Time

It's hard to believe that next week Brandon will start his orientation for 9th grade. Where does time go?

Courtney was 9 and Brandon was 7 when Mike was diagnosed. They are now 14 and 15. Their entire life has been dealing with Alzheimer's Disease. I will ALWAYS wonder if I did the right thing in keeping Mike at home with us. Did I take too much time and attention away from the kids? Could I have done more, had Mike's 24/7 care not been in my hands? I question this always, but the kids always tell me they would have had it no other way.

We have been so busy around the house this summer, I felt like I haven't seen Mike alot. We have spent many hours in the back and front yard, trying to make our property not only look nice, but REALY nice. We all need something to feel good about. We are also painting Courtney's room (Brandon's was re-done earlier this year). Actually, Courtney has so far done all the priming on her own and I'm VERY proud of her. We have also been blessed to receive a "gift" of carpeting, but before it can be installed, we've had to rip out the existing carpeting. My hands have the bruises and cuts to prove it. It very difficult to remove carpeting from stairs :(

I found out today that our weekend aide will not be in on Sunday and we will have someone else for only 1/2 the time. It's supposed to be Mike's aide from 2 years ago and if he does show up, it will be interesting to see Mike's reaction to him. Because the aide will only be working until 2pm (instead of to 7pm) I will have to care for Mike. Of course it will be difficult because the weekend is the only time I have to do everything, but at the same time, it will be my much needed re-connection with Mike. Since I feel I haven't been spending much time with him these past weeks, it will give me the one on one time I need. I hope he will enjoy it as much as I do.