Dear family and friends,
Things have been going well. This month was our first full month with a full team of Sidekicks. Barbara really likes all of them and they are wonderful ladies. We are so blessed!
Easter Egg Extravaganza
Each year, Grandma’s church hosts an Easter egg hunt for the community and solicits candy-filled eggs.
Grandma couldn’t believe it when she found out I picked up 6 cards at church.
I got all the supplies and her Sidekicks helped her stuff the eggs. We make a great team!
Blooming Beauty
With the arrival of Spring came an outpouring of beauty, with new gifts each day. The trees around Grandma’s house started blooming like crazy. Everyone has just been going on and on about how pretty everything is.
Plumbing Problems
Grandma spent a little bit of the month under the weather due to what we believe was a partial bowel blockage. Earlier this year when she went to the hospital for the same thing, we discovered she had a hernia around her belly button. Instead of rushing her to the hospital and causing delirium and a bunch of drama, we decided to treat the blockage at home with lots of tea, rest and Digize essential oil. Thankfully the blockage was cleared and she’s doing much better.
Extra Room Extreme Makeover
This month we cleared out the room that has been referred to as the “office” up until now.
Knowing that the time will come where Grandma may need overnight help, we are creating a space that will be welcoming to future Sidekicks who have to stay the night or just need to step away for a few moments.
We picked out a color palette, and Super Fly Karen is putting the room together for us. Isn’t she wonderful?
New Glasses for Gma
Grandma was having lots of trouble with seeing double at church and two of whatever was happening on TV, and her glasses kept sliding down off her nose. Her old glasses just weren’t working for her anymore.
Rachel had suspicions that cognitive impairment was affecting her vision, but it turns out one of her eye lenses has turned in a little bit so they added a prism to her specs and now she says she can see great!
Of course, we love Pastor Randall and everything, but one of him is probably enough 😉
Back to Mugs Up
Since the weather has been getting nice, we were able to get back to our usual Saturday cruises and stop by our favorite haunts. It was nice to see the ladies at Mugs Up and savor their delicious vittles!
TakingCareofGrandma.com turning up!
This month, I was invited to the Missouri Assistive Technology Power Up Annual Conference to share my experience using “remote monitoring technology” (read: Nest) to help Barbara stay safe in her home. It was a great event! I was happy to share what worked for us.
Right now, I’m sitting in a hotel room in Buffalo, New York, getting ready to share my experience as a millennial caregiver at the National Lifespan Respite Conference hosted by ARCH National Respite.
All of that is pretty exciting, but what I was most excited about was producing the TakingCareofGrandma rap, which will come out (fingers crossed) next month for her blogiversary.
Between Grandma and her Sidekicks, and me and my business, we have been managing to keep pretty busy. I am still delivering meals to seniors in Blue Springs. Grandma continues to attend her life group and play bingo at the senior center a couple times a week.
Every day we count our many blessings and can’t wait to see what awesome things the next will bring.
We hope you’re doing well, too, and would love to hear what you’re up to!
Love,
Rachel and Barbara
