Crochet Me Crazy

In honor of my mother, Mary Jones, who passed from this life to be with her Lord and Savior on November 7, 2009.





I love you, mama, and will miss you very much!

My mama turned 81 today. We brought her a balloon and some candy bars. We finally got to make her a little bit happy with a root beer and hot fudge sundae from McDonald's. She ate pretty much the whole sundae and really enjoyed it. Another sad visit to see my mama.



We got a little smile out of her...

Last night we had a scare with my mom when the assisted living called and said my mom had fallen and she wasn't getting up. I ran up there to find her laying on the wood floor with pillows and blankets and Marilyn, the director, was laying down with her. I could tell the degree of pain my mom was in compared to when she fell and broke her hip last time wasn't as much but there was no way to be sure. She wasn't getting up this time so we called the ambulance. We went to Tomball Hospital and by the time we got there she was really moving around so I was feeling pretty good about this outcome this time. They checked her out and she was fine so they released her and we were back at the assisted living within 3 hours. What a relief that she is okay! Poor mama....she's quite the little trooper.

Had a nice Mother's Day. Jeff got me a Satsuma Tree! Our neighbor's have one that is loaded down every year and I've been saying I want one. Once ours starts producing, between ours and the neighbor's tree, we will have more than we could ever eat! Our neighbor's tree yields so much fruit every year that between them, us and another neighbor we eat as many as we want and still have left overs. The kids will go pick whole Wal-Mart bags full of them.

Michael gave me a rooster plate that goes with the one he gave me for Christmas! He spent his own gift card for Hobby Lobby he got for Christmas. He wanted to get me a really good present.



Alison gave me a bag of Recese Peanut Butter Cups that she bought with her own money and two cards. One she bought and one she made herself. I love her homemade cards and she always writes the sweetest notes in them.




My kids are so great. I am very blessed to have them both.

Then we went out to eat at Pappadeux Seafood Restaurant. It was very crowded but the food was good. Alison had her face painted while we were there waiting.




We went to go see "Granny" (my mom) and brought her a hot fudge sundae from McDonald's. She doesn't eat much these days but she sure loves those sweets. She really enjoyed it and ate all of it. It's very sad to visit my mom most of the time now and seeing her deterioration.

Today, we found out that she had fallen again. She is okay. She's very frail and unstable. I went by again today on our way home from Alison's dance class and brought her another hot fudge sundae since she seemed to enjoy the last one so much. She was looked very distraught when we went in. She brightened up and was happy about the sundae again. She has reverted to a very child-like state. I tried to just talk to her like normal and she seemed to enjoy it even though she can't really converse anymore. The words just aren't there. She ate all of the sundae again. We took a few pictures tonight. I realize I need to start taking more pictures because I'm not sure how much longer my mom will be with us.

My sister is giving me a break and I'm at home trying to get ready for Alison's birthday party on Saturday. I'm working on making a pinata today, baking her cake, etc. I'll be with my mom Monday through Wednesday next week and my sister is coming back to be with mama on Christmas Day. I'm grateful for that...my kids were starting to get worried when I told them I was probably going to need to be with my mom on Christmas Day even. I think it is really helping my mom not to be left there alone and my sister has raised quite a "ruccous" over the problems there have been since my mom has been there. My sister said that mama had a really good day yesterday. The therapist is trying to be creative in his approach with mama and he got her to scoot over on the bed (a big accomplishment) and she even stood up partially with help on the bars! Once she realized what she was doing, she freeked and got scared and tried to sit back down. She can do this if she can overcome the fear.

It is an awful place but the therapy is pretty good. Unfortunately, that's only an hour a day. My mother is absolutely terrified. My sister has been in town for the past week and mostly at my mom's side all week. I have been gone a good part of the week but its only going to get worse when my sister leaves. My mom is not being tended to properly so leaving her there alone could be dangerous. My sister left for a little while this afternoon and came back to find her in a very dangerous position with no one in site. It could have been very bad and it was very upsetting. My mom is completely dependent right now because of her injuries. She has to be fed, changed, since she can't stand up. We plan on getting her out of there as soon as humanly possible. We have found a place that seems close to wonderful for her once she gets through this rehab. It's a pricey place with a home/cottage type atmosphere with only 16 alzheimer residents. It is designed to be assisted living through end of life care. We looked at lots and lots of places and this the best we've seen so far.

The assisted living called me around midnight on Sunday night to tell me my mother had fallen in her room and they were calling an ambulance. I rushed down there and got there while they were trying to get her onto the back board. The news at the hospital was bad. She had broken her shoulder and her hip. She had a hip replacement surgery and a plate put in her shoulder today. She did great during surgery and was in her hospital room recovering when we left her tonight. Still trying to let the anesthesia wear off. What happens next depends on her and how she does during the rehabilitation/physical therapy. It's hard to say because of her Alzheimer. She was very confused in the hospital and doesn't really understand where she is or what is happening to her. It is absolutely heart breaking to see. Alzheimer is very cruel and I hate it.

I got home from my mom's assisted living at about 6:30 tonight. She had her first shower at the new place tonight. That went well. My mom was pretty good all day when I saw her today. I had dinner with them and my mom has started trying to feed me so I know she's getting better. She tried to make me eat some of her snacks in the apartment and then she really wanted me to eat at dinner. I had a BBQ sandwich with the ladies and then my mom, her table-mate and a very sweet lady, sat and visited a little bit after dinner. Her friend's name is Jane and she was telling us about her stroke she had which paralyzed her on one side but she's gotten movement back with therapy. Our visit was cut short because the aide wanted to do mama's bath so I guess we'll pick up that conversation on another day. I told mama I needed to leave after her bath because I wasn't feeling good. She was sad but she reluctantly agreed. I left her with a stack of papers and magazines we had found in her piano bench. I came home to a clean house. My husband and kids left on a trip for the weekend so I have the house to myself. I wanted them to go without me rather than miss out on the fun weekend we had planned. My sweet neighbor, Stephanie, had come over and cleaned my house for me. She and I went to the grocery store and got something to eat and then watched this week's American Idol that I haven't had a chance to watch yet. It's 10 pm and I'm going to head to bed. I'm feeling pretty crummy and I need to try to beat this sickness before it gets me down.

My 79 year old mother was in the hospital for over a week and is now in a her new home which is assisted living near my house. She's now trying to adjust to her new apartment and environment so I am spending lots of time up at the assisted living. My mother has alzheimer's/demensia so she gets confused in a new environment and the adjustment is difficult for her. I've just been too tired to blog and haven't even had time to crochet. My husband and kids are going on a trip we had planned awhile back this weekend with some friends. I'm not up to it so I told them I wanted them to go without me. Maybe I can relax a little this weekend. I woke up with a scratchy throat this morning. I took some Vitamin C...I hope its just allergies. Be back when things settle down around here.

I had started on the top in the photo below but the pattern was giving me problems so I frogged it all and I'm not making it. I started on this instead: Lapa Lace Top My mom is visiting and I don't have much time for crocheting so I need something easy to work on.

I made it through Tuesday! I'm home-free now! Monday's and Tuesday are busy and I don't get a whole lot done around here because by the time the kids are done with school, I have to rush out to drive 45 minutes to drive Alison to dance class. She's getting ready for ballet exams so its super important for her not to miss class from here on out. Exams...and then more business of getting ready for the final ballet performance. This year, they are performing "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe". I'm sure it will be awesome. It always is.

We finished up the 200 buttons today and they are in a box ready to be mailed. I should've have taken a picture but I forgot.

My mom is coming to stay with us next week and will be staying for a while. She is getting senile or is in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's...not sure which. She hasn't had an "official" diagnosis. A mother from dance who's in nursing school was telling me the test for Alzheimer's is pretty invasive. In any case, my mom really shouldn't be left alone. I think she'll do good while she's here because our whole family is home all day 24/7 so there will always be someone around to help her, keep her company, or keep her out of trouble when she's confused. Jeff works out of the house.

Well, I'm going to head to bed now. I'm trying to get in the habit of going to bed at a more descent time and get up earlier. Today was my first day of trying to start a new morning routine. When I wake up and put on the coffee I'm using what I call my "butt machine" until the coffee is done making. How hard can it be to force my self to excercise for just those few minutes? Well, apparently it did *something* for me today because I can feel a little bit of soreness in my rump and my legs this afternoon. I've lost a lot of weight after getting off of those awful anti-depressents the doctor put me on but I'd like to lose about 10 more pounds.

Well, good night....