Dad and Jingle all the way

I rarely saw my father cry, but in the years we lived with him, I do remember one time...it was when he watched Jingle All The Way.  If you haven't seen it, it's a Christmas movie about a father trying to get his son a Christmas gift he wants badly at the last minute.  The father in this movie seems to want approval from his wife and especially his son.  At the end of the movie the dad is dressed up in a costume just like the superhero toy he wants and the kid is telling everyone that's his dad and the kid is so proud of his dad and says it.  At that moment, I peeked into the living room and my Dad was crying buckets.  Sweet and cute moment that made me realize how he wanted to feel valued in his children's eyes.

Canning jars and Alzheimer's.

So we decided to do some updates on my dads house when we lived with him.  There was a couple of hours that the toilet was unhooked and Brother House, the construction worker, told my dad not to use the toilet as it was in the hall.  Hours later, Brother House informed me my dad had filled it with pee.  We had to rehook the toilet  and it had to be emptied by hand...the 1 cup measuring cup fit and had to be sacrificed.  I had no gloves and had to dip out the pee with the measuring cup.  Meanwhile Brother House was kind of getting after my dad and telling him, "Now your daughter has to spoon it out by hand!"  The measuring cup was thrown away and I thought things were good...but they weren't...not at all.
   The "getting after" by Brother House had sunk in.  It had sunk in very well.  My dad stopped peeing in the toilet and started peeing in pint canning jars.  After all they are so versatile and he had so many of them!  I would go in his bedroom in the morning and they would be lined up like trophies.  The number of pint canning jars drastically reduced in that house for the next few weeks!

Me, my Dad, and Alzheimer's

I decided since my followers are few and they are all intimate family or friends, I would write about my dealings with Alzheimer's disease and how it affected me and my dad and family.  Some things may shock those who have not dealt with it closely, but I will try to keep it clean yet honest.

The accident
  My mother died while in a rollover car accident with my father.  My father lived.

A result
  My husband and I and our 3 young children move in with him to take care of him.

The Reality
  I found 167 burnt out light bulbs when we moved in on the freezer in the kitchen.  I know because he wouldn't let me throw them away til I had tried all 167 of them.  Hello Alzheimer's, how are you today?

The joy of the Home Shopping Network
  Nothing delighted my dad more than the shopping networks on TV.  The time after my mom died and when I moved in was a few months.  My siblings took care of him, but he was highly functional back then.  He had a job and could drive well.  But at night when no one was around, that is when the shopping hulapalooza started.  He went wild with the credit cards which he had never had control over before!  He proudly presented me with many of his helpful purchases when I moved in.  There was an egg guide slicer/tomato slicer, 4 power washer sets, and so on.  He was so proud of them and expected me to use them!  The tomato guide slicer was metal and reacted with the tomato and made it taste bitter.  Fun days.

Awkward hug

I went to a 50th wedding anniversary for some of our friends recently.  They have a daughter I knew growing up but she was a couple years older than me.  So...I knew her and she has no idea who I am. She started coming toward me at this party with her arms open, so I thought she wanted a hug...I thought, "Wow!  I must have really meant something to her!  I am important in her life!"  So I opened  my arms and started walking to her saying her name.  When she got in my vicinity, she put her arms right down and looked at me wierd.  I said, "Hi Carrie," awkward look, "...Dianna Costner?!"  Still, no recognition.   Sooo awkward.  Worse than that, I'm not a hugger-so I went way out there with my open arms.  My arms have then since closed for business.

Todd's mission papers

Todd's mission papers have been submitted to the stake president yesterday!

Austenland

One of my favorite books by Shannon Hale has been made into a movie to be released this summer. It is called Austenland. Hilarious. Love it. They have a great cast with Keri Russell and Jane Seymour. The book and screenplay is written by a mormon female Shannon hale. It is directed by a mormon woman Jerusha Hess. It is produced by a mormon woman Stephanie Meyer. This has got to be a first! Loved the book and the audiences loved it at the Sundance film fest. Can't wait!