Tonight's picture was taken in June of 2004. Mattie was two years old! You may not be able to determine what we were doing in this photo! Mattie was sitting on my lap and in front of us was a laptop. We visited a couple of educational websites and would play games, sing songs, and solve puzzles together. Mattie loved mental stimulation and as his mom I had to find various outlets to challenge and keep him engaged.
Quote of the day: Every day may not be good, but there is some good in every day. ~ Alice Morse Earle
I decided to visit my old salon in Washington, DC today! My hairdresser, who moved out of the country for three years, has returned to our area! As soon as I heard she returned I booked an appointment. Since my parents have been living with me, I am lucky if I get my hair cut and styled once a year. My hair looks like a Brillo pad. Of course trying to get to an appointment alone practically feels like I had to move heaven on earth to make it happen.
My dad had his physical therapy appointment today at home, and I alerted his therapist that I wouldn't be around. I am quite certain that when I am not around it sets off a bad dynamic between my parents and this stress exacerbates my dad's irritable bowel syndrome.
I haven't been back to this particular salon in years! However, when I was in my twenties, I used to go there. It was the premier salon in the city. It is a salon that takes you back to a by gone era, when there was elegance, style, and people weren't rushed through the salon process. In fact, the salon is filled with photos of celebrities it served over all these decades. This was a very popular feature of salons on the past.... having a wall of fame. Now I am sure if college kids went to this salon they wouldn't know any of the celebrities displayed on the wall. A rather sad commentary. But being in this salon today was magical, as I know the owner and I am familiar with the space.
I had a deep conditioning treatment done to my hair today, which meant that I sat under a hair dryer for twenty minutes. Imagine 20 minutes undisturbed? They gave me a cappuccino and I got to hear the twirling of the dryer, and air passing over my face. In some ways, I imagined being on a ship, away from the hustle and bustle of my life. Truly the dryer was therapeutic as was reconnecting with my stylist!
When I left the salon I was in a good mood. Unfortunately that mood did not last long. When I got home, my parents wanted to go and eat, which meant I did more driving around. I felt worn out today and sick to my stomach. I couldn't eat and brought the food home and I gave it to Sunny. While dining, I took my dad to the restroom twice and the second time, he had pooped all over himself, which meant a big clean up job for me.
I truly do not know how I deal with each day without a break. My dad is aware of the burden he places on us, or at least he was today after listening to my mom and me converse. I try to explain to my dad that it is the situation and frankly what he can't comprehend is that I am caregiving for two people not just one. All I can say is I hope tomorrow is a better day, because tonight I am frazzled.
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