I had dinner with Dad Friday night after driving from work in Alameda (about 45 minutes with traffic). First we stopped by his bank so he could deposit the rent check from his tennant, and take out some money. Then we went to one of his favorite restaurants, Fatapple’s. He couldn’t remember the name, but when he said it was “up the hill” I knew what he meant. I was impressed by how well Dad was using his right hand that was injured. He picked up his water glass with just his right hand, and used his right hand to eat. I mentioned it and he said he was able to use it much more. He has been doing the physical therapy exercises his therapists have recommended.
When we arrived at my home, I showed Dad the new hand grip I had installed near our front steps to make it easier for him to walk up them. He really liked it, and thought I didn’t need to install one on the other side as I had planned.
Saturday morning Margaret made pancakes and we all, including Katie, who usually doesn’t like being outside due to her fear of insects, ate them sitting outside on our deck since the weather was so nice. We left at 1pm for Costco for Dad’s hearing aids to be examined at 2pm. Margaret had made the appointment, and planned to shop while Dad and I were at the hearing aid center. One hearing aid wasn’t working, and we thought it would be good to check the other. While Katie and I waited, the audiologist cleaned both Dad’s hearing aids and Dad said they were working fine. The audiologist recommended that we have the hearing aids cleaned periodically, which we’ll plan to do when he comes down to visit us.
When we got home, Dad and I decided to watch the Cal game. We were disappointed by Cal’s performance, to say the least. Margaret made spaghetti, and we watched the end of Mama Mia! when Dad saw it was playing. Katie has a thing about the movie “The Shining,” and wanted to know if Dad would want to watch it (it’s on Netflix). I asked her to ask him, and he said no. He’s not a fan of horror movies.
Margaret and I talked with Dad about Thanksgiving week, and that Margaret and I will be taking vacation Monday through Wednesday. We invited him to come down early in the week for Thanksgiving festivities. He liked the idea.
Sunday morning we had our coffee with an apple strudel Margaret had bought. Then Dad and I took Buster to the Milpitas Dog Park. Dad likes watching the dogs and the hang gliders and paragliders that practice and takeoff and land in view of the dog park. There were no dogs in the small dog area of the dog park when we arrived, but a few showed up, and Buster played with one by letting it chase him. I’m glad I was able to take some video.
Dad was meeting a friend at Dad’s house at 2:30pm Sunday, which I reminded him about, so I drove him home. His friend invited him to go to the reunion of El Cerrito High class of 1959. When we arrived at Dad’s I helped him get dressed (I reminded him that his friend was arriving soon, and he might want to change). I cleaned out his refrigerator of expired food while he finished getting dressed and waited for his friend. After half an hour, we thought he might not be coming, but Dad didn’t have his number, and Dad’s answering machine had been full for a few days, so he couldn’t have left a message. I checked Dad’s phone’s list of missed calls and found his friend’s name, so we called him. His wife answered and said that Dad’s friend had planned to have lunch with Dad, but when Dad didn’t answer, he decided to just go to the reunion.
I helped Dad pay some bills by writing out the checks, which is still a little difficult for him to do, then using his signature stamp to sign them (he got the stamp when his right hand was so badly injured that he couldn’t write with it). I put the letters in a mailbox on my way home.
I saw that his prescription was running out so I ordered a refill, wrote when it would be available on his calendar, and told him about it. I will also call the caregiver Wednesday morning to let him know. I also left a paper with his current daily dosages so the caregiver knows how much to put in his weekly pill box.
I helped him put together a grocery list for the caregiver to get, or get when going with Dad to the store. Dad likes to browse, and will see things like donut holes that he gets.
I also played the messages on his answering machine to show him that he had messages. He thought he didn’t have any messages, but he didn’t have any new messages. It seems that he’s forgotten how to erase messages after he hears them. Another task we’ll need to do when we visit him. I set a code on his answering machine so I can use it remotely. That way when he is visiting us I can check his messages with him, and delete old messages.
Except for Dad missing the reunion, and Cal’s poor football performance, it was a very good weekend of both fun and tasks completed.
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