Mom is Moving to an Assisted Living HOME

Before I get into mom's new place to live, I want to share a breakfast she and I shared on Monday. 

For many years after they moved back to the Sacramento Area, Mom and Dad would eat at the Cornerstone Restaurant on San Juan Avenue near Greenback.  Monday, Sandy and I wanted to show mom the new place we want to move her to, and we had an appointment at 1 pm to see it, and for them to see her...to be sure they knew how mobile she is or isn't.  So I suggested to mom that we go to Cornerstone for a late breakfast, and she eagerly agreed.  I arrived to her place at 9:30, and she was sitting up and just about ready to go.  By 9:45 we were out the door.  Above is a picture off the Internet of the interior of the restaurant.  Off to the right out of the picture are 5 or 6 tables which will seat up to 7 or 8 people, depending how close everyone wants to sit.  Those tables are the ones a group of us, like Mom, Dad, Sandy, Arny, Patti, Marcia and I, would use.

Mom had not been to the Cornerstone Restaurant for a long time.  She enjoyed looking around, seeing if she recognized any of the workers, and made a comment that "It looked like it had not changed...".  Shortly after I took this picture, the waitress who was in charge came over and said, "Long time no see....How are you?"  Mom lite up like a Christmas Tree.  I let her know about dad passing, and asked about a few other staff that I remembered...none of them work there anymore.  Mom asked about the cook(s) and the lady responded that the one mom was asking about still works there, but is off on Monday...and that the guy working on this day has been there for about 5 or 6 years now, which is why he looked familiar to mom.

Mom ordered the Huevos Rancheros plate, I had a Veggie Omelet.  Look at how BIG her plate was!

Over an hour later, she finished just about everything but the potatoes, which I don't think she even touched.  By noon we were over at Sandy's, and by 12:40 we were on our way to our 1 pm appointment.

A little history ....   Mom and Dad moved to an Assisted Living Facility back in 2016.  They first lived at the Brookdale Orangevale Assisted Living facility, now called Blossom Vale Senior Living.  In the summer of 2019, they moved to The Terraces Assisted Living Facility in Roseville because it is closer to both Patti and to Sandy.  Overall, we liked the Terraces better than Brookdale...we have no idea what it is like there now that it is Blossom Vale.  Both of these facilities offered trips in their bus/van to area restaurants, and occasionally day trips up into the mountains or over to the Bay Area. 

After Dad passed, mom stayed in the same one bedroom apartment (for lack of a better term).  She enjoyed going on outings, visiting with other residents, playing Bingo and partaking in other activities.  This past September her last remaining sibling, Mary, had passed.  This seemed to hit her, even though she said it didn't.  Over the next few months she stayed in her apartment more and more.  She hated it when they forced her to stay in her apartment during various Covid attacks these past three years ...by late March she seemed to hate going out.  She caught Covid in February or early March, but recovered with little difficulty.  However, that seemed to the straw that broke the camel's back.

Over the past two months I found that if we could get her out of bed for lunch, she would typically go down to dinner too.  So I have been going over there once or twice just about every day, and she has been better.  But the Assisted Living Facility staff just could not convince her to get out of bed like a family member could...but they charged us an extra $500 per month for trying, and typically failing, in that department.  We all felt she was headed for a Nursing Home, which we know she would not like at all.  Then Patti's renter (who works with older folks) told Patti about an Assisted Living Home which a CNA had told her about.  Last week Sandy and Patti looked into not only that home, but five others.  We all liked the first one they looked at, and that is where Sandy and I took Mom on Monday.  Patti turned in a 30 day notice on Monday with a "earlier if possible" request to the Terraces.  They have someone who wants a one bedroom NOW, so we are able to move Mom out this Saturday.  The home has no more than six residents, with a minimum of two staff always on hand.  There is another 'sister' home three houses down, and being in the very rural area of Antelope, the distance could easily fit eight to ten houses on both sides of the street if they were all pushed up next to each other.  The two homes occasionally have activities, such as a BBQ, from time to time.  The person in charge of the homes lives nearby, so we feel Mom will be safe and secure...and with more staff attention, we hope this will get her out of bed and active a bit more.  On the downside, if you want to call it that, she will not have her 'own phone', but only because she does not want to learn how to use a cell phone...even one made for seniors.  There will be no bus/van outings, but she has stopped those anyway.  The food choices at each meal will be more limited, but she is not a picky eater.  Depending upon how the cards are dealt from here on out, she may not end up in a Nursing Home situation because this home will work the resident the best they can, including through Hospice Care if needed.

Can We Go Back To NORMAL Now??? Mom is under 'lock-down' again.

 

It is nearly 11 pm, fireworks have been going off since 7 pm, with more and more going off as it gets closer to midnight.  Indy is sleeping in her bed, not giving a darn about the fireworks going off.  This is much like the behavior Bubba had.  Skruffy, on the other hand, would be cowering in one of our laps or under the bed or chair...anywhere she would feel safe at.  She had the same behavior with Thunder.

       

Our celebration of the year's passing was having lamb for dinner.  I get boneless leg of lamb from Sam's Club.  This was a six pounder.  Marcia does all the seasoning preparation, I am in charge of the Crock Pot where we cook it.  On high for the first hour, then added the mushrooms and the green beans, put it back on high for 30 minutes, then it was on warm for the next 4 hours or so.  When it reaches 130, turn it off and let is sit for another 15 minutes still covered, then uncover until you are ready to cut it.  The white stuff is Cauliflower blended with an emulsion blender with butter, minced garlic, Cheddar Cheese, Pepperjack Cheese, and a few other spices to taste.  As you can see, we like our meat Medium Rare....just add more time if you want it cooked more, such as leaving it on high for an extra 30-60 minutes at the start.  Once it gets up to 100 degrees, it does not take long to get to 130...today it took 45 minutes to go from just over 100 to 129 degrees.  Now we have two big chunks of lamb in the freezer and one large (over 2 pounds) in the fridge for future meals.

Well, are you as tired seeing images like this one above depicting the Coronavirus that causes Covid?  Here in Florida we had around 230,000 new cases in the last five days (over 75,000 today), yet Covid hospitalizations in the state increased by only 484 on Friday, reaching 4,485, according to the Florida Hospital Association. That total is nowhere near the peak of more than 17,100 hospitalizations during the summer delta wave.  There have been reports where medical staff said that many of the Covid hospitalizations now are not nearly as serious as they were back in the summer.  The death rate still remains low compared to the summer outbreak.  Some have described this outbreak as like having a bad cold.  No doubt this is hard on people with other health issues.  A little over two years ago dad caught a cold, and it was too much for his weaken body to handle and lead to a total system shutdown just days later.  This was in November, by February we had our first cases in the U.S.  So when mom called today and said that the Independent Living Facility she is in has had a few cases of COVID according to tests given today, I did not panic.  They have locked down the facility again, isolating everyone to their rooms for at least five days.  If others don't come down with it, they will let up their restrictions...if not, I am sure the restrictions will stay in place.  Mom and most of the people at the facility have been vaccinated and have been given their booster...but this does not stop one from getting Covid, but it does, for the most part, make it easier on anyone who does.

So, WHEN can we get back to normal again????  Soon, I hope.  I hope no one dies in the facility, and I hope they open the dinning room up again real soon.  It is not easy being confined to a room for a long period of time...but it does help control a breakout from spreading uncontrollably.

Back in California's 100+ Degree Weather

At Sister's House, Citrus Heights, CA

There is only ONE thing that would bring us back to the HOT Sacramento Valley...and that is someone who is sick.  Yep, dad ended up in the hospital again last Tuesday.  On Wednesday we made the decision to return, but it was raining in Southwest Oregon, so Thursday would be the day we would take off...but there was one slight problem...

 

Two weeks earlier as we returned from our weekly tank emptying, I surprisingly see this GASH in my front passenger tire.  WHAT!!!!  It was not there when we left my sister's place four weeks earlier.  The gash also included a balding spot about 3 inches each way...other than that the tread looked good.  

Down in Gold Beach there is a Chevron Gas Station which still does car service...for $20 they put the spare on the front right and that tire on the spare.  Although I was worried about driving those short 8 miles, we made it without problem...doing it as part of the next Tuesday tank dumping routine.  Besides dumping our tanks we also filled up with propane at the Union 76 gas station further south in Gold Beach, put in $40 of gas to get us to Fred Meyer in Brookings when we did leave...but the first priority was getting that tire changed.

 

For two weeks since discovering the bad tire, I had researched what tires I wanted to put onto the motorhome.  I knew I wanted to continue with Discount Tire...they have treated us well, and they are nationwide (not all states, but a bunch of them).   When the guy at the gas station took the tire off, he said that it appeared that the belt had busted, causing a weak area and eventually the hole.  We got these tires in the El Paso area back in 2015, and we have put over 55,000 miles on them, which included a trip to Alaska in 2016.  These tires were free, part of a recall of Michelin Tires which had history of the belts breaking...and one broke on us causing a blowout back in 2015.  I did buy a 7th tire back then as a spare...which was rotated onto the motorhome a few years later.  Bottom line, I was not comfortable with Michelin anymore. 

 

Found a website published a few months ago by the US Auto Authority titled "Best RV Tires for Motorhome,Travel Trailer or Camper 2019".  This is their top 10:

 

I then did more research on the Michelin XPS RIB and the Bridgestone Duravis M700.  There was NO WAY I was going to put on Goodyear, something that dates back to 1976 when I bought a set of Goodyears for my Malibu...long story which is not worth talking about now.  I decided upon the Bridgestone and planned to order them 10 days before we would originally have gone through Medford...buying tires in Oregon would be $250 cheaper than in California, and even a little less than in Florida...but there was no way we were going to Florida on these tires.  With our two week earlier departure date, I called Discount Tire in Medford on Wednesday and placed the order,  I was assured they would be in on Thursday around noon.  So at 6:30 Thursday morning we pulled out, bought coffee at one of those little coffee stands, pulled into a turnout to feed the dogs, filled up with gas in Brookings at Fred Meyer ($3.25 per gallon) and by 8:30 we were on the Redwood Highway in California headed for Medford.  Around 9:30 we got a call that the tires were in...but two hours later we got another call to say that only 4 tires were in, the other 2 were coming out of Washington State and would not be in until Friday...

 

I knew that the Valley of the Rogue State Park, 15 miles north of where Discount Tire was located in Medford, had nightly openings...so we drove there.  One thing about Medford is that we HAVE to drop by Harry and David to get sister Sandy Moose Munch, along with other goodies for Arny, Patti and Mom and Dad...so we took care of that on Thursday after setting up camp.  Thank goodness there is a Cracker Barrel near Harry and David now, so we took care of that too.

With 4 tires at the store, and 2 more coming in around noon, we arrived at Discount Tire at 10 am. after filling with gas again at Fred Meyer, $2.75 per gallon. When FedEx arrived with the delivery, he did not have the tires because there was no room in the van when he left.  Telling him our predicament, he graciously returned to the terminal and got the dozen or so tires he had for delivery to Discount Tire, including our two.  I was so thankful, I gave him $10 for lunch, which he was very thankful for.  By 2:30 we were on our way.  Now, THIS is why I like Discount Tire.  Due to the bad tire experience with the Michelins, and with the one day delay in getting the tires, we were charged $1,075, which included a Certificates for Refund or Replacement for all 6 tires, mounting, balancing, tire disposal, and tax...oh ya, there is NO TAX in Oregon!  This is a savings of $275 over the normal Oregon price, and $500 less than the price we would have paid in California for all of this.  If there is a problem...if they screw up...if tires you bought previous did not meet your expectations, they take care of you.  As we pulled away, sister Patti texted me...dad was being released from the hospital.  Thought about turning around...but that thought did not last long.  I knew we would not make it to Citrus Heights on Friday, but we did get the motorhome washed at Blue Beacon Truck Wash in Corning, and stayed at the Willows Rest Area, 100 miles from Citrus Heights.  A bit hot, a bit noisy, by 6:30 Saturday morning we were on our way again, dumping our tanks again, stopping for coffee and feeding the dogs, we pulled into Arny and Sandy's at 9:30.  Nice to be back, but not nice weather.  Oh ya, I almost forgot...mom and dad moved to a different Assisted Living place on Friday, same day dad got out of the hospital.  Oh, what a weekend this has been!