Long time..

 Monday morning and so much to do! Price checking, laundry, showers, Oh my goodness! I'm tired already! There are still carpets to clean (dogs had multiple accidents last night) dogs to bathe, naps for a little and SIL, oh yes and meals prepare. Yep, I'm tired! As DH heads out the door he and the youngest fuss, nothing new there! ADHD meets ADHD head-on every time.

The 30 seconds of quiet after they all leave is quickly interrupted by a barrage of questions from SIL. It was nice while it lasted. Much to my surprise, SIL went to her chair willingly and wanted to rest. Maybe this Monday will be different! Nope, baby just started screaming, things are normal.

After both parties getting a morning nap and the dogs having yet another accident in the house, I gave both of them lunch, bathed one dog, sprayed the carpet and covered it with a towel. While I was changing the baby, SIL let the dogs outside into 43-degree weather, even the wet one, they lived, (life got busy, it is now Tuesday)

DH had gone to help the kids install a new bathroom vanity. I thought that he would pick up the kids on his way home and my son-in-law would just have to come to the house and get them after work. To my surprise he came home about 2pm so that I could go get the kids from school and drop the baby off to her dad. While out on this mission I called one more memory care place, not to change horses, but to compare prices. 

I handed all the kids off to my son-in-law in the parking lot of McDonald's and headed off for an invited visit. I did not expect to get any pricing much less be invited for a tour. I was hoping for a tour to be scheduled for today, but even so I was excited to get to see it. The place we had decided on was a dedicated memory care with the expected "small rooms", they are purposely small to limit isolation. I felt immediately that she would fit in and be well cared for there.

I did, however, want to have something else to compare it to. I have worked in many facilities and in many "locked" units. Doing that does not make you privy to pricing. I knew nothing of "community" fees, medication fees and other assorted items. Actually, I am appalled that you pay separately to have someone give the meds on top of paying for the monthly cost of living there, but no matter it must be done. Nurses should be paid more lol. The overall cost per month is close to the price of the other facility. 

When I came into the facility it was clean and the age group was older than I expected. Why? I guess I feel like we are still in our 20's. I did have to keep in mind that this was an assisted living that was just changing over to memory care. The staff were friendly and seemed engaged with the residents that were in the common area, they did not seem as intentional as the staff at Lark Springs, but again that was a dedicated memory care, this was transitioning building. 

I felt comfortable there, not like an outsider looking in, to be fair, I wasn't uncomfortable at the other place, but I did feel like an outsider looking in. As we toured and talked, I had misgivings that this place would be too big, but it had so much more to offer for about the same money. The community fee was the same, the dining area the same, the rooms were real apartments with a walk-in shower and a kitchenette. That was very different. Each apartment, even the studio size, had a separate sitting area from the sleeping area.

An assessment is scheduled for 1030 this morning. I did tell the marketer that coming today would probably be better as she would be up most of the night. Why? Because it was already getting dark, and I was not home. I have discovered that this is a trigger for her hallucinations. I just, put her to bed, again. You see when I leave her with DH, he fails to interact with her. Well, except to have her "lay" down in her recliner or in her bed. This is another reason that I think it is time for more care. Not just because I am exhausted.

She is back up. And he wonders why I cannot get things done. No worries, it is best that they see her at the worst possible state so the assessment can be fair. Unfortunately, the house will be at its worst too. You see that list that needed to be done yesterday? Most of it still needs to be done today. I did get down on my hands and knees and scrub the living room carpet. Doing that and looking around I discovered more needs than I was not up to last night.

I told DH the dogs were going to sleep in their kennels, I then put SIL in bed and went into the main bathroom and started cleaning the tub. I had bathed a dirty dog in it during the day and it was disgusting. On leaving the bathroom, I noticed DH was heading to his room and leaving the living room television on at a volume of 53.  I asked if he was done in there, he stated and I quote: "Yes, you can turn the tv off". I did give him a look. He also said sarcastically "oh I thought you said the dogs were going into kennels tonight", the look got worse. I informed him that he could go back and turn off the television. He got aggravated and told me to stop giving him that look.

In my mind I ran through the list of things I had done since arriving home at 6:30pm. Settled 2 kids, unloaded the car, showered the youngest, put SIL to bed, put the dogs outside, cleaned the shower from the kiddo, cleaned the tub from the dog, shut down the usual stuff for the night and it is 8:15pm. The dogs are not in their kennels yet because they are still outside. I still needed to gather the supplies to scrub the carpet.

Oh well let the fun begin. I did get the carpet cleaned and then I jumped in the shower myself and went to bed. It was 9:15, I heard SIL and DH. She was up for the night. That went on all night, her getting up and down, knocking doors, opening them, calling for me. I feigned sleep until 2am and then I gave in and here we are.

She is concerned that someone is having an abortion at this moment. She wants me to call them and stop the procedure. She does not know who I am to call, neither do I. Well, she is getting a bit frantic now so I need to close and see what I can do to change the course of this river before it runs through it. Did I mention I am exhausted?