Potholes Partie Un

It’s been a while, which is one of my husbands favorite songs by the band Stained if memory serves me. It really has been a while, too long. I am happy I am back with you blogging about the crazy adventures we find ourselves getting into. I appreciate you, my reader, giving me the chance to bring you up to date!

A lot has transpired since the last time I actually wrote about something, and I mean A LOT! Some good, and some not so good. You know when you are just doo doo doodley do bopping down life’s smooth road, then you hit a massive pot hole. Well, that’s what happened on our road.

Back in March, we went on our first camping trip of the year at Harrison Bay State Park in Chattanooga TN. We camped there in the past, and where excited to start the camping season a little early. At this time, we still had the Grey Wolf and decided to stay a couple of weeks, then a couple more, then a couple more. We did go home for one week, then back on the road it was!

Come travel the proverbial road with us , let’s say At this point the road is great. Newly paved. No potholes in sight. In June we purchased a brand new, never been lived in before , all that new smell goodness Fifth Wheel! A 34 ft Montana High Country to be exact. To say I love it is an understatement. It is the perfect size for Scott and myself , the floor plan is fabulous, and it has a window in the front and rear. Please feel free to salivate over the pics of sweet Montana, that’s what I Affectionately named her, and to pull Ms M, we also purchased a had been driven before 2019 Ford F-350. Big Pearl and Ms M make a great team!

Hang on , let me put my thang down, flip it and reverse it. If you know, you know. In other words, I need to back up a little. When we purchased the fifth wheel from Northgate RV in RInggold, GA (our home town), we officially decided to go full time! We where so excited. We went to bed bath and beyond, spent way too much money, however – it was a lot of fun spending it! Decorated Ms M and where ready to really start our new lives on the road!

Now, we really enjoy camping, and our dream has been to be “Full Timers” for about a year now. We talked about it, had to think about a career change for me, what to do with our house, where to start, and when to even begin. Then, low and behold, guess what we drive right into? You got it…. A damn pothole.

I am at work, my job at the time, that’s another subject we will discuss later, and my husband calls me. He never calls me at work, he will only text me, so I knew something was up. “ I think Dad is having a stroke”. That was what I heard when I said hello. His Mom called an ambulance, and it arrived super quick and transported him to one of our local hospitals. Thank goodness we where in town, not gallivanting around in who knows were, and where able to be there for his folks.

Scott’s Mom has Dementia, and it has rapidly progressed over the past year. She can not be left alone or she will steal your car or try to leave to go to a job she hasn’t been to in years and years. His Dad had a significant stroke and was hospitalized for a couple of weeks, so Evie, the Mother-in-law, had to , yep you guessed it, stay with us in Our FW. By this time, we had decided to rent our house out, so our only place to live was said FW.

Let me take a few moments of your time to talk about Mrs, Evelyn H, or as we all call her “Evie” She is a hot ass mess I tell Ya! She is 80, and even though she has stage who knows how high dementia, she is still sharp as a tack! I have never met someone that has one liners and comebacks like Evie. She can roast your ass in 3 2 1 and not be one bit sorry about it! I think that is why we get along so well, we are both smart asses. Now don’t get me wrong, she is a sweetheart, and would never intentionally hurt a feeling is she had to.

Don’t get all huffy about the picture below. No, I didn’t give her that shiner, even though she tried me at times. Not long before all the shit Hit the fan, Scott’s dad called him to tell him that Evie had a black eye. Scott: Ok, Dad, how did that happen? Poppy: Well, I have no idea. Scott: What did Mom say happened? Poppy: Well, she said she doesn’t remember. When I asked het

Evie’s sleeping arrangements where on our pull put sofa, which is unfortunately under our air conditioning vent, so even with 67 blankets piled on top of her, she said we “froze her to death”. She had a few other confusing nights, for example the time she came in our bedroom in the middle of the night, and decided there was a cozy spot right next to yours truly. She also made a couple of feeble late night escape attempts, Other than that, she was a pretty good guest. She called the spot she liked to lay on the pull out sofa “ the crack”. We had a lot of fun with that, as you can imagine!

Scott’s Dad was not doing well for a few days, then he improved remarkably! He was discharged from the hospital after a week, then he was sent to rehab for 4 weeks to a nursing home. Another one of those pesky decisions had to be made about his parents future care. Poppy, as we call him, had been Evie’s caregiver, and we knew , as well as poppy himself that he could not take care of her anymore.

On to other life changing events. I resigned from my JOB. I turned in my weeks notice and Arrivederci!! At the time that I turned my notice in, I thought I had ascertained a job at a health care company as a data entry clerk. That did not pan out, and I was a little bummed, however, I did not rescind my notice. As married folk sometime do, we had to make some hard decisions. One of those decisions was for me to keep pursuing another remote job, stay home , wherever that may be, and take care of Evie. It’s a decision I will ever be grateful for. .

The next tale in this saga gets to the part where you think everything is working out just the way it is supposed to, the planets have aligned and the heavens have looked down on you favorably, POTHOLE!

One of our dear friends since Middle School is the Executive Director of an assisted living in Cleveland TN. That part about all the planets aligning , and all is right with the world, pure shit. We thought we had everything figured out and we could have them in a beautiful apartment together, and had someone to watch over them , if you will, great food, and not have to worry about if they are eating, if their house is clean, or if they are taking their medications correctly. They take care of all that at the assisted living.

Turns out, Evie had different plans, and failed to tell us. Evie was first to go to assisted living. She loved it! We took her to purchase a new bed, bedroom suit, and all the necessities needed for her new digs. I will admit it did feel strange just leaving her there after her being with us 4 weeks, 24 hours a day. We visited again the next day and she said she slept good the night before. She seemed to be adjusting fine, so we where so tickled! We where excited for Poppy to be joining her in just a few weeks , and they would finally be back together, after never being apart for more than 60 years.

About a week into Evie’s new living arrangements, Scott gets a call at 2: 30 in the morning from the assisted living. Evie done walked all up and down the halls all night long and was wanting to know when she was going home. Scott was able to talk her back in going to her apartment, and she slept til we saw her the next day. She said she thought she slept fine the night before. Dementia is a strange and sometimes cruel syndrome. It can turn men and women of all colors and races and mix their minds up like scrabble tiles.

Cut to the next night. Repeat of the previous night for Ole Evie and her shenanigans. I failed to mention that in addition to the stroke, Scott’s Dad also has Lewy Body Disease, which Mimics Parkinson’s and dementia. Because of this diagnosis, and the fact no sleep Evie wondered the halls all night, the powers that be decided that they had to go. They wanted to boot them to the memory care unit, which was a very depressing place. I am not bashing the memory unit whatsoever, I do believe their is a need for such a facility, however his parents are no where near the level of care this particular facility provides for patients with advanced Alzheimer’s and Demitia.

Back to the drawing board. Thankfully, Poppy was still in rehab , so we had a couple of weeks to find a new place for them to live. Actually, we only had about 3 days or so to move Evie from one place to another. Our friend, the director of the soon to be previous habitation of Evie, refereed us to another facility in Georgia. It was great! Evie loved it as well. She was such a trooper, she had to do so much in those few weeks that was a struggle for her, but by god she did it!

The facility our friend refereed us to was the place we wanted them to be, and they had an Apartment available for an old married couple just so happened! Okay, the road is nice a smooth again, not newly paved, but not bad at all. The day we moved Evie was also the same day that Poppy was discharged from rehab and we only had one vehicle, and Evie had a Dr’s appointment that morning and we only had one vehicle, It was choreographed dance to get it done, to say the least, but we are TFA, so we got it done son!!

Next day we go to visit E & P to see how they are adjusting. Guess who didn’t get her shut eye? Yep, she was at it again. Not all night, but several hours of telling the staff that she needed to sign her little boy up for school. Of course, her little boy is 53, and has no plans to further his education at his this time. Next night …ring ring ring. 1:00 A.M. Things escalated quickly with Evie, as she continued at make poor life choices, and decided to escape the facility, not once, but 2 times. She’s a modern day Houdini I tell Ya! We also found out this little nugget of info, she done went and tried to crawl over the damn railing because she could not figure out how to work the elevator! Thank sweet baby Jesus that a staff member caught her, or this would a real downer of a blog.

Because of her meandering ways, Evie was being kicked out, yet Again from another assisted living. That meant memory care. Memory units are more of a one on one type of care, and also a secure building, so Evie the Great can not escape. Thankfully this particular memory care unit is in the same building, and several of the residents seem to be on the same playing field as Scott’s folks.

I am happy to report that after many a sleepless night worrying about shit, Evie and Poppy are doing well in their new home! 3 hots and a cot. Just kidding. It is a very nice assisted living, and we could not be happier with the care they are given by the wonderful, caring staff.

This my friends will now come to the end of part one of Pothole Partie Un, I , with all that I know to be good and holy, will vow to write deuxieme partie (part two) very soon about our new adventures, and misadventures ! As always, I want to Thank You for all your support and encouragement. ❤️

Don’t forget to check out our swag on campsitebrews.com so you can purchase a sick t shirt and spread the word about our Blog! Now, Before I go, I just wanted to give you a little advise, watch out for them damn potholes !!