Winter Fun

Definitely a "WHITE CHRISTMAS"   Even though clean up was a pain in the butt......ALL three days.....It was/is beautiful!   

Christmas Day Sanj and the boys came out to help shovel and play with the girls.  I cannot tell you how much the girls LOVE those two boys!!!!  AND them coming out made "MY CHRISTMAS"  ♪  Merry and Bright! ♬

  Tom had plowed the day before thank goodness.  The plow can only push so much so far.  After yesterday I think we reached our limits and have to now call in the county to help us out.

I don't know the inches we got total but I DO know it was a lot!  And the last batch was HEAVY!  We are still getting a dusting.

 

















Yesterday I cranked up the snow blower while Tom was plowing.  My shovel had run out of gas.  ; )  I was making paths for the girls all over the yard.

The girls were following me thinking it was pretty nifty neat, BUT than I got shut down by the "big guy"!  He said the snow blower needs a break and I don't know when to quit?

I translated that to....You need to go pick up the house and make me something to eat.  SOMETIMES he's right.  : (    Guess I was having way too much fun and the  time got away on me.


The little one you see in the pics is Sarah..... New addition to our family.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!
 Christmas is here.   I think we have way to much fun,    out here,     in the woods.......   The days go by like the wind)))))>>>>>swoooosh>>>>>>>>)))))))))) and there went another day!

I have to admit it's different not being out in the hustle and bustles of the rest of the world.  I surely don't miss the crowded stores, stressing over what to buy, for whom and with what.

I personally have a hard time accepting and receiving gifts as I know each thing that was purchased for me came with the statement I just made above.  BUT I also DO realize it was given to me "with love"......... AND I am humbly grateful.

We got our share and than some of Holiday Baked Goods and Treats..... We'll be needing to dust off the tread mill after the Holidays for sure. 

The Grandkids stopped by to hang some homemade christmas decorations, which we treasure.  I don't decorate any more except for our tree outside.

One Grand-daughter asks every year if she should spend the night Christmas Eve with us so Santa will stop at our house.  She says he always stops where there is a kid.   I tell her it's okay because Santa already has way too many places to stop at now.  AND her Mom and Dad would be sad if she wasn't there with them Christmas morning.

So as so many people are this christmas... we are watching it snow....Our girls think it's great as they LOVE playing in the snow......... It is absolutely a beautiful WINTER WONDERLAND out here in the woods. 

From our family to yours we wish you all Blessed Christmas!



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Work of Christmas  Begins

"When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with the flocks,
then the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal those broken in spirit,
to feed the hungry,
to release the oppressed,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among all peoples,
to make a little music with the heart…

And to radiate the Light of Christ,
every day, in every way, in all that we do and in all that we say.
Then the work of Christmas begins.

-- Howard Thurman

Quick Update

Just a quick update..... December is flying by.  Tom has been staying close to home as the temps have been mighty nippy.  I found him a forum on the internet about trapping.  Maybe he will do his trapping in his mind there and stay safe and warm this winter?

He sits and reads for hours....If nothing else he ought to have some good stories to tell with all that material to work with.  ; )

The loggers should be down our road soon....than he can go check on them everyday......... For now we are just staying in and staying warm.......

Tom and I celebrated our 18th anniversary the other day...... ( when we met.)  He said "has it been that long already?  Seems like we just met."   AWWWW!  Gotta love him  : )

♬"Famous Last Words".......♫

Once again Tom came through....(no pun intended).  With a story that is. 

This morning Tom put layers and layers of cloths on....extra gas, chain saw and a hot thermos of coffee.  He was headed out to scout out beaver ponds.  I thought he did that while bird hunting last fall?  His last words were "Now I don't know when I'll be home so don't worry"

He left around 9:30 AM..... PROMISING not to be stupid as there are a lot of water holes not counting the beaver ponds that MAY NOT be froze solid yet.......
"No I'm not stupid...I'm not going to take chances.  I'll be careful!" blah blah blah

The song "FAMOUS LAST WORDS OF A FOOL" came to mind as I write this......hummm hummm  : )

Around noon he came through the door..."MOM...MMMMMOM!!! Something really bad happened to me"!!!!!!!  sounding frantic....

I came running around the corner looking for blood (I'm thinking chain saw) but instead what stood before me is a FROZEN FORM OF A PERSON with Tom inside.  Like those mid evil suits of armor!  Only it was frozen clothing from the waist down.

The legs of his pants were frozen in a sitting position but he was standing up straight.  I banged on his cloths and yup!!! they were froze solid.  I bursted out laughing as I asked what happened.

"I almost started crying MOM because you weren't there.  That's not funny" he said with a very serious voice.  NOT to be mean but I could not stop laughing.  

I had to get the hair dryer out to thaw his boot ties and pant legs so I could get him out of his wet cloths.

Apparently he went through ice  on the trails, getting stuck, sinking the machine, one hole after another.... using the winch to get out and managing to stay pretty dry himself.......TILL he got to the beaver pond.   There was a big spruce fallen on the pond so he decides to walk onto the pond hanging on to the limbs of the spruce.

THATS when he got wet.  The ice broke, he went down and he said you should have seen me scramble than...... That's when he got scared and almost cried because I wasn't there.

SO he drove home as fast as he could hoping he wouldn't break through any more ice with the 4-wheeler.  He didn't.  WHEW!

NOW he has his machine over at the neighbors trying to dry it out.

DO you think he learned his lesson?   Unfortunately not.... That part of his brain is broke. 

December Lead-In

We went from bare ground to LOT'S of snow.....A wonderful way to lead in December... I was beginning to wonder if we were going to get snow this year

Tom is doing what he always does when we get our first big dump of snow for the season....YEP!  He's plowing and blowing the yard........."Gotta have some place to put the snow!"

Tom's been catching varmints in his traps.... He should as he had been scouting and preparing places all fall.  But with this snow he has lost interest in any more trapping.   Today he pulled all but a few of his traps.  He only needs one more to fill his limit.
 

Guess who is skinning them?  I believe he called me an "OLD MULE SKINNER"   I wasn't impressed!    

Last night I asked Tom how many traps he had out.  He must have forgotten we counted traps the other night when we counted 30......  Last night we counted 15.  lol

 Tom has a sister (Peggy) in Texas.... She says the first thing she does when she gets home from work is make a cup of coffee and than go see if I wrote anything new.

I told her that Tom had to do something to give me something to write about..... When I don't write, it's just because our days have been uneventful aside from the "norm" of living with this disease.  Which most days leaves me pretty exhausted.

SO Peggy here is a story for you!  Tom's lucky I didn't skin him alive over this one.

A while back I spoke of this LURE for trapping that Tom HAD to have... "it was the real deal, all the T V shows talk about it and all the trapping magazines and "JIM " even uses it."   G O T T A   H A V E     I T!!!!!!   WAH!  WAAAAH!

So I bought him his "LURE" but found it smelled so bad you could smell it through the glass bottle.  The store kept it outside.  SO Tom was told to KEEP IT OUTSIDE!!!!!  It smells like SKUNK!

Today he came in all wet from snow blowing and plowing and wasn't finished.  He took his wet cloths off and asked if  I would throw them in the dryer.  LATER I went to get his cloths and..................... "OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!! " 

That bottle was in his jacket pocket and it had opened up...........AND your not going to believe what he had the BALLS to say.........."Now you have something to write about on your blog MOM!"  followed by a cocky smile as his eyes searched mine to see if I was going to laugh or hurt him.......

I Laughed!

WHO'S On First........

We had a nice Thanksgiving.... We stayed home and spent the day by our selves.  I cooked a turkey and a few of Toms favorite fixings to go with it.....We watched part of the parade on T V and of coarse there is always the football games..........

Tom was getting antsy about Martin and Fisher trapping season to open so Jason took him to the woods for a couple of days to run skidder.... I don't know how well he functioned but I did have a talk with Jason before I'd let him go......

After the second day I seen the sparkle in his eyes for logging was gone......He was tired and didn't have any stories to tell...... That's a first!

But the long awaited trapping season is open now.....Tom's happy and set a bunch of traps ........  He claims he set around 30 traps.... lol  He doesn't own that many traps?

As they say...the mice will play when the cat's away....... SO I called my daughter to bring out the grandsons to help me get some much needed things done..... OF coarse Maggie, Lilly and Emily had the time of there lives..... tearing around with the boys.

The boys were FUN and a LOT of help......Sanj helped me cut up a bunch of lumber to make a few more useful tables... Tom steals "my one" I built for "my use" and yells at me for having "my stuff" on it.  Grrrrrr......

Yesterday I put two tables together while Tom was out checking traps.... I was trying to hurry as I didn't want his help if he got home before I finished.... In hurrying I managed to drop a board on my big toe, spraining it and smashing my thumb with the hammer.  O U C H!!!*#*&+%#

When he got home he was smiling as he had caught two Pine Marten......... He proudly brought them in and put them on the table???? in the laundry room.

"So what did you do today?"  he asked.  "Oh just monkey-ed around" I replied.  "You did something... I can tell!"  "I smashed my toe and my thumb"  I blurted without thinking   : 0

Okay..... NOW I  DID IT!   I just broke all the rules of talking to someone with Alzheimers..... He had a confused look on his face.......I pretended not to notice.........I went on to explained that I made some tables while he was gone... He said "don't do that stuff anymore when I'm not here to help"

"So do you like your tables?  The one in the laundry room is taller so you don't have to bend over and strain your back when your skinning......... I explained.

"Oh you put longer legs on "THE" table? " he asked.    "Longer legs yes but NEW table"... I replied thinking he got it.  Than I pointed out the other table explaining it had shorter legs as he uses that one to roll cigarettes while watching T V sitting in his rocking chair.

"OH you put shorter legs on THE table...how did you do that?"  OH BOY!!!!  I really have him messed up now and in the same small room sits the original...."MY TABLE"

SO I took him back to the laundry room pointing out this was a new table built taller just for using in that room.   Than I took him back to the other room and pointed out I made that table to fit up to his chair AND the third table was the original and IT WAS MINE!!!!!!

So he looked at the original table and asked where that one came from......ARG!
I finally got him to understand that there was a total of THREE tables and two were new...... "sigh!                                    

                                            THE END

OH----- HE LOVES HIS TABLES......... He says they are perfect!  : )

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

 We and the girls would like to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving..... 

Meeting Oliver

Hunting pretty much ended when Tom got his buck..... He glances out the window now and than the rest of the season and talked about trapping.  It may be a lack of deer but I feel it's more than that.  He said last night that even if a buck stepped out he wouldn't shoot it...........
 

So moving on with what "IS" still well in our lives....WE finally got to meet our NEW Grandson......"OLIVER"   They came up for a few days so we could all meet him.   He's beautiful and he's  perfect............ " LOVES"  his Gramma....

It was tricky getting to spend time with Oliver but Tom gave me all he had and the kids did their best to be available...... "It's a gift from all that I will TREASURE!

So now for a Silly Tom Story........

While I was off visiting Oliver, not too far from home, Tom was studying the law book and regulations about driving his 4-wheeler during hunting season if he wasn't hunting...... 

Tom has to re-read things a million times over to try figure out what it says and make sense of it..... and than most times he still can't make sense of it.  Finally he called the DNR.... As long as he was not hunting and carrying a gun he could drive his 4-wheeler in the woods and go "set traps".....

So yesterday morning after he had his coffee he went off to set some traps........ ON the way home he sees something orange on the trail..... as he got closer he seen it was  hunter with a bad limp........

As he pulled up he seen it was this elderly person (Larry) who has a shack very close to us.  Him and his wife (Ruth) come out hunting every year and in my opinion, that's scary all by it's self.

 Tom says "they got to be around 80 years old" ......... I'm not sure they are quite there yet.  AHH...... mentally they are a little scatter brained yet the sweetest people you ever met!  You gotta love 'em........

Anyway Larry fell getting down from his stand and was quite a ways away from the shack so Tom offered him a ride on the 4-wheeler...... Now, I'm chuckling already before he finishes the story because I know Tom's impairment of figuring things out.

"Larry's gotta weigh 400 lbs and he's short"  Tom continues. "So I had a hell of a time getting him on the 4-wheeler.  After I got him on I realized there isn't any place for me to ride because I couldn't get him to back up and give me a place.  So I had to ride on the gas tank........"

"THAN I ran over his gun!"  Tom blurts out.  I said..."You what?"  "Well I leaned the gun against the 4-wheeler and by the time I got Larry on  I was so nervous I forgot about the gun and ran over it"

I raised my eyebrows and looked at him with questions in my eyes..... He chuckled and said "it didn't hurt the gun and Larry said oh that's okay... you can't hurt that old gun......"  as if to justify what happened.  Than Tom added that it was an old gun and didn't have a scope etc........

I held my look and he knew what it meant as we said at the same time.... that's not the point...IT COULD HAVE BEEN LOADED AND WENT OFF!!!!

I know he said BUT..........

So he went on to say ......."when we drove up to the shack Ruth came running out." Tom now changes his voice to an old women voice, "  thank you so much for bringing Larry home.........NOW Larry,  you know you do this every year," she scolds.  Tom laughs. 

Tom noted that the next day Larry rode his 4-wheeler to his stand.  My guess is that Tom was checking on the old fart......

The Xmas Tree.....

Tom and I shared a great love for Christmas Lights.  When we lived in Colorado for 10 years our place looked like the Grizwalds..... Our light displays brought joy to many..... and we even won a contest one year.

We would put our lights up Thanksgiving Day or just after....... Every year was a trip to the store for more lights.....

Well last year we ( I ) decorated a tree outside the house..... The to-dos of Christmas decorations around the house get him all "befuddled"......This one tree we left on all winter as it became our sunshine on cloudy days and long dark nights...... (short days of winter)

So this year I gathered extra lights from those who had extra and wrapped our tree generously in lights..... IT lights up our whole neck of the woods.... I wanted to get it done for our first snow fall....... for now,  they aren't plugged in.

So when Abby was here I waited till after dark.  Than I turned off most of the lights in the house.  Than I stood her in front of the window where the tree with lights was.  I told her to stand there as I had a really big surprise for her....

Than I stepped outside and lit up the tree.......  OH MY!!!!!!   With her eyes as big as saucers, she gasped......... "Gramma!  It's so beautiful!!! " 

She said it was like..... (she put her hands slowly into the air singing...) "♬ AH..... AH....... AHHH ♪"   her soft voice warbles on the last note. Her precious little face and big blue eyes looking to the heavens, like she had just seen an angel.............



 

 I will forever remember that moment when the tree is lit...... Children are amazing gifts from God!  WE are so blessed......

Still Hunting.....

Tom's been having better days......He has been sitting the evenings in his stand since he shot his buck.... We have one more license to fill so he can still "HOPE" for the "BIG BUCK".....

He has good intentions for the morning to sit in his stand but can't get up........I get up and watch for him just in case "The Big Bad Boy" shows himself.......

We got quite a laugh last night......

Tom had earlier in the day went out to get the mail and a doe followed by a buck crossed the dive way and he didn't have his gun......It started out being a "nice buck"  to a "Really Big Buck!" every time he tells the story but in reality if it was a nice buck following a doe and neither were afraid...... That would be " Lou Lou and Bucky"

ANY WAY the funny story now.........A doe came in and was grazing...... I could see Tom in his stand watching her(through my binoculars) and I was watching her from the house.....  She started to watch toward the woods.... I was on the edge of my seat so I can imagine so was Tom.  Than we seen a flash of white and thought here comes a Buck....... She started stomping her feet..............out of the woods came a white rabbit....?????

I started laughing because it fooled me and I figured it had Tom going too.... and it did! 

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My sister and her husband (Harry) gave us the buck he shot opening day....So Tom helped me get them skun out and than he sat near by as I cut up the deer and he kept my knives sharp for me.....

I know....how sweet was that....ONLY problem is Tom can not sharpen a knife well....It's a hit and miss thing.  NOW this is not an Alzheimer's thing.  Tom has NEVER been able to sharpen a knife.  When we were up in Canada moose hunting, he'd take a file to the knives...OH BOY! 

BUT what is an Alzheimer's thing is that I tell him over and over he can not use a stone on the knives ALL the time or my favorite knives will no longer be able to hold an edge....... He says okay and then he goes back at it.........

So I decided it could be worse.........he could be using a file................  : )

It's A Buck!

Tom hadn't seen a deer  and it was now Sunday evening.  He was in his stand and evening was closing in once again. 


Not many shots have been heard down in these parts of the woods since opening, so Tom wasn't feeling alone.  He sat there thinking it was going to be another uneventful night.

Sunday while Tom sat in his stand.......Me and my girls (dogs) went to Littlefork to get one of our grand daughters for the night.  It was Abby's turn and she was so excited!!!!!!!  They didn't have school on Monday and Grampa thought it would be good if Gramma had company while he hunted.

Abby and the girls were playing in the bed room when I seen a deer come out from behind the stand.  I got Abby and sat her on a chair near but not too close to the window so she could see Grampa get his deer. 

She loves hunting and just seen her Dad get his the day before.  The deer crossed over in front of the stand into Tom's sights.  We waited quietly for the deer to turn and stop.  Seemed like forever.

Than "K A - B O O M!!!!!!!!"   Abby nearly fell off her chair as she screamed  " HE GOT IT.....YEAH!!!!!! GRAMPA GOT THE DEER!!!!!"
 
We waited for Grampa to come get us and when he came through the door she said to Grampa with excitement in her voice.. "Grampa...it just fell over like Daddy's did this year!  It just fell over"

It was a good hit...right through the neck....and it dropped like a ton of bricks...right in it's tracks.....
 

We headed out to check out his deer.  Abby kept running ahead and Grampa would have to call her back.......

Abby made it extra fun for us.  She was so proud and excited and it made Grampa feel so good.  He'd just giggle at her.

♡ ♡  ♡  ♡ ♡ ♡  ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡  ♡
 

Big gifts come in little packages and she was a very special gift that night.  As she laid curled up against me that night in our big bed and the girls all snuggled in around us, Grampa popped his head up and looked at us all and I could see the biggest, warmest, most loving look on his face.  Than he snuggled in and fell asleep with the rest of us.

"That story was for Tom..... He loved how I wrote it.... It's the way he knows it should have been......."

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Year after year.....the week before opening... cleaning the gun...sighting it in... where is my this and where is my that.  Sleepless nights.....past hunting stories are told...gearing up for that opening morning was a yearly ritual.

Awake all night, watching the clock...finally it's time to get up and head for the stand.....Breathing is heavy almost gasping for air as the adrenalin rushes in with the anticipation of what the morning light will show.

This year the DAY before opening he put heat in his stand...vacuumed out the flies and washed his windows.  I gathered together the rest of the things that he need in his stand.......and brought it to him.  He seemed to be unconcerned or excited about any of it.

He didn't sleep that night but many a nights he lay awake and finally drifts off to sleep in the am.  Hence his sleeping till ten most mornings.  He made coffee at four and I woke around five. 

He asked "Mom? I don't know if I should get up or not."  "The chances of deer coming in are probably slim so why don't I go watch from the window and you try to sleep." I replied.  He liked that answer and snuggled in.

Saturday was to be a beautiful sunshiny day and I could so see the change in him from who he was so I encouraged him to go ride around with a friend that day. That is something he NEVER liked to do during hunting unless it was to just go see what everybody else had gotten.

I had a brief talk with a nice young man (Bob) who likes Tom and Tom responds to him well.  So I have no worries when Tom is with him.

Bob was here by nine and Tom was ready to go.  The only order I gave him was to relax and enjoy the beautiful day. He promised he would.  So off he went.  I felt like a Mom sending her kid off on a first.........

They returned at 5:30 pm  just after dark..... They seemed to have had a nice day.... Tom was not real responsive.  Kind of zombie like.  He said he was tired and starving.  I had super ready and he scarfed it down.  We were in bed and lights out by 8 pm.  Normally it's 10:00 or later.

This morning I woke to let the girls out to go potty and made coffee......I seen a tail of a deer skip off.  I let the girls in and tried to get Tom excited by telling him there was a deer out there.  He replied in a soft voice  "that's nice" ....................

I asked how he slept and he said he slept hard all night.  He woke once soaking wet from a night mare.  I remember that as I felt his wet head......... and I heard the phone ring by his head at 9:30 and he didn't even stir.

So I sit here this morning (as he went back to sleep)  my heart is breaking.....the tears I held back now flow freely down my cheeks.  Last year it was his enthusiasm for fishing and now his love for hunting....... These were his PASSIONS in life. These things are what made Tom who he was along with the "stories" he would tell.

I wrote that Sunday morning.......

Tom has only sat in the stand once and that was the evening he got his deer.  He showed NO excitement when he got it...... It was meat.

To others he tells stories of what he would do in the past....... Get up before day light and sit till dark..........

So I sit here hurting alone and in silence.... as the rest of the world thinks nothing is wrong.  He is able to hide this disease and what it is doing to him from most of the world for now.........But it does not change what is.............

The Shed

I invited Sanj out yesterday to help me build a little shelter/shed for the snow blower this winter.  We don't have a garage or anything.  Right now it is sitting in Tom's shack out of the weather but NOT where you want it when you want to use it.

In all fairness...Tom was not born with ANY carpenter skills what so ever..... NONE.
So add the lack of ability to put a simple puzzle together and his lack of reasoning.........that's good enough attitude and frustration from all the above, I understandably did not want his help.

So I did not tell Tom about my plan as he was going to go look for deer sign anyway.........the yucky weather had him cooped up in the house for a few days and need to go get some fresh air........

I had some 2x4's and nails.  My brother in law had some log siding and Sanj picked up some tin roofing.......When Sanj arrived I told Tom something about Sanj and I were gathering things from the woods for crafts....BUT when Harry drove in with the siding it blew my cover story right out of the water......

The look in Tom's eyes were pure terror!!! I teased we were making a deer stand for me.....he didn't laugh and I went to help Harry unload the siding.  Sanj explained we wanted to build this shed by ourselves because she wanted to learn how to do stuff like this . It was a mother- daughter thing blah blah blah........

So he decided he better stay home and "help"   I said no.....we can do this ourselves.....so he asked about my plans and I showed him a rough draft and he went on to explain all the things I already knew.......he reluctantly said "okay!

Than he decided he better stay home and help us and I said no...you go and when you get back, if we are having trouble than you can help.  He reluctantly said
"okay!"

He started the 4-wheeler to warm it up and explained a few more things on my draft that I needed to remember.....Than he decided he better stay home and help........

He finally left and we got to work..... we had the frame up and starting the siding when he came home.  "WOW "he said with a proud smile on his face....."GOOD JOB" he added........

 

WELL the next thing we know Tom is cutting our siding pieces and than he is nailing them on....with his good enough attitude they were a bit off.....at one point he said he'd do the nailing because it was too hard on us.......

He also said we weren't going to have enough siding and we would have to just use Boise felt.....come to think of it he asked me that when were we going over my plans too...he said "why don't you just use Boise felt?  I said "why would I use Boise felt when I have log siding?" He said " I guess I don't know why"

Any way we had plenty of siding. Tom's sister and husband dropped by with some things for us and that gave us time to get some on ourselves.......
 

THAN the roof....He asked if I was using tarp for the roof.....I said. "Sanj bought tin roofing.  "Oh yeah I forgot" he said. 
 

 We got the roofing on but Tom made a lot of frustrated trips into the house to release his steam valve and back out just to have to go back in again.........
Actually I was amazed that he was able to do that.  Usually he just let's her blow on the spot.  Sanj's presence made the difference.

I think what Sanj got out of the whole experience is that you don't want to do any projects with Tom around because he WILL help... "BLESS HIS HEART!"

OH BOY! : )

 Short funny story:  Saturday am Tom switched the tv to some sports channel and there was an older women on there skinning a beaver in her kitchen.  Tom said, "see MOM...that could be you.  I'll go trap the beaver and you can skin them like that."   I said. "or not!"  lol

This week end Tom also lined himself up a couple of part time jobs.  He called  few loggers he knows and they said sure.  When they need an extra hand they will give him a call.  So he is really happy about that.

The phone calls were real as I listened.  BUT they know Tom has Alz. so they always tell him that.  He feels good about it.  Tom loved to work!  And he misses it!

In December, our son in law, who is a foreman, usually has Tom come out to the woods a couple of days, to run skidder but keeps him away from every body else and keeps a close eye on him the whole time.  Than Tom's satisfied and is done with it for another year.

I am hoping today Tom will work on getting his deer stand set up for deer hunting.  Secondly I pray a big buck comes out and Tom shoots it "dead" and we will be done with our hunting for another year.  AMEN!

For those who worry about the safety of Tom hunting....This picture of his deer stand was taken from the house.  : )

Remembering when.......

AFTER I helped Tom clean up his mess from skinning the beaver he sat down at his table with a cup of coffee.  I notice Maggie was laying beside him........

"What are you doing?"  I asked.  "Oh just thinking back to when I use to trap and skin these things like nothing."  he replied.  "I bet you didn't have a cool table like this one?" trying to encourage him to talk about the good old days. 

He looked at me and laughed...."to tell you the truth I did most of it right on the ground....They were to heavy to carry them out when you got a bunch and your walking miles wearing snow shoes."  I laughed with him and said, "bet you had some major fleshing to do after that!  "YEAH that's for sure"  he said letting out a deep breath.

"Heck I remember when me and Larry T____r  would put two in our back packs and tied the rest to a pole we had on our shoulders.......I sure couldn't do that now!"  ...........And than he was gone again in his own little world of "back in the day"

Oh the stories in that guy are endless and fun to listen too.  I use the word "stories" as it's truth, mixed with exaggeration and confabulation but all of it so real to him ....just the way he tells it.  And you can see in his eyes he is reliving the moments as he speaks.  I wish there was a way to capture those stories with him as the teller with the same passion he tells them to me.

OH DEAR!!!! I just had a really scary thought!!!!!!!  What if he wants to leave the table in my laundry room?  ARG!...... I need to go think on that one.  Redirect!  ha ha

GUSTO?

Last trapping season I dropped Tom off at "Jim's," the old guy that traps big and skins Tom's beaver. Tom watched him skin and stretch them to re-learn how to do it....I thought of it as a refresher course. He use to be an old pro himself back in the day.........

When I picked Tom up that day he said he wished I was there to see how he did it and how fast and efficient he was. He also talked about the knives he used....Need those knives...but after I priced them..... probably not!

Trapping didn't go well for Tom last year so the few beaver Tom got went to Jim.
Jim said he'd take them this year too as he knows Tom has Alz. *sigh**** (Umm that was a sigh of relief from me)

So when we dropped Tom's two beaver off I had the pleasure of watching Ol' Pro Jim skin a beaver.....Tom was amazed like it was the first time he seen it? I took mental notes as I knew what was coming next. YEP...Tom"me" wants to skin a beaver. AND he got one yesterday! : 0

Well Tom thinks nothing of taking things to the kitchen table and since his reasoner is broke he sees NOTHING wrong with it....... I on the other hand have learned not to argue BUT to redirect.

SO while he went back out to check the rest of his traps, I was building him a table to put in his shack to skin the beaver on. I had to tear the picnic table apart for wood...."DESPERATE"? Yes and the word"PANIC" also comes to mind.He was so happy when he seen the table I made just for him, I helped him move junk out of the shack to make room and told him he can use the newly filled prone tank off the grill for his heater.

TO BE CONTINUED....................

SO this morning Tom added braces to the table.... to sturdy it up! THAN........"I think I'll do it in here instead of the shack"...... he said looking at me for a reaction. I said " OH! o k a y"..... MY mind is scrambling to figure out WHY he wants to do it in the house and not in his ever too cool shack.....

"Is that okay?" he asks, but isn't really asking, but telling me his plan. "Sure honey..what ever you want to do!" I replied in a chipper voice. AND SO HE DID.

I figured out later that his heater is in the deer stand and deer hunting is next week end and to him the ordeal of moving the heater from the stand to the shack was way too much rig-a-ma-row for just one beaver.


Besides he HAS done it on the kitchen table before and NOW he will be doing it in the laundry room on his OWN table.
SOMETIMES I only win half the battle......This is one of those times..... AND I LAUGHED!!!!!!!!!

Tom managed to separate the hide from the carcass. I directed him some and held the beaver down....... I could feel his frustration when he'd cut through.....and he kept saying that he use to be able to do this with out so much trouble... I said we both use to be able to do things that we can't do as well now.
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For the past month Tom has read, looked at pictures of sets, talked to people etc. and practiced at home. Oh yes, bought "LURE." The best is called "GUSTO" I have to have gusto...it's the real deal...everybody uses it and that's all they talk about on TV and they even talk about it in the trapping magazine.... "I really NEED it!" He says enthusiastically, trying to sell me on it so I'll go get him some.

When I went to buy it the sales clerk said "I have to go outside and get it and I'll leave it on the trash can outside the door."

While he was gone I was thinking..... "WHAT IS THIS STUFF?????"

He came back in and I paid for it. Not expensive? "So what's with this stuff? Does it smell that bad?" I ask. " I don't mind it but it bothers some people" he replied.

Okay... this guy isn't talking and now I am really curious.... He gave me a small paper bag for the bottle of gusto. I went outside and on the trash can was a small glass bottle of "something" How can something smell through glass?

I got the answer when I got in the van and started to drive away..... "I SMELLED "SKUNK"

Trapping Season Has Begun

Trapping officially opened Saturday morning..... Tom was waiting for the frost to clear but it wasn't happening so he went out to place his traps. He was so excited waiting for this day.....

He'd been practicing, trying different ways to set up his traps on the poles he cut..... He worked in a quiet room all by himself for hours...When he emerged he was happy with what he came up with. This is something he use to do without much thought, NOW it takes agonizing time to figure it out....I'm proud that he doesn't give up...it would be so easy to do...instead he persists.....and I encourage him to do so.

He came home COLD......but said he set all 12 of his beaver traps and 2 mink
traps....

"Ya! and I was rushing to get home because you said you were going to call in law enforcement to look for me if I wasn't home by dark and that's all I could think of....." He said with a boy like attitude. It was 4 pm..... "oh my!" I thought. "it's not dark for another couple of hours"

He didn't hear that...He just said not to call anyone unless he's not back by 6-7 o'clock...... I just replied with "Okay!"

Than he had a funny story....... No it's not the one where he is setting a trap and a beaver is watching him.... This one is about him concentrating on setting a trap and than from behind him someone said ((((HEY)))))

"I must have jumped ten feet! He scared the H**L out of me. Good thing I had just let go of the trap or my hand would have been in it" He said quite seriously.....I said " oh that would have been bad." He said "YA! That's what I told the guy!"

I asked what he said to the guy.... He replied chuckling "I said who are you? and he said who are You?......ha ha

Ended up being someone from out of town staying at a shack and was bird hunting....... "But he sure scared me.... He probably walked away laughing his ass off at how bad he scared me....."

SO this morning he went to check his traps and came home with two beaver, one mink and one partridge. The girls are inspecting his catch!

He was so happy with the mink...."Gosh it has to have been a good 25 years since I trapped a mink" The sparkle in his eyes said the rest.

The good news for me is...The guy who took Tom's beaver and skun them last year is willing to take them again this year. Once again, I luck out : )

Better Days

Tom and I spent most of a day getting things put away and ready for winter. I think this was the smoothest it's ever gone. Except when I tripped over a stump, while carrying one end of the boat, walking backwards. I went down, with the boat landing on my shin..... "OUCH"

As I sat on the ground with Tom looking concerned, I cracked jokes till I could stand up and do a little jig to show him I was fine!....... He said, "doesn't that hurt?" I said, "not at all" He said "your so full of it" ha ha........ So I dragged my leg when I walked and he laughed and said..."knock it off"

I notice Tom always asks my opinion on things now and gets mad if I say what ever you think is fine with me. That was an answer I used so Tom felt he had control over things in his life. But now he is getting where he doesn't know what to do and needs me to tell him...But I still respond in a way that the final decision is his to make.

Tom has also been doing things that he is not at all aware of....... way more often than before. When they are funny I tell him and we laugh together. Sometimes he'll say that's not funny. That's scary. I say no it's funny because it's going to happen, you have no control over it, that's what this disease does and that's why you have me to take care of you. BESIDES... I do stupid stuff and I don't have any excuse and we laugh at that............SO that makes it funny............

Tom has seen a lot of birds this year and has enjoyed hunting. I notice he looses interest in things a lot faster now. He is ready to quit bird hunting already and start focusing on trapping which opens soon.

We have gone on a few more road trips. The last trip we put on 60 miles in 10 hours....... Can I say "L O N G D A Y" We brought lot's of coffee and a lunch. And we let the girls do a lot of running so it was actually a fun day for all of us.

We seen a lot of birds but only shot 5. They were all really flighty....

MY MISTAKE!

I made a BIG mistake first thing upon Tom getting up for the day on Wednesday and WE paid for it ALL day! This is a good example of how the AD brain works or I should say DOESN'T work.

Tom has been obsessing about getting straw for winterizing. As he watches the weather every night he seen snow and cold temps in our forecast. So to keep his anxiety level low I made arrangements with our daughter to get some straw ASAP!

We made arrangements the night before and mistake #1 was including Tom in the plan. I did that because he wants to go road hunting EVERYDAY and we had to work around Sanj's work schedule. #2 was we needed to move some HEAVY summer things and TOM doesn't get it that I'm not 30 any more. BUT when he decides it's time to do this I am delegated.

SO I was trying to be one step ahead knowing it was coming with the straw and lined up help for that too. TOM didn't know that part as he would object.

MY BIG MISTAKE? Well Sanj called as we were waiting for her soon arrival. She asked if it was possible for us to wait till later when her boy friend Calvin got off work and he would help with all the above. I said sure because than we could go road hunt and that would make Tom happy.

NOT....... HE can't switch gears. That part of the brain is burnt out. I knew that BUT I was thinking with my normal brain which is ALWAYS a mistake. It's hard to live in his world as his brain function deteriorates but I have to function for US in the real world.

He agreed to go hunting but I heard that funny breathing he does when he is stressed as we were pulling out of the drive way. OH POOHY! I knew we were in for a bad day and why. And poor Tom was clueless. He just knew he was upset and was trying to get a handle on it but couldn't.

It was a long day with him being sarcastic and crabby one minute and than seemingly like he was getting over it and was his old self and than bam.. It was like TWO different personalities popping in and out all day. IT SUCKED!

Even Lilly tried to snap him out of it but that was short lived too. The girls are aware and sensitive to the his changes and moods. They are a blessing to us and help me with him more than anyone will ever know.

When we got home late afternoon and NO BIRDS : ( I started super and he rolled cigarettes and watched baseball. I brought him coffee like nothing was wrong. Than after about a half hour he said he didn't know what was wrong with him and he was having a bad day and he had been trying to snap out of it all day and not be crabby but he said he would no more than be okay and bam those bad feeling would hit him again. (The bad feelings are him feeling mad and if he didn't fight it, it can turn to rage.) He kept saying he was sorry!

We got through super and getting the hay and moving "some" heavy things with the arranged help. It was on again, off again with the mood thing. When they left so did his anger. He was fine the rest of the evening ..........?

It helps me a lot to have people around me who seem to "get" the disease and it's effects. A phone call to one of these people = help. Tom can hide his deficits as "they" (people with AD) all can even in later stages to fool others that there is nothing wrong. But Tom let's his guard down around a few he loves and trusts so that's why I have the help I need. They see it!


The Upside of the day? The drive is beautiful.........

Bird Hunting Everyday!

Tom's been bird hunting every day till the weather turned to crap...... He was bringing home birds here and there so we have been able to enjoy a few meals and share with family too.

So Monday morning he got up early and went out as it wasn't raining.....A while later he was back cold, wet and empty handed...He said "let's go road hunting! Do you want to go?" " Of coarse I want to go!!!!!"

The last time he asked me this question and I had other plans for the day, he got upset. OKAY he was a little more than upset.... He was REALLY UPSET.....SO what ever I had to do could wait as the world evolves around those who have this disease.......Once again I am not alone and if their requests are do-able and not unreasonable, it's what you do. AND his request was both.

It turned out to be a fun day.... The road was in good shape (no pot holes or big deep mud holes) the trees were in full fall color and the reds were brilliant and of coarse I left my camera home.

Tom was having a good day. We stopped and let the girls run a few different times. Tom brought five shells and shot five birds and we seen a few more on the way out of the woods.

I got an "A" in driving and a "+" for spotting a bird in a tree. He said I was amazing! I told him I was ALWAYS amazing, he was just having a good day could see for a change just how amazing I am! He agreed. : )

When we got home Tom and Mag went to check the beaver pond behind the house for ducks while I whipped up super. They came home ecstatic! He shot two ducks and Mag followed his orders to find them behind the beaver dam. That's amazing because she has had no training. She is just that smart and just understands what we say.

His emotions were over flowing and he was feeling the love... Mag got all kinds of extra treats and kisses and hugs......AND she was soaking it all up.

KEEPING BUSY!

When our car bit the dust , we were given a van by a family member.... Soon after we got the van, by word of mouth, the car was sold.

We were in NEED of a snow blower but didn't get near enough out of the car to buy one......... But a few days later I got a call from a man saying he heard we were looking and he was selling a LIKE NEW snow blower..... AND the price was right.

THAN there was the tricky part of me looking at and getting it with out Tom's knowledge because at this point Tom makes things way more complicated than they really are because his executive function is severely damaged..... and then there is the stress and decline, followed by a melt down..... sigh! HIS not mine...not yet...that will come later...ha ha J/K

SO I sent Tom hunting, called #2 daughter "Sanj", she happened to be out and about and in the vicinity of..... She looked at it with me on the phone, we decide it's a deal, she barrows a pick up, gets the snow blower loaded, all in less than an hours time and is on the way out here with it when Tom comes home from hunting. (no birds - just cold)

He says "well, should we go look at the snow blower?" I said "in a bit...I'm waiting for a phone call! #1 daughter "Lisa" is in labor with her first baby." She lives 6 hours from us.......

So while we sat there I see Sanj driving in with the snow blower on the back of a truck.... The dogs start barking and Tom says..."WHO'S HERE?" I said..."It's just Sanj with your new snow blower!" "OH for heavens sake! You tricked me!" he said grinning.

He totally loved the snow blower, so while he played with that, Sanj made arrangements to go to be with her sister as she doesn't have to work till Friday night........

AND no.... I won't be able to go and see my new grand baby as I can not leave Tom home alone and no he would not be accepting of someone staying with him....... I am not in a unique situation..... there are thousands of us out here all in the same boat or worse..... That's why I say this disease effects so many lives......

THIS all took place on Wednesday A.M. Sanj made arrangements for her boys, packed and flew out early evening to be with Lisa and her husband Lester.

This morning no baby yet so Tom went to see if he could find a bird......... A short time later I look out the window to see what the girls are barking at and it's Tom followed by this "big ditch mowing machine".......
NOW what the heck is TOM up too?????

After a bit I finally figured out that the guy was a county worker who was mowing the county ditches and TOM was asking him about the county plowing us out this winter....... BECAUSE the 4-wheeler and plow just won't be able to do it another year nor do I think Tom has it in him to do it this year.

The county will plow you when they plow the county road if you let them know ........ You just pay a small fee each time.... SO WORTH IT! We have a quarter mile drive way.... And than the snow blower for up and around the house..... WHICH I can easily do if Tom isn't up to it.

SO did Lisa have her baby? Yes! A beautiful 7lb 15oz baby boy. 20 1/2" long at 12:45 this afternoon.......He doesn't have a name yet......BUT everyone is doing fine!

He Came Back For Me

Tom's been out bird hunting everyday since Monday..... He's been enjoying the weather, the woods, peace and quiet..... He's been exploring areas he has never been...... just because he can.....The weather has been wonderful and I've been getting a few things done around here that I can't do with him underfoot. It's a win-win!

Tom came home early yesterday.... I asked what was wrong...? why was he home already....?

He said, "Mom, I got to thinking how much you love the woods at this time of year and it's not fair you always stay home and take care of things. I came back to get you!" awwwww!

NOT taking any chances of him rethinking this I was ready to go in a flash. He was still gas-ing up as I climbed on board.

(To clarify why I don't go everyday with him is because he doesn't want to leave our girls (dogs) home alone. They BEG!!!!! to go too. So I stay home so he can go and not feel bad leaving them behind.)

We only seen a few birds but it didn't matter. I was just totally enjoying being out in the woods on the trails.....Once Tom asked, what are you looking for...DUCKS? That was funny and I laughed... I was looking "UP" at this big old tree and wondering how old it was. Tom said, "there use to be a deer stand way up there. They must have taken it down."

We went down wide trails, narrow trails, groomed trails, un-groomed trails and a few mud holes......
The woods had that yummy fall smell......leaves were starting to turn color and the ash have mostly lost their leaves......

When we got home a few hours later, the girls were a little upset with us but also glad we were home....Emily was good and didn't chew anything up. She normally doesn't but we've never left her before so we weren't sure what she'd do.

I thanked Tom for the "date"... he chuckled and said your welcome MOM!

UPDATE

As a caregiver and Toms wife, my job is to see that Tom is as safe as possible but still allow him to enjoy and get out of his life what he can...

Tom LOVES the woods.....simple as that. It's easy to get him confused as to where he is, in the town he grew up in, on the rare occasion I get him to town. But in the woods it's a different story. But as the disease progresses, he will eventually get lost and confused in the woods too.

I promised Tom that I would not take that away from him. He was free to roam the surrounding woods as long as I feel he is safe to do so. So I have been in contact with the local law enforcement to see what we could set Tom up with for tracking him in the event he didn't find his way home.

$$'s is an issue for us and the Sheriffs department but they are willing to look into any idea or product I come across. They will continue to look too! So I am open for any ideas?

My brother and his wife so generously gave us a vehicle as ours bit the dust. Tom's sister and husband took me to get the vehicle as it was out of town....We are surrounded by a host of GOD loving people who open their hearts to us and so generously help us ..........

I do not know how to thank everyone who helps us and remain apart of our lives.
I know that's not easy for those who do not understand the disease and it's progression.

The personality change and the inability to reason or even understanding simple sentences at times, reading a news paper 3-4 times because you know you read it but don't remember what you read, and the frustration they feel leading to angry outbursts....... It's a scary feeling to slowly lose yourself and being aware of it. And it tears me apart to watch him slowly disappear as a stranger takes his place.

THANK YOU EVERYONE! GOD BLESS YOU!

The Big Bull Moose!

This past week Tom's been out everyday making places to set traps this trapping season. He has them EVERYWHERE..... He said he doesn't remember where all he fixed up but it gave him something to do.

Yesterday Tom came home so excited....his eyes bulging and breathing really funny...the same way he does when he has a big buck in his scope.

He got off the 4-wheeler saying he had the most ultimate of ultimate experiences in his whole life. This was truly the ultimate-ist!!!! (I have no idea where he got that word from but it kept coming out of his mouth.)

Apparently he stopped on the main trail (logging road) just before the trail flooded from a large beaver dam. On the other side is a spruce swamp. This is a road used by loggers in the winter for logging as the swamp goes for miles before hitting high ground. So they can only use it when it freezes over.

Anyway he was scouting out a place to set traps.... He looked across the flooded trail and seen a REALLY BIG BULL MOOSE. He said it had to have just lost it's velvet as the horns shined a very bright gold. " It was the most beautiful, breath taking sight I have ever seen." he said. "It stood out so brilliantly against the spruce back ground and the horns just shined..." he repeated.

I mumbled something about except the first time he laid eyes on me when he kept repeating the words "ultimate-ist and beautiful"....... Apparently he wasn't hearing a word I was saying...I looked at him and could see his eyes were glazed over as he stared off like he could still see it crystal clear." It was the most ultimate sight I've ever seen....." he kept repeating. "If I never see another moose as long as I live, it wouldn't matter as this was the ultimate."

Than he went on to say he made his famous, well practice moose call. (We use to moose hunt in Canada) The bull answered and started to follow the sound. That's when he seen the smaller bull.

He crept closer to the beaver dam , next to the swamped road and hid behind a big poplar and some spruce trees. He sat well hidden and crouched down. The bugs we driving him crazy so he lit a cigarette. He continued to make his call.

His heart was beating hard and his breathing heavy as the BIG BULL went splash.... "I could hear the sound of him coming through the water toward me. He was still grunting. " he said not blinking an eye as he still held his stare. " He crossed the beaver dam like he was walking on pavement. Now he is looking at me to see if I was getting the picture. " He crossed like it was nothing. Like he was walking on hard ground!!!!"

I was saying things like WOW! and HAH! and COOL! and I wished I was there! He heard that.... The part where I said "I wish I was there"

"When the MOOSE stopped, he was close enough for me to see his lips curl as he continued to grunt." Than I quit calling as I was afraid the Bull would realize I wasn't a cow." Tom said his eyes looked like soft balls. "They were huge." He could hear his every breath....... "It was the ultimate of experiences." he continued with his story. "THAT"S when I said to myself, OH WHY couldn't she be here with me..... I really said that to myself"....... and he repeated it a few more times.........

I said..."Yeah darn it! I always miss out on the cool stuff." "Yeah Mom, but you have an important job taking care of me and the girls. I'm just lucky I guess that I get to see all this cool stuff. And this was the coolest and the ultimate-ist. Thank you LORD for this great experience " he said with his head bowed.

"Just be happy for me that I get to do all this cool stuff." OUCH! AD SUCKS!

Than Tom finished his story. "I stood up and the bull wandered away. He didn't run or anything...just wandered off. I went back to the 4-wheeler and here the small bull had come out behind me.......He stood on the trail for a moment and wondered off too."

"I was so excited that I drove as fast as I could home to tell you about it..... I wished you could have been there with me!"

That statement made it okay with me that I wasn't there...... as much as I wished I was ..... I really miss him! But I'm happy when he's happy and watching him tell one of his stories with such excitement and passion....is priceless!

Signs Of Fall

Even with summer temps, Fall keeps creeping in. The leaves are changing and most mornings we wake to a beautiful foggy haze. You can see the outline of the yard and a few trees peeking out. As it slowly dissipates the woods becomes more defined.

It's so peaceful and quiet........
OKAY I'm awake now.... As Fall is creeping in so are all the fun and games that come with it. Tom's been getting traps ready, trap boxes made and planning out where he's going to put his traps. He just got a dozen new traps so he'll be busy dying and tagging them....

It's early goose season now too so you never know when one will fly over and we can throw that in the roaster......

Soon the regular bird season will open and Tom will be off looking for birds. Because of where he's at in the disease I've decided this is the year to figure out some way to track him if he gets lost. I've got good people helping me figure something out.

He says he's going to pack up a tent and I can drive him somewhere and drop him off with the 4-wheeler. Than come get him in a couple of days.

I told him I couldn't do that. Me and the girls would miss him to much. Besides he has to be here to take care of us. What if something happened to us?

That worked THIS TIME.........

Field Trip......

We took a field trip to town today....

Tom had a gift certificate to spend at the Outdoorsman. So he was able to get all his hunting licenses for anything he may shoot. Geese, ducks, deer, partridge..... and some shells for his shot gun.... He's ready!

YES he is still safe to use a gun. He's fine when he is hunting birds and for deer hunting I will be with him and more than likely he'll deer hunt right here, by the house. I ALWAYS think SAFTY first!

So back to our field trip. Our daughter, Sanj, came out this A.M. to give us a ride, and of coarse our three girls (dogs) came too. She has a Durango so there was plenty of room for all. Sanj knows, understands and accepts how Tom is with his girls so she has no problems with them riding in her vehicle.

He did pretty good in the Outdoorsman but was some what confused.... than we were off to do some shopping at a few more stores as Tom seemed to be okay.

When we were done Sanj pulled up to Dairy Queen and bought the girls a sundae. They were so excited as it has been ages since they have had a treat like that. This was new to Emily so she nursed hers a little more than the older two.....

It was a good trip over all. I heard some back seat mumbling about me talking too much and about all my outbursts but it's easy to ignore the static when it's coming from the back seat.

I remember when the kids were little and you did your best to ignore the squabbling going on in the back seat till the noise level reached a certain loudness and than it was time to pull off the side of the road. It didn't get that bad.

When we got home Tom laid down and said......"Mom, how come I'm so tired every time I get home from going to town?" I said "I don't know honey, but it's going to rain this afternoon so just relax and go to sleep" I covered him up and kissed his forehead and whispered..."I LOVE YOU!" He closed his eyes and in a short time was sound asleep.

Full Moon Effect?

FULL MOON EFFECT?
The term Lunatic is derived from the word Lunar (Moon).

Simply put; Hormonal reactions to increased positive ions in the air (Full Moon Effect) cause hyperactivity, depression, violent behavior, road rage, higher occurrences of migraines and
asthma. Even bees are known to sting without provocation on higher positive ion ratios.

??????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Wouldn't you know it. I let down my guard and was blind sided by this mean, nasty, person who seemed to be pissed off at the whole world and everyone in it.....and didn't make one ounce of sense. He was like a Pit Bull with hemorrhoids.

The girls and I went into invisible mode.... At one point I thought he was moving out to the shack because he was mumbling something about moving out into the woods?

We live in the woods in the middle of 30 acres and there is nonstop woods behind us so how much more" in the woods" he was talking about I wasn't sure and NO WAY was I asking?

I was hoping one of those bees with the same attitude would sting him in the ass.

It's a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde kind of thing.... For some it is heightened during full moon. I've been noticing it during full moons but this was the "tsunami" of Jekyll and Hyde personality flip. No cause nor reason...weird and scary.

As it came with no warning it left. He went right back to his mixed up, pleasant old self who really loves "MOM" That's Me....... Hope he stays there for awhile.