A friend will help you move.
A REAL friend will help you move a body.
We've got shovels and motivation.

It WILL be ok, my friend. (Just not today.)

HEY MONDAY!!!! I hate you.

Sincerely,
HP

Some of you know that I've been having increasing difficulty dealing with "THAT WOMAN!" a/k/a my mom. She's 79 and has been entering the early stages of Alzheimer/dementia for a while now. She's been noticably been going downhill of late and it seems to be picking up speed. Testing is still being done to find out where she stands and what we can do.

Many of us are unprepared for the role we're assuming with our parents. There is an excellent article in this month's edition of Reader's Digest which really hit home.

Online resources the author gives are: www.caregiving.org and www.caregiver.org. He also references some further reading materials.

I'm just starting to look at the above sites and they appear to be jam-packed with information and resources. If some of you are going through a similar experience with aging family members, they may be a place to turn.

You are not alone.
xoxo

As I tidy up the kitchen after another little baking frenzy, I note that Mom's porceline sugar bowl needs refilling. I handle it carefully while washing it because it looks very old and Mom has been fond of it for quite a long time. I idly wonder if it's something passed down from her mother and just how old it might be. These thoughts are in my head as I'm rinsing it and reading the bottom of it looking for a clue as to it's age.

Then I notice these words: "Microwave and dishwasher safe." lol Guess it's not so old after all.

Yeah, so, I've been feeling anxious of late and that always leads to baking. I keep bringing stuff to work cuz we sure don't need the stuff around the house. moo. Funny, I have no interest in eating the stuff, just making it.

Anyway, that led to a debate with Poohbare about the status of cupcakes. He maintains that cupcakes are not truly cakes. They are shams, fakes, weak imposters. There are no layers, minimal icing (he's all about the icing!) and the icing is only on the top - not the sides or in the middle - therefore cupcakes, do not qualify officially as "cake."

Oh, he went into a full tirade about it. "Saying a cupcake is just like cake is like saying a B-B is just like a bullet. Oh yeah, a B-B will break the skin, but there's no real impact and there's no gunpowder - like in a REAL bullet. Just like there's no layers and no icing in the middle of a cupcake, like there is in a REAL cake!" I was totally ROFLing, called him an asshat, and we started giggling.

I think I'll whip up a batch of cupcakes today. Just for him. I just gotta figure out an super-easy way to get frosting in the middles.

Ahhhhh glorious sleep: that wonderous thing that refreshes the body and resets the brain.

Work sucked ass today, and not in a good way. Thankfully it's only a couple miles between home and work. By the time I got in the car, my brain was so fried from doing thinky stuff, it would have been unsafe to drive farther. ack.

We're gearing up for a couple of substantial trials and new files are coming in like mad. One of my responsibilities is to open all the new files. It's not hard, but it requires focus, attention to detail, and it is time consuming and I just have no time to spare.

I wasted the better part of a week answering questions for the new girl and trying to provide her with the information she needs to do the job, but she takes no notes and retains next to nothing. Oh well. Sink or swim, chicka.

The silver lining: anxiety leads to baking and I make a killer key lime pie. Yum!

Just had a spectacularly long catch-up chat with a particular wooly one. He asked I pass along his "hello" to his "friends and haters." Life has been keeping him busy, but all is well.

Yeah, so, we're updating the work website and I was asked to write a lil blurb about myself. [insert uproarious laughter here] I've been trying for the last half hour and just can't do it without it evolving into snarkiness/smartassiness. Yes, I know - quite shocking.

I finally got it toned down to ending with "Her brilliant writing and research skills, outstanding abilities to form legal strategy, and extraordinary intelligence coupled with her charming quirkiness make her an invaluable asset to the firm."

Somehow, I don't think that's gonna make the cut. HA!

Well, hot damn! I can make buttonholes. Who knew? And they're only a lil bit lopsided. Zippers are far beyond my skills at the moment, but who really needs a zipper when they can have buttons, right?.