Saturday

Saw mom this morning over at Park Pointe. She is looking better every day, especially her color. Her appetite is picking up; she had eggs, sausage, toast, juice and coffee this a.m., that is a big breakfast for her. Her roommate is a sweetheart, kind and friendly and smiley. Mom was NOT looking forward to physical therapy! LOL She is definitely sleeping better at rehab than she could at the hospital.

When I visited yesterday a.m. she was on her way to physical therapy. Boy did they put her through her paces! I can't help but remember when Dad was there, I visited him in physical therapy and oh boy, the therapists would make a big deal out of him and fuss over him and he loved the attention. When I got there Bernie said that he had to do good because his sister, Norene, was watching her big brother! That Bernie! LOL

The therapists were concered about the weakness on Mom's right side, and were asking me if she had had a stroke. I told them about her broken right elbow, and now she will be getting some extra therapy to strengthen that side up! Oh boy.

Thanks for the cards, it is fun for mom to open them.  I'd have to say her rehab is coming along, but slowly. I think her appetite picking up is leading to increased strength, but it is going to take some time. All of her responses are appropriate, she enjoys our vists, asks if she has clothes for the next day, so she is taking an interest and keeping up on stuff pretty well.

Kathleen :)

Wednesday Update

Mom was moved to rehab today around noon, over to Park Pointe.  She really enjoyed the sunshine on the ride. She looked a lot better today, better rested. She is still weak with a poor appetite. Hopefully she will get better rest over at the home and along with that her appetite will pick up. She said her roomie at the hospital was "wild" last night and she did not get much sleep. I'm not at all sure what that means! LOL  That poor woman took a spill feeding a stray cat, which is what I was sure would happen to Mom if she kept going out on the icy porch to feed the strays (she has since stopped doing that . . . and the strays have disappeared)! Anyway, I told her to eat up so she gets her strength back. She gave me a look . . . I'm pretty sure what that look meant. Niece Monica came to visit, Mom was tickled about that. Thanks Cousin! Address here is 721 E Benton Street, Morris IL 60450 if anyone wants to send a card we'll get it to her. Seems easier since we are not sure how long she'll be there.

Have a good Thanksgiving all! We will all go see her after our turkey dinner . . . which I guess I will cook! LOL  I had a good giggle at work today. My new co-worker, sweet as can be, is a newlywed and making her first Thanksgiving dinner. She said she was going to make her mashed potatoes tonight, and hoped they would turn out. I told her to check out the Pioneer Woman's make ahead mashed potatoes (they are awesome), and she commented that she had never even peeled a potato. I was pretty incredulous (she is in her early 30's) and I said, "What!? You have never made mashed potatoes before?!" and she said . . . "Not from scratch . . . ". LOL  is it just me, or is that not the cutest, funniest thing you have heard today? LOL Mom and I both had a good giggle.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Kathleen

Update

Well, I got to mom's room on my lunch break, no mom! Her name was off the board. Uh oh . . . went searching. Seems her heart rate went super high during respiratory therapy, and they ended up moving her to ICU for some IV medicine. Just got a call from her now, 5:00, she is getting moved back to regular floor. So the physical therapy that she was supposed to start today did not happen. Joe is off to visit her now, so we'll see how she is doing. When I saw her at noon she was fighting to stay awake, so I didn't stay very long.

That's all I have for now . . .

Another Fall

I started a post on Veteran's Day and never got back to it.

Celebrated Mom's 80th birthday on the 7th, now another disaster. She took a fall in her bedroom last night. Heard a crash . . . it didn't sound that bad, was hoping it was one of my fat cats romping about, but it was Mom. She took a spill in her bedroom. We got her back up and into bed, but after a bit she agreed to an ambulance ride to the hospital and it is a broken hip, a femoral neck fracture to be exact. By the time I left the hospital last night she had her hip x-rayed, blood work done, catheter inserted, chest x-ray, IV, and been nicotine patched and surgery had already been scheduled for 10:00 this a.m. She was on her way upstairs to some sort of special air mattress and some traction and pain meds. She's tough, but this really sucks. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers this November day.

Kay

September

Pretty quiet around these parts. Looking forward to a short week, I have Friday off, woo hoo! Off to Madison, thrifting and Dane County Farmer's Market. Fun. 

John had us over for lunch yesterday, pleasant day for a drive, pleasant time had by all. 

Pulling up some garden stuff today. Big excitement. Why did it have to get hot again? I like cool air wafting over my body at all times! Thought about taking air conditioner out of the window yesterday, then heck, I turned it on! 

The End. Except for some photos. 

Peace. 

I can't tell you how many soft, cushy, comfy beds this cat has, and he settles in the shed, in a box that should be in the recycle can, using crumpled up packing material for a pillow! Goofball.

I will miss the garden. And summer.  

No unitaskers here! Sunflowers pull double duty, look at that squash climb! 

I have been waiting and waiting for this sunflower to bloom. It is towering over the 6 foot fence. The goldfinch must have gotten tired of waiting because all the petals are still there. 

Hummingbirds have been wild lately. Very entertaining to watch them cavort, and occasionally take a break on their little perch. Before the goldfinch gave up on that sunflower I saw one on this perch. One of the prettiest moments of the summer with the goldfinch above the zinnias and morning glories in full bloom. 

Isis trying to stowaway! 

August

How can it be Labor Day next weekend!? Wow.

Let's see if I can remember some stuff that has happened . . .

Reunion was very nice! Wow the weather this year was perfect.

Bumper crop of zucchini, plenty of tomatoes, spaghetti squash coming, green peppers are coming late. I found some peeps in my new building to take my zucchini, and then I sent some over my old building, inter-office mail! LOL Amused me.

Mom is doing well. Cooler weather has kept her indoors more, but there will be plenty more nice days to enjoy. She already has worn her cuddl-duds a couple of nights! Wow.

I scheduled a couple of days off! Looking forward to a day off that is not a Saturday or Sunday. One will be for one of my fave overnight trips, up to Madison for the Farmer's Market, the other for camping weekend, but my attendance there depends on the weather, so we shall see.

Work is good. Plenty to learn. Was super busy with school starting, days just flew by. A few times people were lined up outside the door waiting in line! ARGHHHH It was fine though. The teachers and other school workers are super nice!  Nice to be busy.  I gotta say, I do not have as much free time at this job as I did in the past . . . lol.

Off to Streator today for a fun fundraiser at Streator Unlimited, the annual Quarter Auction. A very fun evening. I'm feeling lucky, I'm sure I'll win something good.

My winning the Queen of Hearts drawing has been put off a couple of weeks due to some sort of whiny lady gambling watchdog throwing a monkey wrench in there, ordinances or some such thing, but it will be fine. I can wait until September to be rich, no problemo.

The hummingirds love the zinnias. Their feeder is right above the zinnias. Good thing Midge is 8 now, and rather portly, because she has not caught one yet. 

Fixings for my baked beans for the reunion. The beans were great, but everybody and her cousins brought baked beans this year! LOL  We enjoyed the leftovers. Try this recipe, Three Bean and Frank Bake, a recipe from Hebrew National, my favorite weenie,  try it this winter with a pan of  hot cornbread. You will not regret it. The recipe doesn't call for bacon, so you better just add a good amount on your own. That is my advice. 

Our weird visitor, Whitey (his real name is Gus!) has started to call again, after a long absence. The other morning he showed up just filthy, dirt was falling out of his white coat, and he had a big smear of blood on his face. After a moment of alarm, we realized all was well . . . the blood wasn't his! Ewwwwwww. 

Love these.

Glorious. Bernie loved zinnias. 

View from patio where Mom, Midge and I have our coffee clutch in the mornings. 

John had us over for our annual fish/zucchini/fried green tomaato fry. Homemade bread too. Spectacular.

John gifted us a new rocking chair, and I took this pic of mom to send to him. I like this pic of mom, and notice her red and white striped winter slipper socks down there, even though it was high July! lol

That's all I got.

Peace.

Sometimes the World Does Not Smell Good

Poor Stinky Midgie

Gosh. I guess the skunk Midge met up with the other night was not her buddy. She tolerated the bath pretty well. I think she did not like the way she smelled either lol. Thankfully she did not take a direct hit, nothing in her eyes, whew, but she did not smell good. The recipe I got from my vet and the internet worked very well. Waaaay better than the tomato juice we used on sweet Pudgie Woo many moons ago. That was before the internet even! Wow. And I gotta say, the Dawn/Peroxide/Baking Soda mix did wonders for my fingernails! lol I fingerprint people at work, and I gotta say, it is the first time in my life I've ever had people pay attention to my nails (at least that I know of! lol), as sometimes I have to help them in the process. Sometimes oops they do not look so hot, I gotta admit.  But after Midge's skunk bath, wow, they were fairly glowing.

While I was bemoaning my lack of zucchini in my last post, I think this baby was out there growing and growing. Not sure how I missed it, but I did. I managed to use the whole think up last weekend, between zucchini chocolate chip muffins, a savory zucchini parmesan bread, and one of our favorite summer veggie dishes, new taters boiled and smashed, then browned off, mixed with garlicky sauteed zucchini, and sprinkleld with parmesan and fresh herbs. Wow. Good eats. I was pretty proud of myself using up that zucchini then, later that night while watering, I found his slightly larger cousin! LOL Still working on that one. I have discovered that parmesan-y zucchini is delicious in an omelette. Especially with some sweet red pepper, yum.

I also have harvested some cherry tomatoes and I have a zinnia blooming. I see a couple little squash out there too. Things are late, but coming along.

Reunion is coming on fast! Can hardly believe it is coming up on a year ago when Finn scratched my cornea on the eve of the reunion. I will wear goggles this year . . .

Pretty quiet around here. Quiet is good though!

Still learning stuff at work, learning this teacher licensure stuff seems to be never ending, but am settling in nicely. It is lovely to be surrounded by friendly, good people. Lucky me!

I was laughing the other day, I told mom I am in the same category as her now. She asked what category that might be . . . . ? And I told her the age 55+. Wowzer. How did that happen?

I did not win the Queen of Hearts drawing yet, but am ever hopeful!

Keep cool!

Kathleen