Gertie-ism #2004

So, by being the loyal followers of my blog that I know you are, we all know that Gertie is on oxygen when she's in bed or in her chair in the livingroom (this covers her about, oh, 20 hours a day...). Anyway, I heard her rustling around at 4 am yesterday morning so got up to see what she was up to. She wanted to know if the restaurant was open, having cycled back to getting up early, going back to bed after breakfast #1, getting up 3 hours later and having breakfast #2, going back to bed...etc, etc.

Anyway, I'm not too pleased with the 4am wake up call again although the truth is that I'm up then anyway. Just an early riser. But, I like having time alone or with John before I'm on call for the day.

So, this particular morning, I said she could come down and have coffee but I wasn't happy about it. As mom and I are drinking our morning java, Sharyn wanders downstairs and she wasn't too happy about the early hour coffee call either. We all drank our coffee and mom got up to go back to bed. I told her I'd be up in a minute to put her oxygen on for her. She stopped in her walker, turned around, peered at me and said:

Now, I know that the oxygen goes in my nose and not around my neck...

We laughed pretty good at that one, especially since she doesn't always know it goes in her nose and I never said a word (honest...) about wringing her little neck. My favorite non-nose oxygen related sight was when I came into the livingroom one day and the poor dear had the nosepiece up on her nose like it was eyeglasses. OMG - I dropped and rolled. Then there's the one where she tries to put it in her mouth. Ok, the woman is a bit daffy these days but, damn, she's still funny.

And, let me tell you, oxygen can be fun! I just looked on amazon and you can buy the stuff in a can! The stuff sure cures a hangover!


And, speaking of old people, here's a few ListMy5 articles that are really nice:
Top 5 things to do to help senior citizen neighbors
Top 5 ways to protect a senior citizen during flu season
Top 5 Christmas gifts for a senior citizen
Top 5 ways to entertain a senior citizen
Top 5 gift baskets under $20 for the elderly
Top 5 dating concerns of a senior citizen
Top 5 features of the new health care reform

If you're a caregiver, here's a few good books to bone up on keeping yourself, and your senior friend healthy and happy:

The Caregiver's Book: Caring for Another, Caring for Yourself