Thoughts From a Frazzled Mind

COVID-19 cases going up in much of the nation.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints Utah area presidency counseled all church members to wear masks.  The Utah state governor has stated that if schools open in the fall, all students and staff should wear masks (I wonder how they are going to keep masks on the kindergarteners...)  It is amazing to listen to people complain about wearing masks.  They are complaining that it is a health hazard, which makes me wonder (with tongue in cheek) how surgeons and other medical personnel have survived so long since they were masks every day?  Many people are totally ignoring the counsel and are refusing to wear masks or wearing them incorrectly so their nose and sometimes mouth are uncovered.  Many people are refusing to social distance and acting as if there is no virus at all.  My family has chosen to follow the advice of our church leaders, so we wear masks anytime we are out of the house.  The...

 Dad's memory is definitely not getting any better, he often thinks that he is about 18-20 years old and he wants to go back "home" to Salt Lake to be with his mother.  Most of the time he doesn't remember who I am and he calls Robin, "that woman".  He doesn't remember that he was married for over 50 years, and he talks a lot about his friends - the ones he had when he was young.  He continuously talks about a truck that he left somewhere and he wants us to take him to it. Dad has the shiniest shoes around because he spends hours each day shining them - with a polisher attached to his drill. But yet, suddenly without warning he will be lucid and remember recent details like my husband's name.  Dementia is so strange!  There is no predicting how he will be at any given time.  Fortunately for the most part he is calm.  I have heard of some dementia patients who get very agitated and mean.  Dad isn't like that.  However he freque...

Julie drove up and met Rox and I for lunch this week!  It was so fun!  I haven't hung out with Rox for a long time.  We decided to do it once a month - AND we even put it on the calendar!  Julie is so entertaining.  She spent most of the time telling us of a study she is reviewing for accreditation that focuses on specific parts of the male anatomy.  The way she tells it sounds like she is a teenage kid who is embarrassed by the facts of life instead of a highly educated doctor of pharmacology!  We were just about rolling in the isles!  We also discussed the fact that Rox has achieved a great job as the controller of a large corporation - and she doesn't even have a degree.  She is GOOD!  It was nice to share lunch with these two great ladies!   I came home that night exhausted from a long day of pulling together resources, writing syllabi, and arranging assignments for the next semester.  I felt just like being a bum, so I...