The Post I Didn't Plan....

Yesterday was a day of mixed emotions.  I just do not want to blog on that today.  I really don't want to blog at all but my readers and blog friends have quickly became so vitally important to me that I had to post something small.

My blog has been around since 2013.  Throughout that year my grandma was the subject of a regular Thursday series I called Demented Thursday.  I shared my experiences with her as she entered the dark world of Alzheimer's/Dementia.  In the fall of 2013 my grandma was still functioning but losing her memories and recollections.  Every Thursday I took her out - to the beauty shop, the store, or just to go pick up my daughter from preschool.  I have savored those moments for the past couple of years as she has deteriorated.

August 25th, 2012 meeting her second great grandchild.

Yesterday, I stood by her bedside as she fought death tooth and nail.  Her mind gone and many physiological processes lost she still fought like a champion to stay a little longer.

Her fight ended a little past three o'clock.

As I walked home thinking about her impact in my life I immediately remembered the series I posted out back in 2013 that was inspired by our trips out on Thursdays.  Last night, I sat up with a cup of coffee after the kids went to be and scoured through the posts to find some of my favorites to share today.

Here are few I would love for you to read if you have time.  As always I strive to place humor in the heartache.

The Trip To Walmart - Demented Thursday September 2013

Who Are You? - Demented Thursday August 2013

Getting Old Sucks - Demented Thursday May 2013

Pizza Hut - Demented Thursday - April 2013


I appreciate when you say you keep us in your prayers.  But I really want you to pray for and help support the fight to end Alzheimer's Disease and the variations of dementia that are plaguing this world.

Love you, Mom-o.  Like I said the last time we talked, I will be expecting chicken pie, black eyed peas, peanuts and Pepsi.

Amanda

The Struggle is {Alzheimer's} Caregivers

Caregivers.

One word, super powerful and super overlooked.

Being a caregiver in any situation is hard.

A parent with a sick child, a significant other and their spouse fighting cancer, a child of a parent with dementia.  I didn't think "great ease" when I envisioned any of those circumstances.

We will certainly be put in places in this life that are hard as, there's no polite way to put it, hard as hell.

Watching the person who made you, raised you, prayed for you, stood by you melt away....memory by memory....not the easiest task you'll have to endure.

You can admit it.

It is difficult.
It is nerve racking.
It is teeth grinding.
It is blow after blow to your soul.

I have the utmost respect for caregivers of Alzheimer's patients.  That job is grueling and depressing.  Here is someone who spent their life caring for you and worrying over you and now they mistake you for someone else. It starts as an, "I know you aren't that person," and turns into you are anyone but who you really are.

Then they become people who are unreasonable.  They begin to go backwards, mentally speaking, to a person who resembles an 7 year old.  They say something that isn't right, you try to correct it and the world explodes.

Anger, resentment, an ill word.

They hit you, they try to bite you, and it hurts deep inside.

They aren't the person you knew and will never be that person again.



Realizing how devastating it is for family caregivers means we need to extend help and compassion as much as we possibly can.  They need breaks.  They need reassurance.  They need reality when reality is slipping.

Caring for someone with Alzheimer's is a draining job.

Respite services are available in most areas.  A person who is spending each day caring for a person needs a break just as much as any other working person.  If families choose to care for their loved on on their own, it is key that they make schedule so that no one person is left carrying the weight of the job alone.  Making an executive decision on who, what, when and there is critical.  Leaving this job to one person is not a smart choice.

Local hospitals, Hospice services, and you county health department may be able to assist in finding respite care for your loved one.  It is a fabulous idea to get to know these departments/agencies as they can also assist you in other educational and helpful opportunities about caring for and assisting with the loved one battling the disease.

Blessed (Re)Assurance

Have you been through this situation?  Caring for a loved one with dementia/Alzheimer's?  Then you play a critical role in offering reassurance to those who are doing the same job now.

You know how heartbreaking it is to care for someone in this capacity.  You can be such a beacon of light to those who are now in the shoes you were once in.

Even if you have no clue what the disease is all about you can still be that person that puts a little color in a grey day.  Take time to talk with the caregiver.  Let them sound off and let them cry.  Let them know they are doing a great job and offer them mental and emotional support.

A note of thinking of them, a small gift of appreciation, a telephone call just because.....all fabulous ways to let them know you are thinking of them and they can do this!

When reality slips

There are times where family caregivers will need a dose of reality to remind them that they can only do so much in their capacity of care giving.  No, we're not the professionals and really we shouldn't try to preach to anyone.

There will come a day when the care handled by family caregivers needs to be given over to professionals in the area of dementia and Alzheimer's Care.  The job will seem be too difficult for the son, daughter, and spouse.

When this transition starts to show itself this is when caregivers need the most support and positivity we can muster.  This is a scary time and a time of total frailty for the caregivers.  Ideas of "giving up" and "not being good enough"  and fears of "letting them down" will creep around every corner.

This is the time when we need to be the strongest of friends.  This is when we don those pom poms and cheer on the caregivers as they make a decision that is both hard but correct all at the same time.

The reality that:  Care need to be given by someone who is separate from the subjectivity of caring for a person who is in the final stages of the disease.

This is a hard transition.

It is important that we remind the family-caregivers that there is nothing wrong with placement into a skilled care facility.  If it can be afforded it can be the best possible gift they can give their loved one.  All too often the idea of a skilled nursing facility has stigma attached to it. They are labled as a place where the elderly are dropped and forgotten.  But it is a stigma and not the truth in every case.

There comes a time when you do your research and find the best fit for your mother or father.  They spend their whole life saving for proper care and instilling in you the right thing to do.  Do not falter them by limiting the care they are offered at such a devastating time in the aging process.

But I want to keep them home....

Home can become the most dangerous place for an Alzheimer's patient.  We think of comfort and stability when we think of our homes but when we're cognitively compromised home can be a danger trap.  One fall, one wandering event, one ingestion of something that shouldn't have been swallowed, one stove turned on and left, one microwave with nails and bolts in it.....can be events that could have been prevented that make a lasting change.

Caregivers need reassurance and love through the entire process of diagnosis to the time to transition to a new caregiver setting.

As a family of friends we have a job to be respectful and compassionate to those caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's Disease.  I dare you to do something generous today, tomorrow or next week for someone in the capacity of caregiver.

Give it.  Do it.

#endalz

Remember this Alzheimer's Association has a 24 hour help line for caregivers who need to ask questions, vent, cry, and just know they aren't alone.  1-800-272-3900

Find local Alzheimer's Caregivers Groups and Help Services by locating your closest group by clicking here.

Facts, figures and highlights are all collected from The Alzheimer's Association.

The Struggle is {Alzheimer's} Ladies

Well hello ladies.

The majority of blog readers are female.    The majority of my readers are female. 

I appreciate you so much I'm here to scare the pee turkey out of you.  

Pee turkey - totally southern slang there.

It means piss.



Alzheimer's likes women.

Damned womanizer.

Women make up 2/3 of the US population living with Alzheimer's Disease.



When polled, women said the one disease they feared getting the most?  Alzheimer's.

At age 65 more than 1 in 6 women run the risk of developing Alz for the remainder of their lives.  For the boys its 1 in 11.



Ladies, you are more likely to develop Alz than breast cancer once you enter your 60's.

Girls, you are the caregivers the majority of the time.  Here's the scary part, who will care for us?

Alzheimer's is a dirty womanizer.

I do not care to lose my memories, education, and who I am to this dreadful disease.

Hey women, get up and let's get the funding to put this grotesque murderer away for good.

Interested in joining me in raising money for Alzheimer's Research?  Email me, tweet me, FB me today.  More info to come if I can get my team built!  No, you don't have to be local!


***Facts & Figures from www.alz.org***

Demented Thursday

This past weekend I took the grandma to the Walmart.  If you are of a certain age you don't refer to stores as just their names but by adding "the" in front of it.  Example?  We went to The Food Lion.  We went to The Target.  

If you live in a place like I do then Walmart on Sundays is like holy ground as everyone and their twenty-five family members hit the place up.  I noticed from buggies packed to the brim most folks were there for food and cleaning products.

Does my grandma technically need to "grocery" shop?  No.  She has a well stocked freezer with enough food for about oh I don't know one armageddon to suffice off of.  However, certain things do age quickly (I.e. milk, bread, eggs) and therefore must be purchased regularly.

Our trip started off on the wrong foot.  She couldn't find her grocery money.  We searched endlessly for the money but couldn't find it anywhere.  Dementia and Alzheimer's patients tend to take on squirrel tendencies and hide things away from themselves and every other person, place or thing on the planet.  I had to make a call to my uncle to assist in the great hunt for the money.  She doesn't keep money on her so I thought perhaps someone else had held it for her.  He came and saved the day.  

Then we found her money.

Wrapped in trash.

I'm so not kidding you.

Deep breath.

Off to Walmart we go.  Walmart is a horrible place for a person who is easily confused, agitated, and lost.  To me, taking her to Walmart, is like taking a blind mouse to an endless maze.  There's going to be bumps and mass confusion.  Why couldn't we have went to a real grocery store?  You know the ones a quarter of the size of a mega center?  Here's why:  she loves some Walmart.

Her list for this trip:

Sandwich meat

Bread

Cereal

I get the meat and bread but the cereal had me puzzled.  My mom told me that my grandma stockpiles the stuff.  Oh well....go with it.

We came out of the store with:

Bananas

Lettuce

Frozen pizza

Cheerwine

Little Debbies

Sandwich meat

Bread

Cereal x2

Canned peaches

Tomatoes

Grocery shopping with her was like grocery shopping with a five year old.  We didn't look at prices or compare anything - if it looked good by God we bought it.  The Cheerwine totally threw me for a loop.

"Look at that it's Cheerwine!  I haven't had one of those in years!"  (Could be true.)

"Well let's get you some, Mom-o."

"Yeah let's get it."  (Very excited)

Then she saw the Little Debbies -

"These look good.  They have apples in them."

"I haven't had those before."

"Well, I'm getting them and I'll tell you if they are good."

"Yeah you can share one with me."

"No.  You can have your own."

I guess she told me.

About half way through the adventure she forgot me (again).  We were looking at baby clothes and she asked about "my people" again.  (I'm still trying to figure out what tribe I should say I am from).  She wanted to know if anyone in my family sewed.  She also wanted to know what my family did for a living.  Part of me really wished to have fun with it but I answered honestly.  Next time I'll just smile and make up some good stuff that she can get a kick out of and share with her friend Janice.

This time out I also noticed something new.  My grandma has a magnet towards babies.  In 2013 moms do not trust anyone coming up to their kids in any store.  It doens't matter how old you are.  I am no different if we're being totally honest.  

We saw a baby and immediately my grandma went over and started talking to it.  I made a bee line to her tried to divert her attention as the mother became infuriated.  I apologized and we moved forward.  Then at the check out another baby caught her attention.  The mother was very sweet and talked to my grandma as she awaited the cashier to finish.  Times like these make you thankful for kind people.

The sad reality that more of the every day is silently slipping away was felt at the checkout counter.  She couldn't count her money out to pay.  I stepped in to help but the cashier (who I will get her name and write a note to thank her for her pure kindness) handed her half the money she gave her back and kept her conversation soft and rolling with her.  

As we walked to the car I had this thought:  87 years of education, life experience, memories all turning into white space.

Think on that folks.

#EndAlz

Demented Thursday: Who are you?

I haven't written a Demented Thursday post in what seems to be ages.  I had to leave it be for a while.  Give myself a break on documenting and commenting and sharing my experiences with my grandmother.

Today I'm going back for a little while to discuss the evil that is Alzheimer's Disease.

This past Friday I decided to load up my grandma's mini van and take her out with us for our Friday errands. She needed to sign a document in town and I thought why not make a day out of it.  I know the struggle of having your two kids with you and then throwing in someone who is totally your elder but also your third child when you're taking them with you.  I prepped myself - remain calm, listen as if its the first time she's said everything you know she's going to say, just smile.

It started out just fine.  She was actually ready fifteen minutes ahead of schedule (and that rarely used to happen).  She was cheery.  The sun was shining and summer had returned to our hometown and her personality.  We made our first stop.  The surveyor's office.  She needed to sign a document.

She can write.  However, it took her five minutes to write her name (it was supposed to be a signature but was more of block print) I asked quietly if that was ok and he shook his head yes.  Then she made a connection with him.  She could link him to my uncle.  Woo hoo take that brain disease!  And then she was asking if he was married and then like a school girl she had that flirty giggle and started complimenting him.  We all smiled, it was funny.  He knew she was old and probably "not hitting on all four cylinders" and we let it go.

When I walked in that office I swear my grandma was by my side.  When I walked out that different person who looks like her was walking with me.

We drove down the road, chatting.  

I made a stop and got back in the car all within five minutes.

We drove a little farther and the question that anyone with a loved one who has Alz/Dem said to me:

Who are you?

Not psycho babble who are you but a serious who the hell are you.

Who am I?  Did she really just ask me that?  Who am I?

I'm Melissa's daughter.

To which she said, "I have a daughter named Melissa"

And I said, "Yes, that's who I am talking about."

Silence.

"Where does your mama work? Who are your people?"

Silence on my end.  I could so run left field - start talking like Tarzan all that jazz - but I didn't.  She was seriously asking me and I needed to seriously answer her.

"She works at the school.  You are my people.  Edd was my grandpa.  Edwin is my uncle.  You are my grandma."

Silence on her end.

"Does your mother know my daughter?"

A smile on my face:  "Dear God I hope so or there could be some problems!"

She laughed....clueless.

I know I'm just a grandkid and the knife-to-the-gut-on-that-question now coming at me couldn't be as hard as it will be when it is her own children she cannot place.  

We need a cure for Alzheimer's.  I don't want my children to one day be taking care of me like you do a toddler and me to stare at them like they are the newest family to move in the neighborhood.  It isn't fair, it isn't right, it has to end.  Support the people in your community who are taking care of loved ones who are right before them but so far away.  Support the fight and crusade for science to find the anecdote.  Pray to God that He allows this disease to be a thing of the past in good time.

I know my grandmother won't have that miraculous cure in her future.  She's close to ninety years old now.  However, we should be hell bent against it being a diagnosis for our future generations.

Like 3 Blogs in 1 whoa!

4.26.13

Let's play ketchup!

Let me ketch u up!  (That is five year old humor right there)

My five year old is headed to the beach in about an hour.  I am so jealous. 

What are you looking forward to this weekend?  I'm looking forward to Body Flow tomorrow morning at the YMCA.  This will be my second class - I hope to not look quite as goofy this time around.  I'd love to have you join me - even if just to try!  Contact me privately if you're interested.

I am also looking forward to my husband NOT working this weekend!  We're planning on going to a few things around the area since we'll just have one punkin! 

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TV

Real Housewives of Orange County - the originals and my favorites by far - so I finally got around to watching the latest episode.  I made comments on the regular girls and I stated I'd make some comments on Lydia.

Two words - AIR HEAD.  That is just the vibe I feel like that stick of human is.  She's thirty-ish and I swear I thought she was 16 (I get that a lot too, not hating on the good aging).  The way she talks, the bad hair.....oh man I can tell I'm not falling in love with this girl.

So far I do not have a favorite on RHWOC.  I guess my affinity for no drama makes me think - eeek don't like them.  So why can I not miss a show?

What's your reality sugar loaded addiction?  Share it!

This is the time of year that we really watch very little television because it is so nice out!  It is also "day light" a bit longer which is awesome!  But we do DVR some things such as - Farm Kings!

I stumbled upon Farm Kings over the holidays.  GAC was running a marathon of the first season.  I wasn't quite sure what was going on on my screen.  My first assumption:  a load of weed smoking hippies trying to grow something other than grass.

Remember what you learned about assuming? 

I take that title of a$$!  I fell in love with the show.  As is usual - when I fall in love with a reality show I start picking up on the staging and script by the next season.  Still with Farm Kings I feel like the majority is pretty much daily life for these ten kids plus mom. 

If you haven't checked it out you should.  This family is trying to get their small farming venture up and running.  They run a cafe and bakery using the goods off their crop/livestock farming attempt.  The oldest brother Joe is in charge of everything.  The other two oldest Pete and Tim are pretty fun to watch.  I enjoyed explaining dread locks to my five year old last night - she still doesn't get it. 

You end up pulling for this family to make it.  The mom is pretty hot for a sixty-two year old mother of ten that range in ages from 12-30 (I believe I got that right).  And the brothers are pretty smokin' hot as well.....just look for the tag picture of the three to four most ripped - holy moly boys come play with my chickens any day.

In summary - you will laugh, cry, ask whaaaaat?, and enjoy the King family.

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The kitchen.

I am happy to announce that due my dentist only deciding to fix one tooth yesterday - a whopping 10 minutes in the chair woo hoo - I was able to go to Kitchen Vision and get started on the basics of the design of my kitchen!

(I am now doing this happy dance that you should thank the Lord you cannot see)

I have decided on (with the help of Jim) a painted maple shaker style cabinet.  We're looking at granite counter tops.  Ok my husband is all for granite countertops.  I'm still up in the air.  I see too many good options for me.

So how did we come about making the cabinet decision?  Simple.  The house is a 1930's Cape Cod style home - flat front with a side porch on a full basement.  If we go too modern we lose the lure that is (now considered) antique - if we go too rustic then I just won't be happy.  The house was constructed in a period of simplicity and basic necessity (thus marble is not a good choice to go along with the feel of a depression era house but neither is particle board).  So when you look at cabinet options the Wolf Dartmouth Shaker style is perfect!

Photo courtesy of Wolf Cabinets

I had decided white would be a good option but part of me is tinkering with the idea of the darker option.  This dilemma will ease as soon as I put all my samples together in the next week or so.

The flooring is also nearing finalization.  There is an AWESOME product on the market for all you tile lovers.  If you like tile but you like the ease of laminate then guess what?  They got together made a baby of sorts.  Got to love some flooring procreation.  I am in love with Allure Plank Flooring!  I know that we will be choosing to use Ceramique Dusk.  The color is perfect for heavy traffic - it won't show every single spill and print - so if I miss a day of mopping I'll not feel so terrible!  (Come to think of it, when you have new flooring you seem to NEVER miss a day of cleaning that new floor...irony.)

I have been staring down a sample from Allure Flooring (sold at Home Depot) but my heart of hearts is saying to find another company to go with.  So readers have you used Allure Flooring before?  I have heard some bad and since I'm not familiar with their name (as we are of Armstrong) I am looking outside the big box walls and asking real people!

We have also decided that yes, Virginia we do want an island.  Man, this kitchen is really taking new shape....in my mind!

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Demented Thursday.

Let me go ahead and admit that it was quite odd yesterday when I didn't sit down to write a Demented Thursday blog.  I knew that I would not be escorting my grandma to the beauty shop to get her weekly wash and set completed.  I had a dental appointment that had been on the books since the start of the month.

It turns out my grandma didn't make it to the appointment either.  Instead she sat in a bed at the Baptist Hospital. 

What's to blame?  Dementia/Alzheimers.

You know as I was driving home from my errands it hit me.  My grandma who is 85 (let the record show....yesterday she was shocked to find out she was that old) has a disease that makes her currently more like 12.

Twelve is one of those critical ages of growing up.  You're not a little kid anymore - it is true.  If need be you can take care of the majority of your needs.  Think about it - at 12 most kids can fix something to eat (cereal, sandwich, pizza, etc), groom and bathe, know the principles of right and wrong, and pretty much set up a decent schedule for themselves.  With all that being said - a twelve year old still requires adult supervision and correction when things are a little hazy or too far left field (no, you cannot empty your piggy bank to buy a Bieber ticket or Bieber weed whatever the kid is selling now).  A twelve year old still needs an adult to get from point A to point B (or a school bus).  A twelve year old also needs an adult to help them understand school work, life, and current events.  They need an adult to make sure they get proper medical care and to know when a band aid is the perfect fix and when it is time to get some stitches.  Tweens need friends to talk to because its key to be able to communicate with your peers.  Tweens need reminders of the "mundane" because they are easily distracted by what is flashy, shiny, and new.

My grandma is a tween.  If there is anything difficult it is realizing that the woman who took care of you while you were a tween and your parents were working is now reverting back to that point.  It is sad and somewhat degrading. 

I'm learning a lot through this battle against the morph of brain matter into a swiss cheese like pattern.  I'm learning that upon diagnosis it is so important for family to sit down and map out a good strong plan of care for their loved one.  This means you sit down at the table and you make a real plan - you don't wait until an overdose of medication or a fall or a comment where grandma shows she's really out there picking daisies in the bottom of the 7th with bases loaded.  You have to be prepared and you have to accept that what is happening IS happening and you cannot play the whole out of site out of mind game with a disease that eats away years of work, education, and mastering skills. 

Today she is doing better.  We'll see what tomorrow holds.

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I have a dilemma - I cannot find a purse I like.  Just felt the need to share.  I used to be the bag lady and now I am so picky I cannot settle on a freaking pocketbook.  I'm leaning towards an envelope purse.  They are adorable!  But really how functional are they?

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Have a terrific weekend - be fun, be random and make three memories -


Brownie

Share it babies!

Demented Thursday

4.18.13

I am worn out.

No.

I am worn SLAP out.

I have three reasons for my afternoon lethargy:

1.  Allergies
2.  A 7.75 month old
3.  My grandma

Without further ado....here's the blog post for today.

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I never really battled seasonal allergies until I was around 19 years old.  It hit at the end of the summer when the farmers were out for one last big ole hoorah before the cooler temps would roll in.  I would have the constant running nose and an occasional cough. 

Fast forward a few years to 2013 and my allergies have taken me hostage.  I'm taking two Claritins a day and still feeling like a ragged out weed.

This is why my allergies flared up - I had some down time yesterday and I spent it in that chair, sipping that drink, reading those magazines!

All yesterday I had the text book allergy induced sore throat.  Then the fun allergy induced phlegm.  Oh lets not stop the fun there!  Around midnight I stumbled downstairs in search of anything to wet my whistle and anything to kill the raw throat and breathing passages that the golden sprinkles from the trees, grasses and whatever the hell else grows emits.

The reality of this allergy issue/season is I know I cannot be alone in this fight.  If I was Claritin, Zyrtec, Allegra, Benadryl, Alavert, etc would all be so incredibly expensive that I would have to curl into the fetal position and die.

So what can we do to help ourselves in allergy season?

1.  Eat oranges, apples, and onions.  They all have this little ditty called quercetin in them that helps the body from reacting to pollen.

2.  Green tea helps block the formation of histamines thanks to catechin.

3.  Greek Yogurt has probiotics and they can help soothe those allergy symptoms (I have a cup a day....still haven't seen any help yet.)

4.  Salmon and its awesome Omega 3's work as an antiinflammatory.

5.  Turmeric - see salmon.  But don't go easy on the turmeric - go extra liberal with it to get the benefit.

I will probably end up taking two Benadryl and sleeping really hard and really deep and then spending the next day wondering I feel so hung over.....but maybe I won't be sneezing and downing anything in site to ease my throat!

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Well if it is Thursday then it is the day to blog about our outing with grandma.  Every week I get a different grandma.  She looks the same but she's a different character each week.  It is fun but it is also annoying.

One of our largests tasks is picking a lunch spot.  I try to cater to her failing taste buds.  She doesn't remember any restaurants what-so-ever so I have to give her options.  Last week she loved Wendy's.  Wendy's was the next best thing to K&W for her.  She delighted in her meal and time there.  I was pleased because it is my favorite fast food restaurant and it is FAST - so we all have a nice time and the baby remains calm. 

I offered up going to Wendy's again.  Her response:

"I've never been there."

I gripped the steering wheel.  I could take advantage of this Dory fish beside me and say - "Well lets go try it out!"  I could have made it an adventure and somewhere in the time spent sitting at the booth she would have said something like - oh I have been here! 

But I didn't.

I asked what type of food she would like to eat. 

"I don't know."

So I gave her options.  "We can get a burger, chicken, veggies, pizza, steak, seafood, you name it."

The little one in the back screamed:  "PIZZA!"

The little old one beside me said, "We can eat pizza and I can get something else."

It was clear she did not want pizza.  I tried to get her agree to getting something else but since the little one had spoken.....

We went to Pizza Hut.  I had a baby with a dirty diaper, a grandma with a patchy brain, and a five year old who thinks she's 15.  You don't know how amazing a beer sounds (or a shot of whiskey) when that is your company.  I asked my grandma to ask for a table for three and a high chair.

I changed the baby.....not an easy task now.  I came out of the bathroom and YES PRAISE GOD they were seated and sipping their drinks.

I sat down and my grandma said, "What will (baby boy) want to drink?"

<Oh God here we go again she's going to be mad because she doesn't understand he eats babyfood and drinks milk and cannot devour a pizza and drink a tea>

We moved forward to what to order....she couldn't make up her mind.  She wasn't reading a menu, she wasn't looking at other tables, then she said - order for me.  I knew what she liked from there - personal pan pizza - supreme.  Do-able.  I ordered three of them. 

Ten minutes went by.  The baby is screaming as I try to entice him with his food.  The other kid is watching cartoons on the corner television.  The grandma perks up and says, "I know what I'll have!  Salad and a piece of pizza!"

My brain clicked on - finally.  She's your grandma who is now your extra five year old, get with it.

"I'm sorry Mom-o but you cannot get that.  I already ordered you a pizza like you like and I know they are baking it now.  It is too late to change our order.  We can add a salad if you'd like."

She sighed and said, "This is all new to me.  I'm sorry next time I'll know faster."

Guess what....this is all new to me too.

I imagine her experiences now are a lot like an immigrant's here.  You think you know something - maybe a tiny bit of something and it turns out you really don't.  You second guess everything.  The world is new and for all you know it is out to get you. 

Yes, this is all new to me too.

Post lunch I had to make a lovely Walmart run. (Oh how I wish Target was a bit closer!)  I decided to let her lead the way.  We walked through their flowers in the garden center.  $2.38 was too expensive for any plant, they shouldn't be any more than a nickle.  (I agree). 

My grandma hoards things.  If you ask the main things she hoards are:  cereal and lotion.  By God you'll never go hungry or have dry skin in her home.  I get the cereal - it is easy and rarely changes.  I didn't get the lotion until today.

Her arms are covered in spots.  Call them what you wish - liver spots, sun spots. age spots, medicine spots, etc.  She has several large brown spots and bruises and skin tears on her arms.  Those arms are over 85 years old.  Wouldn't you expect some wear and tear?  She wants lotion to cover the spots.  And if she can find the right one - the spots will be gone.

I stood with her and looked at all the lotions.  I picked up a few I had interest in and read them and reshelved them.  Then I looked at her and said, "You know, lotion can't get rid of those spots.  The only person who notices them is you.  Be proud of your spots."   Obviously, not what she wanted to hear...."Well I read there are spot creams that take them away."

Thanks Clinique.  Thanks a bunch.

As we walked parade speed through the store she once again told me she hadn't been in that store in many years (two weeks maximum).  I told her I wished I could say the same.

As we checked out - her another bottle of magic potion lotion and a little outfit for the baby (because she never buys him anything because he's never with her) and my load of baby crap - she literally beamed.

When we got to her house - "Oh I had so much fun just messing around today."

#EndAlz
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My little diva gets her dance recital garb tonight.  I will have the baby in tow.  Considering his terrible teething spell I am not looking forward to this at all.

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Be good to your brain, it can leave you at any given second-


Brownie

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