Interesting couple of days.

I usually lay down with Bruce for a bit after his nap. Bruce does not wake up fast. He turns off the TV and we generally talk. I am trying to work on critical thinking - what can you do for yourself besides watching TV? So I generally start off with "what are your plans for the afternoon?" He always answers "Stims, snack, mail." This is not critical thinking - this is routine. He has been doing that every single day for years. Saturday he told me he doesn't think, his mind goes blank. I tried to explain he has to work at it. "What can I be doing, what else is there for me?" and then I offered a few suggestions.

Yesterday we did our normal grocery shop. I generally leave him to get to the truck himself. Again, the advantage of using local retailers (less traffic). He loves going down the small ramp and skidding to a stop. Laughs out loud and is so proud of himself and yes, just fun! Since it was so nice out I didn't run to the passenger side. He opened the door, locked his WC and put himself into the truck. All I had to do was get the affected foot in. Well knock me down!

He has my cold so I have been watching him pretty closely. He won't take cough medicine or tylenol, but he will push fluids and does nap well. I put the humidifier on when I am home. It has loosened up both of us, don't know if that is good. But Bruce can not blow his own nose. He picks up a Kleenex and coughs into it. He does OK if I help him and say blow. Just like when we all taught our children.

This morning I get up and he is wiping his nose on Kira. Stupid cat thinks he is cuddling so she is purring away like there is no tomorrow. Bruce is covered with cat hair! I hesitated getting Bruce into the shower - he gets so cold. But he got a great wash up and then into his warmest flannels. Missy bought herself a bath. She is pretty good as long as the water is warm but hates the hair dryer. I was exhausted before I got to work!

I left work a bit early. Bruce was OK when I did the bathroom check earlier, but still coughing and sneezing, so I figured just go home. Bruce had cleared his table. Had a pile of magazines he was done with - we donate those. Had wiped the table off and was reading when I got in. After nap he put on a movie and put the remote down for the entire two hours! Then he came out in the kitchen to see if he could help with dinner. I had planned Chicken Cordon Bleu, so it was perfect. He prepped and rolled the chicken for me. After dinner it was back to the channel surfing for an hour before bed, but I knew he must have been exhausted at that point.

We usually map out our plans for the week Sunday after nap, based on the weather. Bruce will not generally tell me how he is feeling. Part of it is not wanting me to worry but another part is missing out on the few days out of this house we have planned. He can't blow his own nose but sure knows we are going to Home Depot tomorrow! LOL. I know time in the sun and warm is as important as pushing fluids and sleeping. If it is really too cold, we just do the stay in the truck errands. Fortunately I scheduled Erma for two days this week so I can make up my time at work.

So it will be interesting to see where this all goes. I do have some paperwork that Bruce it totally capable of doing himself. That may be what I leave for Wednesday's snow storm.