That sucks a lot, Steph. I hope it gets easier somehow as time passes.

PUPPY! So frickin cute! I got weirdly confused by that series of posts, though, and thought the link would have something to do with wedding dresses.

YOU SHOULD NOT BE AT WORK MSBELLE THAT IS TERRIBLE!!!!

Oh, I'm sorry Tep, that is so hard. Strength to all of you to keep helping him.

We took a short trip to Arkansas this last weekend. It worked out pretty well even though the weather forecast made it look grim. We also managed to find a good route home that avoided roads closed due to flooding.

Also this weekend I got the first, I guess proof of concept, 15 minute recording for the audiobook edition of Cog.

[link]

Ugh, that's so hard, Steph. And I hate to say this, but it may just get worse until he's beyond knowing what's going on at all. Is he in the apartment kind of assisted living? I.e., would he just be alone if you all weren't constantly visiting? He may be better off in a situation with more staff interaction, so they can be the ones to tell him what's up a thousand times a day. (One of my nursing home friends spends an hour or more a day explaining her relationship to her mother, that her parents are dead, etc., and it's been like that for years.)

In better news, PUPPY.

In other better news, physical plant just showed up at the office next to mine and said they were there for a "cold call." I didn't know that was a thing! Get ready for me to complain about every single room I go into, because they are all freezing most of the time. (Although apparently some coworkers know how to adjust the thermostats that seem to randomly located.)

I'm pretty sure the thermostats at my office don't actually do anything.

Everyone in my office just wears their jackets till midafternoon, when the sun coming in the wall of windows has warmed up everything.

I'm pretty sure the thermostats at my office don't actually do anything.

I would have said that too, except we could smell the heat coming on in a conference room the one time my coworker found that the thermostat was set to 57 degrees in there!

Ugh, that's so hard, Steph. And I hate to say this, but it may just get worse until he's beyond knowing what's going on at all.

My SiL's mother has dementia and has been in assisted living for probably 10 years now, and SiL said that this is the worst time frame, dementia-wise, because he still remembers and knows enough to be agitated, but *doesn't* remember things like why he has to be in assisted living. SiL said that it's easier once he forgets more, which is sad, but I can also see that.

Is he in the apartment kind of assisted living? I.e., would he just be alone if you all weren't constantly visiting? He may be better off in a situation with more staff interaction, so they can be the ones to tell him what's up a thousand times a day.

It's not standalone housing; he's in a studio apartment-type room, but the facility where he is includes regular nurse/aide checks throughout the day and overnight, because he needs meds delivered and his new catheter has to be emptied every 4-6 hours (it's not difficult and he could do it himself if he remembered that he had it and why it's there and, more importantly, remembered how to empty it). And the staff members who organize the various activities throughout the day (every day there are at least 4 different things, generally more) will also come around to the rooms and try to rustle the residents up to go play cards or do seated yoga or listen to the musician, etc).

So he definitely has ongoing staff interaction throughout the day. Plus all his meals are in the dining room (which is VERY close to his room, and the [slow] stampede of residents who turn up in the hallway around 3:30 is HILARIOUS [the first seating is at 4:00, and they are READY for dinner), so he sits with other residents for that.

But in the end, his family is what he knows best, and it's the one thing he just keeps reverting to. Which I understand, but it's hard.

Pants Watch 2017 Update: For real, I still have NO IDEA if his new pants have been delivered yet. This is like waiting for that giraffe to give birth. WHEN WILL THE PANTS BE DELIVERED???