I look back over the Christmas week and think “what exactly DID I do?” I know we ate – a lot! We went to see the new Star Wars movie, episode 9. It was SO GOOD! I cried throughout the last half. I know there are “purists” that have panned it, but as someone who saw the original back in 1977 at least a dozen times on the big screen, because I was SO IN LOVE with Mark Hamill (what can I say – I was only 16!) I loved every minute of this one.
Our younger son took M Christmas shopping and I got a text from them, asking me for M’s debit card PIN. I knew what it was, but I also knew M had it written down in his wallet. M had forgotten it – and had forgotten that it was written down.
While they were out shopping, I planned to get some baking done. I went into our pantry to get a recipe book – and found that 15 – 20 of my books were COVERED in black mold, thanks to a water problem in the pantry I wasn’t aware of. So, instead of spending the day baking, I got to spend THAT day cleaning out and cleaning up the mold in the pantry. Ugh. And I lost all those cookbooks. Even if I tried to clean them up, I’d be afraid to bring them back in the house.
We had a taste test of oatmeal/chocolate chip cookies made with three different types of shortening to find out which the family likes best. I’ve always made these cookies with Parkay margarine, but WalMart, Food Lion and Harris Teeter don’t carry Parkay margarine sticks anymore. I’ve found them at Publix recently, but that’s it. My daughter-in-law uses Crisco butter flavored shortening, which is nice because it’s always ready to use – you don’t have to let it soften. Then I also tried Land O’Lakes margarine. I made three different recipes of the cookies and Land O’Lakes margarine was the official winner.
Christmas itself was lovely and quiet, but a ton of fun with family and friends around. M did very well this year. He was engaged with the grandchildren and didn’t get aggravated when things didn’t go the way he thought they should.
There was only one incident that worried me – and it happened over the weekend. M had gone to bed and I was still up, watching TV – I wasn’t tired yet. He went to bed around 9 pm and about 11:00, he came back downstairs and asked me why I told him to get up.
I said, “I didn’t tell you to get up.”
He said, “Yes you did. You woke me up and told me to get up.”
We went round and around about that for about five minutes before I could convince him that I was peacefully watching “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and had not moved from the couch since he went upstairs two hours ago. I don’t know what he had been dreaming about, but it was pretty powerful.
As soon as I get all these cookies (and candies and chocolates, etc.) out of the house, we’re going to start trying the keto diet with him again. I’ve been reading about more successes from people who’ve been diagnosed with dementia and have SIGNIFICANTLY managed the symptoms with this diet. I really want to see if we can do the same. Now that he’s not working, maybe I can have better control over it.
I wish I was a cookie taste tester. That’s a shame about the water leak.
I would LOVE to have had your help with the tasting. I shared all the cookies and candy with the housekeeping staff here at the hospital. I figured they deserve a treat.