It's Been a While

I just realized how long it's been since I posted. WOW.
Let's see, Courtney will be coming home from England next Friday. I can't believe how fast it went. She had classes three days a week, and the other time was for her to do with what she wanted. She did so much, but still didn't get to do all that she wanted to. I was living vicariously through her and had a great time!
Brandon will be going away to school in two weeks. He will be attending Quinnipiac University in Connecticut studying physical therapy. He's been very quiet lately and when I ask if he's nervous, he says "Of course". I think he's more concerned about being away from Mike.
Our Sunday aide was away for 5 weeks and that was hard. She will be back tomorrow and we're all thrilled.
Mike's friends from grade school and high school are throwing us a benefit on 8/20. They were apparenly planning this for months, but I just found out about it - they needed friends/co-workers info to send invitations. It is a humbling experience and it says ALOT about who Mike was as a person. I don't mean to speak about him in the past tense, it's just that Alzheimer's has destroyed the person he once was. These friends, some of which we haven't seen in like 20-30 years, think enough of Mike and care enough about our situation, to dedicate their time and energy to making the event a success. It couldn't come at a better time, since social services called me last week and told me they may have to discontinue services because I owe them too much money. No services - no aide. No aide - no work for me. No work for me - no income. No income - no house. After I got that call, I made sure they all knew how especially thankful I am that they are doing this.
My niece came in from PA for a few days. Courtney and she were supposed to go to the NKOTBSB (New Kids on The Block/Backstreet Boys) concert in June, but they moved the date to last weekend and Courtney was still in England. I went with my niece and we had a great time. My ears were ringing for days afterward.
Maria Shriver sent me a shout out on Twitter and Ellen DeGeneres sent her love (in response to my blog post on marishriver.com wherein I explained how laughter has helped us get through the toughest days). It was surreal - I actually took a picture of the screen.
Mike's sores are still there and the one on his bottom is beginning to look bad to me. I have been concerned about it for a week or so, but his aide kept telling me I was crazy. It's been bleeding a bit more and it's just SO CLOSE to his tail bone. He still has the other two on each of his sides, so no matter where we turn him, he's still resting on a sore. He's had them for SO long!
I had just told our aide to request more chucks (cloth pads we put under Mike) from hospice because the ones we have are shredding. Today the doorbell rang and it was Betsy's husband. He was dropping off chucks that he had from when Betsy was sick. Coincidence...I think not. Thank you Betsy!
That's my catch-up. Hope everyone is doing well.