Moving, Cooking, Being Busy
Today I finally took a day just to "be." I did very little except relax, which is what my body has been begging for. The last few days have been busy with moving concerns, taking Mom to the grocery store, ferrying Jonathan to and from work, and cooking dinner. I don't mind the cooking, but my back is spent by the time we're done, so cleaning up is a bit challenging. Jon helps, and Mom helps, so it gets done pretty quickly, thankfully.
Yesterday, when I got up at 5:30 a.m. to take Jon to work, I saw Dad sitting up, and I knew instantly something was wrong (he's never up that early by choice.) Mom was sitting in her recliner in a great deal of pain. We took her to urgent care, who suggested we see the doctor at the place where I get my physical therapy, because he could give her immediate relief. The only other choice was a heavy painkiller, which they didn't want to do given her age (she's 80). Thankfully, my PT place was able to see her almost right away. The doctor determined that the muscles in her neck and lower back were very, very tight, so he gave her a shot in both sides of her behind, told her to take Naproxen, and put heat to those places. This morning, she came to me and said she'd actually jumped out of bed; she had no pain. Given my mom's arthritis, I've never her her say that she's jumped out of bed. I think the steroids had kicked in as well as the pain relief, because she was almost giggly. She does need to have physical therapy on her neck, which I felt pretty confident about, but at least she is able to move about again. That was a terrible night for her.
We will be getting some help boxing up this Saturday at the Jackson St. house. Our dear friends, Betsy and Danny, have volunteered to come over and help for a few hours. We're so grateful for that! There's still much to do. Uncle is going to delay selling the house so Dave and Anna (my son and daughter-in-law) can bunk there when they visit in August. Then we need to empty the place so he can go through with the sale. This will be a big burden lifted from his shoulders, and we're pleased that we're moving out so he can finally get this accomplished.
Today, I made a cobbler featuring peaches and plums we got from a local farmer. Unfortunately, Mom didn't have enough flour, so the crust was a bit flat, but over all it tasted really good. Dad has been wanting hand-breaded chicken, so I breaded some chicken tenders and pan-fried them. We had macaroni-and-cheese and roasted asparagus with it. Well, Mom and I had the asparagus; the menfolk wouldn't touch it! (laugh) The night before, I made ratatouille featuring vegetables from the same farm where we got the fruit. It's so much better with farm vegetables than those purchased at the store! I need to go there more often during the summer. The produce is superior!
My back is complaining so I'll close for now. I send my best to each of you. Always,
Kelly