Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Grandpa Again

At 3:30 am Jeni woke me up to tell me Grandpa was roaming the house again. Down the stairs I trudged. There was Grandpa in his long johns searching the kitchen high and low for "something to make him sleep". Translation-liquor. Now grandpa was never a heavy drinker. In fact that was one of the things that made me sure his son was the guy for me. That family didn't drink much.
But Grandpa is late dementia or Alzheimers and he began to have a shot to calm him and make him sleep when most people didn't yet know he had the disease. As the disease progressed he began to try to drink more. However, Grandma, knowing he couldn't remember would just move it on him. After moving in here, he was fine for quite a while without his "night cap".
Right before the plague hit our house in February he started roaming about once a week or so. After our scary incident with him following the flu, I started giving him his nightcap tucked in his juice with his pills. Everything has been very fine until this last week.
Beginning on Thursday he just never went to sleep. Finally on Saturday night I got him to sleep the whole night by using an over the counter sleep aid, but Sunday night he was back to roaming the house again. By last night I was giving him a shot of NyQuil, a shot and 1/2 of his "juice", ibuprofen, his sleep aid and ya know what? Nothin!
I was up at 3:30 with him. I finally gave him a Tylenol 3 which is Adele's pain pill for her hip. That knocked him out for only 4 hours.
This morning he was up too bright and early and grouchy. Not a surprise. He was disoriented . Not a surprise.
Grandma was grouchy and disoriented. Yippee Skippee!
The day did improve. After lunch they had a very nice conversation. He asked a lot about the past. By late afternoon thought the agitation had set in again and he was getting pretty dillusional.
Meanwhile the doc finally called with a mild psycotropic drug for sleep, agitation and dillusions.
By 7 he was slurring and staggaring so I gave him his meds a bit early. No night caps allowed with this drug.
It is now 8:43. He shows no sign of getting sleepy. He has, however, stopped pacing and talking gibberish. He isn't saying much of anything at this point so maybe bedtime is not too far off.
9:22 Not tired yet. He is, however, relaxing and much more coherant.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Computers!!!!!!


Whatever economic or political doom and gloom raining on our lives today just has to wait it's turn for my attention. I have bigger problems. COMPUTER problems. It actually goes back a bit. The ol' 98 puked before x-mas. Now you say "Oh come on Cyndy, what are you crying over a 98 for"? Well, the dance kids write their papers on it and we do a lot of publishing on it, plus it has the translating software on it which I desperately need. That one can be fixed. We just need the time to rerun all the cd's to reboot it. The thing has 99 lives. It just needs it's reboot fix every so often.
Then there is the terribly slow windows xp. The thing is as slow as molassis, but NEVER breaks down. It needs a new cooling fan. Again no time to fuss with it. That one we really encourage for dancers since it seems indestructable and we really won't lose any sleep if it does croak.
Then there is Grandma's taking up space and being a dust collector. She can't remember how to use it any more, BUT since she is 84, has cancer and can be a bit of a pill, we will just leave it for now so I don't have the stress.
Matt and the girls have a pretty high powered newer xp that they shanghied me into. I leave it alone since they fill it full of viruses and crap constantly and I don'y have time to clean up their messes.
That leaves the 2 laptops. They aren't fancy. But they do what they need to. They roam the planet with the Kalinowski clan and really make life nice.
However, yesterday one of our very tiniest, very adorable dancers spilled a little water on one of the laptops. I don't know yet if it's a casualty or not. Right now "she's a drying out some more" in front of the pellet stove.
Of course this is messing up everyone's groove and creating moaning and groaning around here.
But we shall purservere. I just don't have the time for this. Computers are absolutely wonderful when they work. But when they don't ##@@@&&%%****!

Friday, March 27, 2009

Babble

Grandpa was up again last night. Grandma was actually lower key about the situation than normal. So tonight he got a sleep aid with his Aleve and "juice." Hopefully an over the counter will work.
One of my chickens is sitting on eggs already.
Young love-Geesh. Between Rakieta and Jeni, I don't know which girl is sillier. Merry is just playing the field so not too many worries there. Although she is the one I thought would NEVER play the field.
I am finally in charge of my MySpace and Facebook.
Today Mark Lavin read out of some Nazi playbook. It read eerily out of today's headlines. People need to wake up. We're still carining over the cliff.
However, at least I'll go into servitude as the master of my Facebook.
Busy weekend ahead.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Something to be Grateful For

Today was a nice spring day. Temps were nice. No jacket needed. Not too windy for a change. As I went out to collect eggs, I was forced as usual to reflect on the quiet dusk noises. Even with dancers coming in and out, the barnyard is quiet and peaceful. The chickens were underfoot looking for their warm water. The birds were making their settling down for the night noises, the farm across the street is finally quiet, no traffic, the ponies are nickering "Hello" and it is just always the same. Each time I go through the motions of evening chores or early morning, I always find God. I am not always looking. Sometimes I am just too busy being busy. But I always come back in the house having just found my spiritual center.
Once chicks are born I just love to sit on my stool and watch them. They grow a lot each day so the changes are very rapid. That also makes me sit in awesome wonder.
Tonight Grandpa came home from the companion's and as is so usual since his sickness, he came in and had a surprised grateful look on his face. He is surprised because every thing he does is like the first time, but his gratitude is over that he finally remembers nothing but our home as his home. He is grateful that he remembers this is home. I sit in awesome wonder.
He came and gave me a hug and told me he loved me. I sent him in to find his wife and took him out his popcorn. Every night he is surprised and gleeful that I make him popcorn. While I never signed up for this when I married my husband I am very glad for the opportunity to spend time with this very happy go lucky man at this point in his life.
I called Rakieta today-late. She never complains too loudly. She is just very ecstatic that I call. She is borrowing her tutor's phone shell since hers took one too many falls. He gives it to her gladly so she can talk to us. I sit in awesome wonder at how they have so little but give so much when they need to.
She will call her brother to tell him to go pick up his tuition money. He will ride many hours by bicycle to pick up the money and will not complain. He will only send me a lovely thank you e-mail in English that he has worked tirelessly on. No American I know would quietly live one day of their lives. I sit in awesome wonder.
Our dance program is growing in spite of the horrid Michigan economy and we are being presented with very special people. This promises to be a wonderful, fun show. I sit in awesome wonder.
The US is a wreck. As I write this, we are all hanging by our fingernails on the edge of a cliff. I sit in awesome wonder that so many Americans are losing sleep with me. That a country that has been so lackadaisical and silly does have a lot of great people who realize that we have to fight and fight hard or we may no longer have the great life we have all taken for granted.
I think I will sleep good tonight. I have been praying for some signs. I think my signs are that we should just not give up hope, faith or prayer. God is always near.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Rakieta's Mystery Illness

Well, it looks like Rakieta has worried herself into a bleeding ulcer. She is supposed to be going to the doctor this week. So we'll find out a little more. However, they do not have the scanning equipment we have to get things done. So.....it will be an old fashioned diagnosis.
I am sending her over all the things Americans use to deal with that kind of thing plus I told her to lay off the really spicy/eccentric flavored stuff and eat a lot of bananas and bread which are easy to get there. Remember it is French W. Africa.
My last orders to her-"You are going to have to stop worrying so much." I know, easier said than done for her.

Just Checking In!

It has been a little bit since I posted last. We sprung forward and the weather is finally cooperative enough to get some stuff done outside and the show is looming overhead. So it is the "Oh My God, I Will Never Get Everything Done Time of Year" again. It is Cinderella this year which means a lot of props and costumes. But so far we are on schedule. I am just waiting for the other shoe to drop which inevitable always does.
Today it is raining softly and the wind has finally died down to a nice breeze. We haven't received all the horrible weather that all those out west got, but the wind we got about made up for it.
Paperwork from the in-laws is finally beginning to ebb. A big relief. So, Knock on wood, I am hoping for a pretty status quo kind of summer this year.

Monday, March 16, 2009

The Adventurers are Home!

Merry, Jeni, Heather and Helena on board the Carnival Victory

Well the girls are home. They are beat, dog tired, but all reports are that it was a really nice trip. No weird creepy sickness this year. So after a long siesta they should be good as gold which is good since we are very, very busy this week.
Cruises are a great way to see the world.
And trust me from experience, at the end of a long day, it is great to be with Americans eating American food.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Farm Stuff

Matt working on stall #2. I have waited a long time for a barn this nice. We have electricity, water, and lots of room. It is wonderful!
Stall #1. They are huge! The girls will be so spoiled.
Yes, horses really do lay down and go to sleep. It was so balmy in the yard next to the barn. They slept through Matt's colorful working on projects language and all the noise of the saw, drill and moving lumber around.


Well it is bright sunny and at least 50* today. As usual around here we are missing spring weather. It seems in the thumb we go from winter to late spring right away. It has been a very long time since we had those kind of brisk 40* days that take us from winter to spring. Oh well. I am not complaining.
Anyhoo, I did get outside today and have gotten a lot done. This time of year I really have to discipline myself as I want to be outside all the time, but this is show season so I have to split my time between sewing and costume prep and farmy stuff. Good thing I love doing both. But I am usually pretty exhausted by June.
Today I am posting some neat pictures.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Little Buckaroo's Horse Retreat

I promised to plug this for the neighbor girls so here it is:

Little Buckaroo's Horse Retreat is an overnight camp for young teens. Girls can spend the night. Boys go home at 8:00pm. This camp is for youth who have some horse experience. Own horse preferred, but not necessary. One can be provided. The kids will participate in cattle work, team roping, trail riding and speed events. (Jeni would have loved this at that age. )
The camp will be held June 29-July 2nd 2009 at Tri C/V Horses on Wheeling Rd near our house.
Contact info:
Stephanie 810-614-3778
steph_tshirt@yahoo.com
Julie 810-614-9284
juliegilliland@yahoo.com
www.littlebuckaroosdaycamp.com

Cyndy's note-These girls are great with the kids. I am very impressed with everything I have seen so far. Good people and a good environment.

What's up with the Snow?

Geesh?!
I am sitting in the kitchen catching up e-mails looking forward to finally being able to get some outside stuff done today.
Some time in the last 10 minutes all of a sudden it looks like a winter wonderland out there. Huge puffy snowflakes.
Let me recap.
Sunday was rain and 50*
Monday was warm, rainy and we were in Flood warnings.
Tuesday was still rainy, really really rainy, and the rivers had not yet crested.
Wednesday was WINDY!!! It did dry up the water significantly but you couldn't work outside. Still in flood warnings.
Now, finally today I thought "Oh what a nice day". Hah!!
Global warning, I think not! At least not man made.
However, I hear there is some weird stuff happening on Dec 20, 2012. Maybe this is a prelude.


Ok God, enough with the sense of humor already. Just send us some nice normal spring weather. Thank you!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Just Babble

I have been really out of sorts for the last several weeks. Living in Michigan and having a husband in the auto industry is probably most of the problem.
Having to listen to the US crumbling day after day isn't helping.
As our oldest daughter laments "We're all gonna die". It's kind of hard to stay optimistic in light of all this.
However, in the midst of it all I decided I needed to slap myself and calm down. I have found peace in all the blessings I and my family have.
I have a great husband of 22 years. (We've been together 24.)
I have wonderful daughters-all of them.
I have a wonderful little farm.
I have my faith.
We'll be ok.

Now if Lansing and Washington would get it's act together, or better yet go home, maybe the country could begin to recover.

I feel better. Thank you for letting me rant.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Rain, Rain Go Away!

See this mess?! This is our driveway. We can't get in or out right now. This is what record snow and then quick melt downs and several straight days of heavy showers does to a heavy clay environment. We are expecting heavy rain again today. Yippee Skippee!

Monday, March 9, 2009

Merry and Jeni are off to the sunny south Caribbean!

Well, The girls are safely on St. Thomas Island as of 10:00am this morning. This is a Travel Club trip. They were planning on Mexico, but last week plans were aborted due to all the problems brewing at the moment.
So Wanda, their intrepid advisor, sat with the travel agent late into the evening finding an alternative solution. Eventually they settled on a South Caribbean cruise.....whose flight left from Detroit Metro at 8:30am.......on Spring Forward Sunday..........which meant we had to be there at 6:30am......which meant we left the house at 4:30am. Did I forget to mention it was Spring Forward?
Not a lot of sleep for anybody. Luckily I have figured out how to knock Grandpa out so he is no longer rambling the house in the wee hours.
They flew into Puerto Rico yesterday afternoon, taxied over to the cruise ship and had a relaxing dinner aboard the ship.
From the sounds of things everybody went to bed relatively early last night. I was glad because last year everybody got real sick and I figured if they got a good night's sleep last night they would be able to play hard all week and do just fine.
Normally I don't get cabin fever too much. This year is an exception! I want some sun and warmth too.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Life with Geriatrics

Monday was quite interesting. Grandpa was squirrely on Sunday. As the day wore on he seemed to be getting worse. Finally at 9:00 he became bored with "Long Way Round". and went off to bed. Or so we thought.
When I got up in the morning Grandma was in the chair very grumpy. Grandpa was already up and at "em". Not a good sign. The next clue was that he was in his long john pants completely oblivious to his fashion statement. He is very modest so this was definitely a red light.
I got him dressed and sat down to breakfast. Then I went back to the ball of negativity in the living room. Turns out he was up talking, laughing, singing etc until 4:30 am. She finally yelled at him to "Shut UP!" I guess he did.
I got the morning stuff taken care of and Grandma comfortable and then she went off to sleep.
In the meantime Grandpa proceeded to drive us all crazy. He was agitated and talking gibberish. When he wasn't talking gibberish, he was fussing about sex in newspapers, the car needing to be serviced, etc. In addition he was extremely upset that his wife yelled at him last night ya know.
As the family had gotten up I got the stories. He told Matt the ghosts were talking to him all night. That is who he was laughing and giggling with. Jeni said he was up fully dressed and roaming the house at about 1:30. She also verified Grandma's stories that he was VERY LOUD.
Anyway, the day didn't get any better. I got a hunch he might have had a mini stroke some time during the last few days. I started making calls to get advice. I got some good information.
His companion had a very animated afternoon with him and as soon as he came home I started working on getting him to sleep. In the end an Aleve and 2 tbs of NyQuil put him out like a baby. He slept peacefully until 10:30 this am and today is a much better, more sane day.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

The Plague

Well the Plague is alive and well.
Wednesday Grandpa was fine. In the middle of the night, he was not. By the next morning it was apparent from the smell coming out of the bedroom all was not ok. It was a terrible smell. When grandpa finally got up, he didn't finish his breakfast, kept falling asleep at the table and in general had me worried. Next I went to investigate the smell. OMG! There were clothes everywhere. Mess everywhere. I began to clean. Could not get the smell out no matter how much scrubbing, etc.
Lunch time. Grandpa is vomiting. Matt is staying home so I can take Grandma to the doctor. We had the companion there to clean up messes. Matt finally got him into our shower, something we had not been able to accomplish up until now. We were paying an adult foster care for the use of theirs weekly. Anyway, I guess he was in Grandma's undies.
A lot of work for everybody.
Friday, Grandpa is on the mend. Still messy but getting better quickly.
Friday night. Jeni is on the couch. She threw up at the beauty shop. Matt calls. He is running to the bathroom with diarrhea. I head off to bed. I can't sleep for all the stomach pain.
Saturday am. It looked like the day after a massacre around here. Jeni is still on the couch. Hasn't moved since yesterday. Matt is on the floor in a sleeping bag. Guess it was the only way he could get any peace. I literally crawled down the stairs. Grandma is getting up, complaining of being dizzy and as soon as she sat down we needed to grab a bucket for her. False alarm. You get the point.
Merry had to cancel the dance rehearsal and the snack bar.
I finally was able to lift my head and make sense of the world at about 7:00pm Matt never did come to. Ditto for Jeni. Grandma didn't eat all day. Grandpa, thankfully was still low key.
Today things are a little more sane around here. Except for Grandpa. He doesn't remember a thing. Swears he was riding around with friends the last couple days. Was never sick and he is just full of it today. I'd like to knock him back out.
Thank God for Merry. She held down the fort for us.