Busy, Busy, Busy.....

Today is a lazy day as the activity of the past week or two has come to roost and we both hit a low.  The only thing I can say is that I'm glad we both hit bottom at the same time so we can (both) enjoy a day of rest.

My cousin Dennis called over the weekend and asked if he, his wife and their two grandkids could stop by on their way to Florida.  Since they are among the few relatives who make an effort to visit, I happily agreed.  We already had plans to visit Indigo Pines, so with those two events scheduled and the preparation involved, it was a pretty full week.

Tuesday was Indigo Pines. We were invited for lunch on Valentine's Day and were seated with three delightful ladies.  They said all the right things - confirming that it was difficult to leave their longtime home (but this lifestyle offered definite advantages), they had lived their lives and their children should be able to live theirs (Amen!), everything wasn't perfect there, but it was darn close (and much of it is what you make of it).......a really great group of ladies.  My mother thoroughly enjoyed it and said it was a shame we hadn't brought the camera since the dining room was so nicely decorate.  We left with carnations, chocolates and a pillow project for my mother!  Even so, it's a huge jump to making that decision to leave her home and move to a community like that.......but I hope it gives her something to think about.  We also spoke to the man about the Aid & Attendance Benefits.  He feels that she should have no problem qualifying but, if she remains at home, the amount will be less and we will have to do the paperwork ourselves.  If she moves to a facility like Indigo Pines, he will assist with the paperwork and the amount is likely to be more since her expenses will be more.  That was pretty much what I expected, but it did get her back to IP again!  She was also invited to play Bingo this afternoon but was wiped out after our company, so we cancelled.....but hope to do something next week.  My plan is to get her there and situated, go do something on my own, and pick her up when it's over so she has some time there without me.  We'll see how that goes.

As an aside, on our first visit to Indigo Pines we were greeted by "Jennifer".  The  minute I saw her, I recognized her but couldn't place her.  I asked her last name and I immediately remembered her from my time at Beth Yam (when she was in high school). She's recently moved back to the area and is on the sales staff at IP.......a very professional and pleasant young lady.

One of many ways to waste time on the computer!!

While we were out on Tuesday, we stopped by Sam's and did grocery shopping.  Wednesday was cooking and cleaning day.  Thursday we finished the cleaning and also had a slight emergency eye appointment for my mother.  She mentioned that she was having a strange sensation in her good eye - little circles (occurring since the night before) that were moving around the edge of her range of vision.  As it turned out, it was a spasm of some kind and no real problem, but I didn't want it to develop into anything over the weekend, etc.  So in the middle of everything, we stopped for the appointment and got home about an hour before Dennis, Carol and the girls arrived.  Dennis had a cold and didn't last long, but Carol brought The Help DVD, which we watched after dinner.  I'd read the book but enjoyed the movie equally.  It was also nice to see Abby and Caroline again.  They are full of energy but very well behaved for kids their age.  A good time was had by all.  They left around 9:30 this morning and we've been on light duty since.