Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Seriously, as I watched TV last night it occurred to me that if you were a foreigner watching American TV, you would believe that every woman in America suffers from osteoporosis and bladder control problems. To top it all off, we also suffer from depression.
Well, OF COURSE we are depressed. Our bones are breaking as we rush to get to the toilet on time!! Who wouldn’t be depressed?
As I watch my daughter on the one hand, who is strong, muscular and can run a marathon, and my Mom on the other, who can barely lift her legs and gets exhausted going from one room to the other, I can’t help but wonder where this sandwich generation forty something woman falls?
According to my WII Fit, I am overweight. Tell me something I don’t know. Obviously I am the cheese and mayo part of the sandwich and not the lean turkey. Ouch.
So as of today I have vowed to start exercising more, sitting less, and swearing off the french fries. Okay… maybe one order of fries a week. After all, I don’t want to get depressed!
Sam’s Club Adventures
Posted on: March 3, 2010
It took 10 minutes to get past the first aisle of Sam’s today with Mom. She decided to stop and look at the chaise lounges and outdoor furniture for a REALLY long time. As I sat back and watched the whole scene I kept wondering why she was looking at a chaise lounge? She finally turned and said to me, “what are those?” It never occurred to me she had spent the last few minutes searching the recesses of her 80 year old mind. The rest of the shopping adventure is uneventful until back by the bread aisle, she decides she has to go to the bathroom NOW. Of course, the restrooms are at the very front of the store and we are at the very back. She leaves me the two carts and takes off with her cane and her cute lopsided walk as fast as she can. (Let’s hope those Depends are working!)
I spent the next 10 minutes meandering around Sam’s with 2 carts, trying not to run into people or displays. I was not successful. We finally met up at the front near checkout where she proceeded straight to the outdoor furniture and sat down while I unloaded the carts. On the way home we decided it had to be way later than 3:00. We were both ready for bed and I told her we would just leave everything in the car and figure out how to get it inside later.
God decided to bless me today by having my son come out back and actually unload the car without being asked! I thought I would have a heart attack right then and there! What happened to my son…. who was this helpful cheery person? Ahh, I was being paid back for not losing my patience at Sam’s when Mom spent 10 minutes looking through the apple bags. Thanks God!
Mommy Immunity
Posted on: March 1, 2010
Have you ever noticed how a mom can have kids vomit all over them or even cough right into their face and STILL not get sick? I call this wonderful phenomenon, “MOMMY IMMUNITY”. It’s great how God makes us so perfectly suited to this great germ infested position called motherhood. Think about it… some men need a Hazmat suit when going in for the diarrhea diaper. Not we Moms, we dive right in and take care of business. I love that about us. Let’s hear it for Mommy Immunity! May you all stay well.
ADD and the Elderly
Posted on: February 22, 2010
I tried to get through the mall today with Mom. She has a major case of ADD, but would never admit it. We can’t go three feet without her stopping to read a sign or get distracted by something “shiny”. I find myself walking in front of her and occasionally putting my hand back to show her in which direction she is supposed to be going. On the road she reads all of the signs we pass. (this reminds me of the movie Forget Paris with Debra Winger and Billy Crystal). I crack up EVERY time and she always asks me what’s so funny? Nothing sweetie, I say as I have the mantra “you asked for it, you got it, Toyota”, going through my head.
Today was a great day. Mom actually felt like shopping a little, my daughter is over a cold she’s had forever, the son is actually communicating in more than the usual grunt and the hubby is humming after work.
It feels good to be a sandwich on these days…. oh well, there’s always tomorrow!
Something Funny
Posted on: February 19, 2010
“Okay, sit down and write something witty for this blog you started, ” I think to myself as my house cleaning list goes through my head. I don’t like to clean. Never have. My sister on the other hand is the female version of Mr. Clean with the lemony scent. She can clean the chrome off a bumper as they say, and hum happily doing it. Since this is so, why am I the one going over to Mom’s house today to dust and clean the floors? Because I don’t work, I guess. Really, seriously? I could run a fortune 500 company and not work as hard as I do taking care of my family AND my Mom. At least CEO’s can delegate.
Okay, so enough ranting. I actually feel better now. As I sit waiting for my febreeze swiffered tile floor to dry, I bolster myself up to go over to Mom’s with a big smile on my face and Pledge furniture polish in my hand! Bring it on dust… you got nothing on me. I am sandwich woman, hear me roar!!
From the daughter
Posted on: February 14, 2010
This is a tribute to moms everywhere on Valentines day.
From the daughter…
Mom, God has definitely blessed me with you, and with all that you do…even though it can get annoying, all of the “wear a coat”, “wipe your nose on the tissue, not your clothes!” and such. But, I just wanted you to know that I love you, and there isn’t a mom in the world I would trade you for.
❤ Lily
Can I split myself in two?
Posted on: February 12, 2010
Remember the Gumby character on SNL? He was stretchy and could be pulled in all directions. I am literally standing in my dining room, totally incapacitated by the pull of two opposing forces. In one direction is my Mom who needs help getting dressed so she can go out to dinner tonight. It takes awhile to get those 80 year old “girls” in the holster if you get my meaning. In the other direction is my daughter who needs to pack for an overnight at one of her perspective colleges. Stuffing her nice clothes into her school backpack is totally sufficient in her mind, while my OCD, everything in it’s place motherness is freaking out! You cannot use a ziploc for your toothbrush, it must have a holder!!
Either way I have to bounce back and forth between the two, all the while feeling I should be in the other place! Oh, I know…. I need some type of Matrix thing where I can be in two places at once! That would be the best selling thing on the sandwich market!
Time Mangement
Posted on: February 8, 2010
As I get up this cold monday morning, I am trying to figure out how to manage my week and I think I may just go back to bed. Today I have to take my daughter’s car into the collision center because someone slid into her during our last ice storm, go to the grocery because we are out of essentials like cereal (which my family is forced to eat on the many nights I can’t manage to cook), see my chiropractor for my bi-weekly adjustment, check on mom because she hasn’t been feeling good, see if I can get her in to see the doctor because he reassures her she is alright, get our taxes together so I can start the FAFSA process ( a whole other blog on that one), read over my daughter’s essays for scholarships and edit them, and FINALLY, show up for my husband’s business dinner looking rested and fabulous!!
And that’s just today… don’t get me started on tuesday’s appointments, the bible study notes I need to go over for my class, getting my daughter prepared for her college scholarship visit on friday and helping mom pack for her trip to florida to visit a friend. (she’s already trying to back out on this one but I am pushing her to go because I was counting on the break!)
So here is the question of the day… If I got hit by a bus this morning, would everyone be okay?! Would it all get done? Would people rise to the occasion and take care of themselves? Of course they would!! I REALLY need to get a grip on my self importance and realize that God is in control and I am not! I just feel better getting these things out of my brain and into cyperspace to share. Even though no one is probably reading, I’ll keep on typing to keep myself sane. Here’s to a great day!
Retail Therapy
Posted on: February 6, 2010
Many people espousing the value of buying only what you need have never truly experienced the euphoria that comes from the perfectly timed purchased. This is the purchase which gives you hope when all the world around you is falling apart. When your Mother complains that you aren’t coming to see her, even though you spent all day with her yesterday, when you have to return yet another pair of pants to the store because your daughter “just doesn’t like them”, when you forgot to pay the credit card bill and you see that irritating late fee on the statement. Nothing makes sense beyond the fact that those super soft bamboo pajamas from Soma are going to change everything! And at 25% off TODAY ONLY, you must have them to interject some semblance of normalcy back into the universe. Hey, I say if bamboo clothes make us feel better, then it is a valid method of stress relief to purchase them whenever possible! Retail therapy gets a bum rap. It rocks!!
Doctor visits
Posted on: February 1, 2010
Is it just me, or does anyone else find the “medical history” forms at doctor visits a little redundant and irritating? We are at the urologists office because my Mom has a little “trouble” from time to time and we are slowly eating into the grandchildren’s inheritance with all of the Depends she has to purchase. Question #48. Why are you here today? – Because I pee all over myself whenever I come to a standing position. Question #146. Do you have trouble with your bladder? – No, it’s all been solved now by spending 20 minutes in your waiting room filling out forms.
Oh how I wish I would write some of these things I think of just to see if anyone actually reads them! But I’m afraid I would be labeled a trouble maker and the AMA would put my name on the Crazy Daughter of Elderly Patients List. So I will continue to fill out the same 20 page form EVERY SINGLE TIME we visit. Because that’s just the fun of it all!!
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