Wednesday, Saturday 5, 1984

The Alzheimer-diseased woman, Alma, is a mess! She goes in and out of the house at will, and if you're on the 'john', she can be out of the house and lost by the time you get off the toilet. There aren't any locks on the doors she can't negotiate. Her family seems reluctant to change anything. She doesn't have mind enough to wipe herself after going to the bathroom, even though you hand her the toilet paper. Feeding her is impossible, because she won['t sit still long enough to be fed two bites of food, ad she can't get it together enough to feed herself. Larry said she's lost a lot of weight and she threw away her dentures. Why not throw them away, if they don't fit anymore. I makes sense in a childish sort of way.

I worked at Alma's six and one-half hours, and chasing her is almost continual walking, the full six and one-half hours. Her husband, Larry, wants me to work every day, but as soon as I get out of debt,, I'm quitting this job, unless Alma is on better medication or restrained somehow. Letting her roam free, with the possibility of accidents, isn't doing her any favors. If I hadn't been directly behind her today, as she was going back in the house after one of her many jaunts outside, she would have fallen on her face, as she was trying to negotiate the concrete steps into the house.

I feather-dusted the tables at my home, cleaned the bar top, put clean laundry away, put dried dishes away, washed dirty dishes, cleaned off the kitchen table , swept the floors, and vacuumed. Immediately after I finished vacuuming, G reg came home, got some clothes out of the dryer and got lint from the dryer lint-trap all over the carpet. He also soaked the side of the new bath carpet when he showered., because he didn't put the shower liner inside the tub. I am tired, sick of people and messes, and could easily be a hermit for a long time.