Month of Mom

We kicked off this month by celebrating mom’s birthday on the 8th. She woke up to this beautiful large plant that Scott & Kris had given her. What a great way to start the day. She loves plants more than anything. Aunt Carol & I treated her to lunch at Marie Calendars, where she got her favorite Lemon Meringue Pie. We had a lovely time.

She started back to physical therapy two weeks ago as well. It’s starting at the beginning once again, but she knows it’s good for her and pushes on. She’s hoping it will strengthen her back, as it is hurting more and more these days.

One day we took a break from everything and had movie day at my house. We have a new 63″ Plasma TV and man, what a great picture. We watch Mama Mia and it was spectacular on this tv. It’s set in Greece and the waters were amazing. I’ve never seen such clear, blue waters. It was hard to pay attention to the movie with all that beautiful scenery. It was nice to be able to do something fun and lazy together.

The 10th was Mother’s Day. Mom had dinner at my brother’s house, which is actually her house too. She lives in the garage apartment and they have the main house. So it was a quick walk to their side and my sister-in-law made a wonderful manicotti dish, from scratch!

This weekend mom went swimming! She, Kris & Taylor all went in their pool. This was the first time in 6 years that she’s been able to be in the water. She could never before because of her medication pump. What a thrill!

The 17th Aunt Carol and I took mom to the Symphony (her birthday gift from us). They were having a medly of Rodgers & Hammerstein Music. It was so much fun. We ate lunch at the Cheesecake Factory before the show. Then drove downtown and thankfully Aunt Carol has a good sense of direction, otherwise we never would have found the place. No one thought to look up where we were going! Dunces all. Like all downtowns, they’re crowded and impossible to get parking near your point of interest. We lucked out and parked in a garage near Symphony Hall. We parked on the top floor and at first we thought we were in trouble. The elevator was out! So I moved the car near the working elevator and took that down. Wouldn’t you know it, the working elevator was on the back side of the building, which put us a full city block away from our venue. If the other elevator had worked, it would have been a few steps across the street! Figures. Mom had woken up with her back really hurting and we were concerned that she wasn’t going to be able to make it that far. It never occured to us to bring her stroller to hang on to. She hasn’t used it since she’s been home. It would have helped, but she says she’s not going to use it. She’ll tough it out. She doesn’t want to feel likes she’s going backwards. So we took our time and walked the whole way. It gave us a chance to see what was around us. Restaraunts and shopping. They’ve redone this area and it’s so nice. We made it to the venue, up the long ramp to the entrance and then had to wait for the elevator that took us to our balcony seating. Of course there were no seats left (while waiting for the elevator) and apparently male chivalry is dead. Not one man, or woman for that matter, offered her a seat. Granted, most of the people there were older than the hills (matinee) but still. An offer would have been nice. I was about to boot someone out, but mom said no, I can stand. Then they opened the elevators. Thought we were in the clear but low and behold, two small flights of stairs to get to our seats. Poor mom was in such agony by the time we got to our seats. She did bring pain medicine with her and took that right away. The symphony was just wonderful. We all had a super time. It was a great way to spend an afternoon. I could  do that every day. Mom really enjoyed herself and managed the walk back to the car just fine.

Now that mom’s cataracts have been taken care of she can see really well. She didn’t realize just how bad her eyes had become, until the other day. She had told Scott awhile back that her transplant scar was gone. She was surprised at how quickly it healed and disappeared. Then she noticed the other day, post cataract surgery, that it was still there! She said, I got a chuckle out of myself. I really thought it had vanished! Guess there is a downside to seeing too well.

Saturday is the 23rd and this day is going to be a very special day for Mom, for all of us. It will be her one year anniversary since her transplant! I can hardly believe it’s here so fast. We will be celebrating by going to Sedona. It’s so pretty there, one of my favorite places.  We used to go there when I was a kid, whenever someone would come to visit. I don’t think we’ve been back since that time. I don’t have any set plans once we get there, but we’ll play tourist and have a leisurely day in the cool mountain air. More to come when we get home.