Well, we picked up Rod's mom on Thursday, got her dog and brought her to her house. This is something we really wanted to do before her next surgery. It has not been really hard; just answering the same questions over and over which goes with the territory. She will have another stent put in her heart on Thursday so next weekend will be spent visiting the hospital and getting her settled back into rehab. The hardest part will come when we have to tell her she cannot go home again. (Which we will have to tell her over and over because she won't remember.) She just needs too much care and her house is too far away from us. Troubled times. Hopefully we will get her settled in and by the week of the 20th we will be able to take a few days in the motor home. There are lots of people to visit her down there.
Hmm. The only kind of RV I would ever want to own is the kind with either 8 or 12 wheels, no engine, and a Janney coupler at either end. And if you want to go somewhere in it, you call Amtrak, and have it coupled onto the end of a train. Seriously, though, I know what you're going through. There is nothing worse than watching a loved one's marbles slowly drain away. Saturday, I printed several hundred sheets of imprinted stock for souvenir Gutenberg Bible pages (we now have a pre-printed imprint on the back, explaining what it is, and where it came from; the actual facsimile Gutenberg Bible page is printed on our Gutenberg press, as a hands-on demonstration). It was only my second actual press run on the Heidelberg Cylinder (the sheets are too big to print on a Windmill, and the only other presses we have that can accommodate the sheet size are far too slow). And then, on Sunday afternoon, while the Angels unfortunately managed to once again snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, I breaded-up a pound of turkey schnitzel. (Am I the only one here who finds it a bit ridiculous that a national hot dog chain named itself after a dish [Viennese-style veal cutlets] it has never actually served? And got the gender wrong, too? [it's das Wienerschnitzel, not der Wienerschnitzel])
Many years ago, I had turkey schnitzel at Schroeder's, in San Francisco (after an ownership change, they no longer offer it), and came up with my own recipe. My breading is based (appropriately enough for turkey) on Mrs. Cubbison's dressing crumbs, pulverized to a consistency somewhere between Panko and powder.
One thing I won't be doing this weekend is crabbing hard left in order to keep my car going straight: I had my wheels aligned on my lunch break today. When I was in a rental for the week-and-a-half my car was in the shop, I'd forgotten how nice it was to drive a vehicle that didn't have to be crabbed. Hopefully, I will manage to cast a few more slugs for the Apollo 11 mock-newspaper. I think I've already mentioned that I'm doing a mini special event at the Printing Museum for the 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing, and visitors will be able to print a commemorative mock-newspaper front page.
Well, as of right now things are not as grim as they have seemed. Since Rod's mom was not having a heart attack this time; the stent was an outpatient procedure. We had to battle with them as they kept telling us to take her home no matter how many times we told them she could not go home. We finally got a social worker at the hospital who knew what she was doing and she is settled back in to the rehab she was in before. So...……………...tomorrow morning we get to join friends for brunch. On Sunday we will visit her; being Mother's Day and all. Then we are going out for pizza and arcade games with our daughter's family. Much better than what we had expected.
It's Saturday....Work around the house or relax??? Sunday, Mother's Day, will be spent pampering my wife as much as possible.
Saturday was spent at the Oregon Zoo with my mom for Mother's Day, and I took her out to lunch at a place we hadn't been before that was closer to her house. Sunday was a nothing kind of day. I did get Mother's Day wishes from Tristen which means the world to me considering Steve and I aren't married. He's a good kid...I got pretty darn lucky. Spent time with the furry ones as well...they like having a lazy day w/ us every once in a while.
Saturday was interesting. My organ lesson was a major struggle. And I was late. Which set a pattern for the whole day. I started casting slugs for the shortest piece in the mock-newspaper (one noting how the Apollo 11 Moon Landing was a "come-from-behind victory" in the Space Race). I got about two paragraphs into it, and then the first tour group (only one visitor) of the day arrived, far more quickly than expected, and I had to quickly change every single setting on the Linotype, in order to cast a single souvenir slug. I got back to the mock-newspaper, and got several paragraphs in, and a fairly large tour group shows up, again far more quickly than expected, and I had to again change all the settings to "souvenir slug" mode. I got very good at switching back and forth between casting mock-newspaper slugs and souvenir slugs quickly. Then, I finished the piece for the mock-newspaper, and pulled a proof. Only one typo in about 28 lines: I got all the Russian names right, but I left the "r" out of "three." After fixing that, I had lunch. After lunch, it was very quiet, until two tour groups (one of which consisted of guests of a fellow docent) showed up. I was able to cast a bunch of other slugs: two Ludlow slugs for a mock-advertisement I'm using to camouflage a colophon, four more Ludlow slugs for a larger logo for the "newspaper," and six Lino slugs to give it a table of contents (for the sake of realism). Bill Berkuta (certainly the leading Linotype expert in North America; possibly the leading Linotype expert alive) happened to be in that day, which was unusual (he's usually there when I'm not) It was the third time in as many weekends, which was not just unusual, but unheard-of. I pointed out that for several years, the clamp-release was out-of-adjuctment on the Ludlow. He made several adjustments (one of which involved a small sledgehammer), and solved the problem. I then waited for the two combined tour groups. And waited. I'd planned on taking the Silver Line and the Red Line into Hollywood, for my annual Hollywood Bowl ticket run (in this case, three Subscriber Privilege exchanges). All morning, the tour groups were coming in faster than expected; now, when I was completely idle, and waiting for them to get to the Linotype demo, and in a hurry to "make like a tree and get out of there" (you know, "leave"?), they took forever. By the time I finally got to the Harbor Gateway Park-and-Ride, I missed the Silver Line by one lousy minute. And if I'd waited for the next one, given the time it takes to walk up Highland Hill, I would have arrived at the Bowl box office about five minutes after closing time. I didn't want to wait until next weekend, because there's a lease event next weekend. So I drove all the way in. Bucking Dodger traffic all the way. But at least I got there, with 20 minutes to do the ticket exchanges.
Things went really well Saturday and Sunday. The *Pizza Place* has added a lot of new, healthier choices so that was nice. And all of us Moms got a balloon wrist corsage. There were so many of us visiting Rod's mom that we took her downstairs where there are tables and chairs and couches. Much nicer than crowding into her room. This morning reality has slapped me upside the head though. This is going to be a tough week and we have no idea what the weekend will hold.
TGIF everybody! Let's see...Saturday I am going to go see my niece's basketball game in Felida in the morning, and Tristen is taking me to see the new Avengers movie in the afternoon for a late Mother's Day kind of thing. Sunday I am doing a "sip 'n' soak" at McMenamin's Kennedy School with my big sister from my sorority for her early birthday present.
"TGIF"? "Toes Go In First"? Be that as it may, Book Arts Patch Day at the Museum tomorrow. Not as rigorous as a Boy Scout Merit Badge Day (45 minutes per station instead of just half an hour), but still a busy day. The good thing about it is that when we get a "bye" period at a station, we know how long we have until we have to be back up and running for the next group. And while the day starts early, it also ends early. Hopefully, I'll get the slugs cast for another whole article for the Mock Newspaper Front Page, because it will only be two months and a day before it absolutely has to be ready. Oh, and Sunday is the final organ recital of the Disney Hall season, this time featuring Iveta Apkalna, performing a program that will include Bach, Widor, and a fair amount of new music. I've heard much about her, but I haven't actually heard her.
Well, the whole TGIF thing aside; we were awakened this AM with a phone call that Rod's mother had another heart attack. This was the artery that they said was too dangerous to mess with. But it was 100% clogged so they went in with another stent. As of right now she is stable and resting and looks like she will make a full recovery. Though she still has dementia. The hospital keeps talking about us taking her *home* and do not seem to hear us when we say she cannot go home. We actually had a plan in motion where she was to be evaluated on Monday and placed in permanent Memory Care next Friday. Now all of that is up in the air and we cannot really do anything until Monday. So our weekend is a word that I have never dared to use on LP! We are going to dine with friends this evening for a little break. The lady at the Memory Care home gave us medical directives for ourselves and we are filling them out this weekend. I will never put my children through this Hell.
Thanks. She is doing fine today, will probably be released to rehab on Monday and be able to move to the Memory Center on schedule. Whereas that is pretty good news this still sucks! Forgive me for saying so but I am happy that the center does not allow visits for 2 weeks while they get her acclimated. We can hop in the RV and take off guilt free.
You have my deepest sympathy. As I said, I know what you're going through, and you're right, even the best news in a situation like that is only going to be "less bad." Enjoy your two guilt-free weeks, knowing that if you vetted the facility right, she's in good hands. (And beating yourselves up won't do anybody any good, least of all Rod's mother. On a more pleasant note, the Book Arts Patch Day went well, although it was not a big turnout. With only four groups, I had a 90-minute break, enough time to finish casting the slugs for a 55-line article for the mock-newspaper, and get the Linotype back to souvenir slug settings, with 15 minutes to spare.
Being total novices at such things, and having had the entire responsibility dumped on us; we are doing the best we can. There are definite financial concerns that had to be considered. Some of these places look like resort hotels and charge like them. We did several tours and the one we picked is not like a resort hotel. But, the clients seemed content (I mean, they all have dementia so it hard to know). It had good reviews online. (Things like, this place may not be fancy but we are pleased with the care.) We watched the interaction between staff and clients and with each other. All doors and gates lock and have alarms. There is a social director who gets them busy playing games and such. It was clean and it was obvious they were remodeling to keep the place up. So I believe we have done all we can and feel pretty confident. Today we are going through her paper work which is in complete disarray. With any luck this coming weekend will be spent celebrating with our 18yo grandson as he performs in his 4th and final Tropical Nights (he dances Polynesian) on Friday followed by an awards banquet for band on Saturday and his graduation on Wednesday. Something to look forward to and to help us realize that life does go on.
You're definitely looking at the right things when it comes to her care. If you don't have faith/trust in the staff then it's not the right place, but it sounds like you have a good place picked out. My grandma had dementia (stroke related) and difficulty speaking to boot. I think the hardest thing about the whole memory thing is that on the days she didn't remember me (which was often) I scared her by being there, so I just told her I loved her and that I hoped she had a nice day and I would leave. My mom didn't get it, and got mad at me for not visiting more often thinking that me being there would jog her memory. The last time I visited her before she passed was a good day...a glimmer of recognition and a smile...she was very focused on the corner by her bed, and I told her that they have been waiting for her for a LONG time and we would miss her but we would be okay. I gave her a kiss goodbye, and told her to say hi to Grandpa for me. It was a good way to be able to remember her, and I'm glad that I got that little window. I hope you're able to enjoy your grandson's performance this coming weekend, and your two weeks off in your RV. Sending lots of love, hugs, and pixie dust your way.
Thanks for sharing. The home has a dementia support group that we will be taking advantage of for sure. She still recognizes most of the family most of the time. (Though after this last heart attack she has been calling our daughter Bonnie (her niece) and calling Bonnie Fred (Bonnie's husband). I have a dear friend (not much older than me) that I have tried to visit. She just glares at me so I feel like I should leave her alone. I do not want to agitate her.
