Every day I think I should do a blog post, then I go to do something else and forget. November was very busy and somewhat stressful. Every weekend we worked at Lou's house, cleaning and sorting. I stopped to see him on the way home from work every day for 20 minutes or so.
Last Friday we moved him into the assisted living. I was so afraid the weather would get bad and none of us would be able to get to him, and I swore to Sam that I'd make sure he's taken care of. He went back and forth between "Get me there now" to "I don't want to go." His wonderful aide packed up his clothing and toiletries, and I called his hospice for help. When we went to pick him up, he was all dressed and ready to go, which was a relief. I took him and his clothes, and Ralph took his old recliner and side table with lamp. When we arrived, the director whisked him off to have lunch, while we unpacked for him.
When I saw him yesterday, he seems to be settling in. He told me how his waiter tells him the specials, since he can't read the menu. His food arrives cut up. He told me every meal he's eaten! He's interested in going on the bus trips the asst living runs to local stores, even if he just stays on the bus. His aide does his laundry, showers him, and takes him outside. He's lonely, but it's only been 5 weeks since Sam passed.
Thanksgiving was wonderful. We ate at Mike and Donna's as usual. I made sweet potatoes, broccoli, little hot dogs in crescent rolls, cranberry crescent appetizers, and of course Joseph's Trifle. Heather, Ed and the kids were there for most of the day, then left to go to Ed's parents for dessert. Steph and Dan started out at his parents, and joined us for dessert. The food and the company were great. Jake gave me printouts of the items he'd like for Xmas. He tried to teach me how to play Angry Birds on my new Kindle Fire. Mom Florence enjoyed a few glasses of wine. We took the Mom's home around 6, and we were yawning by 9.
Ben's team at work has adopted a family for Christmas. The two year old girl of the family wants a blanket, so Manda called to see if I had an extra small afghans. I have some pretty pink and white yarn, so I immediately started a small afghan.
Heather and Ed put up their tree last week. I asked Julianna about it, and she told me it would be prettier if it was pink and purple. She said Mommy decorated it in "brown and red." I asked Heather, who clarified that the tree is gold and red. Julianna would like the world to be pink and purple!
Eddie informed Heather that he needs a laptop because he is almost a teenager. As it happened, we had my older laptop around, saved from when I got my new one. Ralph restored it to factory settings and we took it down to him. Heather said that day Eddie kept asking her when his laptop was coming. It's so wonderful to have them living back in south jersey, where we can see them so much more often.
I didn't read much in November, only 7 books, which brings the year's total to 129 so far. Of the 7, 2 were read on the Nook and the rest from the library. I was working on another scrappy afghan, then switched to work on the pink and white one.
We have December birthdays! Ed's is on the 8th, nephew David is the 19th, Heather is the 29th, and Kamee and Megan are right before Christmas. Ben and Manda arrive a couple of days before Christmas! They did Thanksgiving/Xmas in Nebraska, and we get them for Christmas. We only have one nurse schedule to work around now, since Ralph is retired. Heather is working Christmas Eve night. She'll go home, see what Santa brought, sleep, and go visit Ed's family. On the 26th we'll do gifts and dinner at her house. She and Steph have decided to rotate houses for the Christmas dinner.
Not doing Christmas on Christmas was hard the first time. But the alternative was to not have at least one nurse present. Once we slid the day a few times, it's gotten to be second nature for us. It works out great for Mom Florence, since she gets to do the holiday twice, once with Frank and Charlotte's family and once with us.
We'll see Mike and Donna at Mom Mary Jane's Christmas morning. Mike and Donna pick up bagels on their way up, and we have breakfast together.
Miss Millie is really showing her age- she's at least 18. She doesn't have many teeth, sleeps all the time, and forgets that she's just eaten and tortures Ralph to feed her. She can't jump- she has a little staircase up to the table her food dish is on, and she uses her claws to get up on the bed. She's velcro'd to Ralph. She isn't in any pain, and she's eating and using the litter pan, so we just watch her.
And the beat goes on!
Holly
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