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.

Amazing Help

Garage and roof  leak
by garage door 

Tuesday I mentioned to Kenny, our caregiver neighbor, about the leak in the ceiling in the garage.

"Carol, you'll have to get that fixed or your house will have mold," Kenny warned.

I often have my head in the sand about repairs around here.  So often overwhelmed with mechanical repairs and the expense of maintaining a home with a husband who cannot help any longer due to his Alzheimer's, I am tempted to throw my hands up in despair. Sure there is a list of thinks to fix and what if one is the most important?  It can remain on that list with no action. However  I guess a roof would need action. How can I manage to get the roof repaired and how quickly can I afford to do it? Big concerns.

When it rains it pours and shows a leaky roof!

It was also last Tuesday that hubby woke up unable to walk again--no specific injury, just must have twisted his knee at night.  Jake also wasn't feeling well, so hubby and Jake did not go to Plant City Senior Center as is their usual activity on Tuesdays. When it rains it pours. They say trouble comes in threes. Waiting for the third trouble. However each day since Tuesday hubby is doing better.

Fitted knee brace

Not being able to walk is possibly a return of July when hubby did something to that same knee cartilage and came home from the hospital to be fitted with a knee brace. We still have that knee brace, a walker, and a wheel chair.  We had a port-a-potty, which also comes in handy. Kenny and I can lift hubby, and Kenny by himself has done this when I have been gone substitute teaching since Tuesday. Kenny, bless his heart, has been there for hubby. When I come home hubby has an illusion that he has been walking around. However, this Friday morning he asked what has been going on and I reviewed what has happened as I help him get dressed. Each day he has been able to put more weight on his braced knee. I am thinking that the hospital cannot help any more than what we can do at home. I could be wrong. There is so much mystery to being a caregiver and life at the hospital was so confusing to hubby in July. He is happy to be home and forgets about his knee during most of the day.

Bartering for services

Also, on Tuesday, Wayne came over to mow our yard. He introduced us to Pharis and his daughter. Wayne had mentioned a possibility that trading some of our equipment such as the riding lawn mower with Pharis, which would enable Pharis to get yard work which he needs for income. I wouldn't have to put equipment in a yard sale. Furthermore Pharis was willing to weed in our yard and help in other ways in exchange for this equipment. We struck a deal! But also, can you believe it--Pharis can repair roofs!

So not only did we strike a deal for the yard, but also for the roof and ceiling repair in the garage! Pharis will be over this weekend to repair the leak! We will go to Home Depot for supplies and take advantage of six month interest free on my Home Depot card. This plan is so much better than a yard sale. Someone weeding our large yard is so much better than my doing it now! Thank you LORD!

Meanwhile another deal has been struck. I am substituting for about five weeks in one special education class through September until the regular teacher returns. I have already fallen in love with thirteen sixth, seventh and eighth grade students whom I have all day except for PE. There are also two teacher's aides in the classroom.  So I have been working on lesson plans in my "spare" time like 5 am when I am also finishing off this blog post.

This week in my Daily Audio Bible yearly trip through the Bible I have been going through the book of Job and also 2 Corinthians 1.  Yes, my life reads like a suffering Job at times with all kinds of counselors advising me to put hubby in a nursing home and that not seeming right for us. Then I read 2 Cor. 1:3, 4 and it brought such peace this week:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 

Oh I have so needed comfort about our situation! Both Sally and I have been down lately because of our caregiving responsibilities for our husbands. Sally comforted me with her prayers the other night. I prayed with Pharis and his daughter for their financial needs and trust that the new equipment that Pharis has will enable him to provide for his family. Blessings and comfort all around instead of trouble coming in threes. I am overwhelmed by blessings, not trials! 

And those blessings abound--hubby's knee is getting a little better each day,  we have help for the yard and the roof, Kenny continues to be there for us and I can earn money substitute teaching in a special education class.

Here's to blessings--not troubles! 

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 #8 of The House That Cleans Itself

He who gathers in summer is a wise son;

He who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame.  Proverbs 10:5 

If it is the problem of paper clutter inside the house, it is the problem of weeds in the front of the house. Many years my husband and I would get control of the weeds, and then those weeds would take over again. Now he only mows the grass on occasion and the lawn mower is broken. I am concerned about the front yard and my abilities to conquer the weeds.

This would be taken over by weeds by summer.

Last summer I took up the scalloped bricks seen above. I started to think about what do do here. Grow grass seemed to be the solution.

Jake took out the black edging thing. (I do not have proper names for gardening products, folks.) Hubby threw it over the fence into a pasture for cows (I wrote about his deed here) and I have to retrieve it somehow and bag it so the trash people actually take it.

Now I am armed with weed control and new strategies. Fifteen minutes a day on weeds so they don't take over the front yard again another year. But not to be. Alas, I get a new small spray can for weed killer, but can't make this small one work or the other two I found in the garage.

Weed busters?

Pots. Make vignettes or yard art and pots of shrubs rather than even have flower beds I'm thinking.

Lowered shower bench helps gardening

In the process I break two pots, but dig up plants to use where I can. 



Repotted, but not sure it will last



Dug up and repotted

 

Forget flower beds--have pots I am thinking

The sad one above (third from left) is what I dug up to replant. A neighbor didn't know that is was a shrub because he was mowing all the weeds.

All of this seems hopeless to me, as hopeless as entering a writing contest about guns which actually came in my e-mail--got to be a joke. Yes--writing. No--guns. Yes--gardening. No--weeds.

But now the weeds will grow because I wasn't able to spray with any of these contraptions! Martha Stewart or someone! Where are you when I need you!

So much of gardening is above my pay grade and obviously I need help and will have to learn to ask for help. With carpal tunnel I cannot spend hours pulling weeks and my quick fix spraying isn't working yet. I am afraid the weeds will again take over our front yard!

Amateur wanta-be gardener signing off here,

Carol

Finishing Area #7 of The House That Cleans Itself



From Pinterest

Discipline is part of life. A friend said to me recently that she cannot be disciplined. I corrected her that she really is disciplined in some areas of her life. Habits carry her and new habits can bring new discipline.

I cannot get my way in this house because I cannot hire a lot of help and I cannot redecorate. It just won't happen like it does on a DIY TV program. The rugs will not be replaced and maybe I can clean them better. But I can be disciplined myself.

I chose to start the process in The House That Cleans Itself to be disciplined and certainly the house would be worse had I not started. I can say that I am not a slob anymore. I chose to do something. I can pretend to be a perfectionist, but I am so not a perfectionist and the areas that I went through will need work again. I do think, however, that this calls for Flylady's concept of the 15 minute timer. I spend time on the "hot spots". De-cluttering is a process while life is happening. There is so much freedom now in admitting this.

As life happens, there are other priorities than my clutter. Life is about bringing glory to God as I ask His help to be the best wife/caregiver and friend to others I can be. The book by Staci Eastin that I reviewed here, The Organized Heart, is all about priorities that are correctly placed. You can order it from the Amazon site on this blog as well as order The House That Cleans Itself. These two books have changed my life, folks.

Area #7 used to be so bad as you see  a month ago here. As I "finish" Area #7 I reflect on the impact of discipline and lack of discipline in my life. The guest bedroom is full of lack of discipline, but it is neater now. Things to solve later are there--some projects for "one day" and at the age of 68 I am not sure when that "one day" will be.

I have to laugh at myself. Once upon a time I saved shoulder pads thinking I could make a quilt with them! Who ever does such a thing? Finally I threw them away and then came a project idea. You can make angels with shoulder pads! I might make one, but saving shoulder pads does not meet the criteria in the graphic of this post.


Bed cleared and more to do

At last I can have overnight company again with less embarrassment. It feels good! I moved a little closet into this room that was stored in the workshop. It used to be in our popup camper that we gave away last year and we never went camping with it. The new owners have not expressed interest in this closet and so here it is in the corner with right now a clock and a box on top. There is a cable cord in this corner and we can put a TV on top when we have company. My rocket scientist brother will like having a TV here when he comes my sister-in-law says. I need to find a good container for gift wrapping as you see, but that will come. Also, have stuff on the wall side of the bed to do something with.

What are your thoughts about rooms that have too many unfinished projects and too much stuff in them? I really have clothes closets to go through. I have a quilt to make for my husband's oldest granddaughter and photo albums to finish for my husband. Projects bring joy to my life and I love making gifts for others. I do have a place to store projects now--the guest bedroom.

One day my husband may refer to area #7 as the guest bedroom rather than as the craft room. One day it may be ready for a professional caregiver such as blogging friend Laurie has staying in her home. I better finish projects so it will be ready. I will need a chest of drawers where I have the project table, will need to go through the closet and the shelves, but it will work. The carpet is already new here as we had repairs to a moldy wall once and insurance covered the new carpet.

Without being totally "finished" with area #7, I need to move on to area #8 in our house, which is the front yard. Spring is coming and every year I never seem to get a handle on weeds because I am so overwhelmed with the inside of the house and now my responsibilities as a lovegiver/caregiver for my husband who has Alzheimer's.

Weeds you will not have dominion over my front yard any more!