11:08pm here in WA. Have spent all day reformatting my computer. You never realize how much 'must have' software you have until you go to reload it all. The only drawback to wiping it clean is you loose a lot of your bookmarks and emails. I save many of my bookmarks - just need to find the disc they are on. :-) I saved all the important stuff - can't believe all the disc I have stuff on. I was going to do this last fall so saved it all back then but never got around to it. At least I remembered this web address - but I had to really think to remember my user and password for here. I forgot to write it down. :-( Senior moment!!
Don't know what the weather is like now - can't see cause the blinds are down. :-) DH just went to bed - the prozac makes him sleepy. The years I took it, it never made me sleepy - I was cheated! I will read a little more then go to bed. This is exhausting reloading everything - some of the software takes forever to load and install. Plus all the windows updates. How did we ever live without all these comforts??
It is 10.30pm here in NZ. Hi Mawzy, yes it is very warm here the last 3 days have been very hot 30 yesterday & 29 today not sure what that equals in USA. Closed the house up & put on the air con about 4.30pm just got too hot for me.
Hi Imohr, DH only got up once tonight is sound asleep with Mary Duff still singing away he listens to her every night though last night he asked me to turn her off so he could listen for the people coming to get the furniture. One thing I don't have to change the cd every night as he forgets what he listened to the night before. He has day care tomorrow so I'm glad he isn't like he was last night.
I don't post that much at night, but that doesn't mean I'm asleep! It is hard for me to believe Hank died a bit over five months ago. I still remember those 24 hours days so vividly. The times I actually sleep the whole night through now are few and far between. It is a big adjustment being alone, though I am doing better...
{{{{{{{{frand}}}}}}}} You sound like my sister. When my BIL died a year ago this month, my sister could not sleep at night. She wouldn't say exactly why, but I think it is she was so use to listening with one ear for his breathing (he was in a bed in the livingroom). She would watch TV until the wee hours of the morning, sleep 3-4 hours, wake up then sleep until 2pm or later. She has been visiting her daughter since the first of December which has forced her to sleep more 'normal' hours. It will be interesting to see how she really is when she returns in a week or two.
My sister refused any type of support group, but you are wise in that during Hank's illness you had this and others, and still have them. From what you are written me and I read in these post, Hank was the 'soulmate' you were searching for. My sister said the same about her HB even though it was her 3rd marriage and they only had 2-3 years before his stroke.
After reading this site, even though it was not diagnosed, I believe he had vascular dementia along with the physical problems.
I did not fall asleep at the all-day mtg. It was a leadership conference and it was really quite interesting. In one workshop on communication of about 25 people, I was the ONLY one who turned out to be assertive vs reflective. True story. I know all of these people well. They know DH has AD but have NO IDEA what goes on here at home. You guys are the ONLY ones who know about that. My friends all thought it was pretty funny that a little old grey haired grandmother (78 in April) would check out to be assertive. I just smiled my sweet smile and told them sometimes you just gotta be assertive and can't take the time to reflect on things that need to get done. That got a laugh. Inside I wasn't laughing. Maybe it was my lack of sleep. What do you think.
On February 7 I am going to an all-day Women's Event and I will be teaching a 50-min class. The name of the class is "Blessing the Next Generation." It's about helping the younger people break the chain of negativity that sometimes gets passed down in families. Very interesting text. I'll let you know how it turns out.
I really do enjoy teaching adults and just love to do the research. I'm still able to do it. DH leaves me alone most of the time. After I've finished writing the lesson, I read it to him 3-4 times so I have it prepared in my mind. He attends my classes with me and always tells me that I did a good job. If I ask him about the topic, I get a blank stare.
It's still early here. I want to watch the Hallmark presentation of Loving Leah. Always love Hallmark. They do put on good shows.
Good night. Sleep tight all--and, oh, by the way Patricia, I don't know what y our temperatures translate to here but I can tell you that you are a whole lot warmer there than we are here. We had these crazy snow flurries most of the day. Didn't stick but it was pretty.
Patricia's New Zealand temperatures translate to our mid-eighties -- not all that much warmer than our weather here in Florida today -- mid-seventies, allowing me to do yard work very comfortabbly in my shirtsleeves. We'd had near-freezing temperatures for about three mornings earlier in the week, unusual for us, and just enough frost to kill some non-hardy weeds. Our lawn grasses becomes dormant during winter, but I still need to mow about once a month, mostly just trying to keep weeds from flowering and propagating themselves further. Today's project was cutting back Brazilian pepper trees, a fast-growing invasive species with beautiful red berries, and dragging the cut limbs back to a pile that I probably won't be able to burn until about June. This is our dry season here in Florida, so outdoor burning is prohibited because of the danger of woods fires. (But sometimes if the pile gets too big, and if we've had a good heavy dew, I may slip out and burn it very early on a Sunday morning, before anyone else is awake to report me and before any wind comes up.)
I woke at 5 this morning and got on my laptop and there were 20 new posts for me to read. How great is that. Please keep up the good work. We are going to the Dentist this morning so I will report on that this evening. Have a great day everybody.
It is midnight here in N.Z. all is quite DH is fast asleep so thought I would look at few comments before going to bed. Night Night hope you all have a good day tomorrow.
Hi Patricia - 7 a.m. here in WV. Just woke up. Going to be in the 40's today and that sounds a lot better than it has been. I ordered a new adjustable bed for ME yesterday and it is being delivered today. I hope I like it. I read a lot in bed and use my laptop, etc. and decided I deserved something new. Have a good day.
Good morning Imohr - We are supposed to get into the 50s here in southwestern PA. You are "down south" from me, you should be warmer. But as cold as it has been anything above freezing is great. Hope your new bed is wonderful.
Oops, you are right 58 today. I hope I like the bed too. I am a pretty restless sleeper so I have also ordered a mattress massager from Amazon (Joan). Even my cat won't sleep with me and that is pretty bad.
Good morning all. It's 7:30 in cloudy Florida. The boys are still in bed and looking very annoyed since I disturbed them by getting up this morning. Litter box change to beat the trash truck.
Good morning everyone, It's 6:30 here in Tenn. and we are expecting a beautiful day . yesterday we got up to 72 I like this kind of water for the old bones... I'm up every morning get on and read not always reply but always read I feel very close to all of you and over the past few months since my husband"s death it has brought me comfort. thanks to all...
nanapapa, I was going to ask the same question bluedaze asked. We live in East Tennessee and it is beginning to warm up after almost record cold temps and snow but we were only in the 50's yesterday. You may be on the other end of the state near Memphis. Would love to see those 70's.
well it was 75deg here in mid texas yesterday! we had only a few days of icy weahter latelywith the fronts moving thru. so glad. none of us texans do well in icy roads. i worked in insurance and everytime the ice storms hit thousands of wrecks. glad to see the ice is thawing up north! yall deserve some warmer days outdoors..imohr let us know how that mattress massager works?? i need something but not sure what...haha. it gray and cloudy and looking like sprinkles later..but warm again, divvi
I'm not sure about the "thawing up north". Here in Maine the temperature reached 20 yesterday. It may get to 30 today, and then is going to drop down again. We have more snow on the ground than most years at this time. The one plus of this is that the ski areas are doing well as are the snow mobilers. Punxsutawney Phil said 6 more weeks of winter, but we expect it to last until mid-April.
10 p.m. in WV and windy. Temp in the mid 50's. It has been very nice and sunny today. Sounds like same most of this week. Yea......Kitty is somewhere in the house settled for the night. I disturb her too much, so she sleeps somewhere else.
10 pm and 43 degrees in RHode Island right now. It was balmy today but I was working on a big mailing (for the Monhegan museum) and didn't get outside. Fortunately, Turner Classic Movies is into their Oscar Month, so I watched Gunga Din and Four Feathers this afternoon (well MOST of them), and tonight Casa Blanca.
Chimichanga is looking at me accusingly - I haven't gone to bed yet. Max is sitting tucky-pawed by me waiting. Sorry, guys, I'm not through reading yet!
10:30p.m. here on the Pacific Coast. Sunny today for a change, but still in the low 40's for a high. Right now we are already down to 32 degrees. BRRRR!
Here in Upper Hutt N.Z. it is 8pm so i'm early to night. Just got DH into the shower at the moment he can still shower by himself I just have to make sure he has pj's etc in the bathroom or I have this naked man walking around the house. We have had a lovely hot sunny day got up to 33 which I think is about 86 in USA. Is too hot for me about 25 is just nice. Imohr your new bed sound just the thing hope you find it is great for you. My cat Minnie has left our bed at the moment too has taken to sleeping in the garage must be cooler there & she has her own bed in there for when we go away.
It's been awhile since I posted and I just read all the notes since my last posting. I'm in Covington, WA and it is about 6:45 pm. My husband is doing his one of his rituals right now. He packs garbage into cans, and rolls it, smashes, iet, what ever he can do to compact it -- he is my human compactor. He gets pretty upset when someone just throws garbage away. You would think I would get used to it but I don't. It drives me nuts!
Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine. I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible. How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word 'refrigeration' mean nothing to you? How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched 'Jeopardy' on television? I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, 'How about going to lunch in a half hour?' She would gas up and stammer, 'I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain.' And my personal favorite: 'It's Monday.' She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together. Because Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when a ll the conditions are perfect ! We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet... We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college. Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of 'I'm going to,' 'I plan on,' and 'Someday, when things are settled down a bit.' When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Roller blades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.. My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-Decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy. Now...go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to......not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting? Make sure you read this to the end; you will understand why I sent this to you. Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butter fly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask ' How are you?' Do you hear the reply? When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through h your head? Ever told your child, 'We'll do it tomorrow.' And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say 'Hi? When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift....Thrown away..... Life is not a race Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.
To those I have sent this to... I cherish our friendship and appreciate all you do.. 'Life may not be the party we hoped for... But while we are here we might as well dance!
Well, Well, came home from watching granddaughter's basketball game and found a BUNCH of postings for me to enjoy this evening. So happy to see so many new friends here. Don't go away now.....I shall expect you here every day.
folly and divvi - it is midnight here and somehow I am wide awake. Can't figure it out. Alternating between solitare on my computer and this place. Maybe the full moon has something to do with it. Kitty is hanging in with me but she is asleep. Have to be careful and not wake her up because then she takes off for someplace quiet. May read for a while now. Goodnight all....
Imohr - I call it living with no 'if only's' When I did counseling that is what I would bring up with clients who were really angry with some family member. If you don't forgive (forgiveness is for us, not them) and make peace, if they die today are you going to have any 'if only''s"?
Too often we get so busy with 'busy' that we forget the important things that if we don't do, will be be saying 'if only I had....'
3:30 a.m. here in WV. We have had high winds tonight but it seems to have calmed now. DH woke me coughing. I measured out some cough syrup but he is still asleep, so I didn't wake him. I am wide awake not. Hope you are having a better night than I am.
Hi, all--It's 12:45 am here on the Pacific coast. It was so sunny and pretty today. Had a bit of snow yesterday but it didn't amount to much.
I'm exceptionally weary tonight but not able to relax and fall asleep. I did get up and took an extra long hot shower. That usually does the trick but not this time.
Had a couple of insurance men here today and had our stocks all invested in anuities. We've lost so much--not that I'm whining. I knew I should have sold it a few months ago but didn't get around to it. These men are really in the know and I'm very confident they have given me good advice.This sure is scarey. DH always made all the financial decisions and I'm making more and more of them all the time. I sure do hope I don't mess up.
My brother called me this evening and asked if I was sure that DH had AD. I assured him that he did and while I know he meant well, he said he just had a hard time believing it because he carried on a regular conversation with him yesterday. Brother suggests I take DH to yet another doctor and have more tests run. I don't think that is necessary so I just let him talk. But that kind of conversation does wear me out.
2 a.m. here in WV and I am wide awake. Must be the coffee I drank at 1 p.m. Sunshine today but still windy. 6 large pine trees uprooted in the neighbors yard.
Don't know what is best to do with the stocks but I am going to try and ride it our or downl
10:30 here in WV and the wind is gone for now. Hope most of you are planning on something special for yourself tomorrow. VALENTINES DAY. Treat yourself and your spouse even though they probally won't even know what day it is.
Hi Imohr - hope you get to sleep sooner tonight. I know the problem - I usually do not drink any caffeine after 1pm. Wednesday we had a late lunch (or early supper) and had two diet cokes. I was still awake at 3am.
We are back at my sister's and good to see her after so many months. Last April we had take off for a couple weeks and when we came back she had left to go see her daughter in California. When we returned in December she still had not returned. We left last Friday for a week and she returned on Sunday. She didn't even notice our motorhome missing until the next day when we went out to talk to us!!!
It.s 3 a..m. here in WV and my coffee is still awake. I had a nap but back up again. I have 2 friends who needs this site and i am going to try my best go get them here. California and others on the West Coast evidently bed down early. It must be 11:00t there. Night Night everybody
Its 12:15 am here on the West Coast Imohr and I'm still up :)
Sadly, I must dethrone Divvi as *Poop Queen* ....... the last couple of days have been horrendous and today it was many changes of Depends with TWO showers thrown into the mix and then .......... to top it all off ......... the dog pooped in her bed ........LoL !!!!!!
Just hope Valentines Day doesn't bring on a repeat performance of today !
Actually Imohr ....... the Depends, for urine, don't bother me as I would rather just *throw* the accident out than have to wash underwear continually (read - every day!), but now we've graduated into feces incontinence I don't really enjoy cleaning up all that entails.
On the upside of this whole mess is my husband remains cheerful, non-combative, co-operative and willing ...... it's just so heartbreaking to see a man who stood so straight and tall now bent over and shuffling and not making it to the toilet every time ...... this is what is breaking my heart, making me angry and tearful. Another sadness is the fact that he is unable to clean up after himself - he can't even wipe himself anymore as he's forgotten how - he just shakes his head and says he doesn't know how it happened, walks through the mess, grabs the wall for support all the while with p**p on his hands ......... its all breaking my heart Imohr and I just don't know what to do ........... if tears would fix any of this he'd have been all mended and back to being the way he was pre-AZ 'cuz I've cried a river of tears but they aren't changing a damned thing :(
Bar-bra, does your dh have spinal stenosis making him stooped or what is? My dh has spinal stenosis/Parkenism/VD/AD. He is so stooped from the waist that he looks at the floor at his feet. Like 2:30 on the clock dial. We just did a round of PT for the neck and back but unless he is in there and they make him stand up he doesn't.
So far, no incontinence but I would not be surprised. He seems to go to the bathroom more lately than before. I was able to figure on 2 hours in town without a bathroom run but not lately. I think there is a pill to give them for this and it might work well to give him one before going in the car. I worry about a accident in the car and am thankful I have leather seats.