Life In The Fast Lane

The meeting/evaluation went very well on Friday. By a stroke of luck an apartment at Greenpoint will be available for Barb within the MONTH!!! It usually takes months on a waiting list. Barb is excited and overwhelmed. This is a great apartment. It is one of the larger 1 bedroom, with balcony apartments. She will be on the main floor where the activities and dining room are. It is a good walk as she is down the hall a bit. Since she knows at least one person from church living there, she will not feel alone. This facility is also 5 blocks from where she lived for over 40 years. I'd place my last dime on the line that she will know someone else once she moves in, being from that part of town.

Some of the activities include, choir, arts & crafts, cards (including pinnocle), exercise classes (yoga, chair, aerobics, and the arthritis foundation comes in as well with their exercises), daily happy hour (I wonder if I qualify to live here?), weekly outings (casino, restaurants, shopping). There is also a hairdresser and bus transportation (the facility's) to get her to doctor appointments. But it's the Arthur Murray dance lessons (twice a month) that caught her attention. To go along with the dance lessons there is an outing once a month to LeMoyne Manor for a buffet and big band dancing. Barb's question, in all seriousness, "Well, are there any MEN???" :-)

The part that had Terry and I most concerned is the med management. Barb sets her pills up with no problem. She knows EXACTLY what each drug is and what the side-affects are. The problem lies with her not taking them the same time each day. We also see meds strewn about the house. There are pills in two different dressers, the bathroom, her sitting room and on her dressers. She has also put them in old Rx bottles with the labels removed. The facility has a machine that they set up for 20 days of meds. At the same time each day a cup will dispense and fill with the meds. If she does not pull the cup out within a certain time limit, the machine calls her PHONE. When she answers there will be a recording "Take Your Meds, Take Your Meds." If she does not answer the phone, someone will be dispatched to her room. I just can't give her that. The facility also takes care of all the refills and Rx renewals. Especially nice during harsh winter storms.

It is overwhelming at the home front at the moment. I sat down with her last night and showed her how much of her treasures and storage units (credenzas, dressers, coffee table, file cabinets, bookcases etc.) she will be able to take with her. And it's quite a bit! I also showed her how instead of using boxes to store out of season clothes we will use the vacuum space bags and switch them out seasonally. They will be in her apartment. She can see them, she'll know they are there and that is important. There are more kitchen cabinets in her apartment than my house. Barb will not be doing *any* cooking. She will have a microwave, toaster and a 4 cup coffee maker. Her breakfast and dinner are in the main diningroom. They want the residents up and started with their day. This will be a major shift in Barb's routine. In 7 years she has not used the stove at home, no need to start now. So most of the cabinets can also be used for spacebag storage of clothes. She'll have a few plates, glasses and silverware. Barb does like the Lean Cuisine dinners. We'll make sure these are always in her freezer. These are good for lunch. Mostly, though, she has a yogurt. I explained that she will have everything she needs and most of what she wants. We will move all the needs when we initially move her. We will not be going anywhere until Spring 2008 so it's not like our house has to be emptied in 2 weeks (God forbid!!)so we'll get her her wants (to a point). Included in her rent is weekly housekeeping. Seriously, when can I sign up??? I am taking the last week in June off to work with her as well as every night I'm home. Still have to kick it up the Bunko and Bookclub Babes.

Now to the fun part. Laurie S has suggested we have an afternoon tea for Barb. This is a major life change. All her life she has either lived in her parent's home, her husband's home or her son's home. Barb is actually moving into her first own apartment. It will be a foo-foo kind of afternoon with petit-fours, teacakes, finger sandwiches and church ladies. I'm not sure quite how to word the invite to include gift suggestions for what she may need. I have a list. Do I just include it in the invite??? For all you folks in Virginia or way north of the city or way out northwest how about joining us via web-cam? Unless you can come in person :-) We do want to keep this a surprise. The date is June 30th at 2:00. I think it will be nice for her to feel special and in the limelight for a couple of hours.

I believe we will see a more vibrant Barb emerge. She is home all day, everyday with no one to talk with and no one to do the things she will now have available.

Hugs to all,
Debbie