Broken patterns

Today started out a bit tearfully for Linda. She accidentally let the drain on the bathtub get closed, and once it had water on it, she wasn't strong enough to let the water out. Combine this with one other fact: she can't turn off the water completely. When I walked into the bathroom to see why she was crying, the bathtub was full up to the reserve drain. To add to the frustration, she accidentally dipped her bra in the water while dressing.

It just goes to show how hard things can become if you make one little change in your routine.


Ellie was a handful this morning. She is often cranky in the morning. I heard her cry a few minutes before I had to wake her up. I went to her room and asked her if she had had a bad dream. When I got there, she was grumpily crossing over to the bedroom door to shut it. She was apparently just crying because she didn't want morning to come.

Ellie was having such a fit that when we left in the car, that I left Linda's walker parked in the garage. At least I didn't run over it. But we didn't have it when we were out. I asked Linda if she wanted to go back and get it, but she said no. So we spent the morning practicing our walking without. We walked at the coffee shop and then at Violette because I wanted to do a bit of work.

And at Violette, we really worked. As usual, we did the stairs up and down. But I also let her walk a little bit entirely unaided to see how far she could go. She can generally take 4 steps before she loses her balance. Her best was 10 steps. She says that was just luck, but I figure that if next time her "just luck" distance is more than 10 steps, she'll have improved.

Tonight we are packing boxes. Ellie is screaming for a Band Aid because one of the cats scratched her microscopically deep. I suppose I'll have to go save her.

Just be social

One thing Linda mentioned recently was that she would enjoy visiting people just to be social. People invite us for dinner from time to time, but she would also just enjoy talking. She's less likely to spill all over herself if there isn't food involved. So if you wanted to visit but not cook and that has been holding you back, consider yourself encouraged.