Silence is Golden

Sorry that I haven't posted for several days. There has been no change in the status. The fentanyl continues to make Mary sleepy and drowsy while putting her stomach constantly on the verge of regurgitation. Her nausea medications, zofran and compazine, help but they don't always control it.

We had nice visits from Dave and Janell on Sunday. Dave is a co-worker and co-chairman of an internal conference I run for the company. Our neighbors Tim and Lucrecia also stopped in, gave Mary a nice cookbook and left some avocados they brought from their relatives' tree.

I forgot to show Phil's Balls to our visitors. Its a long standing tradition in Mary's family that the carefully preserved Phil's Balls be brought out each Christmas and gingerly and lovingly hung on the tree. When our visitors stopped by on Sunday, I was in the process of taking down all the Christmas decorations and so distracted I forgot to point out the very old, very delicate and extremely precious Balls of Phil. They are truly a special treat to see a Christmas decoration of such unique family history.

The other long standing tradition from Mary's family is Alberta's Birdie. We don't know how old it is or where it came from, but it too is delicate and treated with great respect and gentle handling for no one wants to risk damaging the Birdie.

I arranged the Birdie and Phil's Balls on the tree and took a picture.

Some of you may be squeamish viewing Phil's Balls. I can assure you they are very tastefully presented and beautifully arranged. (Picture Below).

We did get to Farmers' Market on Sunday. It was a quick trip for veggies, tangerines and shrimp. Then to the Onion for a light lunch. Neither MaryR or Ingrid were free to join us.

Monday was my first day back at work in two weeks. Mary managed to make her own breakfast and lunch and take care of things during the day, although she complained about sleeping too much. I guess she doesn't realize that has been her mode of operation now for some time.

From 2010-01-03 Phils Balls

Here you see Alberta's Birdie, one of many penguins hung on Mary's Christmas tree and, of course, Aunt Philomina's Christmas Tree Balls. (What were you thinking?) Although not a relative, Aunt Philomena was a very close friend of the family as Mary grew up and in addition to her balls, she made sure Mary got many items of fine glassware and china. Aunt Philomena was a teacher in the St Paul High School system at Mechanics Arts High School and to the best of our knowledge, may have taught my mother. Alberta and Phil were about a decade older than my Mother so it is entirely possible that my Mom was in one of Phil's classes in her first years as a teacher. Our guess is that Phil's Balls were purchased after WWII so they are a minimum of 60 years old. It is possible that they are older than that, but how would you know?