The line of sightings went from Central Virginia to New Hampshire, Ginger, as far as I can see from the map. So it definitely went over NJ.

Just starting to have to really deal with my parents' aging.

Tim's dad is developing some dementia (early signs like some short-term memory loss, not paying bills, etc.), and he insists he isn't going to move out of the large home in a remote area in which he lives alone. Yeah, no. The thing is, he's also very lonely, and a retirement community would probably do him a world of good in terms of mental stimulation and interaction. That's going to be a big issue in the next year or so, I'm afraid.

*My* dad is a hot mess of too many medications that mess with his brain (painkillers, sleeping meds [and YES, I know that it's not a good idea to combine them, but he acts like goddamn Elvis when it comes to pills]), which in and of itself is worrisome, but then he DRIVES when he's full of meds. He needs to not drive anymore, but then he would never leave his apartment, or it would be up to me to take him everywhere, and I live 25 minutes away from him. But seriously, I used to be sure that a heart attack would kill him. (Or, when he was drinking like it was an Olympic sport, that he'd be in a bar and make some asinine insulting comment about some woman's breasts [yes, I am SO PROUD of my family], and the woman's husband would beat him to death. For real, that was a HUGE worry of mine for YEARS. Because he was a JACKASS when he drank.) But now my biggest worry is that he's going to take his percocet and get behind the wheel and flip his truck and kill himself. And other people.

So the loopy-making drugs mess with his brain, and then he's also suffering some memory loss, although I strongly suspect it's a side effect from the comically high dose of Lipitor he's been taking for 10-15 years.

If we could stick my dad and Tim's dad in a retirement home together, it might make for great reality TV.

Getting my mom out of the old farmhouse (which required a life-threatening attack of vasculitis and a metaphorical crowbar) was the best thing for her. She'd lived there all alone for too long.

ION Fireball!: "Eyewitnesses from the Washington D.C. area as well as New York City and New England reported sightings of the meteor traveling from west to east. Eyewitness accounts also describe the meteor as "very bright green with a yellow tail," suggesting that it meets the criteria of a fireball, which is a larger than normal meteor." from Washington Post, as I troll around the Internet looking for evidence I'm not crazy.

I'd like to go on record that when I need a retirement home, I would like to be put in one. Hell, there is a fabulous assisted living facility down the block that I'd LOVE to live in right now.

I'm with you, Kat. I've seen some lovely assisted living facilities I'd be happy to move into now.

I was about to blame my eagerness to move into a retirement community to the fact that I'm a single renter!

I keep pointing out to my parents that there are senior apartments AND a greenhouse model [link] nursing care facilities right across the street from me. And they'll be breaking ground soon on what I believe is an assisted-living residence that sorta lands in between the senior apts and the nursing home in terms of care.

But I think they'd look for something closer to the grandkids if they were to go that route and leave NM. They've got their active social life in NM.

So because of space and staffing issues (and finances), we're not moving Mom, at least now now. In the long term we might be able to get the facility to provide enough support for her; in the short term we're hiring an outside agency to provide support 4 hours/day for 6 days/week. That at least will get her dressed, fed, & showered, and give my Dad a break so he can go walk the dog, get a workout, etc.

Frankly, I don't know what else I can do. She's not in good shape: very shaky and out of it, and I suspect that very soon she won't be able to get out of bed at all. I don't know what happens then.

Random: has anyone seen the play Good People ?

Yes! I saw it at Steppenwolf and it was wonderful. [link]

Could those meteor sightings be centered in Grover's Mill, N.J.?

Heh.

My father's been scarily pro-active preparing for a physical and mental downturn in our parents' lives. He finally gave up putting me in control of his money--between living in the US and working in the financial industry the hurdles were too high--but it took him more than a year of trying to say "Okay, your sister's on the account, and we've talked about it so there will be no problem for you to get the money."

THE FUCK??? He's also clear that he doesn't want me to move home if anything happens, but I think my mother's infirmity with the cancer (she's better about both now) made him more aware, and he's scoping making their house more accessible, with handrails and the like. I don't know what actual care he's planning for, but I'm ashamed at how relieved I am he's doing all this. Living this far away does make me feel guilty--my sister wanted to spend her sabbatical in New Zealand, and my mom was "that far?" and now her plans are downgraded to antipodean vacationing instead.