my father

[Drunk Monk]

Actually, my dad was more of a hoarder. He kept so many broken things. As an engineer, he always thought he would repair them some day. Some of that came from being raised in poverty, I'm sure. My mom and I tossed a ton of stuff years ago after he had his stroke.

Hope all is going okay there, Greg.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

The clutter makes me crazy.

Two days out of two on screaming fights with the harridan.

Currently dealing with a crashed web site that just went live on Tuesday for the Haggis Killer.

Happy Friday!

[Drunk Monk]

...this is just the first Friday the 13th of the year.

There will be another next month.

And another in November.

Yea, I know. Some consolation.

Hang tough, bro.

FREE JAYCEE!

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

Um, didn't you already say he was free? Are you on some powerful syzzzurp?

[Drunk Monk]

He makes a statement tomorrow. Or today actually. It might be up on the web already.

Ol' Jaycee. He so gangsta.

[Drunk Monk]

My cousins picked her up. I'll go by after work. She's doing really well. Amazing what they can do with knee operations nowadays. These are the days of miracle and wonder.

It's been really weird staying at my old home in Svale all week. I stay there at least once a week to check on my mom and save on my commute. But never alone. This operation marks the first time my mom has slept outside of her home in well over a decade. It struck me last night that the next time I stay there alone might be very grim indeed.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

Stay away from that dark well for the moment.

[Drunk Monk]

Ever since my dad had the stroke, it was always in the back of my mind.

But, on a positive parental note (and lawd knows we need one around here) my mom is doing great. She's not in pain anymore, just extremely stiff. Every time she starts feeling good, she over does it and is then sore and tired the next day. That happened after her PT yesterday. She came home and started picking up stuff, then got super tired. Tomorrow she is planning to go up to S.F. with a seniors center outing to see Newsies at the Orpheum. She thinks it'll be mellow as she'd only have to walk a half a block tops, and she's going with friends, but I think she needs to rest more. We'll see how she is on Thursday.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Mom still improving?

[Drunk Monk]

She had a great time up in S.F. with the senior center trip and continues to report that she's feeling better each day. We hope she'll be back on the golf course in a few months.

Knee surgery is just amazing now.

:prayer:

[thatguy]

I wished my mom "Happy New Knee" a few years ago for the second time. She's been to Europe on them twice since then and just left for England last friday. She still shows dogs regularly, trotting around the ring with her Skye Terriers (if you watched the Westminster, as I know most of you did, you saw a Skye in the winners circle). Since my dad passed, she's actually getting out a lot more. She seems to have a really active life. I know that's not going to last. The house is big and full of crap. She's been purging my dad's stuff, but there's still more. She also keeps spending money on the honey-dos that he avoided. For the age of the house and her age, I sometimes wonder if that's the best way to spend her money...but it makes her happy, and I'm glad to see her enjoying herself (as I know someday, that won't be the case...)

--tg

[King Bob]

My mom's house (probably roughly the same age as TG's mother's house) is starting to really break down: plumbing problems, roof, fence etc. Fortunately she is moving to assisted living on the 12th, after about a year to persuade her. We are going to leave most of the stuff in the house and just toss it/donate it once she moves. I know we will need a dumpster rental.

She is going to be 87 this year, and for several years just could not handle cooking and cleaning. We've had live-in care (non-medical) since she broke her hip, so they feed her and do the laundry (and we have cleaners) but it is ridiculously expensive and assisted living will be much cheaper. Also she should be more active since she will have to walk to the dining room. As it is she won't leave the house unless she is with me or Christina or my brother, so she just sits most of the time.

[Drunk Monk]

Moms living in big cluttered houses that are falling apart. Spending the week at my mom's while she was in the hospital, it really struck me how lonely that must be at times.

My mom continues to recover at a rapid rate. She has good pain-free days, and other days when she is exhausted from PT, but her spirits are high. I'm still spending a few nights a week at her house, until she can drive again.

[King Bob]

Well my mother moved to assisted living on Thursday 3/12. It went pretty well - she only cried a little. On the other hand, she has pretty much not left her room except to eat with us, and lies about it (giving conflicting stories or stories refuted by talking to staff). I guess so far not so good, but she couldn't afford to stay in the house and is safer and better fed (if she will go to eat) here. Plus she will have to walk further than the length of her house, so she should get a little more mobile.

On the other hand, her house is really something! She was a hoarder. I am finding junk mail in every drawer I open, and there were cancelled checks back to about 1980, and tax returns back to 1990. And I am amazed at how many clothes she had when she wore the same few things over and over; every bedroom closet is full of her hanging clothes. And all sorts of crap any normal person would have thrown away - in one closet there was a pull-up diaper, and my niece and nephew are now 13 and 17! It is really unbelievable. I peeked up into the garage attic and there were about 15-20 pieces of luggage up there. They never threw the old ones away when they got new ones! Once we go through all the papers we may just hire someone to clean it out, or we will have to get a dumpster.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

The ones who made it through The Depression have the hardest time letting go of stuff.

Good on ya for getting her out and to someplace better; she'll adapt.