First Holiday Package Arrives

The mail carrier brought Mom her first Christmas package today. It was from Suzanne & Manu in Virginia. Suz had mailed it on Thursday; it took only 2 days to get here. As we get closer to Christmas, and the volume of packages gets larger, times for delivery will get longer.

This one got Mom's attention right away.

The gift box & holiday note.

We picked up the Bronco today. It wasn't quite done yet. Blake said the "bad" solenoid really was good and it wasn't the starter either. He said in older vehicles you sometimes have to hold the shift lever in position in order to engage the safety that allows it to start. He also checked the battery and found it is not holding a charge very long; Ron said he would bring jumper cables when he picks it up and replace the battery later. Blake cleaned out the carburetor. He also cleaned up the leaking fluid on the left rear tire. He said it was from the axle not the brake; but he was unable to locate a new axle seal on Friday and the parts stores are closed on the weekend. Ron has a reservation to load the Bronco for shipment on Tuesday, so Blake won't be able to do a search for the seal on Monday and replace it before Ron has to get the Bronco cleaned up for shipment; Ron said he would take care of it later. Blake gave Ron a parts catalog specifically for Bronco's to help him as he restores Dad's old Bronco.

Tomorrow, while Curtis is here, I will be running around with Ron, picking up some other supplies he will need to get the Bronco ready for shipping. One of the things we will need to do is to find a siphon so Ron can reduce the amount of gas in the tank, one of the requirements for shipping. He will also need to wash the Bronco and vacuum it out, as well as emptying out anything loose in the passenger compartment.

In order to run out & pick up the Bronco today I had to distract Mom since she did not want to take a nap. I did laundry in the morning and it was dry & ready for folding about the time I needed to go and pick up the Bronco. So I put it in front of the TV and asked her to fold the laundry. It worked fairly well to keep her occupied; the laundry keeps her in one room, the TV slows down her folding.

About 7:30 this morning I heard the door alarm go off and found Mom out in the garage. She was looking for the newspaper, which was actually sitting on the kitchen counter next to her pills. About 2 years ago Mom's doorbell was broken and she asked me to fix it. I was able to talk her in to installing a doorbell that had 2 door alarms; I said it would let her know if someone was sneaking in to the house. In reality, I was planning ahead to when I knew I might have to be vigilant about her wandering out of the house. It has come in handy so I can remind her that she has to take her cane when she goes out the door; of course, I am also keeping an eye on her.

The new lotions seem to be helping. Sort of. If I get enough lotion on Mom it really lessens the itching. But if she misses a spot or she skimps on it, she itches. I have found that I need to keep an eye on her about 3 hours after we first apply the lotion to see if she is still itching anywhere, then we need to apply more lotion. Last night I missed a spot, her left armpit; this morning she woke up with about a 2" patch of dried blood on her flannel nightgown. I was only able to figure it out when I was doing laundry and found a much larger patch of blood in the armpit of her nightgown.

Happy Birthday to Stacey!