One of the Best Cats Ever

What a rotten day! Midge wasn't feeling well so I took her to vet Saturday and he kept her. It was a liver problem. Her blood work was off a bit with liver numbers earlier in the summer and she recently became very lethargic, sleeping all the time. We had some things to try, but she didn't make it through last night. One of the best cats ever. She passed away at the vet's office, the same place I picked her up 9 years ago, and it was love at first sight. She and Bernie were good buds, and maybe he is giving her a pat right now. What a good, fun girl she was. She had a good life and was much loved and spoiled. I wish all cats could have that. Sweet dreams sassy whirly girl! I wish we could have had you a lot longer.

Here she is at her sassy best, a little high on catnip in her fave camo chair. She loved being outside.

She was a sassy girl and had a coat like velvet and a french pedicure.

She was super nosy and always in your business.

She ruled the roost.

She liked whipped cream.

She was a good helper in the garden. It was HER garden.

She was special to Mom. And to all of us.

She liked to make me re-plant my onion sets and lots of other things . . . over and over. 

She and Finn were buds sometimes . . .  other times, look out! Just like all siblings.

She did not like to be disturbed during her naps.

She loved her zinnias.

She was very photogenic.

She was tough. 

She loved Mom the best.

She did not like hot weather . . . and she could be a little dramatic. 

She liked to help Bernie read the paper.

Blustery Sunday

Blustery Sunday.

Leaves blowing.

Cat snoring.

Homemade soup.

Thermostat down.

Flannel sheets.

Phone rings

and rings

and rings.

Do not disturb.

Some day I will catch on to my family's ways. Mom was staying in bed a lot, complaining of a sore back. I kept asking her how it was doing, worrying, was she feeling better, blah blah blah. Sometimes I am painfully slow on the uptake. I finally say if your back is hurting for no reason we better make a doctor's appointment, then a sudden dawning . . . wait a minute! I ask Mom if she fell again. Confession time. Yes, it was in the kitchen. The floor was slippery. What the hell man!? I thought we agreed she wouldn't go off on her walker alone! She would wear gait belt! Apparently I was the only one in on the agreement. I ask Joe if he thinks it is a good idea not to tell me these things?! Joe: "Mom didn't want me to tell you." I ask again if he thinks it is a good idea. I'm pretty sure he is clear now that it is NOT a good idea to keep the secrets from Kathleen. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Mom and Joe have always had secrets so why do I expect things to change now? Anyway she is improving, albeit slowly.

Her birthday is coming up soon, she will be 81.

November is a nice month for days off. Two at Thanksgiving, we get election day off too, but I'm moonlighting working at the courthouse, and Veteran's Day. A not so fun part of a new job is going from 5 weeks vacation to 2 weeks. But lots of holidays help a lot.

Nothing too exciting going on around here. Took 3 days off, a Thursday Friday Monday, worked 2
around here on yardwork and housework, fall stuff, then ran to John's and on another blustery
Sunday the power was out for about 4 hours. What do you do in Streator, IL when the power goes
out? There was (rusty) ping pong and reading and how does John not have Scrabble or Cribbage!
And . . .

A super easy puzzle.

Watching this solar powered doohickey go round and round.

Chillax and try to beam yourself up. Sweet Hera. I was deeply disturbed to see a TV show titled
 "My Big Fat Pet Makeover"! She is just big boned. 

Do a super hard puzzle! A real beauty.

Play with the kitties. 

According to the power outage update recording 750 people in Streator were out of power (just the whiners prolly are included in that number.). Some of us just tough it out. Anyway I think all 750+ people were at Casey's buying beer and junk food. Maybe they weren't all gambling, not sure. John didn't want anything . . .

That's all folks. Happy Halloween. 

Kathleen 

September

I don't know where the summer went! Spent some time pulling out my garden stuff and some weeds along the fence line last night and am paying for it today. Ouch. I gotta get in shape . . . a different one! Missing my garden tomatoes already. And my zinnias.  Never did get any peppers.

Mom had a visit to the cardiologist today for a pacemaker check. Joe took her, and all is well. Apparently she had some sort of "incident" in April. Since I was not present at the appointment no one thought to ask what sort of incident.  What the hell?! I'm not going to start taking off work for routine appointments until it becomes necessary, hopefully a long ways off! We are so lucky Joe is able to take her to appointments and stay with her during the day. I would go bonkers being home so much but Joe seems content. Mom is able to stay by herself for short periods so he is able to get out and about. Mom was supposed to get some sort of box to plug into the phone line to monitor the pacemaker, but we never got it. The doctor's office is going to "check it out". They say she should have gotten it when she left the hospital. I'm pretty sure I would have noticed something like that. I'm going to call once a week for a while to follow up. Then it will be twice a week . . . well you get the picture. She has another appointment with the cardiologist in 6 months, just routine. The visiting nurse and the bath aide both finished up last week too.

Started today out at the dentist, getting a new crown. All done with the endodontist and my new insurance is good, thank God! Speaking of insurance it seems crazy it is coming up on 3 years since I lost my job and my insurance. I had routine tests at that time, before I lost it, anything the doc thought I should have, and arghhhhhhh I was to repeat some of those tests in 3 years! Wow did that go by quick! Darn it.

Had mom and Joe over to John's for a meal a couple of weeks ago. Mom did well, but she was awfully tired when she got home. I'd like her to get out more but she has other thoughts. Her appetite is good and she is in a fine mood. She has always been a homebody, and seems quite content.

I had a couple of fun outings over to John's for the Quarter Auction at his work, and to help out with the annual rummage sale. We are both so lucky to have fun, good humored co-workers. Lots of laughs when I go over to his place to help out.

I pulled into the parking lot one morning and my younger co-worker (I am the senior in our office lol arghhh how did that happen?!), was looking in her rear view mirror, putting on her make-up and fluffing up her hair, and I had to laugh. I look in the mirror before I leave the car not to put on make-up, but just wanting to make sure that I remembered to comb my hair! LOLOL

Nothing exciting to report, but no news is great news around these parts!

Kathleen

August

I'm not sure where the summer went! July went by in the blink of an eye.

Mallaney Reunion yesterday. A nice turnout, but we certainly missed some of the cousins and Uncle Geo. Mom and Uncle Lee were the oldsters yesterday. We had a great meal and a fine time was had by all. Mom's hearty appetite surprised me and was good to see. I gotta say, Mom was sleeping pretty heavily last night, the day wore her out! Good for her to get out into the fresh air and sunshine.

John has invited us over for the annual fish fry, so maybe another outing for mother next weekend.

I had my crown lengthened, regretfully it has nothing to do with being royal. No pain except for my pocketbook. Several more visits to the endodontist and then to my regular dentist. Good times people . . . good times! I must add that drills that don't make the drilling sound are awesome!

It was 40 years ago on the night of the reunion that I made my first ever slide, into home, and my spike got caught on an upturned corner of home plate and I shattered my ankle. I was in shock, but Mom told me (somewhat disapprovingly) that I screamed every curse word known to man very loudly. Oops. My first hospitalization (6 days!) and surgery and a screw in that ankle and I've limped ever since! LOL I was sweet 16 (but I knew all the swear words)  and had that big cast halfway up my thigh and I couldn't drive and it was soooo hot. ARGHHH  Then John found this cute kitten and brought it home, and it had fleas and well  . . . I don't want to think about that anymore! And whatever happened to that kitten . . .?  And then I walked into school on the first day with my crutches and hit the shiny waxed floor and my crutches did the splits and wow what a way to start the school year.  And I never slid again. Crazy I played competitively for 30 more years and never slid again, but somehow I managed! Oh the memories. Yeah, I was out by a mile. I know you were wondering.

A good tomato and zucchini season, but the bell pepper plants were a waste of money! They did not grow an inch. They did produce some wee peppers, but the plants were so short the wee peppers were on the ground. Bazillions of banana peppers though, on only 2 plants, so that helps.

Isn't it weird, how if you roll out of bed and want to get your grocery shopping out of the way, you do a quick wash, brush your teeth, slick your hair down with  a wet washrag, throw on the clothes you took off before bed, and off you go the store, and you see at least 6 people you know and you talk to them all and you are gone for an hour and a half.  Last week I took a shower and put on clean clothes and was in and out of Jewel and home in 15 minutes. Please tell me I'm not the only middle aged woman who does the wet washrag smush hair down thing . . . ?  On the weekends only of course! lol

Super busy at work with school starting. Days are flying by, and I like it. I know more than I did last year. At least about teaching licenses and stuff. As for the rest of life I am not sure.

Peace.

Kathleen A.

June Days

Thank you John for stopping at the cemetery in Seneca on the way home from your visit yesterday. John parks at the top and walks all the way down, no ditch hopping like Bernie! LOL  Kay parks across the street and climbs the stairs and scoots over. I put the flowers at the cemetery here in Morris for mom's side. No hills, no steps, just nice flat ground. In memory of Bernie I took a ride out there yesterday to see how they look. Bernie would heartily approve.

Mom is doing OK. She has a follow-up with the infectious disease doc this week. I'll be curious to see if she has another (or the same) UTI. She seems a bit weak to me and not overly peppy. She tells me she is just old and tired. LOL We will find out Tuesday.  She is in a good mood and there is nothing wrong with her appetite. She picks Sunday a.m. to start worrying about what days/times her appointments are, rifling through papers and purses and pockets looking for appointment cards and sighing. I suggested that we just phone the docs' offices in the a.m. and get her calendar in order without undue stress. Like John says, everyone needs some way to pass the time. It would just be nice if people could pass their time without annoying Kathleen. Which, sad to say, is easier said than done.

Anyway . . . John was home for a visit yesterday. We had a nice meal from Honest Abe's here in town, sandwiches--- burgers and fries and a garlicky pork poorboy for Kay. Picture Merichka's, but made with pork and a slice of provolone. Wow it is good. Chicken strip basket for Joe. Joe ALWAYS gets chicken wherever we go. Good eats.

As usual my garden looks great . . . from a distance. Don't get toooo close. LOL  Tomato plants are huge. Pepper plants are minuscule, not even high enough to hold the teeny tiny peppers off the ground. Very amusing. After changing my hummingbird feeder 5 times (ants!) last year before seeing a hummer, I delayed putting it out until yesterday. Zinnias are blooming so I hope the hummers come soon. Cheap entertainment. And no worries for the little birds now that Midge and Finn are 9. And sort of fat.

That's all I got. Happy Sunday!

Kay ☺

56

Happy Birthday to me!

I took today off work, Friday too. I love a long weekend.

Good old R-Place for birthday treats!

I had another day off last week, when I traveled over to John's to do some cat-sitting whilst John was off to his vegetarian, silent meditation retreat. I would be in trouble at a silent retreat. Just saying . . . out loud. Girls were glad to see me as they were out of food! They weren't desperate though, so they couldn't have been out for too long. Spent a couple of nights with them til their person got home. I made them some cozy sleeping spots too. I had some trouble with John's thermostat, so they may have been cold. I was fine, just fine.

Mom took another spill last week, but she did not break anything! Whew. I thought she was a bit overconfident with her walker of late, she was up and about and all over for no good reason. She was just coming from bedroom to living room, and boom. I mean we are here to wait on her! So she takes a spill while pushing her walker and carrying a diet pepsi. Good lord! And she only has one good arm anyway. Gives new meaning to diet pop isn't good for you. She is bruised and sore, but coming along. She called off her visiting physical therapist right after it happened (secretly), but I answered phone next time she called, so physical therapy could commence. I wish I had a picture of the glare mom shot me, amused the hell out of me lol.

Mom enjoyed a pleasant visit with Cousin Pat last week, thank you cousin!

Garden is a mess, but doing well. Can't wait to harvest some veg.

Back to work tomorrow. Summer is busiest time at my new job, days just fly by, which is awesome. Still enjoying my pleasant office and co-workers. Life is good.

Take care all. Do NOT fall.

Kay 🎂

There is No Place Like Home!

Ok, Mom won't let me take her pic, but Midge is very happy to have her person home! And mom is very happy to be back in her comfy bed with bed hog Midge! Picked mom up at 11:00 this a.m. She is enjoying her comfy bed at the moment. She was up for a hearty supper, surprised me with her appetite, she had tortellini, salad and garlic bread, then another piece of garlic bread, and then coffee and a white long john. Midge is stuck to her like glue! LOL 

Life is good. Praise be.

Kay

Lovely May Sunday

Hera

Patient care conference and another doc appointment for mom this week. I'm hopeful a discharge date will be forthcoming very soon. If it is not we will stage a rehab breakout soon. Mom's sweet roommate, Ruth, my vet's mother, went home Friday. She was so happy to be going home to her dog. And her husband, I'm sure! LOL  Though she only shared her excitement about seeing her beloved border collie with me lol. Probably because her hubby had been to visit, the dog had not.

Midge is sure missing mom. I can tell because she is being somewhat affectionate with me. Midge went to bed just fine one night, I couldn't find her the next a.m., knew something was up. Finally found her and wow was she limping! It has improved over the last couple of days, so no vet trip yet. Ironic that I've seen her vet nearly every day for a week and a half!  What the heck kind of mischief did she get into over night I wonder? I'm glad someone has a nightlife though.

Other than that pretty quiet. Went over to Johns yesterday, worked a puzzle, visited with his sweet kitties (when they were awake), had some yummy gorditas from the Mexican store in Streator for Cinco de Mayo, picked up some bargains at Kroger, stopped in Marseilles for some garden plants on the way home.

Have a great week!

Broke a nail. Ouch. It is making the garden planting extra fun.

Hera was a big help with the puzzle.

Beautiful old Springbok jigsaw puzzle from a yard sale, "Flowers in a Vase" by Henri Rousseau. Dad told me that Grandma Mallaney liked jigsaw puzzles.  

Nap time contortions, Isis appears headless.. Yes, the big girl is Hera, the cat that was deathly ill with the liver issue.
She is beautiful and healthy now, though perhaps a bit overweight . . .

No More Sling!

Mom had an appointment with the cardiologist today. He's tweaking some meds, she is still having periods of elevated heart rate, and he wants to see her back in two weeks. She gets to take off her sling and use her left arm again! That means physical therapy can commence in earnest! She hasn't been able to use her walker at all due to restrictions on use of her left arm. Hopefully we will be able to get her home from Park Pointe soon. After the appointment today we were sitting outside in the sunshine, waiting for the hospital van to come and take her back to Park Pointe (it was too cold for her inside, the ac was on), and I think the fresh air did her good. It was delightfully warm in the sun. I also predict she will sleep like a baby tonight after her outing and some fresh air. At least I hope so! She is improving, albeit slowly, every day, and she is no longer cranky! Woo hoo! I think it helps that she has a roommate now, and a full table at meals. I pop over on my lunch break and usually catch them all at the table. A little pleasant company is a good thing. Population was down when she got to Park Pointe, but it must be picking up now, darn it. We just want her home.

Enjoying this spring weather, finally! And looking forward to getting my hands dirty in the garden.

Kay :)

Poor (Cranky) Jo Ann

Well, Mom is not in a good mood. Joe described her as "a little out of sorts".  She was moved to rehab over at Park Pointe Friday night. Granted, the poor woman is exhausted and weak, doesn't feel well, and does not want to be at Park Pointe. And to top it off she is having trouble sleeping. I guess I would be "out of sorts" too.  The pacemaker doctor does not want her using her left arm at all (her dominant arm), so she is stuck using that right arm, the one with the broken elbow that did not heal properly. That is frustrating the hell out of her.  She has been doing a little therapy, but they won't be able to do much until she can use her left arm, because she needs a walker.

They never did figure out what made mom so sick. Her vitals have been stable so hopefully she will start to feel better soon. I spoke to her doctors yesterday to see if maybe some medication she is taking is disturbing her sleep.

Pray that Mom starts to feel better soon, and recovers from the Pacemaker from Hell, and if you want to send a card to cheer her up, please send it to house, 721 E Benton Street, Morris, IL 60450 and we will get it to her. I'm not sure how long she'll be at rehab but, realistically, I don't see how she can strengthen her legs until she is able to use the left arm to use the walker, and that is still 10 days out according to her doctor. Thank you to those who have sent cards already, they make her smile.

I didn't have time to scan them today, but we came across an old box of report cards today and I found all the aunts, and Uncle Pat and Uncle Eddie's grade reports from 8th grade. The dates started with Aunt Monica, so I do not have Dad and Uncle Jim, but I'm still hunting through some old stuff. I gotta say, not only are the Mallaneys good looking, they are smart too. But we already knew that!

Take care all.

Kay :)

Mom Update

Well it has been an interesting week. My visits to mom brought news of high heart rate, fevers, high blood pressure, low blood pressure, mixed in with stretches where all her numbers were fine. Mom's tests revealed nothing. The doctors said an increased heart rate is USUALLY brought on by an infection. They were never able to figure out anything specific. The pumped her full of antibiotics (a bunch of different ones it seems) and hopefully that has taken care of things. She was moved off the mid-ICU unit today to the regular floor, and if she has a good night she may be discharged to rehab at Park Pointe tomorrow. That is same place she rehabbed from broken hip at the end of last year. She is pale and whooped. and her appetite isn't great, but I'm sure that will pick up as she regains her strength. The pacemaker doc has restricted use of her left arm (the pacemaker is on the left side) for two more weeks, so she is forced to use that right arm, the one where she broke the elbow and opted for a non-surgical approach of healing, and she really has trouble using it. She is using her left arm some when she is unattended lol, and I don't blame her. Hard for her to eat with that right arm, but on the other hand it is good for her to use it, but not good for her to be frustrated! ARGHHH Doctor said she can't use left arm for two more weeks, so I'm not sure how much physical therapy she will be able to do until that time is up, as she will be unable to use the walker.

At this point in time, and I just left her a few minutes ago, her temperature was normal, blood pressure was normal, and heart rate was normal. Let's pray things stay that way and she can start to get her strength back! We want her back home.  We need to sit outside with our coffee in the mornings and laugh at our kitties and admire the garden and wait impatiently for garden tomatoes!

Mom enjoyed hearing about the Mallaney cousin luncheon last week, a splendid time had by all!

Gotta love that french pedicure!

And lest I forget. Happy Birthday today to Midge and Finnegan. Shut up John! Nine years old today. How time flies. Best cats ever.

Midge has always been especially photogenic. Look at her smizing. 

That's all for now!

Kay ☺

Sunday 98.6

Well, after a rather discouraging visit to Mother in the hospital last night, she had a 102.8 temperature, chills, heart rate was 145, she was exhausted and just generally miserable, things are looking up today! On my way to the Mallaney Cousin's Luncheon I stopped to see her, but she was busy with 2 physical therapists. She was sitting up on edge of bed, and there was no way she could have done that last night. Her temp was 98.6, and her heart rate was 80! She had eaten a whole bowl of soup for lunch! Wow. What a change. I did not stay long, she was so busy with therapists.

I stopped just now, post luncheon, to pass along all the love and well wishes of the cousins, but she was sleeping, deeply and peacefully, with NO oxygen! She was having no trouble getting air in, by the sound of her gentle snoring . . . lol. And one machine was gone! I sat for a bit but she was zonked, so I just left. Hopefully things are on the upswing!  No let me rephrase that . . . things ARE on the upswing!

Lunch was great, loud and fun and wonderful.

We are just fun, good-looking people. We can't help it, it is what it is.

Kay :)

Pacemaker

Mom got her pacemaker this a.m. Doc said things went very well. She is staying overnight in the hospital. I'm curious to see how much better she feels. The improvement since that first round of antibiotic for the UTI has been considerable. She got a blast of antibiotics during the pacemaker, and has an Rx for the UTI for another week as well, so hopefully everything will be blasted out of her. Joe is heading up to see her in a bit.

I hope everyone had a very happy Easter. John came home and we had a nice turkey dinner and carrot cake.

My stinker of a cat went MIA for a while, but has returned home. Not sure where he was, but he came home smelling like a garage . . . like he had been doing some oil changes on the side. Finn's Mysterious Adventure. Anyway we are very glad he is home. He is getting caught up on his rest and baths . . . and he wants some extra pats and kisses on the head too, and we are happy to oblige.

The Wanderer

Take care all.

Kay :)

President's Day

Nice to have a 3 day weekend! I had last Monday off too for Lincoln's birthday. And next Monday off for Pacemaker Take II . . .

Had mom to hospital this a.m. for pre-pacemaker blood work AGAIN! We went to hospital a week ago Monday (wicked wind and cold and dark 6:30 a.m. grrrrr) to get pacemaker, mom was all prepped, triple showered, stripped, scrubbed, IV'd had all those stickers on her, and we were waiting and waiting, and apparently the doctor then decided to look at the lab work from the week before, and turns out Mom had a UTI and he couldn't/wouldn't do pacemaker. You can bet your ass I will be on phone tomorrow to make sure that lab work results have been reviewed and that UTI is cleared up before we even get close to Monday the 26th, next pacemaker day.

I can't get too pissy about it because the day after we got home Mom spiked a fever so, in retrospect, it is a good thing the pacemaker didn't happen. Would have knocked her flat I suspect. It almost seems like every time we take her out of the house she gets sick. It is crazy.

The first antibiotic for the UTI made mom sick (honestly, she can't catch a break-good thing she is a tough cookie!), so I called and got something different and the improvement was almost immediate, thank God! Her appetite picked up tremendously and with the increased appetite came increased strength.  She is eating good meals, and is asking for frequent snacks, just like the mom I know and love! lol I have been buying/fixing all her faves to tempt her appetite. Taco salad tonight. John called her the Queen of Dips, she is a hummus eating machine and it is so easy to grab her some spinach dip from the deli at Jewel, she loves that! Yeah I could make a big batch, but Kathleen loves spinach dip too, so best just to buy a scoop at Jewel here and there for Jo Ann. Mom still isn't too keen on meat, but honestly she never was, so I'm planning some bean/rice meals to protein her up. She has been hitting the cottage cheese too. And she is enjoying cranberry juice and lots of water.  So she is back on her regular mini-meal/snack schedule and her color is so much better. She was so pale and weak and frail before. It was quite worrisome really, but things are much better now. Her spirit is always good and she never whines. Never. Incredible. What happened to me?! 😇

So we are off to hospital next Monday, the 26th (hopefully), for the pacemaker. Dad felt a lot better after he got his, and I'm hoping Mom does. too

Finnegan has bonded with my new clearance snow flake patterned micro-flannel sheets. I gotta say they are pretty spiffy.

The cats are such good company for Mom, just as they were for Dad. One of them is usually curled up next to her.  And I guess it is good to keep her limber, contorting herself around a sweet feline bed hog friend!

Peace and good health. Mom and I had a good giggle leaving the hospital, mom said "Shhhhh don't let the cardiologist hear . . . but I'm starving, I want a biscuit for breakfast!" lolol And she already asked me if corned beef was on sale yet! When you marry into an Irish family 'tis bound to happen!

Kathleen 💚

Pacemaker

Mom saw the cardiologist today. Luckily John had the day off and he and Joe transported mom to the doctor's office, and I headed over there on my lunch hour. Worked out nicely. We were kind of surprised to hear that when mom was in the hospital there were some stretches of up to 10 seconds where her heart did not beat! Yikes. We had no idea. No wonder the woman keeps falling! Anyway, pacemaker is set up for Monday morning, we need to be there at 7:00 a.m. Doc's office is right across from hospital, so while I went back to work John wheeled mom over for pre-procedure blood work and some other stuff. Pretty nifty. 

We were highly amused in the exam room when mom commented that she hoped it wouldn't be scheduled too quickly, because she needed time to "rest up because she was tired". John and I kind of laughed and made some bad jokes about resting up from what lol she said oh, just a week or two . . . so when the scheduler came out and said Monday, mom was kind of shocked, and when they asked if she had any questions about the procedure she said . . . "THIS COMING MONDAY?" lolol.  Dad had good results and increased energy when he got his pacemaker and we are hoping for and expecting good results for mom too. She has been very tired and weak in the legs, and the pacemaker will help with those issues. Her appetite is picking up a bit too.

I found it somewhat amusing that on the day we went to the cardiologist I had made biscuits and gravy to tempt mom's appetite. We did not tell the doctor that . . . 

That's all folks. 

Kathleen :)

Bug

Well, Mom can't catch a break. She is recuperating from a bug, chills and vomiting and diarrhea. She is on the upswing now. For a few days it was nothing but water and a little 7-UP. She is eating now, not a ton, but her appetite is picking up, thank goodness. She is pale and weak, but now that she is eating things are looking better. We had her to her ortho a week ago Friday, it was wicked cold and windy out,  our first outing since she got home, and it ended up being a very long afternoon.  Appointment was at 2:45, we didn't get home until 5:00. I think she just got chilled through and it really tuckered her out. Then the bug hit her on Saturday.

The good news at the ortho is her hip is healing fine. He wants to see her one more time in 2 months. I made an appointment with her GP for Monday. We were supposed to do a follow-up after her discharge from rehab, but the cold was so wicked, and it was slick out, and she was doing so well, I was putting it off. But  we need to see if she has to keep up on some prescriptions that she took after the surgery, if she needs a pacemaker, some follow-up blood work, etc. so we can't put it off any more.

Joe is so good with Mom, just as he was with Dad, so I have no worries while I am at work, for which I am very grateful. And I'm so glad I got a job close to home. I can come home at noon and give Joe a little break and he can have an outing. And his strength is coming in so handy, as Mom is weak from her illness. Her strength is coming back, so I'm positive we will have a good outcome. She missed out on her therapy this week due to her bug, but that will start up again next week. I'm going to see if she can get some extra visits, due to this setback. Mom is tough and in good spirits, thank God, but we don't need any more setbacks!

Enjoying this warmer weather. That cold snap sucked . . . .

Hope all the family is well and happy and flu-free!

Kathleen :)

Happy New Year!

The cats like to take a ride in Mom's new wheelchair. Here is Midge. Too bad the house is so small. If I win the Queen of Hearts drawing tomorrow I will fix that! I just wheeled Midge back to mom's bed, her favorite spot in the whole world. When Mom gets up to exercise or eat or for whatever reason, Midge sprawls right in the middle of it like she owns it! Amuses Mother to no end. She will not move either, until Mom nearly sits on her. She's a stinker. When I pretend I'm going to sit on her you should see how fast she moves!

Did you know Medicare will give you a wheel chair OR a walker. Walkers are a dime a dozen at the thrift store, so we chose the wheelchair. Medicare will also give you a commode. When you have aging parents you learn a lot of stuff. My friends who have been through it are teaching me the ropes.

Mom is having some ups and downs. She was picking up speed, eating better, color was better, and then appetite tailed off, she was pale, her cold sort of flared up again. Now she is picking up speed again, but her leg is sore. Could be from having physical therapy 3 days in a row this week, then the aide came and Mom had a shower yesterday. Lots of action. She was supposed to go to doc Friday but appointment got rescheduled. I'll be curious to see if she needs to stay on blood thinners, if she needs a pacemaker, etc. Mom says no to the pacemaker, but we'll see about that. I really didn't want to take her out in the wicked winter cold, but we are going to have to go out eventually. Mom's spirits are good, though she does get impatient with herself sometimes. I'm cooking good things to tempt her appetite. She enjoys everything, but only in very small portions. Not me man. I've only gained 5 pounds so far. Or maybe that was from Christmas time, not sure.

Mom reminds me that she is 80 years old, it will be slow going. And she has only been home two weeks after all. Patience patience. Joe is really good with her, they do very well during the day when I am at work, which is a big relief. So things are coming along.

Stay warm and stay home today, it is super slick out!

Kathleen