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It Was A No Tear Day

It Was A No Tear Day

Well in less than one hour the new caregiver will be here to give Al his shower. Don’t you hate having to train a new person all over again? The other caregiver did everything right, and I am hoping this one will also, but I hate the training. Al is napping right now, so I thought I would tell you about our day. We did leave here and I was going to take him to the clothing store and get him new shorts, but after thinking about it, I decided to take him to Goodwill instead. All of his shorts he has in his drawers are very nice ones, that he can no longer wear with all of his weight loss, so I don’t want to spend top dollar in case he would lose more. We have to be careful when we buy shorts or long pants, as he can not use the snaps, buttons, or zippers. I would do it for him, but I want him to keep his independence, so we buy all pull up, elastic waists, so he can do it himself. There was no scooter in the store, so I got out his wheel chair and we sat him in it. The only help I had to give him was to raise his one leg. The one leg seems to be weaker than the other from the Parkinson’s. We went through all of the isles, and he came across someone who works at his old work place. The gentleman recognized Al also. Al’s eyes lit up like Christmas tree lights, he was so excited that he saw someone he knew, plus someone he could play catch up about his old work. They spent about ten minutes talking to each other. I was so glad that God planted that person in Al’s walk way at the very precise moment. We looked down through the junk aisle also. I like to look their and see if there are any trinkets I can buy and add to the house for extra personality. I love antiques, so I try to make everything look old in my house. We did find four pairs of shorts for Al, and it was his lucky day, because if you were older than fifty-five, you got fifty percent off of your total. We ended up with four pairs of shorts at less than one price for a brand new pair  from a clothing store. I had tried to get Al to pick out more shorts since there was a big sale, but he just didn’t understand. All he knew is he needed four or five pairs, so that is what we got! After we left Goodwill, we went to the K-Mart store and picked out some very cute roller skates for my grandson’s birthday tomorrow. They will adjust for his shoe size up to three years. I think he is going to love these. He can play with them inside or outdoors. We picked up a new bird feeder for me and some birdseed, and some marshmallow sticks for the bonfires. I think people are getting tired of having to dig for a  new stick! Now there are permanent ones that I can wash. I bought Al a new Bible, that is very large print, and thicker pages. I had him try it out at the store and he didn’t have to take  his glasses off to read it. He has less than 20/20 vision from the damage of his heart attack, and I have been catching him taking his glasses off to read it. I took  him back to the eye doctor for a recheck, but the doctor said this is as good as it is ever going to be. I think he was pleased with his new bible, and I can bet that he will be reading it before bed time tonight. Next we went to Wendy’s restaurant, and he ate his first french fry with a grilled chicken sandwich since his surgery. While we were eating, I had to use the lady’s room. When I came back he had finished his own fries and was eating mine. I just sort of looked at him and he told me, well you got up, losers weeper, finders keepers! I laughed at that, an old-time phrase we have always used. If you walk away from something and leave something behind, you lose it! He knew he had gotten one over on me. Oh well, he had his fun and he laughed, and I didn’t need the fattening fries anyways.  Afterwards, we got groceries. That went pretty good, except his judgement is getting worse, and he ran into the shelves quite a bit, but over all, we had another nice day together. No tears, no arguing. I am so glad I had the minister come to see Alvin on Monday. God is truly working in his life and bringing him peace, plus all of the prayers that are being said for him from here are being answered. I wish it to last for ever and ever. When we got home, there was a box on the front steps. I was surprised! It was for me! My daughter had sent me a complete line of Sensual Black Current Vanilla from Bath and Body. It smells so good. It is a gift for Mother’s Day. She is so good to me. I wish we still lived near each other, but I am thankful I get to see her every other month. Well, this was my day so far. I was truly blessed with smiles and kindness today. Thank you Lord.

Oven baked fries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Hoping For A Good Day

Hoping For A Good Day

Today is Friday. Beautiful sunshine, a wonderful start to a day. God is surely showing his beauty with the birds in the front yard, the new leaves on the trees. Yesterday my son came down and power washed my home. We have certain trees that just love to leave that nasty green crap on the house. Do you have any like this? Last evening was a lot of fun. My son and his family came back down after dark. We built a nice, roaring fire, and all sat around it just relaxing. We talked about anything and everything. My son knows I am afraid of the dark, so he made sure to tell me about the sixty pound raccoon that was roaming the streets, every time I heard a chirping sound. He got me going, for sure! I am pretty sure it was a raccoon, but do they get to the weight of sixty pounds? I don’t know about that. Al was in a rip-roaring mood last night. His mouth is feeling better, and he has been eating more since having his oral surgery. He was talking about the past. Back in time when mom and dad were still alive. Talking about our grandfather, remembering a particular time that he was lifting something and his farmer style bib overhauls fell down to his knees. He was laughing so much. It was wonderful to see. He talked about his first car he owned, and how mom and dad had helped him to get it. I just wanted to capture this entire evening and put it all in a snap shot and savor it forever. Ever since I had Al anointed and his room done also, he has been so much calmer. He has been through a lot this week and has done well. I am positive that God had much to do with this. I only remember him complaining once last night, and that was when he wanted to move, and his legs froze from the Parkinson’s. Today, when he is finished with breakfast, we are going clothes shopping for him. He reminded me of this as he went to bed last night. He told me he would be glad when he got his new shorts, so they would not fall down anymore, and he took his own shorts and acted like they were falling down. That was funny to watch. He already had it calculated in his mind how many pairs of shorts he would get today. He says to me, that there are seven days in a week, and if he doesn’t get dirty, every day, then he would need five pairs of shorts. I never do that when I go shopping. I shop by clearance sales. If I see something on a fabulous sale, I will buy them, if not, I pass them up. I rarely purchase anything, clothes, items for the house, unless they are on sale. Many years ago, when I had bought my kids their Christmas gifts, and realized how much cheaper the stores lowered the prices the day after Christmas, I made up my mind then, that I wasn’t giving any of these stores more than they deserved. Thus, the clearance shopper was born. After we get his new clothes, we are going to purchase a birthday gift for one of my grandsons. Tomorrow they will be coming down here with a cake and ice-cream, along with some of their family members, and will be celebrating his third birthday. I just get a huge kick out of little kids when they are opening their gifts. They clap and get so excited, and their eyes twinkle. The innocence that children carry, is so precious. When do we lose this about ourselves? Most likely when we let them fly into the world when they start school, and get to know and learn other children’s habits and ideas. This is not always a good thing in my mind. I hated sharing my kids with other kids habits, if they were brought up different from mine, but we have to let them go. When my kids were entering school, there was no home schooling. I would not have been interested in it anyways. I wanted my kids to learn and if I would have been teaching them, I may have kept them in my sixties and seventies style of learning. We didn’t even have computers in our classrooms, let alone computer classes. After buying the birthday gift, I will force myself to spend money on groceries. I hate buying groceries. If you figure out how long it takes you to grocery shop, and how much money you spend on them, you will discover like I did, that buying groceries is one of the fastest ways to spend money.  Tonight, will also be Al’s first night of having a shower with a new caregiver and a shower in the evening instead of the morning. Well, he is up and ready for breakfast. We are both ready to start our new day together. I am hoping it is a good one. Talk to you later.

Grocery store sign (Photo credit: Plan for Opportunity)