Everything old is new again...
I haven't been around lately because, as usual (what the heck? usual? why?) my life has been a virtual hurricane. I am tired all of the time, very anemic, and the prescription iron tablets my doctor gave me didn't set well with me when I first started them, so I haven't taken them in about a month. At night, I can't get to sleep, and when I do, I stop breathing a significant number of times, and I have trouble waking up. I use a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine, which is SUPPOSED to help me sleep better, but it isn't cutting it lately. The mask and headgear can be problematic, partly because my hair, which is now well past my shoulders in some areas, is so thick. I wake up tired, no matter how much sleep I've had, and I usually just make it in to work on time. It's not a pleasant way to start the day.
Meanwhile, my dad has moved from one level of independent living to a higher (more care) level of independent living, just a nose hair away from skilled nursing. He was on the second floor of his old building and wasn't able to get out of the building in a timely manner during a fire drill. Well, duh! He walks at a snail's pace/shuffle with a walker! Well, he wasn't happy about the move, partly because he'd move away from his social contacts (it's just a block away, but it may as well be a mile for someone who is mobility impaired). He was also concerned about sharing a toilet with someone else (there are suites with a toilet between two bedrooms) and the community bathing (each hall has a bath and shower in a room at the end of the hall... kinda like dorm life). It is NOT fun trying to tell a 65-year old what to do. He was absolutely adamant about moving, but I got his doctor to call and convince him. He's supposed to start physical therapy again in hopes of regaining some of his motor skills. On top of all of this, my brother and I have to go through his stuff and get rid of a lot of his clothes and try to condense his entertainment center into a computer with a TV tuner and speakers for CDs. We didn't realize he had such a collection of clothes, as we didn't move him into the old building. He has TONS of dress shirts, a few suits, ties, casual wear... stuff he really doesn't need to have lots of. Even I don't have that many things to wear.
I won't even get into the part about his urinary incontinence, which he says is "not that bad," the fact that he can't wash or brush his hair well so he looks like Nick Nolte's mug shot, or he barely shaves anymore. This is a man who was once absolutely fastidious about his looks. I realize I am not going to get that man back, but I would like a reasonable facsimile. He doesn't want the nursing assistants to help him, but I am going to have to put my foot down and insist. It's painfully frustrating.
Needless to say, my get-up-and-go got up and went out of town. I spend just about every minute I can sleeping (Turtle and I get along very well). Speaking of Turtle, her newest trick is using the steps to get on and off my bed. I have a captain's bed, and it's more than waist-high, so it came with steps for the humans to use. Turtle's finally figured out that's the best way for her to get on and off as well. Her previous hide-out was the "cat cave," the area under the bed where the drawers on each side don't meet. She still hides there if I'm trying to get her for something, like when I thought she was sick last week and was going to take her to the vet, but she ran under there where I couldn't get her. I decided she wasn't sick.
I am, however, trying to keep up with my bagpipe chanter lessons, I am attending a Bible study at church (the next youngest member is 62...) and I am enduring the handbells at church as well(I am just so formally orchestra trained that it's hard for me to be a part of a casual group). I am still working on my Fair Isle handbag and have lots of socks to make. I obviously don't get online as much as I used to, but I'm trying to keep up with life.
The weather here has finally gotten to the point that we don't have to use the air conditioning, except in the cab of the ambulance some days (riding with the windows down and the siren blaring is just murderous). It's generally chilly in the morning, and peaking around 74 or so. Our highs last week were in the 50s for a few days.
Yes, I am working Thanksgiving, for the fifth year in a row, but I have next Thanksgiving off, which I may trade so I don't have to work the following weekend. I am also working Christmas Eve and Christmas, but not New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Mom is going to be with the family in DC for Christmas. I have no idea what my brother's plans are, and I'll arrange for Dad to be with his family for Christmas. I just want to sleep.
Meanwhile, my dad has moved from one level of independent living to a higher (more care) level of independent living, just a nose hair away from skilled nursing. He was on the second floor of his old building and wasn't able to get out of the building in a timely manner during a fire drill. Well, duh! He walks at a snail's pace/shuffle with a walker! Well, he wasn't happy about the move, partly because he'd move away from his social contacts (it's just a block away, but it may as well be a mile for someone who is mobility impaired). He was also concerned about sharing a toilet with someone else (there are suites with a toilet between two bedrooms) and the community bathing (each hall has a bath and shower in a room at the end of the hall... kinda like dorm life). It is NOT fun trying to tell a 65-year old what to do. He was absolutely adamant about moving, but I got his doctor to call and convince him. He's supposed to start physical therapy again in hopes of regaining some of his motor skills. On top of all of this, my brother and I have to go through his stuff and get rid of a lot of his clothes and try to condense his entertainment center into a computer with a TV tuner and speakers for CDs. We didn't realize he had such a collection of clothes, as we didn't move him into the old building. He has TONS of dress shirts, a few suits, ties, casual wear... stuff he really doesn't need to have lots of. Even I don't have that many things to wear.
I won't even get into the part about his urinary incontinence, which he says is "not that bad," the fact that he can't wash or brush his hair well so he looks like Nick Nolte's mug shot, or he barely shaves anymore. This is a man who was once absolutely fastidious about his looks. I realize I am not going to get that man back, but I would like a reasonable facsimile. He doesn't want the nursing assistants to help him, but I am going to have to put my foot down and insist. It's painfully frustrating.
Needless to say, my get-up-and-go got up and went out of town. I spend just about every minute I can sleeping (Turtle and I get along very well). Speaking of Turtle, her newest trick is using the steps to get on and off my bed. I have a captain's bed, and it's more than waist-high, so it came with steps for the humans to use. Turtle's finally figured out that's the best way for her to get on and off as well. Her previous hide-out was the "cat cave," the area under the bed where the drawers on each side don't meet. She still hides there if I'm trying to get her for something, like when I thought she was sick last week and was going to take her to the vet, but she ran under there where I couldn't get her. I decided she wasn't sick.
I am, however, trying to keep up with my bagpipe chanter lessons, I am attending a Bible study at church (the next youngest member is 62...) and I am enduring the handbells at church as well(I am just so formally orchestra trained that it's hard for me to be a part of a casual group). I am still working on my Fair Isle handbag and have lots of socks to make. I obviously don't get online as much as I used to, but I'm trying to keep up with life.
The weather here has finally gotten to the point that we don't have to use the air conditioning, except in the cab of the ambulance some days (riding with the windows down and the siren blaring is just murderous). It's generally chilly in the morning, and peaking around 74 or so. Our highs last week were in the 50s for a few days.
Yes, I am working Thanksgiving, for the fifth year in a row, but I have next Thanksgiving off, which I may trade so I don't have to work the following weekend. I am also working Christmas Eve and Christmas, but not New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Mom is going to be with the family in DC for Christmas. I have no idea what my brother's plans are, and I'll arrange for Dad to be with his family for Christmas. I just want to sleep.