Category Archives: Family

Meanderings

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I don’t mind Daylight Savings Time too much once I get used to it, but I do hate losing that hour of sleep over the weekend, and it takes me days to get my body clock adjusted. It’s nice that we have spring break this week!

I mentioned that last week Jesse was on his senior trip. I didn’t want to say where until after he got home, but they went to Disneyworld.

In previous years the seniors had gone to places like Israel, England, Scotland, Wales, and Jesse was really looking forward to going out of the country for the first time. But only he and one other girl wanted to go. Three other girls were fine with wherever they went, but the rest were just planning not to go if they went out of the country. Part of me wishes they had gone ahead with just those five, but in an effort to try to find a place most of the seniors did want to go, they ended up with Disneyworld.

Though Jesse was disappointed at first, he got more excited as the trip got closer and was bouncing-off-the-walls excited the night before leaving. He had a great time, said the attractions and especially the food were wonderful, and said not a single negative thing happened on the trip: everyone got along, the flights were ok, etc. None of the rest of us has ever been there, so it was exciting to hear about.

I’ve pondered since then whether a senior trip should be primarily educational or fun (though of course they can be both!) I can understand students not wanting to put the time and money into something they think will be boring, and if they think a trip to another country is just going to be visiting a bunch of museums, I can understand that doesn’t sound thrilling.  But I think it is quite short-sighted not to take the opportunity to go out of the country when you have it. But be that as it may, there wasn’t much we could do about it.

Jesse completely missed seeing Washington D.C. At this school the tenth grade takes a field trip there, and he wasn’t here then; in his previous school that’s where the seniors went on their senior trip. Jim has always wanted to go there, so we’re giving some thought to trying to make it out there this summer as kind of a last hurrah before Jesse goes to college and maybe meeting Jeremy there. We’re not sure about leaving Grandma for that long, though. She’s cared for in her assisted living place, but we do visit her almost every day and kind of keep on top of things they may overlook, especially since she is not as communicative these days.

His week away gave us a little foretaste of what the “empty nest” will be like. I do hate it when I hear a mom lamenting about the empty nest and someone tritely responds that that’s the way it is supposed to be, that we’re to “train ourselves out of a job,” that we wouldn’t want them to stay home forever and not go out and be full-fledged adults. In my less sanctified moments my inward response to that is, “Well, duh.” Of course we want all of that for our children, but it is also very natural to acutely miss having them around when they have been a part of our everyday lives for 18-20 years.

Nevertheless, there are a few perks. 🙂 My husband’s schedule was the same, but mine was unaffected by alarm clocks, school schedules, etc., so there was a great sense of freedom. I had thought, having whole days to myself, I would get so much done, particularly some writing. I’m not quite sure what happened to the week, but it flew by and I hardly got anything done! Of course, there is still grocery shopping, housework, visiting Grandma and such to do during the week, so it’s not like it was a whole week of free time. But I can foresee that I am going to need to set up some structure to my days when that time comes.

Another thing I am going to miss when Jesse leaves home is having a helper around. I rely on him a lot to help me move things, get or take something to the attic, change light bulbs I can’t reach (I have balance problems, so though I can stand on a chair — I can’t let go of it to do anything else while I am up there), etc. Jim works such long hours I hate to overload his Saturdays with things I need done.

In other news….we finally got an offer on our house in SC. But it was way low, and Jim was in the process of sending a counter offer when they changed their minds and said they decided not to buy a house now after all. We’re thinking they may have run into some credit problems to just drop it like that. Jim’s company had been helping us with the payments on that house as part of his relocation package, but that assistance is coming to an end soon. Property values have dropped due to the economy plus the fact that that area tore down the local high school and built a W-Mart in its place. 🙄 So we’re not going to be able to count on making any money on the sale of the house, but we’d really like not to lose any. Jim is giving some thought to renting it out, and that’s an option, but I would really like to just be done with it and not be responsible for it any more.

We’re having company in about a week and a half. Does anyone else do this: I have some housecleaning things that need to be done but if I do them now I’ll have to do them again before we have people over, so I am tempted to just wait on them, but I am not sure I can stand it. Not everyday housework, but the “extra” stuff. Like the burner pans under the stove: they are white on this stove, so they show up every little drip and spatter. They look pretty bad right now, but it seems just as soon as I clean them, the next day or so something boils over or sloshes, necessitating taking things apart and cleaning them again.  But I think I’ll have to just go ahead and take care of them and try not to make too big of a mess with them between now and then. Plus when company is coming all of a sudden I want to get a dozen household projects done, like finally making curtains for the family room.  I know hospitality isn’t all about how your house looks, but still. We’ll see how it goes!

I do have a number of posts in mind, some with much deeper thoughts than I have shared lately. 🙂 Hopefully I’ll be able to work on some of those soon. I have my next newspaper column due this week plus we’re trying to get a ladies’ newsletter going at church. But hopefully I’ll be able to make some time soon to get some of those posts written.

Thanks for listening to my meanderings. 🙂

Happy Birthday to Jim!

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It’s my dear hubby’s birthday!

It will be a little different because we’re celebrating as a family later in the week for various reasons, but I still hope his actual birthday is a good day!

I’m so thankful to have married a good man, a dedicated, hard-working man, who loves his family and would do almost anything for any of us.

Happy Birthday to Mittu! A Day Late!

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Mittu, my daughter-in-law, had a birthday yesterday but I didn’t have a chance to mention it on the blog then. She and Jason celebrated with the family last night. Unfortunately most of my photos didn’t turn out very well — I might need to wear my reading glasses while taking pictures these days! But we had a fun time — got pizza, “Face-timed” with Jeremy, got into discussions of some of the boys’ childhood exploits, had presents, cake, and ice cream. All in all a good day. 🙂

Thankfully this didn’t happen after I decorated the cake:

That’s the top of the cake dish…to which cake and frosting stuck when I took the top off. 😳  It was a two-layer cake and evidently was higher than usual due to my excess use of frosting to try to level up the layers. I ran out of frosting and had to run out to get more. (I don’t make my own. Not if I want it to turn out right. I’m not so good with cakes.) When I came back and took the top off — voila — the cake had been scalped. Once I decorated it I had to leave the top off so that wouldn’t happen again, but it was still plenty moist when we ate it a few hours later.

I am thankful for a daughter-in-law who loves the Lord, loves my son, and loves his family. I’m so glad God brought her into our lives.

The Winter of Life

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I used to say I want to live until I’m 100. I’ve amended that. I want to live until I’m 100 in my right mind with all my physical functions working like they’re supposed to and the ability to live independently. But that’s probably not very likely, is it?

Since my mother-in-law moved to be near us three and a half years ago, I’ve had a front row seat observing her weather the indignities of aging. Loss of physical stability led to falling, leading to the inability to live alone for safety concerns. Forgetfulness gave way to confusion, loss of reasoning and logical thinking. Further physical deterioration led to use of a walker, then a wheelchair, loss of privacy as someone was needed to help with baths and then with bathrooms functions, til now even sitting up straight or finishing a meal is beyond her ability. A friend who is a doctor whose mother passed away last year said that once they start declining, it seems to go faster and faster, and we’ve found that to be true so far.

Yesterday as I left the assisted living place where my mother-in-law stays, I was overwhelmingly sad, both from her deterioration, and the lady who cries all the time and the one who is constantly trying to escape and the one who wanders from room to room. Jason made the observation that at her old place, everyone was at Grandma’s level or better, but at this place everyone is at her level or worse.

I can’t help wondering why God leaves some of His dear children here in such a state. I believe God is the author of life.  I believe He has a purpose for every life at every level and ability. One thing the elderly can teach us is compassion and caring. Another is to remind us of our own mortality. One pastor said that one reason God allows our bodies to decline with age is to loosen our grasp of them. My friend Esther Talbert says in A Psalm For Old Age about caring for her mother-in-law with Alzheimer’s:

There is a reason God leaves the elderly and infirm among us, and it is often not for their benefit but for ours. If we are not too busy and self-absorbed, we may learn the qualities of Christ that we lack and that He desires to mold in us, the transformation of character He intends to accomplish in us, by confronting us with their presence and needs. By the time something like Alzheimer’s strikes, God is about done with His earthly work in someone like Mom. “Why, then, does He leave someone to linger like that?” we wonder. His earthly work in Mom is done, but much of His earthly work in us and others, through Mom, is just beginning. He strengthens us daily to love and care for her. In the gentle rebuke of His mercy, He is molding and changing us—revealing our selfishness, unfolding His fifth commandment in new ways. Only as I myself am moldable will God’s power, in my turn, shine through me to “this generation and . . . to every one that is to come.”

In the mean time we trust in Psalm 71:18 and other promises for her: “Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.” And we seek His grace to “comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men” (I Thessalonians 5:14b).

I recently heard of one’s last years being called the winter of life. I’ve never liked winter. I don’t like the cold, the loss of color, the lack of growing things, the lack of sunshine.

There are some things to like about winter. Cozy blankets, hearty soups, occasional snow, coming in from the cold. But the one thing that makes winter tolerable is knowing that spring is coming.

Someday Mom’s eternal spring will come, when she’ll be without pain, more fully in her right mind than she’s ever been, rejoicing with those loved ones who have gone before and with the Savior she has loved for decades.

Gone they tell me is youth,
Gone is the strength of my life,
Nothing remains but decline,
Nothing but age and decay.

Not so, I’m God’s little child,
Only beginning to live;
Coming the years of my prime,
Coming the strength of my life;
Coming the vision of God,
Coming my bloom and my power.

~ William Newton Clarke

In Memory of Susie Dog

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On December 21, our pet dog of 14 years quietly passed away. It wasn’t totally unexpected as she had been slowing down, sleeping a lot, and having a harder time moving. She was seriously ill a few months ago and we weren’t sure would make it then. But she pulled through, and when she started having the same symptoms, we tried the same treatment, but it didn’t work this time.

We got Susie (or Suzie — I seemed to go back and forth with how to spell it) in a parking lot of W-Mart in Georgia fourteen summers ago. I haven’t seen this before or since, but a family had puppies in the open trunk of their car with a big sign advertising free puppies. Jason, then almost 10, pleaded, “Can we just go look at them?” Jim and I looked at each other — we knew what would happen if we “just looked.” But we had talked off and on about getting a puppy for the boys and figured this was a good time.

The puppies were half Collie, half German Shepherd. And cute, of course, as puppies are. We chose one, but since we hadn’t planned for a puppy we had to leave her in the car while we dashed in the store for puppy supplies. When we got home, she seemed not quite as playful and energetic as puppies are wont to be, and we began to wonder if something was wrong. We had planned for her to be an outside dog, but we decided to let her in for a while. She walked straight to an air conditioner vent and flopped down on it. (My husband quipped, “She’s just like you!) Poor doggie — even though we hadn’t been in the store long and we had left the windows cracked, it was still hot out in the van. We learned quickly not to do that again.

(Yes, I know that’s a weird color for carpet. In real life it was more of a dark rose, but we still had to think about whether we could live with it before we bought that house.)

First bath — she never did like water!

One of the first days we took her for a walk, she noticed and ran up to another puppy in a yard down the street. We noticed the puppy looked a lot like her, and then noticed the mom was a collie, and the dog next door was a German Shepherd. We put two and two together and realized that this must be her family. How funny that they were right down the street but we didn’t meet them or know about the dogs until the W-Mart parking lot! Thankfully she didn’t fuss when we left them in their yard.

I didn’t get any photos of this, but when we took her for walks then, she would hold part of the leash in her mouth as if to say, “I’ll hold it myself, thank you.” In retrospect it might have been more comfortable for her that way, I don’t know.

As she grew she began to look like a German Shepherd.

From her earliest days she loved to be with the kids on the trampoline.

When Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit:

Building her dog house:

Walking in the woods behind our house:

I’m not sure how old she was when what I called her “mane” began to grow out and she started looking more like a collie, except that her coloring still looked like a German Shepherd. Jeremy said he was glad we had taken pictures through the years or else he would never have believed she looked so different as a puppy.
Suzie the dog

Suzie the dog's bath

Love her woebegone expression there. As I said, she never did like water!

Suzie looking cool

She was afraid of thunderstorms. We’d let her in, and she’d try to hide under the desk. That led to this post once.

Poor Suzie

She was handy to have around to help clean up spills. 🙂

One of our favorite memories was the way she’d anticipate getting breakfast leftovers on Sunday mornings. If we had let her in overnight, she’d be waiting at the bottom of the stairs. We had a barrier up, just a flattened cardboard box to keep her from coming upstairs while we ate, and once she knew we were about to come, she’d start bouncing to see over the cardboard. It was so cute — I wish we had filmed it. I don’t think she did that at any other time. I don’t know if it was the particular smells or sounds or what that told her it was that time of week.

She even helped Mittu not be so afraid of dogs:

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Suzie the dog

Even when the kids weren’t on the trampoline, she loved to sit there and observe her domain. Even when they didn’t use it much any more, we left it up for her. It was kind of sad when she couldn’t get up there any more as she got older.

When we’d pull up in the driveway, she’d jump up and start prancing all around the trampoline, barking away, as if to say, “I’m on the job! I’m watching out for everything!” Actually, she was never much of a watchdog. She would follow anyone who came into the yard,  looking to be petted.

She did have a propensity to wander, so we had to keep her on a line when we didn’t have a fence. But it ran the whole length of the yard, so she wasn’t confined. We did actually lose her once when she somehow got loose right after we moved to SC. Thankfully we found her at the local Humane Society where someone had turned her in. But even when Jim would take her off her line to hang around with him while he worked in the yard, she’d wander off, so she pretty much had to be kept on a line all the time.

She wasn’t the brightest dog. She sort-of learned how to shake hands, sit, lie down, and roll over. But she’d get them mixed up, especially in her excitement if she knew you were going to give her a treat. But she was loving and attentive, a pleasant companion. Whenever anyone would pet her or talk to her, she looked up at them adoringly, very helpful for boys going through adolescence.

She was our only pet except for a hamster before her. And I think a goldfish, won at a fair, that we had for only a brief time.

I don’t think we’re getting another dog, at least not any time soon. Jesse’s about to leave for college next fall, and Jim doesn’t really have time to spend with a dog, and I, honestly, don’t like the icky, smelly part of having pets and don’t seem to have an authoritative enough voice or manner to have them obey me, which in turn causes problems, so I wouldn’t want the primary responsibility of one. I can see Jim maybe having a dog to pal around with when he retires. His family grew up with a dog and a cat all the time (along with sometimes having a calf, chickens, myna birds, and assorted other animals through the years.)

But for now we’ll just enjoy the memories of Susie.

Whew!

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Did any of the rest of you feel like that after Christmas? It’s been a very good but very full few days.

Jason and Mittu were planning to go to OK to see her mom for Christmas, and we were planning to exchange our gifts with them the night before they left, which would also be right after Jeremy got here. But then Mittu got a new job that week, and since she only had Friday and Monday off along with the weekend, they needed to leave Thursday night, the night we had planned exchange gifts with them. So we decided to do our gift exchange after they got back. They did exchange gifts with Jeremy and we got to visit all together briefly before they took off.

With Christmas being on Sunday, our church decided to have one service at 11 a.m. with a brunch the half-hour before. We didn’t want to rush to open gifts in the morning before services — we like to take our time, each of us opening one gift at a time and seeing what we all got before moving on. And typically Sunday afternoons Jim and I are tired and sleepy. So we decided to open gifts Christmas Eve. Poor Jason — he has wanted to do that all his life, and the one year we do, he’s away.

Then we had to decide what to do about Grandma. She’s getting to where an excursion of any length is taxing. A normal Sunday service and then dinner here is almost too much for her any more. She goes to bed early, so coming here Sat. evening wasn’t really an option, but she would have been too tired to enjoy it much if we waited til Sunday afternoon anyway. So we decided to take her gifts to her room Saturday morning. That worked out really well.

I had assumed that when we were going to open gifts Christmas Eve, that meant evening. But Jesse lobbied for Christmas afternoon on the logic that that would give them more time to play with their expected (hopefully) new games. Since Jeremy was here only for a few days and he and Jesse love to play games together, that made sense to give them as much time for that as possible. But that meant really stepping things up the day before to get ready.

And then…I had planned all along to roast the ham Sat. night anyway, because I didn’t want to leave it in the oven Sunday morning with no one here. So I proposed that since I would be cooking it Sat. anyway and we’d be smelling it and our mouths watering, we might as well go ahead and have our Christmas dinner Christmas Eve. Then Sunday after church we could just heat up the leftovers. That met with everyone’s approval.

So except for the church service Sunday, we ended up celebrating Christmas mostly on Christmas Eve. It was odd to open presents in the daylight when we’re used to doing it in the morning while it’s still dark out. And it was odd for Jim to go out for a part that was needed and me to make a last run to the grocery store, when usually we’re all in for the whole day.

Sunday morning we enjoyed a nice service at church and a very restful remainder of the day. I was able to call my step-father that evening and was glad to hear our gifts to him arrived Saturday.

Usually on Christmas we have a breakfast of sausage rolls and cinnamon rolls just out for people to munch whenever they want. That wasn’t really going to work on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day this year, but we still wanted them, so we had them Monday morning.

Then Jason and Mittu were due home late Monday night, and she had to work Tuesday, so we hadn’t really decided when to exchange their gifts. But they decided to leave Sunday evening for a variety of reasons — weather, the opportunity for her to rest a bit more before work the next day, etc. So they drove through the night Sunday night, got home after a few stops to nap Monday morning, and came over here in the afternoon, when we exchanged gifts with them.

So we ended up “doing Christmas” in several stages! I know some of you with extended family are used to having more than one get-together, but this is a first for us except for the time when Jason and Mittu got engaged and he went to visit her family for Christmas. We might end up having to do that again as they kids grow and have their own families, but I hope that in the next years we can go back to our “usual” routine. I was thinking, somewhere during the last few days, that as good as traditions are, they shouldn’t be binding: we need to be flexible and willing to change things up when necessary.

It’s been a really nice Christmas “season,” with time to do fun things like seeing Christmas lights and making gingerbread houses and bears, several special services and quiet times of reflection, the flurry of shopping (mostly online, so thankful for that! But I did want to make just one trip to the mall, and was able to round out what we needed there) and wrapping and sending cards, and then time with family. It was tempered with some sadness with missing loved ones who have passed on, hearing of a friend our age who passed away, and our dog dying.

Jeremy left for his home yesterday afternoon. It doesn’t get any easier to say good-bye. I felt bad that we really put him to work while he was here: Jesse’s desktop computer that he and Jeremy had built for gaming a few years ago had suddenly died last week, and his laptop that he uses for homework was infested with viruses — it was still running, somehow, but extremely slowly. Jeremy was able to get them both up and running well, and then I pestered him with multiple questions about my new iPhone. But he lent his expertise generously and then had time to just relax the last few days he was here.

Jim is off work and Jesse off from school the rest of this week — actually Jim is off through Monday and Jesse through Tuesday. We have various things to take care of, one being taking Christmas decorations at some point this week, but otherwise I’m not sure what we’ll be doing. I’ve enjoyed taking a day or two just to relax after everything else. I’m working on a list of books I read this year and trying to decide on my top ten books from that list. Often at the end of the year I look back over the last year’s post and choose one or two favorites from each month, so I might do that as well. And some time in the next week or so I want to write a post about our dog, Susie, but I need to look up and scan some photos of her younger years for that.

I had wanted to make a separate post some time this month called “Christmas photo takes and outtakes” but never got to it, so I’ll leave you with photos we took at Thanksgiving to put with Christmas cards. I like some of the “outtakes” as well as the “good” ones. Most of those took place when Jim was adjusting the settings on the camera and we were playing around waiting.

I feel like maybe I’m supposed to start tap dancing there…

Now this is real life. No, just kidding. Really.

But we did get several good ones! Here’s one:

I hope that you had a very special Christmas as well!

Our 32nd anniversary!

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Today we celebrate 32 years of marriage!

Thanks to my wonderful husband for his patience, kindness, and example of unconditional love to me. On our 30th anniversary I posted 30 things I love about my husband. He is a very nice man. 🙂 ♥

Normally we just go out to dinner for our anniversary and exchange cards, and that’s the plan today. Looking forward to a nice dinner out tonight! But we have lots of Christmas busyness to get done today.

One of the nice things about having a daughter-in-law is having someone else celebrate our anniversary! No fault to the guys — over the years they’ve had a baby-sitter when we went out to dinner until they got old enough to fend for themselves. They didn’t think about doing anything else to acknowledge the day besides wishing us a happy anniversary, and we didn’t expect them to. But Mittu has done something special for us each year since she and Jason have been married. Last night they brought over dinner for us as well as a cheesecake and a giant peanut butter chocolate chip cookie, and a picture they made for us. I haven’t taken a picture of the picture, but I’ll try to do that for Friday’s Fave Five.

A few years ago Jim made this video for our anniversary. The song is one of my favorites, “Our Voyage” sung by John McDermott of the Irish Tenors.

Thanks, hon, for all you do, for all the ways you show you love me, and for 32 wonderful years together. Looking forward to the next 32. 🙂

Gingerbread Houses

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I’m not good at decorating cakes, so I guess that fact plus having all guys at home never inspired me to try gingerbread houses at Christmastime. It’s funny the things you just assume boys won’t be interested in. But having a daughter-in-law with different interests and talents has expanded our horizons the last couple of years and enriched our lives.

Jason and Mittu brought over a couple of gingerbread house kits last Friday night. I liked having everything we needed in a kit, including pre-made gingerbread. I had always been afraid of making gingerbread and having it stick to the pans or fall apart.

We set everything out in the middle of the table, and there was enough for each of us to decorate our own house.

First came the “building”:

Someone said Jim looked annoyed there. No, he was just concentrating. At one point Mittu said, “Dad, your face is going to freeze that way!” 🙂 Plus he was really tired: we had moved Grandma the day before and then he’d had to go in to work about 3 a.m. that morning.

Then the decorating:

I started out trying to decorate mine just like the example on the box, but then started doing my own thing. I think the best touches were what different ones dreamed up that weren’t on the box!

Here are the results:

Jason’s:

Mittu’s:

Love the yard!

Jesse’s — he was particularly proud of the peppermint icicles:

Jim’s:

Love the peppermint chimney and stacked logs!

Mine:

And an extra one that Jim put together and I decorated:

Our gingerbread village:

Mittu remarked that it smelled a lot better than our last project, the pumpkins! And that’s certainly true! The first day or so we had them out, the smell was a little overwhelming, either seeming too sweet at times, or other times making me want to eat something. But that’s faded a little bit since the first day.

All in all it was a fun evening!

Friday’s Fave Five

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Welcome to Friday’s Fave Five, hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story, in which we can share five of our favorite things from the last week,  wonderful exercise in looking for and appreciating the good things God blesses us with. Click on the button to learn more, then go to Susanne’s to read others’ faves and link up your own.

It’s been an…..interesting week. Jesse was sick earlier in the week, then his computer imploded. We moved my mother-in-law into a new assisted living place yesterday,  and Jesse (age 18) had a minor accident on the way over. Nothing makes one’s heart drop like answering the phone and hearing, “Mom, I hit someone.” But thankfully no one was hurt and both cars were drivable, though Jesse was pretty shaken. But God sprinkled blessings throughout the week as well. So my favorite parts of this week are:

1. Safety and appreciation that Jesse’s accident wasn’t worse. Thinking about “what might have been” isn’t productive, so I try not to go there, but I am so glad for God’s protection over what could have been much worse.

2. My mother-in-law’s move going well. We had decided to stop mentioning the move until it was actually time to go, because she kept forgetting and we’d have to go through all the whys and wherefores each time. She got a little restless during the morning here at home with Mittu and me, saying she was ready to go back to her room. 🙂 We’d tell her we needed to wait for Jim to get back. When it was finally time to take her over, I thought he’d sit her down and explain the situation again, but instead he just took her to the new place and said, “This is your new home, Mom.” That turned out to be the wiser course of action. She seemed to roll with it — she didn’t ask what was going on or ask to go back to the old place. She might in the next few days as she adjusts mentally to new surroundings and people, and it takes a while for staff to get used to the particulars of caring for a new person, so we’d appreciate continued prayer for her. But overall things went about as well as they could have during the move.

3. Family pulling together. We so appreciated everyone chipping in and pulling together to get Mom moved and settled.

4. Our church’s Ladies’ Christmas Party. Such fun, and one friend shared a wonderful, transparent testimony of God’s working in her life.

5. Another Dinner for Six with church folks, with a twist: this was the first time we’d had small children in our house for ages, and the first time we’d had someone in a wheelchair other than my mother-in-law. We knew the previous homeowner had been in a wheelchair, and though the whole house isn’t outfitted for a disabled person, the main doors are wider. Jim had built a ramp for his mom’s wheelchair. So we were pretty confident everything would work out ok, but it was nice when it actually did. 🙂 We had kept back and cleaned up a few toys for the children, and they enjoyed them and everything went ok on that front as well.This was actually from a previous week, but I had forgotten to mention it. 🙂

Bonus: Gingerbread Teddy Bears.

Looking forward this week to our church choir’s Christmas program Sunday and then Jeremy coming home Wednesday! And to our 32nd anniversary — haven’t decided just what to do yet, but we usually just go out to eat and enjoy a quiet evening together. And of course there’s lots to do for Christmas yet!

Have a good weekend!

It’s Moving Day….

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No, not for us but for my mother-in-law. I mentioned a few months ago that her assisted living place had decided that her level of care was getting to be more than what they would provide, but my husband and her physical therapist convinced them that she was fine where she was.

But at the last fire drill Mom wasn’t able to vacate the building in the allotted time the fire code says she needs to, so the director called and said she needed to go. We had been thinking along those lines anyway, that it would be better to move her than to live with the constant possibility of it on our shoulders.

Jim took her to another assisted living place Monday for an interview. One of the specific questions he asked was whether she could stay there long term or whether we’d be facing all this again in another year as she declined. They said they would be able to take care of her through the end of life. It seems to be a lot better staffed. It is more expensive, but that’s due to a higher level of care. There is a nurse practitioner on staff, so that person can be her primary care person and she won’t have to be sent out to a dr. for basic needs: things like the emergency room visit she had a few weeks ago would be avoided because they can do basic testing there.

All in all it sounds like a positive move, but of course change is hard, especially at her age. We’d appreciate your prayers as she makes this transition. After visiting the place with Jim and having multiple discussions about not wanting to move and Jim explaining why she had to, when I went to see her yesterday she had no memory of any of it and I had to start from scratch explaining it all. I don’t know if she’ll remember it when Jim goes to pick her up this morning. I truly think once she gets settled she’ll be fine, and in some ways short term memory loss might be a blessing, but the first few days will be disconcerting for her.

The plan today is that Jim will go pick her up and bring her here to our house, where Mittu and I will stay with her so she’ll be out of the fray of packing up. Jim, Jason, and Jesse will go over to her place and pack her things up and then take them to the new place. Then when they’re done setting up, we’ll take her over. The staff there even suggested we have dinner there with her the first night to help with her transition.

So we’d appreciate your prayers for the stresses of this day and for her transition. Thanks so much!