A Good Day

(I have decided to write for a while about the observations I make during my Elder Sitting job. I will refer to the lady I stay with as Miss Jewel, because she really is a jewel.)

Today was a good day. I fed the cats as soon as I arrived. They were quite happy to see me. Two of the tiniest kittens were not in the garage--one of the missing was the calico that I put dibs on. Perhaps she's just hiding.

I get into the house, let Trixie (the dog) out and begin to prepare for breakfast. The toaster isn't working again unless you hold down the lever. No big deal.

Miss Jewel emerges from her room around 8:45. When I ask how she is, she's quick to reply that she's not doing too badly. She eats her breakfast and begins to read the paper. About 9:30 she makes her way out onto the porch and continues to read the paper. While she is out on the glider reading I hurry to get her bed sheets washed, dried and back on the bed. She's not happy when I'm not busy, but she doesn't want me doing things like laundry either.

We have lunch on the front porch and it is extremely pleasant. Several white butterflies are flitting across the lawn. A brown butterfly is entertaining us on the planter right next to the table. A hummingbird darts in to sample the flowers on the table a few times. A huge bumblebee and another butterfly share the flowers on the mint plants in the flower bed beside us. I brought leftovers from home for me and fixed some leftovers for Miss Jewel. I also brought some very large purple grapes, the size of small plums, to share. She loved them. At least five times she told me how good they were.

Next to the fun of watching all the creatures during lunch, the highlight was Miss Jewel's unusual talkativeness. She was in the mood to reminisce. She was thinking back to her days as a girl and walking to school and playing by the creek. It was fun to hear the stories...again. I don't tire of them. All too soon my shift was ended.

I, too, was doing some remembering today. Two years ago, I lost my job in June. Nelson was recouperating from his fourth surgery on his ankle. I couldn't find work. The opportunity to stay with Miss Jewel three or four days a week came available at the beginning of September. The family was at a loss because their father, Miss Jewel's husband, had just died. They didn't want to put her through two major losses so they decided to hire me and another woman to spend the days with Miss Jewel. They thought it would probably be for a few months, maybe four. And here we are two years later with no end in sight.

I'm so thankful for this job. I have learned so much--mostly about myself. I'll share more of that as we go along.

Home Again

Had a blast in AZ with my mom.

We played 141 games of Scrabble. She won "all the marbles" 71 to 70. We also played 3 games one afternoon with my aunt. I won two of those while Mom took the third.

Mom rented me a bike. It was so amazing. I rode about 9 miles a day. I loved it. My heel barely hurt the whole time I was there. I may not be able to walk for exercise anymore but me and my bike are going to become best friends again.

I also worked out with my Easy-Shaper almost everyday and went to the pool a couple times.

We ate out a few times and visited Tubac and a couple of our favorite shops in Green Valley. But mostly we sat across from one another playing Scrabble and laughing. Part of me wishes I was still there.

While I was gone Nelson was quite busy here with wonderful surprises for me: he painted the house (power washed, scraped, and painted the entire outside); put new lights in the kitchen; put up solar lights along the front walk; put new security lights on the garage; put a new ceiling fan/light in the living room and put the living room fixture in the guest bedroom; fixed the cold water to the washer; replaced the faucet set in the main bathroom sink and tried to replace the shower set; and replaced the sliding door track on my bedroom closet. He was a busy and amazing man...and no, I don't rent him out.

This morning there was a glitch with our internet service so I scrubbed out the refrigerator and got started cleaning the bathrooms. Nelson left me two notes of other things to do: call the vet for the cat; get more flea bombs; and call the home warrenty for the bathroom sink. Better get on it.