Income Tax Time

 This year I am going to keep track of all of Ed's medications because a couple of them are not covered by his insurance. I hadn't bothered claiming that on his income tax but decided I should start doing that. It is cumbersome to keep all the receipts but I can see that the costs of maintaining my husband in the home will gradually increase over time although I never go shopping except for food and the drug store so that might offset it somewhat!

I would like him to be comfortable though so will work away at that. Keeping books is something I have done all my life so not really a big new deal. I just couldn't be bothered the last couple of years when he started into all this medication. 

Cleaning completed - just one day late

 Cleaning completed for the week! Amazed that I have accomplished it. The new chair is fabulous and saving possibly as much as six or seven lifts a day. Once the hospital bed is acquired that saves a few more. Someone needs to invent a toilet that lifts a person up as well. Then there is the chair lift and that needs a way to get a person off at the top or bottom that doesn't involve lifting at all. But the few lifts that are left are more doable. I do want to have a better chair in the kitchen. It does need to have wheels but needs a locking mechanism so will have to think about that for a bit. Other than that we are settling into good routines. 

Blood work will be done at home for a couple of months and then we will see if we can manage trips out. The snow did defeat us ultimately but possibly just the cold and the lack of a ramp. The ramp is in the planning stages. Probably we really do not want to move and gradually this house continues to accommodate us as it always has. Ed and the girls went off looking at new houses in Chapel Hill years ago now but for one reason or another the three of them couldn't decide to move and so we have stayed in this house for nearly 43 years now. We are the ones who have lived on this street the longest now; everyone else eventually moved away. We were thinking as we looked out one of the front windows that when we first moved in we could see the Ottawa River! That was a long time ago now. 

Rest day tomorrow and Sunday and perhaps I will make it to Church this Sunday. That would be nice actually. I miss going especially now that it is on YouTube. Going downtown is just too time consuming unfortunately and I will not be doing that in the near future for sure even after COVID; I rather think we will have an after-COVID life.

Just one day behind in my cleaning endeavours

Managed to complete the two floors by wednesday this week leaving me with just the basement and will do that Friday. Nice if I can keep that up.

The sitting/reclining/standing chair

The new chair arrived today for Ed and he thinks it will let him stand up by himself from sitting on it. He has tried it out a few times most successfully. That will save a number of assisted lifts a day for sure. Our daughter told us about the chair so we ordered one. 

Feeling very stressed today but hopefully will feel better tomorrow. My nervous disorder is in full command of me at the moment and I need to slow down and figure things out. I have lived with knowledge of my nervous disorder for nearly 46 years but the initial diagnosis way back then of Multiple Sclerosis is unlikely given my age and ability to recover. It is likely something less difficult to manage or if Multiple Sclerosis I have been lucky through the years. 

Missed Church again

 Sunday morning was just too busy and I couldn't leave my husband as there were too many things that he needed doing. Do miss my online Church service live. But I have been present through this past eight months which has been rather nice. 

Today I salted the laneway and walk as it is icy out there today. Melting for sure but another cold snap expected so best to salt and see if it will melt faster (lowering the freezing point and all that!). This is cleaning the top floor day and I have managed almost half of it now. The robot vacuum is great and does an excellent job. I can just nip around and get the things it does not do. Although that still does take a couple of hours in the afternoon once the vacuuming is done. When the vaccine comes we will investigate having someone come in and clean the bathrooms and kitchen once a week. A good concentrated cleaning on those rooms would just leave me with the day rooms, bedrooms and basement. I would then have time to clean out cupboards on a rotating basis. 

Still no DNA done really. Occasionally I get a little time to glimpse at all of that.