What Season Is It?

Well, it had been cold and I thought it was fall until today.  The temperature was actually 82 degrees here today...just two degrees short of a record high!

But, the severe thunderstorms have come in now, and the temperature is supposed to resume a more nearly normal 60's in the day 30's to 40's at night.  I actually enjoy those lovely Fall temperatures.

We had to turn on the air conditioning today!

I read a great book on Sunday...Remember Me by Mary Higgins Clark.  It was one of her best I believe, and I enjoyed having time to myself (sitting in a comfy chair at Barnes & Noble) to read it.

It grabbed my attention from the very first paragraph, and I couldn't put it down until I finished it. A woman who has a young baby is suffering from PTSD after losing her first child in an accident which she felt she feels she could have prevented.  She is a tormented soul, and someone is helping to feed that torment...it is a great read!  So many hours later after a cup of spicy Pumpkin Latte Coffee and a nice piece of Quiche for lunch.  I strolled down the street to Bonefish Grill and had a serving of Ahi Tuna and a Maryland Style Crab cake.  I was not disappointed with either!  Yummy.  All in all, thanks to my sweet hubby sitting in for me, I had a very relaxing and revitalizing day.

Since I have become a full time caregiver, my time to read or do anything else for myself has become very limited.  I am hoping this will improve in the near future, as we have contracted with Hospice as of this week.  They have sent out a Nurse, Social Worker, Chaplain, and will be sending out Home Health Aides and Volunteers to help me out.  Wow, I am not sure I will know how to act.  The Social Worker also told me that Macon DOES indeed have a Senior program where Lucy can go and socialize, play games or something and have lunch sometimes.  That would also be good for both of us.  I am not sure she will agree at first, but at this point it is a matter of preserving the "caregiver's" sanity.

Tomorrow my hubby and I have our yearly physicals.  I schedule them both on the same day so we can just get them out of the way.  It is quite important when you are over 50 to get a yearly physical.  It seems that things just change so much once you hit that magic number.  So, if you haven't scheduled yours, get with it!  It could save your life.

Here is a wonderful "Cooking Light" Recipe for you to enjoy.

Here's to your Health!

CHICKEN STROGANOFF WITH BROCCOLI

2 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts cooked and cut up into bite sized pieces.

1 container (16 ounces) fat free Sour Cream (or Fat Free Greek Yogurt)

1 can (10 1/2 ounces) fat free cream of chicken soup

8 ounces sliced mushrooms

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon parsley flakes

2 heads broccoli, cut into small florets

IN a large saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the chicken, sour cream, soup, mushrooms, salt, pepper and parsley.

SIMMER for about 20 minutes or until the sauce thins out.  Steam the broccoli for about 3 minutes or until crisp-tender.  Serve the chicken over the broccoli.

Makes 4 Servings

Calories 320 per serving

If you wish this may be served over rice, but be cautious how MUCH rice in order to control your caloric intake!  It's delicious and so good for you!!!

If You Don't Laugh, You Might Not Survive!

I am sitting here trying to "visualize" the most peaceful, beautiful place to escape to in my mind. Okaloosa Island and the emerald green water there are the most calming thing I can think of...glad I am heading back there for some respite in two weeks.

It has been a rough morning here. As I have explained previously, I care for a 95-year-old friend who moved in with me in July. In July she was "with it" and fully capable of managing her own dressing, bathing...well, you get the picture.

Well three falls and one broken hip later, she is quite demented, and I am about to join her! Have you ever had a child who was a "poop smearer?" Well I now have experienced a dementia related poop smearing experience for the second time in less than ten days! AAAAUUUGGGHHH!! I mean it's one thing to deal with it with a one year old in a crib, but altogether another to have poop smeared all over your entire bathroom (which happens by the way to be white!)...

Anyway I share this to say that after my initial meltdown and cleanup, and having a glass of White Zinfindel at ten am, I messaged my daughter about what was going on.
I knew she had been having trouble with her phone, so I wasn't sure she would actually get the message, but I needed to vent anyway!

Well, as it turns out she was at the AT&T store having someone look at her phone just as I was texting OMG OMG, poop smeared all over the place...I am having a glass of wine! Well, the guy looked at her and said "Uh, you're getting some messages."...and handed the telephone back to her. She nearly died when she read the messages!!! OMG for sure, here were the explicit messages about poop smearing!
She was mortified!!! She was laughing when she called me, thank goodness. She said she will probably never go back to the AT&T Store again though!

So, at least we got a good laugh out of the whole thing.

But, on a serious note, after the events of the morning I have contacted Hospice to see if they can be of any help in my ongoing dilemma. I don't want to put Lucy in a nursing home, but the dementia is growing more extreme with every passing day, and I truly don't know where we are headed otherwise. So, this afternoon Hospice will be coming by to "evaluate" her for me.

They seem to think at this point that they can probably help...I certainly hope so, because I am about at the end of my emotional rope. For any of you who are caregivers out there, I encourage you to seek help wherever and whenever you can get it. Things are definitely more available than they used to be in this area.

I am a retired Registered Nurse, and as such have had lots of experience with dealing with dementia, poop, etc. and yet, even for me it is a very difficult situation. You need to find time for yourself and a way to "let off steam" once in a while or you will end up sick yourself. I encourage you to do so.

And, whenever you can, remember to LAUGH at the things you can for it really is the best medicine!