Monday Morning

Jake is on his way back to Portland. It was a pleasure having him visit. His Mom has him well trained as a sous chef so he spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen with her prepping the meals--although in our kitchen, he had no one to delegate to. (Me? Heck, I burn water when I try to boil it!) I enjoyed all the meals prepared for Jake except the one with the sauerkraut. Somewhere, sometime, someplace, sauerkraut became one of those foods for me that cause a gag reflex just thinking about it. I have the same issue with raw carrots but I am perfectly ok with cooked or steamed carrots. Anyway, the sausage was good and Reenie was nice enough to heat the kraut on the grill outside to minimize the aroma (forced use of the word) in the house. It was a small price to pay to have our Jake's wishes honored for a kraut and sausage meal.

Mary was most pleased to have him here for the visit. It was clear to me that she really enjoyed seeing her nephew. And, she like sauerkraut!

Ingrid came over to join us for lunch and to give Mary a back rub. Reenie went all out with yesterday's brunch, especially for Ingrid who had done the massage the day before. After lunch, Ingrid raised the ante and scrubbed the kitchen from top to bottom! Anyway, Ingrid spent so much time in the kitchen, Mary missed the backrub because she retired for her afternoon nap.

Reenie and Mary agreed to have a more 'active' day today, including a couple of walks around the neighborhood. Her single walk yesterday was about a third of a mile. We don't think the distance needs to be increased right now, but the frequency of the walks needs to increase. They do take a dog along and if its Shauna, our old dog, the pace is just right for Mary with a walker, Reenie with her bionic knees and hips and, of course, the 15 year old English Cocker. Its quite a parade!

On the medical front, Mary is clearly getting stronger and using much less of the pain killer. Reenie reports that the small opening in the incision is almost closed as of late yesterday and the large opening is quickly doing the same--just as the doc suggested.