Happy Birthday Millard!

I would like to wish my father-in-law, Millard, a very Happy Birthday. May you have many many wonderful years to come.

As soon as Doug got home last night, he took us out to get some air. I've been couped up in this house pretty much all week. I called Maryann to see if she wanted a ride to the Nursing Home to visit Mom. Whitney answered and said that Maryann was already at the Nursing Home. She and Zayne were on their way out the door to babysit his little sister, Nia, and Natalie was with Primetime on a date.

We got to the Nursing Home, Maryann and Dad were already there with Mom. She looked real good. I couldn't believe my eyes, Mom's Supper plate was empty. Maryann told me that the nurses have been threatening to put the feeding tube back in her stomach, if she doesn't eat enough. Maryann brought Mom and her roommate, Flo, a McDonald's hamburger and fries for supper. Mom told Maryann that she would have loved to eat the hamburger, but she had to eat everything on her plate. I guess whatever it takes to get her to eat, I'm all for it. One of the nurses came in the room and Mom asked her what they were going to do when she gained all this weight. Her saying this makes things a little clear as to why she won't eat that much. It's a self image problem. She's got it in her mind that she's going to gain all this weight and won't be able to shade it off. The nurse explained to her that she has to eat in order to get some strength and we can worry about the excessive weight after she is much better. I hope Mom is listening to what the nurses are telling her. While we were there, Mom's physical therapist came in to visit us. Right off the bat, Doug announces to the group "hey, I know you." We know Christy, therapist, through church. Her husband is a deacon. Anyway, Christy asked if Mom had some walking shoes at home. She wants Mom to have some walking shoes in order to help out with the physical therapy. She said she was afraid to start trying to walk Mom without the proper shoes because she is showing signs of rolling ankles. Mom hasn't been able to walk in like forever, so now she has rolling ankles. Christy said they were able to stand her up during yesterday's therapy, but that's when she noticed the ankles. She told Dad to give her about a week, working with Mom and she should be able to give us a prognosis on her walking. I checked out Mom's feet/ankles for the swelling. They are still swollen, but not as bad because I could see her ankle bones. She told me that her friend, Opaline, comes to visit her everyday. I thank God for allowing Mom to have friends like Opaline and Flo by her side to encourage her when we, family, are not around. It's a huge relief. She was so glad see Millard and Peggy yesterday. They came by and visited her for a little while. I think the different faces does her some good. We had a very nice visit and I was so glad to see her doing better.

On the way home, we went to our usual hang out - WALMART. I know, we sound so boring. Shoot! With the price of gas and a little girl, we can't afford to do the things we use to do. At Walmart, we ran into some old friends. We haven't seen Greg and Melissa in forever and a day. They are always so busy with their schooling and career. They are both RNs and Melissa went back to school to be an anesthesiologist. On top of that, we heard through the grapevine that they were planning to adopt a child from China. I asked Melissa last night how the whole adoption thing was going. Apparently, it's not good. I believe, she said they've been going at it for a little over a year. She expects three to four more years of the political garbage. Yuck! I never knew the International adoption system is just as screwed up as the American adoption system. Go figure!

Everyday this week, Katie's "needed" to go swimming. Too funny! As soon as she would get out of bed, she'd tell me "Mommy, I need to go swimming." We've got our nice little water park set up to the side of the house outside. I've been meaning to take pictures, but kept forgetting. I've been too busy working on my blog headers. tehe! I'll make pictures as soon as I can.