Big Hot Steamin' Cup of Joe

Almost every day, Grandma arrives with her little thermos of coffee. She usually doesn't drink the whole thing, but she'll have a cup of two while she's here.

And just about every single day, she asks me if I would like some.

And every single time, I tell her no thank you because I don't like coffee.

And every single time, she tries to insist that I should try her coffee because it's different.

So far, I haven't had to drink it yet. I may not be so lucky forever.


On the other hand, a nice hot cup of cocoa sounds mighty tasty right now. :)

Locked Up

Due to her health circumstances, Grandma can't be left alone. And because her son works on the road, that means 5 days out of the week, Grandma has to live somewhere she doesn't want to be.

Since she doesn't fully understand what's happening, she's just miserable.

Can you imagine being forced out of your home? Can you imagine being forced to live in someone else's home when you don't feel comfortable there? Can you imagine being told you can't sleep in your own bed? What do you do when you don't know why all this is happening to you?

Poor Grandma. It breaks my heart.

I think there are changes in the air...

Watching out for her Father

This was so touching I couldn't wait to post.

We are a Christian family. Prayer is a very important part of any day. I was very happy to hear that Grandma always asks a blessing on her food - just like I was raised doing.

I don't ask her to pray very often because her prayers can run pretty long, but they're always special. :) I am always reminded when she prays that while she struggles to express herself and I may not understand what she's saying, her Father in Heaven has no problem understanding her.

Today, I asked Grandma if she would like to say a blessing for our lunch. She started with a very loving address to her Father. She expressed gratitude for our meal and for me taking care of her. There was some that I couldn't understand, and then she closed by asking Him to take care of himself. I just thought that was so sweet that she would worry about the Lord's well-being.

Out darned spot!

Grandma gets cold easily, so she usually wears some kind of jacket. Yesterday's jacket was a very pretty red mohair with leaves and vines embroidered all over it in gray. (Not quite like the picture I've included here, but this will give you the basic idea.) She kept taking it off to try to rub the "stains" off it. She was just sure that the embroidery was water spots - that the manufacturer had damaged the fabric.

I told her repeatedly that it was a decorative stitching that was supposed to be there to make it look pretty. Didn't work. She just kept rubbing. Once I finally convinced her to leave her jacket on to keep her warm, she still kept rubbing at the sleeves.

Bonanza Conspiracy Theory

For the last couple of days, Grandma has been very upset about something involving the government. I'm not really sure what the main problem is, but I think it has something to do with taxes.

I've discovered in the last week that Grandma also really loves Bonanza. Luckily, Bonanza is on every afternoon, so we can enjoy it together.

Today, there was an episode of Bonanza where a man basically owned an entire town. He used fear tactics to get everyone in the town to do what he wanted. Grandma decided that the episode was trying to show us what is going on with our government. Sure dear. A 1969 episode of Bonanza was specifically set up to based on our 2009 government.

Bet you didn't know the writers of Bonanza had a time machine, did ya?

A Whole New World

My daughter got a CD player for Christmas and has been repeatedly listening to my old copy of the soundtrack from the Disney movie Aladdin. I have the song "A Whole New World" stuck in my head right now, and it occurred to me that it's a completely appropriate phrase for the changes going on in our lives.

We have truly started a whole new world in our home.

My husband's dear grandmother is going to be spending a few days a week with me. As is the case with many older people, her mind doesn't function the way it used to. In her best interest, she needs to have someone with her at all times to make sure she's taken care of and is safe and healthy. Since I'm home all day, part of her daily care will be on my shoulders.

As the past couple of weeks of spending time with her has gone by, I have shared a few of the more entertaining stories with one of my friends. She made the suggestion that I should blog about it. At first, I didn't think it was appropriate, but I've decided that I owe it to the world to share the joys of spending time with this wonderful lady. She deserves a tribute!