Dad Camp 2022

My dad had a heart attack 2 weeks ago and had 2 stents put in laparoscopically.  He got home from the hospital Tuesday night and I was able to fly in Friday to visit and support his recovery. 

My task was to see that he was OK and to prevent him from doing strenuous work that could injure him or damage the heart repair.  So I spent the week working HARD at every task he could come up with to fix things around the house, and a few tasks I came up with to clean the house.  It was a good week.  I spent time one on one with him as I hadn't since being a small child.  I got to work along side of him on repairs that were sometimes very ambitious.  I'm especially pleased at how I was able to extract the broken bolt, saving him at least $100 that it would have cost to transport the tractor and have it fixed.

My dad's conservator was able to cover all my expenses which made this visit so much easier.  I could buy the door, replace the tire, peg board supplies, food, whatever parts were needed, and just get things done.  Generally my dad's frugality keeps things from being done.  He just doesn't want to spend money so things stay broken.  Because me buying things would be reimbursed by the conservator, that just removed a major barrier to my dad's willingness to do things.  I got to just be a helpful daughter instead of a person nagging that things needed to be done.

I had a good week of hard work and good cooking.  Because I was cooking healthy for my dad, there was always healthy left over food for me to eat as a large lunch.  

My dad's temper has strained our relationship in the past.  He was very calm during this visit even when things got broken and had to be fixed.  Most of the projects had something go wrong.  Because we were working together, and his capacity is limited, there was less stress of me doing it wrong.  I got to be so accommodating, often saying "Let me get that dad." or "That's too heavy dad."  He couldn't push himself past breaking point, and didn't expect it of me either.

 

Dad Camp

 

Friday:  arrive 

 

Saturday:  yard work, clearing brambles, vines from bushes, getting poison ivy, inflating tire, buying extension cord.  Taking the tractor tire off and taking it to a service station to replace.  Dad pumped up the tire and mowed some of the yard.   stirfry chicken

 

Sunday:  Church, Buying door, transporting door.   Ro-main

 

Monday:  Installing Door, temple open house. Soup

 

Tuesday: chess, remove acrylic sheet from wood door, clean glass door, work on moisture. Bolt of tire breaks off.  Stir-fry

 

Wednesday: take dad to appointments, replace tractor tire.

Clean and organize laundry room, flip doors to open inward.    Taco Salad

 

Thursday:  drill out old bolt of lawn mower, walk to home depot and get new bolt.  Fill the recycling bin with boxes, and old food containers, pie tins, etc...  Dad mowed the yard again.

Clean dishwasher filter, buy rinse aide.  Sweep and clean upstairs.  Mark the dryer to show more effective settings. Chicken and salad with potatoes

Friday: move bush, mow side yard, defrost upstairs freezer and clean doors and under fridge, fix light above stove, clean and organize kitchen. Stir-fry

 

Saturday:  shim dishwasher, sweep and clean stairs and entryway.  Clean and install acrylic on front door.  Peg board purchase, installation.  Depart 1:00.