Actually, I was working from the long term care rehab facility for most of the day. What the heck did we ever do without wi-fi? Of course, working from the rehab facility means multi-tasking. There was an almost constant swirl of activity around the Command Post most of the day so it’s a good thing that my current prodject is beyond the deep-thinking / strategizing stage and on to the writing / tinkering / tweaking / ancillary-documentation stage.

Becaaaauuuse… Lemme see… Today, I answered questions about politics and conic sections and alternative sources of energy and what those black pipes were on the roof of the building next door and I fergit what else. The only thing I was able to answer with any kind of certainty was, “What is a parabola?” Because (don’tcha know), I know *all* the conic sections. I looked up words (eviscerate) and googled things (Prince William’s last name). And I broke up a fight. Actually Grandroobly broke up a fight. When I got down there this morning, Moosonee and Blue Bunny disrupted The Commander’s in-depth session with her latest Time magazine with a bit of a set-to. Grandroobly (in the form of a photo) swooped down and squelched it. At any rate, I was able to do my work and field off-hand questions and communications pretty much without missing a beat.

About a billion people were in and out. Alice the OT goddess and her partner in crime Harold, who called me Kayak Woman! Nurses and activity folks and cleaning folks and I dunno who else. I had yet another episode today of somebody saying, “I think I know you” and me replying with, “Did I go to high school with you?” Yes. Floyd. He’s a wee bit younger than me but his sister was in my class and I worked with her at Tempo. I haven’t seen her in about a billion years. She was trying to have children then. I bet she is loving a whole passel of grandchildren by now. Lunch with several ladies whose brains are functional but not all of them are as physically able as The Comm.

I was slodging to the post office through a deluge and Radical Betty’s car came along and picked me up. Oh, of course Radical Betty was not in the driver’s seat. If she’s lucky, somebody is letting her drive the Edmund Fitz! It was driven by none other than the mean old, grunchie old Grinchie. “I knew it was you by your gait!” Yes. People tell me I have a distinctive gait. Sorting mail, writing checks and filling out deposit slips taaarrred The Comm out pretty well this afternoon. But she can do those things and wants to and for now, I’m gonna enable her.

Here’s the thing. This sucks. Old age sucks. But this place is okay. It is clean. It smells good (and I have an ultra-sensitive nose). The staff is friendly and attentive and upbeat. And professional. Yes, there are some residents there who might seem a little scary. They are not. They are our most vulnerable citizens and they are doing the best they can to communicate in a world where people don’t have time for them. They are safe in the long-term care and I am impressed by the loving dedication of those who are taking care of them, feeding them and cleaning them up if they cannot do that for themselves (and The Comm *can* do those things and so much more). It is a job I do not think I could do and these folks rock!

Here’s the other thing. This is temporary for The Commander. It is hard and some days are going to be better than others. For a variety of reasons. But the goal that everyone on our team agrees with is that she will get outta there. Still, there are times when there isn’t a lot going on and if you have finished your rehab for the day (and she does need rest too) and aren’t interested in bingo or whatever, it isn’t that easy. I am doing my best to keep her focused on the end goal, which is getting outta there. Today was a better day than yesterday.

I think that I have formulated a vision for the future that will work for both of us. And no, I have not acted on any of it yet. I am familiar with the excellent facilities and services that are available to us in the area but, in the end, it has to be her decision. She is of sound mind and rehabbing fabulously. For various reasons, I *think* she is in agreement with my vision and is working things out with herself. I know that she does NOT want to move to the Planet Ann Arbor! She is a very intelligent, complicated person and I think she will have good and bad days. She is facing excruciatingly hard decisions. It sucks! And I can’t just twinkle my nose like B-Witch does and make magic. But I am going to do my absolute best to make sure we work together to arrange the best quality of life for her that we can. And for now, that means a temporary stay at the long term care rehab. With Alice and Harold and all of our other wonderful team members.

Oh yeah. Today is the birthday of the Twinz of Terror, aka the GG and the UU. I am missing that. When is somebody going to come up with an iPhone apparation app? Hmmm?

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