In just a few hours, our original family unit of 4 will be headed out for the bestest vacation of our lives. We’ll be spending a few days ringing in the New Year at Magic Kingdom, then we’re headed out on an Eastern Caribbean Disney Cruise. I. CANNOT. WAIT! This will be our first real vacation in years. We go places, but because Jeff and I own our own business, we’re always checking email and taking phone calls. When you’re cruising, your phones don’t work. And, I didn’t activate international roaming or Cellular at Sea service. We need this time to focus on each other, and have so much fun!

Vacations these days take a little high power coordination. We have to find a place for Grandma and the dog for 10 days. Not to mention needing someone to run our businesses while we’re away. Cutie was a pretty easy fix. The in-laws love us just enough to take our sweet pup for 10 days. That’s a really long time, and they may regret that decision before it’s over, but here’s to pray all goes well!

Grandma is a train wreck. She’s known we’re going on a trip for a week now. We couldn’t tell her before because it was the kids Christmas present, and she’d probably spill the beans. We didn’t really talk about the place she was staying until yesterday. She was not a happy camper. It was a terrible battle. I let it get the best of me, and I acted like a 2 year old. All those lessons I try to teach my kids about you can only control your own attitude, effort, and reactions went out the window. I took the attack for so long, then I retaliated. She was so angry at me for taking a vacation and leaving her, she was angry at her sisters because they wouldn’t let her come there, she was mad at me that I wouldn’t pay someone to stay at the house with her. She needs physical therapy, occupational therapy, and nursing care on a daily basis. We went to the cardiologist today, and she is retaining fluid again, so she really needs the skilled care environment. But, according to her, I should be ashamed of myself for putting her in a “nursing home”. I really hate it. But, it is the best option. When I was fixing her closet, and making sure she had all she needed today she was giving me down the road about being terrible and should be ashamed that no one loved her or wanted her around. It breaks my heart that the disease has done this to her.

The good part about dementia is, when we get home the chances are slim to none that she remembers staying at the place where everyone but her is crazy and doesn’t know they’re in the world.