Tuesday, Nov. 15

Up around 7 a.m. this morning. After we'd had breakfast, I helped Mother take a shower. She's doing more for herself, now...undressing unassisted, and dressing with a little assistance. Today, she was able to lift her own legs into the bathtub without my help.

After I got Mother settled in the den, she did a session of exercising with stretch bands, while I put on exercise clothes and did a treadmill session and resistance exercises. I was ready for the day just about in time for the visiting nurse to drop by.

Today, besides taking Mother's vitals, the nurse cut her toenails. Mother's nails are thick and difficult to cut, but I have a scissor-like clipper that the nurse was able to use. I would have cut Mother's nails myself, but she's so tender that I was afraid I'd hurt her. I figured the nurse would have more experience at this. And I was right.

Apparently, this is a routine part of her job, because she told us the story of a time when her husband came by to pick her up after she'd cut an elderly woman's toenails. Her husband looked at her with a very puzzled expression on his face. When she asked what was the matter, he asked what those white things in her hair were. Apparently, the woman's tough toenails had flown up into the nurse's hair! That didn't happen today thank goodness. But Mother sure felt better getting her nails cut and filed.

After the nurse left, and we'd had lunch, Mother was ready for a nap. While she slept, Hubbie and I ran errands. First, he dropped me off at the beauty shop, where I had a 1:30 appointment. I arrived early, but my hairdresser was ready to cut my hair.

While I was getting a haircut, Hubbie went to the bank, mailed a couple of letters for my at the Post Office, and delivered this week's word search puzzle contest to the newspaper office. Hubbie returned to pick me up exactly at the time my hairdresser finished with my hair.

While I was getting a haircut, Hubbie went to the bank, to the Post Office to mail a couple of cards (one a sympathy card to a high school classmate who recently lost her mother, and another a birthday card and chatty letter to my friend in Texas), and then to the newspaper office to deliver this week's word search puzzle contest.

From the beauty shop, we went to the store that has a sale every weekend, where I used a $10 coupon to buy three pairs of undies for Mother. These will become one of her 12-days-of-Christmas gifts.

That store must have a math genius working for them, because they've got it figured so that you can't really buy just one sale item for the required $25 (the amount a customer must spend to use the $10 coupon). For instance, today the undies were on sale three pairs for $24, which meant I needed another item in order to use the coupon. I ended up buying a washcloth for $4. I'll put the plush washcloth with the others I bought to go with the two thick towels for Mother for Christmas (she mentioned again this morning how thin her towels and wash clothes are). The undies are to replace some we had to discard during the worst of Mother's episode after returning home from the hospital.

From that store, we went to the everything's a dollar store for several items, and then on to the WDCS for a few groceries and incidentals.

Back home, Mother was awake and ready to get up. We spent the rest of the afternoon until suppertime watching Monday night's episode of "Dancing with the Stars."

At 4:30, I decided to make a batch of bran muffins to go with the veggie soup for supper. But naturally, I didn't have any bran cereal, so Hubbie had to run to the nearest grocery store to buy a box.

The soup and bran muffins were delicious, just the right meal for a rainy evening. Speaking of rain, our guage showed four inches today, even though the weatherman said we got three and a quarter inches. Whatever the accurate amount, we appear to be one of the counties that got the most rain this time round.

After supper, it was TV time, as usual, including a Hallmark Channel movie called, "The Ulimate Gift." The wealthy grandfather of a young man dies, and instead of leaving him a fortune in his will, he requires the young man to gain life experiences...hard work, finding a true friend, giving up his paycheck to help someone in need, traveling to a remote village in Ecuador to revitalize a library that is central to the residents. Along the way, he finds love, of course.