My Mom

Hi to the air.

My mother had a stroke on July 12 in the evening at home. She has been in the hospital since then and I will be surprised if she comes home again. However, her spirits are good and her personality is intact. She can communicate her wishes sometimes and tries to talk but really cannot. Her preferences are clear. Her right side is very weak. Two weeks prior to the stroke, she fell and broke her left wrist. I hate to think this, but her immobility after breaking her wrist could have produced the clot that caused her stroke. She was not taking aspirin.

It is very odd to not be able to hear from her. Her viewpoint has been extremely clear over the years and she has had something to say about almost everything. It is weird to not have her voicing her opinion about whatever the topic is. Lately (pre-stroke) she had been saying, "We don't know what the future will bring." Boy was she right. No one predicted she would be in this state. It is hard to adjust to the new reality.

But adjust we must; I hear my old professor in nursing school saying what the primary thing humans do is adapt to their environments. We adapt or die. Mom has adapted. The rest of us are still struggling to do so.

I have been going to Boston on the Alaska non-stop flight every 3 weeks. I will continue to do this for the foreseeable future. I am thinking/planning on reducing my hours at the salaried job at Navos and continuing with the private practice for now. I may reduce or eliminate both jobs at some point and "fly free". Ken is good. Virginia is good. Thomas is non-communicative. Dad is good / reality oriented.

I am "hanging in there".

Working toward debt free.... (and then what??)

Well, it's over. I bought the house in August of 2004. I sold it in May of 2010. Almost 6 years. It was a good house and a good yard and garden. A good patio. It was a transition house in a transition period. The neighbors were weird. Thomas went through hell when we lived in that house. All of the family helped him to survive and move on. Virginia graduated from college when we were in that house. I met Ken when I lived in that house. Rex chewed on the doors, dresser, and Christmas tree in that house. He and Abby ruined the carpet. Thomas and his friends had umpteen parties there and played poker and drank beer, among other things.
But all in all, it sheltered us and allowed us to move on.

I paid for it to be painted inside and out as well as put a new floor in the main room. I also paid for several work orders after the inspection and the person who bought it got a helluva deal.

And I no longer am responsible!! WAHOO!!! Working toward debt free.... (and then what??)

Soundview

The house went on the market and got two offers in the first 2-3 days. People who are first time home buyers were trying to get in on the last days of the tax credit.... One offer seemed more secure and so I went with it. Then the inspection, appraisal, and the nail-biting, oh and the work orders from the inspection.... This spring has been very, very wet; it has rained about 1/2 - 1 inch daily for the last couple of weeks. Ok, perhaps this is an exaggeration. But it is WET and the backyard is saturated. So, there is much concern about the sump pump and if it is working or not. Anyway.... it is supposed to close on 5/27, only 5 days from now, and I can't wait!!

Friday evening

Well, I made it through the work week. It wasn't too bad. The schedule was doable. Few really sick people, which is good. Waiting for the 6:20 ferry. Sun is just setting behind the Olympics. It's supposed to be nice tomorrow, so I look forward to that. The dogs are going to the vet for shots. Then we will probably see Kathy and Paul to order seeds for the gardens.

Mexico trip

We had a fairly good week in San Jose del Cabo on the southern Baja peninsula. Here are some pictures....