Praying For All My Friends Today with Colds, Flu & Pneumonia

This time of year can be pretty rough on your system. Flu often leads to pneumonia and it takes months sometimes for your body to recup. Pneumonia is very dangerous so don't take any chances. See a doctor.
Once you begin to recover, don't push yourself. Drink plenty of liquids, get plenty of Vitamin C and rest. See The Mom Squad Blog (Thurs. Feb. 28) at www.955thefish.com for more helpful hints to ward off colds and flu. Blessings to you all.

Creativity Combats Confusion

I have been my Mom's full-time caregiver for 3 years and 3 months now and part-time caregiver 7 months prior to that. I have seen the gradual affects of Alzheimer's and have had to make adjustments accordingly. It is always my objective to keep Mom happy, healthy and safe but some days, she attempts to fight the status quo. I pray a lot for the strength to handle this situation but on difficult days (like yesterday), I go into extreme prayer mode. I do not want her to become frustrated nor do I want to be frustrated. Some days she forgets she is in her own home and begins to put on layers and layers of clothing. She says quite forcefully, "I am going home now." Sometimes a simple reminder that she is already at home helps. Her facial expression changes as if a light bulb has been turned on and she begins to look around. Then she responds, "What am I thinking, of course I am at home." She will then repeat her address over and over a few times, remove the clothing and pick up a book or sit and enjoy a TV show. Other times it is an entirely different story. Here is where the creativity comes in. When she won't remove the clothing or allow me to remove the clothing, I simply say, "Mom, are those my sweaters?" She will immediately begin to take the excess clothing off. In her mind she is still very independent and she KNOWS she has always been able to afford her own things, God bless her. She KNOWS she has her own clothes and does not want to ever bother things that belong to others. Then once she removes the many layers of clothes and moves to the closet for coats I simply say, "You know Mom, in order to go home, you have to have a good breakfast." She always spoke to us about the benefits of a good breakfast so those words seem to trigger something. Once she sits down to eat, I can administer her morning pills. I must call these the "morning vitamins" because she can relate to vitamins but she refuses to relate to the words 'medication' or 'pills' as she has been against that concept all her life and never needed any basically until just before the onset of the Alzheimer's. One of the meds, helps to keep her calm. I usually give 1/2 with breakfast and 1/2 with dinner just because that normally works well. But on the days when she starts out being a little rambunctious, I administer the entire pill with breakfast. Then usually, the rest of the day is great for the both of us. So if you are a Caregiver or become one, I encourage you to be prayerful, patient and by all means, creative. Call upon others to give you a break if you begin to feel overwhelmed. THANK YOU RANDY FOR GIVING ME A BREAK YESTERDAY AND TO YOU AND PHYLLIS FOR THE HELP ON TUES. & THURS. Caregivers are a blessing and God sees all you are doing for your loved one so be encouraged.

Daughter Gets a New Doo

My youngest daughter, Beranda, is one of the most adorable people I have ever known. She is beautiful inside and out. She and I are forever changing our hair-doos. We like wearing it long so we can have style variety but due to breakage, etc. periodically we need a trim. So here she is, wearing it shorter than EVER but still looking magnifico! You go girl!!! By the way, this will be the first year Beranda will be eligible to vote so she is really excited! She is listening carefully to what each candidate has to offer and Saturday we had the opportunity to see Senator Obama in person and he shook Beranda's hand. What an experience for a first-time voter!

I Give Up

After trying many things this week to deter the skunks, it has only aggravated them soooo this morning I called the Animal Warden. From what my nephew told me, they will come out, set traps and take them away once they are caught. I have to make sure my little Chewchy does not go into the area but I truly am PRAYING this nightmare will be over real soon. Blessings.

The Battle Between Me & Pew Wee Continues

It is incredible to me how everything that God created has a purpose, a plan and the instinct to survive. Skunks are here for a reason. I just don't know what that reason could possibly be! Just like clockwork, there they were again at 4am Tuesday.

This time they were surprised by a large wooden frame I had placed in front of the trellis and up over the siding. I could tell they were puzzled and for sometime they displayed their anger by further spraying the area and the stench is what actually woke me up. BUT in visiting the scene of the crime, I noticed they had found a way to still get up under the frame and had actually dug a pretty deep hole, so its ON TO PLAN B (imagine that being said with an echo affect-hahaha). In speaking to a Home Depot rep, he highly recommended pouring vinegar around the area and then distributing moth balls along the perimeter of the house. I can hardly WAIT for them to come to see my next move. I'll keep you posted....The Bible says, "Count it all joy." smile

Skunktus Interruptus...

The weather was quite blustery here during the night and a family of skunks wanted a place to hide so they attempted, at 4am to pull the siding off the back of my house, along the wall of my bedroom right where my headboard is. This had happened previously but it had been a while. After the last time, I found a piece of wooden trellis and placed it along the back of the house and pushed the grill against it. Last night, they were relentless. They were jerking the trellis back and forth and banging against the wall. First I banged back hoping to frighten them, but that did not work. Then I got my flashlight and shined it through the bedroom window but that just seemed to make them work more fervently. So I got bold and opened my bedroom window so I could shine the light directly on them but they said, "Thanks lady. Now we can see exactly where we want to burrow." So I had to do something I hated to do...I woke my son, Micah. Now Micah loves the Lord and I think next in line is sleep. He brought me one of his air rifles and I began to do a bit of target practice. On one hand, that was a good thing because the skunks ran. On the other hand, they ran toward the front of the yard, where my sweet little companion, Chewchy (See photo on 2/1 posting) was relieving himself. They sprayed him and he ran into the house doing a weird dance of sorts. Falling down on the right, then the left, rubbing his face on the carpet and franticly spinning. I grabbed my rubber gloves, put him into the bathtub, covered him with Scope Mouthwash (HA - I did not have tomatoe juice and I wasn't about to use my Classico Spaghetti Sauce). Then I bathed him in antibacterial soap. It worked pretty well. It took about an hour for me to return to sleepytown but what a wonderful sleep it was. Sometime today, I plan to do a bit of research to find out what I can use to encourage my furry striped 'friends' to stay away from my home. Have a precious President's Day!

Laura's Home...What An Amazing Place

The longer I live in Cleveland, the more I am amazed by all it has to offer. There are so many people that need a fresh start and there is an amazing place called Laura's Home, that provides that fresh start. It is a part of the City Mission that houses women and their children. This Christian organization receives no government funding, yet funds that come in via private sources and companies, provide a clean, bright facility, 3 meals daily, job resource training, daycare and much more. You would be so impressed by the loving atmosphere. I hope you will take the time to tour this marvelous facility, make a donation and make a difference! For more information, call (216) 472-5500.