Tiny Talk Tuesday - Probably the Last One - Update on Margie

For all of you who have been asking about how Margie's doing, I don't really have anything funny to relay to you for Tiny Talk Tuesday.  We had a really rough few days with Margie last week.  She is a little better but hasn't recovered and from what we've been told, probably won't.  Vascular dementia is like stairsteps down.  Last week was a step down and now she's leveled off again.

The morning after the earthquake in Japan Glenn called his mom to see if she had been watching the news.  She told him, "I'm glad you called.  I'm in this place where they give showers.  I don't know where I am.  I don't know why I'm here."  So Glenn talked to her a while & told her he would call her right back.  He called the office at her home and they told him that she was there, they were about to give her a shower, and yes, she's very confused today.  He called her back, then went to see her.  It was like it was the first day she had been there but she didn't know how she got there.  She even told Glenn that she fell asleep in her bed and woke up here.  He had to walk her around the home and show her where the TV room was, the dining hall, & how to get back to her room.   She was the same Saturday morning but that afternoon when we went by to see her after Aunt Dorothy's memorial service she seemed better.  She called us all by name, introduced us by the correct family relationships, asked how Jordy's prom was and told her friends that Jordy had one year of school left.  Those are things she hasn't been getting right for months!

I checked on her again after church Sunday.  She told me she couldn't find her things & this wasn't her room.  She didn't think "they" brought everything when they moved her here.  And again yesterday when I dropped in she told me that the food here was really good but she liked the food at the other place, too.  Just a little warning if anyone talks to her on the phone and she tells you she's in a new place.... she's not really.  It just seems like a new place to her.

The good thing is that she thinks that everyone else there in the home moved with her.  She seems to remember them and feel comfortable with them.  She hasn't forgotten any of us.

But I think I've come to the end of "Tiny Talk Tuesdays".  Last Sunday Jordy didn't go in with me because she was sick & had a fever.  When I got back out in the car I said, "I would tell you what we talked about... but I'm not sure."  Conversations with her go around in circles and don't really flow in any one direction.  For a while she would repeat herself every few minutes.  Now she's forgetting what she's talking about WHILE she's talking.  Sometimes in the middle of a sentence she'll stop & then start talking about something completely different.

I'm not sure how old this photo is.  I think it was taken in one of the restaurants that George worked in.  So maybe it was Grady's around the time Glenn & I got married?

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Aren't they cute?!?  Since I cleared the photos off my phone today I decided to do a "real" Tiny Talk Tuesday today.  These are 2 of my nieces that I saw on my trip to Texas a few weeks ago.  Baby Sarah was resting peacefully when Big Sister Elizabeth decided to kiss her.  Then they both ended up screaming.  My sister's house is a very noisy place.  Very close to the time of this picture E asked me, "Aunt Sissy, where you a baby when you were born?"  She's also very good at making up songs.  She was asking me if I could hula hoop. (I think she had one somewhere that she had tried.)  Then she started singing this song (she wrote the words & the tune herself):

"Run like a box of chickens in the coop,  Hoop te hoop, hoop te hoop."

 Here's another niece.  She doesn't usually wear glasses.

The nephew was there but usually in his room playing with Legos.  I'll have to share some of his creations with you.  He wasn't as much of a ham as the girlies.

Meanwhile, back to today... I stayed home (my day off) because yesterday UPS tried to deliver MY NEW iPHONE.  (Sorry, was I yelling?)  So I waited... at noon I decided to look online to see if I could tell where it was.  They said they tried again to deliver it at 9:47 a.m.  Well, I was here... UPS wasn't.  Guess they tried to deliver it to the wrong house.  Good thing it needs a signature!  So I still don't have it.  I told them to deliver it to Glenn's office tomorrow.

 So instead of doing any errands or shopping I tried to catch up on some jewelry.  Because I did something last month that probably wasn't all that smart.  These 2 ladies on the left helped me.  That's my sister-in-law & daughter.  We did a little antiquing while in Texas.  This was one of our favorite booths in the Waxahachie mall.  You can probably tell how much fun Lauren is having.  We saw lots of jewelry & they told me they liked mine better & if I sent them some they would sell it for me.

So after last month's Room With a Past weekend I sent ALL my jewelry to Texas.  Seemed like a good idea at the time.  But then I realized that I have to go set up for the February sale this Saturday.  So I've been working hard, PLUS getting more jewelry ready to send to GreenCraft Magazine again, AND taking an online soldering class with Sally Jean Alexander!  My shelves may be a little bare this month.  I'll take some photos Saturday and show you.

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Isn't this a pretty picture?  It's the last Christmas picture I'll share with you for this season.  It was a pretty display on my kitchen table, but confusing for Margie.  

While I was in the kitchen Margie called out from the living room that she was going to eat some of the candy in my jar.  I said, "Fine."  Then I thought, "I wonder what jar she's talking about... Wait, I don't have candy in a jar!"  I heard some clicking noises & turned around to see Margie with a handful of little glass ornaments.  She thought they were candy!  I hope I didn't scare her too much when I yelled.  She did get to eat some of the candy that you see there in the photo... just not the glass balls!

My sister had a baby on Christmas Day.  A few days before that we opened gifts here with Margie while Mark & Lauren were still here.  She still says, almost every time we talk about them, "I'm glad Mark & Lauren are getting to live with their dad."  She still knows who they are but is a little confused about how everyone is related.

Anyway, when I went by to pick her up she asked about my sister.  The last time I had talked to her she mentioned that after the baby comes SE would have her hands full with four kids.  I was really impressed that she remembered how many kids  my sister has.  But on this drive she said,

Margie:  Has your sister had the baby yet?

Me: No

Margie:  How many kids does she have?

Me: This will be four.

Margie:  Does she know what they are yet?

Margie's other son & his family sent her a little photo album of family pictures.  I thought that was a great idea.  It was a bit confusing for her too.  Seems like one page was skipped - no photo - so she thought that was the end.  She said, "There's not many pictures in here."  We had to turn the page for her & show her there were more.  Her son called a few days later to see if she got it.  She said, "What photo album?"  So, if you talk to her on the phone she may sound fine, but you may still need to talk to Glenn to find out what's really going on.  :-)

But physically she seems to be doing okay.  Just a little dizziness but no fainting spells.  She has to be really careful with what she eats.  She's been having some stomach problems.  But still nothing more than usual.  I'll probably bring her to church this weekend.

Tiny Talk Tuesday

This hasn't been a bad week for Margie.  We just repeated a lot of things over & over.  And she kept saying, "I've never had that before", "I haven't eaten that in a long time," or "I've never seen that before."  For example, Glenn took her to Rocco's for lunch on his day off & ordered a Canadian bacon & pineapple pizza.  She probably hasn't eaten it often, but that's Glenn's favorite so I know she's eaten it with us before.  But she said, "I've never had a pizza with pineapple on it before."  Then they had this conversation:

M:  Glenn, look at that picture on the wall... it's moving!
G:  Mom, that's a TV.
M:  Oh, really?

It's a good thing Glenn wasn't home this morning.  First of all, I was watching country music videos while I was folding clothes.  I try to watch CMT only when Glenn's not here 'cause he really, really doesn't like country music.  That's the first reason.  The second is because this new video came on & I started bawling. The embed option is disabled so you'll have to go to YouTube to watch it.

Tiny Talk Tuesday & I'm Going to Texas

I'm writing this post on the weekend and scheduling it to be posted on Tuesday morning.  So if you're reading this on Tuesday, I'm on my way to Texas today!!!   This has been a strange year for us.  One of the things that's been unusual is not being able to take off time together.  Glenn took his vacation one day at a time -- every Thursday in August -- which turned out very nice for him.  He got some relaxing time on his bike & with his mom (not at the same time... lol) & we did have a couple of days away for our anniversary.  Jordy went to Texas for a week but I couldn't get off because I was filling in for a coworker.  I have next week off but Jordy is already in school.

This is an old picture of Margie's dog, Buddy.  He passed away after she moved out here.  But I've always loved this photo.

After Mark & Lauren moved in with my dad Margie said to me, "I hope the kids have a good time with their dad."  I still think that she knows who she's talking about but she's just getting the words mixed up. She very often introduced me as her sister-in-law, Jordy as her niece, and Glenn as her husband.

One of the residents living with Margie  is 92 but she looks very young.  The resident's daughter came for a visit and Margie asked her if she was her friend's mother.  When she replied no Margie said, "Oh, I thought you were her mother.  She looks so much younger than you."

Margie's roommate is Polish & [supposedly] doesn't speak English.  But whenever her son comes to visit Margie tells me everything they say.
Me: How do you know what they're saying.  Do they speak English?
Margie:  Yes, she can speak English to him but she can't speak English to me.

Happy Tuesday!

Tiny Talk Tuesday

On the way home from church Sunday Margie sighed really loud.  

Me:  Are you feeling bad or are you just tired?

Margie:  I don't know.  You know, you'd think when you're 75 you're still young and can flip around like you always did.  (No, she's not 75 yet.)

There was an article in the paper Sunday about dementia & Altzheimer's.  Margie found it & read parts aloud to me then said, "I don't think I have what the doctor's said I do... I don't remember what they said I had but I don't have it.  I just have trouble remembering things."

BTW, I took the photo above on one of our hikes.  I love being able to hike and look down on the birds.  

Tiny Talk Tuesday & Video of the Week

Here's my favorite video of the week.  I noticed that CMT is now showing a shorter version -- they left out the part about God.  Not sure if they wanted to be more politically correct or if it was just too long for TV.  I like this one better.  But it does make me cry.

Friday Glenn took his mom to have her cholesterol checked.  Seems that she called her brother the day before & told him she was going to the hospital but she didn't know why.   Here's some of what was said while they were at the doctor's office.

Nurse:  You look very young, are you still working?
Margie:  Yes, I work at an office.
Nurse:  Is this [Glenn] your husband?
Margie:  Yes.

Glenn told me that later she said she needed to get back to the office.  At least she didn't beg him not to go back.  I'm very thankful that she does like where she's living.

Tiny Talk Tuesday & the Invader in My Tomatoes

We were just sitting around talking about Margie when I realized that today was Tuesday so I thought I would just post it here & let y'all know what's going on.

I've had a busy two weeks so haven't been posting as much -- due to vacationing coworkers I've worked on my last two days off.  Then we had a health fair Thursday night so I worked then.  Then this weekend Room With a Past was open so I worked there.  Whew.....  I'm tired now.

Our church's family camp at Lake Tahoe started Friday, too.  Mark & Lauren went up with some friends Saturday.  They camped.  Glenn & Jordann went up after church Sunday.  They stayed in a hotel.  I took Margie to the early service then we went out to eat & went shopping.  We went to the thrift store to find books.  At our favorite thrift store hardbacks are always $1.00 and paperbacks are 75c.  I told her the price then we started looking.  She found a hardback she liked and looked at the dust jacket.

Margie:  I like this author.  But this book is $18.99.  Don't spend that much on me.
Me:  No, they're all $1.00.
Margie:  Really???  Wow, that's great.
Looked around a little more.  Found several paperbacks & started a stack.
Margie:  Ann, these books all cost too much.  You don't need to spend that much on me.
Me:  No, they're all 75c.
Margie:  Really???  Wow, that's great.
I think we repeated this conversation twice more before we walked over to look at clothes.  She needs another cardigan because she's always cold & one of hers is getting very worn.  She also needed a purse -- which she found for only $2.00  Didn't find a cardigan, but did find a couple of summer shirts.  I told her all the clothes were $4.50.  I found some & needed to try them on so she sat in the chair right outside the dressing room.  When I came out she was gone.  She was at the checkout talking to one of the employees.
Margie:  Ann, these aren't on sale.  Don't buy them, they're too expensive.
Me:  Margie, the full price is only $4.50.
Margie:  Really?  Wow!
She did get a little tired by the time we were through but physically she was having a good day.

So... fast forward to this afternoon.  I went out to pick my delicious home grown tomatoes and when I reached in to grab one this HUGE black widow came running toward me!  Tonight I was telling the family about it so Glenn & Mark went out to find it for me.  It was between the boards of the fence so Glenn sprayed it & Mark smushed it with my broom.  Sons do come in handy!  I think Jordy was running around screaming with me & Lauren was inside getting ready for VBS.

TTT, Part II

This one reminds me of my nephew!

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Just one little note today...

Sunday morning Margie seemed a little more confused than usual.  She forgot what time I was going to pick her up even though I get her at the same time every week.  Then after the first service she thought Glenn was leaving with us.  I told her he had to stay for the second service.  She said she didn't know there was a second service.  :-(  We stopped by Panda Express (our favorite restaurant) on the way home.   When I served her some she looked at her plate and said, "Is that a potlicker?"

Today there's a prize!  Who can name the three ladies in the photo?

Tiny Talk Tuesday

We didn't see Margie quite as much this week.  We had our house completely turned upside down for a while repainting everything & wanted to get that out of the way.  But Sunday after church we brought her home for lunch.  And since it was just her, me, & Jo we decided to do something different than Panda's.  We went to Daphne's for Greek food.  I know... shocking!

Later when everyone was home we watched a little TV.  I'm not what we were watching that started this conversation:
Margie: Do you think you could pet a giraffe?
Mark:  I guess they're kind of like a horse, so maybe you could.
Margie:  Don't you think they're a little taller?

Earlier that week in the car she said to me:
Margie:  Mark is such a nice young man.  (pause)  At least I think he is...

And as she was watching us sort all the jewelry & talk about all the styles ladies used to wear & still wear today she said:
Margie:  I don't know how women wear some of this.  I don't even know what I'm wearing right now.
I think she was referring to the jewelry, but it was really funny at the time.

And the Senior home gossip continues.  This time it's her roommate.  She had to go to a hospital for a while but Margie told me that she had inherited some money and wouldn't give any of it to her son so they came and got her and put her in prison.   I was thinking that maybe Margie was watching something on TV & getting it confused with real life but Glenn said that hallucinations are one of the symptoms of dementia.  And that these more elaborate stories that she's coming up with are just part of the hallucinations.  We have both made the comment in the last week how fun Margie is.  I am very grateful that as she goes through this that she's not showing signs of anger or aggression like so many dementia patients seem to.  And she hasn't tried to escape yet, either!

And I'm posting a photo of a little thing that is helping us save a bit of extra work this summer.  Instead of using a new napkin for each meal I found 6 napkin rings at the thrift store (of course!  50c for all 6!)  and labeled them.  Now if our napkin isn't all that dirty after just one meal, we stick it back in our ring & use it for the next meal.

Tiny Talk Tuesday - Expanded Edition

I have lots to share on Tiny Talk Tuesday this week... and it’s not all Margie this week.  First, ME.  

(Just 'cause I like to have photos on all my posts... Made these tags last year.  Sold them in my Etsy shop.)

Jordy & I have been watching the TLC channel show called Hoarding: Buried Alive.  I really don't know how we get hooked on these shows.  I think it was coming on after something else we were watching & we were just too lazy to get up and change the channel.  It's actually a pretty disgusting show -- makes me wanna clean house.  Anyway... last Saturday I told you we went to an estate sale.  We bought several bags of stuff (aka, "junk" by my sister).  So she took it up to my bedroom (which is also my art studio...lol) and started unpacking everything.  Jo was scanning through the shows on Comcast On Demand for something to watch while we sorted.  

Jo:  Hey, "Hoarding" is on.

Me:  I love hoarding!!!   ... Wait...   I should say I love the show "Hoarding".

Then I walked into the bedroom and saw what it looked like.

Me: OK, so maybe I like hoarding, too.  :-)

Sunday we were Skyping with Lauren & Mark at his parent's house in Canada.  His niece & nephew were watching us while eating raisins.  Brought back memories of when Lauren was that age & stuck raisins up both sides of her nose.

Me:  Do you know where Aunt Lauren once put raisins? (Then we decided maybe we shouldn't tell them.)

Lauren:  Alistair, do you know where raisins go?

Alistair: Yes... (sticking one in his mouth) ...away.

Sunday afternoon I talked to my dad.  He said they were about to go eat at a BBQ restaurant in the Fort Worth Stockyards.  Afterwards he called me & told me after they had eaten & were walking around outside two little girls came up to him & asked, "Are you a a real cowboy?"  Here's a photo of him... what do you think?

And Margie's man/woman saga continues.  She didn't want to go to church Sunday because she's been having stomach problems.  So after the first service I went over to see her.  I was hoping to see the man/woman, but still haven't yet.  She gave me a few more details, though.  She thinks he did something he wasn't supposed to do (so bad that she wouldn't tell me what she thinks he/she did), went to prison, and they "did something" to him to turn him into a woman.  Supposedly, he/she is really mean & yells at the employees there.  Margie thinks he/she is going to get kicked out.  She kept telling me that he/she is wearing something on his wrist like he's been in prison.  Yesterday Glenn told us that's for the alarm at the home.  They have an alarm system for the residents that try to escape.  He assured us that he/she hasn't been in prison.  :-)


Tomorrow I'll share the story of how Jordy won a couch at a party.  lol...

Tiny Talk Tuesday (A Little Late) & What I Bought at the Thrift Store

I forgot to blog yesterday and I had some really good things to share.  I found these glasses at a thrift store yesterday.  Do they look familiar to anyone else?  This is what I remember my grandmother's (Mattie Beth's) glasses looking like.  Am I remembering correctly?  Here's a close up.  I thought I remembered those little circles... I always liked lining up my fingers in the circles.

ADDED NOTE:  Yes, they're like frosted or etched leaves & grapes. I remember hers being much more worn than these. I couldn't believe I found these. I've never seen any like them anywhere. Are these some of the dishes she got free for buying something else? Seems like I remember her telling us she got some of her dishes that way.

On Sunday I took Margie to church then we came home, ate, and opened Mother's Day gifts.  After she opened everything she said, "This is the best birthday I've ever had!"

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Ann: I'm gonna make fish tacos tonight.  Margie, do you like fish tacos?
Margie:  Yes!
Ann:  Have you ever had fish tacos?
Margie:  No, but I like fish and I like tacos so I guess I'd like a fish taco!

It's gonna be short today 'cause I'm tired, American Idol is coming on tonight, and I started cleaning out the closet upstairs for Mark & Lauren & I can't even walk across the floor in our bedroom right now, so I have to clean that up tonight, too.

The pin cushion in the photo is something I made a few weeks ago and just listed in my Etsy shop today.  I'm making a move in my shop to sell completed items instead of supplies.  Haven't been selling much in the last few months so I thought I'd at least have fun making stuff.

Tiny Talk Tuesday and an Update on Margie

This has been a weird week.  Some funny things were said but we've had some rough days & sometimes it's been more scary than funny.  Some days Margie acts like a child, some days like a teenagers.

Margie had some stomach problems Friday.  Then Saturday started to feel like she had a bladder infection.  Ended up going to the doctor Monday.  More meds.  But the bp was better.

Saturday, Glenn & Jordann were upstairs putting together Ikea furniture.  I was downstairs vacuuming.  When I came out of the hall I noticed Margie was gone... she was headed up the stairs by herself.  She got in trouble for that one.

Jordy made us some chocolate chip cookies Sunday night.  Glenn went into the kitchen to get some for himself, came back into the living room, and Margie said, "So, where's mine?"  (She's said that a few times when he's eating something.)

Monday morning at breakfast time she microwaved a tea bag... no cup, no water... just a tea bag.  After Glenn helped her make tea, she put salt into it.  BTW, the doctor told her not to salt her food.  But she still sneaks the salt shaker.  After breakfast Glenn went upstairs to do his devotions & he heard a loud grinding noise in the kitchen.  We still don't know what she stuck down the disposal.  But when Glenn walked in she said, "Look, I still have all my fingers."  Then there was the morning that I caught her trying to get her toast out of the toaster with a knife.  She's since been banned from the kitchen!

After returning from the DR visit this afternoon Margie took a long nap.  When she woke up she started talking to the cat:

M: Maowie, I need to go to the bathroom.  Do you know where it is?

I looked over at her & she laughed a little bit so I thought she was joking with me.  Then she got up & started walking toward the kitchen.

M:  Is the bathroom over here?

After dinner she got up to go to the bathroom and started walking toward the front door.

That's a little of our week.  I hope Tuesday's better.

BTW, the photo is Glenn's dad & one of his band members back in the 50s.  (Thanks, Jenn & Marion, for sending the photos.  We've had a good time looking through them & scanning many of them.)

Tiny Talk Tuesday and Spring Into Savings

I got a lot of comments about my "Tiny Talk Tuesday" last week. So here are a few more conversations we've had this week:

This conversation occurred after her systolic pressure was 200+ for several days in a row.

Margie: I don't know why my blood pressure is so high. I think there's something wrong with the machine.

Glenn: There's nothing wrong with the machine.

Margie: Well, maybe your blood pressure is high and is flowing over onto mine.

I have my phone alarm set to go off at 8 PM every night to remind us to give her her nighttime pill. The first weekend she was here she heard it and we had this conversation:

Margie: What's that noise?

Ann: The alarm on my phone. It's to remind us to give you your pill.

Margie: Oh, are you taking a pill, too?

I need to remember to turn my cell phone on vibrate when I get home. I have different ring tones for family members & text messages. My text message ring tone sounds like a door bell. Almost EVERY single time I get a text message Margie tells me there's someone at the door!

On a different note... the Spring into Savings sale has started over on CurrClick. This website sells ebooks, homeschool curriculum, & other supplies in electronic format. Both my sister and I have some books & curriculum for sale there that we wrote for our own children while we were homeschooling. Mine are published under ABC Books, hers are One Mother's Love. That also includes the Give Thanks book that I used on my blog at Thanksgiving. It's only $2.00 right now.

The photo at the top is George & Margie on a picnic... I'm not sure who the other person is.

Tomatoes & Tiny Talk Tuesday.

We planted our little patio garden this weekend - one Early Girl tomato, one Red Pear, a jalepeno, cucumber, yellow squash, & some herbs. Remember this picture... They'll be monster tomato plants later if it's anything like the last 2 years. Which, btw, we looked at our house on Google Maps and we can now say that you can see my tomato plants from space.

Every Tuesday my sister posts "Tiny Talk Tuesday" on her blog & shares cute little things that her kids say. After hearing some of the things that Margie has said this week we were teasing that we should have our own "Tiny Talk Tuesday."

Glenn: I'm going to call and schedule a colonoscopy for you.

Margie: I can't have that. That's a man's test.

Glenn: No it's not.

Margie: Yes, it is.

Glenn: Well, your doctor said you need it.

Margie: I'm not going.

Glenn: Yes, you are.

Margie: No, I'm not.

Glenn: Yes, you are.

Margie: No, I'm not.

Glenn: Yes, you are.

Margie: (pause) Well, I'll go but I'm just going to watch.

While talking about Pastor's Jon's sermon.

Margie: Did Jon say that during his surgery?