Saturday, January 31, 2026

Saturday, January 31, 2026

Tonight's picture was taken in November of 2001. By that point I was four months pregnant with Mattie. Before Mattie was born, I went through a huge clean out and reorganization of our apartment. In one of our bedrooms was this very big walk-in closet. As you can see I was in it and clearing out shelves and things to get ready for our new addition. In fact, that whole room went through a big clean out, and it got transformed from my office space into Mattie's room. They talk about the  "nesting" instinct while pregnant, I would have to say this was true for me, because by the time I finished with this space it looked like a baby would be living in it. 

Quote of the day: I felt her absence. It was like waking up one day with no teeth in your mouth. You wouldn't need to run to the mirror to know they were gone. ~ James Dashner

Since my dad has come home from the hospital (on Tuesday), he has been refusing to eat real food. He only has wanted soft foods and bread. I am slowly integrating real food back into his diet. My dad is not a vegetable person, but last night I decided to make cream of broccoli soup. It is a hearty soup and when I served it to him, I did not tell him it was broccoli. Telling him would have only caused him to push the bowl away from him. After he ate the soup and loved it, I told him it was broccoli soup. He was stunned. In any case, his is definitely regaining his appetite. 

Things still remain challenging as my dad is having bathroom issues and I look forward to the day that this virus is completely out of his system. I think until this virus is gone, there will be NO breaks from hiccups either. Today I tried all sorts of home remedies to manage the hiccups. The problem with any solutions that involve deep breathing or holding his breath is that my dad truly can't hold his breath. Not even for a second. I can't determine if he doesn't understand how to cognitively do this or that he just physically can't do it. But breath holding is a great way to reset the spasms and I am frustrated that I can't get him to participate in any way to help himself. This is one of the many things about dementia that I absolutely hate.

I spent the day doing more clean up around the house and while going room to room, I found that my Christmas cactus was abloom. I absolutely love Christmas cactuses. We used to have a very big cactus that we brought with us when we moved from the city in 2021. However, in the fall of 2023, with the start of my separation, I was so distraught that I forgot the plant outside. Typically we would have the plant summer outside and winter inside. By the time I remembered my beautiful cactus was outside, it froze and died. 

So I went to Lowe's and bought a small plant. It was so small, it fit in the palm of my hand. Since 2023, it has been growing and it is blooming beautifully. There is something very special about seeing greenery and flowers in the winter and if you were to see my all-season room now, you would find it filled with palm trees, a zee plant, prayer plants, hibiscus plants, geraniums, an orchid, and even old poinsettia plants that have continued to thrive.