Hanging Laundry outside in Autumn

Jamál (Beauty), 5 Qawl (Speech), 168 BE – Sunday, November 27, 2011 about 2:05 PM Pacific Time

It’s autumn and I have to hang wet laundry outside. I remember my grandmother hanging cloths outside, I always wondered why she got started doing laundry so early in fall and winter now I know. The days are so short that one is lucky to if the cloths dry.

Saturday and Sunday, I washed bed sheets and hung them out. On Saturday, I hung four sheets out (I am only washing small loads) and they were dry before noon. So today, I hung out eight sheets, which dried before noon. I figure I can wash three or four small loads and they will dry (depending on the cloths) before sunset.

I can use my washing machine at home, so I am finally catching up on the laundry. If I washed larger loads, I could catch up faster if I washed larger loads, but I have to work with my physical condition and other work I have to complete. The three or four small loads allows me do the laundry without wearing myself out. It also allows me to time my work while I am online or writing because I have to stop and add the fabric softener to washing machine.

Saturday afternoon Coffee in Las Vegas

Jalál (Glory), 4 Qawl (Speech), 168 BE – Saturday, November 26, 2011 about 1:30 PM Pacific Time

I made a fresh carefree this morning about 5:30 or 6:00 AM, but due to various issues with my mother I am just getting around to drinking a hot cup of coffee. The coffee maker turned off several hours ago, so I had to reheat the coffee up in the microwave. I put the coffee in a large mug and then placed the mug into the microwave and reheated the coffee for 1.25 minutes.

The only way I can reheat coffee in the microwave is by putting the liquid in a mug. I have not taken the trouble to reheat coffee in a small cup, the mug works good and it hold enough coffee for me drink while I am writing or surfing the internet.

As I wrote before, Mom had several issues this morning. Mom spent most of the morning crying for her parents and cousins. Most of the people she wanted to see are probably no longer alive, but there is no use saying that to Mom because she would not believe it and she would be upset. I finally got Mom calmed down and all the morning’s issues resolved or she forgot about them.

Right now, Mom is taking a nap on the couch. The nap probably means she will stay up late or get up early Sunday morning. The problem is that getting upset and crying always wears her out. Mom does not take naps often on the weekend, but when she does, there is no talking her out of it. I have to wake her up about 3:00 PM for a pill. After this morning, I am tired myself; however, I cannot take a nap because there is no one else to take care of Mom. Instead of a nap, I will reheat another mug of coffee.

Black Friday 2011

Istiqlál (Independence), 3 Qawl (Speech), 168 BE – Friday, November 25, 2011 about 1:50 PM Pacific Time

It is Black Friday and I am at home with my mother because the Adult Daycare Center closed for the holidays. The Daycare will reopen Monday, but in the mean time, I am at home with Mom who is crying. Mom misses her parents and wants to see them.

My grandparents, Mom’s mother and father, died years ago; Mom does not remember attending their funeral. She thinks they are still alive and living in Blackwell, Oklahoma. Mom is upset because she thinks she left them without saying good-bye. I do not know how to help her with this issue. I cannot tell her my grandparents are dead because that would make her cry more.

It is Black Friday 2011. My mother has Alzheimer’s disease and does not remember her parents are dead. Mom still has a Risperidone tablet to take, but I cannot give that to her until 3:00 PM. She takes one tablet three times a day.

It is Black Friday 2011 and my mother is home crying for her parents. No matter what I say, it does not comfort her. Mom wants to see her parents, but they are dead. I cannot tell her they are dead because she would not believe and it would make her even more upset. I am going to attempt to distract Mom with food sometimes that helps. There is one chocolate pudding left in the refrigerator that I can give her, I hope it helps. It might help for a little while.

A Thankful Thanksgiving in Las Vegas

Istijlál (Majesty), 2 Qawl (Speech), 168 BE – Thursday, November 24, 2011 about 2:55 PM Pacific Time

It is a Happy and Thankful Thanksgiving in our house. Mom is home because the Adult Daycare center closed for Thanksgiving and Family day (Black Friday). Mom is in a good mood and singing Jingle Bells. We had a delicious Thanksgiving meal, which someone delivered to our home yesterday.

I warmed the turkey, dressing, potatoes, peas, corn, and gravy up in the microwave. In addition, we had dinner rolls, cranberry sauce (fixed with whole cranberries) and pumpkin pie. The Thanksgiving Feast contained enough food for breakfast and lunch, with enough potatoes and dressing left over for two meals tomorrow.

For breakfast on Friday, I will fix potato pancakes. For lunch tomorrow, I will make a green bean salad and warm up the dressing. I still have to fix dinner tonight, but I think it will be fruit or some type of sandwiches. Mom still has pills to take and she has to eat something with the meds. I am not hungry; however, Mom will want more to eat this afternoon.

I finished off the coffee a few minutes ago, so this afternoon I will pour Mom some orange juice or grape juice. Mom does not need any more coffee because I suspect it keeps her awake if she drinks it after 3:00 PM, Mom needs to drink more juice and water. I wish I could get her to drink more water. She wants to drink anything except water; I am going to have to figure out a way to get her to drink more water.

Midweek Reflections: Giving an Alzheimer’s patient medication

‘Idál (Justice), 1 Qawl (Speech), 168 BE – Wednesday, November 23, 2011 about 12:55 PM Pacific Time

As I have written before, sometimes Mom doesn’t want to take her medication. Normally, it’s simply a matter of gentle persuasions. At other times, it’s a matter of backing off and waiting a few minutes for Mom to calm down and forget that I attempted to give her the meds. Then there are those times when the only way to get her to take a pill is to hide it in her food.

The doctor recently increased one of Mom’s medications from once a day to three times a day. During the week, the nurse at the Adult Daycare center gives her two of the tablets and I give her the third at home. Since Mom usually goes to bed about 6:00 PM, this requires me to wake Mom and give her the third tablet.

In some ways it’s easier to give Mom the medication and in other ways more difficult. I know that sounds like a paradox, but it’s true. Mom does not argue about taking the medication, therefore, once I have convinced her that she needs to take it and drink water with it she does. However, Mom does not wake up easily from a sound sleep; in fact, none of my family wakes up easily from a sound sleep.

Once I have Mom sitting up in bed. I have to make sure she is awake enough to take the pill and then drink some water. I think tonight, I will use a teaspoon to put the pill in her mouth. I’m not sure how well it will work that time of night, but it may be easier then putting the pill in her hand and then having her put the tablet in her mouth.

2011 a Stress Filled Year

Fidál (Grace), 19 Qudrat (Power), 168 BE – Tuesday, November 22, 2011 about 1:30 PM Pacific Time

2011 a stress filled year, which may explain why I got this Baha’i year (168 BE) confused with last year (167 BE). The stress was so bad that my psoriases got worse instead of better. The situation has calmed down a bit, my psoriasis is getting better and I have got my dates straight again.

What caused all this stress? I think it was a combination of issues. I am my mother’s caregiver and she has Alzheimer’s disease. Then there were the financial issues plus a bunch of other things; everything just pilled up and I stressed out. Even though the stress is still present, my life is becoming calmer.

I am meditating on the prayers revealed by Baha’u’llah, and the Bab, as well as those written by ‘Abdu’l-Baha. I am writing my problems in an offline journal, instead of using the journal as a place to rant. Ranting seems to increase the stress, while free writing about the issue helps find a solution. Prayer and journaling is the best way to alleviate stress and find solutions to my problems.

Happiness is twenty recipes for green beans

Fidál (Grace), 19 Qudrat (Power), 167 BE – Monday, November 21, 2011 about 6:10 PM Pacific Time

All right, it doesn’t take much to make me happy any more. For the past few weeks, we’ve eaten a lot of green beans, can chicken, and rice. It’s good, but I think I’ve overdid it because Mom doesn’t eat it very good any more, so I have to find different ways to fix green beans because I have an over abundance of canned green beans in my pantry.

A friend sent me a link to 20 Ways to Cook Green Beans. I glanced through the recipes a few minutes ago and they all sound good. Since I’m making a green bean salad this week, I’ll begin fixing one of the other recipes next week. The first thing I need to do is make a list of the ingredients and then check my pantry to see what I have on hand. I’m looking forward to cooking these new (to me anyway) recipes.

Thanksgiving Week begins

Jamál (Beauty), 17 Qudrat (Power), 167 BE – Sunday, November 20, 2011 about 4:00 PM Pacific Time

Thanksgiving week dawned cloudy and chilly. I fixed Mom the rest of the rice casserole this morning, so she had something hot to eat. However, I have to change the recipe when I make it again to make it more appealing to Mom. I’ll deal with this recipe next week because this week I have Thanksgiving to plan.

I don’t have to plan the Thanksgiving meal because I’m expecting the meal to be delivered. Someone is providing the Thanksgiving day meal for Mom and me, which is a relief because now I can focus on other things. I have to find something for Mom to do at home on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday because Mom will be home all day for four days instead of two.

I plan to remain home Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday because I have laundry to do. I can use my washing machine now; I have to hang the cloths on the line to dry, so I hope the sunshines a little more then it did today. If there are clouds, I still have laundry to do, so I’ll have to hang the cloths indoors to dry.

I found out yesterday, that when Mom’s home I can only get one or two loads of laundry washed and dried. I still have to hang those cloths in the closet, but I can do that this evening after Mom goes to bed. I hope I can get more then two loads of laundry done tomorrow while Mom is at the daycare.

A Recipe in Progress – Microwave rice casserole

Jalál (Glory), 16 Qudrat (Power), 167 BE – Saturday, November 19, 2011 about 9:55 AM Pacific Time

At the beginning of the week, I fixed a package of rice in the slow cooker. I fixed the entire package because I wanted the rice to last all week. This time I did not add any bouillon cubes to the rice, but the next time I make it I think I will add some chicken or shrimp bouillon cubes.

On Thursday, I added a can of chicken and a can of green beans to the rice. Thinking about it now, I realize I had too much rice for one can of either item. However, since I did not use a measuring cup when I transferred the rice to the microwave casserole dish, I do not know how much rice I used. When I tasted the rice, I realized I needed more chicken and green beans.

Today, I added the rest of the rice to the casserole dish, but I did not add any other items. I wanted us to finish the casserole this weekend so that I can begin fresh on Monday and keep track of the amount of the ingredients. Right now, the ingredients are rice, chicken, and green beans. Next time I make this recipe I will add corn, peas, and perhaps carrots or switch to cans of mixed vegetables. I have not decided which just yet. I also have to buy some chicken bouillon cubes because I have only shrimp cubes in the refrigerator. Yes, I keep my bouillon cubes in the refrigerator.

A New Week Begins: Hope sees a bright future

It’s Sunday, November 13, 2011, and a new week begins. I realized today that hope always sees a bright future. Even when clouds hide the sun, hope remembers the warm rays and smiles. I’m just recovering from a bad case of psoriasis brought on by stress and worry.

Ever since Mom lost her hearing aids and I had to pay for a new pair, I’ve worried. I’ve worried over everything and it’s brought on a bout of psoriasis. I know that worry doesn’t cause psoriasis, but it does encourage an outbreak. The psoriasis on my left leg is especially bad, but all I have right now is the topical that I apply once a day. It helps, but it’s slow.

Everyday this week I’ve encountered a situation that cause stress and I can’t afford any more stress. My Medicare kicks in December 1 and I can’t see my new doctor until after that date. This means I have to handle stress differently because worrying about the stressful situation doesn’t make sense when I know the worry will encourage a psoriasis outbreak.

Writing and prayer help alleviate the stress. The problem is that I haven’t been doing a lot of either for a while. I need to get back to my old routine of prayer and writing. In order to do either, I need a little alone time. The situation does not encourage this. I now have my brother-in-law sleeping on a couch and it’s stressing me out.

I’m almost to the point of giving up, but that won’t help. Besides giving up isn’t an option. It’s something I think about when every occurrence in my life causes stress. I need to look at the coming week with the eyes of hope because hope always sees a bright future.

I am Tired in Las Vegas

Jamál (Beauty), 10 Qudrat (Power), 167 BE – Sunday, November 12, 2011 about 5:15 PM Pacific Time

It’s Saturday evening sometime after sunset. I’m tired. It’s been a long and weary day. I had to put my plans to go to the bank this morning on hold because of issues with my mother.

Mom had a difficult day. Mom cried all morning, I called the on call nurse and she refilled prescription Mom takes for agitation. I think it helped a little. Mom cried about her grandparents, I don’t know if she meant her maternal or fraternal grandparents. She cried because she thought her grandfather had ran away with another woman. I don’t know the woman’s name or anything, just that she thought he had ran away with someone besides her grandmother.

I finally got Mom calmed down enough to eat. She ate, took her meds, and then went to bed. I went back into her bedroom once to reassure her that I’m still here. I turned out the light in her room and in the hall, so that she could go to sleep. I think she’s asleep now, at least, I don’t hear her crying.

Usually, on Saturday I watch television after Mom goes to bed, but I don’t feel like doing that tonight. I’m tired, but not sleepy. I’ll see what I can get done while Mom’s asleep. She may not stay asleep very long or she may sleep all night.

Feeling like autumn in Las Vegas

Istijlál (Majesty), 7 Qudrat (Power), 167 BE – Thursday, November 10, 2011 about 2:20 PM Pacific Time

It’s beginning to feel like autumn in Las Vegas. Today the clouds cover the sky and hide the sun. It feels damp and slightly chilly. The temperature in the house is 75 degrees. It’s a depressing day. It’s a day that hints at the coming of winter.

It’s beginning to feel like fall in Las Vegas. This morning was chilly. Mom complained about the cold this morning. It didn’t feel cold to me. The morning felt damp, which suggested a chilly temperature.

It’s beginning to feel like autumn in Las Vegas. I don’t think we have reached freezing temperatures at night, but the leaves on my next door neighbor’s oak tree are beginning to change colors. It will soon be looking like fall in Las Vegas.

It’s beginning to feel like fall in Las Vegas. Each day I go out and look up at Mount Charleston. I’m looking for snow on the mountain. Every day I expect to see Mount Charleston’s crest covered with a layer of snow. One of these days, I won’t be disappointed. I’m looking forward to see the Mountain’s snow capped crest.

Laundry Day in Las Vegas

Kamál (Perfection), 4 Qudrat (Power), 167 BE – Monday, November 7, 2011 about 3:12 PM Pacific Time

It’s Monday afternoon and the only thing I accomplished this morning was laundry. It took me 2 ½ hours to do three loads of laundry. The only cloths I washed today were mine. I still have some of Mom’s to do, but that will have to wait until Thursday. I still can’t use the washer here at home because it needs a sleeve to prevent the water from over flowing into the wall during the spin cycle.

I could get a lot more accomplished at home if I could do laundry here. I could do one or two loads a day and hang them on the line. I have a wonderful cloths line in my backyard. It’s circular and turns so that I can stand in one spot and hang cloths out.

I like the scent of cloths dried out doors. I remember my grandmother always hung her cloths outside to dry. They smelled so nice and fresh. I use fabric softener; however, I can’t use the fabric softener. When I hang cloths outside they have a nice aroma without using a scented laundry detergent or fabric softener.

Rain in Las Vegas and the environmental unit

Jalál (Glory), 2 Qudrat (Power), 167 BE – Saturday, November 5, 2011 about 3:40 PM Pacific Time

It rained in Las Vegas last night. This morning, when I looked out my kitchen window the ground was wet. When I went out front to roll the trashcan to the curb there was a small puddle of water in my driveway.

Because it rained yesterday, it is chilly today. My central heat is not working properly because hen the auxiliary heat comes on the temperature in the house moves down and not up. The regular heat seems to work, but I don’t know how well it works. I called the company that does maintenance on our unit and they can’t send someone until Tuesday afternoon. So I guess we’re not the only household dealing with heating problems.

I’m going to a store tomorrow to buy a small heater for the bathroom. The bathroom needs to be warm for Mom to take a bath on Monday and Tuesday morning. I’m not crazy about having a space heater, but I have no choice Mom can’t take a bath unless the room is warm.

I’m tired of having problems with the environmental unit (central air or in our case heat pump). This year we’ve had more problems with that unit then in the past few years. I suspect we may need a new unit and I don’t want to think about that right now. Therefore, I will place this situation in God’s hands and get on with my life.

A Beautiful November afternoon in Las Vegas

Istiqlál (Independence), 1 Qudrat (Power), 167 BE – Friday, November 4, 2011 about 2:50 PM Pacific Time

It is a beautiful November afternoon in Las Vegas. The wind is blowing and clouds hide blue sky. I went to the car and the wind seemed a bit chilly. It was not cold enough for a coat or jacket, but it was cool enough for a long sleeved blouse or shirt.

I am waiting for Mom to come home, so that I can fix her something to eat. Mom has to take her meds with food, which is nice because it makes it easier to hide her pills in the food. Sometimes Mom does not want to take her medication.

I am not sure what type of mood Mom will be in today. Since the wind is blowing, she will think it is cold. Therefore, I suspect she will not be happy. Mom does not like to go out in the wind. Mom has a nice new coat that keeps her warm, so I think the problem is the wind and the clouds. Mom thinks that clouds mean rain.

In Oklahoma, where Mom grew up, clouds do mean rain. However, this is Nevada and clouds do not always bring rain. Even if the clouds do mean rain, it may not rain in this section of Las Vegas. It would be nice if these beautiful November clouds brought rain, but the only thing we may have is wind and clouds.

Medication and The price of peanut butter

‘Idál (Justice), 18 ‘Ilm (Knowledge), 167 BE – Wednesday, November 2, 2011 about 7:32 AM Pacific Time

What, you may ask, has the price of peanut butter to do with medication? In our house, a great deal. Peanut butter is one of the foods I use to hide my mother’s medication. Sometimes, because of the Alzheimer’s disease, Mom does not want to take her meds. She fights taking her meds, so rather then argue with her; I hide the tablets in food.

I can always tell how difficult Mom is going to be. Mom has two meds that are capsules rather then tablets. One of these she takes first thing in the morning. Sometimes she takes the capsules without too much of an argument. At other times, she refuses to take it. This med is for her stomach and prevents heartburn, which she has if she does not take the capsule on a regular basis.

The problems with time-released capsules are that she cannot chew them, but must swallow them whole. The capsule (a different medication) she takes of an evening is easier because she is happier in the afternoon then in the morning. As I was writing, I hide the tablets in her peanut butter or ice cream. If peanut butter prices get too high, I will have to find another food to conceal Mom’s meds.

Time to close the books on October

Fidál (Grace), 17 ‘Ilm (Knowledge), 167 BE – Tuesday, November 1, 2011 about 3:23 PM Pacific Time

I like to stay home on the first day of the month. This is when I close the books. This morning I couldn’t stay home, so it’s afternoon and I don’t have October’s books closed or November’s books open and this mean a late night bringing everything into balance. Oh well, it is my own fault.

The only financial work I accomplished today was setting up the house payment to come out of the checking account on the seventh. Usually, I close the proceeding month’s books before going to the mortgage website to make the house payment. That way I can put the payment amount in the budget spreadsheet with the confirmation number. I wrote down the confirmation number, so I have it when I set up November’s spreadsheet.

I will close October’s books after Mom goes to bed. I don’t like doing this because I prefer to close the books when I am by myself and don’t have to listen for Mom. Sometimes Mom gets out of bed and walks down the hall. The problem is that she doesn’t always remember to use her walker. It’s difficult to close books when I have to listen for footsteps in the hall.