For the most part, this Christmas season has been quiet, even if it was busy. I've been making a lot of trips to Livingston and Bozeman this month. I had an office Christmas Party, a party at Evergreen Livingston on December 20.
Tuesday, December 20 we had our Christmas Party at work. We had all sorts of food and fun at this potluck. The main courses were Prime Rib, hot shrimp in a butter sauce, and cold shrimp with a dipping sauce prepared by our general manager. We also had garlic mashed potatoes, asparagus, potato salad, and cranberry sauce. We had Coke, Root Beer, and Mountain Dew to drink, and for dessert we had pistachio cherry cake. We had a great time together.
As soon as I got off work, I had to immediately go to Evergreen's Christmas party in Livingston. I visited with Grandma for a couple hours and even Santa Claus made an appearance, delivering gifts to the residents. Grandma's wall by her bed is very bare, so I got her some photos for the wall. I have more I want to put up, but I need to find more photos I want to put up. I went to get some refreshments for Grandma and myself. When I got back to the table, the director of the nursing home was talking to Grandma about something and then saw me. She's said, "Oh, that's you!" She had seen the photos on the table in front of Grandma.
I had a piece of cheesecake and Grandma had some chocolate pudding. She was pretty amusing during our visit. She asked me how old I was and I replied that I was 32 years old. She was surprised, since she has dementia and other memory problems from the stroke last year. I asked her if she knew how old she was. She said no, so I told her that she was 83 years old. She said, "You're an ass." I had to laugh. Grandma's never used any language before except to quote other people.
We went to her room where I showed her some pictures I had scanned to my computer from some old photo albums. She asked where Grandpa was, which I avoided answering. The people that she loves are still alive in her mind. I felt comfortable enough to explain that her nephew Jerry had passed away several years ago, but I knew that telling her that her husband had passed away was a bad idea. She wondered if he had run away or escaped from her!
As I was leaving Evergreen, I spoke with the nursing assistants who told me that Grandma had been pinching their butts! Although inappropriate, they had to laugh at it. When they asked Grandma why she did it, Grandma told them that she wanted to see if it was squishy! What a great response. Even while I visited her, Grandma wanted to feel my hair. Apparently she really desires tactile sensation.
I continued my way out the door when I saw that Ingrid came into the nursing home to visit Grandma. I took her to Grandma's room and let them visit by themselves. I'm glad that Grandma got so much attention Tuesday.
I didn't get to see Betty, since she was in her room during the festivities. I'm not sure she realizes everything that goes on around her, so it might have been for her best that she couldn't come. As well, she has been napping a lot more lately; she may have been too tired to attend.
It was a busy Tuesday, but I had a lot of fun.
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