good morning.

Well Marjorie returned home, and I am trying to resume our normal routine prior to there respite stay.  The questions that are being repeated are these:
Where have I been?  am I not supposed to be going home to my own house?  I feel like I am forgetting something important that we need to do today".  The list goes on, but it is nice to have her home.  She didn't do much yesterday afternoon.... maybe tired from the trip and all the transition, so we spent a sort of low-key day just chatting and watching a bit of TV.  Later, when the kids started to trickly in, I poured her the first glass of wine she has had in over two weeks.  She welcomed it like any mother would welcome her child after a long absence....it was cute to see and listen to.   Marjorie was quite happy to have her restful spot on the couch, along with catered snacks that she had missed and her wine.  One thing that has changed is her outlook on her living arrangements.  She seems to think that she is now living in a different facility, and seems to have little or no recollection of the guest house, only its rules.    I was cooking last nite, and she mentioned that she would love to help, but that she was not allowed in the kitchen due to all the hot applainces etc.
So I sat Marjorie down and asked her to slice the cucumbers and peel carrots.  That lasted all of three minutes and after she seemed to have had her fill of eating them, Marjorie announced that she might better be getting settled into her new room.  Its a new and completely fabricated existence, this one she has created, but whatever comforts her and makes her feel safe, I am willing to comply with.
This morning was a different bag of tricks.  First of all, Marjorie had no idea where she was this morning, nor who I was (at first).  It took her at least 15 mins to  a-climatize to her surroundings.  Once comfortable, she said sher realized and rememberd being changed to this facility and was quite concerned that her daugther had not paid for her stay here yet.   She was explaining all this to me as I brought her toast and coffee to her in bed.   I assured her that she was paid in full, left her with the news on and a nice hot cup of coffee, toast and medications had been dispensed.  It was a nice, calming morning return, and I left feeling confident that I had helped the transition run smoothly.   Or so I thought.
About an hour ago, I started to hear noises of life.  I was working in my office, pouring over emails, when I heard her leave her bedroom.  I called to her if she needed or wanted anything and she said she was fine.  I had systematically left out a tea, some cookies and she should have been good to go.  I like to keep my Mum independant and involved, to maintain her believe that she is vital, and needed.
I became concerned when I heard the water running, for a long time, and walked through to the kitchen to find her washing.... yes washing..... my net book and my cordless phones.   She was running them under the tap, soaping them with the scrub brush and cleaning them in a fashion that was obviously making sense in her brain.  Not so much for my electronics.  
This is where the disease is so hard to understand, for me anyway.   Initial response for me was to freak, in a fashion that I freak out when my kids do something so awful that I cannot control my temper.   Instead, I calmly stopped her from washing, and let her away to do another task.  

Situations like this are hard.   I try my best not to take them personally, but this morning, she witnessed me using both items..... at the same time.   after receiving good advice from friends, I have placed them both in containers of rice, in hopes that they will have some chance of recovering.  For now, I just keep taking deep  breaths and knowing that today, the first day home, that it's only goingto get worse....  :)