Glad to see you got back safe.  Good your mother's surgery was a success.

Thank you, Drear and Melusine.

I'm under the weather at the moment.  Canceled my haircut today-I was afraid I would cough and loose a chunk of hair!  Also, my throat is swollen so I'm not speaking today.  So, I'm staying home in my pj's drinking hot tea and sleeping a lot.

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Eep! Perish the thought!

Glad to hear that your mother's surgery went well. And I'm so terribly sorry about your grandmother. I think we have Alzheimer's in our family, but fortunately I haven't had any family members close to me so afflicted. 

Hope you feel better soon. Would chicken soup help? Whenever I'm under the weather, I make cheater's chicken soup. I just stick a rotisserie chicken from the local grocery in a pot, cover it in water, simmer on low, and an hour and a half later, chicken stock!

Thank you, La Diosa, KNS and Drear.  My symptoms have morphed into a pretty nasty headache-I think this is a sinus thing.  Still sucks.

KNS, I hope you never have a close relative afflicted with the disease.  It is awful.  My grandma was the only person in my family to be supportive and encouraging of me.  It just hurts so bad to see her, her bright blue eyes and hear her voice that now has no love for me in them because she doesn't know me.  I hate it.  Makes me cry and feel alone.

My hubby makes chicken soup from scratch for me when I'm really sick.  I always keep a couple of cans of it in the pantry.  I never thought of using a rotisserie chicken to make soup.  Mmm, maybe for tortilla soup-hubby would love that.

Other than my hair looking out of shape, its in pretty good condition.  I'm probably due for another cassia application-which will have to wait until hubby returns from China on the 20th.  Maybe I'll wait until next month to get that trim.  I've been braiding it mostly anyway-I hardly ever wear it all down.

I,too have a Grandmother who has Diemntia that doesn't recognize me anymore.  I totally relate to how you feel.  She'll be 98 in Feb. and got her wish of staying in her own home so even though she remembers little occasionally,she's loved and well cared for!

A coworker of mine has to do gluten and egg-free stuff for his son, who is allergic to wheat, eggs, dairy and a whole slew of other things. Can you still eat eggs? A good bread machine can whip up some tasty bread or bagel dough using gluten free flour and eggs, if you want something fresh.

The only tips I have for housecleaning are vinegar and hot water. Vinegar is really great at getting rid of calcium deposits that cause water spots or white residue on things. Hot water is great for getting dishes and pots really clean. I'm a fan of the scrubby-bubbles tub scrub thing. It's a green handle that you stick a scrubby pad to. It's really fast, cleans a shower and tub and a sink, and you don't have to touch anything. I'm still working on the vacuuming part. 

Sakina,

I can identify.  I procrastinate terribly when it comes to house cleaning.  The best (albeit not foolproof) method I've found is to divide up the house by days.  Don't try to do it all in one day, or else you'll end up getting tired of it and then procrastinate for weeks before doing it again (that's what happens to me, in any case    ).  Do the living room one day, then bedroom the next, laundry the 3rd day, etc. etc., and just rinse the dishes and stick them in the washer as they're used.  Or just wash them if you don't have a washer.  Doing it in bits helps me to maintain my momentum.

I agree with KNS about the vinegar.  It cleans everything. 

I used to live with a girl who had Celiac disease.  She had to cook every single thing she ate.  She ate a lot of a sort of casserole stuff made with ground beef, tomatoes, onions, and eggs.  Of course, she was also allergic to soy, milk, and...uh...something else I can't think of right now.  She ate jar upon jar of peanut butter and bags of Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips (at least you know chocolate is ok, right?) and a lot of fresh fruits and veggies.  She was probably fairly healthy, since she couldn't eat any kind of boxed or prepared meals.  She actually did pretty well, considering how limited her choices were.  I do know from  talking to her that there are a lot of Celiac websites with lists of 'safe' foods.  You could try that.

YIR, thanks for your suggestion.  I was contemplating assigning a task to a day as I do get overwhelmed and then do nothing.  I will take a look at some websites-good suggestion-I hadn't gotten that far yet.

La Diosa, that's some good advice your mom gave you!  My mom grew up in clutter and then so I did I.  Hubby helps me keep fairly on track with that issue.  Thanks for sharing!