O bus, where art thou?

The first snow fell on southern Minnesota on Friday, Nov. 20.  It didn't really fall, but rather "sifted" as flour might--beautiful, light. When all was over, we received about 2 inches, though Iowa got dumped on--9 inches in Mason City, 12 inches in Sioux Falls.  I was happy with 2 inches. But two inches is two inches and I shoveled the driveway, noticing that as I drove on the newly opened Lakeview Boulevard (!) that the roads hadn't been salted.  They were slick.  Apparently as the snow came down, it melted initially and then as the temp dropped, things turned icy.

So my visit to Mom yesterday had me driving VERY slowly on the country roads and finally shuffling from the parking lot into the apartment complex.

Our visit yesterday wasn't anything out of the ordinary--a bit of cleanup, making sure TV was set for later, setting out dinner, and .... what to wear today, Sunday?  Mom wondered what the weather would be like, and I told her of the snow and ice and cold temps, and she decided she's rather skip church than tackle the elements.

I could tell she was at odds about how to notify the van driver that she shouldn't be picked up, so I volunteered to call him.  Mom seemed relieved, and I just hoped I'd remember to do it!

I found the phone number of the van driver, Marlon, in the church directory and called it--oops...disconnected.  He must be like many who were just using cell phones.  What to do?  That same number was in the regular phone book, so I called it again, thinking perhaps I'd misdialed.  But no...same recording.

Good grief.  How to notify Marlon Mom wouldn't be riding with him?  I decided to call the church and leave a message on the answering machine.  Marlon had to get the van from the church before heading out to fetch people, so I hoped he'd get the message from someone.

But when I dialed the church, Pastor Dwight answered, and I asked him to notify Marlon Mom wouldn't need a ride.  Good. Done.  I'd remembered to call. All was well.

Ten minutes later Marlon called me.  "Did you want something?" he asked.  I was a bit frustrated that he hadn't just gotten the drift not to pick up Mom.  When I explained Mom's reluctance to go to church because of the weather, Marlon assured me they'd put Mom in a wheelchair, take her to the van, then when they got to church, they'd again fetch a wheelchair and wheel her into the church.  It was almost as if he was arguing with me that Mom could handle the transfer from the apartment to the church.

Well, I held my ground and just told him Mom had asked me to call and cancel transportation to church.  Ok.  Done.  Finally.

When I got the the apartment today, Mom said no one had come to get her for church.  She'd sat out there and waited.  Two separate people approached me saying how concerned they were that my poor Mom wasn't taken to church.

So...I'm frustrated.  Without a memory, there's no hope of keeping things straight for Mom.  She asked me a dozen times what I was fixing for dinner.  I explained we'd be having an eye recheck this coming week and she had no clue about eye issues, where the clinic was, etc.

I'm thinking I need at least $100/wk to stay sane.  I need to be compensated, paid, salaried.  Think I'm giving and not being appreciated like I need to be for my sanity.  Good grief.