Last Couple of Weeks...

...I've been really busy. Last week, my youngest and his pregnant wife visited us for the whole Thanksgiving week!! It was awesome as I had only met her once (at their wedding) and I enjoyed spending so much time with them. My other brothers came and hung out too and the whole family experience was wonderful!! I love turkey and our feast turned out pretty good! We also celebrated my preschooler's fifth birthday (in which he got a new John Deere bicycle.)

This week, I'm playing catch up.

1. MIL

I'm making sure my MIL (mother-in-law) is fine. She went to the ER again (had cellulitis and needed antibiotics for a wound on her leg.) I visited her yesterday and stayed about an hour and a half. She was in such a great mood!!! She kept saying how much she missed me and mentioning that it had been such a long time since she had seen me. I didn't let her know that I see her every other day practically and let her talk. I just went with the flow but noticed that she really didn't make a lot of sense. She's losing her words. While listening to the flow of conversation, she sounded fine but listening to each word, they didn't connect grammatically she couldn't remember a lot of her thoughts and filled the sentences with 'this and that' or 'you know what I mean.' She asked me where I lived at least 7 times and what I have been doing today at least 10 times. I just that last question with another thing I did:
washed clothes and did dishes
make brownies with pecans
played batman with the preschooler
went to the grocery store
went outside (what a beautiful day!)
vacuumed
gave the toddler a nap
It gave her another thing to think about each time I answered differently. She was aware and remembered that I put all the pictures on her walls (which happened last May) but unaware that I had four children (or who they were.) It's funny what the mind does with this disease. She mentioned how she tries to keep a memory but it just goes away (I knew what she meant but just gently changed the subject to something that would make her laugh.) There were painters (a couple guys) that were redoing walls in the building. She mentioned that fact at least 14 times ( I stared keeping track after a few times.) She said they were so nice....

2. Exercise

I'm returning to the gym (after a week of eating a lot and entertaining houseguests.) Today, I stayed a little longer and, even though my face was red and I was dripping sweat, I did a full hour on a new machine. What a challenge!! I was so proud of myself! If I continue this for many, many months, I may actually get toward a normal healthy weight! Patience and determination are my friends!

3. Christmas shopping

I have the opportunity to finish any shopping without kiddos for just a few more days before my husband goes back to work. Since it goes so much faster and smoother without them there, I need to doublecheck my list for what I haven't yet bought and unload my trunk of those hidden gifts. I just love this season.