Back home

We got back home around 6pm Wednesday evening, but I just now was able to get back on my computer. DD had her work laptop plugged in to my monitors and she didn't go home until this afternoon. I didn't want to unplug and move her stuff and there was no way I can type much of anything on a tablet, it's too annoying.

We had a really good trip (except for the mom part of it) and it was nice to have a little getaway and do something fun. It was a lot funner then we both thought it would be, even though dd and her dh said it was really fun, LOL.

Sunday evening, after the caregiver did her quick 5 or so minute stop in to check on mom/make sure she took her pills, mom calls me again and this time wasn't worried about how much she is paying her, but wondering if she really needs her? did we discuss this? I said yes, we need her to stop in for a few minutes after dinner and make sure you got your pills. She says well she was here all day, I don't need her here all day! I said oh no, there is no way she was there all day, she has other residents she has to help take care of. I said she was just there for like 5 minutes. Mom says "well, I don't think so".

We left about 6:45 Monday morning and got to Park City in 8 hours and 15 minutes, so not bad at all. I had been able to check in our hotel from an email link they sent and then around 2pm they emailed that our room was ready for check in (normal check in is 4pm) so when we arrived at 3 we could check in. A really nice place. Very luxury type and we had been upgraded to a one bedroom suite and it was pretty high end.

We had a couple hours to relax before we had to go to the group dinner downstairs in one of the banquet rooms. We checked in for that and it started just before 6. I think around 40 people or so. I'd say most of the couples were our age-ish. One guy with his teenage son and one really old couple, LOL. Gosh he had to be getting close to 90! We had a nice buffet style dinner (and cheesecake!) and the the head program guy gave an overview of what we would be doing the next day for the driving experience.

We get back to our room around 7:30 and I see my mom's caregiver had texted me earlier that I might want to call my mom. She was super confused when she was there. Thought this wasn't her apartment, she was there temporary and waiting to go home. I was like oh man...I just wanted 2 days to myself! Just a break for 2 days. Ugh! I texted dd and asked her to call and chat with her awhile. 

Let me back up by saying I had planned to take her off the Aricept (after the doctor returned my email message), but could not figure out how to stop the dispensing of it via my phone app. Everything I tried to read on it made it sound like I had to be at the machine. So, I figured she'd been on it 2 weeks, a few more days, until I could get there Thursday or Friday wouldn't hurt much more. Boy, was I wrong.

DD calls her and chats awhile. Mom was all kinds of confused. Told dd she was babysitting this apartment and working for some lady.  DD tried to reassure her and mostly we're pretty sure mom thought she was talking to me, anyway. I texted back the caregiver that my dd talked to her awhile and yes, she is super confused and that I had wanted to stop the Aricept before I left but needed to be there to stop it at the machine. The caretaker said oh! well that explains her off the charts confusion - that Aricept is awful medicine! I said OMG - no wonder she has just been getting worse and worse since being on it! I said she has never been this confused before, especially in her own apartment/surroundings.

I looked through the app again and finally figured out that I could remove that specific medication by deleting the "schedule" and the re setting up the schedule without that medication. I was so relieved and let caretaker know it would no longer dispense. I was hoping a nights sleep would help mom and dd called her the next morning and she seemed more normal. Monday evening was her last time taking that medication, thank God! 

I slept like total crap Monday night (not what I needed, for sure). A combination of worrying about mom and the pillows they had on the bed were just awful. Even dh, who can usually sleep in pretty much any kind of pillow said they were bad. Honestly, for an $800 a night room (not what we paid), I guess I expected that it would be a sooo comfortable bed and it was nothing special at all. We got up at 6 to shower and get ready to go down for the free breakfast. We sat with another couple in our group and visited with them while we ate. The Ford guys were getting all the cars staged around the circle driveway when we went in for breakfast and when we got out of breakfast to go check in for the day's activities, all the cars were there. They got us all figured out which car was ours for the day, took a group picture, split us into 2 groups and we were on our way. I made dh drive first, haha. We took a very scenic drive over a mountain pass to get to where we were going. Almost an hour drive. Park City is crazy with the amount of hotels, condos and apartments. EVERYWHERE! The amount of $$$ in that area is mind blowing.

We spent the whole day driving the car and doing different things with them, taking turns. My least favorite was the sharp turn at some cones and a sharp turn back (like if you were swerving to miss something) and then a stomp on the ABS brakes. But, hey, I didn't knock any cones over, haha. Then we did this thing where we drive 20 mph, let off the gas and do not use the brakes and feel like we are going to run right into the back of a "balloon" car, but the car stops on its own. Every time. It was freaky though LOL. 

Then we did an off road trail. I just had dh do all the driving for that. I told him if we ever (doubtful) take this car off road he wouldn't let me drive anyway, haha. He was impressed with the handling of the car for that. The whole time we are in the cars there is our head instructor (we had a really nice lady) who talks to us through a radio. There was also a go-pro camera we could turn on anytime to video while we were driving. Then we drove up to this chalet type building (it was in a state park) where they served us lunch. No one sat at our table, so then 3 of the instructors sat with us, so it was really fun talking with them all.

Then we were all full and tired after the lunch break and had to go do the little "road course", where we had to drive this course of cones and were timed. We both sucked at it, LOL. I was slowest time of every one...even the 90 year old guy!  ?? DH went first out of the 2 of us. When it was my turn, you start out just flooring it until you come to where you have to turn. I'm saying to dh each time - this car does NOT have the power that ours does. I am flooring it when she says go and it's like not taking off at all! DH was like I know! I was thinking the same thing. There were several other women my age (who also were nervous to do it) and there is no way they got better times than DH. I'm convinced we had a slow car, haha. But it was fun and I was super smooth at it.

After that we went drove over to another part of this "park" where they held the biathlon even in the 2002 Olympics and still train there for the sport. I had never even heard of the biathlon before. Some young people gave us a history and showed us the rifles. Then we all got to try them out. It was really fun. You have to hit 5 targets. I got 4 out of 5 (laying down on your stomach). DH did it twice. He is left eye dominant but right handed (so am I) so he ended up trying it with both eyes/hands and got 10/10.

Then we drove back a different route back to the hotel. We were so tired and so glad we were staying another night. We went and had dinner down in the restaurant and then honestly I was asleep in bed at 6:45 LOL. I don't think dh was much farther behind me. There were several softer throw pillows on the sofa, so I took one of those and put the pillow case over it and slept on it. Much better.

Wednesday we got up at 7 and checked out at 8am and stopped for gas and some egg mcmuffins and were on the road by 8:30. We decided to take a more scenic route home. Shorter in miles, but longer due to the speed limit and going over the pass between Idaho and Montana. We stopped in the city to go through the car wash and went through the Dairy Queen drive through for Peanut Buster parfaits (for dinner, haha) and got home at 6pm. We were able to visit with dd for the evening which was nice. She wasn't going to head home until Friday afternoon.

Thursday she worked up in my office. The vet called and said our pups ashes were ready to be picked up. Originally I was going to go in and see my mom Friday, but since dd was leaving Friday, we decided to go Thursday afternoon. She finished up her work at 3pm and we headed into the city to pick up the ashes and stop in and see my mom, so that way dd could also get to see her. Mom was doing so much better. Back to normal. Forgetful, but not confused at all. I am so glad I figured out how to stop that med from dispensing after Monday night. We did a quick half hour visit with her. I told dd I kind of felt guilty like we were there for such a short time, but hey, if she thinks that the caregiver was there all day when she was there 5 minutes, maybe she felt like we were there for a long visit, haha.

We stopped at the grocery store for some milk, bread and yogurt and then got gas and Subway sandwiches to take home for dinner. Later dd and I sat out on the patio and played cribbage for awhile.

She worked again today until 2pm and then headed for home at 2:30, which with the hour time difference should put her home around 8:30 her time, this evening.

I just listened in on mom's cameras as the caregiver (her assistant) stopped in to get mom to take her pills. She got them to her and said "ok hon, you won't see me again until next Wednesday as I'm off". Mom said ok, well you probably deserve some time off. Enjoy it. Thank you. Normal again, whew!