A week of fun and productivity with my Mother!

This week I got to spend some extended time with my Mother. Daddy was away with his nephews in Big Springs, TX dove hunting, so I went down to El Dorado last Sunday to get Mother. I didn't think it was a good idea for her to be at home alone, especially since she is legally blind. Although she can function well in her own home, I did not feel comfortable with her being there by herself. So, this gave us some extra time together. I did, however, have to work all week, but came home for lunch each day to have time with her. It was a fun week for both of us even though we didn't have a lot of time together. I took her to Camryn's dance studio on Monday. We went shopping for her some new clothes on Tuesday. Wednesday, Alison and Billie came over to eat lunch with us. I took her to our Kindergarten Program on Thursday night, and Friday, we went to see Andrea's house. It was a pretty busy week. She spent a lot of her time while I was at school sitting out on my patio enjoying the birds singing and letting Jacye run.

It is sobering when you think of how you take for granted the things that you do on a daily basis that are difficult for someone who has very limited eyesight. For instance: I go to the door numerous times per day, unlock the storm door (because I always keep it locked) and then let Jacye out to do her business. Monday when I left Mother at the house while I went to work, it never dawned on me that she did not know how to unlock my back storm door...you just have to slide the button down. Well, Jacye had let her know that she needed to go outside, so Mother was trying to get the door open. She had pushed the button in, but not down. Of course, if you know my dog, Jacye, she was jumping up and down like a yo-yo the whole time Mother was trying to get the door open all the while getting more and more frustrated. She finally gave up, saying to Jacye, "I just can't get it open!" Jacye, I guess realizing Mother's frustration, just went back to laying on the back of the couch. A little later my sister called to check on how Mother was doing and was able to talk her through how to get the door unlocked. When I came home for lunch we talked about it, but it dawned on me that if something had happened that Mother really needed to get out of the house, she would have been trapped, because she didn't know how to get the garage door open either. That morning I had put pieces of lime green paper on the microwave Quick minute and Start buttons so she could use the microwave and I later added my cell phone number in the speed dial on my phone and placed velcro to the appropriate buttons so she could call me if she needed anything. Although she is able to function very well for being legally blind, it was still a challenge for her to come into my world and make it. But being the independent, self-reliant woman she has always been, she made it just fine and we had a wonderful time together. I don't think she has ever come and stayed that long with me before, but it was a lot of fun.

I took her back home on Saturday and began the big project of ripping up the carpet in the master bedroom and cleaning up the mold and mildew that had taken over that room due to something faulty in the A/C (a window unit). What a job that was. I am sore in places that I didn't know had muscles. But we got it done...I pulled up all the tack board strips and all the hundreds of staples that were in the floor. The hardwood floors that were covered by the carpet were still in fairly good shape. I mopped and scrubbed them and added Mop & Glow to put somewhat of a glow and shine back. They really needed to be sanded and have a new polyurethane finish added but that will have to come at a later date. There is just so much you can do in a 24 hour period. I took her shopping before we got started on the project to get new bedspreads for the two beds she has. After we got everything cleaned and disinfected and all the new stuff added the rooms looked really good. She was very pleased and I was too...mainly because I was able to help her get rid of the yuck that was growing in there and because I was able once again to do a "make-over" project with her while Daddy was away hunting. Ü This is something we always did when I was a teenager when he was away for any length of time. You know, it is just so much easier to do those things when you don't have a man around who is saying, "It can't be done that way," or "It won't work," or ""What do you want to do that for? or "It is alright just as it is so why do you want to change it?" Those types of statements are just like waving a red flag at a bull when you say them to us Curtis Women! That just makes us more determined than ever to do it! Ü You should have seen this 56 year old woman and my 82 year old Mother pushing and pulling furniture around. When there is a will to make it happen...it does!

All in all it was a great week of fun and productivity! I am tired and sore today but very pleased with all we were able to accomplish.