CATCHING UP

I guess it's time for catching up on things. I've been on vacation this week. I've been lazy. Now, I have until Wednesday to catch up on all the things that I was going to do all week and managed to talk myself out of. Namely, ironing! Sometimes I feel like I'm chained to the darn ironing board. I iron all the time. I've been told by my friends that "no one irons anymore". Oh, yeah, well, you could have fooled me. No one sent me that memo. I'm told that if you get things out of the dryer right away you don't have to iron. Wrong! I don't like the way things look even immediately out of the dryer. So, I iron. I don't know how to get around it. I iron almost everything we wear. I iron the pillow cases and if I've  missed the end of the drying cycle I have been known to "touch up" iron the sheets. I don't like ironing, it's just one of those necessary things that has to be done.

Update on my patient R:

R went home the next day like I stated earlier. She was home for about 5 days and then came back. She didn't really need to come back, but she is afraid to die at home alone with C. Is that not the most heartbreaking thing? She is so worried about C. They've talked to her about Hospice. But that would require going to a completely different facility. She doesn't want to go where she isn't known.  She wants to stay with us. It's so frustrating to me that we have to do things "by the book". We are not a hospice unit. Therefore her insurance won't pay for her to stay there as a hospice event. Nevermind that she is comfortable there. Nevermind that we want her there. Nevermind that this would be the kindest most humane way to handle this case. They also can't give a definitive answer as to how long she has left. The estimates run anywhere from a couple of weeks to 3 months. That's a pretty broad time frame in terms of hospice. All I know is that this precious woman is scared and just wants to be where she knows everyone and has the assurance that C won't be alone with her when she dies. It's heartbreaking. I would love to have the means to bring her and C home with me and take care of them. Oh well, in a perfect world.

Austin was in Florida with my sister and her family this past week for spring break. This house felt like a tomb with him gone. Way too quiet. Way too serene. He had a wonderful time and I'm so glad that he got to go visit my parents (they winter in Florida), but boy am I glad to have him home! I slept much better last night knowing he was in his own bed and closer to being under my wing. I don't know that there is anything in this world that can brighten my day any more than having him hug my neck and call me Mama Bear. My world is cozier today because he's home.

GOOD NEWS! GREAT NEWS!

I wrote a while ago about my daughter, Sarah Kate and her health issues. Well, she went to the rheumatologist and he re-ran all the blook work that her PCP had done. She had an appointment with him on Thursday and got the results. ALL CLEAR!  He says that she had a virus and that it is now gone. She feels like her old self again and I am so thankful. It was so scary to think about her being sick with a chronic disease. I cannot tell you how wonderful this news is to us.

Sarah Kate told me last weekend that she and Bennie will probably be ready to start their family in the next year. I didn't think I'd be saying this anytime soon, but I'm ready! I don't have any idea what it feels like to be a grandmother, and I can't even imagine being called "Grandma", but my heart is ready to experience it. I've asked my friends that have grandchildren what it feels like. I know what it's like to love your children, but I wonder if you love your granchildren in a different way than you love your children. They all pretty much give me the same answer, "you love them more". Now I just can't wrap my mind around the fact that I could love anyone more than I love my children. Can you? But, I guess I'll soon be able to see for myself what it feels like. I'll let you know.

Have you smelled the dirt lately?

You know when you walk outside in the spring and you can smell the dirt, and it's begging you to dig in it? It's a beautiful day here and I'm going outside to clean away the winter debris from my gardens. I do my best thinking when I've got my hands in the dirt. Goodbye manicure. I've cut my nails off and my hands will be looking pretty shabby by the end of the day. I could wear gloves and protect my hands, but that's no fun at all. I love the anticipation of spring, the planning of beds, the renewal of life in the garden. I love hearing the birds chirping, and the kids playing tag and ball. And I'm already looking forward to the bubble bath that I will take when I come in later this evening caked with mud and dirt. Life is good in a garden.