T'was the week before Christmas...

...and all through the house -
Not a creature was stirring,
Not even a mouse.

Though if I did find a mouse, I am not sure what Pepsi would do with it. I know what Hamish would have done though - he would have watched it run around. I know that because I did find one, and he had no idea what to do about it! When it comes to cats, though, she knows exactly what to do! A strange white cat was passing through the back garden on its own business. Pepsi saw it, and was straight out of the window and chased it off under next door's decking.

Ahh Christmas. 'Tis the season to be merry (though for many people, merry becomes blotto). 'Tis also the season to be greedy, aggressive, angry, mean and bad-tempered. I am opting out of most of the Christmas Day festivities by working (when was I ever conventional?). Christmas dinner will be served on Christmas Eve, with the traditional ham (don't like turkey that much) with potatoes and cauliflower cheese.

I will be glad when it is over. My local bakerery is closed from Christmas Eve until onday 29th, so I have to think ahead and freeze some bread. With being on day shift next week, I will be limited as to when I can shop, and I will have to plan ahead. And then get in enough to get me through until at least the Saturday.

And now I am off to help a friend with her cat. I need to hold her so that she can be de-fleaed. That will get me riught off the cat's Christmas card list...

A Christmas prayer

When I am weighted down with tiredness,
when I am bound down with the knots of things I haven't done,
people I haven't seen,
cards I haven't written,
prayers I haven't said;
when the demands of Christmas silence its music,
come to me and free me;
come to me and quieten me;
come to me and love me as I am.
Come to me.
Amen.

Lynne Chitty

Just a thought

"Railways and the church have their critics, but both are the best ways of getting a man to his ultimate destination"

Revd. W. Awdry

Full circle

Just a quick update on my dad.

It is strange, but as the Alzheimer's has worked its way though my dad and his personality, he has been regressing. Mum would find the only way to deal with him was as a child - watching him all the time. Then when he went into the home, he became like a young child.

Now he has almost come full circle. Mum saw him yesterday, and he was asleep. "Sleeping like a baby" is a much used cliche, but according to my mum, that was how he was yesterday. He was deeply asleep, not twitching or restless, but just fast asleep. All his needs are the same as a baby needs - food, warmth and security. These the home are providing. His interactions with people are like a baby - touch is all that seems to get through. He sometimes seems to be close to recognizing a face, but that is all. It is as if he has gone through the storms of life, and the hurricane of Alzheimer's, and has reached calm still waters beyond.

And this is making me cry so I can't write any more

Anyone who had a heart...

...may be pleased to know that I do too. And after a visit to the one stop heart clinic, I am reasonably confident that it is in good condition.

This was a follow-up to the scare when I was in hospital last month. I had had to cancel the first appointment I received as I was on nights, so this morning I went toddling off to the hospital. The bad news is that I have put on a lot of weight since I started at the sxwitchboard (I expected to put some on, but not as much as I had!). After weighing, I was then wired up to the ECG and given the treadmill test. This involves walking on the treadmill until I reached '100%' of my heart rate (this is calculated as 220 beats per minute less 1 for each year of your age (work it out for yourselves, I can't be bothered to give you the answer)). Anyway, the treadmill starts off really slowly, which is hard to get used to. The pace increases, and it also simulates climbing a hill. This suprised me - if I climb a hill I go slower as the hill gets steeper! Oh well, what do I know?

Anyway, I reached my 100%, and then they slow down the treadmill and monitor heart and blood pressure for 6 minutes. The upshot is that there is no evidence of irregular beats or heart murmer, and no sign of heart disease. It is almost certainly gastric reflux, so I keep taking the medicine for that. As for the palpitations at night, they will have to be dealt with as I am having real problems getting to sleep. So heigh-ho, back to the doctor again!

Waiting...

Yes we keep waiting...

Dad is in hospital again. He was taken in on Monday, with problems swallowing. At first we thought it was an infection in his throat, which worried us as he has never had any problems there. When he got to hospital, they found he had a urinary infection (again!), probably caused by the catheter. They have treated that, and he has been able to eat something (which he had not been doing), so maybe it was just that the infection put him off his food.

Mum went to see him tonight. My sister-in-law went with her, and she was able to get some sort of a reaction. She held his hand, and he did keep touching her. It seems that touch is the only way to have any connection to him. And how can we know what he feels?

Does God understand Alzheimer's? Am I going to be the next one to catch it (after his mother and him)? It does scare me.

All I need to know about life...

I learned from my cat.

• Life is hard, then you nap
• Curiousity never killed anything except maybe a few hours
• When in doubt, cop an attitude
• Variety is the spice of life: one day ignore people, the next day annoy them
• Climb your way to the top - that's why the drapes are there
• Never sleep alone when you can sleep on someone's face
• Find your place in the nsun - especially if it happens to be on that nice pile of warm clean laundry
• Make your mark in the world - or at least spray in each corner
• When eating out, think nothing of sending your meal back twenty or thirty times
• If you are not receieving enough attention, try knocking over several expensive antique lamps
• Always give generously - a small bird or rodent left on the bed tells them "I care."