Tom's Mom

 So this has become our every third weekend trip as we head to New Jersey to help with the care of Eleanor.  She has been at his sister's home since Christmas Eve.  We've worked out a schedule where Karen (a caretaker) comes every weekday while Marie is at work, their brother Joe and his wife Karen take Tuesday and Thursday nights during the week and then we all swap out every third weekend from Friday afternoon until Sunday afternoon.  It about a 3 1/2 hour drive so we get to listen to some audio books on our way.

Eleanor has a room to herself but is bedridden.  She is 89 and has dementia and needs assistance with all her physical needs.  Hospice comes four times a week for bathing (which just takes place in the bed), sheet changing and checking vitals but we need to help with everything else.  On our Saturdays I do her nails and hair while we watch old musicals on TCM and mostly just sit with her.  She can't really engage in conversation but if you ask her a question she can answer.  The answer isn't necessarily accurate but you can see her thinking.  She doesn't know me anymore but generally knows her own children.  She gets the boys mixed up but they DO look alike.  Her diet consists mostly of baby food.  Rice cereal mixed with fruit flavored Ensure for breakfast, then just fruits and meat & vegetable Gerber varieties.  I baked some mincemeat chocolate chip cookies while we were there from her recipe and slipped her a few bites of those.  We're not supposed to give her solids because of the choking hazard but she's certainly not crazy about the baby food so I just give her tiny pieces.  Same with scrambled eggs and a little bit of buttered toast.  So yeah, I figure she has so little to look forward to if she gets to have a little something with flavor in it....so be it.  We did find that she liked canned tomato soup so we fixed that for her as well.  She has lost weight since our last trip and seemed a little less engaged.  But occasionally she'll say something funny that shows she's still in there somewhere.

Valentine's Day

I got lucky on Valentine's Day and got TWO dates.  Tom AND Taylor!  We headed to the E Street Cinema to see ARGO then had a late dinner across the street at Ollie's Trolley.  Didn't know anything about it but it looked interesting so we stopped in.

 Had a really good veggie burger, however whatever health aspect that covered was completely ruined by the bag-o-fries that accompanied it!  Overall, it was okay.  Kind of weird looking inside and cash only!  We got lucky cause we hardly ever carry cash, but just happened to this night.  But really!  Who does cash only anymore?  It was a good date night though.  Good movie and fun night with the boys.

National Zoo

 So Taylor and I decided to go check out the Zoo.  We had planned it for another day but it was too cold so once the temp kicked up a bit we headed out.  While we were waiting for the metro he got a call from Starbucks saying they want him to come in for a job so that was GREAT news!  He's going to New York next week to visit a friend and will start the day he gets back.

 Apparently, even though the weather was pleasant enough for us, it was not so for the animals.  Too cold, the signs said.  Hardly anyone was out.  We saw the otters......

 a fake bear.....

 an elephant......

 turtles......

 and a fake elephant to get the day started.

 Loved the indoor Amazon exhibit because there were little monkeys just sitting on branches above our heads, it was lush and green, AND it was warm.

 Finally!  The lions were out so we felt like we were at a real zoo!

One tiger as well but he was more interested in hanging out at the feeding door more than anything.  Just stood there growling at it between sips of water.

 Okay, so this was my favorite thing.  The Think Tank!  It's a building that's set aside for studying the orangutans and I'm sure in the summer, this place must be a nightmare with crowds.  But on a cold Feb. day we were able to pull up a chair and just watch these three interact.  So funny!

 Sometimes they were happy to have people watching them but then they'd get tired of being on display and hide under these sheets.  They'd bunch up some of the hay and make a comfy spot before getting all cozy and private.  There was a also a tug of war rope you could compete against them with, but none were interested in playing.  These towers rope connect to another orangutan house so if they get bored with one place they can swing across the zoo over to the other.  Wondered what it would be like to walking across the zoo and suddenly have them swinging over the top of us!  Will definitely come back here!

 It was also Mardi Gras so the restaurants in the neighborhood were getting gussied up!  It's a little jaunt to get to the zoo from the Metro and the zoo itself is very hilly so we were very ready to sit and rest our feet once we headed home.

Chinese New Year

 Sunday afternoon was the Chinese New Year parade in Chinatown.  Apparently Chinatown in DC has shrunk considerably since it's hey day.  In fact, it's like a block, and seems to have more americanized restaurants and stores than not.  We pulled Taylor's arm and convinced him to go a long with us. Ultimately the cold, the crowd and my hatred of said crowd and claustrophobia made for a grumpy mom so I was a very ready to walk several blocks to avoid the festivities and hop the Metro to get out of there!

 I have to say that some of these masks were kind of creepy.