Poof, She's Gone

Sorry for the disappearing act. Steve's in Genoa, Italy and I've been working. I keep having experiences that I think, "Oh I should blog that," but by the time I get the chance, I've forgotten what happened! I hope I'll be back later this week but for now I'm just trying not to go under. I think this week my kids have spent more time at my parents' house than home in their own beds. Thank God I'm off tonight.

After all this time, last night I had my first fall. Some of the residents tend to roll out of bed at night or they'll try to transfer themselves without calling for help and they'll fall when I'm not in the room but last night was the first time I was actually in the bathroom with my resident when he fell. He's the sweetest man who says the funniest things but because he tends to fall, he has an alarm and when he's not in bed, someone has to be with him. He'd finished using the facility, had washed his hands and had pitched the towel toward the trash can but had missed. The same thing had happened when he used the toilet at midnight too and so I started to say, "Mr. L, don't worry about it, I'll get the towel," which is what I'd said at midnight too. Unfortunately I didn't even get the "Mr. L" part out and he was falling forward and about to crack his head on the counter. I tugged him back onto my legs and he and I managed to slowly lower to the floor without injury. Luckily for me the med nurse was down my hall so I hollered out to her that we were on the floor and she came in and helped me get him back up on his feet. It was a pretty scary experience. I always wondered if the time came if I'd be able to lower someone onto my own body the way the textbooks instructed or if my reflexes would be too slow. I really thank God for his protection last night. I believe otherwise my reflexes would have been too slow and also we'd have been in a real pickle if the med nurse hadn't been nearby since Mr. L's room is all the way at the end of the hall and the other aides were down their halls doing their rounds.

This morning the kids had their six month cleaning at the dentist. I believe I had mentioned in a previous post that our last dentist has retired so this was our first visit with this dentist. Ironically before we left my mother's house this morning she asked if E would be ok in the car since she'd had breakfast (E tends to get carsick very easily - we have a bucket in the car just for those moments) and I had replied that she'd probably be ok since we'd be on all highways. G and Ty went first for their cleanings and E danced around me the entire time asking when it was going to be her turn. Finally the dentist called her back and about twenty minutes later she came back to me with something brownish and wet staining her shirt and pants. This poor dentist! He said he sat her up so she could get a sip of water and she just spewed all over. He was amazed that it didn't faze her at all and she was indeed running around playing as if nothing in the world odd had happened. Well I guess for her spewing up her guts isn't that unusual but OMG that poor dentist. Can you imagine that surprise? HA! I feel bad for laughing but I just keep replaying that scene in my imagination.

Steve called a minute ago. He says Genoa is gorgeous. He told me to picture that scene in one of the Star Wars movies (I think it's the #1 movie, fourth one released) when the ship is landing on that planet that the queen is on - can't think of her name either but she is Luke and Leah's mom - and the way the city is on the cliff side with the sea below and that is a lot what it looked like when he flew into Genoa. So far he said he had a stromboli for dinner the other night and he could tell the cheese, mushrooms and ham were all really fresh. He's hoping to get over to Christopher Columbus' home at some point but since he forgot to take the digital with him, it'll be a while before we get to see any Italy pictures at all.

And last of what I can remember I wanted to tell you, I know one of the things I'm getting for Christmas! Before he left, Steve and I were in the mall looking for a gift for Ty and passed by a Kay jeweler. On a whim we stopped in and they happened to have the anniversary ring I've been wanting for three years (since our tenth) and it was 40% off. Yay! It not only looks fantastic next to my somewhat unique wedding band but also I can wear it to work. There are no prongs so there's no worry that I might accidentally scratch a resident with it. I'm very excited.

Ok friend, I'm off. I have a basketball game in Lansdale to watch. Hopefully I'll see you tomorrow! Ciao!