hello, hello! Thank goodness for the energy boost I get from the nice weather, I was busy non-stop yesterday. Pretty pleased with how things are going, too. (mark this day down in history, it has to be a first, hopefully not the last 
)
I think I spent about 2.5 hours cleaning the kitchen and chasing after ants. SO many ants. So many. The diatomaceous earth must have worked because I've only seen 3 dead ants so far today. *Big* difference from yesterday when I swear there were hundreds. Cait and I glittered the bottles for the centerpieces and then ran out to the dollar store to get ribbons and fake flowers to finish them. That is what we are working on today-- plus we have to go the to liquor store for wine/beer/hard seltzers. I didn't get to do any yard work but I guess it is more important to get the stuff done for the party. Iy yi yi, I am going to be so anxious about that. I am going to need the entire following week to decompress. Ha!
I need some advice from you all too if you don't mind me asking. Yup--- it is about my mom. I called yesterday and I am frustrated for her and by her. It has only been a week since her surgery and she is complaining about being really exhausted still. I think she has some unrealistic expectations of *what* the pacemaker is doing as well as completely minimizing the physical and emotional toll surgery takes. I tried to suggest to her that it all takes time to heal and that she is *still* an 80-year-old lady with heart and kidney disease. But at the same time, she doesn't want to go anywhere or do anything that she thinks is going to interfere with the pacemaker. Cell phones, microwaves, electricity- she has all of these things so built up in her mind as being "bad" that she is nervous to leave the house. Oh-- and the teeny tiny magnet on her purse! I don't know how to help her. I just emailed her two short articles on why you might be feeling tired post-op. I have no idea if she will read them but I asked her to so we can talk about it tomorrow. My dad called to tell me that she seems very depressed. I have suggested that she talk to one of her Drs about a low-dose antidepressant. I also suggested support groups but that isn't her style and I have to respect that.
Am I doing something wrong or making things more complicated? Is there any real-world advice that I can tell her? I know that she needs support and a safe person to listen to her but sometimes it is really hard when she has some really out of the world ideas and it doesn't seem like anything I say is helping. For ex, she is scared to go into a store that has security scanners at the entrance. She is nervous that someone might block her from walking past them quickly. If I tell her -- then take a few steps back while you wait, she will say that is a good idea but then still be too paralyzed by fear to actually listen and do that.
I can be pushy - good-intentioned- but pushy and I know that she needs some space within herself to figure it out. But this just seems unhealthy- and it has been this way for a really long time. I don't know what to do without making her upset.
I will take any advice you have.
Thx for "listening" #kiss
)I think I spent about 2.5 hours cleaning the kitchen and chasing after ants. SO many ants. So many.
The diatomaceous earth must have worked because I've only seen 3 dead ants so far today. *Big* difference from yesterday when I swear there were hundreds. Cait and I glittered the bottles for the centerpieces and then ran out to the dollar store to get ribbons and fake flowers to finish them. That is what we are working on today-- plus we have to go the to liquor store for wine/beer/hard seltzers. I didn't get to do any yard work but I guess it is more important to get the stuff done for the party. Iy yi yi, I am going to be so anxious about that. I am going to need the entire following week to decompress. Ha!I need some advice from you all too if you don't mind me asking. Yup--- it is about my mom. I called yesterday and I am frustrated for her and by her. It has only been a week since her surgery and she is complaining about being really exhausted still. I think she has some unrealistic expectations of *what* the pacemaker is doing as well as completely minimizing the physical and emotional toll surgery takes. I tried to suggest to her that it all takes time to heal and that she is *still* an 80-year-old lady with heart and kidney disease. But at the same time, she doesn't want to go anywhere or do anything that she thinks is going to interfere with the pacemaker. Cell phones, microwaves, electricity- she has all of these things so built up in her mind as being "bad" that she is nervous to leave the house. Oh-- and the teeny tiny magnet on her purse! I don't know how to help her. I just emailed her two short articles on why you might be feeling tired post-op. I have no idea if she will read them but I asked her to so we can talk about it tomorrow. My dad called to tell me that she seems very depressed. I have suggested that she talk to one of her Drs about a low-dose antidepressant. I also suggested support groups but that isn't her style and I have to respect that.
Am I doing something wrong or making things more complicated? Is there any real-world advice that I can tell her? I know that she needs support and a safe person to listen to her but sometimes it is really hard when she has some really out of the world ideas and it doesn't seem like anything I say is helping. For ex, she is scared to go into a store that has security scanners at the entrance. She is nervous that someone might block her from walking past them quickly. If I tell her -- then take a few steps back while you wait, she will say that is a good idea but then still be too paralyzed by fear to actually listen and do that.
I can be pushy - good-intentioned- but pushy and I know that she needs some space within herself to figure it out. But this just seems unhealthy- and it has been this way for a really long time. I don't know what to do without making her upset.
I will take any advice you have.
Thx for "listening" #kiss
