the news at 4

Well here I am at daft o'clock again, driven from my cosy bed by Mr Lily's fight with his sleep apnoea machine. What with his gurgling and gasping and its whooshing, it sounds like happy hour at the hippopotamus bar. In a moment or two I'll head on over to Farmville (definitely OCD, lol) but thought I'd better log the Incredible Shrinking Lilys' progress first. After a good start at Slimming World and slavishly following the plan, our third weigh-in was a big disappointment - we'd both put on half a pound! I found hunger between main meals was my problem, and went through tons of fruit to keep the pangs at bay. The next week I tried eating a bigger breakfast - the usual porridge and berries but also scrambled egg on toast. That and a 'light' cereal bar for mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks seemed to leave me much more satisfied and on our fourth weigh-in last week, I'd lost two and half pounds and Mr Lily had lost three! I'm hoping for the same this week, then I'll have lost half a stone.

No change with mum but there is slow progress on the Court of Protection front. I finally managed to get all the financial information together and complete my part of the paperwork. The solicitor has written to mum's doctor for her report and to mum's bank with a copy of the first invoice from the home, asking them to pay it . I'm hopeful that things will get going now. Lovely daughter and I are going to see mum today and take her some toiletries and sweets. Dementia can be a blessing. Mum always used to say that if she couldn't keep herself clean, she wouldn't want to live. Thank goodness she's mostly oblivious to the fact that she often has 'accidents' now and needs someone to help her on and off the toilet. My turn last week - really, its just like caring for an elderly toddler a lot of the time. Sad.

I think our lovely dog may have dementia too, lol. She's nearly fifteen and still full of beans but now doesn't give us her usual signals for when she needs the loo, she tends just to look wistfully at us for a few seconds and then wander off. There have been quite a few 'accidents' (which Mr Lily side steps on account of his 'delicate' stomach, wuss). She's also becoming very 'wandersome' (a phrase I picked up when mum was in hospital) - I'm for ever having to get up to open doors for her as she does a circuit of the house and garden. We love her though and hope she stays with us for a few more years yet.

I've started to come off Prozac. My doctor advised I do it slowly so I've worked out a reduction chart for three months. Fingers crossed.

fair weather blogging

*hangs head in shame*

Funny, isn't it. When life was a trial, I was always blogging. Now that the sun is breaking through, I don't feel the need to keep the world (lol) updated. Lots of reasons for this mostly welcome turn of events:

1. Mr Lily and I have joined Slimming World! (And if you knew Mr Lily, you'd appreciate what a gobsmackingly courageous act of desperation this was!) I think the clincher was when we discovered at the first weigh-in that our scales at home have been flattering us to the tune of more than half a stone - we were both HORRIFIED! Fortunately it has been the kick up the arse we both needed to lose weight and we've thrown ourselves into the new regime with gusto. I'm planning Slimming World recipes and shopping for the ingredients at the weekend and then cooking meals EVERY night! (Mr Lily can't believe his luck - he's used to be served something out of a frozen packet.) I'm also making sure we each have a healthy breakfast and I eat sensibly, including lots of fruit, at work. Last week was our second weigh in and I'd lost 2.5 pounds, Mr Lily 3.5 pounds (grrr). He was the only man at the meeting and to his surprise, enjoyed himself. I'm really into this cooking healthy food lark, you should see my fridge! and am even getting quite excited about the prospect of growing some of our own vegetables this year, once the garden is reorganised.
2. Mum is not doing too badly in the home although lately she is mostly preoccupied with her relationship with her father - she doesn't know why he hates her and is dreading going home to him when she leaves the hospital. She thinks her brother or old neighbours might take her in, she says she will have to get a job and wishes she'd never joined the forces. She's stuck somewhere in the 1940s, with people who passed away long ago. I'm not even sure she knows what relation I am to her any more. I've spoken to one of the carers about this as I've read that dementia is often accompanied by depression - she's already on a low dose of anti-depressants but they're going to speak to the doctor about maybe increasing the strength of the tablets. Still no progress with completing the papers for the Court of Protection - I'm having trouble getting up-to-date information about mum's financial affairs from the various building societies - so I'm going to hand over the job to the solicitor. I've had the first invoice from the home - £6.5K which I'm hoping the local council will pay (to be reimbursed later), if not I'll have to use my savings. Ah well.
3. I spend most of my computer leisure time on Facebook these days (as at least two of you know full well!), mostly to play Farmville to which I have become enslaved. It doesn't leave much time to attend to this little blog and I did think of wrapping it up but will try to keep it going. I have a feeling I may have more 'home' time on my hands in the near future - my knees are feeling their age, especially the right one - I have a pronounced limp at the moment, I'm going to have to get it looked at.