Alex and grandma

On tuesday we went to see Dr. Tomasso who will be mom's primary care physician while she is living with us and mom seemed to be comfortable with him. Interestingly enough he took over the practice from Dr. Redvanly who used to be mom and dad's doctor many years ago before he retired and mom took a while to be able to tell me (her speech is still not back to where it should be) that he actually signed my father's death certificate back in 1985 so we were talking to Dr. Tomasso about that. Alex thought it would be fun to try out grandma's beanie while the doctor was cleaning out one of her ears that is giving her trouble lately.




Of course in the evening we had some quality grandma/Alex time as usual and she really seems to enjoy that Alex likes to pamper her. (Of course the $2 she gives him doesn't hurt, either! hahaha)


Yesterday Sylvie came over for a while and I took Alex out to lunch at Chuck E Cheese and we had a nice time together just playing the games and getting out a bit was good for both of us.





Dinner time around here is something that I try to make into time spent with grandma whenever possible and the therapy is great for everyone. Alex and grandma made the meatballs for our spaghetti dinner and then they rolled up our crescent rolls. I think mom really enjoyed the dinner and it made her feel good that she was able to participate in the preparation.

Busy week!

For those of you that read my blog for updates on mom, I apologize for the lack of it this week but it's been busy.

On sunday we had a monsoonal rain storm that passed through here and the rain was insane! We lost power for about 2 hours and I set out in search of something open to get food and finally found the Wendy's in Moriches still had power and was open, thankfully.


Monday I went to work while my next door neighbor, Nilda, came over to stay and visit with mom. The rain from sunday really did some damage to the library where I work, there were leaks where I had never seen them before, ceiling tiles were filled with water and close to collapsing and just general wet spots everywhere!! Hopefully the insurance will approve a quick fix and the roof can be replace once and for all, I can't believe how many books were wet and damaged and will have to be thrown out....it goes against everything I believe in but there isn't anything I can do about mother nature's hand.

It's the weekend

What have we been doing? Alex and Pookie like to hang out and watch TV with grandma, I'm not sure what they were watching here but I'm thinking it was some cooking show, maybe 30 minute meals. I find it really interesting that Robert used to watch Emeril Lagasse all the time and now Alex enjoys watching the cooking shows too.



Mom has been enjoying sitting out on our deck and having her breakfast out there in the mornings. Last night we had dinner out there as a family since my dining room is construction central meaning that Jim's tools have taken over!!




They say that every caregiver needs to make time for themselves and last night I went out with my friend Laura and enjoyed a great concert. We saw Rick Springfield at the Planting Fields Arboretum and it was outdoors and what a beautiful night it was and a gorgeous place for a concert, the flowers and trees were amazing there.

Random thoughts

So today I went to work and it was great to get out and be with my friends and co-workers. Sylvie was nervous about being alone with mom but she was fine and there were no problems at all.

Alex loves to spend time with grandma and these are precious memories that he is making now and can never be taken away from him...he will always remember these special times he spent with his grandma, no matter what happens.





I was so happy to see mom pick up her knitting yesterday that I just had to snap a photo to remember it, knitting is something that she always loves and enjoys and it is very therapeutic for her as well.




And lastly for tonight, a picture of the little dog that is driving me crazy but loves mom unconditionally and no matter what I'm glad that she is here....even with the barking.

Trying to get up to date...

My computer time is limited and while mom is napping I will try to get caught up a bit but you never know how much time I have before I'm interrupted so we'll see.

My wonderful husband was right there to help mom get out of the car so that she could come inside and see her new room that he worked so hard on. I'm lucky to have such a wonderful man in my life, aren't I??



Jesse was next to greet his grandma and she was so happy to see him. I know that when Robert comes home in December she will be thrilled to see him too, we just hope and pray that she is still well by the time he comes home and we will do everything in our power to see to that. Of course, we believe that only God can make that happen so prayer is very important.




Sadly this next photo came out a bit blurry and that's partly because I was so shaky and nervous to see her reaction that I rushed to get the shot but you can still see her smile when she saw her beautiful new room. :)



And I wanted to share why I went through everything to be able to bring mom's dog, Pookie, to live with us too. You only have to look at this photo to know why...she is a comfort to her and is her protector, even though the barking makes me crazy I know that having her dog here makes mom feel better no matter what ever else happens with her.

Continuing my little story....

....on sunday it was all hands on deck here as we were preparing for mom to arrive. We had no bathroom on the first floor since the demolition took everything out but I had faith that it would get done in time. My brother in law, Jack, showed up at 7:30am on sunday and I had the coffee ready to go for the long work day ahead. Pookie and Alex even got in the spirit of the day as we had to go to Home Depot for some supplies.



We had people working all afternoon here and everyone pitched in to get all of the construction debris cleaned up and the house dusted and vaccuumed. I want to thank everyone who came over to help us, we wouldn't have been able to get it done without all of the help that we received on sunday.

At about 5:30pm they finally arrived and Alex was the first to welcome his grandma to her new home.


Of course, Pookie jumped in the car and was the next to give 'mommy' her kisses all over her face, she was so excited to be reunited with her mom after that long trip on the plane and being in a new and strange place.

To be continued......

Safe and sound!

Wow, it's been a whirlwind couple of days so I'll try and catch everyone up because I know there are many family members and friends who read my blog for updates on mom. She is here, safe and I will post pictures and try to keep everyone in contact with her as much as possible so keep checking back on my blog and leave a comment if you pass by. :)

Nancy and Paul arrived on friday night at 7:30 and then Nancy's friend, Linda, landed in Orlando at 10:30 so they drove out to pick her up while I got mom ready for bed since she needed her rest in order to be prepared for the travel ahead of them. Linda who traveled with them in the car is a nurse and we felt more comfortable knowing there was a medical person in the car in case something happened along the way.

After some yummy Dunkin Donuts and coffee we were ready to pack up and head out. With pillows and blankets Nancy made sure that mom would be comfortable in the car.

I stayed behind in order to finish up a few things in the house and then I packed up my precious cargo and headed to the airport thanks to mom's friend and neighbor, Tammy. Mom's dog, Pookie, was flying home with me and overall she did very well, she only started to cry a little bit in the carrier when we were landing so maybe her ears were bothering her, I'm not really sure. I had worked with her all week and I had no problem getting her to go in the carrier as long as I had a treat to give her. :)

Our flight came in early and Jim was stuck in a little traffic so we had to wait for him to get there but he did and we found a patch of grass for Pookie to do her business, she had been holding it in since 8:30 in the morning and now it was after 2:00. She seemed to enjoy the breeze and the ride home to Long Island.



Meanwhile as I was on the road heading back to my house the car kept on driving north to get mom to NY as soon as they could. Nancy sat on the floor in the back so that mom would be able to have the entire seat to stretch out and rest as Paul drove on and on....with Linda in the passenger seat in case they came to a point where medical help might be needed....thankfully it was not but it was good to have her there just in case.

More tomorrow.....