Thursday, March 19, 2009

Back to the Real World: Benedryl, Please

So, I'm headed over to Mom's house again today to work on getting things ready for her to return home from the rehab facility tomorrow. RR will remember that Mom, who is 85 yo, broke her femur Christmas Eve slipping on ice while delivering cookies to her neighbors. This will be her first time home since she fell nearly three months ago.

So, yes, I'm cleaning her place, and putting away Christmas, and dusting, and getting out her Easter stuff, and getting the necessary support equipment together for her. And I'm emptying her fridge and stocking it with fresh groceries, and, well, you know....

Stuff.

Set Mom's house aside. I'm also trying to have her paperwork, bills, insurance forms, and other mail sorted and taken care of for her, too. I suppose I can finish that here later tonight.

Stuff.

On the other end of the generational perspective, my human kids are currently rotating through coming home here on their respective spring breaks (what fun to see them all!). DLS Jon was home last week; DFS Dan is here now (until Sunday); DSD Sarah and DSIL Chris will come in from Maine tomorrow night for a week.

At the very least I try to have the kids' beds made up and waiting for them complete with fresh linens and freshly washed blankets. And I make sure everyone has clean towels. But that's about all I can manage these days. Cleaning? Baking? Planning wonderful meals? The "I Love You" little extras? Ha! That all went out the window years ago.

Stuff.

And I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to get DFS to his doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon at the same time as I'm supposed to be picking up Mom at rehab (no, neither can be rescheduled).

Sigh. There's only one of me.

Stuff.

And DFS's laundry still needs to be done, and DSD's room still needs to be cleaned out before they arrive (DH stores all his huntin' stuff in there), and ... the dog hair... oh my... well....

More stuff.

And to boot, Pinot is in prime heat. Yup, Ridge and Tuc are bonkers -- back to barking 24/7. Poor Ridge is hoarse again. Tuc occasionally ends up with a tiny "squeak" for a bark -- almost like an adolescent boy's voice cracking (it's quite endearing).

Exercise helps.

Here's Ridge blowing off steam (yes, that's a bandage on his paw -- he has a sore spot he won't leave alone, so we cover it to keep him from licking it):


And here's Tuc:


Gotta love the ears! :o)

Regularly exercising them enough to ward of testosterone, though, means additional stuff.

Oh, and Baxter (my Boos Bud!) is coming in from ME tomorrow night, too (he stays with us no matter where Chris and Sarah stay). Oh boy... another canine male added to the mix.

Even more stuff.

Well, Baxter is more like a eunich.

Less stuff (hehe).

We do, when desperate enough, give the boys Benedryl to take the edge off and to help them sleep (phermones don't allow them to sleep much). Both boys got the maximum safe dosage yesterday (I was desperate enough).

Benedryl worked wonders for our kids' allergies when they were younger, and it's terrific for calming our studly-wanna-bes.

Helpful stuff.

So do you think if I took some it would let me sleep through the next several days, and then when I awoke a whole bunch of this "stuff" would be behind me?

Escape from stuff.

Nah... I don't need Benedryl.

What I think I'm ready for is a change in seasons. Spring has to come -- it always does. The sun has to start shining again soon (it always rises). Storms cease; seas calm; troubles pass. It's just the way of it. This season of my life will pass.

And entering a new season -- one filled with sunshine and fresh starts and new growth -- is far better than just escaping "stuff" for a few hours. The truly good stuff will come again.

I just have to keep hoping, keep waiting, and patiently wade through this other stuff until it does.

Speaking of... I gotta get over to Mom's.

'Til next time,
Joan

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

So, it seems like you have a lot of stuff to deal with so I would go with the Benedryl or at least Sudafed. But that brings on a whole other scenario of trying to buy the meds.....Poorest Joan! But hey, despite everything, you are needed and that is always a good thing....maybe not needed quite so much all at the same time however. Just make your puppies run because there is nothing like watching a labs ears flop when they are loping along or running at full speed to make someone feel better! : )

Anonymous said...

Wishing you a weekend full of only wonderful stuff with all of your loved ones.

On a side note, as the almost-grown-up DSD (yes I'm a 33 year old adolescent sometimes) of a woman who also takes on so much, I am thrilled when my mom finally accepts the offer of or finally requests help with all of her stuff. Just something to think about....

Anonymous said...

I smiled when I read that one of your priorities was to have the kids' beds made with clean linens for them when they arrived. In all the years (26, I think) that DH and I went to visit his parents, they NEVER EVER did that. We were lucky if there was a pile of clean sheets lying on the bed. And the hide-a-bed or trundle or whatever we were gonna sleep on was never set up.

As you can tell, it still bothers me...