Hey All

Hey All,

It's been a long time since I've been on my blog!  Things seem to change and one thing leads into another and before you know it something or another gets left behind.  I started working a year and half ago and also volunteering at our school in the library.  Facebook has also played a role in my lack of blogging most of my family is on there.  Then I also discovered pinterest.  There is the book group and coupon group I'm in that takes up a lot of time.

Life is full of surprises!  I never dreamed I would be doing what I am today.  I have been working as a companion for the elderly.  I got a call one night from a daughter of a friend of ours asking if I could come 1 day a week to sit with her mom.  She had just gotten out of the hospital and she found a couple people to do 3 days but still was looking for others for the other 2 days.  I told her I would be happy to help and would do both days.  She insisted on paying me because I was there 8 to 9 hours each of those days.  She was a spitfire and the others didn't last long.  As she started to improve I started going 5 days a week for 3 hours each day making sure she had lunch, medication, and did her exercises.  At the same time I picked up another lady who is the mother of a friend of mine a few hours a week.  She has Parkinson disease and it's in the latter stage.

My spitfire of a lady passed away on New Year's day.  It's still hard to think of her gone!  I spent almost a year with her almost every day and I've known her for the past 12 years.  I guess the hardest part was because it was so sudden and without warning.  Her dog passed away on Thursday night Friday she cried in my arms all afternoon.  Monday when I got there she was so sick she couldn't move and I called an ambulance.  Family members had been with her all weekend but I guess they didn't think she was that bad.  I don't know!  The next day she passed away.  Her husband had passed away several years ago and her dog had become her life and I guess once he was gone it must have been time for her to go also.

I help out 3 times a week with my lady who has Parkinson disease.  I help clean up her little apartment that she has in an assisted living home and help keep her closet organized.  Make sure things are filled that she will need to use on a daily bases.  Help her write letters and thank you notes.  We go for walks, use the exercise room and go to schedules activities.  She loves to make necklaces out of beads and give them away.  She has good days and bad days Parkinson is a nasty disease that attacks the nervous system and there is a lot of pain associated with it.

The assistant principal at our school called me and wanted to know if I would come help with her mom.  She had fallen and broke her foot.  I went and helped her out for a couple months.  She loved sitting and watching the birds and squirrels from the window.  I got so I took my bird book so I could look up a bird or two when we couldn't figure out what they were.  If a squirrel came on the deck she would point her finger at them and say you know better than that you are not allowed on the deck. The last time I spoke with our assistant principal and asked about her mom she said she was doing very well.

I had gotten a call from a lady whose mother lived in the same assisted living home as my other lady and she wanted to know if I would come and visit with her mom an hour twice a week.  She lived in the apartment across the hall and saw me in and out all the time and had asked my friend for my number.  A couple times a week I would spend an hour with her taking her out for walks, helping her put puzzles together or just talking.  I knew this wouldn't be a long lasting job because she was on a waiting list to go into the building across the way for those with memory issues.

Each of these ladies I have helped care for have a special place in my heart.  It's just amazing how each of them are so different and the lives they led.  I love listening to their stories of the years past.  Now I'm down to one again so it's time to find another.  Those just seemed to drop into my lap and now I am going to have to figure out how to get some more business.

I have also been volunteering at out elementary school for the past 2 years.  I help in the library and also find this so rewarding.  Since they have had many cutbacks and there isn't an assistant in the library to help things can get overwhelming for the media teacher.  She is not a librarian she is a media teacher.  Some weeks I have been there 5 days.  Whenever I can fit it into my schedule I am there.  I am in and out of the school so much that I have become well known by all and my son doesn't think that is a good thing.  He goes to middle school next school year and said please don't come to that school.  I had to laugh and ask why not.  He was very relieved when I told him I was staying at the elementary school.  Matter of fact I should be on our library site making out our resource list for the states.  We are going to do a year long of Read Across America and I'm putting together list of books for each state.  Along with this project I am also in charge of all shelf displays and need to be picking out what will be going up before open house.  So much to do before summer ends!

I may be starting down a new path this fall.  They were asking for help with merit badges in my son's scout troop.  I think every mother picked up a form.  I am applying for Reading, Genealogy, Pets, and Family Life.  If I get accepted I will be helping out with those in the fall.  I think it will be fun!   And of course because ya'll know I don't know how to use the word NO.

Today I've had the dehydrator filled we are experimenting with watermelon, cucumbers, bananas, and mandarin oranges.  Teaching Colin about dehydrating and finding different things for him to pack for hiking and camping.  We have several things we want to try out this summer to see how well it turns out.  He wants to be able to plan a whole meal from dehydrated foods.  Wish us luck!

I better get to bed tomorrow will be filled with cleaning, laundry, dehydrating, hair cut, and resource lists.

Take Care,
Vickie