Yeeesh!

Today Dad and I went to Harold's office to sign off on the taxes. Harold wasn't there so Vicki handled it. The penalties came to $3500! Major ouch. I again suggested to Dad that he give up the Christmas tree business and lease his land and hire a property manager. At first he was agreeable but later changed his mind. He wants to turn all the business stuff over to Harold. Vicki told him they could do that but all the information they would need would still have to come from Dad.

When we were driving home Dad was saying what a relief it was to know he could have everything sent to Harold directly. I reminded him that it would still be up to him to get his sales figures and payroll info to Harold and we don't know how well he will be a year from now. He thinks he still needs to have employees to do all the work with the trees. I told him if he lets the trees go he wouldn't have to hire someone to take care of them. He said, "How will that make money? It doesn't just fall out of the sky, you know." He was starting to get mad. Again I explained to him about leasing his land and hiring a management company to collect the rent for him. It went around a couple times more like that.

He thinks he's going to stay on top of things so that next year he can just hand over his figures to Harold. I know it ain't gonna be that way and NONE of us wants to take over his tree business. Even today he got a past due notice from the State Board of Equalization concerning the timber tax. He needs to report the total tree footage that was sold. He doesn't know where that information is! I already spent an hour today looking through his files for his resale number, which I found only because I got lucky.

I went to Clark's and got a bunch of supplements that are supposed to be good for Alzheimer's. Tomorrow I'm going to organize his vitamins and try to make it easier for him to take them. I got the Curcumin. I Googled it and read about it last night. Man, that stuff is good for everything! At least that's what the hippies at the vitamin companies say.

Pepito's

We had a good time today. Our regular drummer couldn't make it so we dragged Paige kicking and screaming up on the stage. Ok, so she wasn't kicking and screaming, but she didn't really want to do it. It's been a while since she played drums and she didn't want to make a fool of herself. But hey, why should she be any different than the rest of us? Besides, she did a good job.

Ricky, the screamin' guitarist from the Klones, showed up later and relieved Paige. He's a pretty good drummer. We're going to give him copies of our work CDs so he can learn our songs. We might invite him to be our drummer. Brian is really good but he's 15 and really invloved in Ramona's band. He shouldn't be hanging around with a bunch of 50 year olds, anyway. Or, we'll start looking for someone else. Ricky can be a bit loud.

During the first break I went home and got Dad. He enjoys watching us play (as long as he has ear plugs). He even bought a round of drinks for the band. He hung around for a couple hours. I took him home when it looked like he was getting tired. That's one thing that's nice about Pepito's. It's so close. Too bad that was our last performance there.

Tomorrow we're going to Clark's to find Curcumin and other supplements that fight Alzheimer's. No point waiting for the freakin' VA's geologically slow system to decide to evaluate the evaluation so they can decide if they want to evaluate something else.

The beau

We met Jon today. He's tall, good looking and very friendly. He's also sooooo young! Oh well, it could work. They're going to his house later so Lindsay can meet his parents. Jon says it's ok with them that she's 19. I wonder if they know she's turning 20 in April!

Green birdie!

The parrot was on our bird feeder this morning. He was sifting the sunflower seeds out of the wild bird mix. Well, at least he knows where the feeder is now. After he flew away I added Parrot mix to he feeder. Now the rest of the birds are confused by the big seeds and peanuts.

The rooster was also very confused. He was on the ground looking up at the feeder. Every time the parrot would squawk the rooster would answer him.

Dem birdies is funny.

Smitten

Lindsay has a new boyfriend. She's bubbly. He's 17! He a JUNIOR in highschool! Today we teased her about robbing the cradle. This boy is jailbait! Anyway, we're meeting him tomorrow.

Later...

She just came home from her date. Lordy! The girl has a definite glow. We'd better scrub up good for this boy. Gotta be presentable.

Drew came by today and took care of Dad's car. It's at the dealer getting fixed. Then they went out to lunch. That's good. Dad needs company these days.

Band practice was a bit blobby tonight. We were all low energy and excuse me but I thought Amber was kinda bitchy. We're performing on Sunday and our drummer can't make it. That means I'll be drumming on the dumbek which ain't so great because although I can keep a beat, I'm not all that interesting as a drummer. Plus, it's hard for me to drum and sing at the same time. Ken's going to make some phone calls. Gotta get a drummer.

I gotta hand it to him...

He was dealt quite a blow today and he's handled it remarkably well. I went over to check on him and he was much calmer- chipper, even. I asked him if he called the psychiatrist and he said he hadn't gotten around to it. I had read a suggestion on one of the AD websites that said taking a cab is a good idea. It might seem expensive, but if you're not paying for gas, insurance and maintenance on a car it's a pretty good deal. I told him about that and he seemed open to it. Tonight he got a ride to and from choir practice. What a trooper.

We talked a little about him moving downstairs and having us move into his house. He said he thinks he should do that real soon. I told him we could wait until we have our family meeting to figure that one out. Everyone should be in on that decision.

Tonight we jammed with some old friends from highschool. That was super fun. They want Jim to join their band but he just can't commit. He'll probably play with them occasionally. They're nice guys and good musicians.

It looks like Casual Sunday might squeek one one performance out of Pepito's this weekend. The new owner hasn't made the switchover yet, so the place is available. I would enjoy that. Our band is fun.

Groans and heavy sighs

That's what I've been doing for the last 10 minutes. I just gave Dad the news that he can't drive anymore.

I called the VA this morning to get Dad an appointment with his primary doc. They said he already has an appointment for March 8th. Then I had them switch me to the psychiatrist who heads the clinic where he got his Alzheimer's evaluation. I was suprised when the psychiatrist answered the phone (must have been a mistake. You NEVER get to talk to the VA docs on the phone). I talked to him about Dad's evaluation and bitched a bit about the intern who did it. She rushed through it because she had another patient coming in. I didn't feel like she got a good handle on Dad. Anyway, as shoddy as it was it did show that Dad has a problem and needs more evaluation.

He said he's going to recommend he go the the Geriatric Clinic and get his hearing tested and get a medication evaluation. He's also going to tell Dad's primary doc that Dad can't drive anymore and that the DMV should be notified.

The good news is the medication should (hopefully) restore some of Dad's memory after a couple months. I thought Dad would be heartened by that. Silly me.

I called Dad and told him about my conversation with the psych. He about hit the ceiling. He said this is the same as putting him in a cage. He thinks he's going to be sidelined and sit in a corner and watch the family have fun. Stuff like that. He was in a bit of a panic. He said he wants to go to a different doctor. I told him the result would be the same no matter what doctor he sees. He started trying to negotiate which of his faculties he could do without and still be able to drive, as if whatever medication they put him on could target those things. He was grasping at straws.

He's going to call the psychiatrist and try to get him to stop the process. He was hopping mad at first and I told him he couldn't call the psychiatrist and start yelling at him like he was a store clerk. By the time we ended our phone call he was mostly calmed down. I'll find out later how that conversation went. Dad also talked to Drew and I think that helped him a little.

I'm going to go clean house. Our accountant is coming over later. I'll write more when I've had a chance to digest the events of this morning.

Shit. (heavy sigh)

Drawing a blank

Dad came over 3 times today. The last visit he was here for a long time. We talked about a lot of things, mainly how to handle what's coming. It was a good talk, sometimes confrontational, but good. He often had to search for words. There were times when he'd stop talking altogether, like he was shut down.

He called tonight and he was pretty upset. He said he wasn't doing well and that he just couldn't think. He was fighting just to be able to talk to me. I said, "Is it like you're drawing a blank all the time?" He said, "Yes! That's it!" I told him he should probably just go to bed and get some rest. I told him he'll probably be brighter in the morning. That's how it's been with him. His foggyness kinda comes and goes.

I told him he could call me if he's not feeling well. He's been complaining about feeling weak all the time. Tomorrow we're going to call the VA and make some appointments.

This shutting down thing is new. I need more info. The last time I was at Kaiser I saw a flyer advertising a class on being a caregiver. We all should take a class like that. I'll look into it.

AARGH!!!

Dad called at 7:30 this morning because he wanted to know if we were going to the store. His car broke down a couple days ago and it's parked down on the street. He doesn't want to pay to have it towed to a mechanic so he's waiting for Drew to handle it. We just got the truck fixed after Dad had borrowed it and returned it with messed up electricals. Jim was already gone taking Paige to school and since I was still half asleep (really!) and didn't want him to sit at home hungry I told him to come get the truck. It took him forever to back the truck out. I stood at the kitchen window and watched him do the clutch pop cha-cha down the drive way.

Ok, we've got to do something about his car.

How long should we let him keep driving? He still seems like he's able to but the fog is closing in pretty fast. Soon it's going to be too dangerous for him to drive. And you can be sure he won't be the one to see it first. Getting his keys will be like taking a gun from Charlton Heston's cold, dead hand.

Later...

Dad just came by. He said Drew is going to deal with it tomorrow. That solves one problem.

Whew!

I spent 4 hours with Dad today trying to get financial stuff handled. First we went to the bank to see Sona, the woman who has been handling Dad's accounts for years. Sona is a little weird. I think Dad likes her because she's attractive and she flirts with him. But she seems to know her stuff so, ok. She said I couldn't be added as a second signer on Dad's accounts because that goes against the rules of the trust. We have to go back to Darling and redo it. I don't think that will be a big deal.

We had to wait to see Sona because we didn't have an appointment. We used that time to fill out some of the forms in the trust packet and talk about funeral arrangements and stuff. It was pretty productive. Having the forms in front of us made it easier to discuss these sensitive subjects. I actually talked to him about shutting down the Christmas tree business, although he thinks he can do it one more year.

I got the print outs for Dad's business account so I can add up the deposits and get the gross sales for the year. I'll do that tomorrow and call Harold with the total. Then we got lunch and then went to Harold's to drop off the payroll stuff. That's 2 things crossed off the list. Hooray!

All that took 4 hours. I'm a little OD'd on Dad right now.

After I dropped him off I went to Ken's. Jim had been there for a few hours already and they worked on a lot of music. I practiced with them for 2 hours. It was great! We worked on Sweet Talkin' Guy, It's My Party and Angel Of The Morning. Sweet Talkin' Guy is going to be freakin' awesome when we get it down.

I'm buzzy tired. A hot bath would be a good thing.

Performance Party

I've given myself something to look forward to. In Santa Rosa we used to throw performance parties. Kind of like a talent show but a couple notches higher. We knew a lot of musicians up there so for a few years we'd have a party to showcase our friends' talents. We'd have pot luck food and everyone would bring something to barbeque. We got hay bales for people to sit on and we fixed up the yard with lots of flowers. These were great parties. It's time to have one in Riverside.

Stacey and Scotty are doing some major yard rennovation with a new pool, jacuzzi and barbeque area. Fingers crossed, this will all be done by May. They have a baseball diamond at the back of their property that would be perfect for a stage and dance floor once we lay some carpet down on the dirt. We can do the hay bale thing for the stage area but we'll need to bring in some extra chairs and tables for the dining area. We'll need extra barbeques, too. No problemo.

Ooh, I'm getting into party mode. I want to do this because well, for one, it's fun, but also since we've lost Pepito's as our home venue I want the band to get some exposure. I want this party to be huge. I'm going to let all our performing friends know about it soon so they can start working on what they want to do. I want to sing a few songs with Drew. We can get some of the Barbershoppers in on it, too. Dad would like that. Jeff can do some uke stuff. Casual Sunday is the headliner. No Klones! Well, maybe a couple. I wonder if Ken will let me hire a sound guy?

Maybe we can get some Santa Rosa people to visit. Michele? Dan and Carol? Dean was just here in October but maaaybe...? Michael and Terri have family down here. Time for them to visit. Mary, Lorraine, get down here! Dave and Nancy for sure. Besides, Amelia needs to go to Disneyland. Brian!

Ok, that's enough for now.

Medication drama

Two days ago when Dad went to the VA hospital the doctor du jour sent him home with an antibiotic for his cold. This added another med for him to keep track of. He's supposed to take one a day for 10 days. This morning called for me to come over. He said he wasn't feeling well, like something was wrong. I checked out all his meds and threw away a bunch of old, expired pills. The antibiotic wasn't with his regular meds. He had it in on his desk. There were 4 pills left! He had taken 2 the first day, 3 the second and 1 today. I guess he had gotten them confused with his diabetes meds. I wrote instructions on some paper and on the pill jar.

When I came back here I told Jim what had happened. He Googled the name of the antibiotic and read what it said about overdose. It said call poison control. The woman I talked to was very helpful and said he was probably ok since he didn't have any severe symptoms. It could have been much worse. I went back to Dad's to ask him more about how he was feeling and to get the pill bottle so we could talk to the doctor about it. While I was at Dad's Jim called the VA to try to get in touch with the doc. No luck there. Some bitch on a power trip was manning the phones and wouldn't put us in touch with anything resembling an actual doctor. We hate the VA.

I called the Leeces and talked to Dede. David was out on a bike ride so I gave Dede the lowdown. She said she'd have Dave call us at Stacey's tonight. When I talked to him he said he felt Dad would be ok and to let him finish up the course of antibiotic. I got the pills back from Dad so I can make sure he takes only one a day. He can handle his regular medication routine (well, usually), we just can't add anything new. But I think it's getting to the point where we'll have to manage his meds.

We're going to have to start managing everything else, too. While Dad was snoozing in Stacey's family room we (Stacey, Drew, Mindy and me) were in the kitchen making a list of the things that need to be done to get Dad's affairs in order. If we can take care of a few things and whittle the list down things won't seem so overwhelming.

We're also going to spend some time cleaning Dad's house. I talked to him about this today and he's open to the idea. He really needs to simplify his life. His house is so full of junk and clutter he really can't function well. Also, Jim thinks it's possible that there may be some kind of environmental factor to Dad's problem. What if mold or some old improperly stored chemicals or the water is partly to blame? Also, Stacey thinks the house is just plain depressing. Cleaning it and getting rid of all the crap would probably help Dad to feel calmer, less stressful. He thinks more clearly when he's not stressed.

Sometimes Dad can seem like he's mostly normal so it almost feels like it's too soon to be taking some of these steps. But lately there have been some pretty big lapses in his memory and confusion in his thinking. I sometimes hesitate to bring these things up with him because it forces him to confront the horrible truth and I know that's so frightening for him. It almost seems cruel to do that. And yet, I think if we can present this stuff to him early and give him a chance to get used to the idea it might make his transition easier when the time comes. There's no way to know for sure if we're doing the right thing.

So, ok, we just keep going.

Klones tonight

The Klones are playing tonight. It's the last Pepito's performance. It's going to be freakin' loud and it's raining so I can't escape to the patio. Amber and I are going to do a few songs and then I'm outta there. Note to self- remember ear plugs.

We didn't make it to the bank today. I did get the payroll stuff so I can fill out the form and get it to Harold. One thing at a time, I guess.

Today there was a parrot flying around with the pigeons. It's a big ol' red headed Amazon. For a long time it was in the big pine tree next to our house. I filled the bird feeder so at least he could get some sunflower seeds. Later we went to a pet shop and bought some parrot mix. I put it in a dish and put it on the roof. He'll be able to see it from the pine tree. He came back just before it got dark so he'll probably be sleeping around here somewhere. Poor thing. I hope he survives. I doubt that I'd be able to catch him but at least he can get something to eat.

I think I have time to grab a snooze before I have to get ready to go.

Break time's over

Dad is back in the fog. Actually, he's been there for a few days. He's pretty much the same as he was before he left for Texas.

He's been sick with a pretty bad cold. Today he went to the doctor and came back with a prescription for anitbiotics. The instructions are a little confusing so I guess I'm going to have to call him every morning and make sure he gets it right.

While he was at the VA he CANCELLED his psychiatrist appointment! I told him he souldn't have done that. He said he wanted to get all this other stuff out of the way first. He needs to schedule cataract surgery and get a physical but he really needs to get his Alzheimer's evaluation completed. There was no reason to cancel that appointment.

I didn't go with him to the doctor because he called at 7 this morning and said he was leaving right away. I haven't been feeling well for a couple days so I let him go. And since he didn't have an appointment it took him almost the whole day.

He still doesn't have his taxes done. I'm going to go to the bank with him tomorrow and try to get a print out of his deposits. Then I can figure out his Christmas tree sales. Once I get that I can take everything to Harold and get the taxes off the freakin' list. Somehow we've got to convince Dad he shouldn't have another tree season. We can't do this another year. Not unless he completely turns it over to someone else and I know none of us kids wants to do it.

But it's too soon to have that conversation. I don't think he'd go for it.

I'm feeling better. Maybe tomorrow I'll clean his kitchen. The other day I was over there and there were fruit flies all over the place. There must have been a piece of fruit rotting on the counter somewhere but I couldn't find it. The counters are covered with stuff and he keeps those old, holey tree stumps above the sink (objet d'art). It's a visual cacophony that makes me want to flee.

Tra la la...

The Daily Show did a story on Gannon/Guckert. This has made me happy. The story is creeping into the mainstream.

God bless the bloggers!

I am good.

I got my ECG. Now I just have to do the blood test again and then I can make an appointment for my physical.

I am good.

Ooh, kewl!

I just found a fun way to exercise! Why didn't I think of this before? I put I-tunes on radio and tuned into Magnatune Worldmusic. They have all kinds of cool, fun traditional music from around the world. Lots of Middle Eastern stuff I can dance to. Then I clicked on the button at the bottom that starts the psychedelic screen saver and turned out the lights. It's a nice thing to trance-out with while I'm dancing. For the slow pieces I held my 2 pound weights and did some slow lifts. For the fast stuff I put the weights down and just danced. I got a nice, 30 minute workout.

Dang, that felt good.

Blog surfing

I've been surfing the blogs. Most of them are pretty boring, including mine. It seems a lot of people like to think of themselves as insane and like to call their writings "random thoughts". Every once in a while I find a cool blog so I'll keep surfing.

No party at Stacey's tonight. Dad is too sick. I'm glad he didn't decide to tough it out. He really should stay in bed.

My cold is gone, gone, gone. Two days, baby! And I barely felt it. Gan Mao Ling did the trick. Jim ordered 4 more bottles. Good stuff.

Wow.

I think my cold cure is working. I feel pretty good, almost totally well. Awriiight! Jim's been sick, too. He hasn't been good about taking the cure.

Dad got sick. Yesterday I took him a cold kit; Chicken soup, Gan Mao Ling, Cold-eze and some Cs. We're supposed to have a birthday party for him at Stacey's tonight. He sounded pretty bad yesterday. I'm hoping my magical cold cure will work and he'll feel well enough to go to Stacey's. I told him we could do it another night but he really wants it to be today.

I gotta go shopping for a gift.

Foggy me

Crapola. I got another cold, my 4th one of the season. I'm hitting it with my usual arsenal; tons of vitamin C, Gan Mao Ling, zinc lozenges and chicken soup. I caught it early this time. Maybe it won't take hold.

We've lost our Casual Sunday venue. The owner of Pepito's sold the bar. The new owner is turning it into a no alcohol bar for 18 to 20-year-olds. No more playing at Pepito's. Anybody know of a bar in the Riverside area that needs a good, classic rock band?

It's been raining. It's very pleasant sitting on my front porch and watching the rain. I like to read or play solitaire out there. Usually, a cat or two will join me or the chickens will stroll by. It's a very nice spot.

Dinner

Dad took me out to dinner at Olivia's tonight. He told me about his visit with Jeannie and Herbie and I told him about kicking Dave out of the band. He seemed much brighter tonight. He didn't need to search for words as much and all his stories were full of new information. He was really different.

I'm not grasping at false hope. It was just nice to see him so relaxed and engaged. After we got home we sat on the front porch and talked for a long time. He gave me a little BS about getting rid of the bees living in the barn wall but the rest of our conversation was fresh and productive.

Let's send him to Texas again!

Dad's coming home.

I go get him at 2:00. Jeannie called and said they had a good visit. She also said we should go down to Social Security and get things straightened out. I'm not sure just what but hey, that's what they're there for.

Gotta go. We're going to work on his back yard.

It's 3:50 now. Back from the airport. Dad seems better (for now). He thinks the stress of trying to get his taxes together was messing him up. I agree with him on that. He had a good time on his trip though he wishes he had more time to visit the Macaluso's.

I told him that our wheel barrow was missing. He decided we absolutely had to find it. When we got home we went on a wheel barrow search. Jeez, there were wheelbarrows everywhere! He must have at least 10 wheelbarrows in good working condition. We wandered around the barnyard (that's where it was, full of greasy motor parts. I figure Carlos took it.) and it bothered him to see the barnyard so junky. Timio's bags of grass seed and chemicals was a big mess in the barn. Dad's kind of pissed about that. He said Timio's done a lot for him but maybe it would be nice to not have to put up with all this crap. I hadn't said anything about it. He came up with that one on his own.

There's a lot to do. We have to finish the trust, inventory the farm, finish Dad's taxes, fix the back hoe so they can fill in the big hole, figure out the rest of Dad's finances and get Dad back to the doctor for his cataract surgery, his knee and to finish his Alzheimer's evaluation. We have to get the realtor up here so we can get started on leasing the big field and get some income for Dad.

I looked at some of the Alzheimer's websites the other night. It looks like Dad is in stage 4 of 7. What's coming ain't so good. I knew that but looking at the websites was a good wake up call. Drew and Mindy know what to expect because they've been through it with her dad. Dede and David also know. I don't know about Debbie. I talked about it with Stacey today and told her what I had read. She was kind of shocked. There's a big life change coming up for all of us and we need to be prepared. I know that's an understatement but it's way too easy to go into denial. I know it is for me.

I have to keep moving on getting my health together. I think later this week I can get the electrocardiogram (yeah, I know, I should've done that weeks ago). I need to get another blood test because those blood sugar numbers weren't so good. Crap. I pretty much knew that one was coming. But the reason for all these tests is so I can get started on a doctor-supervised weightloss program. With all that's coming I really need to stay healthy. I can't give my health over to a disease that's not even mine.

checking in

I called Dad this morning. He's having a fun visit. Herbie took him to a junk yard to find some steel. Dad feels at home in a junk yard.

It's been a nice break for us knowing that the phone isn't going to ring 10 times a day and Dad isn't just going to show up at the door and send the dogs into a frenzy 4 or 5 times a day.

My singing thing on Sunday went well. I wasn't perfect but I also didn't totally blow it. This church was in Yucaipa which is at a higher altitude than I'm used to. Not much but it did affect my singing. Still, I did ok. Kevin took me out for breakfast between services. Probably shouldn't have done that. It made me a bit phlemmy.

The superbowl party was also much better than expected. The cousins all behaved. We did the family hootnanny thing which was fun. One of the cousins had a football pool going. Jan and Dallas took the whole thing. How they managed to rig the game is way beyond any of us. One of the younger cousins was in one of the Pepsi commercials. Her career is really taking off. She's also been in a few magazines. Cute girl.

I went over to Dad's to check on things this morning. Jim and I need to get over there and clean the back yard. We've had some windy days so the pool is full of debris and the dogs have contributed massive amounts of poop to the yard. When you go back there you have to carry a stick to keep Maggie from poking her nose in your butt and pushing you into the pool. She's a sweet dog but a huge pest. And Lady is just plain weird. I wonder about what we'll do when Dad get's too far gone to care for them. Maggie is old but she's showing no signs of slowing down. I guess we'll figure it out when we need to.

Airport

The last time I saw Dad he was walking down the gangway so I assume he's on the plane.

There's no way he could have done this on his own. I got an escort pass so I could go with him to the gate. Going through security was fun. We both had to take off our jackets and shoes and put all our belongings in the bins. With Dad that means two jackets, two bags and having to sit down and untie his shoes. That meant running around to find a chair. Why doesn't security have chairs available so old people can take off their shoes without keeling over?

When Dad took off his jacket 2 grapefruit rolled out of his pockets and hit the floor. So now I'm running around trying to retrieve grapefruit while 30 people are trying to get around me and Dad, who is now chatting it up with the humorless trog who is pulling SCISSORS (2 pair) out of his bag.

When we got to the gate we sat down next to this poor guy who clearly didn't appreciate Dad fiddling with stuffing the grapefruits into his bag and then dropping it on the guy's foot. He left. Dad kept taking his ticket out of his pocket and asking if he's supposed to change planes in Phoenix. I kept reminding him about his yellow piece of paper. I explained several times that it's printed on his ticket that he needs assistance and someone will meet him at the gate and get him to the next plane. We had this conversation 6 times in 30 minutes. His ticket may be mushed to pulp by the time he gets there.

I called Jeannie when I got home. She's on it. They went through all this with Nana so they know what's required. She'll remind him to take his meds. She said she and Herbie really noticed when they saw him last year that things weren't quite right. And thank you, David for giving them that call.

Oh yeah, I got Dad's keys.

The meds

Ok, so he actually did take the meds out of the bag and put them in his medicine cabinet. But for some reason he thought I had them. We looked in his cabinet and found them. I checked the date on the bottles and found the one we had just gotten last week. So, ok, good. At least he has them.

He actually did a pretty good job of packing for the trip. He has his plane ticket in his suitcase in a ziplock bag. He has his instructions on bright yellow paper taped in is date book. He has his meds. I'll check everything tomorrow morning. Jeez, I hope everything goes ok at the airport tomorrow.

Note to self- Tell him to leave his keys at home.

Something new every day

This morning Dad came over and talked to Jim. I was still in bed. He thought that I had all his medication somewhere. He couldn't find it at his house so he thought I had it.

When we went to the doctor last week he took all his meds with him so the doctor could see what he's been taking. He had everything (current meds, old meds, empty bottles) in a white plastic grocery bag. I offered to give him a nice, small, paper shopping bag with handles but he said his bag was fine. For some reason I knew I really should have insisted he take the nice paper bag. Next time, follow my instincts.

After he got back from the doctor he must have put the bag down somewhere and forgotten about it. Now his meds are lost somewhere in his house in that white plastic bag that looks like every other piece of loose trash floating around. I'm going to go over and look for them and help him pack for Texas.

He said he hasn't taken any of his meds in the last few days because he just didn't think about it. Usually he's very good about that. I guess now we'll have to check on that every day. If it is vascular dementia and not Alzheimer's then he really needs to take his hypertension meds and take care of his diabetes.

By the way, he found his keys. His pants are still lost.

Hoo boy...

This morning Dad locked himself INSIDE his house. He has one of those horrible deadbolts that needs to have a key to unlock it from the inside. He only uses his back door because the front door is permanently locked and blocked and the slider leading to the back yard is no good because his back gate is locked. He can't find his keys because he can't find his pants. He called this morning and Jim took a key to him, which he kept. Now we just have one key to his house. I'd better make copies.

It's getting bad. He's leaving for Texas on Thursday. I guess I'll have to help him pack.