Stop and visit, talk all you want. Pt 21

Good morning, everyone.

Well, the time has come. Mom has been halucinating again...

On Sat. she called 911 and had the police come because she was being held hostage. They came. When they found the care center, they realized there really wasn't an emergency. They were very nice about it and even chuckled. Crystal was in town and we both went to see her but she had taken some meds and was sleeping. We tried to wake her but you know how it is when you're on drugs. ☺ Later, she called me and said she was at the police station and could I come make arrangements to have her released. It took me 20 minutes to assure her things would be taken care of. She called me 3 more times that night for the same problem.

On Sunday, she called me again and said they lock her in her room and never let her out. No one comes to see her, no one calls her. After another 30 minutes, I finally convinced her that I talked to the care personnel. They will not lock her in and I will leave her a note on her pillow when I come and can't wake her.

Later, on Sun., I received a call from Brother Scott. He said she called HIM and told him she was thinking of giving her rings to some of the staff at the care center. He told her NO, NO, NO!!! Stop, do not give away anything!!! She called me AGAIN and said she couldn't find her cell phone and could I come find it. I took her phone awhile ago. Brother Doug has it. That conversation took another 30 minutes.

I've gotten no more calls from her since then. I called Brother Doug yesterday and we decided that we need to take the last of mom's things away from her. It's too dangerous. She has her purse there and I'm afraid she will forget to lock it up one day...We're going today. We're going to run interference for each other and, hopefully, not run into much trouble over it.

That's it. I don't have much else. Been working. The scrapbooking retreat is this weekend. That will help relieve some of my tension. I've been having trouble sleeping. Gee, I wonder why? Huh...

Have a wonderful day and I will check back in later.

Wow Celia I will keep your mom in my prayers. Your brother and you also!!
Have fun at the scrapbooking retreat!!

It will be fun. The retreat , not the trip to mom's. LOL 24 hours of mindless fun.

Celia, I am so sorry you are having to go through this but she is, after all, your mom and you are good to keep on caring for her, in spite of everything. You deserve a break so have a good time at the scrapbooking retreat this weekend. We'll be thinking about you. The bowl your friend brought you ifrom Iran is lovely.

Terry, I didn't know there was a shortcut to Harrison from Bull Shoals without going through Yellville.

We had a real "gully-washer" of a rain storm this morning. The weather people said there were 4 rotations on the doppler radar, which means a tornado in the air, and they were heading our way. Normally we don't run from these things--just ride them out-- but when they say there is a possibility of 4 coming your way, you better "get out of Dodge"!! We did. We went N.E. of town and ran out of the rain, found a neat restaurant at a junction about 12 miles from here and had lunch then headed back to town. Thank goodness none of the rotations turned into anything. Rain has stopped for now. Tomorrow is supposed to be a pretty day!

Celia, the worst thing to do with somebody having hallucinations that are age related or illness related, is to argue with them. Only assure her everything is fine. If she wants you to talk to the police, leave the room for a few moments and come back and tell her that you called them and whatever else you need to say to assure her YOU have everything under control. I've been thru this with my grandma and it was one of the toughest things I've ever had to do. What I learned if is if you try and reason or if you argue, it only makes matters worse. My parents didn't exactly beat me into always telling the truth..lol..but it was something pounded into my head and I absolutely hate, I loathe lying. But for grandma? There were instances where I had to lie. Staff beat her? Leave the room and please speak to the head nurse and tell her you know that's not what's happening, but let her know what IS happening in your mom's mind. I always felt like I was going along with whatever grandma said when I knew it wasn't the truth. I tried to reason with her that something she claimed never would of happened, but I soon learned I had to just go along. For grandma. As hard as it was for me, it was the only thing TO do. Please do take what ever valuables she does have. Leave her purse, her wallet. She doesn't need any ID, such as a drivers license or state ID, so remove anything like that that could be stolen. Just give her piece of mind, but remove those valuables that give you piece of mind. I hope this all makes sense. I too offer my thoughts and prayers to you and your family at this time. I'm so sorry.

There is also no "if" in when the check arrives, or it's "when" it arrives. I have the paper stating that because I signed this form of theirs, that $457.67 will be issued to us. Since I've known the Sheriff for a very long time and he's got an in with the State's Attorney, it sure wouldn't be difficult to get what is owned to us. Love living in the town I was born and raised in!

How about the little town of Kasbeer IL, just up the road, north of here? I believe they might have 58 people living there. Used to be 38. They did have a PO/grocery store, but I don't believe the PO is there anymore and I know the grocery store is gone also. Used to have a one room school that was used up till the late 60's? 70's? Somewhere in there anyway. Now all kids are bused here I believe for school. There's also Hollowayville, which is east. Population is 90 and it doesn't even appear it's a town when driving thru. Their claim to fame was a nice restaurant, but that's been closed yet again. Funniest names of towns that I know are actually down in AR (sorry Mau!), but the best by far, is Three Brothers. I believe there's 3-4 houses and a church. That's it. No slow down required, same for Hollowayville and Kasbeer up here.

LOVE the bowl Celia!! My mom brought me back a very small lidded bowl from either Panama or Ireland. I get confused with all the trips they take..lol.

Where's Mau?? I know really severe storms were heading her way. I hope they were missed!

Thanks, everyone.

The trip to mom's was good and bad. Good, because it wasn't the fight we thought it was going to be. Bad, because this is the first Doug has seen of her for weeks. He was very surprised when he walked into the room and saw how far down she'd gone. Even I was surprised and I saw a few days ago. We got her purse and made arrangments with the staff to pay her rent. I also found her rings that I thought had been missing. They were in the office safe. Mom didn't wake up enough to talk to us for long.

Anyway, I have to get all my stuff togetherfor tomorrow. I got a new carry bag for my supplies and it's HUGE. I couldn't tell by the picture how big it was.

It's a pretty day and quite warm in the sun. I'm going back outside.

Oh, we cross posted! LOL Yes, I go along with whatever she says. I talked to the staff and things are fine.

Mau!! That was you typing while I was being my long winded usual self!! I was cleaning the bathroom this morning and John came in and told me that a "Cabot AR" was in the line of some serious storms, tornado activity a very high possibility. I am so glas you got the heck of out there!! Would you believe we haven't had a 70º day yet? In about 12 or something more days, if still not hit 70, we beat a record. Yippee, she says sarcastically. Last year we had a really warm spell and were hit by frosts again, typical really for here. But this? We've barely had any consistent 50º days. Raining here now. Was thundering awhile ago, but just rain now. More moves in tonight. More for tomorrow, more for Sat, with the possibility of snow mixed in. I remember sometime early 2000's having snow on April 12th, so again, no big deal. But for crying out loud, can we can a little bit of warmth in here?? I love winter, but jeepers, this is tiring still going on. Might as well move to Alaska and get beautiful land to boot?

jeez, I can't win for losing and you guys aren't even pepper! She loves to do that to me..lol.

Celia, I'm glad you're doing what as you should. Keep us updated.

I have to get off for now, I might be back later. That's sort of iffy right now though. My eyes are so heavy to keep open.

LOL terry. Sorry, I was making a strawberry pie when everyone was posting over you.

We got hit by storms but nothing like Mau. Just heavy rains at times and we came close to getting flooded out. But that stopped in time, the sun came out for a few hours, then all of a sudden about 2:30 or so we had howling winds and rain coming down really hard and blowing sideways. A few minutes later it was over and sun came back out.

There was a line of storms from Miami County (southwest of us) going northeast and that just missed us by a few miles. Might get some stuff tonight, maybe tomorrow, and chance of snow on Saturday.

Celia, sorry to hear your mom is worse. Hang in there!!

Our forecast for the next 7 days is SUNSHINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Terry, It must have taken you about 15 minutes to type up that post of yours which is just under mine. I posted at 4:18 and you posted at 4:34 and you hadn't read my post yet? "long-winded", indeed! LOL

Pepper, y'all are probably almost as waterlogged as we are. So are parts of Oklahoma. Pau's cousin called us today from Tulsa and said there was a dam in their area that was in danger of breaking. It is not one of those big concrete dams--just a dirt dam, I think, that is holding back a pond of several acres. Officials were in the process of evacuating people below that dam.

Have a great scrapbooking weekend, Celia.

I'll check in with y'all tomorrow. Nitey-nite all!

pepper I couldn't believe it wasn't you typing over me!

Mau, I was unsure how to spell Hollowayville, it looked right to me, but then again it didn't. So I did a search and also found exactly what the pop is since the sign doesn't say. With that few people, the signs rarely do. With Kasbeer, I thought maybe I could find a current pop for them also. No luck. Their sign always tells the pop though, so go figure. And also as I'm sure Celia can attest to, reliving and retelling the events of my grandma is very fresh in my mind, but with those memories of lying to her, also bring tears and blurry vision. I NEVER told a lie to grandma. Not even a little white lie. I also wanted to type it up in just the right way, to try and make what I saying and maybe feeling at the time, in words and wording used in the correct way. I hope even that makes sense.

And yea, yea, it's late and I'm not in bed. I'm on my way....nighty night girls!!

Good morning, girls! A beautiful in store for us here in Arkansas today and we can certianly use it afdter the over-abundance of rain we have had! Our week-end is going to be cooler--highs in the 50's and a light freeze warning for Sunday night! :o)) However, all of next week is forecast to be beautiful with warmer temps and sunshine! It's about time!
Terry, yes, Arkansas does have some "different" names for our little towns all around the state. Such as: Rose Bud, Romance, Joy, Bee Branch, Yellville, Flippin, Calico Rock--just to name a few right off the top of my head. I could come up with lots more if I looked at the map! LOL We also have England and Paris right here in Arkansas! My daddy grew up in England but he never spoke with an English accent--LOL!

Pepper: Strawberry pie sounds yummy! Care to post the recipe?

Good morning, everyone.

I have an early day at work today but it's only a half day. Then home to sleep for a couple of hours and off to the fun!!! I have so many pics collected! I didn't realize how many I had. Sheesh! My niece called me last night and said that I overpaid for the room and I'll be able to use the refund on supplies. Cool! I do need some things.


Mau, funny how people name places like that, huh? I have an uncle that collected names of places that had to do with *heck* and heaven/angels. Angel Falls, *Heck*'s Kitchen...like that. I was surprised at the number of places that had those names.

Everyone have wonderful day and I'll keep you updated on mom's condition. ☺

i really thought you were making up Yellville and Flippin.

^_^

amy
*

Amy, immature is more fun. I LOVE Monty Python. It doesn't get anymore immature than that! LOL

Mau, that pie was a hit today at work!! It didn't last long. lol

Here is the recipe. Very easy to make.

Cool N' Easy Strawberry Pie
Prep:10 min Total time: 6 hrs 40 mins including refridgerating

2/3 cup boiling water

1 pkge [4-serving size] Jello Brand Strawberry flavored gelatin. Tip: I used sugar free.

Ice cubes

1/2 cup cold water

1 8oz tub Cool Whip Lite whipped topping, thawed

1 cup chopped strawberries

1 ready to use reduced fat graham cracker crust 6oz

1 cup sliced fresh strawberries

Stir boiling water into dry gelatin mix in large bowl at least 2 min until completely dissolved. Add enough ice to cold water to measure 1 cup. Add to gelatin; stir until slightly thickened. Remove any unmelted ice.

Add cool whip, stir with wire whisk until well blended. Stir in chopped strawberries. Refridgerate 20-30 minutes or until mixture is very thick and will mound. Spoon into crust.

Refridgerate 6 hours or overnight until firm. Top with sliced strawberries. Store in fridge.

Makes 8 servings

I just re-read my post above. The second line sure sounds like I have been hitting the "sauce"! LOL It was a beautiful DAY here today, etc.(and , by the way, I don't drink--really!)
Amy--Nope not making up those names but are you sure YOU didn't make up the ones in your post?--ROTFLOL
Pepper: thanks for the strawberry pie recipe. I'm going to give it a try next week.
We have a semi-permanent house guest--A male friend of ours who is moving to Arkansas. He is getting married soon but his bride-to-be hasn't made it down here yet. He is staying with us until he can find a place for them in Harrison. I said all that to say that I have been cooking for two hungry men the last 10 days and, sister, can they ever make the "vittles" disappear! Keeping Pau and our friend filled up is like trying to feed two hungry teen-age boys. The strawberry pie should satisfy their "sweet teeth"! LOL

Good morning, everyone! Celia is off at her scrapbooking retreat, I suppose. I hope she enjoys it--she deserves a break! I guess the rest of you "sleepyheads" are sleeping in! I just wanted to pop in and say "Hi"! I'll check back later.

Love and hugs to all!
Mau

I have a feeling they will devour that pie. lol.

I was out and about today even though it was snowing. I went to historic Lexington and checked out a couple antique shops then went to Maid Rite and got lunch. I avoided a greenhouse that was on my way home by taking a different highway. I don't know where my bare spots are in the garden so I can't plant anything yet. :~)

Marie has been holding out on us: just go here and scroll down till you see her name. Just look at the roses this lady has! Marie, for shame for holding out on us like that! LOL
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/833752/

Sounds like you had a good day in spite of the weather, pepper. That took some will power to bypass that greehouse!

Good afternoon, everyone!!!

I had a FANTASIC time at the retreat! More fun than a barrel of monkeys! LOL I finished my vacation book. It's just a little one but it was my first and I never finished it. I purchased a new photo album. I started a family time-line with it. I started with some photos of my grandmother and grandfather on my mothers side. The pic I have of grandma is from 1914 and the pic of grandpa is from 1918. I wish I had older ones. Maybe Brother Scott has some. For those of you that know scrapbooking, you know that 21 pages is a lot! LOL the book got kind of scattered around 3am but I changed the name of the book to "My Life, In No Partcular Order". That should save me.

My ex-SIL, Debbie was there and, boy, was she sick. She came down with a cold the day before but wanted to come anyway. She just took a bunch of drugs and plowed away. She got more sleep than we did, though. ☺ My niece, Jean, brought three of her friends and they were lots of fun, too. I forget one girls name but the others two were sisters, Betsy and Susan. All in all, there were about 100 people there.

They gave prizes away in drawings and I won some very pretty colored paper. I also...(...drum roll here...) won the grand prize!!! A 14" x 14" picture frame. It's perfectly sized for 12" x 12" scrapbook pages.

Everyone was so helpful. You could just walk to another table and ask for ideas. Nobody was shy about telling you that something needed to be changed or to offer advise. Good advise, not just critisism.

Jean and I stayed up until 3am and we were very loopy by then. ROTFLOL We had the other tables laughing at us. LOL Got up at 7am. Breakfast was good and then we were back at it. I left at 3:30pm and was at work by 6pm. Home by 10pm, in bed at 11:30pm, up this morning at 8:30am. Good times...

Here's our table.

Susan and Betsy.

Jean, trying to get a page protector on. that's her mom, Debbie, in the background.

I have more info on my mom, too. I didn't get the voicemail until it had all gone down...

Mom had been taking to the chaplain and he asked her if she needed anything. She said yes. She needed some excitement in her life. He asked what kind of excitement. She said she wanted to go on a high-speed persuit in a police car. Huh. So...

Friday, at 2pm, they had a squad car pick her up , turn on lights and sirens and went around the block twice. Mom had a blast!!! They tell me she was very happy when she got home. Can you believe that?!?! Granting a dying woman's final wish. And what a wish. I'll bet that officer had fun, too! They like things like that. I hope I go out with a bang!!! LOL

That's great, Celia, that the police would do that for your mom! What a story you will have to tell your grandchildren! LOL
It looks like you scrapbookers did some sure-enough serious scrapbooking! Is that a plate of brownies I see in the first photo? Scrapbookers have to have their sugar fix! I'm glad you were able to get away for a few hours and enjoy yourself.
Congratulations on winning the prize!

Oh, yup, brownies. I didn't partake but I DID have coffee. And thanks! I was told by Jean that I had to use it for a scrap page, so I'm going to make an attempt at japanese ink painting. I picked some supplies and a book up. I've been told I have a little artistic talent so we'll see.

That's great that your mom got to do that. That just cracks me up thinking of her going WHEEEEEEEEEE!!!! LOL

I had this mental image of her telling to officer how to drive and which way to go for a shortcut. ROTFLOL ☺☺☺ I, so wish I had know because I could have taken the video cam. ☺

So, I planted a Yoshino cherry a few minutes ago and I'm tired!

Flowers. They smell like almonds!

This message was edited Apr 13, 2008 4:57 PM

Looks like you have that cherry tree staked up where it will grow nice and straight, Celia. I love the almond fragrance--makes me think of an almond pound cake I used to make a lot. I might have to drag out that recipe! LOL

There's no planting going on here til it dries out and warms up. Normally we would be by now but the weather is ignoring our gardening pleas. LOL

LOL. I can see her doing that and him going no we can't go that way or we'll hit a house!!

Yes, Mau, and we didn't even think of staking it when we picked it up. I found some stakes in the garage and improvised. it turned out quite well.

Yes, I can see it now...Turn here. I can't, Ma'am, it's one-way. But it shorter this way. Ma'am, I'm sorry, I still can't do that. Well, Don't go so fast. Sheesh! You're going to hit that car! (pushes foot on imaginary brake) Ma'am, I've been driving a very long time and...I DON'T CARE HOW LONG YOU'VE BEEN DRIVING. I'VE BEEN DRIVING A HECK OF LOT LONGER THAN YOU!!! DIDN'T YOUR MOTHER TEACH YOU MANNERS???

Now, if you go THIS way, we'll get there faster. Ma'am, we're only going around the block. Can't you make that thing stop making that noise? Does it have to be so loud? And what's that smell?

ROTFL!!! It's starting to feel like that movie, Stop or my mother will shoot!! LOL

Yes, mom is very...what's the word? Assertive? Yes, that's it.

Good morning, everyone! Beautiful day out. 77º predicted with high winds. It's a little windy now. I was going to plant some other things but I think I'll wait until tomorrow. Don't want new things blowing over, do we?

Everyone is well?

Pau and I are well--how about the rest of you?
Celia, funny "imaginings" about your mom's trip with the policeman! It would be interesting to know what was really said! LOL
Hey! Where does Utah get off having higher temps than we do here in AR? You're at 77º and we are at 53º! Of all the nerve! LOL Still it is a beautiful sunshiney day for which I am VERY thankful! Like pepper, I can't do much outside till it dries out and warms up. Warm-up is supposed to be on the way after we get this last bit (hopefully) of cool weather out of the way today and tonight.

I need help, I dug up 300 bulbs that were in clumps on a hillside and I am pretty sure they are daffodils. I planted them and have lovely green leaves but no flowers. I don't know what to do.

If they are daffodils and aren't blooming, did you feed them when you planted them? When do daffodils usually bloom in your part of the US? (What zone are you in?) If you just planted them last fall, they may be later than normal in blooming. I know I just planted mine in December and they were late blooming. That's about all I know on this subject. There may be another forum that specializes in this sort of thing. Is there a forum for DGers in your part of the US? If so, you could start a thread there and somebody could probably help you more than I have. good luck!

Geenp, try the Mid-Atlantic Gardening Forum. Someone in your zone should be able to help you. Let us know what you find out. and welcome to our chat thread. come on back anytime! The girls around here call me "Mau". (I'm the senior member of this group, so far.)
Mau

My daffies have just now started blooming so it could be anything.

It got a bit warmer today. This morning it was 31 and I kept thinking it felt like 50s. Felt that way all day. Only wore my coat for a little while then I was down to my hoodie.

Went and partied tonight. LOL. Nah, it was just dinner with my brothers, parents and grandma. Saw some former coworkers of mine while at the restaurant too. My dad used to work with them also but it had been several years since he saw them and he almost didn't reconize them. It was pretty cool seeing them together again.