Sunday, May 15, 2011

Another Hiserville Spring



 Dad is now installed in the second adult living facility, a much prettier and smaller place with better service.  He is carving his space out and doing as well as anyone with Lewey Body Dementia can be.  He has now found some medication that he can tolerate and is willing to take, has acquainted himself with his new neighborhood, and is gaining back some needed weight.


I have lost the weight I needed to and am now maintaining.  I attend TOPS faithfully.  People clap for me when I am in leeway (up to three pounds above my goal weight), at goal, or under goal (up to six pounds below my goal weight).  I clap for the other folks who have made it to their goal weight and for the others who stay the same or lost but not at goal yet.  I remind those who gained that "tomorrow starts a new week."  It is a group thing and comforting in the existence of its' own rituals and support.


The dog is a year older.  Companion has just started talking about getting a puppy.  I am not quite ready to face the idea of dog's decline and inevitable death.  


Out in the backyard, along with the usual white-throats and white crowns, house sparrows, happy little chickadees and friends, and hairies and downies, raucous blue jays and stately cardinals, there was a bit of unusual activity in the past month.  A large mixed flock of over thirty house finches and purple finches decided that my backyard feeder was the place to be and they have come every day faithfully for a month now.  I've been startled by a tufted titmouse and a mourning dove who decided separately to sit on the railing within three feet of my stoop and check me out.  Last week the first hummer of the season made its' way through the blossoms of my crabapple tree.  A pair of hairies have been vigorously inspecting the quaking aspen (maybe for a nesting site I don't know).  A pair of rose-breasted grosbeaks flew in one evening and stopped to feed.  The female ate in the usual manner with her legs on the anti-squirrel bar and beak facing the sunflower seeds.  The male didn't.  He positioned himself away from the feeder which forced his head to turn left or right to grab the seeds.  He ate for a solid ten minutes as if exhausted from flight.  A half hour later the couple returned and the male did a repeat performance.  They flew off and I haven't seen them since.  A couple of mornings ago, a catbird flew in.  He treated me to a few stanzas of his song with a few cat-like meows thrown in.  And then he too departed.


I've continued to have not good experiences with VESID now accessNY (lol what a name!)-- OVR or BVR in other states and continue to run through job developers and VESID counselors.  The latest job developer however appears to be a human being (a refreshing change for me) and is in the process of setting up the second half of a job assessment, although not at an animal shelter.  She is endeavoring to get me a spot at a small photography studio based on my skills with creating textures and backgrounds and things using (registered trademarks) Corel's PaintShop Pro 9 and 10 and (freeware) The GIMP.  I will have to learn (registered trademark) Adobe Photoshop Plus which is what the professionals are using these days but looking forward to this possibility.  So although I indicated that I can manage to work Saturday mornings at the animal shelter, I am hoping that something can be arranged with a photography place.


Gas prices have gone up like crazy, Osama bin Laden is dead and I hope we nuke the countries of origins of any terrorists who dare to come over here to bomb ours in retaliation for his death, I am at a healthy weight, I am managing my traumatic brain injury as well as I can with occasional lapses, I remain abstinent (thirty years of a day at a time and counting), and I am reasonably happy.  I haven't blogged regularly in awhile-- dementia makes for havoc and chaos in the lives of the caregiver turned advocate and family even when at its' calmness-- and to that I can only say "We'll see if I can return to semi-regularity" rather than make any promises that I cannot keep.

sapphoq n friends

p.s.  I've abandoned Facebook cuz I hate it.

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