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Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
A Little of This, A Little of That - Something for Everyone :)
God is rich in blessings toward me! He never fails me, never leaves me, always sustains me, and always inspires me to do ever-greater things for His Kingdom!
Topic #1 -
Pete & I went camping this past weekend with some people from our church. We were offered a camper to borrow/sleep in which we gratefully accepted. The trip itself was beyond wonderful (I will be posting some photos at the RoscoFMC Facebook page later today.), the weather was absolutely perfect, the fall colors were magnificent, and the fellowship was stupendous! However, I wanted to write about camping in general. It is the first time that Pete and I had camped together, and he really really loved it! I enjoyed getting away with him the most; even though it was a heck of a lot of work getting ready, it was worth it for the time we spent together but mostly for the new experience and the new memories we made together. He's been looking at camping equipment websites online since we got home :). While we won't be able to afford a camper, we've been talking about getting a 2nd vehicle next year. Now we're thinking it might be a full-sized van, or something similar, something we can sleep in. And a screen house for daytime outdoor "living". Something to think about, and dream about, and talk about together, for 2012...
Topic #2 -
I work for a pest control company on a seasonal basis, and have since 2001. During their busy season (April-Oct) I answer their phones during business hours and set the appointments for the technicians. I LOVE my job, and always feel a void during the months I'm not working. Right around February I start looking forward to getting back to it every year. Well, I'm excited to say that this year they have decided to use my services on a part-time, as-needed basis through the winter! I am thrilled! Even though I won't be working a whole lot, especially in the coldest parts of the winter, I will still get to do what I love to do :). The extra $ will be nice but mostly I'm just happy I'll get to work. And, I just ordered a brand-new fancy headset :). My old one was inexpensive and did well for several years, but now some of the wires are exposed and starting to fray, so it's time to get a really nice one with stereo sound (my netbook has Dolby in the earphone jack!) and a noise-limiting mic. I have it on order from Amazon.com and it will be here tomorrow - stoked!
Topic #3 -
I'm just loving being a grandma to my little grandson (now 2-1/2) Leelan, and am looking forward to having more time to spend with him this winter too. My daughter, working to make a better life for her son and herself, is now working every day at a bank as a teller - a very nice step up from her last 4 years at her first job at Burger King! She's still working part-time at BK as well, for financial reasons, and is also going to college part-time; I am SO PROUD of my girl! (I want to say here that Casey spends every spare minute with her son, he is her top priority, she sacrifices time with friends and her social life for his sake since every minute she can spend with him is more important to her than anything/anyone else...he is her world!) Casey's doing what she feels she needs to do to make a good career and provide future stability for them, and this is just temporary. But she needs lots of babysitting support, which her dad, "Big Grampa" (he's very tall!) and I help with as much as we can. Through the winter I'm excited about spending a lot more time with Leelan too! She is doing an AMAZING job with raising him, and both Big Grampa and I love spending time with him, helping her, and being there for them both...so I'm really looking forward to spending time with Leelan and, hopefully, more time with his mom!
Topic #3 -
I haven't spoken much about my mom lately. Her LBD is progressing, her memory is worse, she is more and more dependent on the routine of the nursing home for her sense of security and wants to spend less and less time away...but her hallucinations, paranoia, delusions, and behaviors are being very well-managed with an ideal cocktail of carefully chosen meds, and her personality is intact. I still bring her home or take her out on Sundays, although she doesn't like spending time away and wants to go back sooner and sooner. In the past she's been happy to spend a whole day - up to 8 hours - with us, and would only start asking to go back at dusk. Through this summer, though, she wants to go back sooner and sooner, and many days after only a couple of hours...and taking her out more than once a week also causes her to become anxious to the point that she doesn't enjoy it. Because she doesn't recall the things we do together when she's out with me anymore, I'm now concentrating on giving her beautiful moments. She can only live in the moment, once it is gone, it is out of her memory. And she can't look forward to anything because she doesn't remember a future event after she's been told about it. So she lives in the moment, and I try to make each of those moments count. I think Leelan and I will be spending more time with her in her own environment this winter, as I'll be working less. But she seems happy, and is very loving, her sense of humor is still there and she makes very very funny and clever jokes that crack us all up. For now, even with LBD, she is in a good place.
Topic #4 -
A good place. My mom lives in a small (61 bed) nursing home about a mile from my house. I'm there in 4 minutes. So many people talk about nursing homes as if they were awful horrible dungeons - and maybe some of them are. But not all are like that. I know for a FACT that without the wonderful care, the attention, the one-on-one work, and the love that my mom gets at King's, she would be so much worse off than she is today. NO WAY could I have provided for her even 1/10th of what they have, and I am so grateful for all they've done. And it is home to her, and she has friends that she can spend time with every day, and has even had a couple of romantic interludes with other residents that were good for her well-being! To hear all nursing homes lumped together as hell-on-earth, or to hear exhausted, stressed caregivers struggling to meet even the minimum needs of their loved ones, all because "I promised him I'd never put him in a nursing home" - it is heart-breaking! There ARE good ones out there, and they are trained to deal with the issues our loved ones are facing, round-the-clock, and assist them in every way. They CAN give our loved ones so much more than many of us are able to do - we are just one person, they are a team who can meet nearly every need that our loved ones have. Speaking for myself, I know I couldn't have provided that. And I know that my mom would be so much worse off if not for the professional care, specifically designed for her needs, that she has received. I wouldn't have deprived her of that for anything! Don't tell me that nursing homes are last-resort options, akin to deserting a loved one or taking the easy way out at the expense of their health or well-being. Many times caregivers sacrifice everything out of misplaced guilt, and still can't help their loved one as much as the professionals can. Yeah, some nursing homes really suck. But don't assume that they all do. Some are also lifesavers - for our loved ones AND for us.
Topic #5 -
Pete and I watch an old 26" TV with a pretty fuzzy picture. His eyesight (cataracts, glaucoma, and double vision on one eye) is declining to the point that he can't see it very well and can't read the menus or guide without walking across the room to get up close. Anything written on the screen as part of a movie or show is lost to him. (He rarely bothers to turn it on anymore, even for shows that he enjoys.) So we have been looking at the flat-screen TVs at Walmart. (We won't necessarily buy from Walmart, but they have a good selection to look at.) He can stand 20' back from them and be able to read the writing on the screen, they are so clear. We have decided that our Christmas gift for ourselves this year will be a new TV that he can actually watch. Because I have Amazon Prime I would like one that will get on the internet and let us watch content through there. Price will be a factor of course (I've already started tucking away a few extra dollars where I can), but if we're going to do this we want to do it right, and get the best that we can afford. We have a small living room, so 32" is what we are looking at for both price and practicality. If you have any suggestions or recommendations I would love to hear them...thanks! :)
That about wraps up what's been on my mind...if you're still with me, thanks :).
Topic #1 -
Pete & I went camping this past weekend with some people from our church. We were offered a camper to borrow/sleep in which we gratefully accepted. The trip itself was beyond wonderful (I will be posting some photos at the RoscoFMC Facebook page later today.), the weather was absolutely perfect, the fall colors were magnificent, and the fellowship was stupendous! However, I wanted to write about camping in general. It is the first time that Pete and I had camped together, and he really really loved it! I enjoyed getting away with him the most; even though it was a heck of a lot of work getting ready, it was worth it for the time we spent together but mostly for the new experience and the new memories we made together. He's been looking at camping equipment websites online since we got home :). While we won't be able to afford a camper, we've been talking about getting a 2nd vehicle next year. Now we're thinking it might be a full-sized van, or something similar, something we can sleep in. And a screen house for daytime outdoor "living". Something to think about, and dream about, and talk about together, for 2012...
Topic #2 -
I work for a pest control company on a seasonal basis, and have since 2001. During their busy season (April-Oct) I answer their phones during business hours and set the appointments for the technicians. I LOVE my job, and always feel a void during the months I'm not working. Right around February I start looking forward to getting back to it every year. Well, I'm excited to say that this year they have decided to use my services on a part-time, as-needed basis through the winter! I am thrilled! Even though I won't be working a whole lot, especially in the coldest parts of the winter, I will still get to do what I love to do :). The extra $ will be nice but mostly I'm just happy I'll get to work. And, I just ordered a brand-new fancy headset :). My old one was inexpensive and did well for several years, but now some of the wires are exposed and starting to fray, so it's time to get a really nice one with stereo sound (my netbook has Dolby in the earphone jack!) and a noise-limiting mic. I have it on order from Amazon.com and it will be here tomorrow - stoked!
Topic #3 -
I'm just loving being a grandma to my little grandson (now 2-1/2) Leelan, and am looking forward to having more time to spend with him this winter too. My daughter, working to make a better life for her son and herself, is now working every day at a bank as a teller - a very nice step up from her last 4 years at her first job at Burger King! She's still working part-time at BK as well, for financial reasons, and is also going to college part-time; I am SO PROUD of my girl! (I want to say here that Casey spends every spare minute with her son, he is her top priority, she sacrifices time with friends and her social life for his sake since every minute she can spend with him is more important to her than anything/anyone else...he is her world!) Casey's doing what she feels she needs to do to make a good career and provide future stability for them, and this is just temporary. But she needs lots of babysitting support, which her dad, "Big Grampa" (he's very tall!) and I help with as much as we can. Through the winter I'm excited about spending a lot more time with Leelan too! She is doing an AMAZING job with raising him, and both Big Grampa and I love spending time with him, helping her, and being there for them both...so I'm really looking forward to spending time with Leelan and, hopefully, more time with his mom!
Topic #3 -
I haven't spoken much about my mom lately. Her LBD is progressing, her memory is worse, she is more and more dependent on the routine of the nursing home for her sense of security and wants to spend less and less time away...but her hallucinations, paranoia, delusions, and behaviors are being very well-managed with an ideal cocktail of carefully chosen meds, and her personality is intact. I still bring her home or take her out on Sundays, although she doesn't like spending time away and wants to go back sooner and sooner. In the past she's been happy to spend a whole day - up to 8 hours - with us, and would only start asking to go back at dusk. Through this summer, though, she wants to go back sooner and sooner, and many days after only a couple of hours...and taking her out more than once a week also causes her to become anxious to the point that she doesn't enjoy it. Because she doesn't recall the things we do together when she's out with me anymore, I'm now concentrating on giving her beautiful moments. She can only live in the moment, once it is gone, it is out of her memory. And she can't look forward to anything because she doesn't remember a future event after she's been told about it. So she lives in the moment, and I try to make each of those moments count. I think Leelan and I will be spending more time with her in her own environment this winter, as I'll be working less. But she seems happy, and is very loving, her sense of humor is still there and she makes very very funny and clever jokes that crack us all up. For now, even with LBD, she is in a good place.
Topic #4 -
A good place. My mom lives in a small (61 bed) nursing home about a mile from my house. I'm there in 4 minutes. So many people talk about nursing homes as if they were awful horrible dungeons - and maybe some of them are. But not all are like that. I know for a FACT that without the wonderful care, the attention, the one-on-one work, and the love that my mom gets at King's, she would be so much worse off than she is today. NO WAY could I have provided for her even 1/10th of what they have, and I am so grateful for all they've done. And it is home to her, and she has friends that she can spend time with every day, and has even had a couple of romantic interludes with other residents that were good for her well-being! To hear all nursing homes lumped together as hell-on-earth, or to hear exhausted, stressed caregivers struggling to meet even the minimum needs of their loved ones, all because "I promised him I'd never put him in a nursing home" - it is heart-breaking! There ARE good ones out there, and they are trained to deal with the issues our loved ones are facing, round-the-clock, and assist them in every way. They CAN give our loved ones so much more than many of us are able to do - we are just one person, they are a team who can meet nearly every need that our loved ones have. Speaking for myself, I know I couldn't have provided that. And I know that my mom would be so much worse off if not for the professional care, specifically designed for her needs, that she has received. I wouldn't have deprived her of that for anything! Don't tell me that nursing homes are last-resort options, akin to deserting a loved one or taking the easy way out at the expense of their health or well-being. Many times caregivers sacrifice everything out of misplaced guilt, and still can't help their loved one as much as the professionals can. Yeah, some nursing homes really suck. But don't assume that they all do. Some are also lifesavers - for our loved ones AND for us.
Topic #5 -
Pete and I watch an old 26" TV with a pretty fuzzy picture. His eyesight (cataracts, glaucoma, and double vision on one eye) is declining to the point that he can't see it very well and can't read the menus or guide without walking across the room to get up close. Anything written on the screen as part of a movie or show is lost to him. (He rarely bothers to turn it on anymore, even for shows that he enjoys.) So we have been looking at the flat-screen TVs at Walmart. (We won't necessarily buy from Walmart, but they have a good selection to look at.) He can stand 20' back from them and be able to read the writing on the screen, they are so clear. We have decided that our Christmas gift for ourselves this year will be a new TV that he can actually watch. Because I have Amazon Prime I would like one that will get on the internet and let us watch content through there. Price will be a factor of course (I've already started tucking away a few extra dollars where I can), but if we're going to do this we want to do it right, and get the best that we can afford. We have a small living room, so 32" is what we are looking at for both price and practicality. If you have any suggestions or recommendations I would love to hear them...thanks! :)
That about wraps up what's been on my mind...if you're still with me, thanks :).
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