My original title for this newsletter was "Hot and Dry" but the remnants of hurricane Dennis have blown in and we have had rain and much cooler temperatures for the last two days. A very welcome change of pace.
THE IMPATIENT PATIENT. That would be my mother. She has done well since her surgery. She left walker behind on Friday. Mom visited the surgeon today (which is the reason I waited to write) because she was concerned over the bruising on her leg. One bruise is as large as my footprint which the doctor said was normal. She was also worried because her knee didn't feel any better by now but he said to give it another two weeks to heal. He did admit that her kneecap was the worst he had ever seen.
RETURNING HOME. I think I mentioned that Aunt Linda and Uncle Bob came up last week. It has been really nice to have them here as Mom was recovering from surgery. This has taken a load off my mind. Of course, once Mom was back on her feet they broke out the cards and played several games of Spades. Uncle Bob has also kept himself busy with several projects in Aunt Mar's yard. We also got our traditional trip to the Catfish House in last night which was just in time as they plan to leave for home tomorrow.
GETTING INTO A ROUTINE. Now that my vacation is over we find ourselves trying to establish a new routine. It is sort of weird living between two houses. Our pantry and fridge are starting to look really bare as all I keep over here now is breakfast food. Vicki is still staying at Pauline's and there is no set schedule for which child sleeps where, we just sort that out on the fly after supper each day.
The kids and I usually water Pauline's flower beds every evening. Jenna and Ben take turns watering the front and back (there are two hoses). Nate stays very busy but I haven't figured out what he does. I have to laugh about Ben and Nate. I think I just need to take some shampoo and soap with me and make watering time doubly productive. When they came in Saturday night there wasn't a dry stitch of clothing on them.
The kids have had an adjustment because they have been used to getting by with more at grandma's house than they do at home. Now that Vicki is staying over there she is imposing the "home" rules. It has been funny to watch them go appeal to a "higher authority" only to have Pauline say, "Now your momma said...."
The good thing about all this is at least the doctor was pleased with Pauline's blood sugar numbers when they took her log of daily tests in for her checkup. Vicki is pretty strict about what her mom can eat. The doctor was not unhappy with her foot but reserved any comments for her visit with the orthopedic surgeon this week.
THE STRAYS. There was a stray kitten wandering around in Pauline's back yard Saturday afternoon. It came right up to me so I figure it was either desperate for help or used to people. We fed it and then the boys played with it. Funny thing, now it may turn up later but we haven't seen it since.
Today we had a beagle to visit. He had a flea collar and was also very friendly. The boys took to him as well. I think he took their handling of him a little better than the kitten.
Jenna is not a dog lover. We couldn't even get her to come outside when the dog was in sight. The only dog she will tolerate is Molly, Jimmie and Suzanne's collie. If we ever get a dog of our own she'll never want to set foot outside the house again.
Joe
