Robin's Nest

 Still thinking there might be snow in the forecast soon. I cannot explain why I feel this. I just do. Tomorrow is my first day at my new job. It is just orientation and paperwork, but it feels adventurous! I am only an as needed worker, but I am still excited. Many things need to be "settled" around here before I can say yes to full time work outside the home. Realistically there is full time work available in the home. Hugs and kisses won't pay the bills though. I have not been to see SIL all week, DH has been there each day except today, for about 2 hours. We have been trying to adjust her to time without me. Not sure the adjustment will ever happen. I have been off of work too long to just jump back in full time and think everyone will just be flexible and go with the flow. Tomorrow I will try to stop and see SIL. If not, I'll go early Saturday and show her pictures of the house and figure out what things she would like to keep. I was really racking my pea-sized b...

 Well, here it is, Tuesday, probably the most un-notorious day of the week. In my last post I mentioned several things that the weekend brought, but I did not mention our end of spring break outing to Focus on the Family. I have been taking the kids there for years as part of just our normal routine. However, since the pandemic, our house burning down, moving three times and life in general we had not been in at least two years, maybe three. We arrived a little bit later than I had wanted to because of all the things that had to be done before we could actually go. The day started with DH planning to go to Men's Breakfast at the church. He did not go because our dentist, number 6, had made him an appointment for 0730. That left me to return SIL's room key to her. Somehow in all the fun on Friday, we kept her key ring. It wasn't terribly important as the staff can let her into her apartment, but her med binder, that we use, and they, actually use it too, was locked in her fi...

 When I think about all my tasks and what day they get done on, if they get done, Tuesday is not that day. Why would one even think of the days? I cannot give you an answer but, I can say somedays have reputations that give them more prestige. Just think about it... "thank God it's Friday", to me that implies Friday is more favored by some. Probably with good reason being the most common last working day of the week. What if like some nurses, Friday was the first day of the week that they worked? Thursday may fall into the same category as Tuesday, I am not positive but think about it, Saturday is glorified for being a day off of work but also a great day for garage sales, or shopping or just relaxing. Sunday is supposed to be the day God rested from creating the earth and its inhabitants, of course the inhabitants don't honor it by resting much, still it has a place of esteem. Monday, although perhaps it could be dreaded by some as the "back to the old grindston...

 If Dr. Suess were still alive, I would be married to him. I mean it would only make sense. My whole existence is a rhyme and mostly with no reason. This week I have been shuttling the kids wherever they wanted to go, and wherever I needed to go. Plus, taking care of the animal care, the SIL care, and the house stuff. DH has been handling all the rotten stuff that has to be done in Montana. I feel for him, but he is the one who has to do it. He arrived home tonight safe and tired. I am glad this trip is over with. He wasn't able to accomplish what needed to be done completely, but he managed to get more than I thought he would be able to do, done. On the home front I didn't even get one load of laundry done.  Sleep came fairly fast only to be abruptly interrupted by things that go bump in the night or maybe thud is a better term. It seems that DH was going to have a rough night and share it with me. He was having another episode with a vagal response and what seemed like cardi...

 Friday was a run around in circles kind of day. It started out with getting DH on the road to Montana, it was also an actual school day, one where the kiddos went to school! That marked my last day to get anything done, that I could get done, with a two-year-old in tow. DH left at 0500 therefore it was me left to get the kids to school. I loaded the kids into the car and started my day of running around. First dropping the 3 older kids at school, I then headed over to see SIL as I had promised her that I would come right after dropping off the kiddos.  The baby and I arrived while she was in the shower, so we waited outside her apartment. We then accompanied her to the dining room. She had taken her morning pills and it wasn't long until she was falling asleep at the table. Once I got her back to her apartment, the baby and I left to finish other errands that were on the list. I headed back to the house to let the animals out of the barn and put away laundry. It dawned on me ...

 Lately my life has been overflowing with drama. On the SIL front and the adoption front, tempers are brewing. People who weren't able to do what needed to be done are now demanding their rights. Where are the rights of those affected? Perhaps there are no rights for them? I am not sure; I have never enjoyed conflict. Also, I have never enjoyed seeing people being taken advantage of. Unfortunately, it seems the two often go hand in hand. How do I get myself into these situations? Justice and concern that's how. Now where did I put that wine cork thingamajig? I know where one of the wine bottles is located. Opening it is a challenge. My daughter suggested a hand drill if I couldn't find the thingamajig. After folding three baskets of laundry and putting them away and filing all the loose papers into the filing cabinet, I could use the thingamajig. Paperwork is my mortal enemy. Apparently a little over 9 years ago I failed to send the parents a copy of the guardianship paperw...

 Today was my yearly physical. It was nice to get out and have a purpose. Okay I almost missed it as I had other tasks on my mind and luckily, I wrote it on the calendar. Even more lucky that I looked at the calendar last night and noticed the entry. Hmm... and to think I made an appointment on National pie day.  I had meatloaf planned for dinner, not pot pie. Perhaps I could make a Lemon Meringue pie. I'll check my cupboards and figure out what I have on hand. Time has slipped past my reach so it will be either apple or cherry pie. It is time to put the potatoes on the stove.  I have no energy today and a pie even seems far-fetched. Oh well, back to the day. I asked DH to go and get some frozen fruit to drop off to the care center for smoothies for his sister. After much procrastination about leaving to do this before his other tasks were due, he finally left. I called him to make sure he would make it back to the school in time, if he couldn't then I would head to the s...

 We have been trying and trying to come to grips with the whole idea of a phone in the memory care setting. There is a common phone available to all residents that want to make a call or to receive a call. One of the challenges we had here was to find there were late night phone calls made to others. Most people didn't mind, but the sheriff did.  After I went and visited this past Saturday and saw how content she was, I decided that the phone would be more of nuisance than a benefit. So, today I put on my big girl pants and let everyone know that there will be no in room phone, nor will there be a cell phone. It is the best way for her to learn to trust those who are there to care for her and it will keep her from calling the sheriff. Now on to my day. It is Sunday and we went to church as a family for the second time this year. With SIL safely monitored in her new apartment we can try to get back to normal... whatever that is. While all the chaos is starting to settle around ...

 Today I finally was able to visit with SIL. She appears to be adjusting to Assisted Living a lot better than I am adjusting to her being gone. When I arrived at the facility, she was walking back to her apartment very casually in a pair of socks and her Helena high school t-shirt. One of many that she has from Nicky's kids. She was smiling and carrying a glass of something to drink. As she headed back to her apartment, I caught up with her and she seemed very happy. Not just to see me either, she had played Family Feud with activities, and she loved it! She actually was the player that knew the most answers, they found her sweet spot! Winning! Things are not as much fun when she isn't winning though. I was curious to see what the maintenance man had actually accomplished in her room. Well, he took down all the pictures that I had hung and placed her new television about 2 feet above her desk. I can live with that. Annoying that he took down pictures and did not rehang them som...

 It is Friday and the guilt bug is buzzing about, at least for me it is. I tend to feel guilty more than say, DH, as he is not a nurturer. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, too much guilt in one house would be awful! Every day I remind myself that it was hard on everyone, and I cannot just reverse things without considering everyone involved. So, it is up to me to feel guilty! The kiddos only had half a day of school today. Not sure why, but it is what it is. The weather is beginning to break and feel more like spring, it will only last a few days but nice while it is here. Soon I will be able to bring in a carpet cleaner and get the carpets done for spring. Just not today. Not tomorrow either as DH has to change out my radiator or risk me being stranded with the kiddos. After a rowdy afternoon it was time to return the grandkids to their home and drop the oldest at a birthday party, we loaded up and left for town. All went as planned except, I had planned to go visit SIL while t...

This morning I sent out many messages and emails. In return I received .... silence. I did discover that my two-year-old grandchild can turn the internet off. It took calling the new company to see if there was an outage to discover this. Time to move the router. The little one made sure that the whole day was devoted to entertaining her. We made smoothies; they were very good, so we made them again today.  All the ingredients in the blender   A whole container of yogurt A splash of juice  This is what was on hand Some frozen fruit with a little honey All of that equals some yummy goodness for the tummies today. We are having another snow day from school, and it is just as well. I didn't feel like going out anyway.  I have lots to do here if my knee will allow it. It has been on the aggravated side for a few weeks. It really puts a damper on things at times. But on to better things. I plan to clean the youngest child's room today. Plan being the key word. With k...

 It is the second morning wake up for SIL in the memory care and she decided that she wouldn't care to take the pills today. My fault entirely, I am the one who started her with a list of pills for each time and she ran out of lists. When they called, they also stated that she didn't think the color of the pills would work either. We made it through that first little challenge but that was always a warning signal here for bigger things to come. I let the wellness director know. On to some of the details of the past week: Friday was to be move-in day. It should have been Monday, but I couldn't get it together. I struggled with the paperwork because it had the wrong room number it and I didn't want to sign it. Finally, I did sign it and continued with my crazy week. With that Monday ended. Tuesday was not productive, and I did not hear back from the facility on the paperwork problem.   We arrived at the center on Thursday and the apartment that we had chosen was not ready...

Make a list, lose the list, lose the whole notepad, have company, kids in school, babysit, and try moving someone into assisted living. That is how you make time fly, because no matter how well you plan your day it will not evolve according to that plan. Our company left Friday morning. SIL was to move into Assisted Living earlier in the week but as fate would have it, Friday became the big day. The car that was damaged and sent to the repair shop was ready for pick up Friday morning and of course that is also the day that I babysit the grand kids. Oh, and add to the mix the family practice called and said go get labs because as of next Monday only active duty will be allowed to use the base lab services. The week ended on a busy note and still has not slowed down much. The house is a wreck from trying to locate all of the things that belong to SIL and anything the company might have left and just being too busy to clean as I go. I did sleep in until 0600 for the first time in a long t...