New week

A beautiful, mild sunny day with a lovely breeze; just ideal I think.  It’s one of those where in the old days I’d go for a walk for hours with no destination in mind and just wander by the river with small dog or find a patio somewhere and sit with a book and a drink and just enjoy the weather.  I miss doing that sort of thing… really.  Jerry just pushed my iPad off my lap and inserted himself for a nap, so I had to stop typing until he decided that he needed to bother Don.  Plus I fooled him by picking up the phone and pressing a couple of buttons.  He interprets short phone conversations as someone coming up and he was on alert to head to the door and bark 😆  Don is ok; his leg continues to bother him and he’s complaining about the cold… so I’m keeping some distance from him as he may be ill.

Sleep was better last night, thankfully.  It felt good to have a few solid hours of rest, instead of waking and turning all night long.  I met with the care agency manager, and I am really unsatisfied with the discussion.  According to her, the support worker can “only” perform hygiene functions, with other items if there’s time.  I pointed out that thankfully I do not require a lot of hygiene care, just help with showers, so that’s 10 minutes of an hour, and most of the workers leave after 20 minutes but are paid for an hour.  She just shrugged.  They are apparently not allowed to: cook anything using the stove, but may use the microwave oven.  They are not required to know how to cook, “it’s not taught at school” (I was called rude for asking if they don’t know how to prepare meals like sandwiches or scrambled eggs or toast for themselves); they may not assist with putting away groceries; they are not allowed to take me for a walk, even in the building, if I exhibit breathlessness; if I happen to fall, they are not allowed to help me up, but can “coach” me to roll over on my hands and knees.  (I asked, so what? I just lie there and die?)  She said they will call 911 for assistance.  They may not “spot” me in my exercises.  In fact, I asked, what exactly can they do?  So until the case conference with the province, I’ve decided to do a few things:  I agreed to change my hours to “daytime” (my worker usually comes at 4, which is considered “evening”) and have a visit around lunchtime for the days she insists on sending me a man with the proviso that I expect that they will look after a meal for me.  Whoever comes, since “hygiene” is the main reason, will now be required to comb my hair, dress and undress me, make the bed, put clothes in the hamper, tidy the bathroom and do laundry weekly.  That will add another maybe 15 minutes, then making tea, finding all sorts of things to have them make snacks, and so on.  That way I meet her ridiculous requirements (which I pointed out don’t match the services laid out either in my care plan or on their website, and she wanted to review my care plan… which says “light meal preparation” “light housekeeping” “supervise exercises” among other items) and she left.  My many years of public sector training now come into play to ensure proper documentation for contract termination… and I’ll keep my provincial coordinator on speed dial.

I was reading a really old book — published in the late 1800s — where the protagonist went on a “Grand European Tour” for a year.  Oh, how I wish that I could have seen those cities as they were before the World Wars did damage and when the great chateaux and castles were fully staffed.  I know, I know, there was also grinding poverty, huge class divides, appalling sanitation, dreadful smells, many diseases that are now easily treatable or curable, high illiteracy and so many ills and wrongs.  I have a sneaking fondness for the older styles of hotels, the ones with high ceilings, slowly whirring fans, huge rooms and many antiques.  I know it’s somewhat out of character for someone who doesn’t do camping or “glam ping” and insists on indoor plumbing, full beds with sprung mattresses, lots of pillows and walk-in showers.  It’s a slight flight of fancy to be able to visit those places where you could see the orchards around Rome instead of acres of houses… or the large gardens of the rich in cities like Vienna.  

I got a very important call from my niece this afternoon, asking “Auntie Sonja, do you have any white hair?”  I held up the camera to show my hair and she said, “It’s all white!  Momma only has a few!”  Tomorrow is my nephew’s fourth birthday; his gift arrived safely and he’ll receive it then.  He’s very excited and proud that’s he’s overcome his long-standing fear of carousels and announced that he rode the “up and down horse” A year ago he had a screaming fit about riding even the bench so this is major progress!  I told him I’m super proud of him and he’s a very brave boy!

I’m going to go make myself an omelette or something simple for my dinner.  My spaghetti sauce is in the fridge deepening its flavour, and I hope to have a worker (illegally) turn it into a lasagne or something similar.  Good night!