Friday, October 14, 2022

Friday, October 14, 2022

Tonight's picture was taken in October of 2004. Mattie was two and a half years old. His preschool was having a Halloween party. This was the preschool that Mattie was thrown out of two months into the school year. Mattie was a sensitive fellow and this Montessori program was not a good fit. Keep in mind that the preschool director badgered me practically everyday about Mattie's behavior and she wanted permission to put soap in Mattie's mouth. That was her suggested methodology to prevent him from biting other children. I am sure you can guess that I never gave approval to move forward with her antiquated methodology, and instead cited research about the harm of such forms of corporal punishment. 

Quote of the day: To lose a son under those circumstances - a violent death like my son went through, it just puts a burden on your heart. ~ Brian Jones

This morning, I woke up earlier than usual because I had to get my dad up, showered, and dressed in time for me to leave and take my mom into the city to get her hair done. It was a gloriously sunny day and when I dropped her off, I literally parked the car for 90 minutes and started returning phone calls. One was to CVS, as I take an infusion of a drug for osteoporosis. They processed the order and wanted me to pay $1,000 as a co-pay. I dealt with this same issue in April, but at that point got a Prolia debit card from the company. Thereby making Prolia pay this high co-pay. I am sure they have an incentive to pay for my drug, as they probably need to increase their sample of participants. I would love NOT to need Prolia, but all other alternatives don't work for me. Even in my down moments, I can't get a break. I also called about my mom's next arterial testing next week and I am eager to get this over with so I know exactly what I am dealing with. 

When it was time to pick my mom up, I pulled up close to where the salon was. Since it is a busy street, I remained in the car, as she was entering from the side walk. As she went to open the car door, she almost fell backward onto the pavement. My mom is not steady on her feet and is an accident waiting to happen. I literally flew out of the car to help her and made sure she got in safely. It is very clear to me that I am solidly caregiving for two, NOT one. Driving to the salon takes me 40 minutes, then I waited 90+ minutes in the car, and then drove back home, which was another 40 minutes. 

When I got home, this was the highlight of my day. Sunny had just gotten groomed and Peter, me, and Sunny all sat outside in the backyard for about 15 minutes. It reminded me of how things used to be, but now I am constantly juggling, distracted, and stressed. It makes it impossible to be good at anything including all my relationships. 

After this brief moment, I went back to chores, and then picked my dad up from his memory care center and drove my parents to Rockville, MD, to dine at a restaurant we visit weekly. My drive to Rockville was 40 minutes and my commute home was over an hour (thanks to DC traffic). So if you tabulate up my time in the car, it is significant and tiring. 

Meanwhile this is home on the range! Every night, we are sure to have some sort of sighting in our yard. 

It is no wonder Sunny loves being outside in the evening. He is on the prowl and constantly looking for fox and deer!