Photo courtesy of morguefile.com
It's 3:00 am. and you are probably wondering why I'm not sound asleep. It's because I now live in a sauna. Right about the time that menopause hit, momma moved in with the hubby and I. Wanting her to be comfortable I taught her how to use the thermostat. It's electric and digital and that just blew her mind. Technology is not her strong point.
This is the biggest mistake I have made to date... and there have been many! Momma also takes blood pressure medicine and is ALWAYS cold. So every time I turn around the thermostat goes to 80! I keep it at a warm 72 degrees which with my menopausal hot flashes already feels like 110.
Photo courtesy of morguefile.com
Last night she was in her room quilting when I went to my room for the night so I said good night and went to write for awhile before going to bed. I feel asleep early after having both babies Saturday night but before I did I made a last check of the house. Doors locked, lights out, thermostat check.
Two a.m., my husband sits up on the side of the bed and it wakes me up immediately since I am a very light sleeper and the sweat running down my body wasn't helping. I asked him what was wrong and he answered back, "I'm melting!" Realizing it wasn't just me in this hot house hell I got up to check the thermostat again -- this time it is set at 90 degrees! So I turn it back down but by this time we are both soaked with sweat. We huddle in our small bathroom with the window open him sitting on the toilet and me sitting on the tub the fan blowing the cold air in to relieve us.
We look at each other in the dark and just start cracking up. Here we are two grown up, married, older adults huddling in the bathroom trying to get a real "breath of fresh air." So when most normal people are sleeping we decide to head out to the garage where we can cool off and hold a conversation without whispering. My neighbors probably think that we are crack heads but hey you do what you got to do.
Photo courtesy of morguefile.com
My husband complains about the electric bill and then I gently remind him that we'll make it up this summer when she turns the air to 90 when it's 120 outside. Strangely this calms him down. It's amazing the things you learn to live with when someone you love has Alzheimer's Disease.
Last week I made breakfast for supper and after I cook she always does the dishes (even though there is a perfectly good dishwasher right next to the sink) but she likes to do them so I don't argue. There were only a few left and I excused myself to go to the restroom and when I came back everything was cleaned up... or so I thought. Turns out momma got confused about which side of the sink holds the garbage disposal. My husband spent the evening taking the pipes apart to pull out all of the junk she had shoved down the drain pipe.
The very next day we kept smelling this weird smell and searched the house trying to find the source. We narrowed it down to the kitchen but knew the pipes were clean because he had it all apart the night before. At this point, I open the freezer to get some ice for my drink and what do I find? An egg carton, inside this egg carton were all the eggshells from the eggs I had used the night before along with the HOT bacon grease which melted the egg carton so my freezer was full of frozen bacon grease all over EVERYTHING!
Photo courtesy of morguefile.com
I don't go back and say "Momma what were you thinking" what good would that do? I just try to minimize the damage and clean up the messes. It could be worse... I'm sure one day it will be worse but for now we're all right. This is what I mean by "laugh at the crazy"! Can I just say, "I'VE GOT THE BEST HUSBAND EVER!"
Remember to appreciate the good, laugh at the crazy and deal with the rest. I love you momma... can I please have my shoes back now?