Bad Days

I always tell people that I have "good days and bad days" -- and I realize that they don't really know what that means -- but it gets me through the question without a lot of conversation. But, yesterday -- I had a bad day and what that really means is:

1. I have an electric toothbrush and when I was brushing my teeth yesterday I couldn't remember how to turn the toothbrush off! It sounds funny now, but I just didn't have a clue. I ended up putting it in the kitchen sink because I was afraid if I put it on the counter that the vibration would knock it on the floor. So, I put it in the kitchen sink. I also couldn't remember where I was suppose to spit out the toothpaste -- so I went to the trash can and spit it out there. Later, I saw the toothbrush in the sink and thought "why is the toothbrush in the sink and it is turned on?" I picked it up and turned it off, cleaned it off and put it away.

2. I then had a dentist appointment. The day before I had broken my glasses and made an eye doctor's appointment to be sure my prescription was still the same before ordering new glasses. But the whole time I was at the denists getting my teeth cleaned I thought I was at the eye doctor's. I couldn't figure out why this lady was messing around with my mouth, when they should be looking at my eyes. It was obviously very confusing.

3. On the way home from the dentist there was an accident and all the traffic was stopped for a long time. I couldn't maneuver my way around it and couldn't make a u-turn because of the other traffic. So, I just sat with my engine idling. I noticed that a lot of people were turning off their engines to wait it out. I thought I would do the same, however, I thought to myself that if I turned the engine off, I wasn't sure I could remember how to turn the engine back on and then what would I do? I didn't want to call anyone and ask them because I just couldn't bring myself to do it, so I just sat with my car idling until the wreck was cleared up and then I was on my way home.

All these things happened in one morning...and that is a bad day.

A Step Behind

The last few days haven't been real good days for me. The only way I can describe it is that I feel like I am a step behind in everything I am doing. Things don't seem to come into focus for me and I can't quite get right what I am trying to do. One of the problems I have now is expressing myself clearly as to what I am feeling and I realize that what I just wrote probably doesn't make sense -- only to me. It just seems like I am out of sync with what is going on around me. Kind of like I am going in slow motion as the rest of the world whizzes by. But, this too shall pass.....or I hope so.

My friends still keep me going. I enjoy hearing what everyone is doing and all of the accomplishments. A good friend from Illinois just got a teaching job in England next fall and that is so terrific. She always amazes me at what she does and what she has accomplished....I am so excited for her. It is so nice when great things happen to great people.

February

Well, it is February and I realized I haven't posted in here for awhile. Sorry about that everyone! I've had a cold -- and although I have had it for a couple of days it seems like I have had it for weeks. It's the kind of cold where you just want to sleep it off! But, I'm out of the bed today for a little while anyway. I have a Memory Walk Meeting this afternoon so I need to at least get myself cleaned up and out of the house for that. I can rest the next two days!

Our group that is working on the Memory Walk is great -- they are pretty much the same people that worked on it last year. The bad thing is that I hate to commit myself to too much out in the future because I never know how much I'll be able to do in 6 or 9 months time. You want to hope that you'll be able to do everything.....but you just can't count on it. But, since we have so many good people on the committee I know it will go off without a hitch as it did last year.

On the home front my son is still agonizing over law schools and probably will for a few more months. On a lighter note for him, he went to Mardi Gras in New Orleans over the weekend. I guess I need to clarify what "going to Mardi Gras" really meant in his case. One of his roommates works for Delta so they got some cheap air fare to New Orleans. They left on Sunday morning around 9 a.m., stayed up all night and then got on a plane early Monday morning to come back to Atlanta. So, they weren't there for even 24 hours but I guess they got to "experience Mardi Gras" if that is what you call it! I guess it would be nice to be young again and do that. It would take me about a month to get over a trip like that!

On February 14th my son has an audition in Atlanta for the game show Jeopardy. It is something he has always wanted to do -- why not go for it I guess. He's a lot braver than I would be. He thinks that if he can get on the show it will help pay for law school. I would like to think that, too!

A long weekend

The south was hit hard by an ice storm this weekend. We lost our power on and off but there weren't many major power outages in our area which was good. But, it made for a long weekend since it was hard to get out and move around. But, it was beautiful outside looking at the ice on the trees and the streets. I know that might sound kind of strange but it was pretty.

The highlight of my weekend was that my son came home. Luckily he made it home before the ice starting forming. I really enjoy our time together and it is nice that he spares a weekend here and there because he is so busy. I worry alot about when he comes home what changes he sees in me if any. I also worry about the time when he is going to come home and I won't recognize him.....I hope that is a long way away.....but I can't help worry just the same. That's going to become a reality at some point....as hard as that is to think about.

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.