It's been a while.....

Can't believe how time flies! I haven't posted since October! It does speak to how life has been, however.

Dad has somehow miraculously settled in to the routine at Oak Hill (the nursing home he is in.) Of course he will always complain, saying he is being incarcerated, he is being mistreated, they aren't addressing my medical needs, and on, and on. But when given the choice of moving into his own apartment in assisted living, he vehemently declined, saying "they don't have the medical staff to address all my problems!" At this point he says, "I'm fine in the room I'm in and besides, I don't need all that room in those apartments." Man!

He has gotten much stronger physically since going to Oak Hill. He will never give appropriate credit to the physical therapist he worked with. No, "It's my own program that's gotten me where I am today." (sigh!) He doesn't remember having to be lifted from chair to bed when he first arrived because he was too weak to do it himself. Now, several times a day, he walks the hallway - 50 yards one way, he reports - seven times. He refuses to use his walker, even though he walks much faster when he uses it. The nurse told me yesterday she is so afraid he's going to fall, to which I answered "yes, he will. It is just a matter of time." Am I going to be the one to try to change his mind? Not on your life. It will never happen.

My mom and I enjoy living together in our villa. I'm having a blast decorating it. She and I butt heads once in a while. Gosh, how normal are we? Our villa is .3 miles from Oak Hill - a real bonus. I can walk to go visit Dad. (Like I really do that!) Life in Waterloo is simple, and I love that. The hectic in my life is my job, but I'm really starting to like that. All in all, things have settled down.

If only Dad could feel the same way....