February

I liked chicken soup. I believe that t is still made by Diamond. Keep a careful eye on their recalls. They tend to start with a tiny one specific food in a very limited distribution area and before you can blink its every single product that passed through the factory.

I sure am late to the party this month! Mom was back in the hospital for 11 days with another round of pneumonia—just got out Thursday. They have finally figured out what she was aspirating fluid so she’s on nectar thick liquids; hopefully, that will help.  I managed to find a snow bank with the van yesterday on my way back from visiting her (with Mozey, Mom’s personal therapy dog!). The main road was horrible in patches—wind was blowing snow and creating ice patches covered with slush. The cops were great and the tow guy got me out and on my way. The car, Mozey and I are all fine.

Winter is definitely here—another storm is on the way for tomorrow and Monday. So, that means it’s time to think about the garden. I ordered my onions and some rhubarb plants. I need to figure out which tomatoes I want to plant, too. There are too many choices these days!

I'm feeding ProPlan these days--it's the one food I've found that seems to work for Rock. (It took me a year and a half to get his stomach settled, so, I don't mess with his food too much now that we've figured out something that works.)

There are times when it seems the devil is winning.  Sorry about your Mom.  Glad the truck stayed tire side down.

Walked the whole yard with a shovel and bag.  No snow.

Hit the Chanhassen Dinner Theater tonight to watch Camelot.  Great play, great singers, great food, roads were dry and clean.  Stopped at daughters place to pick up some Girl Scout cookies.  Daughter may now understand the phrase "never volunteer ".

Beautiful March day.  Took jr to the dog park.  I was just going to walk the trail by the river, but he met a friend in the big area.  Mud.  Dirt, water, things you don't want to think about, all squishy and underfoot.  Sky played with an Alaskan dog.  Baths all around, and new jeans for me.  

Trying to work up some enthusiasm for a project on the house.  Changing the counter top and sink in the laundry area.  Just hard to get excited about it.

Kate, I'm so sorry to hear about your Mom's lengthy hospital stay. I'm glad she recovered, and I hope the change in liquid types prevents a recurrence. My MIL has had a very nasty cough for nearly 2 weeks, and we were sure she'd develop pneumonia since she doesn't get out of bed at all anymore (even bathroom trips with assistance are becoming less frequent). Somehow she has managed to avoid it so far. I hope your Moms are both good, Glenda and Ginger. I thought I saw something in another thread about some issues with them.

I'm also glad your snowbank "interaction" wasn't too severe, Kate. Driving in the snow is no fun the older I get. And it's worse here since they don't clear the roads much. My poor Mom has about 22 inches on the ground, and she was housebound for 4 days. Her senior living complex is good about clearing the parking lots and such, but at her age, she avoids driving on iffy roads unless she really has to.

We've been getting a ton of rain -- nearly an inch today. It makes our walks with Ruby very unpleasant, even with our raincoats! We did have a beautiful sunny day on Monday, and I noticed several crocus blooms in my neighbors yard on our walk that day. As gloomy as our winters can be (and this year we've had far more snow, ice, and rain than is typical), we do have early springs, so that's always a plus. We'll see some pink buds on the early plum trees by the end of the month. Yay!

That has to have been the sorriest excuse for a blizzard I've ever not seen.  Schools closing, highways signs warning, and I wake up to about ½ inch of snow.  It didn't even cover the grass.  I am still on my first tank of gas in the snow blower.  I have a generator now. It's just not fair.

I hear you, Doug. Just don't let it become a real blizzard on the way here! It was warm here today--I sure hope I don't have to mow the lawn soon! I have a generator, too--had a 2 hour power outage in the last big storm, but it was during the day so I didn't bother to crank up the generator. Got the wood stove going and was warm as toast.

Mozey goes to visit "Grandma" a couple times a week, and it seems to do them both some good. Mozey seems to "get" nursing homes--she visits with a few other folks, too. I'm guessing she'll be in therapy dog class this summer! We always thought she'd be good at it, but she was so afraid of anything new for so long, I almost gave up hope. It only took 5 years for her to get into the car voluntarily (!), and now she "loads up" like it's old hat. Took her to Petco today to see if she'd even go in--yup, walked in, went right by the puppy training class, walked around the place and then headed back out. I just about fell over!

Just a quick post for now to let folks know Mom passed away on Friday. Two good things have come of this: 1) Mozey will be by my side at the calling hours, and 2) I have spoken with old family friends that I haven't seen or talked to for 20 or 30 years!

Kate I'm so sorry for your loss. Prayers for you and your family. ((((Hugs))))

Kate I am so sorry to hear about your Mom's passing.  (((Hugs)))  big hugs for Mozey too.  Nice to see he has given both you and your Mom some comfort

Kate -- I am SO sorry ... having been there in the last year ... it is just such a tough time. *hugs*

I am sorry for your loss.  Even when expected, it hurts.