The weekend

Friday, Paul and I did errands in the afternoon. Sure is nice to have company when doing such mundane things. Afterwards, he took me out to dinner :)

Saturday, we drove to Bismarck. It was a beautiful, sunshiney day and we were able to find the turquoise shower curtain I was looking for... at the first place we looked!

We both got new shoes, Paul got new jeans and a couple of shirts and we had lunch at the Big Boy. Always a highlight in my Bismarck shopping experience and I've turned Paul on to their fries and gravy :)

After we got home, Allison dropped the boys off for a few hours so she and Karter could go out for dinner with friends. It's sure nice to have help when I've got the boys. By the time Allison got back to pick them up, they were curled up on the couch alongside Paul & Stella, watching monster trucks on TV.

Today, I'm going to have dinner with my Grandma at the nursing home. Paul is going to watch the game with his Dad and Brother. I plan to bake cookies this afternoon and Paul will be coming up to try a new recipe I found for supper :) He's a great guy and I'm sure enjoying my time with him.

Stella's Big Day

After spending the morning at the groomer's, Stella went to the nursing home to visit. She got to see Grandma, my Dad and Alta Hove (Lerri's mom). Plus she got a lot of loving and hugs from the staff. She's sleeping "like a dog" now :)
Paul's coming to see her tonight. I haven't figured out if it's Stella or me he comes to see but every time he calls, he asks how she is and if she misses him.

Telephone call

Me: Hello?
Jameson: Grandma, when can we come to your house for supper? Can we come tomorrow night?

So, instead of my Mom and Paul coming for dinner tonight, Allison, Karter, my Mom, Paul , Jameson and Gage are coming :) Should be chaos as usual when they're all here. It'll be baptism by fire for Paul. Hope he's up for it :) Guess I'll have to cook an extra chicken.

Thank you, Chuck!

So, Mom and I started to pack up Grandma's apartment today. I did the kitchen and living room and Mom did the bathroom and utility closet. We carried a ton of stuff to the dumpster and packed the other stuff. Sad to see a life in boxes. The only room left is her bedroom. Long morning.

This afternoon the doctor at the hospital called and said he wasn't so sure Grandma should go to a nursing home. Couldn't she go home and have someone stay with her? Or could she go to an assisted living place? Uhh, no. Number one is that she can't afford assisted living and there's no one who can take care of her 24/7. Mom's an only child, eighty years old and has a husband in the nursing home for Pete's Sake! Doesn't he know that we've already considered the options? Just because Grandma said she could take care of herself, doesn't mean she can. She also says she's been widowed for 14 years. Try 60!!!

At any rate, Mom put a call in to Grandma's doctor (Chuck) who amazingly said that she belongs in a nursing home. DUH! Someone oughta slap that other doctor. I wish I knew who it was so I could do it myself.
UGH, today sucked!

Visiting Institiutions

Not only did Paul and I go visit Grandma yesterday, we also stopped at the nursing home to visit Dad. Both Grandma and Dad seemed to like him and he actually thought they were both cool people :) Grandma surprisingly didn't make any off the wall comments that embarrassed me, although she did tell him I have more purses than Carter has liver pills ;) And at least it gives Paul a little insight into who I am.
We have plans to get together Tuesday night and next weekend he's taking me to Bismarck to look for the evasive shower curtain I've been on the hunt for.

I'm going to help Mom clean out Grandma's apartment today and tomorrow and then plan to start searching for a new dining room table later this week. I'd like to get a counter-top height one, if I can only find it in the color wood and style I want. Wish me luck!

Fun Weekend

Paul picked me up Friday afternoon and we went out to Patty's and picked apples, stopped at my Mom's so she could meet him and then were off to the movies. We saw the new Jodi Foster movie and both enjoyed it. Then we came back here for a quick bite to eat and made the dough and filling for a batch of apple turnovers. There's something about a guy who'll stand side by side with you at the kitchen sink peeling apples :) To me, that's romance and I love the companionship.

Yesterday he came over early and kept me company while I made a Mexican feast. Jane and Marty joined us for dinner and we all had a great time. Marty and Jane both remembered Paul from our younger days and hit it off beautifully. Jane took me aside at one point to tell me that Paul's a keeper :) I think I already knew that :) After they left, Paul stayed for quite awhile, visiting and helping me get things around here back in order.

Today he's coming over and we're goig to be making approximately 60 apple turnovers for the freezer. Lucky guy! Although I have to say that he seems to enjoy being my sous chef. And he most certainly enjoys the fruits of our labors. We plan to go visit my Grandma this afternoon and I did warn him that I am not responsible for anything she says to him. God only knows what that'll be :)

I'm having such a good time hanging around with him and he says he's really enjoying our time together too. In fact, he's asked me to go to Minnesota with him for a race in early October :) This is all a little on the scary side for me but I'm enjoying every minute of it. And Stella is getting quite attached too :)

A man in the house :)

Paul came over after work last night for awhile. Sure is nice to have a relaxing evening with a guy around. He unloaded all the bottled water out of my car that I bought a few days ago. Sure nice to have a guy around to do the heavy stuff. He's such a nice guy and very easy to have around. I'm beginning to really like it :)

We're going to a movie tonight, up to visit my grandma this weekend, taking his Harley to Patty's to pick apples and are having Marty & Jane over for dinner Saturday night. I'm anxious to see how well he gets along with them. They're important to me so that should be a big test. I mentioned going to Bismarck to look for a shower curtain and he said it sounded like a good reason for a little road trip. I just need to find someone to watch Stella. It's a little scary how well he's fitting in to and rounding out my life.