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It seems I am having a few more problems than I expected with Sarah's move. Since I don't have to be up at a certain time in the morning, I read all night long, or there abouts. Then I can't get to sleep, so I stay up and then am wicked tired all day long but afraid to go to sleep because it will likely mess me up for sleeping in the dark.

Yesterday, Eileen came over and spent the afternoon. That helped. I went to bed about 8:30, read until 10:30, took 2 of every sleeping aide I had in the apartment and fell asleep until about 5:30 this morning. Tried to stay in bed until at least 7, but was up and dressed by 6. Something is going to have to change with this.

Also, I keep thinking Sarah will be home soon. This is no longer her home. If she needed to come back, of course I would let her, but I don't think that is going to happen. But I miss her, more than I thought I would.

She is having some little trouble adjusting to her new environment, too. She is not taking an afternoon nap after HIP and when she does go up to bed, she reads or plays on the computer, or watches TV in her room. I got a note from Terrie asking me to talk with Sarah about staying up so late at night. I had the talk, but am not pleased that Terrie felt it necessary to notify me about Sarah's bedtime. With the exception of the afternoon nap, she is doing exactly what she did here at night; go to her room and pooch around until midnight or so. Oh well, it has only just been 2 weeks since she made the move. There has to be some time for adjustment. I am not too concerned about that.

I am concerned a bit by the fact that she has missed a day and a half at HIP this week. She is complaining of stomach problems. I was thinking tetchy stomach or constipation, but Eileen brought up possible ulcer. If it happens again, I will make an appointment to see the doc.

Molly is snoozing on the top of my desk as I write. Soon she will tire of being up there and want me to hold her while I type. We have a pretty good system worked out, as long as she keeps her tail off the keyboard.

Sarah got all her things moved in with few problems the weekend of August 26/27. She bought herself a new bed frame, which is something she wanted. On Monday of that week she went with staff to start putting things away, make her bed so she can sleep on it Thursday night, and check out the rest of the house. She was with staff on Thursday evening to buy groceries and when that was done she went home to 4226 Spruce Hills Dr. to put them in the cupboard/fridge and spend the night.

She came home on Sunday and spent the holiday with me. We didn't do much of anything, but go out for dinner before taking her home. She will spend the day with me on Saturday because that is her birthday. We will have cake, ice cream and all the usual party stuff.

Sarah went to HIP today and I went to her new home to set up a shelving unit. Took me 3 hrs. When it was all said and done, I had one of the cubbie shelves in the right way, (right side up, finished edge out) the other 8 cubbies were half right, the finished edge was out, but the right side was down. I'd been crawling on the dining room floor for about 2.5 hrs by that time and decided the heck with it. Once the totes were in the cubbies, nobody will notice. Besides, if I got down on the floor again, I would need a crane to hoist me back to my feet.

Had some nice chatty time with the head of the house, agency woman, and I am feeling very, very comfortable about the move for Sarah. Barb, head of house, said Sarah will fit right in. She has a good attitude and is very loving and giving. Barb is correct on that.

Now the plan is for Sarah to buy groceries Thursday night with Brittany and be at the house by 8:30/9:00. That works for me, I don't like driving at night.

Brought home four of the tubs Sarah used to move. Got them out of the car and into the garage closet. I am going to do a little of Sarah's laundry in a few and then rest until she gets home. We will vacuum and put some of the stuff that has been re-placed in another "place" until I can find a permanent home for it. Eileen's are coming over for watermelon tonight after Jaden's hockey practice.

I will be glad when this week is over.

Sarah is moving. She is leaving home to live in a small group home beginning Friday, September 1. She spent all last week going through her things and packing boxes and totes for the move. Last Tuesday she and Paula took some hanging clothes and some small totes to the new house. Kelly came down Friday night and was over here by 3:30 Saturday afternoon to begin the big move. The plan was to take Sarah's bed, mattress, sheets an blankets and comforter to the new house and get her bed made for Thursday night. Well, we went out and bought her a new bed frame, took it to the new house and got it set up. Then Kelly, Sarah, and I went out for some Asian Fusion for dinner.

Sunday Kelly and Pat were to be here by 1:00 to start moving up the other things. Kelly was here about 11:30 (shock, shock; I was still in my pjs. and Pat arrived about 12:15 so we would have some time to chat before the work started. Got most everything moved on Saturday, except for the dresser, CCTV and desk, and some hanging clothes. Eleen called and said she would bring over sweet corn and a summer salad for us for dinner. Kelly hung around, 9:30. Kelly, Sarah, and I were just about starvelated because we had had nothing to eat all day long.

Pat came over again today to finish up the move. He took the day off just for his sister. The only things left are her clothes for the week, her meds, and her magnets. She has Morgan with her tonight so, they are at the house now, putting Sarah's room in order.

I feel much better having met her housemates and their pets. There are three other girls, and two cats. Both cats are very friendly. One was in Sarah's room to 'help' put things away this afternoon. Sarah is the eldest by several years. One girl is in her early 30s the other two are in their 20s. I think it will work out nicely.

I am going up tomorrow during the day to put together a shelving unit Sarah was asked to buy. Sarah will be here until Thursday evening. She is to go out with Brittany that night and then I will meet them at the new house at 10pm to say goodbye to Sarah. She will come home again on Sunday and stay overnight for the holiday. I will take her back on Monday early evening. Then I will pick her up on Saturday for her birthday. If all goes according to plan, she won't be home again until Thanksgiving. She needs time to adjust and realize that this is her new home. She is not just visiting there, she will be visiting here. I think it will work out just fine.

Sarah is going into a home with three other women beginning September 9. She is excited about it and so am I. It is better to have her set up before something happens to me so she doesn't have too much change to deal with at one time.

She will have her own room. The house is in Cedar Falls. We are going to buy her a new bed, along with bedding, towels, and curtains. I am trying to decide if she should take a recliner from here, or if we should get her a new one. This recliner is hers, but it matches mine. If she is ok with it, I think we will buy her a different one.

She will be taking para-transit to and from the HIP group after the move. The first 6 months she can only come home for holidays. She can only call home 2 days a week to start. She will have her computer in her room and will be connected to the internet. We are going to get her a cellphone, a Jitterbug, I think. With big numbers she can read easily.

more as it develops.

It seems last night I may have had a panic attack. I was sitting in the living room with Sarah and for no good reason that I can figure I suddenly felt like I wanted to cry. Not a weepy kind of cry, a full blown loud wailing, tears streaming, difficulty breathing kind of cry. My stomach was sour, my arms and legs were jittery, and I have no idea why. Everything is good with the family, although I do miss Kelly. Sarah is good.
Miss Kitty is good. It lasted about 20 minutes. I was able to not give into the feeling of wanting to cry, Sarah doesn't need that kind of stress. I did a deep cleansing breathing exercise and it seemed to help.

Maybe it is the state of the world that is throwing me for a loop. The horrible man in the White House, all the horrible people he has appointed to his cabinet. He smug, no common sense son, son-in-law, and daughter playing the role of president. His wife, who seems to not want to be there.

And then there is the rest of the world. Acid throwing attacks in London. The constant and forever unease in the Middle East, this whole thing with police officers and their guns, hell, this whole thing about guns. I don't want to believe it is the end of times, but given the climate in the world today, I certainly want to be gone before the end of times really comes.

Actually, I am not truly happy with myself. I have become a fat, lazy couch-potato and I can't seem to talk myself out of it. I have stopped going to the gym, I have stopped swimming, I have stopped going anywhere that is not absolutely necessary. I am becoming a hermit. Or, worse yet, my mother. Things have got to change.

We spent a week in Iowa City for a VEEG for Sarah. Trying to figure out how to help control the seizures a bit better. It seems she is not a likely candidate for the surgery, the seizures are not centrally located. They occur in all areas of her brain. She goes back down again on May 1 for a pre-surg physical and then on May 2 she will have the battery in her VNS replaced.

Pat has cooked her up some cannabis oil and put it in pill form for her to try. He brought it over on Saturday. I have not given her any yet. I want to try one or two myself to see what the effect is first. Then last night I read an article on some drugs that do not mix well with cannabis. Of course she takes two of the nine listed. I am taking one of them on the list, so, like I said, I am going to test pilot the pills before giving them to her.

I may not give her any until after the VNS battery is replaced. I don't want her to have blood work that shows evidence of her using drugs.

I also read last night about a new procedure to let blind people see. She seems to fit the criteria. I will ask about it the next time we are down to see the ophthalmology guys. Maybe being able to see would make the seizures more palatable.

Molly has not left my side since we got back. She stayed at Eileen's while we were gone. E has 4 cats, so I figured Molly would fit right in. She disappeared for the first 24 hrs or so, but became good friends with Dennis. Until it was time for her to come back here. Molly did not want to get in the kennel to come home, at. all. So her return didn't happen until Saturday. Now she is sleeping in my arms as I type.

Had my second call about the Alzheimer's protocol I am involved in. It could last up to a year if I want it to. I think I might.

I am making five calls a day to my senators and congressman to protest the horrific actions taken by Donald Trump. The people who answer the phones will soon my name as soon as they hear my voice.

Sarah had a seizure right early this morning. Fell on the floor with her meds in her mouth. Continued to chew them while seizing on the floor. I got her upright, I was afraid of the possibility of her choking on the pills, and got her to drink some water to help wash them down. She is talking wonkie this morning, the past weekend might have been too much for her. That and the fact that she didn't get her morning meds yesterday because she was still sleeping at 4:30 pm.

She is back in bed, sleeping some more. That usually helps with her speech. Tomorrow she will be back at HIP.

Got a phishing email today trying to get info on my paypal account. Being an English teacher, I noticed the grammar mistakes and call customer service. I was told that I was right, there is nothing wrong with my account. Sent the email to them and they will take care of it.

Sarah and I are going to LaCrosse WI tonight so we can go to Jaden's hockey tournament tomorrow. A weekend away from home is fun, but I am guessing we both will be anxious to go home. Jaden can be a bit much over a long period of time.

2nd eye surgery went fine on Monday. Went in for day after check-up, don't have to go back for 3 weeks. Had to get more eye drops. The expensive one, of course. Thank goodness for coupons.

Pat took Abby to the vet yesterday to get her chipped and checked out. She slipped her collar getting out of the truck at the vet's office. She took off. Has not yet been found. Pat is heart broken. He is such a big gruff, tough man, but he loves his animals. Fingers crossed that she is found.

3. Capricorn Habits

Capricorns tend to be very shy, they prefer to be with others whom they've known for a while such as close friends and family. They also tend to be extremely stubborn which may be because they are very pessimistic about the world around them.

This makes it hard for them to summon motivation deep within themselves because they would rather not be apart of whatever is happening to begin with.

Eileen and Jaden got stranded in Dallas. Their flight to CR was cancelled, after Den had dropped them off at the airport. They will be coming in Wednesday about noon. Sarah and I will be going down to get them.

The ice storm closed just about everything down yesterday. I I believe in the MMET stopped running. Sarah stayed home because HIP was closed. We did nothing but put away Christmas boxes.That didn't take all that long, but that is all we did.

The kitties are getting along, finally. Hags and Molly are playing chase, and Sid sticks her nose out into the fracas every once in a while. Rascal has been out and about this morning already. Last night he made an appearance about 8:30, 90 minutes early. And he spent most of the night on my bed. I don't know where Molly was.

Right now they are tramping up and down the stairs. I dodn't get the door shut quickly enough and so they are taking turns racing up and down. Sounds like a herd of elephants. sheesh.

Ice storom hit overnight. Most everything is closeod because of it. Sarah and I are supposed to drive to CR to meet Eileen and Jaden who are flyinf up from Dallas. Time will telll if I want to make that trip or have them stay in a motel till tomorrow.

stating to worry about the storm. Sarah and I are supposed to drive to CR Monday night to pick up Eileen and Jaden. In the cold rain. Am very concerned right now about the state of the roads Monday night. Can't ask Kelly, he is in Cali. It is on my shoulders. yhg.

The eye surgery went well. I keep reaching for my glasses and then realize I don't need them anymore. Back today for a quick look/see at the Dr.office and then eye drops for about until ever. The 23th I will get the second eye done. w00t!

This afternoon I will have cataract surgery on the right eye. Should be a piece of cake, right? Wrong. Sarah got sick Saturday night, spent the whole of the day yesterday with the exception of about 30 minutes in bed. Not eating or drinking anything but the water I brought in to her when it was time to take her meds. She did not go to HIP today. So arrangements were changed. Kelly will be taking me to the surgery. Eileen will come over here to stay with Sarah. I forgot to put the drops in my eye before going to bed last night, did not write down the instructions for taking meds this morning. I was told to fast beginning at midnight, but could have clear liquids up to sometime before the procedure. I had a cup of coffee with a bit of creamer in it. We shall see how the whole show goes.

I have meditated each day and am feeling good about it. Last night, however, I didn't have a chance for me until I went to bed. I tried meditating lying flat on my bed. I got 5 minutes in, but was very uncomfortable during the whole time. Not physically uncomfortable, but mentally. I had a difficult time feeling good about meditating. Will not be doing that again. Mornings are best for me. Weekday mornings there is no problem, it is the weekends that are going to be a problem.

It is becoming easier.

I think I am finished getting ready for the eye surgery. Had blood work done for the nephrologist, there seems to be a cyst on one the kidneys. Probably nothing, given my age, but he wants to check it out. The blood work was to help determine if the CT will be with or without contrast.

The new routine for Sarah and I seems to be working, although last night she had a seizure at an unusual time.She always confounds me.

I am fit to have eye surgery next Monday and again two weeks following.

This is per meditation instruction:
fold sheets
put towels in dryer
one last 'clean up' load to wash and dry
get tub from garage to put Christmas decorations away.
Check to see if there is a hockey game both nights this weekend.

Not much more to say

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Julia Klein

September 2017

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The Little Book of Important Things to Remember

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Sarah redux

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Sarah's big move

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Right eye day

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