Tuesday, December 1

Naturally, since I had to be up by 5 a.m. this morning, I had trouble going to sleep last night. Finally drifted off around 1:30. Four and a half hours later and bleary eyed, I dragged myself out of bed, and was ready by 6:30 to take Mother to the ophthalmologist's office for cataract surgery.

Br-r-r, it was a chilly morning, with temps low enough to create a layer of frost over lawns, fields, and meadows...a sign that winter is nigh, and I'm no fan of winter, despite it's occasional prettiness.

We arrived at the surgery at the appointed 7:10 a.m. hour, filled out the necessary paperwork, and went to the frosty waiting room. After a few minutes, Mother was escorted to the pre-surgery prep area.

Clinic staff, one by one, or in groups of two or three, fiddled with the central heat thermostat in the waiting room, and finally got it working. Just as it was getting comfortable, though, someone from the front office came back and turned it down, declaring it was too warm up there.

About two hours later, a clinic staff member escorted a very wobbly Mother, in blue surgery cap and blue booties, back to the waiting room. She was chilled to the bone, so much so that her fingernails were blue, and she was shivering, despite the fact that she had worn three layers of clothes and her coat, plus a warmed blanket, throughout her surgery.

The staff member gave her both verbal and written instructions about putting three types of eye drops in her eyes after supper and at bedtime, and advised her to remove the clear plastic eye protector only to use the eye drops. She'll wear the protector at bedtime for about a week, but can remove it in the morning to go, at 8 a.m., for a follow-up visit to the doctor.

After that, Mother was provided with a hot cup of coffee, and her choice of packages of peanut butter crackers, cheese and peanut crackers, or a pastry. Mother chose a cherry jelly filled pastry. Once she'd gained a bit of strength, we slowly made out way to the van and headed home.

She was told to rest for the remainder of the day, and she was only too glad to oblige. By suppertime, though, she felt much better, and sat in the kitchen, while I fixed the rest of the Thanksgiving leftovers for supper.

Since we got back home this morning around 9 a.m., I had plenty of time to finish Christmas decorating, and then change into a shirt and shorts and do a treadmill session and resistance exercises before lunch.

After lunch, while Mother snoozed, Hubbie and I ran errands...to the pharmacy, to the appliance store to leave the upstairs TV and remote control for repairs, and to the farm store for birdseed. Back home, we relaxed and watched the animated feature, "Shrek the Halls," and "Celtic Woman, Songs From the Heart," that I'd recorded on DVR.

Later, after Mother went home (she was recovered by this time), Hubbie and I watched the movie, "Leatherheads," a PG-13 film starring George Clooney and Renee Zellweger. It's a romantic comedy centered around a 1920's football team. We enjoyed it.