Mom loves my iPod, so I think I'll give it to her, remove some of the songs (the other day I came home and she was rocking out to ELO!) and then buy myself a new, video iPod!

Took Stinky to get her claws trimmed. The vet tech suggested we try Soft Paws on her. That should be fun, trying to get those puppies on while she's trying to escape.

It's freakin' cold here, the high is 9 above right now. Ick!

Lily has a scratch on her nose. From Stinky. I think it happened yesterday. Stinky also scratched Mom on the arm yesterday. She is a little shit. I don't know why she has not accepted Lily, but I'm not happy about this scratch. Lily is the queen of this house. Stinky needs to stop this aggression toward her. Mom was really upset about Stinky scratching her, but she insisted that it was not the cat's fault. She really loves that little cat.

The weekend has flown by, and amazingly, the weather has been quite nice here. Tonight we watched The Family Stone on DVD. Interesting movie. I liked it. I hung out the Christmas wreaths and we are debating whether to get a real tree or put up our artificial. I really wish that when I bought the artificial that I would have gotten the pre-lit one (but they were sold out). Oh well, live and learn. Beautiful Lily is here beside me sleeping. She is getting a little braver, she ventures out of my room but Stinky stalks her and chases her back in. I've found Lily upstairs a few times, once she was sitting on the floor next to Mom in the dining room! I'm glad she is getting some courage, I miss my girl.

Just got back from Thanksgiving service at church. Mom liked it but the minister 'wasn't like Bob'. She compares all ministers to him. It was a struggle to get her to shower and wash her hair; she claimed that she had already done so. And she wouldn't change her clothes so I let her wear her fleece top, though I made her change to a clean one. Now it's time to make the turkey. Oh boy.

Turkey was good as was rest of the meal. I'm becoming a good cook.

"Help needed for Alzheimer's Caregivers" just scrolled across the bottom of my screen. Ain't that the truth. Out of sight, out of mind.

I have found the best salad dressing; Marie's Raspberry Vinaigrette. It is so good! And it is low in calories and fat.

Today we picked out fabric for swags in the LR, den and MB. They probably won't be ready until after Christmas. I can't wait to see them.

Today we went to Mom's last PT appointment. It went well. She also had her blood drawn for her Pro-Time and it was high, probably from all of the green vegetables she has been eating. We have to recheck it in 2 weeks. She has an appointment on Wednesday with an orthopedist.

A left and we already miss her. Dropped her off at the airport and then took back an expired bottle of salad dressing. We also bought Mom some new tea that A introduced to her. Then we stopped off at the coffee shop and had a raspberry white chocolate mocha. Mom loves those.

Election is over. Thank goodness no more TV, radio negative ads. How could Minnesota's sixth congressional district elect Michele Bachmann, the unrepentant hatemonger? I am so disappointed that she can hide behind her cloak of Christianity and spew her hate and intolerance. It is despicable.

A positive note is the election of Amy Klobuchar to the US Senate. I am so happy.

A is here.

Mom is beginning to get nervous about going to the senior center with the social worker. She wants me to go with her but I can't. Then she reminded me that she will need a key to get back into the house. Now I'm starting to worry about the logistics of this. But I think the social worker can take care of Mom. I hope so. I have to stop obsessing about everything.

Today I felt icky, nauseous and weird. Then I realized that I hadn't take my med. I thought I had a stomach bug.

The bitching and crabbing continued Monday. I went to get my hair colored and told mom that was what I was doing and she would be bored. Still she wanted to come. Halfway there, after asking where we were going a half dozen times, she said, "Why am I going?". AGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

The social worker from the senior outreach program is going to pick her up next Wednesday and take her to a movie at the Senior Center. She asks about that every day. Today she said that lady called and said she was sick and couldn't pick her up. I know that she didn't call, because she would have called me, not Mom.

I am tired of being bitched at and crabbed at. Even though I know she doesn't know what she's doing, it's still hard on me. She wants to go out for dinner, then when we go out for dinner she complains that it's busy when we pull into the parking lot. She wants to visit the senior center but when we go to see the woman who sent her a note and that woman is not there she complains and crabs at me. I try to take it one day at a time because if I look too far into the future, thinking about a future of this is depressing. Don't get me wrong, there are some good times too. But my life has changed drastically in a little over a year. Sometimes the responsibility is a huge deal. Sometimes I'm grateful for the time I get to spend with mom. Sometimes I am infuriated by the guilt I put on myself. The monotony can get so old. But I know that I'm making a difference in her life. I know she appreciates it, but sometimes she gets so frustrated by everything she is experiencing. Her life is changing, she is dependent on her kid. That's gotta be hard. Especially since the kid she protected all of her life is now trying to take care of her.

This posting on rosie.com from Pat Tillman's brother is too important and poignant. I need to include it here.

From Pat Tillman's Brother

It is Pat’s birthday on November 6, and elections are the day after. It gets me thinking about a conversation I had with Pat before we joined the military. He spoke about the risks with signing the papers. How once we committed, we were at the mercy of the American leadership and the American people. How we could be thrown in a direction not of our volition. How fighting as a soldier would leave us without a voice… until we got out.

Much has happened since we handed over our voice:

Somehow we were sent to invade a nation because it was a direct threat to the American people, or to the world, or harbored terrorists, or was involved in the September 11 attacks, or received weapons-grade uranium from Niger, or had mobile weapons labs, or WMD, or had a need to be liberated, or we needed to establish a democracy, or stop an insurgency, or stop a civil war we created that can’t be called a civil war even though it is. Something like that.

Somehow America has become a country that projects everything that it is not and condemns everything that it is.

Somehow our elected leaders were subverting international law and humanity by setting up secret prisons around the world, secretly kidnapping people, secretly holding them indefinitely, secretly not charging them with anything, secretly torturing them. Somehow that overt policy of torture became the fault of a few “bad apples” in the military.

Somehow back at home, support for the soldiers meant having a five-year-old kindergartener scribble a picture with crayons and send it overseas, or slapping stickers on cars, or lobbying Congress for an extra pad in a helmet. It’s interesting that a soldier on his third or fourth tour should care about a drawing from a five-year-old; or a faded sticker on a car as his friends die around him; or an extra pad in a helmet, as if it will protect him when an IED throws his vehicle 50 feet into the air as his body comes apart and his skin melts to the seat.

Somehow the more soldiers that die, the more legitimate the illegal invasion becomes.

Somehow American leadership, whose only credit is lying to its people and illegally invading a nation, has been allowed to steal the courage, virtue and honor of its soldiers on the ground.

Somehow those afraid to fight an illegal invasion decades ago are allowed to send soldiers to die for an illegal invasion they started.
Somehow faking character, virtue and strength is tolerated.
Somehow profiting from tragedy and horror is tolerated.
Somehow the death of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people is tolerated.
Somehow subversion of the Bill of Rights and The Constitution is tolerated.
Somehow suspension of Habeas Corpus is supposed to keep this country safe.
Somehow torture is tolerated.
Somehow lying is tolerated.
Somehow reason is being discarded for faith, dogma, and nonsense.
Somehow American leadership managed to create a more dangerous world.
Somehow a narrative is more important than reality.

Somehow America has become a country that projects everything that it is not and condemns everything that it is.

Somehow the most reasonable, trusted and respected country in the world has become one of the most irrational, belligerent, feared, and distrusted countries in the world.

Somehow being politically informed, diligent, and skeptical has been replaced by apathy through active ignorance.

Somehow the same incompetent, narcissistic, virtueless, vacuous, malicious criminals are still in charge of this country.

Somehow this is tolerated.
Somehow nobody is accountable for this.

In a democracy, the policy of the leaders is the policy of the people. So don’t be shocked when our grandkids bury much of this generation as traitors to the nation, to the world and to humanity. Most likely, they will come to know that “somehow” was nurtured by fear, insecurity and indifference, leaving the country vulnerable to unchecked, unchallenged parasites.

Luckily this country is still a democracy. People still have a voice. People still can take action. It can start after Pat’s birthday.

Brother and Friend of Pat Tillman,

Kevin Tillman