Slow to Get Ready

Today we have a close friend from Nashville, Scott Greeley, who came for an overnight visit. He was scheduled to arrive between 2:30 and 3:00. During the morning, Kate worked outside. At 12:35, I went outside and told her I thought we should get ready for lunch because I wanted us to get back home in plenty of time to be ready for Scott. In a few minutes she came inside. When I didn’t hear from her by 1:25, I went back to her room. She heard me coming and said, “”What do you want? I’m getting dressed.” When I reached the door, I could see that she was just then starting to get dressed. She wanted me to leave, and I did. At 1:50, she finally came into the kitchen ready to go. That was almost two hours from the time I first went outside to prompt her to come in. She was quite cheerful at this point. We went to lunch and all was well.

The final part of our day was easy. She loves Scott; so just being with him from around 3:30 until we went to bed at 10:45 was a special treat for her. We went to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants and chatted at length about many things. The day turned out to be as special as I had hoped.

Looking Forward to a Good Day

It is a beautiful day in Knoxville today. In fact, we have had a string of beautiful days. That has meant Kate is spending a little more time in the yard. I try to let her stay out as long as she cares to. Sometimes, especially late in the afternoon, I feel the need to encourage her to come inside as I did yesterday when we were supposed to pick up friends to go to dinner at Casa Bella where they had a special night of music the songs of Peter, Paul and Mary as well as Simon and Garfunkel. This was a one-time replacement for Broadway Night that occurs the third and fourth Thursdays of each month. They have been doing this for the past 16 months. Kate and I have made almost every program as well as Opera Thursday which is the first Thursday of each month. This is something we both enjoy. I believe it is especially beneficial for Kate. It is not only a time to enjoy the music; it is also a social occasion. Many of the people who attend are regulars like us. Last night was a special treat for Kae as she is very fond of the couple who went with us. She loved the evening. That, of course, makes me happy.

Yesterday there were a couple of things to note about Kate’s behavior. Early in the day as she was getting dressed, I went to her room to get an idea of how long it would be before leaving for Panera. When I entered the room, she picked up a small painting or print that we had gotten on a trip some time ago. She asked, “Where did I tell you I wanted to hang this?” We had not had a conversation about this at all. I said, “I don’t remember your telling me.” She looked mildly disgruntled and tossed he picture on her bed where it had been. From past experience I knew not to pursue the subject any further.

The second thing occurred as we were getting ready for the dinner last night. She said something like, “They really have the time down on the deodorant.” I was puzzled but didn’t say anything. She came out of the bathroom and said, “It works. You just hold your arms up like this for 10 minutes (seconds, I assume).” She went on to say more that I didn’t understand. At first it sounded like you didn’t need to use deodorant if you just washed under your arms and then held them up for a short time. She said something else that made me think holding up one’s arms let the deodorant dry made it work more effectively.” I told her I didn’t know that. She then said, “You told me that it made sense.” When I told her I didn’t remember talking about this, she was irritated and said, “Let’s not talk about it.”

Panera – Like Another Home

Kate is getting so accustomed to coming to Panera that she sometimes just gets dressed, puts her iPad under her arm, and comes to me in the kitchen (my office) all ready to go. She did just that this morning. She doesn’t say a word. She just stops. I see that she is ready, and off we go.. Today I wasn’t quite ready; so I quickly dressed. I think it is a good routine for both of us. It gives us a change of scenery, and we often see people we know and talk with. This morning, for example, a gentleman whom I had seen but didn’t recognize came over to me reminded me of his name and that we had worked together in connection with one of the local arts association. He asked me if I were serving on any boards. I told him I was slowing down now but was concentrating my attention on the foundation.

Shortly thereafter, another man approached me and spoke. He is a former police chief of Knoxville. I had recognized him several months ago and have seen him here a few times subsequently. He is now a pastor. I told him I always wanted to call him Chief but I thought I should change now to Pastor. He told me to just call him by his first name. I introduced him to my wife and we had a very brief chat. These kinds of experiences are good for both of us and help make it a nice day.

Speaking of nice days, we continue to have them. Today we are going to see Robert Devereux which is this week’s Life in HD at The Met performance. We will go to lunch near the theater and then walk over for the opera. This will be a new opera for us. I hope it is one we both enjoy.

Yesterday after lunch Kate worked in the yard a little. We went out for pizza for dinner. We go there often enough that we know the various waitresses which makes us feel at home. This is true for most of the other restaurants at which we eat. Eating out has become a social experience.

After dinner, we came home and watched another episode of “Grantchester,” a Masterpiece Theater production. It was a bit confusing. I’m not sure Kate got much out of it, but she stayed with it through to the end. We started watching another show, “Father Brown,” but she didn’t last. Nonetheless, we enjoyed watching together, something we don’t do a lot of.

Yet Another Nice Day

I like making positive reports; so I am going to make an entry right now even though it’s only mid-afternoon. Today was PEO day for Kate. I asked her to get up about an hour and a half before time for us to leave. That turned out to have been a good move. It took about an hour and 45 minutes before we left. Last night I had decided what I thought she should wear. I brought them to her before she got out of bed. She liked what I had chosen; so I left them on the bed for her. I had picked out a beautiful top that we had bought about 3 weeks ago. It is a beautiful 2-piece knit “top.”

When she was ready, she came into the kitchen. She didn’t say anything. She just stood there. She was waiting for me to pass judgment on her attire. I told her she looked beautiful. I was so pleased to see her dressed like that. On the way to the meeting I asked her if she remembered my phone number since she calls me when she is ready for me to pick her up. It was clear that she is having trouble now. In the past, she has always been able to remember my number. These days she doesn’t have much occasion to call me which is why I asked. I do remember that the last time I took her to a PEO meeting that she was unsure of the number. I didn’t have anything to write with or I would have given my phone number to her. I am going to keep a few of my business cards with my cell number in the car. I think I will also start making sure that she has a card with my number on it anytime we are apart.

While she was in her meeting, I went to church for a reception honoring volunteers. I decided to return to get Kate before she called since she had been unsure of my number. It turned out that my timing was perfect. The meeting had not gotten out when I drove up. Within 5 minutes, Kate appeared at the car. I was surprised and said something to her. She said, “”You said to meet you.” I said, “”And you did.” Then I added, “You didn’t have to call.” She said, “I would have if you hadn’t been here.”

From there we went to the Bluefish Grill for lunch. This was our first time there. We had a good lunch and will plan to return. It is diagonally across the street from the movie theater where we go to see Live in HD at The Met performances. We’ll be there this Saturday. It was nice to go to a new place, especially since we had such a good meal. She had blackened catfish with mixed vegetables (broccoli and green beans) that were cooked perfectly. I had curried shrimp that was also quite good.

Our lunch was one of those pleasant times that just happen once in a while. It topped off what has been a great day. Now she is back home and is out in the yard planting some things we bought two days ago at Lowe’s. She’ll be out there until I call her inside in about an hour. Then we will have an early dinner. I am going to the opening of our new baseball stadium tonight. I don’t intend to stay the whole time. I am mostly going to be sociable. I am a guest of our attorney.

Things Are Going Well

We have had another nice day. Again, it was a day with a good bit of activity. That really helps. This morning we went to the Shepherd’s Center for the second time. It was even better this time because we were there from 9:00 until after lunch at 1:00. We attended classes on the Holocaust at 9, Heroes and Legends at 10, and Classic Movies at 11 before having lunch at 12. Kate enjoyed all of it. We could have stayed another hour, but she was a little tired. We spent the afternoon at home. First, she remained outside for about an hour. When she came inside, she worked on her iPad for a while. Then she told me she was going to take a bath. After her shower, she remained in her robe and got into bed with her iPad. At 6:00, I asked her if she would like to go to dinner. She said she would after she finished the puzzle on which she was working.

This was a day in which she got her clothes without my help. I offered, but she said she could do it. I had hung the 3 pair of slacks we bought yesterday in her closet. She did not wear any of them, but she found a pair of chinos for this morning and a nice pair of black slacks to wear to dinner. We had dinner at Hathaway’s where we sat at a booth across from a couple we have known from the symphony and the music club.

Saying that things went well doesn’t mean there were no signs of her Alzheimer’s. There are always signs of that. The difference was that they were the kind of things that don’t generate frustration for either one of us. For example, one of the reasons I wanted to go to Hathaway’s is that we can split a good meal. It turned out onion rings came with the steak, and I ate 4 of those. I am trying not to eat too much. When the server asked if we wanted dessert, I was prepared to say no when Kate said, ”We could split something.” When this happens, I go for the dessert. I dont want to look back on these days and think, “I wish I had been less strict with my diet when we went out to eat.” This kind of thing happens more than I would like, but I feel it is the right thing to do. The other thing was the continued Deja vu experiences she has. As we were driving away from the restaurant, she said, “I’ve seen that couple (on bicycles) right here before.” There have been several of those experiences today.

Another Nice Day

We have had another nice day. Again, it was a day with a good bit of activity. That really helps. This morning we went to the Shepherd’s Center for the second time. It was even better this time because we were there from 9:00 until after lunch at 1:00. We attended classes on the Holocaust at 9, Heroes and Legends at 10, and Classic Movies at 11 before having lunch at 12. Kate enjoyed all of it. We could have stayed another hour, but she was a little tired. We spent the afternoon at home. First, she remained outside for about an hour. When she came inside, she worked on her iPad for a while. Then she told me she was going to take a bath. After that she remained in her robe and got into bed with her iPad. I have been working on my new computer to get everything set up and operating on a Carbonite backup in the cloud. At 6:00, I asked her if she would like to go to dinner. She said she would after she finished the puzzle on which she was working. This was a day in which she got her clothes without my help. I offered, but she said she could do it. I had hung the 3 pair of slacks we bought yesterday in her closet. She did not wear any of them, but she found a pair of chinos for this morning and a nice pair of black slacks to wear to dinner. We had dinner at Hathaway’s where we sat at a booth across from a couple we have known from the Symphony and the music club. Saying that things went well doesn’t mean there were no signs of her Alzheimer’s. There are always signs of that. The difference was that they were the kind of things that don’t generate frustration for either one of us. For example, one of the reasons I wanted to go to Hathaway’s is that we can split a good meal (tonight it was a ribeye with a baked sweet potato). It turned out onion rings came with the steak, and I ate 4 of those. I am trying not to eat too much. When the server asked if we wanted dessert, I was prepared to say no when Kate said, “We could split something.” When this happens, I go for the dessert. I don’t want to look back on these days and think, “I wish I had been looser with my diet when we went out to eat.” This kind of thing happens more than I would like, but I feel it is the right thing to do. The other thing was the continued Deja Vu experiences she has. As we were driving away from the restaurant, she said, “I’ve see that couple (on bicycles) right here before.” There have been several of those experiences today.

A Day That Ended Well

This morning I felt like we were headed for an unpleasant day. That was probably reflected in my first post of the day. The second was more upbeat. I am glad to report that it ended well. How do I account for it? Staying busy. We were out of the house a good bit of the day. We didn’t get to Panera until 11:15. We finished lunch close to 1:30. From there we drove to a senior living facility to visit one of my Sunday school class members. Her daughter. from Atlanta was visiting with her which made for a pleasant time. My class member has gone down since I last saw her. She is in the dementia unit and clearly showed that she is in the right place. She seemed to know us, but she was quite confused. Every time I asked a question, she gave a strange answer.

When we left, we went to Belk’s to get Kate some shoes. We also got her some new hose. She looked for a summer sweater, something that she could wear into a restaurant to protect her from the air conditioning, but did not find anything. From there we came home for a short break. I turned on some music. We both got something to drink, water for me, Dr. Pepper for her. We sat together in the family room and chatted for about 30 minutes. Then we went looking for a sweater but no luck. It was 5:15; so we decided to have an early dinner and went to Naples. We both enjoyed the meal and our time together. When we got home, she asked me to leave the garage door open, and she would stay outside a while. She remained there about an hour. I came inside, put on some music, and started copying a few CDs to my computer from which I will transfer them to my phone. Kate came in a short time ago. When she got out of the shower, she asked me if I were going to bring something in for dinner. I told her we had already eaten.Then she remembered.

Best Day in Weeks

It is 9:44 pm, and I am in bed writing these notes so that I can put them in my journal. Before going to sleep, I have to report that today has been the best day in quite some time, perhaps weeks. We had only one bad moment when I came home from the Y, and Kate thought I had come in to rush her to get ready to go someplace. Actually, I was just saying hello and was going to check to see if she wanted to go get her morning muffin at Panera. She was working on organizing her clothes. I decided to leave well enough alone and went to the kitchen to check email. A little later we did go to Panera. While we were sitting there she told me the story I had already entered in this journal this afternoon. She said she was feeling good and that she had decided I was right about her dreaming about the incident that was causing her to be so blue (not her words). She said she couldn’t even remember what it was that had upset her. The balance of the day and evening she has seemed like her old self. I commented on how good she seemed to feel. She agreed that she did feel good. Now I FEEL GOOD as well.

A Good Day

Yesterday and today I have been drafting a letter to Dr. Reasoner updating her on Kate. It is a rather glum update as was my most recent update to our children and friends. For that reason I want to be quick to report that today has been a very good one. I’m not entirely sure what accounts for it, but we have been comparatively active. This morning I decided not to go to the Y because my back was hurting. I took a walk instead. That meant that I was home more today. In addition, Kate was up earlier than she has been the past couple of weeks. Perhaps that is because she is recovering from her cold. We sat together in the family room after my walk. She worked on her computer editing photos while I watched the news related to yesterday’s Super Tuesday election results. About 8:30, Kate said she wanted to go to Panera Bread. We were there shortly after 9:00. She was ready to leave shortly after 10:30. We ran a couple of errands.  Then it was time to eat lunch. We left the restaurant at 12:05 and headed home for a while before going to a movie at 2:30. We got out of the movie just before 5:00. We got caught in the traffic and listened to some soft classical music on my phone. We got to Kate’s favorite Mexican restaurant, Chalupes, before 6:00. After we returned home, she walked into the kitchen and said, “It’s been a nice day.” I agreed and gave her a big hug. Now we are watching an old “Murder She Wrote” with Angela Lansbury. Kate is working jigsaw puzzles on her iPad, but she is catching a little of the program and enjoying it. This has been our best day in quite a while.

As we were coming home from lunch today, something funny happened. She looked at me and asked, “”Have you thrown anything of mine away today?” I said, “”Have I ever thrown away something of yours?” She gave me a dirty look but said nothing. I said, “I don’t know what you are talking about.” She gave me another look. I asked what I had thrown away. She said firmly, “Just shush!” I did. This is another example of her imagining things.

Leaving St. Lucia With Pleasant Memories

We pulled away from the dock in St. Lucia about thirty minutes ago. I am glad to report that we have had a nice day. As I mentioned in my post this morning, Kate had done a good job getting ready. She has had no complications associated with her fall yesterday. That is a relief. That would have had quite an impact on our pleasure for the balance of the trip and potentially after returning home.

This morning we took an excursion called “The Essence of St. Lucia.” It was a leisurely van tour (10 other passengers) with a terrific guide. We got to see a variety of plants, sampled some fruits and sweets, tasted local rum, and heard a lot of tales about the area and its people.

We came back for lunch at the Lido. Kate got a little peeved with me as we went to lunch. I think it involved her thinking I was rushing her. She cooled down after we had eaten. Then she wanted to go someplace where she could work on her iPad. I took her to the Observation Lounge while I used the treadmill in the exercise room. After I was through, I joined her for about an hour. Then we went back to the room where she wanted to take a nap. She was worn out. I came to the Lido where I have been catching up on email and watching the scenery as we cruise along the island. When we get to the end of the island, we are going to pick up some passengers who had taken an excursion that left them at a town there. They will join us via tender boats.