First I want to thank all our holiday guests for making this a truly fun Christmas, despite stressful economic times. Thanks Anne, Sarah, Sophia, Pete, Lauren, Jim, Geoffrey and Michelle. Christmas, for me, is about the power of family and friendship. And last night was the perfect reminder.
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Today was a sleepy, rainy, messy day. The perfect day to do nothing. I even went back to bed from 10a.m. to noon. How decadent is that?
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A well-timed paycheck let us go out for a bit today. Tho it was to Ikea. Which I hate. Sorry, Ikea fans. But we figured, hey, we'll make use of their child care center and just browse calmly. I should have known that no trip to Ikea can be stress-free. So five minutes after dropping Tori in the play area, when we hear our names bellowed over the public address system, I should not have been shocked. Seems Tori had a full-on meltdown after we left. So we went back and got her. So much for child care at Ikea.
Then it was off to shop. Now I've learned one thing about Ikea: buy nothing that requires assembly, involves particle board, or assembly. So that limited us to essentials like a trash can, cups and bowls for Tori, a battery-powered kitchen clock, a duster, a hot dog, and a soda. Grand total, $38 and just a few frayed nerves.
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One bit of drama... seems my mom decked a staffer at the nursing home. Yeh. She always had a mean punch. And while she's always been more of the Mr.Magoo type of Alzheimer's patient, she apparently is still capable of a sucker punch. So, she got a psych evaluation, and will have her meds reviewed. But since it's a first offense, it's unlikely her care will change. I tried getting as much info on the incident as possible. (After all, Tori and I were just there yesterday and had a perfectly normal visit.) Seems mom was hovering near the doors to the unit and was agitated. She's on a locked ward and sometimes she feels an urgent need to leave. The staffer was apparently a weekend worker whom mom didn't know well, and when the staffer tried to guide mom away from the doors...POW. Yeh.
I must confess, part of me said, "Well at least it's not me at the receiving end anymore." I had a rock 'em sock 'em childhood. And part of me wonders if the staffer perhaps did do something inappropriate (which is mom's claim). In which case, well, she had it coming. We'll probably never know. But if we needed a reminder that "peace on earth, good will toward all men" is a one-day event, this was it.
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Hope you all had a joyous and safe Christmas. Onward to New Year's!