My Grandma

She will be 89 in May.

She is virtually house bound.

She has falls in her own home but resists acting on the advice from the professionals on how to avoid them.

She refuses to move out of home into a care facility or retirement hostel.

She now has an INS Lifeguard buzzer to wear & pushes the button when she does fall.

She is getting more frail & losing more confidence with each fall.

She is dependant on lots of people to be able to live in her own home, to be independant.

She can't walk to her letterbox anymore.

She has finally agreed to an Aged Care Package which includes 5 hours of in home care each week by an Aged Care Worker from Anglicare.

She thinks her Aged Care Worker is lovely. (phew!)

She should be in a wheelchair when we go out.

She refuses to consider that idea.

She is lonely.

She is getting very vague.

She needs lots of reminding & repeated information.

She worries me to the point I get very stressed.

She has had a community nurse visit a few times recently to change dressings on her feet.

She suggested Grandma needs someone there 24 hours to prevent her from falling.

She is now considering respite care for 2 weeks to see if she likes it.

She heard this idea from her doctor.

She heard it from us too, but ignored it. Continually.

She is now considering going into a retirement home in the hostel section so she has access to assistance 24 hours a day.

She heard this one from her doctor too.

She also heard this from us too, but also ignored it.

She needs to go there.

She needs more company than I or the rest of the family can give her.

She needs assistance to do most things.

She needs to go into care.

She has been highly dependant on me recently & I spent 1 full day + 3 x half days in a row with her. I missed her the next day.

She has more complex needs than we can deal with.

She means a great deal to me.

She needs to go into care.

She must be very frightened.

She needs to go into care.

She understands that we will still have our Tuesdays together.

She is a beautiful old lady.

She is a stubborn old lady.

She is a confused old lady.

She is looking old.

She is losing weight.

She is my Grandma.

I love her heaps.

I dread the day we will eventually lose her.

New School Year

WoW! I can't believe we are already a few weeks into the new school year.

Nor can I believe that it's been over 3 months since I last blogged. I have been reading blogs but my life got a hell of a lot busier over the summer & that's a whole other story to tell.

I did take a photo to share with you of the notes that came home on the first day back to school.

3 kids at 2 schools = LOTS OF NOTES!

They brought home several more over the next few days too.

Here are the culprits!

I always kept a folder for each school (with a 7 year age gap, our 2 boys are always going to be at different schools) but this year I need to devise a different system, as we have welcomed my beautiful teenage niece into our home over the summer break, who is at the same school as our eldest son. So now I need a way of keeping track of his bits, her bits & common bits. I will still have a separate folder for our younger son & now I have a preschool folder for Missy Megan's paperwork too.

How would you tackle this one?

Simple Playgroup Fun

Decorated Iced Arrowroot Biscuits.
Simple but oh so much fun and yummy too!
I even made one too - playgroup is for mum's to enjoy too!
This is how we spend our Wednesday mornings. And we love it.

Did you or do you go to playgroup with your kids?

Day 7 of a 30 Day Meme

A photo that makes me happy.

This is my 88 year old Grandma whom I take out every Tuesday.

Never too old to enjoy ice cream!

I was taking photos of Missy Megan sitting in the back eating hers & I snuck in a photo of Grandma without her even realising!

Grandma had Vanilla, Missy Megan had Strawberry & I had Violet Crumble flavour (even though my all time favourite is Chocolate).

What's your favourite ice cream flavour?

Cuteness

Missy Megan was sitting on Trixie like you would ride a horse.

We are lucky Trixie is SO well tempered as Missy Megan was pulling her ears to "steer" her even though they weren't actually moving.

That last one is after I told her to hop off!

Too cute.

Zac turns 15

Our firstborn, Zac, turned 15 on 26 Oct. We had the family over a couple of days early since the 26th was a Tuesday, which is our busiest evening of the week.

I had to share the cake pictures. After all, I did it for the other two here and here.

The cake at the top is the one my mother-in-law brought over. That is her "thing" for all the birthdays (including mine!).

The guitar cake is one I bought & embellished with guitars. I did not have the time to risk any failures this time round!

The final pic is the four 15 year old deep voiced "men" whose stomachs we had the honour of filling. They all look keen for some cake here.

Zac is in the checked shirt. The two younger kids in the snap are also ours. Golly it was hard to keep those 4 big boys still long enough to take a photo!

A Nightfiller's Perspective.......

Dear Customer Who Pays My Wages & Without Whom I Would Have No Job,

I have just a few issues I would like to raise for your consideration:

1: When I am pushing around my red stock trolley loaded with boxes, please be aware that my load sometimes weighs over 160kg. I am a truck. You are a pedestrian. If we collide, I am going to come out better off than you. So please do not stop in front of me.

2: If I am unloading my trolley & I have  a heavy box in my arms, please do not stop right next to me so I have nowhere to go. You know I am there because I just said "Hello" to you. And you answered me. I have to work quickly. I get in trouble if I take too long so I don't have time to wait for you.

3: Please do not shop in bare feet. Sometimes my boxes fall off my trolley. Especially when you stop in front of me. My trolley is so squeaky & noisy I can be heard from the other end of the store. So don't pretend you haven't heard me coming up behind you. I am sure you would sue us should a 16kg box of coca cola or dog food landed on your toes, so take a bit of responsibility for yourself & wear some damn shoes!

4: Please change out of you pyjamas to come shopping. They are to wear at home. All day if you want to. I don't care. But they are not to wear to shopping.

5: Please change out of your g-string leotard & leggings before coming shopping. You have a better figure than I do & I don't want to look at yours. This also applies to other sporty people whom I am obviously jealous of - at least take your shin pads off if you have been at soccer or hockey - you don't need armour to do the groceries. Unless I am mowing you down with my red trolley. Oh, and swimmers are for swimming. Not shopping. Collisions can happen if young male nightfillers are rubber necking rather than watching where they are going.

6: Be aware of where your children are & what they are doing. Our refrigerated bays are not fences for them to climb up & walk along. If they fell down & hurt themselves we would have SO much paperwork to complete. If they break our equipment you get away with it.

7: Your children if they are under 10 should at least be in the same aisle as you. Then you will actually see that they know how to open packets and bowl balls along the floor.

8: Grocery shopping is a very social experience. If I want to catch up with my neighbours or friends, I just go to Woollies. because it's easier to catch them there then it is to catch them at home. By all means, stop and chat. Take as long as you like. But do me a favour & don't block the aisle. I understand some people view nightfillers as "lower than pond scum" but if I can't get through it means that customers can't get through either. And I need them to get through. So they can pay my wages do their shopping.

9: It is my job to work around you & get out of your way. Not the other way around. Do not apologise for being in my way. If you are not there, I do not have a job. And I kind of need my job. And I kind of like it too. But I can't get out of your way if you hog the aisle insist on walking side by side - your 10 kids included - there is simply no where for me to move to.

10: Yes I know we pile up boxes everywhere & make a big mess. But don't worry, we clean it up when you have all gone home. We like you remember your visit to our store - we like to make it unforgettable. The obstacle course of boxes is part of the free entertainment we provide for you.

11: OOPS, nearly forgot this one! Just like I am a truck & you are a pedestrian or bicycle or mini or whaterver it is you want to be, one simple road rule should always be observed. Keep Left Unless Overtaking. Unless where you live they drive on the opposite side of the road to us. If you & I keep left, we won't have to do the "dance" when meeting in the aisle. We will know where the other is going.

So when you next see me driving my red truck / ferrari/ stock trolley around the place, please smile and say hello, just like I do to you, and then GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY!!!!!

Disclaimer: I am a nightfiller for Woollies & this is entirely my own composition & does not represent the opinion of Woolworths Ltd or any other staff member!

Yours in service,

A Lowly Nightfiller.

What annoys you about grocery shopping? Are we nightfillers a major pain in the bum?