Dog Days of Summer

Yesterday I was able to get a specimen from Mom so that she can be tested for a UTI. We are now waiting to hear if they found anything. Usually they call right away if the specimen tests positive so hopefully no news is good news. Keep your fingers crossed. Mom has been sleeping a lot today, though yesterday she was up and quite jovial throughout the day. There is just no planning with this disease. I was hoping we could get out and find new reading glasses for her, her's have been missing for a few days. We tore the house apart looking for them with no luck. She asks for them every day, several times per day. I've given her a pair that I use but I don't think they are magnified enough for her. Most days are tough, but some days are good. Yesterday was a good day.

Mom's sister is pretty freaked out about her sister's pending move. She knows that it's for the best but I know it's hard for her. It's hard for us all to see Mom like this.

I have been reading lot's of knitting books and I finished one of the fingerless gloves I had been making from Annie's yarn (which by the way is a pleasure to knit with). Next I need to get started on the mittens. I can't wait to start them. I found a book that has basic patterns for mittens, gloves, hats, tams, socks and sweaters which I hope to use.

Yesterday was also the anniversary of the bridge collapse. We've watched a little of the coverage which included a number of memorial services including one on the Stone Arch Bridge. Mom and I had gone out to dinner to Applebee's then to our favorite park. It was a beautiful evening. When we started to drive away the radio announcer relayed that the 35W Bridge had collapsed. It was unfathomable. We rushed home to watch the continuous coverage, dumbstruck. Many of the victims are still recovering. Many of the people who've lost loved ones will never be the same again.

To Sleep Perchance to Dream

Another night of restful sleep! For both of us. And a beautiful, sunny warm day. Who could ask for anything more? Mom did her exercises today and is in good spirits tonight, in fact she was all day. I too am on the mend. My throat feels nearly normal. Everything is blooming or about to bloom around her. We may get some rain overnight tonight.

This is a shot from a bridge web cam. They say that the construction is ahead of schedule and they expect the bridge to be finished by September. Amazing.

We should receive our strawberry plants soon. I put the pole together yesterday which we will use to hang them.

Last night there was nothing on TV that Mom was interested in watching so I put in her Barry Manilow DVD and she loved it. It even distracted her from her constant questions about her slipper and her hair. Today I even was able to get her to take a ride in the car with me! She really enjoyed it. I was able to wheel her down the ramp in the garage and then wheel her back up when we got home. And it didn't kill me. I'm glad that we had the ramp built. It helped that it was 52 degrees here today and sunny. Tonight we are supposed to get snow. Blech.

Hopefully the trip to the beauty salon will go as well tomorrow. And Mom will get her slipper back. It's amazing to me how something will stick in her craw and just continue to repeat like a needle stuck on a vinyl record. I guess that things that are important to her are what keep surfacing in her short-circuited mind. Alzheimer's sucks.

The new St. Anthony Bridge, which is the replacement for the 35W bridge that collapsed last summer, is progressing nicely. MNDot has a great website which shows renderings of the new bridge as well as information, as it becomes available, about the old bridge. I have been reading a magazine article about the collapse in Minnesota Monthly that is quite gripping. Click on the link if you'd like to read it. It's amazing to me that so many survived this tragedy. Many are still trying to get their lives back on track. The photo above was taken a mere few hours after the collapse according to the caption. Amazing