Friday, December 17, 2004
Nothing much more to report today.
Mom was a little under the low weather: Cold and windy despite plentiful sun. It was a slow day for her. We did a few exercises, again informally, until she dropped the weights and said, "No more." I heeded her desire. She was so obscured by the low that she didn't notice the Christmas tree this evening. Usually she notices it anew every evening and talks about it.
We enjoyed another Just Desserts dinner tonight. It consisted of a lavish, luscious dessert muffin from the dozen sent to us for Christmas by friends. I'm satisfied that, in order to handle holiday sweets and delight my mother with them without trumping her blood sugar, Just Desserts dinners are the way to go. That's how she likes her sweets, pure and unadulterated by nutrition. I hope we aren't sent too many more sweets. If we get too many more I'll have to throw some away.
We had one 'looking for Kleenex' incident this evening after she'd been on oxygen for a half hour past her exercise session. I always put her on oxygen during the session then leave her on for awhile until she catches her breath. By that time I figured she'd be fine off it, so I cut the tank and retrieved a box for her. She was surprisingly conservative in her use. Maybe breaking this habit won't be much of a problem. I'm wondering now, though, what other obsessive habit she may develop in its place. I'm also wondering how I'm going to handle her eyes watering when her allergies act up. Most of the time the drops we have take care of the problem but sometimes, especially in the spring and fall, even the drops don't help much. As well, any visit to The Valley brings on unstoppable tearing. Could be by the next pollen season she'll have forgotten about her nose.
We are continuing with Deep Space 9. Despite her "low degree" today she insisted on packing a few episodes in this evening. She remembered that one of the episodes on the last disc we were working through yesterday was entitled "Dax", she was too tired to watch it last night but remembered that she'd determined it was a "must see". It always surprises me how much of my mother's memory kicks in when her interest is seduced. It also surprises me how hard it is for me to determine what might do this. Her interests become less predictable the older she gets. There's also a great deal more interspersing of interests than there used to be: Something that catches her eye one week may have absolutely no glitter the next. I used to think this was a sign that her attention span was shortening but there are some activities, like her crossword puzzles and gossip magazines, that remain attractive under all circumstances except when she's ill.
I'm feeling unusually content this evening. I'm not sure why and I don't care. It's just nice to feel this way, every once in awhile.
We enjoyed another Just Desserts dinner tonight. It consisted of a lavish, luscious dessert muffin from the dozen sent to us for Christmas by friends. I'm satisfied that, in order to handle holiday sweets and delight my mother with them without trumping her blood sugar, Just Desserts dinners are the way to go. That's how she likes her sweets, pure and unadulterated by nutrition. I hope we aren't sent too many more sweets. If we get too many more I'll have to throw some away.
We had one 'looking for Kleenex' incident this evening after she'd been on oxygen for a half hour past her exercise session. I always put her on oxygen during the session then leave her on for awhile until she catches her breath. By that time I figured she'd be fine off it, so I cut the tank and retrieved a box for her. She was surprisingly conservative in her use. Maybe breaking this habit won't be much of a problem. I'm wondering now, though, what other obsessive habit she may develop in its place. I'm also wondering how I'm going to handle her eyes watering when her allergies act up. Most of the time the drops we have take care of the problem but sometimes, especially in the spring and fall, even the drops don't help much. As well, any visit to The Valley brings on unstoppable tearing. Could be by the next pollen season she'll have forgotten about her nose.
We are continuing with Deep Space 9. Despite her "low degree" today she insisted on packing a few episodes in this evening. She remembered that one of the episodes on the last disc we were working through yesterday was entitled "Dax", she was too tired to watch it last night but remembered that she'd determined it was a "must see". It always surprises me how much of my mother's memory kicks in when her interest is seduced. It also surprises me how hard it is for me to determine what might do this. Her interests become less predictable the older she gets. There's also a great deal more interspersing of interests than there used to be: Something that catches her eye one week may have absolutely no glitter the next. I used to think this was a sign that her attention span was shortening but there are some activities, like her crossword puzzles and gossip magazines, that remain attractive under all circumstances except when she's ill.
I'm feeling unusually content this evening. I'm not sure why and I don't care. It's just nice to feel this way, every once in awhile.
