Saturday, April 27, 2024

We just got back from visiting my parents. It's always daunting. My mother is not able to move much. She gets to her recliner in the family room, and only gets up if she feels that she needs to change her depends. She is so unkempt, but keeps dismissing the bath lady. My Mom was quite a beauty in her youth, and nice looking in old age, always dressed well, fixed her hair, had nice jewelry. It makes me so sad, but I can't solve it. I try to clean up, and wash and fold clothes, but they are drowning in stuff. My Dad has some OCD stuff going on where he wants to reuse paper plates, things like that. My Dad half brags that their insurance premium was reduced because the house has lost value. What was a lovely 2 story on a huge, wooded, lake side lot. That's quite a trick for a house like that to lose value. Sigh.

Tomorrow we have tickets to see Henry IV, the 2nd in the History Plays trilogy. Looking forward to it. DD arrives Wednesday. Yeah!

My heart hurts for you and your parents

Thank you. Your friendship is a comfort.

It's both sad and interesting about the bath thing. Claudia's mom did the same. Always a stylish, clothes-horse professional when she was younger, but at the end would lie about having bathed and wouldn't let the caregivers help her. They would note where they placed the soap to catch her fibbing.

It feels like hygiene is another of the life skills that reverts to childhood thinking as we enter our twilight years. I remember wetting my toothbrush to try to lie about having done it as a kid. And fighting baths.

Your visits sound so draining. You are doing a kindness many would not given the descriptions of how your mom has treated you. You're a good daughter.

Thank you CC. You kind of made me choke up. I love quotes: from Prince of Tides, "I loved them in all their flawed humanity".

This must be hard - do what you can, and then extend to your parents all the grace you can saving some compassion and sympathy for yourself during this unfortunate and unhappy time.

Thank you. Perhaps part of extending grace is not expecting them to be anything then what they can manage today. I'm working on it.

Lovely, and - yes. And, give yourself the same.

Big storms passing through the area again this evening, the more intense likely around 2am. Do not like the bad storms at night-can't see a thing. Bedroom is upstairs, but will probably be staying in the back downstairs bedroom (closer to the basement if needed.

Today I slipped down (barely) into the 60s - 169.8. Tomorrow the scale may well tick back into the 70's, but I see this jog downward encouraging. My records aren't nearly as complete but I haven't seen a scale weight in the 160's since some time in 2021 or so.

All in all, life is quiet here ---looking forward to trying out the new "coffee sock" delivered today. Supposed to be a long lasting reusable filter for my old timey potbelly percolator. The wrap around paper filters are hard to find and expensive to boot. Whoop -so much for excitement !

Golf ball sized hail in my folks' village in MI tonight. They seem to have escaped the worst of the hail, but lots of chatter on FB about totaled cars, people with multiple broken windows in the house, holes in roofs and siding... the insurance adjusters will be busy. Spring storms in the midwest, plains, and south are not for sissies! And everything is worse in the dark!