Thursday #7: The Grocery Store / 2-18-10

So, today I took grandma to the grocery store for the first time. Two weeks ago I went to the store for her on a Friday and picked up some things she had on a list she gave me and it made her pretty happy. So, she made another list. My mom told me the night before so I could plan on taking grandma during our time together.
When I got to her house, I made breakfast right away so we could get on our merry way. My mom told me that grandma needs to eat before we go out, which is not a problem for me because if I wait to eat, it won't take long for me to get cranky and slow too.
She had her favorite: scrambled eggs and dry toast with jelly. For the first time, I "jellied" her toast for her and put the top piece over the bottom and sliced it in half (usually she does it). Then, I noticed for the first time she ate it like a sandwich and didn't pull the slices apart..maybe she thought I made her a jelly sandwich.

After breakfast I took her blood pressure and gave her her pills. I also take my blood pressure sometimes too out of curiosity. Since three women in my family have high blood pressure, why not start keeping track of mine now, right? Looks good so far. Grandma jokes "oh, right, are you trying to tease me with your perfect numbers?"

Together on the way to the store (and as you can see, I finally got prescription sunglasses and grandma brought her pair this time):

Her pair of J-Lo shades that is...and look at those pouty model lips:

Alright, now for the good stuff. Now remember she doesn't get out much nor has she been to the store in a while. So, she likes looking at everything. At first I was afraid she was going to put tons of stuff in the cart the way she was eyeing everything..but no, she was just intrigued.

She really liked these tomatoes and made me feel them...they were "perfectly firm."

Cat food: 10 for $4. We started to count, but once she got to 4 she decided that was enough. All chicken and salmon flavor.

She wanted a mini travel toothpaste, but decided she would think about it.

Picking sweet potatoes:

The one thing that was most important to her to get from the store was Tostido's Spinach Dip! She loves that stuff! Here she is looking for it. I told her it was probably on the chip aisle, but she insisted on looking around the produce section and vegetable freezer section:

I waited patiently for her but began to make my way with the cart to where I thought it would be. Here she is slowly and unsurely following me:

I FOUND IT! AND SHE WAS SO HAPPY! That man behind just doesn't understand:

"What was it doing here?!" she said. It was actually on one of those side shelves in a random spot next to the cleaning aisle!

Did you say cleaning aisle? Grandma loves to clean, so then suddenly there she went to have a gander. She walked away so fast, I thought she disappeared or was running from me:

Packing it in. She is pretty strong and wants to help equally which I think is great so she feels able and capable still (that's important to her) though I did try to lift the heavy things first so she couldn't.

Buckled and set:

When we got home we made coffee. She had been out of creamer and hadn't had her cup for the day yet. She asked me how much cream I wanted.
I said "a two count."
She said "a one-two count or a one-one count," and proceeded to count to two, which was actually probably equivalent to a 5 count.
And I said "perfect."
It's no wonder the creamer goes so fast.

And here we are practicing the sample driving tests online for the 3rd week in a row. She got 18 out of 20 correct! Here's my drawing showing her what it means to make a left turn from a one-way street onto another one-way street where you must make sure the traffic is moving to the left as well:

After the test taking we decided to go to AAA. She has been worried that the written driving test is going to change soon and wants to make sure all of our studying is not in vain if that's the case. I found out the CA DMV already published the 2010 driver's handbook and we went to see if we could get one.
While we were walking up to the doors she told me, "You know what I'm gonna do? And you can't tell anyone, it's a secret."
And of course, I said, "yes, tell me!"
She said, "I'm going to dye my hair red right before I take that test. Then they'll think I'm younger and I'll fool them!"
I said, "Awesome, I'll totally help you!"
So, don't be surprised all of you out there following (Aunt Sharon and mom)! haha. I'm on grandma's side if she wants to get wild!

Anyway, AAA said they didn't have the new handbooks yet, but were expecting them to come in next Thursday morning. So next week we're going to call before and maybe head back. On the ride home grandma told me in the car, she will never forgive that Doctor Miller for taking away her license, never ever.

Thursday #6 / 2-11-10

This week I just relaxed with grandma and only took two photos...of her kitty socks!


We ate breakfast, did a bunch of driving tests, and watched Little House on the Prairie.
She actually has been doing super well on the tests and she studies her notes all week. When she gets an answer right, she says, "well, I just don't know how I got that right, just lucky." And i say "no, you've been staring at the answers all week and subconsciously remembered it, that's great!" She also HATES "DOUBLE YELLOW LINE SOLID OR BROKEN STUFF!" Don't we all?! Does anyone actually know the facts on those or follow them correctly? Well, I suppose I will have them ingrained in my head soon enough and if I ever have to take the written DMV test I will by default be prepared!
So while we were almost finished taking the tests, Little House on the Prairie came on. She looked up from the computer and just started staring at it.
She said, "oh, my shows on. Whenever it comes on I stop whatever I'm doing and watch it."
I said, "ok, well, do you want to just finish this test, there's only 2 more questions and then we can watch it."
"Ya, that'll be fine," she said.
Then we watched two episodes and she got really into it and commented throughout the show like she was a character and it was all intense..."Oh, he's a crummy Doctor, a real dirty liar. That other Doctor better come back."
I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thursday #5 / 2-4-10

When I arrived this Thursday grandma was watching Golden Girls..too perfect.

She loves it!

I told her we were hitting the town to get breakfast..and where else would that be but..FARMER BOYS! Here is her getting her cute little bootie socks on and Queenie is telling Tinkerbell a secret, probably something like, "ok, now when she's gone, I get the bed!"

Me waiting for her while she gets a jacket from her room:

"Where do you guys think you're going, huh?":

Ope, this was on the table..looks like she's been studying!:

It was super bright while we were driving, so I offered her an extra pair of sunglasses I had. They were even missing a side arm..but they stayed in place. Here she is putting them on:

And they look good too! I might fix them for her!

Here's my sunglasses: flip-shades over my prescription glasses. I gotta see straight and don't want to squint:

Alright, straw time...


Got it this time!

While we were eating I do have to admit I felt a bit sad by a few of her comments. One was, "I bet you wish I wasn't here with you, so you could be here with your boyfriend or friends." I told her, "no, i don't. He is at work anyway, so i would actually be here by myself, and in that case I wouldn't be here at all and eating cereal at home. So, I am very happy to be here and here with you." And another being how what a "dumby" she thought she was now and that she use to be smart. Of course, I talked to her about it and tried to lift her self-esteem and spirit, but it still made me think about how fast life is and sunk my heart for a moment.

She ate it all...except for one slice of bacon...FOR QUEENIE! now I don't think I burned my bacon last time!
One for her, one for Queenie.

Just got home and happy! When she was first getting in the car she had her latte and said "does this car have any comb holders?" She meant cup-holders I'm sure; she was more forgettful this day I could tell. Also in the car, a piece of our conversation: she said, "what do you call Clarke (my boyfriend)?" I said, "I don't know, Clarkey, Clarko?" And a few minutes later, while referring to him she said "What time does Cook get off work?" New nicknames...i love it.


"Queenie...stop taking the bacon on the carpet or i'm gonna take it away from you baby!":

"No kitty, not for you.":

"Fine.":

Signing a card we were sending to cousin Emily...She wrote on the top part of the card first. To end her portion, she introduced my part saying something like "Alayna Albert will now be writing below." She asked me my last name because she said she forgot it. Once I told her, she said, "Oh, ya, you're still an Albert.":

And lastly, before I left she said, "Well, tell Cookie I said Hi!" Note to self: nickname #2 for Clarke! And they're only getting better!
Oh, and for fun, here's an old picture of my mom..ain't she pretty!

Coming Soon I promise!!!

There are 3 blog entries in the work right now!! Check back by tomorrow and I should have them done! YEAH!
love,
alayna