My mom is recovering from her back surgery, but it's slow. She is 78 and the surgery took 8 hours (3 more than they thought it would). At 78 a person recovers from that sort of thing much more slowly. She has been incoherent, a lot. She has had fluid retention in her lungs – maybe pneumonia, maybe not. She had hoped for the best case scenario (2 days and then home) but she's gotten many days in the hospital that will be followed by rehab. Amazingly enough, her back is the least of her problems.
For my part, it has meant many hours in the hospital. For the first few days I was there 22 hours a day. Luckily Steve has been able to join us so I have the overnight 12 hours, he has the early part of the day and my sister has the afternoon. I don't function well without sleep. Some nights it's good and mom and I get to sleep and other nights nobody sleeps. but with Steve here I can catch up in the daytime. (This is why having babies is better when you are young!)
No pretty pictures with this post. I now have an even greater appreciation for nurses and nurse assistants who do their best and are short staffed. I know that if it is at all possible you really do have to stay with a loved one in the hospital at all times. That's just the way it is.
Mom may get to go to rehab but it will be Thursday or Friday. I'm not even going to linger on the thought that it could happen Wednesday. I may get to go home for at least a while then and I will rejoice in the familiar surroundings that I usually take for granted.
My laptop has decided to act up this week and needs to be sent in for repair – but it did it at the best time! My AppleCare Protection runs out January 30 so it's still covered. Amazing luck! I am now working solely on my iPad,and I love it even more. See – even at the most trying of times good things can happen.

As you may remember, I was recently diagnosed with osteoporosis. I've consulted with my gyn, a nutritionist, and most recently a physical therapist who is teaching me the correct form for both pilates and weightlifting.

I've given up gluten, as suggested by the gyn, and switched to healthy fats and lots more of them as suggested by the nutritionist. Both of these professionals sell supplements, but not the same brand of supplements. They have me on all sorts of things that I was beginning to think my be doing more for them than for me. FYI – in addition to a spoonful of coconut oil per day (which is actually pretty tasty) I take a spoonful of cinnamon-flavored flax seed oil (almost icky).

My first meeting with the physical therapist was truly informative. She looked at the list of pills and my normal diet and said "you aren't getting enough calcium." She's a believer is getting what you need from food first (and I tend to agree with her) but it's hard when you've been told no milk or cheese or Total cereal (one of her favorite calcium-rich foods). So I've added mustard greens, almonds, and Oikos plain non-fat yogurt to my daily diet.

She also recommended CitriCal for my calcium supplement (backed by good research) and Women's One-A-Day vitamins for women over 50. Both of these are cheaper and easier to find than the fancy supplements I was taking. Then she said something about taking my pills 15-20 minutes after a meal. This was in passing, just a quick thought.

I stopped her because I have always taken my pills 'with food' – meaning 'while I was eating.' I could tell from her expression that she thought I was maybe not that bright because, of course, with food means after food. Not to me because I tend to be literal. If they want you to take pills 20 miinutes after eating the instructions should say just that.

This is the what I've learned: When you take pills is important. It's possible that the calcium problems I have are because I've taken my pills at the wrong time for 8 years. If nothing else, it can't have helped.

Those of you who already know when to take your pills, pat yourself on the back and be happy. Those of you who are doing what I was doing, ask you physician exactly when you should be taking your pills. I hope this is helpful to someone because I do wish I had known this sooner.

My grandson, Jack, who is 3.3 years old knows how to watch a YouTube video on an iPhone. And what, you ask, does he like to watch the most? Videos about making cakes! It's taken me way longer than it should have to connect the dots between Piece O' Cake and his love of cake-making videos. What can I say, I'm slow.

His favorite video is about how to make a fire truck cake (Chris, if you send me a link to that one and I'll share it) but he also likes this one:

My birthday was 1/11/11 when I turned 55. There is a good symmetry there – all those double numbers :-). We didn't have a party but Steve and I did drink champagne. We do have a party planned for 7/11/11 when I'll be 55 1/2 – half way to 111! I would really love to live to see the day when I turn 111 years old on 1/11. I believe in long-term goals and Steve and I hope to make it that far to enjoy the party we have on that day!

But, since 2066 is a long way off, when I get home from OKC I may be seeing a Princess cake when I get back from OKC because Jack really wants to bake an exciting cake. That boy is definitely related to me!

Chris sent the link:

My mother is having back surgery today. Her lower back was fused years ago and now it needs fusing above that. Her bending days are over. I'm in OKC for a couple of weeks doing my best to be helpful. If nothing else, I can lift and bend :-). I'll post as I can.

My oldest son writes. In fact, (in my humble opinion) Christopher writes very well!  So for today I'm going to share my son Christopher's blog with you (photo above from his 9th post). If you read his first post in this sequence, you'll find out that his topic for the year is taken from the book, This Book Will Change Your Life. I wonder if it will?

Be warned that he often uses 'adult' language which doesn't bother me but may bother you. I hope you enjoy his blog.

…but mostly of Australians who I have never met. The flooding in Queensland is amazing in its destruction. I have read reports and have been keeping up as best I can but nothing brings it home quite like this video that I found on Pam Holland's blog:

Australians are truly amazing people and once it dries out I'm sure they will overcome this disaster. Until then, my thoughts are with you. And, to the people who shot that video: I hope the water did not get to your car in the front of that building!

As I type this I'm hearing that the winter weather is going to be much worse on our east coast. To all of you who end up snowed in, I hope you stay warm and dry and that you have some applique to keep you busy.

I saw this on Design Sponge: Luke Aleckson made snowshoes from rigid plastic bread trays in 2005. You can see his post here on Printeresting.

When I posted about the snow in north Texas yesterday, I hadn't watched the news for a few days. Who knew the east coast was snowed under!? Not me. Anyway, for those of you who still have snow (ours is gone) this is an interesting idea…