Saturday, December 3, 2022

Saturday, December 3, 2022

Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2003. Mattie was a year and a half old and that Christmas we took Mattie to Los Angeles, to celebrate the holidays with my parents. At that time, my parents had citrus trees behind their house. It was a great spot to have an educational and fun lesson! Mattie loved picking lemons, oranges, and grapefruits, and then from there he would sort them, check out their colors, and even their weights. Who knew the hours of enjoyment fruit could provide?!!!

Quote of the day: Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same. ~ Francesca Reigler

It was a rainy morning and I truly did not want to get out of bed. But I did, because I know my mom pops up at 5:30am, and therefore, if I don't get it together it throws their day off. After I got my dad up, washed, dressed and downstairs for breakfast, I then did brain games with him and got him to walk for 15 minutes around the first floor of the house. My dad truly doesn't respond to my requests to move and do his exercises, which is why I am thrilled that we are hiring a personal trainer who is a physical therapy assistant, who can work with my dad two times a week. I am adamant about this because if we can't maintain his abilities, it will be impossible for me to care for him independently. 

Meanwhile, as soon as breakfast and the exercise routine were complete, both of my parents fell asleep for hours. One could ask.... why then get up at 5:30am, just to fall asleep again? I have stopped asking rational questions, because nothing here is rational. 

This is what the outside of the house looks like now. We are lit up for Christmas. 

I found these ornament shapes that light up and border our walkway. I think they are adorable. 

A close up!

Later today we took my parents out for an early dinner. We literally go out now at 2:30pm, because as the day wears on, my dad fades away. Santa was visiting today and I snapped a photo of my dad, Santa, and Dawn (one of our favorite servers). 

Santa gave out homemade cookies (sugar, chocolate chip, and gingerbread) and candy canes!

Meanwhile, I have created a game between my dad and Dawn (our server). We have known Dawn for a year now, as we met her at the Clyde's of Reston (before it closed down). My dad asks Dawn the same questions OVER and OVER. She is a great sport and entertains him each time with a response. The questions typically are:

• Is the food fresh?
• Does management allow tipping?
• If we do not leave a tip, will this impact service?

You get the picture, I call them quippy questions and hearing them over and over, makes all of us nuts. So now I have adopted Dollar December Days. Every time my dad asks Dawn a quippy question, I give Dawn a dollar. So far, my dad asked about 12 of the same quippy questions today and yesterday. Therefore in two days, Dawn made $24. I figure by the time December is over, Dawn will get about $100 from this alone. Peter took the dollars that Dawn earned today and built a structure. Very Mattie-like!