Thursday, Nov. 3

Up at 7 a.m. to get ready to take Mother to the doctor for a 10:30 appointment. The weather has been lovely for a long time, but wouldn't you know it, today it was chilly and windy.

So after breakfast, it was necessary to help Mother into three layers of clothing. It was a tiring chore for her, which is why I helped her do it early, so she could spend some time in her rocking chair resting while I got ready.

Around 9:45, Hubbie drove our van across the lawn and close the front porch. A wooden step we use in the sunroom was helpful in helping Mother get into the van. We were able to roll her wheelchair right up to the step, so she didn't have to hoist herself up, but just step over to the van seat. I helped her do this by getting into the seat first, then holding onto her until she could turn around and sit down as I moved across to the other seat.

At the clinic, Hubbie drove up to the door and we did a reverse procedure getting her out of the van. We arrived in the doctor's office about 15 minutes early, but it turned out that it was nearly 11 a.m., before she was called back to an exam room.

After that, the nurse quickly took Mother's basic vitals, and it wasn't long before the doctor arrived. Mother's BP was good, at 128/60, and her pulse was also good, as well as her temperature. The doctor was pleased with her progress, and ordered blood work to make sure she's no longer anemic.

We left the clinic around 11:30. By the time we got back home, Mother was ready for lunch and a nap. She opted for Ramen noodle soup, after which we peeled a couple of layers of clothing off, and she gratefully got into bed.

She slept for a couple of hours, and then I helped her come back to the den, where she watched TV until suppertime. For supper, Hubbie and I had baked potatoes topped with chili and sour cream, and sides of garden salad, and Mother had half a plain baked potato with butter and sour cream.

By 7 p.m., she was ready for bed again. Hubbie and I continued watching TV, including the 2010 movie, "Dear John," starring Channing Tatum, and Amanda Seyfried. This is a Chick Flick, of course, about a soldier on leave, who falls for a conservative college student.

Note: yesterday, our nearly blind, white cat, and another cat were romping and playing upstairs, when we suddenly heard a loud crash. We found nothing amiss upon inspection, but the white cat ran downstairs in a panic. Thereafter, she jumped sky high when she saw a shadow, or anything else within her limited sight. She only felt comfortable in the recliner chair. At 9 p.m., the usual time the cats go to the sunroom for the night. She was plenty ready to be out there.

Then this morning, she hesitated to come inside. When she did, she wanted right back out. Hubbie finally brought her in to the recliner, where she stayed all afternoon. I think she might have run headlong and hard into a door upstairs and knocked herself silly to the point she's afraid now to walk indoors, much less run.