Tomorrow is Bruce's 63rd birthday. He informed me tonight at bedtime that he was born at 7:29pm - LOL. Bruce's best friend and wife are coming at least for the day.

You all know I have been rethinking some things here. Bruce does best with me. Caregivers mainly wait on him and by the time I get home from work, I am tired and cranky. We have come off a difficult few weeks. Plus Bruce's stroke anniversary is so close to his birthday. I posted about the stroke anniversary. But the one thing I do remember so vividly is when roommates from New Mexico and California arrived at the SNF and Bruce threw off his covers and tried to get the right leg off the bed, thinking they were there to "free" him. Breaks my heart every time I remember it. So I reset my head and decided that this was going to be a great birthday celebration, even if it was only Bruce and I.

You all know that I schedule things out over the week, so that I can include Bruce. And since he so enjoys this and helping with the preparation, I checked the weather for the week and made out our list. Colleen helped me with the menu. In order to include Bruce, I have to work a week out and when I see how happy and involved he is, away from that darn TV, I am happy.

Bruce is super-sensitive to light and we are entering our Spring here in New England. Before Daylight Saving, he would waken with the sound of the furnace kicking in and I could talk him into waiting 1/2 hour for the house to warm up. Now not so. But the interesting thing is at 4:30am he is actually getting himself into a sitting position on the bed, ready to transfer to the WC. Throughout the winter, it was wait for Debbie to help me sit and that was part of how I could convince him to wait. Not so now and that is so wonderful. If I could find a way to have him get shoes on, the whole transfer could be independent. Also he has the new responsibility of feeding Kira - and for a little kitty, she sure can be loud come 6am! LOL.

So today, when I get home at noon, the preparation gets into high gear and Bruce knows he has to be front and center, as my Mom used to say. I have been singing the Beatles "Birthday" to him since I got home. We had our list, and Bruce did all the dips in the new food processor with very little supervision. Colleen: best suggestion so far. He LOVES it. We will be "dipping fools."

I took a step back. Bruce has black lines around his eyes. I know he is exhausted - up way too early, no naps. He is dealing with both the light changes and the excitement of the weekend, but I stepped back and let him lead. I did have to insist on his shower because I felt my back going and that was a must. But after dinner, he helped with the asparagus prep and linen selection. Then the "to do" list for tomorrow. I popped into the shower just after Bruce went to bed and I just medicated him for the night. He is totalled! LOL.

The funniest part of all of this was Kira. 1pm is nap time, it is not Bruce and Debbie in the kitchen and what is the vacuum cleaner doing down here? She has finally settled. I know routine is so important to Bruce, but never realized that the family pet noticed - LOL.

Personally, tomorrow can not go badly. If we have to order pizza, that is fine with everyone. We will share friendship, love and laughs.Seeing the difference here, between Bruce and I was interesting. Will blog soonest with the celebration. Debbie