Saturday 29 October 2016

Vitamin D

Saturday, October 29, 2016
Mom and Donna were just leaving the television room when I arrived.  Donna said that mom wasn't feeling well, but she seemed fine to me.  She still has a lot of phlegm and mucous.
I went through mom's drawers.
I showed her a top I brought that her sisters had bought for her from Japan and she was happy.
I gave her some vitamin D pills.  I put 3 pills in her hand.  She made a funny face and then put them all in her mouth.  I gave her a cup of water.  She drank some water, but I guess she didn't swallow the pills because she started chewing and then she made a funny face.  I told her to drink some more water.  She was fine.
I also fed her a prune, some peanuts and a macadamian nut.
She liked the prune.
Donna went back to watch television so mom and I did some exercise.
Then we played cards.  She knew which card was stronger.  I would lay out two cards and ask her which was stronger.
I tried to play card bingo, but she had not a clue what card I was calling out.  She needed a visual clue.
After Donna, Anna and Michael joined us and we played a few games.
Then, mom and Donna wanted to go to the washroom, but their new roommate was in the washroom.  First I took mom to the neighbour's washroom and then I took Donna.
We were just in time for cocoa and a cookie.  Too many sweets.

Doritos

Friday, October 28, 2016
I don't know how it happened, but there were two mugs with what appeared to be tea diluted with other liquids.  Ailene pointed to one mug and said it was my tea.  It was lukewarm, but it was tea.  There were 3 plastic cups that were stacked.  Maybe mom drank my apple juice and her apple juice and then poured her milk into the mugs?
Mom seemed kind of flustered.  There had been a birthday party to celebrate all the October birthdays.  She kept saying that she wasn't very good.  I guess she felt uncomfortable in the limelight.
Mom asked me why I had taken so much food.  I told her that I didn't have to eat it all.  Of course, I didn't take the food, it was served to me like that.  Mom ate all her food and her jello too.  I gave her a few pieces of orange, even though she kept telling me that she didn't want them, but she ate them all the same.  Because of her cold, I also gave her some vitamin D, a multivitamin and ZBEC.
She told me she was fine and didn't have a cold.  She seemed fine.
She coughed and cleared up all her phlegm and mucous in the bathroom.
I had brought some warm cashmere sweaters that she wore a lot last winter, but she didn't want to wear them.  She insists she is not cold.
I found a pair of poopy underpants in her drawer and put them in the communal laundry hamper.
As I was going through mom's drawer, I found a half-finished bag of Doritos.  I asked her if I could throw it away, but she said she wanted to keep it.  Then, she started eating the chips.  She only ate a few and then I put the bag in the top drawer.
We went to the horse races and mom's horse came in on the last race.  Hurray!


Tuesday 25 October 2016

Cold

Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Mom's nose was runny.  I think she has a cold.
She had a good appetite.  She lingered at the table and ate most of her food.
We had pork roast, mashed potatoes and gravy and green and wax beans.  Dessert was rice pudding.
Mom ate all her veggies and all her meat.  Jacquie shared some chopped up oranges with us.  Mom ate them.
We had a musical entertainment today.  Braiden played piano.  Mom didn't know the words, but she knew the tune so she kind of hummed.
There was no laundry in the hamper, but mom gave me some dirty underwear.  She said she was going to wash them, but I told her that I would take care of it.  I put the poopy underpants in the communal laundry basket and put the other pairs in my bag to take home to wash.  I put a pair of trousers in the communal wash as well.
We played card bingo.  Mom was impatient.  She was wondering when the game would start.  Then she wondered if I was checking her cards or not.  Sometimes she can help other people with their cards.  Donna won the last game of the night.


Saturday 22 October 2016

Leftovers

Saturday, October 22, 2016
Mom and Donna were in their room when I arrived.  Mom was wearing her pajama pants which are like capris so I got her to wear longer pants.  We went to the dog park.  There were only 3 dogs. Mom didn't want to sit on the bench because she said it was too cold.
When we returned to the centre, Donna said she wanted to watch the movie.  It was 'Jaws."  Mom watched for a few minutes and then she started coughing so she decided to leave.  I tried to give her some water, but she refused at first.  I drank the water out of the paper cup first and then she tried some water.
When we got back to her room, I gave her an old magazine to look at.  It was a souvenir magazine with the marriage of the younger prince of Japan and his wife.  She enjoyed it.
There was some food in a container wrapped in a napkin.  She didn't want to eat it so I did.  I had just come back from a meeting and didn't have dinner yet so it worked out well.  There was mashed potatoes, some cooked veggies and a brownie.  The brownie was too sweet.  There was an orange in her drawer.  It was peeled and parted into segments.  It was kind of dried out so I threw it out.
I looked through her drawers and checked the laundry hamper.  She had some clothes in the hamper.
I was going to leave so I was going to walk mom back to the movie room.  We met Donna in the hallway so we walked back together to sit with Shanta and her son.  Shanta wanted to play cards, but I explained that I was going home.

Friday 21 October 2016

Hair brush

Friday, October 21, 2016
The whole gang was there for dinner tonight.  Jacquie showed up a little late.
We had lemon chicken, boiled beans and rice.  We had tapioca pudding for dessert.
Mom ate all her food.
I cut mom's chicken up for her and she didn't even object.
After dinner we went back to mom's room and I combed her hair.  Her hair was quite tangled at the back.  We laughed because I was having a difficult time combing her hair at the back.  I asked her if she combed her hair and she said "no."
I found a couple of pairs of underwear in the clothes hamper.
She had a lot of clothes in her drawer as well which I'll have to sort through and hang up.
I saw mom's brush that had been missing for months.  It looks like mom's brush was labeled with the name of the lady beside her.  Mom didn't like that brush anyways because the bristles hurt her scalp and now it is dirty and has a lot of hair in it.
We went to the horse races and none of us won anything.  Donna can choose a number, but mom can't choose a horse.
After the horse races, we played card bingo.  Donna, Shanta, Mom and Michael.  Mom was feeling overwhelmed, but in the end, she won two games in a row. We had a nice time.

Thursday 20 October 2016

Back from Hawaii

Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Had dinner with mom.  Jacquie had returned from her cruise to Hawaii.  She had to fly back because she had some kind of medical condition.  Ailene was eating in her room so I took her spot.
We had ginger pork for dinner.  It was okay.  Mom ate well.  We had carrot cake with icing for dessert.
We looked through mom's photo book briefly after dinner.  I packed up some of her laundry.
Donna won one bag of Doritos at card bingo.
After the game, I took Shanta back to her usual place in the fish tank room.  Mom and Donna went to join her.   We sat and chatted for a bit.  Anna joined us.  She lifted up her shirt to show us her underwear so I told her it wasn't necessary.  She's such a character.

Saturday 15 October 2016

Bedspread

Saturday, October 15, 2016
Mom was watching a movie.
The activity coordinator told me that she had "Home Alone" and would be showing it in December.  I had mentioned that it was mom's favourite movie.
Mom came with me to her room.  She tried on the clothes that I brought for her.  She seemed happy with everything, except that the sleeves were too long and the legs were too long.  I told her that I would make alterations.
She said that the light blue pants in her closet were not hers.  They were given to her it's true.  And they fit.  I have seen her wearing them.
She also complained about her bedspread.  It was wrinkly.  She said her roommate's was nicer than hers.  I got another bedspread from the trolley for her and we remade her bed.  This one was less wrinkly.
Donna came back to the room and we went to tea together.  Irma was sitting at our table.  I brought Shanta to join us.  She gave me her cookie and it was good. I asked the ladies about the movie. Shanta said it was about Arabia.  She's the only one that remembered.
I went to get some cards to play card bingo and two men had joined Shanta.  Maybe they were relatives. The one guy was trying to play for Shanta, but I explained that Shanta could play well, but that the others might need help.
We played card bingo. Mom kept asking me if I was checking her cards and complaining that she couldn't see the card I was holding up.  Mom won the first game.  Irma kept saying she couldn't play, but she won the second game.  We played two games and then I had to leave.

Wednesday 12 October 2016

Chris

Wednesday, October 12, 2016
I met mom and Donna on their way to watch television in the Fraserview Room.  I took mom with me to her room.  I combed her hair and gave her the photo book to look at while I tidied her drawer.  She found a photo of me.  I was happy she recognized me.
Gerri's daughter was there too.  She was cleaning out Gerri's closet because Gerri will be moving out on Friday morning. It's amazing how much can fit in that little closet.
Gerri will be moving to a brand new facility in Coquitlam where she will have her own private room. Gerri also needs more attention because of her disabilities.
I found a pair of used underpants in mom's drawer.  There was a lot of laundry in the hamper so I just put it in the communal hamper.  I could smell poop, but I think the soiled clothes were already wrapped in a plastic bag.
Chris dropped by.  He said that he had gone to work out and then had gone for a massage.  I gave him some Pocky sticks that I found in the closet. He was going to visit his girlfriend.
Donna joined us.  I noticed it was almost time for cocoa.
We walked out with the girls to the fish tank room and joined Shanta.
Shanta was disappointed we weren't going to play cards.
There's supposed to be a rainstorm tonight.

Monday 10 October 2016

Out for a walk with mom

Monday, October 10, 2016
Mom was sitting with the gang watching the news. I asked Donna if she wanted to go to the park, but she said she was too tired.  I took mom with me to her room.  I combed her hair and put her in a jacket.  She said the jacket was too warm, but I knew she would be cold so I even brought an extra jacket.  Sure enough once we got outside, I had to put her in two jackets.
There were only 3 dogs at the dog park.  I asked mom to walk closer to the fence, but she didn't want to walk in the grass.  She came, but she didn't think it was worth the effort to see the dogs close up.
We went for a short walk to the playground.  I wanted mom to try the swings, but she said it was too cold so we went back.  She said she was busy today, but she couldn't tell me what she had done.
She was relieved to join her friends in television room.
I put mom's coats in the closet and grabbed a couple of decks of cards.  Then, I put some chairs around the table where Shanta was sitting.  I asked the gang it they wanted to play cards.  Mom had no idea what I was talking about.  Donna didn't seem very excited.  She had her legs up on her walker.  Anna was very enthusiastic and so was Michael.
They seem to have trouble differentiating between spades and hearts and hearts and clubs.  Anyways they were having a lot of fun.  They didn't even care about cocoa time.  They complained it was too sweet.  


Saturday 8 October 2016

Card Bingo

Friday, October 7, 2016
We had Maryland baked chicken thighs with oven roasted fries and mixed veggies (carrot, broccoli and cauliflower).  Dessert was rice pudding.
Surprisingly mom had not consumed all her beverages.
She had a good appetite and ate about 2/3 of her meal.
It was a lot of food and I felt quite full.
I asked Aileen about the entertainment in the afternoon.  She was annoyed.  She said that she had told me before that because of her hearing problem that she didn't go to the concerts.
Mom and Donna didn't remember.
After dinner mom went to her room and Donna and I followed.
Mom, Donna and Santa all won at the horse races.
It was a dark and stormy night so we played card bingo.
Anna and Santa joined us.
We had a nice time.
Mom was quite with it tonight.  I wanted her to try on one of my old tops and she obliged, but she really didn't like it.  She doesn't like boat necks.  We even went to look at her reflection in a big mirror, but she said it wasn't her style. 


Saturday, October 8, 2016
When I arrived the gang was sitting in the Fraserview Room watching the news.
Shanta's son was with her.
Everyone seemed engrossed in the news so only mom came with me.
I tried to get mom to put the cards in a sequence, but she was having difficulty.
After we had sorted out all the suits, I had mom say what the cards were. I had to help her. 
Then, Anna came by so we played card bingo.  Donna joined us too and then Michael and Shanta.
Anna won twice.  Everyone had a nice time and was disappointed that it had to end.
I put mom's laundry in the communal laundry bin.
Mom seemed a little foggy today.  Sometimes I wonder if they give her extra drugs on the weekends.
But she had a good time giggling with Anna.

Wednesday 5 October 2016

Giggles

Tuesday, October 5, 2016
Jackie is away on vacation so I can have her spot at the table.  This confuses mom.
Mom has already consumed all her beverages.
Tonight we are having breaded, baked fish with cooked carrots, mashed potatoes and gravy.
Mom objects when I cut up her fish.  She insists her spoon is fine.  She eats about half of everything and then excuses herself from the table.  She gets her bearings and then heads to her room.
Eventually she returns to the table, but refuses to eat any more.  Mom is indignant that Ailene is not eating her canned mandarin oranges.  Ailene is just annoyed at mom. 
After dinner we go back to the room for a bit and look at mom's photo book.
Then, it's time to play card bingo. 
We're there a little earlier than usual.  The last few times it was a full house and sometimes mom and Donna can't sit together.  The staff don't like mom and Donna to be together all the time.  Mom is getting impatient.  She wants to hurry up and start the game.  Mom asks me where the guy is.  It makes me laugh.  Then, George tells Ming that he is handsome and mom starts to giggle. 
Today there is laundry in the hamper.  I bring a new set of underwear to be labled.  The staff member tells me mom has lots of underwear, but I just checked and she only has 3 pairs of underwear in the drawer. 
Mom and Donna didn't win anything at card bingo today, but they had fun.
Later they went to sit with Shanta in the fish tank room.
Mom seems quite with it today.

Saturday 1 October 2016

Card Bingo

Saturday, October 1, 2016
Arrived shortly after 3:00 p.m.
Mom and Donna no where to be seen.
They were in their room.
Donna was in the washroom and mom was by the entrance to her room.
I gave her a hug.  There was a nightgown and a pair of underpants in the hamper.
I wonder if mom's pajamas fit her anymore.
Because it was raining outside, we had to stay indoors.
I decided to play card bingo with them.
I got Shanta to join us.  She gave me two digestive cookies from coffee time.
Shanta can only use one hand to flip the cards and she is in a wheelchair so it's hard for her to control all the cards.  Mom and Donna have to help her.
They all had trouble finding the correct card.
One of the activity workers came to watch us.  She had never seen this particular activity.
I'll have to think of another game just for a change.
Donna won four times in a row!
They girls seemed to have fun.