Routines

It's strange because Mother goes in and out of routines and you never really know when one will end and the next will begin. For awhile there it was her coming up and down after she went to sleep and now it's her waking up at 7am and asking where we are going, what she needs to do, etc, and comes back anywhere from 2-8 times depending on how she is feeling. Today, I saw a different routine, one that she has done for many, many years. Mother has smoked on and off for many years but after a several month break Mother started a few months ago. Of course, she is well monitored and there was even a study saying that nicotine is good to slow the progression of the disease, so she'll get what she wants. She sometimes puts it in backward but now she asks if its right. The really weird routine she does is that even if she doesn't have a lighter in her hand (which she really doesn't because its too hard for her to light) she will do the same exact motion as if the lighter was in her hand. I've seen this tons of times but today I took the cig out of her hand and put it out and looked down and she was putting the "cig" out with her foot, she was squishing it into the ground and everything. It's kind of cool to see old routines are still in the noggin.