Mama’s assignment, office space, Savanna

Mama met me for lunch yesterday after her physical therapy appointment. She was hurting by the time she got to the church to have lunch with me. I did not ask if the therapist was able to get more bend out of her knee during the painful session, but if anything extraordinary had happened I am sure she would have shared it with me. Keeping her motivated is not going to be an issue. She is on a fixed schedule to get this done. Both with the doctor’s office and our personal travel calendar. We leave for Honduras in 49 days. That is one trip she does not want to miss regardless of where we are in physical therapy. The issue is whether or not she will be able to tolerate the pain required to get the proper function of the knee back to what she needs; enough to satisfy the doctor that he does not have to intervene a second time.

 Mama was hurting too badly to go to church last night. She got dressed for church as I was getting ready but by the time I was ready to go, she was changing back into her stay-at-home clothes. With the increased use of muscle relaxers and pain killers, she is struggling to find the energy to continue her daily routine. Evenings will be even more difficult. The doctor warned her that this two-week period may be a two-week fog for her. She is not completely doped up but all the medications she is taking make her drowsy. To follow the doctor’s orders requires combining two such medications. Since Mama and I rarely take any medications, the effect they have on us can be more exaggerated than is common. That is why she and I typically cut the prescribed pills in half when we do use the muscle relaxers or prescribed pain medications. If we can get the muscles in her leg to relax enough to finally get her leg bent, it will be worth it, but we are only at the beginning of the timeline. She is home today but back at physical therapy tomorrow. This is the last week of covered physical therapy. From this point on, we will have to pay for the sessions out of pocket. I’ll happily pay that expense for a full recovery.

On the business side of our lives, I will have to give some serious consideration to setting up a home office. With the work I am doing in the evenings for an additional prospective business venture, I am having to work at the kitchen table – which is not horrible, but it is not productive either. We have a computer hutch that we have used for years but it is not what I need either. Yesterday, in doing some research for my employer, I found out that I can use the iMac I have as a monitor for the MacBook I have, but that arrangement will not work at the computer hutch. Plus, the printer I bought, will not connect to the iMac due to software incompatibilities, so the iMac is not any real use to us as a computer. The iMac is an older model: ancient in technology years. However, if I can use it for a monitor and an external hard drive to my little MacBook, it will be a great addition to a home office, when I do set up that home office. Ideas are rumbling around in my head right now. I will have to wait and see what tumbles out.

Savanna called Mama yesterday while we were at lunch to announce that she has thrown away her pacifier; her paci. That was a big step for her. We will have to wait and see how difficult the follow through is for the action exercised, but Savanna was impressed with her decision and wanted to make sure Grammy (Mama) heard about it right away. Of course, for Savanna, anything that pops into her head is a good reason to call Grammy. The ability to talk and see each other while doing so is one of the great things about the technology we have available to us today. For Mama and the grandchildren, it is an indispensable communication tool.

It would seem that Savanna is equally attached to the technology.