More on E-mealz

I've gotten several questions about my emealz plan. Here's the link

http://www.e-mealz.com/

So far we've had 2 nights of meals (had a few schedule disruptions, how typical). Both were good.

The next meal on the list involves a turkey breast tenderloin, that I'm having trouble finding. We may just skip over that one.

Accepting help

I think that one of the hardest things as a caregiver is accepting help with the job. If you're a caregiver, it's because it needed to be done, you saw that you were the one who can or should do it and you've got a picture of how it will be done. You try to keep control over the medical bills, doctors' orders and execution of the doctors' orders. Then you've still got your own life to try to keep track of, and you're still wanting to uphold the same standards in your life that you had before you were caregiving. Or if you're like me, you're still trying to meet some utopian standards of cleanliness, organization, health and financial stability that were unrealistic BEFORE the s*** hit the fan.

This week all I could do was get class stuff done at least 5 minutes before it was needed and make sure that Mom has what she needs at the nursing home. Nothing more got done. After a frustrating evening of no one getting dinner made because I got home late and I hadn't told anyone what to make, I broke down and subscribed to emeals.com. It's a subscription service that sends you 7 dinner menus a week, complete with recipes and a shopping list. Yesterday afternoon we headed to the grocery and bought the entire list. My boyfriend headed home and started on recipe #1 while I headed to the nursing home to see Mom.

The grocery excursion was a bit stressful. We usually don't buy that much at the store at once, but then we usually have no clue what to eat for dinner either! I found myself wanting to "tweak" the menu, but then decided that we'd stick to it 100% for a few weeks and see how it goes. The bill came to a bit over $100, which really isn't bad for 7 dinners for 4 people (and a few extras like milk and some books and plants for Mom). Dinner #1 was quite tasty. I helped a bit, but Boyfriend took the lead. Before I left this morning, I made sure the menu and recipe for tonight was sitting on the table.

This weekend is "catch up weekend". Lots of housework and grading to do. We're planning to take Mom to the mall this weekend. I think she needs an outing.

Good news and a 4-6 week vacation for Mom

Good news. The ankle didn't need surgery. She'll still need 4-6 weeks of rehab, but there were no emergency trips to Parentville that caused me to cancel classes. Whew.

Mom has agreed to come to TenureTrackville to recover. I've found a nursing home/rehab center here that seems pleasant, clean and safe, and I'm currently in Parentville to pick her up and get things pulled together.

I'm opening mail and seeing where things stand on bills. I'm really ticked off at the moment, as I've found about $100 a month of random "services" on her phone bill and credit card. Some of it looks like stuff that Dad may have tried the 90 day free trial and no one realized had started billing. I'm getting that cleaned up one phone call at a time. I'm also setting up a few on-line accounts so I can check up on things.

The good news out of last week's mayhem is that Mom agrees that she needs more help than she thought. While she's in TTville, we're going to try to let her see that life here can be fun and that maybe an assisted living apartment would be less lonely, safer and easier to maintain. Maybe by the first of the year, we can have her transitioned. Maybe not. Who knows.

Now, who to call next.....

Hello, Job here

Arrggghhh! It's been a rough week in the world of long distance caregiving. On Wednesday, Mom had a car accident. No injuries, but it was clear that it was time to talk to her about driving. Then Saturday, she fell at Church. She missed 3 steps going through the gathering space to the bathroom. The ankle is broken and will require surgery later this week. Until the surgery, she's to be completely non-weight bearing, and I imagine she'll have quite a long recovery.

I'm trying to stay one to two decisions ahead of where we are. If the hospital won't keep her until the surgery, she'll need go to the rehab center. I know I don't want her going where Dad was. We'll have to see what is available, but I'm not there to actually SEE the places and make a good decision. I'll do what I can, and hope for the best. I'm going to spend today getting ahead for work, since I'll be headed back to Parentville for the surgery.

I'm angry. Angry that she wouldn't listen, and her friends wouldn't listen. We had 3 months after Dad died to look at assisted living places and make good decisions. Now we've got a mess and I'm 9 hours away! I'm angry at her friends, who are all telling me "We were really worried, she's not been doing well since you left". Well, yeah. Now you see what she's really like. Thanks so much for supporting me when I needed help getting her set up where she'd be safe.

Ok, enough of that. First mass, then class prep and finish my course proposal. One foot in front of the other.