Wildflower in the Wind

Eldercare stress

I’ve been told I need to write a blog about dealing with my parents (age 88 and 94). 

It is stressful. There is so much to learn. Caring for our elders, in America, has gotten SO complicated. And people don’t seem to be willing to embrace reality….

We are mortal. We live. We die. We can’t have one without the other. America seems to not understand this in the same way other cultures do. We need to learn how to ALLOW our elderly to die. Peacefully. With dignity. And without draining every possible resource that they ever worked for, or the money they were hoping to pass on to their children. 

The way we do it now? It has slowly gotten so far from that. We put our parents into “homes”… assisted living. There, they are kept ‘safe’ and kept alive even when they are no longer really functioning. This is not what they wanted. I wonder if my mom will be kept alive until she is just a shell of what she was. Safely… in a bed that she never leaves. This is not what she wanted. She wanted to LIVE. My father had well over a million dollars in savings and investments. That should last for more that 3 years of care. Right? No. It will cover them for about three years IF their care doesn’t have an increased need. Crazy!!! 

Now my family is brainstorming for an outside of the box solution, so that we can at least pay for their care for however many years they have left. I’m not sure what that will look like, or how stressful it will be for those caring for them.  I am hunting ideas and trying to wrap my head around the possibilities. 

Reading

I love that he has started reading on his own finally. Both of my kids just didn’t want to, until they were ready… and now he is!!! love it!!! lying in bed at night, a good book….. yay!!!

house to flip

I am thinking that I’d love to flip a house. I’ve wanted to do it for many years, and I think maybe now is the time.
I found one that I looked at today, which seems to have good potential, as the kitchen is horrid and needs an overhaul, and a new layout…. and the bathroom upstairs is terrible too.
But the house is sunny, and bright, nice hardwood floors, good area, and I liked it. I think the problems are fairly easy to fix, and hoping I can figure it all out, do it, then sell it and make some money 🙂

Writing

I’m trying to write for an article about personal organizing, which I happen to be REALLY good at. Why is the writing part so hard for me when I’ve been doing it here for so long? I can go into someone’s home and help them overhaul and organize, and move furniture around to make it work much better. So why is it so hard for me to write about?

I just did it over the weekend at my parents cottage, (which they don’t use, but instead mostly just store things in it). The bedroom was virtually unusable, and had twin beds piled high with boxes and more. When you walked in the door, all you could see were beds with boxes, bags and boxes filled with “stuff” all around the room, and basically utter chaos. (ok, and I forgot to take a “before” photo… again)

Now there is one corner that now has boxes piled high in it, but is hidden from view when you first walk in. So when you first approach the room, and enter it, you see a beautiful king-sized bed, a comfy chair for reading, a “tiny tim” piano in the corner with a table and chair beside it. There are a few prints on the walls, and some treasured items creatively placed around the room to enhance it. There is a sense of peace now in the room, and it is enjoyable to sleep in!

I know I am good at this, why can’t I figure out how to make money at it? I know I do better with “company” so it would be great to have a business partner. I need an income. I need to work and feel useful other than what I do in my own house. I seem to always struggle with this.

I have an opportunity to apply for a job writing articles about organizing. I am struggling with writing the one to apply for the job! Aargghhhh. I will keep trying, now that I have vented about it here.

O-AT-KA weekend

We went up to Friends weekend at Eli’s camp. Every year, Labor Day Weekend, they have the camp open to people who are affiliated with the camp in some way. You book it ahead, and each family, or group, has their own cabin. Many activities are open, the waterfront is open, and there is good food. A fun weekend. You bring your own bedding and pay only $30 per person for each of the 2 weekend days. So for $60, you stay Friday through Monday, and have fun.

We brought a friend of Eli’s with us this year, so there were more bodies in our cabin. We had a waterfront cabin this year, which meant my bunk was about 20′ from the water. Heaven.

We did alot of riflery, some swimming, kayaking, woodworking (making pens), and I hennaed for about 4 hours. There was kareoke one night, and a hike one day to Douglas Mountain, where the views are fantastic!

Basically, we had fantastic weather and everyone had alot of fun. We drove home on Monday, and we were exhausted!