October 19, 2016 Three Incredible Sons

Snow on Mission Ridge &
 tamaracks sporting their
Autumn gold.

Valley fog dissipating
Monday morning.

Monday 10/17. The low valley fog began to rise, but dissipated in doing so.  By 10:00 am we had some sunshine!

Today I put the contents of cans of all the long-term storage food that I had opened into 1/2-gallon mason jars and vacuum sealed them.  Something I should have done as soon as I opened them.

Also made some tapioca pudding, adding two eggs as I always do instead of the one called for.  I consider most recipes  just a suggestion; a good starting place.

JB and his two brothers have personally taken over their Mother's care and all that it entails (think about that).  JB takes the day shift, 6:00 am to 3:30 pm then a care-taker comes in until 9:00 pm Monday through Friday.  Then his brother, whose house they are all at, sleeps the night in his Mother's bedroom on an air mattress on the floor.  He gets up at 5:00 am and goes to work Monday through Friday.  JB's sister-in-law dresses their Mother each morning before she goes to work, and the caretaker gets her pajamas on.  Once a week a hospice nurse comes in to bathe her.  JB's youngest brother will be helping also, whether taking over for JB completely or just part time.  If he feels he can take over the day shift Monday through Friday, then JB will come home.

I am just so amazed that these men are caring for her like this.  She wants to stay at home and not go into a facility of any kind, even when Medicare will finally pay for it.  I don't think many men in their generation would go to this extent.  I am so proud of my husband!

Tuesday 10/18. It was 39 and raining this morning.  Fortunately the rain stopped by 9:00 am.  The rest of the day was dry and breezy, and by evening the sky was almost clear.  Our high for the day was 50.

I have increased our daily walks by about 1/3.  Now we also hike up to the peak on the south ridge, which is pretty steep but gives me more exercise.  And I do need more exercise.

Today was my Aunt Nene's 91st birthday!  I gave her a call and she had to put up with me singing "Happy Birthday", but she had already heard several friends and family members sing it to her and I guess my rendition wasn't the worst.  Does not seem like a whole year has passed since we celebrated her 90th. . .

I am going Down there tomorrow.  The road should be a bit better than when I went down last week.  I have to mail Nene's gift (better late than never) and get some meds refilled for JB and sent to him.  Also a little grocery shopping and other errands.

The big news for Up Here is that Miss Kitty is all repaired and ready to be picked up!!  One of our neighbors has a large trailer to do that and we will go on Saturday.  Will be so good to get her back.

I now have six dozen eggs sitting under the bed and am getting more each day.  Most days I either have two eggs for breakfast or lunch, and try to bake things with them (such as the tapioca), but they just keep piling up.  That is good because they will last for several months and we will have them when the girls don't lay much in the winter.

Wednesday 10/19. It is 36 with mostly clear skies this morning and I can finally see the mountains in all their snow-covered glory.  But I overslept and now I really have to hustle.

Thought for the day: If you get dissatisfied and start wishing you were young again, remember 8th grade Algebra class.