Defrosting

Patrick got up at 5am and ran around the house doing something which included taking the garbage out to the curb. I was not happy to be awake so early. I did go back to sleep for a little while. Then, thinking Dad's caregiver was coming, I got up with my alarm and started my usual day. I wanted to watch the caregiver get Dad out of bed, dressed, and ready for breakfast. But no one came. So around 9, I went back to check on him. He was awake and sitting on the side of the bed, wet. He had not taken his synthroid yet. So I gave him that, we struggled to get him into the bathroom. I stripped the sheets and washed them. I wiped his plastic sheet and tossed the chuck. I gave him a cloth to wipe with and something clean to wear. Getting him dressed was difficult and time consuming. He was having trouble following directions and kept getting distracted. Eventually he did get to the kitchen and fix breakfast.
In the midst of this, as a recurring theme throughout the day, I monitored the melting of the ice in the freezer. The floor around it was soaked. I couldn't mop because of all the stuff and the rugs. I put towels down where I could. Later I put them inside the bottom of the freezer and periodically took them out to wring as dry as possible. At times I chipped at the ice and carried the pieces outside.
Another theme during the day was the pouring of oil into a mold to create fat bombs. I left them in the fridge to harden, then popped them out and poured the next batch, 12 at a time.
After breakfast, Dad and I went for a physical walk. Mentally we went down memory lane. I asked him a lot of questions about his childhood. It was very interesting. After the walk, he sat in his chair and took a nap. I sat down to read e-mail, but soon Kevin arrived. I talked with him a little and returned to my laptop. Later, when Kevin said he wasn't feeling well, I took Dad for another walk. When we got back, Kevin ran the vacuum. Dad moved stuff out of Kevin's way. When Kevin was about to leave, I wrote him a check. I realized later that the plants did not get watered.
So then I worked with Dad on getting him to sit at the table and eat. Whereas his mind was really good earlier, now it had regressed. He was not happy about defrosting the freezer. He wanted to know what Patrick and I were doing about the water. Patrick moved the rugs and heavy tool boxes and mopped, but the water was still coming out. Dad finally ate. I gave him a piece of Kevin's chicken, but it looked too red inside for me. I worried about giving it to Dad, but I expect he eats it all the time. I ate leftovers and some seed crackers from my food box.
I suggested another walk, but he wanted to go to bed. But that was a long involved process that I was not familiar with. Exact order matters to him and he wasn't certain of it either. I had to call Faye to find out. I put up his legs and read to him. And he fell asleep. So I woke him up to go to bed. It was early when we started, but late when we finished. He insisted on crawling into bed on his shoulder blades from the bottom of the bed. It was slow because he wasn't rocking side to side.
When he was in an agreeable position, I wished him good night and retired to my laptop. But then I remembered the freezer water and the fat bombs and took another whack at each one. I typed up my blog and got ready for bed.
* Here are some clouds I liked along the way north. *