Running on Empty…

Last Tuesday was my final day at work for the week, and that day was a partial day. Since that time, I’ve been assisting my mother with the care of my father. I spoke with my awesome boss, and he worked with me so I could take the time needed to assist my mother while waiting for his Home Health Care to start. His Home Health nurse was supposed to be at the house last Monday; however, that did not happen until Friday of last week.

Supplies that were supposed to be here just started arriving today, which was for one item we don’t use. I’m happy to see that it’s begun. Hopefully, my mother will get the remaining supplies soon. I’ve been running errands for my mother to ensure she has adequate supplies until the ones ordered with his care start to arrive. I spent a few hundred dollars worth to ensure that she had plenty of stores. My mother tried to pay me; however, I told her I wasn’t taking her money. She’s my parent. They did so much for my brother and me when we were children and continued to support us through adulthood emotionally.

It feels strange seeing my father so utterly dependent on others for the basic needs that we sometimes take for granted. My father is being fed through an IV tube attached at his stomach.  A catheter condom is how he urinates, and the bed liner catches his bowel movements. Undergarments are out of the question since he developed a bedsore in the hospital. Even with all the extra tasks that have been placed upon us, I know my mother (nor I) would want it any other way.

Today, his physical therapist and his occupational therapist were at their house; at different times. Finally, he was able to sit up on his own. Success! Baby steps. While I know it will be a while before my father can do things he once could do. I do believe in time that this will happen. I have an older friend (in her 80’s) that faced the same thing. She had to relearn everything, and like my father, she was fortunate to have family that loved her and did what was needed to take care of her needs, even if it meant sacrificing their downtime to make that happen.

I’ll be returning to work tomorrow. I must say that it truly is a blessing working from home. If I worked outside my home, I would be unable to assist my mother since my father has been released from the hospital. At times, as the title states, I genuinely feel like I’m running on empty. However, I’m more than willing to give up my time to assist my father during the healing process.

In other news: Cricut Maker 3 and Canon Pixma 8620

Yesterday, I was finally able to squeeze a few moments setting up my Cricut and registering at Cricket Design Space. Cricket Design Space is the program that’s needed to operate the Cricket machine.

I browsed Etsy, discovered and bought a few .png and .svg files that I like. So I created stickers with a few of the images today.

I still have a lot to learn; however, I’m pleased with the stickers created, and I know my daughter is also.

I gave her the stickers that I created. I’m still impressed with my purchase of the Canon Pixma 8620. The photo quality is terrific. I’ll be curious to see how long the ink cartridges last. I did notice that some stores are already sold out of printer ink. I better order some ink now before they’re gone.