The end of the story about my weekend: (sorry the story was too long for the blog so had to do it in parts)
I was nice and relaxed after my time away. I took Mama to the Baptist Church for evening worship services. I came home and decided to change the sheets and wash up some of Mama’s clothes before she came home. I stepped into her half bath to change out her towels, put my sock-covered feet on the floor mat, and discovered that it was sopping wet. Yuck! Her toilet was stopped up and had overflowed. YUCK!!

I spent an hour trying to unstop the toilet—no luck. Still couldn’t get the commode to flush without almost spilling over the side. Finally gave up and decided to let a plumber take care of it. I cleaned up the floor as well as I could and tried to tell Mama not to use that bathroom, but she wouldn’t listen.

Monday morning Penny, bless her heart, called the plumber who couldn’t come until that afternoon. She cleaned up the floor again as Mama had tried to flush the #$%^&*#$% toilet! When I got home, I asked if Mama had fussed about “the man” going into her bathroom. Penny said she let him go to her room without any ruckus. Evidently Mama even explained that she had tried to do that thing and it wouldn’t work. (flush the toilet). Mama told me he had made it work.

I usually check pretty often to make sure her bathroom is working, but guess I didn’t do my job this time! Will definitely try to keep a closer eye on the plumbing!

Need to go watch Wheel of Fortune. Hugs to all until next time.

Saturday afternoon my brother and sister-in-law, David and Linda, came to have fun with Mama. My friend, Betty, and I headed for Houston for a luscious Italian meal. Afterwards we decided to check out the movie, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". I would like to recommend this movie to one and all. It has a bit of saucy language, but is so funny that I still start laughing when I think about certain scenes. We did a bit of shopping after the movie, and then headed back to Matagorda County for a dual surprise birthday party for a father turning 50 and his son turning 30. I was able to visit with many friends I hadn’t seen in ages. We headed back to Betty’s house to search the Internet for deals on rail passes and/or rental cars for our springtime trip to England. Mama only called once to make me feel guilty about being away from her.

Sunday morning my phone was in the other room so I didn’t hear it ring. Mama left three messages on my cell phone voice mail. Each message sounded more desperate than the last. I almost gave in and headed home, but Betty wouldn’t let me go. We headed for Victoria to do a bit of shopping. Didn’t spend much money, but we had a nice day.

I pulled into our driveway around 4:30 Sunday afternoon. Mama met me at the door with gritted teeth telling me I had been gone a long time and asking if I had slept up there (while pointing toward town). She told me all about her weekend (with some translation from David and Linda). I was able to get in a little visit with them before they had to head home to the Woodlands.

Little advice for all you caregivers out there: Take some time off and do something you enjoy! I did just that this past week and it has made a world of difference in my outlook on life!

As you know, last Wednesday I took a day off to check into an area Nursing Home with an Alzheimer’s unit. Now this does not sound like a good thing, but I felt good about the nursing home, which helped my outlook. I think Mama will like it when the time comes. I know she will try to make me feel guilty for not taking her home, but she will be around people she can hug to her heart’s content! I will just have to have my brothers drive her there so I can “blame” them for her living quarters.

My morning shopping spree left me deeper in debt, but lighter in attitude. I can handle the debt much easier than the depression.

This weekend was nice. Friday night I was invited to a Princess House party at a friend’s house. I took Mama with me. We laughed a lot, Mama got plenty of hugs, and I ended up ordering some pretty things. Mama would try to get me to leave, and the hostess or one of the guests would come over and give her a hug. She would be happy for a little while then she would start fussing about going home. Someone would give her another hug to calm her down. When I had finished my order, Mama didn't even slow down for refreshments. She headed for the door, smiling and hugging everyone on the way out telling one and all what a great time she had.

more later.