Tonight's picture was taken in July of 2004. Mattie was two years old. That was Mattie's second trip to the beaches in North Carolina and by that time, Mattie loved playing in the sand. That day we walked on the huge sand dune of Jockey's Ridge. Mattie was raring to go and he wanted to keep up with his cousins, who were older than him, and already many feet ahead of him. Mattie was all about adventure, exploration, and never wanted to leave me behind.
Quote of the day: It’s your reaction to adversity, not adversity itself that determines how your life’s story will develop. ~ Dieter F. Uchtdorf
We had enormous storms in Virginia last night. Torrential rain, lightning and thunder. I went on for hours. I saw all sorts of flashes outside my bedroom window at 5:15am. Though I was worried about Sunny, I was too exhausted to move. When I got up at 6:15am, I went downstairs to feed Indie and looked for Sunny. There was no sign of him on the first floor, so I assumed he went into the basement with Karen. Since I saw the basement door cracked open, that was my assumption. I then went back upstairs and showered and got dressed. When I opened my bedroom door at 8am, Sunny was there waiting for me. That was a HUGE problem, because Sunny can get up the stairs but he is afraid of heights and can't get back down. Sunny is 70 pounds and I tried putting his physical therapy harness around him and coaxing him downstairs. He wouldn't budge. So I escorted him to my bedroom and closed the door. I had to wait until Karen came upstairs, to help me with Sunny. Thankfully Karen was here, otherwise, I would have had to find a neighbor to assist me. I took Sunny's front end and Karen lifted Sunny from the back quarters. We got him safely downstairs but now when Peter isn't home, I am going to put chairs in front of the stairs to prevent this from happening again.
In the midst of dealing with Sunny, while I was preparing breakfast, I could hear my dad wandering around upstairs. Typically he sticks to his bedroom, but today, he wandered into the hallway and was headed for the staircase. I let out with a howl and that stopped him in his tracks. He claims he got up and started for the stairs because he was worried about me! I have NO IDEA what was going through his mind. He is claiming that he doesn't sleep at night, but instead is in bed with his eyes open all night. I have to keep an eye on him, but I am hoping this is his reaction to being on steroids, to manage the allergic reaction from bug bites. Though with my dad, he could just be manufacturing all of this, and none of it maybe based in reality.
I took my mom to the hospital today for her weekly physical therapy appointment. The therapy department has moved from the main hospital and is now located in the brand new outpatient pavilion. I watched them literally build this enormous addition to the hospital campus. It seemed like the whole addition went up in a matter for two years. Totally remarkable. Part of me was excited to see the new space. However, what we LOVED about the former therapy department was that it was in the main hospital building, and the department overlooked the hospital's beautiful atrium, and within the atrium were always guest musicians playing the grand piano. There is one musician who visits the hospital who we love. Now that my mom's sessions are in the new pavilion, we no longer have easy access to the atrium and the music. To both of us this is a huge loss. Putting that aside, I want to meet the interior designer of this new hospital pavilion. It is overly white, antiseptic looking, and frankly walking through the hallways makes you feel like you are in a mental hospital.
The outpatient physical therapy clinic, though state of the art, is not warm, inviting, or a space you wish to spend much time in! It is quite clear to me that who ever designed the clinic did not take into account input from the therapists themselves or patients. If they had, the space wouldn't look as it does. Needless to say, the new space threw my mom off and though I typically don't welcome change, I can safely say that NOT all improvements are beneficial.
When I picked my dad up at the memory care center today, he greeted me with sheer anxiety and was agitated. He wanted to know why I did not pick him up at 2pm. I did not understand this because for the past month, I have been picking him up later and later. I am doing this to take a break from the intense caregiving I am providing him. I tried to discuss this with him, but he was too wound up. He then explained that the staff parked him in the front room, to wait for me. Meaning that he wasn't participating in activities in the afternoon, but simply waiting for me. I was thoroughly confused by all of this because his classroom activities are scheduled to go to 5:30pm. Needless to say, when I got home, I wrote to both program directors as I need further clarification and I also need their help at giving my dad assurances when I am NOT there. I also told them NEVER to tell him what time I am picking him up, because he will just fixate on the time and will get anxious if I am not there! Frankly I have no idea why a staff member would tell him what time I am picking him up, because they do not know my schedule. So by the time he greeted me and blew up at me, he worked me up into a silly.
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