It's been awhile

I know since I have posted here. I haven't quite figured out what I want to write about these days. Alot is going on and then it seems like nothing is going on! I guess after the holidays everything seems to "quiet down", or at least get back to normalcy.

I've started going to the gym on a regular basis and that has gotten me into my routine once again. I realize how easy it is for me to do too much in a days time and I certainly pay the price sometimes. I still get tired rather easily and that is frustrating.

My son is looking at law schools and of course all of them are far away. That has been on my mind a lot -- I know he will make the right decision as to where to go -- he's a smart kid. So far he has been accepted to Stanford, Berkley and Harvard. He is still waiting to hear from others -- I wish it was an easy decision for him but I know it won't be. Of course, mom and dad stress out about it too, but isn't that to be expected!

Frustration

I've been pretty frustrated lately. It goes in spurts thank goodness. I'm forgetting more and more things -- like going to make coffee and I already made it, going shopping and not remembering what I bought, putting clothes away and not knowing where I put them, filing papers away and not being able to find them. It's very frustrating. I feel so stupid when I do stuff like that. My husband's solution is "write everything down" -- but you cannot write every step down you take during the day. We do tend to keep things in the same places all the time which helps but sometimes I just want to scream!!!!

Happy New Year

Hope everyone had a good holiday season. It has been different for me --not working during this time of the year. My son has been home from college for three weeks now and I have gotten to spend a lot of time with him. It's been good -- but different. I'm sure he finds it boring around the house spending it with the parents, but I'm glad he has done it. I have a feeling these days will be few and far between from here on out.

I was reminded this week that 2005 brings some milestones for our family. In April our 25th wedding anniversary comes around, my son will be graduating with his Master's degree in May, my husband is looking at retiring this summer and I will turn 50 in October! I hope my health will keep up with me so I can see all these things happen!

Happy Holidays

To everyone reading this. My friends and family keep me going and that is the best gift a person can have. I love you all.

New York, New York

Our family just returned from a short stay in New York. It was great fun. We got to see some shows and enjoy New York during Christmas. All the Christmas lights made the city sparkle. It was cold -- but we were only there for a few days so we could take it!

It was so nice to spend time as a family. At times, things were a little confusing for me, but I still managed o.k. I realize our "family time" is going to be more and more limited, both in terms of my health and the fact that my son is getting older and won't want to go with his parents on vacation. But so far, he has managed to tag along and tolerate us having our family time.

The best part of all is always the ice skating part. I love to ice skate and my son laced up some skates and skated with me at Rockefeller Center. It was just great. I have always loved to skate and it doesn't matter how cold it is or what the conditions are, I just love to skate. I guess growing up in Illinois helped with that as most Southerners don't seem to appreciate it as much as I do.

We had very little bickering on this trip. Not that we usually have a lot but there always seems to be those times when we argue over where we are going to eat, what we are going to do, how to get there, etc. But, for some reason this trip was good in that regard. It's strange that I think about that -- but I'm glad we didn't have that on this trip.

It was a nice holiday present for me -- time with my family -- that's what I like most.

The holidays

Last week my husband and I went to a one day conference on Alzheimer's in Atlanta. It was really interesting and we got to catch up on the latest news in what is happening with research and the like. But, it was the first time since I retired that I was in a "classroom" situation, listening and having to pay attention. I was amazed at how bad I was at this! I couldn't follow a lot of what was being said and I thought my head was going to explode after a couple of hours. I'm glad I don't have to concentrate for long periods of time anymore!

It's a couple of weeks before Christmas and here in the south it is still quite warm. Our family is going to New York City next week just to "play" and it is suppose to be cold there -- I'm glad of that -- perhaps it will get us into the spirit of Christmas a little more. And, I love to ice skate so I am looking forward to skating in Central Park and at Rockefeller Center. It is so beautiful there with the Christmas tree and everything. I'm glad I will get to enjoy this with my family. That is what the holidays is really about -- spending time with the people you love. And, unfortunately, missing the ones you can't be with.

Thelma and Louise

Several years ago I met a couple of women who are big Kenny Rogers fans. They contacted me when our venue was hosting Kenny Rogers for a two night concert. Their names are not Thelma and Louise but I started calling them that because they have such a zest for life and a little crazy -- I say that affectionately. When I started calling me them that they didn't even know who Thelma and Louise were so they watched the movie and called me and said "But we didn't kill anyone!" -- which is true of course, but they still remind me of Thelma and Louise.

Last night I went to a Kenny Rogers concert with Thelma and Louise in Atlanta. It is my second concert with them. Last night marked their 896th concert of Kenny Rogers -- yes, 896. It is rather amazing -- and they love him more today than they did years ago when they started going to concerts.

Thelma and Louise are sisters and this is their passion (obviously) -- but they are so happy when they are doing it -- I can't imagine being that happy over something you have seen 896 times! But that is what makes life interesting -- those types of people and thank God for them. I love these women -- they have become friends in a short time. I wish I had their enthusiasm for life!

Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. It is amazing how time flies isn't it? My son is coming home tonight and staying for a few days. That always seems to cheer me up. I'm grateful he takes time for his family and always has.

This hasn't been a real good week for me. And, the bad thing is that when I have a bad time, it is very difficult for me to find the right words to tell somebody about it. Usually my husband picks up on it and helps me along but he hasn't been doing that lately -- I think he is just missing the cues. But, I can't tell him about it because I can't find the right words to express myself. Never having had a problem with expressing myself before, this makes it even more difficult to deal with. I guess it goes back to the "aloneness" of Alzheimer's -- you feel so alone because you can't communicate effectively. I guess the upside to that is that if I can't tell anyone that I'm having a problem I'm less of a burden!

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving

Gosh -- next week is Thanksgiving. The time certainly flies. We have finally finished up pretty much everything on our Memory Walk and we brought in almost $30,000. We are so pleased with the effort...and the good thing is everyone is on board again for next year. This committee of ladies that worked on the event this year were so great and caring. I just hope that I will be able to help in some capacity -- I hate to make too many committments too far out because I don't know what kind of shape I'll be in at that time.

The holidays mean more to me now and I know that everyone says that we take everything for granted.....and we do. That is a real shame isn't it? It seems like something bad has to happen in order for you to realize that. And, I really don't want presents I want time with my friends and family. That is the most important thing to me.

2004 Memory Walk

Well, our Memory Walk is history. The day was truly amazing. Seeing all those people come together for our cause was very touching and humbling to me. We had hoped for about 300 people and we came close to that. The Alz. Office is counting our money but we are hopeful that we reached our $20,000 goal. The weather turned out great and the walk was awesome.

I can't thank everyone enough for the hours they put into making this happen along with everyone who donated money. Thanks to all of you reading this that made that happen!

One thing that struck me is that strangers called me during the week after seeing the publicity in the paper and asked if they could come out and volunteer. I know people volunteer all the time but to have people just call, without knowing anyone else or doing it with a group is amazing to me. Maybe I don't give people enough credit -- because like I said, I know people volunteer all the time, but it usually a case where they are tied to the cause or have family or friends involved and they want to help. But that wasn't the case with some of those that showed up to work today -- they just wanted to help.

One of my friends had surgery on her foot and she came to the walk in a motorized wheelchair so she could "walk" with us. The funny thing about it is, that she had the surgery two weeks ago and never told me. We talk on the phone but we don't see each other very often. She didn't tell me because she knew that I was working hard on the walk and she knew (or she thought anyway) that I would be over there helping her and worrying about her and not working on the Memory Walk. You can imagine how surprised I was when she showed up in a wheelchair. That's friendship. And, that's friendship you don't find real often.

I am truly fortunate to have such wonderful people in my life. My friends and family pitched in where ever they saw something that needed to be done and I cannot express my gratitude enough.

When we find out how much money we raised I will let you know. Thanks again for your love and support.