Thursday night

Today was kind of a whacky experience with Mom. I had asked her in advance what she wanted to do today, but she had no clue. When I got there this morning, I finished preparing our breakfast. During our meal she broke the news that she wanted to go to Bellevue to The Container Store...her mission...to buy yet another trunk.

We set out and got stuck in a huge traffic jam on I5. I realized that I needed gas and that there was a Storables at University Village. Hoping for the best, I got off the freeway and drove straight to the store. I got Mom out of the car, walked her across the short walkway to the elevator and then took her one flight down to the store. It didn't seem like a lot of walking to me...but it turned out to be too much for Mom. Of course, the store didn't have what we needed so we had to turn back around and head to the car. Mom needed to stop and gather herself together. She was breathing pretty hard. We just stood for awhile in the garage until she felt strong enough to get to the car.

Once in the car she told me she needed to go to a Bank of America....and there was supposed to be one somewhere in the U Village, but I couldn't find it. I gave up and went to get gas. By this time I was losing my patience with this wild goose chase so I told Mom I didn't think we had time to go all the way to Bellevue (about 10 miles away), got to the bank, do some grocery shopping an still get me to work by noon. She opted to go to the bank and let me do a little shopping for her on the way.

She did all her banking and arranged for her CD to be turned over...then Mark called to say he would be over shortly. By the time we got home, he called again say he had made a pot of coffee for Mom..but he was on his way to the other end of the city for work. He promised he would come over on Friday. I didn't tell Mom that Mark had been in her apartment....that would put her over the edge.

I unpacked the groceries, made Mom some lunch and then took off for work. After work, I drove over to Bellevue, got the trunk at 20% off and drove through yet another track jam to deliver it to her. When I walked in I discovered that she had move two chairs and a bench to make room for the trunk in her bedroom. She said she felt weak....no wonder, she has a heart condition and is moving furniture!
I put the trunk where she wanted it, helped her turn down the bed and then headed to the kitchen to make her some dinner.

When I served her dinner she kept saying "You are so good to me". It is kind of eerie to hear that phrase because Dad said it all the time when he was really sick. Mom has had a tough week...she seems weaker, grayer, easier to tire. I am hoping that she will have a good time on Sunday when we take her to the Puyallup Fair.