well, I came and went; so this might turn out to be a proper blog for once.
The aforementioned Fleur & co. did get to go to Colorado. In the end we ended up with Fleur, Violet (a big fan of IHOP); and about 10 other companions, including the ever-necessary dragon-rabbit car assistants. The Rabbit (Fresno) is for keeping track of things like filling the (rental) car gas tank before returning to the airport and other regulatory concerns; the Dragon (Smoke) is for blowing folk off the road who are annoying, or just cursing them. (His latest curse: your car will develop an annoying rattle that no one can find until three weeks after you sell it to your mother in law, at which point it will turn out to be something catastrophically expensive to repair. Don't mess with the Dragon. Ever.)
jocularity aside, for the nonce, dealing with my addled, bitchy, paranoid, nasty, scared, disoriented mom was no picnic, and isn't abating that much. we spent the better part of two weeks refitting her 'apartment' to wheelchair specs; and meeting for hours on end with PT, OT, Speech therapists, nursing aids, her social worker, etc., all in an effort to sustain her semblance of independence. The woman has not been told what to do since she was 3, and takes advice, confinement badly, very badly. I always thought my scofflaw nature came from my rebel dad; it turns out that some of it is also from my mom. She is supposed to wait for a nurse to help her out of a chair; she refuses to wait and gets up on her own--and then hits the floor. To alert them to her impulses, she has to sit on a pad that beeps when she gets up; she figured out that her three bibles and a thermos weighs enough to fool the pad! every nurse i talked to said "your mom is crafty!" (and "your mom is stubborn") watching, waiting for her to take the full turn into twilight consciousness wherein she no longer struggles against the tide is exhausting. I don't really resent repeating myself to her three, four, seven times a day, but I do worry about how long the nursing staff will tolerate it. She has already been given one notice that if she doesn't behave they're gonna throw her out. That will be a right mess for sure! My guess is that she will indeed get herself thrown out in hopes of living with my sister--who has NO desire to deal with her.
outside of days and days in the nursing home we did get to go hiking in the high hills of Colorado - Emerald Lake, Finch Lake, Ouzel Lake, Gem Lake, and Bierstadt. some trails were dry, but many still had 4 FEET of snow on them! Hiking on a hot day with the coolth of the snow radiating into the air with its winter-smells mingling with the late-spring aroma of the mountains is just the best. We mostly had fun; my wife and I certainly had a ton of fun; and we met a young woman from LA who I told should be on this site--whether as a model or a member, we'll see. We also managed to play some mini-golf, or "putt-putt" as we used to call it. ... and I found a desk -- a solid oak roll-top desk! the store wanted to get rid of it so they eventually sold it to me for 35% of the asking price (and this was not in Estes where everything starts out overpriced to begin with)! so that's cool!
oops--just got a phone which I must answer -- more later! (probably a bit more than later)
The aforementioned Fleur & co. did get to go to Colorado. In the end we ended up with Fleur, Violet (a big fan of IHOP); and about 10 other companions, including the ever-necessary dragon-rabbit car assistants. The Rabbit (Fresno) is for keeping track of things like filling the (rental) car gas tank before returning to the airport and other regulatory concerns; the Dragon (Smoke) is for blowing folk off the road who are annoying, or just cursing them. (His latest curse: your car will develop an annoying rattle that no one can find until three weeks after you sell it to your mother in law, at which point it will turn out to be something catastrophically expensive to repair. Don't mess with the Dragon. Ever.)
jocularity aside, for the nonce, dealing with my addled, bitchy, paranoid, nasty, scared, disoriented mom was no picnic, and isn't abating that much. we spent the better part of two weeks refitting her 'apartment' to wheelchair specs; and meeting for hours on end with PT, OT, Speech therapists, nursing aids, her social worker, etc., all in an effort to sustain her semblance of independence. The woman has not been told what to do since she was 3, and takes advice, confinement badly, very badly. I always thought my scofflaw nature came from my rebel dad; it turns out that some of it is also from my mom. She is supposed to wait for a nurse to help her out of a chair; she refuses to wait and gets up on her own--and then hits the floor. To alert them to her impulses, she has to sit on a pad that beeps when she gets up; she figured out that her three bibles and a thermos weighs enough to fool the pad! every nurse i talked to said "your mom is crafty!" (and "your mom is stubborn") watching, waiting for her to take the full turn into twilight consciousness wherein she no longer struggles against the tide is exhausting. I don't really resent repeating myself to her three, four, seven times a day, but I do worry about how long the nursing staff will tolerate it. She has already been given one notice that if she doesn't behave they're gonna throw her out. That will be a right mess for sure! My guess is that she will indeed get herself thrown out in hopes of living with my sister--who has NO desire to deal with her.
outside of days and days in the nursing home we did get to go hiking in the high hills of Colorado - Emerald Lake, Finch Lake, Ouzel Lake, Gem Lake, and Bierstadt. some trails were dry, but many still had 4 FEET of snow on them! Hiking on a hot day with the coolth of the snow radiating into the air with its winter-smells mingling with the late-spring aroma of the mountains is just the best. We mostly had fun; my wife and I certainly had a ton of fun; and we met a young woman from LA who I told should be on this site--whether as a model or a member, we'll see. We also managed to play some mini-golf, or "putt-putt" as we used to call it. ... and I found a desk -- a solid oak roll-top desk! the store wanted to get rid of it so they eventually sold it to me for 35% of the asking price (and this was not in Estes where everything starts out overpriced to begin with)! so that's cool!
oops--just got a phone which I must answer -- more later! (probably a bit more than later)
VIEW 12 of 12 COMMENTS
kas:
i like your dog 
kas:
those are some HUGE cats!