Tomorrow morning we leave on our camping trip. Today we run errands, clean up the house and pack up the van.

We have our neighbor girl take care of the animals and water the flowers. She is worth every dollar I pay her - our old dog needs to be let out four times over the day, she plays and pets the cats and guinea pig who feel quite abandoned, and she keeps the goldfish safe from being a cat snack. Our house and animals are safe under her care - one thing to not have to think about while away.

Now, my mom is another thing...I visited her yesterday, and left our trip info with the staff. I take along my cell phone, but unfortunately I have limited reception up north. I'll check messages daily when we're in or passing near Duluth. It' funny, I can go weeks without a call from the nursing home, but as soon as I'm on vacation, which is always camping with poor phone reception, I get calls every time, and by chance catch them as we are near a town or a dell tower. I think this is the trade-off for having an easy time with pet care arrangements.

Otherwise, my visit with my mom had some good and bad. The good is that my mom is finally out of the wheelchair. After breaking her hip last December (knocked over accidentally by another resident,) she got through surgery and was rehabilitating well, until she developed sores on her feet in February, and was ordered into the chair until healed. Just last week, she was given the ok to be back on her feet with the walker (no one thought to call me for this!) Anyway, talking to Mom about it, she doesn't ever recall having to use the wheelchair (I didn't even mention the broken hip - ha!)

The bad isn't horrible, just a part of her Alzheimer's progression. She was talking about "Daddy" a lot. She has always called my dad that when she talks to me. So she said Daddy had been here. I repeated back, "Oh, Dad was here?" She looks me in the eye and says, "Not your daddy, my daddy!" Later, she saw the nursing home social worker (male) and kept saying he's her daddy. He's probably in his mid to late-twenties. I'm trying to see the resemblance, and it's probably more about some interaction they've had. She was also talking about her childhood house in Wisconsin. Something must have got her thinking of her childhood. I'm grateful she still knows who I am (not quite sure how I fit into her childhood thought mode.)

Well, enough of a ramble for now...take care!