Happy Thanksgiving

5 days off !

It has been a long time since i have had 5 days off in a row, yes i did just go to New York but it really wasn't a "true" vacation. I am looking forward to doing nothing or making last minute plans, cooking thanksgiving dinner, black friday shopping and napping

December 1st

• stayed in my pajamas all day
• last day off and i don't feel good, i am not happy about this

November 30

• stayed in my pajamas until 5
• dinner at mamma mia's with Char & Paul, Debbie, Mavis & Phil, Dan & Micailly, Aubri & sheena, Steve and I

November 29

• up at 4:30, we went to Walmart, Menards, Art Van, Kohls, Payless, JcPenny, Younkers and Target
• 9:20, home and napped until noon
• meat raffle, tina's first time and she won

November 28

• got up to walk a 5k Ipeturkey for hunger with Tina and Sheena
• put the turkey in at 10:30
• watched some james bond
• 12, aubri made cornucopia
• 1:15 ham went in oven
• 2:00 potato peeling
• 2:30 hummus making, veggie tray
• 3:30 cranberry sauce out, stuffing made
• 4:00 DINNER ! Martin almost killed himself by sitting in a chair that totally collapsed. It wasn't funny at first but we eventually laughed about it
• full bellies and we still managed to eat pie
• 8:00 over to Mavis' to visit with everyone, Paul & Char are home from Montreal
• 9 pm, i did not want to go shopping, Aubri wanted to run to Ulta. We then his Best Buy and Target

November 27

• woke up, not in a good mood, had to try and reset that
• watched Gone with the Wind from 10am-3pm while working on 2 binders for aubri's grad party, i got 1 done and 1/2 of the 2nd one. I try to work on this stuff while she is not here.
• took a 3 hour nap
• shopped for thanksgiving
• stopped at Snyders and they had the Black Friday Ads
• shoveled
• baked a pineapple/angel food cake for tomorrow
• Watched Green Lantern

UP Pink Power, 11-9-13

Myself & 5 women went to a pool tournament to raise money for U.P. Pink Power. The help people not only with breast cancer but with all types of cancer. We hired Aubri to bring us there an pick us up. I hope it will be an annual thing. They had a photo booth, lots of great basket raffles, silver dollar raffle, music and more. 

I would like to thank my friend Kathy, she somehow told one of the organizers that i had just done the New York Breast Cancer walk. Over the mic, she thanked me and told everyone a little bit about me. I sure was shocked, sitting there listening and then hearing my name. I don't do it for the glory but it was very nice of Kathy to take the time and think of a way to acknowledge me. I appreciate it very much my friend. When you do something like the 39.3 mile walk you have no idea how much encouragement plays a role in completing the task. 

I hope this will be an annual trip for all of us out to Little Lake to support this great group of women

I haven't seen Julie in awhile, we were a bit much. I have known her since i was in middle school

 and yes, my mustache is a little off

today was a gift

I got to the nursing home to find grandma in the dining room eating lunch. She was alert and talking, she looked right at me and knew who i was. She told me she was tired and i asked if she had been up late last night. There was a lady behind her and she said "she was stealing". Apparently she thinks my grandma has been stealing from her. Ok that was an odd way to start my visit.

My Gram asked me what day it was, i told her it was sunday. She asked "what did you do today? church? sunday school?" I told her i was not as good of a church goer as she was, i told her she was a better person than me. She said "why does that make me better than you? better than her or better than her?". It was nice to have HER today. I almost didn't go at lunch time, i thought about waiting to go later. She said "Have this roll" and i said "no thanks gram" her pleasant reply to that was"who the hell do you think you are". god i love this woman

She asked if i wanted a bite, i told her no that i ate before i came. I asked her if her eye hurt. She closed her left eye and said "only when i know someone is not telling the truth". Really? she knew i was lying about eating before i got there. She then asked what day it was again and why i wasn't at work. She said "Emmett will start coming to church when he sees this young man sitting next to me, he is younger than me and of course, Emmet is older than me". I had on my NYU sweatshirt and she asked if i was going there.

I told her that her shirt looked nice. She said "I don't know where it came from and i don't know about all these stripes". I told her i bought it for her and then she said "oh then its nice, i got caught didn't i". She got caught because i could tell she didn't really like it. The ole bird is on top of her game today !

She finished her lunch and her aide and i walked her a little down the hallway. She said she was too tired to walk so back down in her wheelchair she went. She has to sit by the nurses station because she can't be trusted alone in her room. She said very loudly that she wanted to go back down to her room, she said " I don't want to sit here and look at all these people". She introduced me 4 times as Cindi Marie her granddaughter.

Back to her room we went, the aide helped her to the bathroom and i could hear my gram talking to her. "I haven't had too many people wipe my bum"... i just had to chuckle. She came out of the bathroom and asked me who i was there to see. I told her I was there to see her. She asked if i would come back for dinner and i told her of course i will.

I made it to Eastwood just in time for dinner and she knew who i was and asked where my tray was. She was picking at her forehead and i told her not to touch it because it was a stitch. I told her she fell and cut her head open and she asked me if she was gonna live with a shit eating grin on her face of course. She asked where the stitches were and i pointed on her face by her eye. She said "no, point it out on YOUR face". She was trying to read her name card and she asked me what it said. I told her Corinne Hoiem and she said it's not, it's Corinne Annear "he" wasn't worth living with.

We talked through dinner, we laughed, she bossed me around, i finished her sentences because she still says the same phrases "pimple on your tongue", "if i drink too much i'll have to pee", "oh you're full of shit"; you know, stuff grandma's say. She finished her tray and i pushed her down to the nurses station, i went to her room and got a couple of dove chocolates. I snuck away once she dozed off.

i am so thankful that i got to see and talk with my grandmother today. I am thankful that the alzheimers stayed away today

gram

so i have been checking on her daily since her fall. watching the progress of one black eye turn into two black eyes and a bruised nose. The nursing home can be a sad place but sometimes those people can put a smile on your face...

• 11-16-13, sheena and I were visiting with grandma by the nurses desk, they have her sitting in her wheelchair there so they can keep an eye on her. She was snoozing but woke up and smiled at me and said hello. She opened her mouth like a little bird so i could put a dove chocolate in her tiny, no teeth mouth. Residents stopped and talked to us as they wheeled by. One man stopped and said "i went on a date with her, before Emmett of course, oh my christopher that was a long time ago". His name is Milton Pascoe, i learned something i never knew about my gram. He headed off down the hallway with his walker. Right behind him was his sister in her wheelchair. She stopped and said hello, she had a pink flower in her pretty white hair. I commented on it and she said she never goes anywhere without one. She was sucking on a sucker and the red sucker had leaked into her little lines around her mouth. I brought gram 2 new pairs of pants and 2 new turtlenecks.

here is gram sucking on her dove chocolate, she may look like Rocky Balboa but she seems to be happy

• 11-15-13, gram wasn't in the mood to talk. She was eating in the dining room so i talked with the great aides who have the patience of saints. 
• 11-14-13, i stopped to check on gram and she was sleeping. I brought her some flowers and a bag of dove chocolates. I noticed her pants had seen better days. I usually do a clothes inventory around her birthday but forgot this year. I threw out 2 pairs of pants, the washer and dryer really is hard on clothing but i am glad they offer this service to their residents.
• 11-13-13, gram fell. Amy and i met the ambulance back at the nursing home. Amy leaned in to kiss gram goodbye and gram said "don't hurry back". Sometimes her alzheimers gets the best of her but we both laughed because she said it loud.

November

Everyone is writing something each day in November they are thankful for on Facebook, that's not my bag to write it on fb but it's a good idea...

1 - I am thankful i have a job
2 - I am thankful for my husband, he is a patient man
3 - I am thankful for this beautiful day & ending the day watching Mulan with 3 of my kids (yes the 21 year old, 19 year old and 17 year old)
4 - I am thankful for my hubby having dinner ready for the fam when i got home today, pizza, just what i had hoped for !
5 - I am thankful to be writing a check for my daughters cap & gown, she has been an amazing student
6 - I am thankful for a full fridge & pantry, I am a bottomless pit tonight
7 - I am thankful for a comfortable bed because i need to go to sleep right now before i rip someones head off and drop kick it across the yard (no one has done anything i am just crabby)
8 - I am thankful for winning meat at the meat raffle, it is so fun !
9 - I am thankful i was able to attend and participate in the "Paint the throttle pink" fundraiser by UP Pink Power. it was a great event, i was surprised to hear my name announced and i was thanks for my recent breast cancer walk in New York.
10 - I am thankful to not have any plans today. I slept in, went to my sisters for a little bit, made a wonderful dinner for my family and finished my paper that is due tomorrow
11- I am thankful my lad is doing so well this semester with grades and his job
12 - I am thankful for self control, i could have really throttled some people, why do i let them get to me ?
13 - I am thankful that my grandmother is ok. She fell out of bed and had to be taken to Bell Hospital by ambulance because she had a nasty gash on her forehead.
14 - I am thankful that i get to relax this evening.
15 - I am thankful that Aubri sat and watched 2 movies with me (white house down & man of steel) and she also asked to put her head on my lap to fall asleep
16 - I am thankful that i got to see Les Miserables today, it was so wonderful !
17 - I am thankful for LOTS today: my daughter slept til 2pm today (i don't think she gets enough sleep), chicken & dumplings in the crockpot, beautiful weather, my son getting a buck, using an "idea" my mom had to save my daughter from getting black eyes on the b-ball court and visiting with my grandma
18 - I am thankful for having dinner with my daughter & shopping with her
19 - I am thankful for the roof over my head and the peace and quiet after work
20 - I am thankful I had time to prepare/cook homemade mac & cheese for my family, they were happy, too
21 - I am thankful today was my last real day of EN 111. Next week no class and the following week is final week
22 - I am thankful i won a turkey at the meat raffle :)
23 - I am thankful i was able to get some new(er) furniture for my sister for free. I am also thankful i was able to go to Negaunee tinsel town with my cousin pat, my friend kathy & aubri
24 - I am thankful for a day at home. I cleaned and re-arranged my living room ( vacuumed enough food out of my couches to feed a small country), cleaned my bedroom, re-wrote 2 english papers, visited with my gram and will veg and watch tv, LIG
25 - I am thankful for my health, my childrens health, my hubby's health and all my friends/family health, too
26 - I am thankful for the 2 day work week i have. At 4pm i will be on vacation, 5 days in a row
27- I am thankful for a 3 hour nap
28 - I am thankful that i decided to walk a 5k for hunger this morning and that my thanksgiving meal was perfect
29 - I am thankful my daughter wanted to spend time with me, even if it was at black friday shopping. Don't get me wrong, i don't mind the shopping. You have to be realistic, get your ass up early and get in line or don't expect to get "that" item.
30 - I am thankful my brother & sister in law are here from Montreal

105

my great uncle's sister...

http://www.miningjournal.net/page/content.detail/id/592371/Muriel-Wiley--Holman-.html?nav=5007

unbelievable at 105 that she still has 6 siblings living

the ole bird

if my gram knew i posted this she would beyond WILD. I don't care, she scared the shit out of me today and i am still kind of pissed off about it.

she fell out of her bed at the Nursing Home, had to be transported by ambulance, got 20 stitches in her forehead and i almost fainted, yeah me, almost fainted. It was so very sad and she was in such pain.

she's lucky i love her so...

caprese bread

I am going to make this bread, it looks amazing !

http://willcookforsmiles.com/2013/04/savory-caprese-bread.html