.comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}

WritingAfterDark

Blogs of Writer, Artist, Photographer, & Caregiver Joanne D. Kiggins

Name:
Location: United States

Joanne has published more than 2,500 articles and was award recipient of the 1990 Woman of the Year for Beaver County, Pennsylvania, for her accomplishments and excellence in journalism and to the community. Her co-authored book, “Unforgettable Journey,” won fifth place in the Grand Beginnings romance contest. An excerpt from her WIP, “Unearthed,” placed her fifth in the Absolute Write Idol contest. Most recently, her essay, “Perseverance,” is published in the Stories of Strength anthology in which 100% of the profits are donated to disaster relief charities. Her most recent articles were published in ByLine Magazine, Writer's Digest, AbsoluteWrite.com, and Moondance.org. She has a monthly freelance writing column at Absolutewrite.com. Currently, she is the sole caregiver for her 85-year-old mother.

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Mowing & Anxious to Read Into The Mist by Deborah Uetz

Today, we started working on filling in ruts on the path from my house to my Mom’s. With all the rainfall we’ve had lately, the water gushes down the path and has begun to make the ruts larger. We got a good bit done, but we had to stop working on that so we’d have time to get the mowing done at Mom’s house.

Two Feather loaded our riding mower on the wagon and put the push mower in the back of his Kawasaki Mule and we headed to Mom’s house to mow her yard. I mow the small side yard, front area by the sidewalk, and the circle around her flowerbed with the push mower while he mows the rest of the huge yard with the rider.

I trimmed the trumpet vine on the porch, edged the sidewalk, and pulled weeds while Two Feather finished mowing.

We took the mowers back to our house and rode back down to Mom’s to get the mail and paper and put the garbage out for collection. When we got back to Mom’s house, a package was sitting on the table on the porch. I was pleased that UPS had delivered the book I’d just purchased. I’ve heard so much about Deborah Uetz’s book, Into the Mist: When Someone You Love Has Alzheimer’s Disease, I just had to buy it. Can’t wait to start reading it.

This evening I called Angel to ask how Tim was doing. A few days after Mom was in the hospital, Tim went to the emergency room. He’d had a gall bladder attack. He’s scheduled for surgery on the 11th. Angel told me they were coming in this weekend again because she has a job interview. She’ll be leaving for back home on Sunday and Tim will be staying for his job interviews on Monday and Tuesday. They plan to move back to this area as soon as they acquire jobs here and sell their house in Mechanicsburg. YAY!!!

Anyway, Angel wants to visit Saturday with Mom. It will be Mom’s 84th birthday! Angel thought we could take Mom out for lunch or early dinner. Two Feather and I had thought about that too, but we figured we’d wait to see how Mom is that morning. The home health nurse and OT nurse are coming Saturday, too. They won’t be calling me until Friday night or Saturday morning to let me know when. So everything is sort of up in the air until I know when her therapy will be done. Either way, we’ll make sure Mom has a great birthday.

Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Make me smile. Leave a comment...


Comment Icon From Paper Napkin

7 Comments:

Blogger ~Betsy said...

I find it funny that the guys ride and we use the push mower - it's the same at our house! Frankly, I like the exercise as I don't get time for any.

Hope your visit and Mom's birthday is a good one.

10/04/2007 11:20 AM  
Blogger Lori1955 said...

My back yard is so small that a riding mower wouldn't even fit in it. I do have a lot of bushes that need trimming if you're ever in the area. :)

10/04/2007 1:39 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

We have a Polaris Ranger. Our zero turn mower is a SCAG. The big pasture is mowed by the guys that farm for us. Out at Judy's I have a John Deere riding mower although I haven't used it yet.

It is interesting to me to read about how people handle mowing and upkeep. It is one of those things we often take for granted until we have to figure out how to do it.

10/04/2007 5:39 PM  
Blogger Joanne said...

Like you, I like the exercise, and don't have much time for it either, Betsy.

I'm sure whatever we end up doing on Mom's birthday, she'll love it. Thank you.

10/04/2007 6:34 PM  
Blogger Joanne said...

Sure, Lori. As soon as I finish my "to do" list with the other 100+ things on it, I'll be right over to help trim your bushes. :D

I wouldn't know what to do if I were confined to a really small yard.

10/04/2007 6:36 PM  
Blogger Joanne said...

Hi flinty. Sounds like you have a lot of nice equipment. Send those farm guys over here to mow our pasture and back field, would you? We didn't get to those this year. ;)

Funny you should make that comment about taking it for granted until we have to figure out how to do it. I was just beginning to write my blog for today about how we're going to have to do that in the near future.

10/04/2007 6:44 PM  
Blogger nancy said...

i find riding our mower very relaxing. i find i ride it slowly and my youngest son mark, races to see how fast he can finish.

i loved reading into the mist. i sure you will enjoy it and find it helpful.

10/04/2007 9:56 PM