Another Issue at the Nursing Home, A Snake, and Belly Dancing Practice

Here in Texas we're being bombarded with weather reports of Dolly, a tropical storm which will be turning into a full blown hurricane (possibly a category 1 which is the weakest) and it's going to hit somewhere between Port O'Connor and Brownsville. In other words, it's a broad range of South Texas so it just depends on loads of factors. But, the way that newcasts are being constantly harping on the storm people have already rushed out and started preparations for the hurricane. Water and bread are already sold out at most of the grocery stores, which I didn't even bother going to. Linda did tell me that a friend of hers said that she was going to stock up on a bag of cheetos, which sounds like a prudent idea if you ask me. I'd rather be stuck with a ginormous bag of Hot Fries while stuck indoors weathering the storm. But then again, I am just dreaming. I'm still on my diet. Whew! I've made it through one whole week. Yayyyyy!

Instead of battling the crowds at the store, I stopped by to visit Mom, and I almost came undone when I saw the state that she was in. The crappy hairdresser wasn't very meticulous with Mom, and I was enraged to see that she had hair all over her face,outfit, and the tray where she had had her lunch on. I showed that to Annemarie and another nurse, but they just shrugged when I told them. Plus, I showed them the smudge that she had on her cheek, which at that time I believed it to be hair dye. Minutes later, after I had Ana change Mom into some fresh,hair-free clothes, I was going to polish Mom's nails when I noticed that Mom's left hand had blood encrusted on her two fingers. I charged back to the nurses to show them the injury. They said, "Oh it must have just happened" after they stated, "We don't know where she had those fingers pinched". Um, first of all, if it had just happened the blood would have been fresh--not caked up. Anyway, it was like communicating with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum---I was getting nowhere. You can't reason with stupidity! I was so viciously angry and at the same time so down-right sentimental! I would have collapsed in a heap of screaming and tears if Mom wasn't there in the hallway with me. How can something like this happen? Why do things like this keep happening?? Last week, all of her perfume sprays (all seven of them) were stolen!! Anyway, today's mystery remained unsolved and I carefully polished Mom's nails and then gave her coffee and a snack before I left. And that's when I saw the blood on the lower portion of her tray. I took photos of it, which is when I discovered what had happened. Her fingers had gotten caught on the bottom part of the tray when some careless worker pushed in Mom's tray, smashing her two fingers in the process. I made sure to point this out to Rachel, a nurse who dared to roll her eyes at me a few months back when I questioned the lies that she told me. When things like this happen, I wish with all of my heart that Mom could be back home with us. I wish that I could protect her from everything.

After visiting Mom, I came back home and got ready for Belly Dancing class as quickly as possible. This is when I saw the dead snake in the middle of the road. I told Leigh about it before leaving for class. Thus, he took these good photos of it. However, we have no clue as to what kind of snake it is.

Before going into class, I met up with Linda, who gave me this really cool purse for my bday. It has three windows where I can interchange photographs to suit my mood. I loved it! Plus she gave me a cute koozie (which I'll post tomorrow) and a pretty pair of house slipper socks.We made it to class on time, and my instructor asked me if I had Arab or Greek ancestors because of my eyes. Isn't that cool? But, as far as I know, I had Spanish, German, Native American, and Mexican ancestors, but who really knows every single descendant? Maybe there was a descendant somewhere in there that was part Greek or Arab. I'd love to think that I am!

Belly Dance practice was grueling but fun. We went through so many different routines, and my mind was boggled for a bit. But we learnt so many different moves today despite that the rest of the community was preparing for the hurricane. As our belly dance teacher said, "We're going to dance the storm away" while warming up at the beginning of class.

Site to Visit

Visited Mom today after sleeping in late. I'm still not feeling 100 percent but I feel a lot better than yesterday. Linda had had a nice lunch with Mom, and we spent some more time with Mom until she grew sleepy. Then I headed to the grocery store before coming home to make dinner for Leigh before he heads out to Bible School. So far, my eating habits have been improving with each day. I'm worried about blowing it this weekend though since I can splurge a bit since I still have thirtysomething points left to devour freely. I just have to keep myself in check!

Oh yeah, Linda told me about this website. I'm soooooooooooooo excited to see my bellydancing instructor here: http://www.seir.us/index2.htm

If you have a chance, look at the "MEDIA" section,Seir and the dancers perform beautifully. Plus, you can see Seir do her abdominal waves---something I'd love to be able to do someday!

Storm Causes Power Outage

Yesterday was a bit of a blur. I stayed at home with allergies, and most of it was spent in bed with a book until the lights went out because of the storm. Then I was in the living room with an enormous dog sitting on my foot (he has a phobia of thunderstorms) shivering. At one point, he actually tried to sit on ME while I was sitting on the couch! Oh goodness..lol. After an hour and a half of being without electricity, the storm subsided and the electricity returned.

Day Two of My Diet

Stopped by to visit Mom today but she was sleepy and already in bed at 1:45 so I stayed there for a bit and overheard one of the CNA's saying that this was the SECOND time that Mom had been placed in bed. Another CNA told her that Mom shouldn't be placed in bed until 1 1/2 hours after meals, and the first CNA said Oh well--I made a mistake. Grrrr. I could have gone ballistic but I didn't. I am, however, jotting everything down and keeping names,dates, etc so that I can present this to the director if things don't improve. But I'm praying that things will improve. I'm trying to be oh so positive. You know the saying, "like attracts like". So I'm hoping this will work.

After 20 mins, I went over to do some more grocery shopping.Then I stopped by to visit Mom once again. This time she was awake.So I gave her a snack with a diet soda. Then it was time for me to leave. I had to get back on time to get Leigh some dinner before he heads to church for Summer Bible School. I arrived and unpacked groceries as quickly as possible. Then Leigh arrived. Five mins after that, a Federal Official arrived to ask us a few questions about a neighbor of ours who applied for some sort of job. Once that was done, I finally finished dinner and felt as if I had been caught in a whirlwind of activity in such a short period of time. Leigh left, and Rocco and I were left to our own devices. And I'm sure he enjoys that because he gets stuffed with treats galore when he helps guard me outside as I'm doing yardwork.

So far, so good. I'm keeping a food diary and have been since yesterday. I'm on a diet---wait, no, it's a "healthy lifestyle choice" according to an article I've read. Yesterday went by smoothly. Today, however, I was craving cookies. Call me Cookie Monster...lol!

For the rest of the evening, I had dinner, did some yardwork, and drank loads of water. My willpower grew stronger once my body had been nourished with dinner. But I do feel that drinking lots of water is helping me stop my hunger pangs. Plus, my body is craving water now.

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Birthdays and Belly Dance Class

I visited Mom, and on the way I was slowed down by construction on the road and then work being done along the railroad tracks. I decided to enjoy the wait by snapping a few photos. After about 15 minutes I was back on my route to see Mom. She was with Linda when I arrived and her mood was joyful and giggly. I love seeing her in that mode. Later, Mom and I went to the dining room where we had been invited to attend one of the resident's 101st bday! We ended up crashing another party we didn't know about , so Mom enjoyed two different bday parties..lol. My bad.

I rushed home, ate lunch at 4 in the afternoon, showered and got dressed for bellydancing class. I took my brand new tribal pants (even though they're too long!), and my instructor told me that I can tie the sides of these type of pants and voila! Problem solved. Plus, they look pretty awesome tied up at the sides. Also, she liked the pants so much that she's ordering a pair for herself and she is thinking of recommending these pants to the rest of the belly dancing group. Isn't that cool?

In class, we practiced our yoga, which sets my soul in such a relaxed state! Then it was time to dance, and we practiced undulations, infinity loop movements with our hips, chest, and arms and tons of other movements,which I intend to practice on throughout the week so I can ingrain the movements into my brain.

I purchased my first hip scarf today. It looks exactly like this except it's a shade lighter!

Birthdays and Belly Dance Class

I visited Mom, and on the way I was slowed down by construction on the road and then work being done along the railroad tracks. I decided to enjoy the wait by snapping a few photos. After about 15 minutes I was back on my route to see Mom. She was with Linda when I arrived and her mood was joyful and giggly. I love seeing her in that mode. Later, Mom and I went to the dining room where we had been invited to attend one of the resident's 101st bday! We ended up crashing another party we didn't know about , so Mom enjoyed two different bday parties..lol. My bad.

I rushed home, ate lunch at 4 in the afternoon, showered and got dressed for bellydancing class. I took my brand new tribal pants (even though they're too long!), and my instructor told me that I can tie the sides of these type of pants and voila! Problem solved. Plus, they look pretty awesome tied up at the sides. Also, she liked the pants so much that she's ordering a pair for herself and she is thinking of recommending these pants to the rest of the belly dancing group. Isn't that cool?

In class, we practiced our yoga, which sets my soul in such a relaxed state! Then it was time to dance, and we practiced undulations, infinity loop movements with our hips, chest, and arms and tons of other movements,which I intend to practice on throughout the week so I can ingrain the movements into my brain.

I bought my first hip scarf today--It's a tad lighter than this shade.

Senegalese Food at Church

Leigh and I attended church to find that Jessica was making a presentation of the work she and others accomplished while in Senegal.It was very interesting to hear of how they spread the word of God in another country. In the middle of her presentation, she had servers pass out a sample of Thebouidienne, which is a traditional food that she was taught to make. And,ooh, it was delicious! It's a dish with rice, fried fish, spices,etc. I'd love to get the recipe for this and actually make it one evening for us. Plus, we had a tea that had a punch to it called attaya. Out of the two, I preferred the cheb aka Thebouidienne. Here's a site for the recipe:

http://recipecircus.com/recipes/GeniaMarie/FOREIGNCOUNTRYRECIPES/Senegal_Thebouidienne_Fish_in_the_Mann.html

or

http://sociolingo.wordpress.com/2008/04/04/african-cuisine-senegal-ceebu-jen-rice-and-fish/

or

http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1626,158174-248195,00.html

Our church members will be making another trip to Senegal. Maybe we might be able to make the trip as well someday.

Much of the remainder of the day went smoothly. At around 4ish, Leigh went to help out at the church since their Bible Summer School commences this week, and they needed to move some heavy furniture as well as prepare some items for tomorrow's arts and crafts class. While he was out, I remained at home and decided to do some yard work when I got a tad wound up with a conversation in the late evening that left me nettled to the core and I needed an outlet. So I decided to go outdoors and remove weeds from the yard. I was working hard and sweating while all of a sudden I saw a slithery tail under the trees. Then I dashed for the phone and told Leigh to COME HOME NOW THERE'S A SNAKKKEEE !!!! He came and killed the thin,slinky snake which although it was beheaded, continued to bite into the air, which gave me the heebie jeebies. Shudder! So far, we believe that it was a cotton mouth snake, maybe.