Attending a Huntsville Alzheimer's Association Conference

Met a speaker, Chanda Mills Crutcher, founder of American Senior Assistance Program, who really had common sense about seniors and caregiving. Her friend had wanted us to meet and we did! She even had me rap at the end of her talk. 

I did my rap about helping seniors. Oh my goodness! They were recording me in the audience! Bad hair day as usual! They just needed to see this on YouTube where it is called "Technology" by my producers. 

Also talked with Sally who is the 24/7 caregiver for her mom. She was on the verge of tears. I emailed several in her church who might be able to help. 

One excellent workshop was on Alzheimer's proofing the home by Jason Parks, Lead Pastor & Chief Executive Officer, Refuge Church. I wish I had had that workshop years  ago. If you have been following this blog you know that I went through "The House That Cleans Itself" several years ago and with each room I thought about safety for the home. Hope to get together with Jason for input on that dissertation. 

This workshop was in The Cooper House auditorium -- a facility owned by the church I attend. 

Cooper House With Large Auditorium in Back

Walking to workshop with church in the background

Back to writing my caregiving dissertation while seeing that Sally gets respite from her church. 

Carol

Hubby Walks After Carefully Orchestrated Shower

Today has been such an fabulous day after weeks and weeks of struggle--the hardest of which was a husband who hadn't really walked since August 26th. Today my sweetheart walked a distance! I am glowing.

Walking to His Spot in the Den

Last time I blogged I wrote about his fantasy that he was walking, only to be followed by bring me the wheel chair. Walking has been the goal. I have told him that if he doesn't want to go to a nursing home he has to continue to walk more--not just hobble a little-- and to shave and shower. A gross beard was growing. The sponge baths were less than adequate. Now neighbor/caregiver Kenny had been released from the hospital several days ago and Kenny and I devised a plan.  It was time.  I needed my husband to shower and to shave whether or not hubby felt he needed it. It just had to happen, in my opinion. Kenny reinforced my resolve.

Kenny has a way with hubby that I as his wife do not have. I am the nag--the pill pusher. First Kenny took the Andis Styliner II Trimmer, the one I had purchased earlier when we had a shaving issue. Kenny is magic, a true gift from the LORD in our lives--so much patience with hubby. The two-week beard came off. Maybe we can start to use the shaver if that beard is kept in check.

"Do you want your shower now, or in fifteen minutes?" he asked hubby.

"Fifteen minutes!"

Kenny and I were united when the time came for a real shower. Taking off his clothes was the easy part. Actually getting him to step into the shower was another matter--he had been hobbling better, but was having none of getting into the shower with that weak knee. We decided to put the shower chair half way out of the shower.

Shower Chair Over the Edge

Hubby sat down and then Kenny brilliantly told him to put his two feet in the shower and stand. Kenny monitored his standing up and then moved the shower seat into the shower and hubby sat down. He was ready to shower--a true sit down shower that I had been lobbying for with that moveable shower head. See HERE. Hubby was able on his own to complete his shower.

When that shower was done,  Kenny had him stand and the shower stool was again put half in and half out. Hubby sat down and then put his feet on the rug. He stood and that shower seat was returned to the shower and he dried himself off with a towel. Hubby used the towel rack and the cabinet to walk to the wheel chair. I dried his back and we brought him in the wheel chair to the bedside.

A trick I had been using for most of the time since August 27th, was to have him balance himself with the arms of a sturdy chair, facing that chair. I used this chair when I needed to help him put on or take off pants. It worked like a charm.

Old Chair Does the
Trick In Getting
Hubby Dressed

"Do you want the wheel chair or the walker?" I asked him while he finished getting dressed.

"I will just walk." That he did! The most walking I have seen since August 26th! That hot shower sure gave him some spunk and perhaps continued the healing of his knee. No longer am I fearing the worst.

Among other great blessings today was that Pharis and his son, Junior, came over and did a bang-up job on the yard. It was mowed and weeded.

"It will take some time, but I think I will get this yard looking really great," Pharis pronounced. Pharis and son had used a weed trimmer to transform much of the yard today, but did not get to the roof.

Guinea Wasp

When I came home from getting my second set of fingerprints, Pharis and Junior were waiting for me. The yard looked great, but Pharis had discovered a guinea wasp nest in our yard and been stung by them. They found wasp spray in our garage fortunately (how anyone can find anything in our garage is beyond me) and as of tonight Pharis after taking Benadryl is okay.

What a wonderful day! Hubby is walking again!  He has showered and been shaved.

Today I also talked with a delightful lady who did my fingerprints (more on her story with another post) and discovered that my earlier post HERE was published yesterday as a commentary in two Florida papers:

http://www.theledger.com/article/20130906/NEWS/130909504/0/search

http://www.newschief.com/article/20130906/NEWS/130909504/0/search

I read much of this article to hubby and he recalled events mentioned in the article. Unlike last Sunday when hubby needed to stay home, tomorrow we head for church.

Do the Next Thing--Poem

Thanks to Georgene for the link to this poem here:

At an old English parsonage down by the sea,

there came in the twilight a message to me.

Its quaint Saxon legend deeply engraven

that, as it seems to me, teaching from heaven.

And all through the hours the quiet words ring,

like a low inspiration, Do the next thing.

Many a questioning, many a fear,

many a doubt hath its quieting here.

Moment by moment, let down from heaven,

time, opportunity, guidance are given.

Fear not tomorrow, child of the King,

trust that with Jesus, do the next thing.

Do it immediately, do it with prayer,

do it reliantly, casting all care.

Do it with reverence, tracing His hand,

who placed it before thee with earnest command.

Stayed on omnipotence safe 'neath His wing,

leave all resultings, do the next thing.

Looking to Jesus, ever serener,

working or suffering be thy demeanor,

in His dear presence, the rest of His calm,

the light of His countenance, be thy psalm.

Do the next thing.

Living On Less Money (Georgene) you are so thoughtful and I love sharing our lives on line and by email. You did what you could by finding this poem and blessing me with it. .  

I am awake and pondering the next thing. A tax refund is coming and I can trust our LORD that I do not have to substitute teach every day. There is so much to attend to at home.

Hubby did go with me to my pastor's home Sunday night. He sat. He occupied a bathroom for over an hour contemplating getting off the toilet seat. Finally I was able to get him up (he needs that chair I pictured below this week). Then he sat on a bar stool. I brought him water and food and he hardly touched it. He did want a can of diet soda. My pastor's wife gentle coached him to eat cottage cheese.

When we got home last night, I put new sheets on the bed and he started to get ready for bed. He ended up sitting on the bed with his slacks half off. He sat there a long time rocking back and forth. I finally left the bedroom. When I came back, he had layed half across the bed on his back with his legs dangling off the bed. I asked him if he would like to get more comfortable. He said yes and we finally got him to sit up. I told him he had to have his antibiotic and diabetic medicine. I was skipping other meds, but considered it a triump to get those two medicines down him. I prayed once. Then I prayed again because I know this comforts him and he would have forgotten that I had already prayed. Good sleep came for both of us--me until my usual 4 am when I am wide awake.

What are some of the next things I must do?

1. Have a plumber come out and install the hand held device for the shower and also a new kitchen faucet.This will enable my husband to sit down for a shower. He can grow a beard (has a great start), but he has to have showers. I have heard at our Alzheimer's Association support group that these loved ones are all afraid of the water in the shower.
2. Make food I know he might eat.
3. Get a doctor's appointment for him. Kenny has told me about a tube that can be inserted where pills, water and  soft blender food can be inserted. It might come to this, but it would be a huge adjustment for hubby (and me).
4. Housekeeping or "House Blessing".

This is what my commitment "for better or worse" means. Thanks so much for your prayers, folks, and I am off to do the next thing before hubby gets up.

Hubby in Hospital--Part Two

DH:  When can I get out?

Me: When the doctor says so.
DH: Where am I now?
Me: You are at our wonderful Plant City South Florida Baptist Hospital.
DH: I am going to leave in my hospital gown.
Me: No you are not. We both had to come here because we were bad. I swallowed your pills by accident in December. I was a bad girl and I had to come here. You did not take your pills on Tuesday or eat all day and you were a bad boy so you came here. [See post here when I took hubby's pills.] I needed to know if you had had a stroke also. 

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Margaret Thatcher had stroke this past week. Hubby had been able to stick out his tongue, but he was very confused Tuesday afternoon. I couldn't chance it and as I wrote in Post One, I drove him to the emergency room where he was also checked for a urinary infection. 

Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:
S *Ask the individual to SMILE.
T *Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE.
R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency number immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.
New Sign of a Stroke -------- Stick out Your Tongue

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

That was Tuesday night and Wednesday the more food we got down hubby the better he walked, went to the bathroom, etc. But still he did not have his "walking papers". His socks were red, rather than green--the hospital code for walkers and non-walkers.


DH: Carol, you live in never-never land. I can leave now. [Techically this is true, but not wise for him.]
Me: They have to release you from the hospital.  
DH: I can walk out of here.  
Me: Right! Walk out in your hospital gown and they take you right to the funny farm!  

I watched carefully the nurse as she assisted him walk to the room bathroom and instructed him how to get back into bed. I quizzed the nurse on taking pills with the apple sauce. You don't have to open the capsules or crush the meds. You just put them in the apple sauce and they soften that way for several minutes and then he eats the apple sauce with knowledge that he is also being a good boy taking his pills.

From the Alzheimer's support group one gentleman sent me this email I read from my notebook computer on Wednesday:

So sorry to read about your Hubby. I didn't look around when you left to see who came. That must have been horrible for him sitting there all day. Strange someone did not pick up on what was happening. I sure hope things work out for him to the good. I will read the blog to stay up-dated. You take care of yourself too, Carol.

I also wondered why the Senior Center had not called me Tuesday.

Yesterday in the hospital I was in touch with family and friends on my iPhone and notebook computer. I read email on my iPhone. I read blogs on my small computer. I played Words With Friends and updated those people on my husband with the Words With Friends chat box. I texted family and friends. Hubby kept wanting to know when he could go home and kept talking about our dog. He had no idea about all my technology that kept me occupied when we weren't talking and I was answering the same questions over and over again.

Finally near 6 pm Wednesday night the neurologist came. This specialist asked my husband questions such as what was the year, what was the season and where he was. I am on planet earth, he said.  He flunked all answers. The neurologist said he would review the chart and see when he could be released.

They have had my body long enough, hubby said, but he would not be released Wednesday night and I headed home.

When I got home I put the port-a-potty thing below we had in the attic from hubby's heart attack in 2004 on his bathroom toilet, now making our home even more Alzheimer's ready.


Handles for getting up and down.
He might as well get used to this.  

During the day Wednesday I was so pleased to see that a family friend had put in a gate to connect our property and our back yard neighbor's property for new help for my husband. This gentleman also fixed another gate I had bent backing up our gas guzzler some time ago. Such a blessing and he will also mow our 7/10 acre so I don't have to nag my husband about the lawn or have him accept a woman (me) mowing a lawn.

This morning. Our dog objected to my getting ready to leaving him again, but I told the bright dog I am going to see "Daddy" and he stopped barking and I head again for the hospital. I had seen that Dallas, TX Geriatric Care Manager Carole Larkin had posted a comment below on Part One of Hubby in Hospital on this blog.  I took Carole Larkin's professional advice and checked on my husband's admission to the hospital when I got there this morning. He had been admitted.I got to see his primary care physician briefly. He would go home.

When I got to his hospital room he was eating his food without coaching! Perhaps he had learned his lesson which I would repeat again and again now also explaining why he would have a volunteer caregiver Kenny visiting my husband when I was working. Hospital staff wheeled hubby to our car and we left the hospital.

Kenny came over to our house this afternoon and we went over procedures. Kenny will use that new gate on days I leave the house to see that my husband gets up, has his pills in his apple sauce, has breakfast and has lunch and has enough water and other liquids.

While Kenny was here our friends Sally and Jake came over and brought us dinner and Kenny was able to meet Jake who may stop by sometimes while Sally runs an errand! Jake was here last Saturday when I taught all day.

Multiple blessings. I have had help for fences, for lawn mowing, for advice from the nurse and from Carole Larkin and now have an magnanimous volunteer such as neighbor Kenny. Thanks for dinner, Sally and Jake also--delicious salad from Bob Evans.

I just think this whole experience has shown

wonderful answers to prayer

and thank all of you who have been

praying and helping.

15 Things I Like About the House That Cleans Itself

A donut tray

When I was substituting recently in high school culinary arts, I saw one of these things that Mindy Starns Clark likes up close, not just a picture in a book. Nope! Still do not want one of these in my house.

However, I do love fifteen things about the book The House That Cleans Itself by Mindy Starns Clark:

One. Hubby has gotten into the act and doesn't have problems finding things. He asked for a hat rack for his baseball caps and of course he got one.

Two. The coat hook in the living room by the piano works for hubby.

Three. The DVD "coffee table" we got at Ikea works for hubby and really if I hadn't started thinking along these lines, we could have never gotten it.

Four. I file broadly now. It is so much faster. The detailed filing can come monthly or whenever, and meanwhile it looks neat. All my tax information is together now and ready for the accountant.

Five. I make myself repair things as best I can within our limited funds. I go to Home Depot and Lowes now.

Six. I have permission to throw away all those magazines I haven't read. Who says I need to keep stuff for a potential yard sale that may never happen?! I can also give things away to people who can use them for real.

Seven. I keep cleaning supplies in rooms where I need them. Well I plan to, but haven't gotten to my "spring cleaning" yet. Each room will have its own cleaning list of what needs to be done and how long it takes.

Eight. If I have to have a cleaning service, which I have had twice in the last six months because of my back and carpal tunnel wrists, I do not have to clean up for them first.

Nine. I store everything where I use it and that saves so much time.

Ten. This works better for me initially than Flylady, although she has influenced me more recently with the 15 minute hot spot idea. I am better ready for Flylady after Mrs. Clark's book.

Eleven. I can have projects in process but just keep them hidden. I love having designated a temporary photo album table in the guest bedroom.

Twelve. I can live with imperfection. So many good-looking yards still have a few weeds.

Thirteen. There is hope that one can get a handle on the home clutter and messes.
Fourteen. There is a secret Facebook group as suggested by blogging friend Laurie where we discuss our messes and successes. You can join when you read the book if I am a Facebook friend of yours and you request this.

Fifteen. Author Mrs. Clark sent me fifteen copies of these books for fifteen ladies--you know who you are. Fifteen is a perfect number here because I have not felt so alone in this journey.

What do you like about this system?

Carol

Beginning Area # 7 of The House That Cleans Itself

Once there was a couple who loved having company including overnight company. They had bought their dream home in 2001, during the first year of their marriage, and it would eventually be their retirement home, they hoped--not too big, but big enough. Now she also needed room for sewing and a few other projects, so he calls this room the "craft room". She wants to call it the "guest room" and had her husband install shelves on the wall for her stuff.

It is the junk room and we are that couple. It is in our house-- Area #7 of my blogging about applying The House That Cleans Itself, by Mindy Starns Clark.


Can you make out a bed there?

Once there was a plan above.

My sister-in-law said on July 5, 2008, "Life is not long enough to organize everything." I found her great quote going through clutter. And I found other stuff misplaced as well! Do not, and I repeat, do not expect a report on Area #7 anytime soon. I will either get busy on this "ginormous"* mess, or get discouraged along the way.

It was a pleasure to have company recently and Areas #1-6 were finished.

Above you can see the dining table set for company and the chandelier that my husband put up before Alzheimer's.

Area #6 Small Garbage Can and Carol's Station by Hubby

Our dog would always invade an open small garbage by my husband's DVD coffee table, but now it is not accessible to him. Hubby calls me to sit by his side and I don't have a coffee table for my things, but a side table, what author Mindy Starns Clark calls a "station". I do not share my husband's interests in movies most often, but I have made myself a station here for things I read, magazines, newspapers, and have a lap desk for my notebook computer that I can put on my lap while I sit by his side. He is just happy to have me there and I m happy to have my station by my side to entertain me.

Monday night I spoke at Toastmasters. The title of my talk and Power Point was "The House That Cleans Itself" and I so went over my time limit. The talk was videotaped  for all the world to view my "ginormous" messes and modest successes. I brought extra junk bunkers to give away and got some takers at Toastmasters! This talk is on YouTube at: http://youtu.be/tlM_DbNkOwc

Hubby of course went with me to Toastmasters and then we went to the Olive Garden for a late supper. Both of us take half of our meal home now. Over dinner he forgot about my long-winded presentation because of his short-term memory. This is why he sees the same video from his collection over and over again. Maybe if I show him that YouTube, he will remember. Have to get photo albums together for him soon, and there are photos in Area # 7 that will help me.

Do you have a room like our guest bedroom?

Carol

*"Ginormous" is a word from Marianne's blog here.

Status Report on The House That Cleans Itself

Hooray and hallelujah! Got Google pictures figured out! I can again download through my computer. You upload to the Picasa Web Album and then the the blog post. * 

Review. Last September I start applying steps from The House That Cleans Itself, by Mindy Starns Clark. Mrs. Clark sends 15 free books that I distribute to those who want a copy. One even gets mailed to Australia and one to Israel. Mrs. Clark suggests you prioritize your messes and make a map. I did this here, my first post in this series where you can actually see pictures of the house being transformed to one that is easier to clean.

Before Living Room

Today's report completes Area Five and begins Area Six. When I got the rest of the extra books out of the living room, Area Five, I put away a few Christmas decorations and dusted. Because there is no coat closet for guests in our home, I had two decorative hooks installed on either side of the piano where guests can hang up their coats.


After Living Room



I have put away my Swedish nativity scene on my sheet music stand which was up all year. I love Swedish things and have a Pinterest Board I share with a cousin called "Swedish Things". There are two angels left on the piano. Might change out what is on the piano from time to time. What needs to be finished in the living room? New mini-blinds and again the rug cleaned.  Time to play the piano more now!



Hot spot for catching things

Here you see "before pictures" of the family room/living room, Area Six. This long room has a fireplace and big TV on the living room end. The den is on the dining room side, with the kitchen/ laundry room jutting out from the dining area and a convenient door to the garage which houses our gas guzzler SUV. So clutter ends at this hub of the house as you can imagine. Fairly often I clean up the dining room table, but this pictured wall opposite the kitchen is a disaster currently.

When area is finished, let the entertaining begin! I can put out a buffet on a covered pool table and use the dining room table and card tables for places for people to sit.

On the other end of this long room is a very long seating area that used to be an L-shaped couch. The middle section was removed, and this useful but old couch includes a queen-size pull out bed useful for company. Recessed lights were added some time ago.


Unsafe "Coffee Table" by Hubby

Safety is a huge consideration for the Alzheimer's ready home. My husband watches a great deal of movies on our TV and our dog is right by his side. While I am gone hubby is able to operate the DVD and video players in the family room side of Area Six. Now his collection has grown considerably. It overflowed the small coffee table with the racks along side the coffee table.  Not a safe situation and I have been known to knock over a rack while hubby swears at the mess I have created. Should he become unstable on his feet when he gets up, he could fall and injure himself. He does not want to walk to a vertical stand to get a DVD. He wants it all there by him while he sits in his spot on a long couch. He even has a pillow in back and a pillow for his rear end. We will not change this. But the dog can be retrained. His water and food dish do not need to be in this area because someone could trip over them. .

Hubby and I were having breakfast on Saturday, January 12, at Buddy Freddy's, a local Plant City landmark. I asked him about his shabby coffee table and vertical racks overrun with DVDs. Would he like to check out Ikea furniture for another coffee table? He was agreeable. We went to Ikea in Tampa and he sat on a comfortable couch while I went shopping. (He knows he can call me on my cell if he needs something and he doesn't like walking.) I took a picture with my iPhone when I found what I thought we were looking for and went and showed him the picture. The furniture has two long shelves and I choose the black model. He said yes to my selection and after lunch, the box for his new coffee table was slid into our SUV. It is actually a stand for a TV, to be repurposed for hubby's coffee table.


Ikea solution for a coffee table/DVD storage

At 3:30 that Saturday we met our friends Sally and Jake for a movie in Plant City. After the movie Sally and Jake came over for an impromptu dinner that included Swedish meatballs from Ikea and coconut muffins I had made with coconut flour, coconut oil and dark chocolate. Jake put the wheels on hubby's new coffee table and then he came over for the day on Monday to work on it.

It turns out it was very complicated task to complete the assembly and Jake sort of gave up working on it I observed when I came home from substitute teaching that Monday. The pictured instructions were not written in Alzheimer's; two other languages were involved in the pictured instructions that did not include English words--Swedes designed it and Chinese manufactured it. You needed a lot of carpentry experience to put the dowels and screws in the right places. Wednesday Jake's son came over and finished the coffee table and a few other projects. We aren't telling Jake that his son finished the job, because of Jake's MPS. What is MPS? Male Pride Syndrome. With Jake's memory, he will just think he put our coffee table together and again we will thank him for his help and he did indeed help, the wonderful gentleman that he is. My husband is wonderful also, in that he will keep secret who really put this together. Hubby is already enjoying it as you see below. This is his furniture. Also below you see my paper clutter by the fireplace that I work on while hubby watches TV.

More Safe Coffee Table My Husband Loves

Now Tuesday in the middle of the coffee table being put together, we had the meltdown written about earlier. That day hubby decided that he no longer wanted to go to the Senior Center with Jake on Tuesdays. Jake could just always hang out at our house, hubby reasoned. Well hubby has forgotten about his meltdown and rebellion and yes indeed will continue to go with his buddy Jake to the Senior Center on Tuesdays. Problem solved.

When all the "hot spots" and clutter in the family room/dining Area 6 get solved and dusted, we will be ready to entertain for dinner and playing pool without my embarrassment. Yeah!

Carol

* Paying $2.49 a month to have more picture space. See picasaweb.google.com.



Principles from The House That Cleans Itself

Author Mindy Clark Starns gives ten principles in her book The House That Cleans Itself:

1. Change the area to fit the behavior. I used this principle in the den. I sew there and so bins of material are under the pool table, whereas they used to be in the guest bedroom my husband called "The Craft Room". I want to use up material for quilts and other projects and so what I need is right there. The ironing board and iron are on the wall in a corner of the den ready for sewing.
2. Change the behavior to fit the areas, but only after you've changed the areas as much as possible. Where I used to put on makeup in a bathroom, now I put on makeup at the vanity in the master bedroom and enjoy sitting down to do so. Before that vanity just collected stuff to dust.
3. Control your expected messy areas and sight zones. Flylady calls the messy areas hot spots. Baskets/stations that can be taken out are tucked away in the bathroom cabinet. I found that when I don't know where to put something, it ended up on the dining room table. When I have places for items and put them away, I am controlling those messy areas. The rooms in our home flow from the living room to the family room/dining room to the den. You see it all when you come visit.
4. Think up and away. By getting rid of kitchen items I can put things away and there are places to put items. Hooks in the living room for coats compensate for no coat closet. I now hang up clothes or put them in the laundry basket.
5. Think like a housecleaning service. Have less junk bunkers, bins, baskets and what is called organizing in many magazines and on Pinterest. Have less horizontal surfaces that are cluttered.
6. Emphasize simplicity. Books can be checked out from the library or put on a Nook or Kindle. A house doesn't have to be a library. Having less clothes makes so much sense, especially after dieting.
7. Engineer convenience. The stacking shelf in the den makes filing an ongoing project.
8. Utilize the power of beauty. With less stuff, the beauty shines forth.
9. Camouflage wherever possible. Suitcases are tucked in a corner in the master bedroom. Blankets cover a small book case in the master bedroom so it looks like a blanket stand.
10. Do everything with an eye toward maintenance. When I have entertained in the past, all the clutter went to bedrooms, the workshop or the garage. That was extra steps for sure. No more, no more.

I think it is important to add these principles for an Alzheimer's ready home:

1. Leave items where the loved one is used to finding them.
2. Simplify for safety.
3. Make changes in the early stages of Alzheimer's when the loved one can get used to a new routine.

Habits



From Facebook

 

 The more you do something, the more it becomes a good or bad habit. I teach about habits when I teach a class for DUI offenders. I often use this anonymous quote.

I am your constant companion. I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden. I will push you onward or drag you down to failure. I am completely at your command. Half the things you do, you might just as well turn over to me and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly.

I am easily managed—you must merely be firm with me. Show me exactly how you want something done, and after a few lessons, I will do it automatically. I am the servant of all great men, and alas, or all failures as well. Those who are great, I have made great. Those who are failures, I have made failures.

I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision of a machine plus the intelligence of a man. You may run me for a profit or run me for ruin—it makes no difference to me.

Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet. Be easy with me, and I will destroy you. Who am I?

I am Habit.

So I worked on a new habit today--getting to my substitute job ahead of time. It felt good. But it is not a habit yet. Often times there is a situation at home such as my husband taking his morning pills and I barely make it to school in time or have to call to say I am on my way. They are happy that I call and that I come to cover a class. But how much better to get somewhere on time! I am also realizing when hubby and I go somewhere and have to be there by a certain time, plan to leave in plenty of time. Time means so little to him--I have to be the time keeper.

Today I substituted in a Math in high school. After taking roll in first period I noticed a young lady in the corner of the room and noise was coming from an obvious cell phone. I went over to her, observed that her cell phone was plugged into the wall to charge it and asked her to put it up. She said she couldn't turn it off or she would lose her game. It turns out that she entered my classroom and acted like she was enrolled in that class.  After she was removed the other students said that she must be a new student and one reflected that she only comes there when there is a substitute! Her cell phone is her habit--a bad one. She may skip her first period to go find a substitute, park herself in that class, and charge her cell there. Hopefully her bad habit was busted today.

21 days to change to a new habit I have heard. When someone has Alzheimer's it may be more than 21 days. I put a little love note in my husband's morning pills now to get him motivated to take those pills before I leave the house. I also take my pills at the same time. He does remember that I ended up in the hospital when I took his pills, so I say take you pills so I don't accidentally take yours again. This habit is a constant struggle.

I have also heard to establish routines early in Alzheimer's. I got my husband an electric shaver for Christmas. Now getting him to use it is a real struggle. It would be safer for him to use this instead of shaving with a razor. He doesn't always want to shave every day and it seems to me that he can use his charged shaver while he sits and watches TV. This is not his habit, but my struggle. He may win this one, like he keeps winning not wanting to mow the lawn. My patience is tried again and again.

But then, again, I struggle with some of my own habits, like recording the food that I eat ("tracking") for Weight Watchers and my housekeeping habits.

People in the classes for DUI offenders that I teach get the following quotes about habits on my Power Point presentation:

• “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination are alone supreme.”               --Calvin Coolidge

"We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons."-- Jim Rohn

• "The majority of men meet with failure because of their lack of persistence in creating new plans to take the place of those which fail."--Napoleon Hill

• "This one step—choosing a goal and sticking to it—changes everything."--Scott Reed

• "Things start out as hopes and end up as habits."--Lillian Hellman

Lord, give me patience with my husband
and persistence with my own habits.
I can change more than he can.

Master Bedroom Finished for Now

Ziggy's Stuff

November 20th I showed more of the mess in the fourth area to be organized--the master bedroom.  This room is finished for now. It is not perfect, but so much improved. I will be moving on to the living room next week.

While I was working here one day, dog Ziggy seemed to work with me. He found dog food on the floor to clean up (he ate it) and took out and organized some of his toys by his bed. I think this dog is bright. Hubby's stuff was left "as is" to capitalize on his abilities to function in stage one of Alzheimer's. He never was really messy anyway and in our wonderful walk-in closet he hangs up his clothes on his side and knows where to get them. It's me and my area of the room that had to change as you might see if you click on that red November 20 above.

Before



After





You can see at the above left that I have closets stuffed with clothes and it was hard to see what I had to wear and so I would keep wearing the same things often. (At first I had that clothes rack pictured at the very bottom left!) Instead at the right I have a top shelf for accessories, a middle shelf for tops I am currently wearing and the bottom self for slacks I am currently wearing. In back of the desk are two stacked bins for clothes I am not currently wearing. You can't see these bins, but they are located right where I would put them up in the closet or in the drawers. Until The House That Cleans Itself I never considered putting clothes away in bins because we live in such a mild climate here in Florida. Clothes to donate were put in the car. Some material from clothes that are too big will be used in quilts planned if it fits that project.

We are truly blessed with this large master bedroom, but the house does not have some storage. Below left  you see a player box and CD music that used to be in the den. Music is so important for the Alzheimer's patient. A TV is also pictured. However, there are suitcases at the left that do not need to be out in our bedroom. Instead. they have been tucked into the corner below right behind that rocker on my husband's side of the bed.



Before



After



What needs to be done since I began here November 3rd? There is a nice mirrored vanity between matching cabinets and it needs an electrical plug for curlers and a hair dryer instead of the extension cord I use; maybe when the house was built in the early 1960s women didn't use these. That will call for an electrician. The curtains need to be washed and the rugs cleaned. I mentioned sorting through my clothes after I finish losing weight. There are too many books in the house and a book collection from the bedroom and the den is now temporarily in the living room. The book case below still needs work, and a "blanket stand" hides books below. I am giving you the before and after in this corner and ready to move on to the living room.  Hubby says he likes how I have cleaned my side of the bedroom and I know that one day down the road when I take care of him in this room because he is in a later stage of Alzheimer's it will work for both of us.

Before with much behind



After



No longer am I embarrassed

about the master bedroom.