101 is hot

Bubkis is all I have to say about the earwig comment :) People in CT leave their names because they're not afraid of conflict. ;)

So it was so blasted hot today (yes, Audrey even said those exact words). There are three rooms with air at my parents: the bedrooms. My brother had the day off but spent it all downstairs because it was cooler. He took my Mom to the store today. My Dad was holed up in his bedroom today because of the heat. We have someone else coming on Wednesday about the air conditioning. A singular unit versus central air. The visiting nurse came today and told my Dad he wasn't allowed out of air conditioning. The swelling in his legs went down today but was back up at night time. However, this is encouraging because they were actually down this morning and afternoon. We moved him from his room to the computer room so he and Mom could look at the slides we had put on a CD. There were over 250 for them to look at, and now I know which ones to print. That will be tomorrow's task.

I am organizing the porch (again) because my bio-Mom is coming to help me price things for the Tag Sale. I'll finish that tomorrow, then maybe my Dad can actually sit out there when it's cooler and enjoy his flowers. I'm trying to make a path. I'll also have more pictures for you tomorrow.

For privacy reasons, I won't go into detail, but I witnessed my father in a very vulnerable, painful and frail state today. Not one I want to witness again, but I fear that will be the norm more and more. Before he wasn't in any pain, just uncomfortable, now he's experiencing some pain. My mother told him to take deep breaths, but he just can't do it. He tries to take a deep breath, but it is still very shallow. You have to look really hard when he's sleeping to see if he's still breathing. It's just hard to see your Dad who was once extremely strong, have to have help lifting his legs on to the bed, or couch. I will say, however, he surprised me today: he was able to lift his legs higher than I have seen since I've been here. I think the weights might be working to build a little strength up. I just hope it keeps up that way. That was an encouragement.

He ate really well today, but he's just so weak still. He's been so good at his exercises. We also set up his portable DVD player so he could watch David Jeremiah. He enjoyed that. We can't get that spot on his leg to fully heal, so we've been bandaging it constantly. It's not good for him to bleed because of his blood thinners, but every time I turn around I have to put a band-aid on the guy!

Hopefully tomorrow isn't as hot so he can come out of the room. That would be great! His spirits have been up, though. Before we got here, they had been a little low, but lately they seem to be just fine, which is nice to be around, for sure.

My brother has been a HUGE help to me. While I'm cleaning up after dinner, or making dinner, if he's home, he plays with Audrey and Lew to keep them occupied. He's so good with them. Their faces just light up when they see Uncle Bub. He even had Lew doing the ET Phone Home thing with the finger. He wrestles with Audrey which is what she needs - good old fashioned wrestling. Tomorrow starts her "busy season," as my sister calls it, so hopefully we can get rid of some energy while having fun. She has swimming lessons for the next two weeks 4X's a week and she starts gymnastics tomorrow going until August 10 every week. I'll have to get pictures of my brother and the kids. Every time he mows the lawn he lets Audrey ride on the lawnmower when he's done and she gets to steer. She LOVES it! Lew is content to watch. Good thing. Ok, more tomorrow, maybe.