Panic

At the office one of our clients gave us tickets to see the AirHogs game (minor league baseball) in a suite complete with food, so I called several family members  and  friends,  asked if they wanted my ticket since I wasn’t planning on going because I didn’t have a sitter. My friend asked why not take mama, I replied that it would be difficult for us to get in vehicle after the game, getting her there would not be  difficult since I could ask V (mama’s caregiver)to help me get her in the car.  My friend assured me that if I took mama to the game they’d help me get her in the car to go home.  Needless to say I decided to go.  

  

I called V and asked how mama was doing today; mama slept through the night on Sunday and was very alert when I went to check on her in the morning.  V said she was going pretty well except she’s been a little panicked today; she told her “Un hombre estaba golpiando ha Carmen”, that a “man” was hitting me.  She has also been asking about my brother John, she’s very worried about him.  Once I get home I assess her and decide its okay to go to the ball game. She asked me if I was okay because a “man” had been hitting me, she kept looking at my face to see if I had any marks on me from the beating.  At the game she did pretty good, she wasn’t too confused; she didn’t know where we were, but she did enjoy the food.  We sat out on the balcony, watched the game until 8pm and then we went home.  For me it was nice to do something “normal”.

After struggling to get her into the house alone, I got her into bed by about 9:30…a little late for her, but she seemed okay.  Sometime about midnight she started calling out in a panic, she was calling for her mama. It took me about an hour to calm her down enough to fall asleep.  About 4:45 am today she woke up calling out in a panic again, again I went to check on her, this time she went right back to sleep.

When I got home, my sister MT was here, putting color on mama’s hair, mama seemed okay, she was alert enough to follow directions when she got the color rinsed off and during her comb-out.  After MT left, MJ arrived to help me get mama in bed.  She wanted to know what we were planning, why did we want her to go to bed.  We explained it was bed time!  We waited about 10 minutes, asked her again, now she was ready.  She was able to walk to her room, which was good.  She fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.  12:30 am, she’s awake talking about “handan los muchachos en el baile” (the boys are at the dance), she’s trying to get out of bed.  It’s a little after 1 am, she’s finally asleep. Good night!

Crock-Pot Chicken with Mushrooms

Crock-Pot Chicken with Mushrooms

Cooking time 5 hours

Serves: 4

What you need to know before you begin (about crock-pot cooking):

• Once you put the lid on the crock-pot DO NOT OPEN IT, when you open it that stops the cooking.
• Meats go on the bottom, layer with the next hardest ingredient (like carrots), ending with the softest (peas).
•  Cut vegetables no smaller or larger than 1 inch for even cooking.
• Turn your crock-pot on high while your prepping your ingredients.

What you need:

• 4 chicken skinless, boneless chicken breast
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 1 can of condensed mushrooms
• 1 cup of fresh carrots, peeled and chopped into 1” pieces (you may also use whole baby carrots which I like to do since it save me time [I like easy])
• 1 cup of fresh celery, chopped
• 1 cup of fresh mushrooms
• ½ cup onions (I like to use red onions; you may use pearl onion too!)
• 1 cup frozen peas (don't thaw)

Instructions:

• Rinse your chicken and pat dry with a paper towel, sprinkle with salt and pepper, place in the crock-pot in a single layer (if possible).
• Open the can of mushrooms and pour over the chicken, place all of your vegetables in the crock-pot in the order I have them listed above.
• Place the lid on the crock-pot and let this cook for 5 hours. DO NOT OPEN the lid during this time. Alternative cooking would be to set the crock-pot on low and cook for 10 hours.

My personal notes:

I love making this Crock-Pot Chicken with Mushrooms because it is so easy and I can fix it and forget about it.   I will usually make this in the morning about 7am and by noon it’s done which allows me to run errand and return home to a hot meal I didn’t slave over that taste great! Yes, I leave the house while my crock-pot is cooking.  This is one of my mom's favorites :) God bless the woman who invented the crock-pot!

May 15th: Mama

I let mom sleep as long as she wanted to today. I gave her, her medications at about 8:30 this morning along with her eye drops and asked her if she wanted to sleep a little more or if she was ready to get up; she elected to sleep.  I made myself a cup of coffee and breakfast, and then got back into bed with a book.  

About 11 am mom was ready to get up, she is very alert this morning.  She said “I must have been very sick because y’all were acting like I was dyeing.“ At breakfast she ate everything, her smoothie, oatmeal and egg.  We listened to ranchera music during breakfast, I was singing and dancing while cleaned up around the house.  Mom watched as she ate, she recognized the music and even sang along with one of her favorite song….something about “la chancla que yo tiro” I even noticed that she was moving her feet to the music.  After breakfast I was feeling creative, I had a project in mind (have for the last week) so I worked on it while mom watched.  She didn’t say much as I worked on it, I showed it to her and ask her input but she didn’t respond until it was completed …then she gave an approving applaud!

Next we moved to the living room where we sat and watched TV for a little while.  Mom got a little confused but not too badly.  A little later my oldest son and his wife came over.  After he visited with her for a bit he asked me why I hadn’t told him we were “moving”; Grandma Jessie (mama) told him we were moving to an apartment.  Of course he knew she was confused. 

At lunch I served mom the chicken with mushrooms I made in the crock-pot yesterday (recipe to come), she ate all of it.  She liked how tender the meat and vegetables were.  Mom got a little panicked after lunch she said the my “Minerva’s family is coming over and Martin has a gun”, “que pasa con ellos” .

Mom’s in bed now, she did very well getting to her room. Let’s see how we make it through the night.

Garden Hose Wreath....I saw one at Cracker Barrel, just couldn't see buying something I could make myself. Besides, my garden hose need to be replaced and I didn't want the old one to end up in a landfill!

This is my old water hose!

Dollar store items (not the bird house).

Finished project!

Looks great on my front door!

I am my Mama's Daugher

When I was very young I wanted to be just like my mama.  I remember playing with my dolls and playing house and always being a like my mama, lots of kid, cooking and sewing.  When I was a little older I drew pictures of my wedding day, pictures of myself with a dozen kids.  Mama, loved the arts, crafts and sewing.  She encouraged all her children to love them as well. 

Then when I got into Jr. High School I decided I did not want to be just like mama; who in the world wants to be home all the time, catering to the males in our family, working so much, all the time.  I decided then that I really did not want to have a bunch of kids...I really wasn't sure that I wanted kids at all.  I like that we had a lot of family around all the time, the family gatherings were always so big and entertaining.  Then when dad died, I was 14, I had to grow up very fast.  Life changed. Most of my siblings were married or had moved out of the house (I'm the youngest of 12) so it was just mama and I.  The older I got the less I wanted to be like mama.

Needless to say, I got married and had two beautiful sons. When the my oldest was an infant mama kept him while I went to work and I felt so blest, I knew that she'd take very good care of him.  Mama took lots of pictures of him while I was at work so I felt like I really wasn't missing out.  Mama taught him his prayers, how to right his name, how to say please and thank, she took him on walks, taught him about gardening and lots more.  Fast forward three years later, my youngest was born, my mother-in-law kept him, I was still very blest but it just wasn't the same.  Needless to say I'm not the mama my mama was.

Fast forward twenty some odd years, both boys have been to the university, the oldest one is married now to a wonderful woman, the youngest has moved out and is on his own.  I've had my share of ups and downs but through out the years I kept looking back at mama as an example of what I should do.  Divorced now, I'm on my own again.  I'm rediscovering who I am; I guess I can say "I'm doing it my way!".  

Mama was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease (PD) about ten years and has lived with one of my sister for the last six years.  However, this year mama moved in with me.  Before mama came to live with me I planned out how my house should be to accommodate her special needs, what she'd need in the way of diet, caregive, schedules, exercise and much more. You see, I'm kind of a control freak, so I plan ahead of time.  What I didn't realize with all the planning I did was that I was planning the logistics but not really realizing what it would be like having her here.  I've learned a lot about PD over the last several months.

Recently I've learned that I am my "Mama's Daughter", in so many ways I'm like her.  My blog is about mama, myself, our daily experiences, PD, cooking, crafting, sewing and family!