Mornings are too early.

Each morning I ask mom how she is feeling, some days I get a chipper, "good!" Other days I hear, " Mornings are hard."  Today was the latter response. 

While she is physically doing very well, she still struggling with situation you or I might find to be easy. This weekend, we went for a very brief shopping excursion, I could see from her drawn expression that she was tired and ready to leave, shortly after arriving. Plus, having two kids along makes most shopping trips exhausting! 

Decision making takes a little longer and I think that is one reason it's easier to stay home, fewer distractions and decisions to make (what to buy, which isle to walk down, etc). 

Today's therapy session was from 7:45-10am. Another reason morning are tough- they start too early! We were up before the sun. 

While she worked on balance, strength and irritating her physical therapist ( so she said), Daniel and I keep busy. It's too far of a drive to go home. Today we grabbed pancakes, browsed the toy section at Walmart, and played outside the hospital. 

Tuesday Kathie will be home alone for an extended period of time. Julia has a field trip and Daniel and I are going along. She's been doing the stairs alone, with someone near by. She's agreed to not use them while we are away. Tomorrow is her night to cook. She mentioned doing prep work, while we are gone. I told her if she burns the house down, I'm putting her in a home...

She laughed. 

Thank you so much to everyone who has donated to Kathie's recovery! 

https://www.gofundme.com/katJensen

Chef Kathie

With there being three adults in the house, we take turns making dinner. When I was trying to figure out the schedule for the week, I put mom down for tonight. She was told to make meals and I figured Saturday and basic breakfast would be a good start. 

We went to the grocery store, she gathered what she needed, and she came home to get prepping. 

It was tasty! She said multi-tasking was difficult and missed a few tiny steps. She is still a rock star!

To donate to Kathie's recovery, visit:

https://www.gofundme.com/katJensen

Never a dull moment.

Kathie had a fabulous day at therapy today! She said they are very encouraging, and that lifts her spirit! She is thinking she may not even use a cane, once therapy is done. The hip that was causing her trouble is pain-free! Yahoo!!

It's been very cloudy and dreary here, we saw the sun today and opted to join in the fun.  

Daniel is her fourth therapist: toddler activity therapist. 

"Nana, come sit wif me, yellow bench!"

We grabbed lunch and hit the park. 

After our play date, we picked Julia up from school. On our way home, we spotted a small dog, roaming. I opted to throw one more  log of "nutty" on the fire and scooped the lost pup up. 

Long story short: mom cuddled her through a few stops. We didn't get her home but she was left at the humane society. They know her name ( rufus) and where she lives. They were working on getting ahold of her owners. 

Mom was the best at soothing her, poor thing was scared. She was almost asleep in her arms. 

To donate to Kathie's recovery, visit:

https://www.gofundme.com/katJensen

"I'm going to be buff!"

Kathie had an early start this morning, Daniel insisted upon coming along so he could push buttons and hold doors, what a gentleman! 

She said  they have her continuing to work on her balance. She started doing leg presses and incumbent bike today. She said she's going to be buff soon!  

To donate to Kathie's recovery, visit 

https://www.gofundme.com/katJensen

New 'do, new you.

When we were discussing my mother coming home, I asked if she wanted to get her hair done, to make her feel sassy again! She loved the idea so I asked my beautiful friend, Shauna, if she could turn her salon into a traveling salon for us. Shauna does an amazing job styling and I knew she would make mom feel fabulous. 

Shauna got to work! She volunteered her time too, refusing any payment--see?? She's pretty cool! I played with her cutie daughter and Daniel, while the ladies did their thing. 

Are you ready to see my sassy mother?!

A true beauty! 

A million thanks to Shauna!

To donate to Kathie's recovery, visit 

https://www.gofundme.com/katJensen

Thank you!

after care

https://www.gofundme.com/katJensen

We have set-up a page for those of you interested in assisted with Kathie's recovery needs. 

Around the house.

Kathie has always been a snugly nana, the kids have missed that! 

Daniel was very tired, yesterday and went to find nana. Lucky even tried to join in. 

For those of you curious why the stairs are such an issue, here they are! All 16 of them. 

We took these to show her therapist her environment.