The New Schedule Begins

I posted a few weeks ago that my main day-time caregiver would be having surgery and be gone for recovery up to six months. Sara's procedure was on Wednesday and went well. I pray her recovery period goes well also, but my new caregiver schedule has started.

Thursday afternoon, one of my infrequent caregivers came to stay with me for a few hours. She doesn't do anything major like suctioning, but can help with putting me up and down in bed. Therefore, she came after lunch which allowed mom to go to her office and work on paperwork. Dad also stayed in the morning to do some of my needs before going to work and returning at 4:00 for more cares. It's a hybrid system that works and allows everybody to do what is needed. The same scenario, with different afternoon help, will repeat four more Thursdays in July and August.

Friday is generally the day when dad can get off work so he and mom can run errands and have their "date day" of sorts. Without Sara, it means I need to tag along with these outings to supply the household and just get out a while. Therefore, late Friday morning, the three of us ventured an hour east to Ottumwa and arrived around lunch.

Since Ottumwa is also a train town, we picked up fast food and ate by the tracks. Unfortunately, Friday was yet another day of thunderstorms and heavy rain. The best place to park was under a bridge as we dined on garlic bacon cheeseburgers from Sonic (which I highly recommend, along with a breath enhancer).

After lunch, we drove to our first destination of the Aldi grocery store. I've heard many tales of red bag chicken and other delicacies from Aldi, but have only visited a few times. Unfortunately, the downpour continued while we sat contemplating our next move. After several minutes, the deluge decreased

enough that dad could get everyone out of the van without getting completely soaked, just mildly wet. I followed my parents around the store, making occasional suggestions for items to purchase. After visiting the dairy section, one portion of the master list was complete and we could move on to other retail establishments.

Thankfully, the rain had now stopped and it was much easier to get in and out of the van. We moved on to Walmart and another grocery store before the list of needed items was mainly complete. Our group returned home about five hours after we departed. Once I had laid flat for a while and had supper, I spent the late evening with my regular Friday activity of updating church bulletins.

Thus, living the quad life has times that are needed to adapt. Other than a few Fridays when I have meetings, this will likely be a similar scenario for several months. I like getting out in summer, but hopefully we'll have a warm fall into November. More adventures will come, but I'm sorry my parents don't get time alone.