I'm Gonna Slap You In To Bed

I stayed with Grandma last week.  There are simply no words to describe the mood she was in that night.  I filmed the experience because I didn't want to forget one word she said to me either.  I have tried and tried to write about it but just couldn't write about it without laughing.  So, I took the audio from the video and made a rap from her remarks.

She was more agitated that night because #1 she was expecting my nephew Samuel to stay the night and #2 she didn't want me to have the light on after 8:00 pm.  It was time to go to bed after 8:00 pm.  And let's just say, she got really upset with me because I wouldn't do what she said.  She even called daddy and told on me.  LOL  So, here is the audio of that night.  ENJOY!

Which One Are You?

So, I spent the night before Thanksgiving with Grandma.  She had found her teeth earlier in one of her housecoats. She woke me up about 3:00 AM wanting me to go see who was knocking at the front door.  I went and checked.  I told her no one was out there.  She made me go out on the porch. 

Really?  I was thinking "Thanks a lot grandma...if I get shot, it is all on you!"

I came back in, and she turned and went to bed.  She woke me up a few minutes later and wanted to know if I heard a dog barking.  I said no and told her to go to bed.

We woke up around 8:00.  Daddy brought her breakfast.  He sat and talked with her for awhile.  He tried to prepare her for the day.  We wanted her to come and eat dinner with us at my mother's house.  She wasn't sure about leaving the house.  So, I fixed her hair and told her that she needed to get ready for us to pick her up around noon.  She insisted that she needed a nap.

Daddy went and picked her up around 11:30 AM.  She spent time asking who was who.  So, many people for her to figure out.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Everyone came to my mom's house.  Many, many, many memories were made.  When all of us are together there is 19!  We had so much fun getting each family together and taking pictures.    Sara, my sister, and I got a crazy idea to take the couch in mom's living room and put it in the yard to take the entire family's picture.  So, we moved everything around and had the boys pick up the couch.  We went right out the front door and put it where we wanted it in the yard.  It was really amusing directing everyone to help get the couch out the door.

The family

In the mean time, mom was able to move all the tables into her living room for everyone to sit together.  While mom, Sara, and Carla finished up cooking, Grandma sat and took it all in.  She tried real hard to put names with faces but she struggled with everyone.  She asked the same questions over and over.

Grandma enjoyed her meal and loved the banana pudding.  She curled up in a chair in a snuggie and tried to stay warm.  After about an hour, you could tell she was getting tired.  I told her I would take her home.

We took a few pictures with her in the yard on the couch then loaded up and went home.  We got in the van and she looked over at me.  I could tell she was tired and ready to go.

Grandma, Pidgeon, my sisters, Mom and me

She said "Honey, thank you so much for bringing me over here.  I had a wonderful time.  The food was good and it was so good to see everyone."

I smiled because for just a moment, I had my grandma back.

We pulled in her driveway.  I said, "Well, here we are!"

She looked at me and said, "Now, which one are you?"

I'm Carole Anne, and you are my "10 second Grandma". 

Squirrel Mentality

Have you ever caught yourself sitting in your driveway and watching squirrels play in your yard?  Maybe running across your roof?  Maybe you have seen them sitting in your yard eating an acorn or nut they have found.  Squirrels are intriguing animals.  They hunt for nuts in the summer and fall and bury them in places that their tiny brains will remember.  Then they live off their buried treasure during the winter months.  Spring is hard on squirrels.  According to Wikipedia, the nuts that they have buried begin to sprout and they can no longer eat them.

Security System in place.

I stayed with Grandma last night.  She has lost her teeth, not one set but both sets of teeth.  I was to spend my night with her looking for her teeth.  I geared up with a flashlight. I searched from one room to the next.  Grandma knew what I was doing.  She has gotten so use to me looking that she just goes to bed and doesn't care anymore when I am looking for her teeth.  I opened every drawer in the bedrooms.  I hunted under every piece of furniture.  I pulled everything out of cabinets in the bathrooms.  I did not find any teeth.  To say I was disappointed was an understatement.  I was hoping to find her teeth.  I was hoping she would have them for Thanksgiving.  She really needs them in order to enjoy the meal on Thursday.

What I did find was pecans, pecans, pecans, and more pecans.  For you see, dementia has turned my dear grandmother into a squirrel.  She gets up in the morning and stays all day in the yard looking and picking up pecans.  Then she finds bowls, trash cans, buckets, or bags to keep them.  After she works for hours on end picking up pecans, she then spends time in hiding them and burying her treasure in her home.  She hides them in closets, under beds, in the towels in the bathroom, and in the old record player in her room.  I found a pan of them in the microwave, dishwasher, and stove.

I have yet to figure out why Grandma has to hide everything especially the pecans.  I asked her what she was going to do with them.  I was expecting her to say that she was going to eat them but she said give them away or sell them.  hmmm...So, that is exactly what I did.  I gave them away. 

Grandma's Make Over

Took Grandma to get her hair fixed today at the beauty salon.  Well, let's just say, she wasn't at all happy about it, but the results were beautiful.  She was happy in the end.