasn’t much standing and I didn’t want to be “that person” constructing their view, so I contented myself with just listening. But I managed to snap a couple of shots. I did love the show, though I felt their encore was a bit “meh”, but this was the first stop on their North American tour so they may have just lost energy. They didn’t play one of my favorites, Awkward Age, but I made up for that on my drive home.

And yes, I went to the concert myself. It just seemed like something I had to do. I’ve learned that if I want to live my dreams, I need to be willing to do some things solo. I have decided that is going to be my theme of my next birth year and I am starting early,

Then it was time for my niece’s graduation. She already is a salon owner, but decided she wanted to have some training herself so went to Cosmetology school. The balls she has been juggling have been many, but she pulled it off. A large contingent showed up for her graduation – family, friends, and her staff from the salon.

It really was a most unusual but awesome graduation. She had a time she was assigned. They were running about 30 minutes late, so we did have to wait a bit, but it gave some a few extra minutes to get there (it was in a the next town, over 30 minutes away from us and being late afternoon people had to leave work and fight traffic.)

We lined up behind her. She went to wait at the side of the stage and we lined up in front if the stage. They call her name, we cheer (she graduated with high honors), and then as she leaves the stage we walk away, too. (Then, next graduate group does the same.) They had some cute photo ops on the way out, and then we were done.

I hate graduations as a rule, but it was a short celebration made fun by the folks there to support her. She has great people in her life,

Time for the update on me. I’m still struggling to eat regularly. I’m proud I keep trying, though. I try to look at each day as a new opportunity to do better. I am eating well, for the most part, but not often enough.

My exercise was mediocre. Water aerobics is great – I went three times and the classes are always so good. This from someone who resisted water aerobics because I didn’t think it would do anything for me. I am still not doing any classes at the Rec Center (I keep forgetting to go or something else will come up), So not going to the facility for strength training either.

I am going to try to do some strength training at home, too, to eliminate excuses. Once I get going, it usually is quite easy for me to stay on track. The shy side of me struggles going to a place that is not yet familiar. Walking into a new class? It is intimidating.

I want to meal plan some this week, though it will be a busy week with at least one visit from my former roommate and possibly two (as she travels from Arkansas to and from her Mom’s home in Virginia and goes through the cleaning out process we just did with my mom’s stuff.)

But I want to start cooking more and trying new things. I hate the idea of cooking, but love the results. And it’s not as though I don’t cook now, but I have been doing the minimal. There are so many possibilities and I am in a rut.

I’ve also got a spa day planned with a friend Thursday. This is a new spa for me, but closer than my favorite spa and they have made some cool improvements that make me think I am going to enjoy the day.

Oh – and I got my first ever recliner this week. I am so excited. The scale is perfect for my room and the upholstery is so soft (it’s not leather). My couch is a bit stiff for me, though it is a great couch to sleep on, but this chair is so cozy.

None of my friends needed the chair it replaced, so my brother either gave it to a friend of his or took it to place it next to the furniture dumpster at the apartment complex where I live. I hope someone who could use it took it – it was in great shape but just too large for my room. So many people helped me when I was just starting out that I love passing on stuff to those who need it for no cost. (That’s why I didn’t just donate to charity.)

This may be one of my oddest blogs ever. Have a great week. Be well!