Today

This morning started out as usual, 5:55 a.m. We did the normal morning routine and then I got dressed and took J to the chiropractor before school. At J's school, I paid some lunch money for J--the boy with the ever-present hollow leg--with a bit of breakfast money thrown in for those days when the smell of donuts or something yummy is overwhelming for him.

Then, I went to get M for her hair appointment and I hoped to find out more about Aunt R's situation. I talked with Aunt R but she was off in her own little world--seeming to be busy with some kind of imaginary work, all the while lying in bed. We held hands while we talked and I told her I loved her.

M seemed very drifty herself and really was not perking along like usual today. The employees said she slept really well, so I don't know what the trouble is. She was doing quite well yesterday afternoon when I visited. It is like this sometimes.

M always loves to have her hair done and she always gets lots of compliments from the other residents when she returns from having her hair done on Mondays. I returned M to her place and by then, some of Aunt R's family members were there. I visited with Aunt R again at her request. This time, she talked and talked but it was not all sensible, about half and half. Aunt R is not really eating or drinking. Evidently, Hospice said she has probably two days to live. It is not unexpected when someone is 101. However, I don't think Hospice has accounted for the toughness of those G---ers, although not my generation but hers. Aunt R told Aunt A yesterday that it was hard to die, or hard work to die, something like that. I don't think Aunt R wants to go.

After I left the home, I picked up prescriptions and I'm happy to say Walgreen's has picked up the pace. Last time, I waited at least 45 minutes and today I waited five. Last time there were two people to handle the crowd and today, there were four. Good job!

I went to L's school and paid lunch money there, too. I feel like a stranger there--I was such a fixture for four years on account of T and now I hardly ever even enter the building.

I had the van washed inside and out. I think it has been months and was so overdue. To have a clean van is like pampering myself. It gave me a morale boost disproportionate to the actual event.

I came home for lunch and then B and I went for a walk with our faithful hound R. Just blocks from home, we saw DV & J's cows escape with DV trying to get on his four wheeler while shouting cuss words at the cows. B tried to help herd those cows but DV seemed to be purposefully driving the cows away faster than B could round them up. Actually, I think DV was so mad and impatient with the cows that he was just going about things wrong. In fact, until I talked with J, who said she suspected that DV himself had left the gate open, I thought DV was driving the cows away from their yard because they must not be his cows and had thought that was not a real neighborly thing to do. At one point, DV even rammed the cows with his four-wheeler, causing the four-wheeler to stall and, seeming none the worse, the cows headed for the highway and points west. It was eventful. Eventually Bishop M got involved as did DV's son Bl. DV slid and fell on some gravel, and had blood all over his hand and sleeve. The cows were eventually corralled. Bl had to chastise his dad for letting the cows out, and for not waiting until 3 when someone was coming to do whatever it was the DV was trying to do mid-afternoon. Boy, do I remember feeling exactly the same way with my mother or father on many occasions. R did her best to bark and bark either to tell B to come back or to tell him to wait up, but she was too far from the action to be of any help. We'd run out of time for our walk, so we hurried home and got here just after J arrived home from school.

I took J to his hair appointment--he has a nice, short "do" now, just the way he likes it.

I took the kids to the bank to cash/deposit checks for their work on G-ma's yard. We returned books to the library. Whew. No fines. Afterwards, we went to the S family's house to visit.

Then we came home, had dinner, had family home evening, and now we're all headed to bed (other than the night owl who will watch TV). This was an eventful day.