Tuesday, Jan. 17

Tossed and turned until 2 a.m. this morning, before finally going to sleep. My mind kept reviewing recent events...the illness and death of my ex-husband, the stress on my older son and the rest of the family, the hospitalization of an infant great-granddaughter, the problems of a grandson, the muscle-pull injury to my younger son, etc., etc., etc.

Slept late, though, until around 8:30. After breakfast, I did strengthening exercises...stair stepping, weights, and resistance bands. Then I got ready to go meet my doctor appointment.

Didn't have long to wait before I was taken back to an exam room. The clinic is still updating computer files, so the nurse needed to ask again if I smoke, if I drink alcohol, and if I use street drugs.

"Oh, sure," I joked about that last one. "I'm always out on the street corner looking for drugs." She laughed and said, "Well, I had to ask." We agreed that neither of us has the foggiest notion about how to obtain illegal drugs.

The doctor arrived quickly and removed the bandage on my index finger. Low and behold, the wound was completely healed. It's still sore to the touch, though, which is what made me hesitant to remove the very stuck bandage (I'd been told it would come off by itself, but it didn't). I was afraid I'd re-open the wound if I tried to take it off myself.

I felt sort of foolish for wasting the doctor's time, but she assured me it was best to let her do it, so that if the wound did re-open, she could deal with. There's a scar on my finger, but it's not bad.

I was back home around noon, when I heated leftovers for our lunch. While I was heating lunch, Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house.

The nurse had visited her this morning, and said she was doing well. Her vitals are good. She asked Mother if she was getting enough to eat, and Mother assured her that I see to her meals, and that she doesn't cook anymore, other than heating things in the microwave.

This afternoon, Mother, Hubbie, and I made a pot of potato soup. Hubbie peeled and sliced the potatoes, and Mother chopped the onion, celery, and carrots. Then I put the soup together. We felt a pot of soup is in order for Mother's and Sis's lunch tomorrow, since it's predicted to be a very cold day.

Once the soup was cooked, Mother and I spent time working on our scrapbook pages. Before we started the soup, I put the ankle weights back on, and wore them the rest of the afternoon as added exercise when I walked and went up and down stairs.

Later, I heated a supper of leftover spaghetti and sauce, and green beans, along with French bread.

Hubbie accompanied Mother back to her house, and then Hubbie and I watched TV, including the 2007 movie, "Nobel Son." A philandering professor wins the Nobel Prize for chemistry. While he is in Stockholm to receive his $2 million dollars prize money, he gets a phone call telling him his grown son has been kidnapped, and the kidnapper, who we learn is his illegitimate son, is demanding the prize money as ransom.

Then we watched our favorite college basketball team as they played to a wide-margin loss. Boo.

Sis arrived tonight, so she could be here to spend the day with Mother tomorrow, while Hubbie and I attend the memorial service for my ex-husband.