I got to spend a real nice weekend with mom.

Not too long after I got there, the phone rang and it was her physical therapist...Tom... who said he would he was on his way over. Mom was not very happy about that. We have recently found out that if DMBA (her health insurance) is going to pay for her home health people to come in, she needs to have a physical therapist come in and work with her several times a week.

I talked with mom about it and she knew what the deal was and said she would go along with it.

He was not exactly what I had expected... He was a really big man...probably about as tall as Kelley, but was a lot heavier. He was really nice and helpful though. He had talked to the home health ladies and they had some ideas of ways we could make mom more comfortable. Then he helped mom do a bunch of exercises. Arm and leg exercises that she did easily. Then he had her stand up and sit down ten times, just holding on to her walker. This was hard for her, but she was able to do it. Then he had her stand up tall (most the time she is pretty bent over) and raise her hands over her head and down...just keeping her balance. It was pretty amazing to see the transformation. She could stand perfectly straight and really balance pretty well. He had her hold on to his shoulders at first and he held her around the waist to keep her from falling...then he pretty much let go of her and she could do it on her own! We were laughing cause mom said the neighbors were going to talk if they were peeking in her window and saw her 'dancing" with this man! By the time he left, I think she had decided he wasn't so bad.

Kelley came up Friday night and worked on the bathroom. Sanded and patched again...then let it dry overnight so he could sand it again. It's ready to put up the trim and paint! So grateful to him for all of the work he has done up there. It means a lot to me.

Kelley loaded up the big stereo cabinet and took it down to Candice. Mom was glad she could use it and it opened up a lot more space in the living room. Kind of tight with the piano in there.

Candice was really excited to get it and called Grandma and thanked her for it We were sitting there eating our lunch and a deer walked right by the window. I tried to move real slow so I wouldn't scare them and got my camera. By the time I got outside, she had found all her friends! It's way too early for the deer to be in her yard, but when I walked up around the pond, I could see they had been hanging out there for a while. I thought it was pretty cool, but mom was cussing them. She said they eat all her shrubs and poop all over the place.

I could see where they had eaten her little trees. We will have to wrap them up with net to keep them out.

They stood there and looked at me for a minute, then took off and jumped over the fence. Such beautiful, graceful animals...I don't know how anyone could shoot them!


Saturday was such a beautiful day...unusually warm for November so I loaded mom up in the wheel chair and we went for a walk.
Then she sat outside with me while I worked in the yard a bit...pulling up the dead inpatients and and trimming back the hostas. I put the cushions on the lawn chairs in the old house and pulled the chairs in to get them out of the weather.
I think she enjoyed being outside and getting some fresh air and sunshine. When I first suggested going out, she said "Oh no, it's too much bother for you...I'll just watch you from here" I told her it was no bother at all! and it really wasn't!
We had a chance to talk about some of her memories of neighbors as we walked past their houses. Other than the Knowles, she is about the only original owner still there in the neighborhood. Everything has changed so much. The new subdivision across the street has made it a busy street now.
Going into her yard though is like entering a different world...the trees block the noise of the street and it's peaceful and quiet. Even in it's slightly run down condition, it is still so beautiful there. I'm sure grateful for that haven I was able to grow up in.


Later that night after mom was asleep, I tried to organize K.C.'s emails. I have just been printing them off and sticking them in a folder randomly. They were not in any order though so I tried to sort them out by the dates. It was pretty cool to go back and read them again. He has grown so much in many ways over the past 16 months! It's pretty amazing to see what a mission can do with a person's life.
We turned the clocks back Saturday night so I was awake pretty early. I got all the last minute things done, then about eight, went in by mom. She seemed really good and strong and was able to walk around a little without me holding her.
I fixed her some breakfast and sat with her while she ate...It was fast sunday for me. I'm pretty sure she asked me thirty times why I wasn't eating. "It's my fast sunday mom." Then she would say that she should be fasting too. I told her she probably shouldn't since she had to eat to take all her pills...and that Heavenly Father understands. My mother is such a truly good person. I hope to be even one half the person she is. When I went to leave, she said "When you go, the house will be empty like my heart" That makes it pretty hard to leave her ...sure do love my mom.