HOME AGAIN

My quick one week trip to TEXAS is over and I am home in MINNESOTA again. I am so thankful to be able to share time with my mother every three months or so. She seems to appreciate my company. She is trying to live alone in the house they built. It has been 18 months since my stepfather passed away. She has to do all the things he did with bill paying and getting things fixed. But she is doing remarkably well considering her age of 88. She often talks out loud to hear a voice, watches the clock beside her bed and when her pain and discomfort or lack of energy get the best of her, she and the cat take a rest on the bed. She lives one day at-a-time and has no plans for tomorrow or where she will go when she can't live alone.

I did talk her into getting some care from a service called Home Instead Senior Care. A gal comes in for 4 hours Tuesday and Thursday and it breaks up the week and gives her a person with which she can exchange ideas and have conversations. This gal cooks a little, does dishes and vacuums and drives mom to the store, bank and they occasionally eat out. This arrangement works out well, but mom grumbles at having to pay the fees. There is something about people her age who went through the Great Depression and they do not want to part with their money. They also have a hard time having fun. I know this is a generalization, but so many of the people we have met that are about Mom's age are like that.

While visiting Mom, we went to an Asian Grill and Sushi Bar. It was new and I was hoping for the Japanese grill where the chef cooks your meal right in front of you and throws the shrimp tails up into his chefs hat and makes an onion volcano. It is quite the show as he prepares your food and I thought Mom would enjoy seeing that hoop-la. But alas, it was just an Asian eatery, serving a variety of Asian dishes. We were not adventurous enough to try the Sushi Bar but had a plate of mixed vegetable Tempura with a couple of sauces, some Dim Sum (pork and vegetable) which are steamed dumplings that are fried on a dry skillet to brown on the bottom with a sauce, and some whole shrimp fried in a wonton wrapper and of course...2 dipping sauces. Everything was delicious and we were able to practice our chop stick maneuvers. The meal was light and by 9pm, we had to have a snack. Happens every time.

So now I have cleaning, organizing and preparation for Beth and Sujan who will arrive Saturday. Bill and the cats survived without me as I knew they would. But the cats were really hungry and had wet cat food three times before we all went to bed. Guess they were trying to catch up on the good stuff.

I added a picture of Emma and Matti with their Christmas dolls from my mother. They call her Mamaw Jo and pray for her sometimes. They have never met but see her picture and know she is in Texas. I need to make a bunch of cards, but cleaning will have to come first.

Thanks for stopping by. Be Blessed by HE who has overcome the world!