Mom and Her Magnetism!

Like many older folks, my mom suffers some with arthritis. Of course, going through numerous pregnancies did a number on her lower back, and she's still doing all kinds of needlework, so her wrists/hands have bothered her somewhat over the years, too. To cope with the discomfort in her hands, Mom picked up a magnetic bracelet.

She paid $10 for it in a catalog and swears that it works like a charm, but when I saw a really nice one in a store not too long ago, I decided to buy her a new one. It seemed to be of better quality, and it had very pretty blue stones in between the black ones, so I bought it for Mom for Mothers Day. She was thrilled, of course. (That woman knows how to exclaim over a gift, I tell you. She would act no less enthusiastic for a pair of used socks than she would for a diamond necklace, I swear. But I digress...)

Mr.4444 joked with Mom when she showed off her bracelet on the way to brunch on Sunday; "You'd better be careful, Elsie! Make sure you don't get too close to the sharp knives!"

Hahaha! Who knew he was a prophet?! Today, I got the cutest voicemail from Mom. I'm going to link it here, in case you can't make it out, and I'll type out the "transcript" for you, too, but the audio is priceless. [I said, "You know that one's going on the blog, right?! She happily consented.]

Take a listen.

In case you can't hear it, here's what she said,

"Oh, Barb, Girl! I'm having so much fun with this magnetic bracelet! I can't go near any silverware on the table, or it picks it right up, and then, when I'm...um...cross stitching, too, I've got my little scissors hanging down my neck, and all of a sudden, it just picks up there, and it's really funny! Hahaha! Well, thanks much for it, Hon."

Cost of a Mothers Day card and gift bag...$8

Cost of Mom's brunch...$15

Cost of a really nice, magnetic bracelet...$30

Value of Mom's reaction...priceless.

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Well, there is one more thing...

Mom was moving pretty slowly; it was the evening following her back surgery. She was sitting on the edge of her bed, the first time fully upright in hours, looking a little pathetic in her little hospital gown, messy hair, and furrowed eyebrows (the result of a wicked headache she'd been fighting all day. The nurse had come to take her to the bathroom before bed, and after a few minutes, she helped her stand and steady herself before walking the short distance to the bathroom. We were trying to problem-solve the headache but weren't really coming up with anything. As Mom hobbled, ever-so-slowly, towards the destination, the nurse said,

"Well, we've given you Thisadol for the headache; a migraine med, actually, so that should have helped. And there's the Thatadol for the pain and the Whatchamadol for the anti-inflammatory, plus the I.V., so I think we have everything covered..."

Mom stops, lifts up her head to meet the nurse's eyes, and says with a grin, "....except for my rear end."

Oops. Almost everything covered...

Scenes from the Recovery Bed

Mom had her back surgery today (Monday), and it went well. I'm typing this as she naps on and off, here next to me. (My sweet sisters, Michelle and Mary, spent the day here, so it's the least I could do.) Mom is good company, so I can't really complain.

She's charming the nurses already. As one took her hand to place a pill in it, Mom instinctively, gently, rubbed the top of the nurse's hand as she spoke to her (before realizing that she had a purpose for the hand-holding.) It was so sweet.

Mom ordered dinner (chicken noodle soup and peaches, which went mostly untouched.) Then she worried, "Do you think they have graham crackers here? I have to have my graham crackers and milk before I go to bed, you know!" (She settled for a nice, big, "homemade" oatmeal raisin cookie.)

Waking up from a brief nap, Mom turned to me and asked, "You know that Tiger Woods changed his name, right? It's now, "Chee-tah!" I laughed pretty hard at that one, so she shared a quip she made recently, at my brother's retirement party,

"I know why my son Jim likes golf so much; as a boy, he just loved playing in the sand and the water!" [As I type this, she admitted she got this one from the newspaper :)]

So, as you can see, she hasn't lost her sense of humor, and I'm pretty sure it's only a matter of time before she's shakin' her hips and singing another goofy song...

She's Going Under the Knife

My mom is having back surgery on Thursday, the 23rd. The complicated name is Bilateral Hemilaminectomy (say that three times fast--it's fun!), but it basically means that her back hurts so much she can't stand upright or walk much, and since she plans to live another 80 years, they're going in! The risks are very low, and recovery is pretty easy, so we're all feeling very confident that she'll soon be pitching her walker to the curb. She'll spend one night in the hospital, and plans to attend Kendall's musical three days later (haha), so we'll see....

That said, since my mom (Elsie, Grandma C) loves it when people talk about her on my blog, I thought I would ask you to leave a little note for her in the comments. I don't know... just some well wishes, or maybe say something about one of the many posts I've written about her here. I'm spending the night with her Friday, and I will have my laptop (and wireless stolen from the neighbors, I hope!) I know your comments will tickle Mom and help in her recovery, so if you'd take the time, we'd both appreciate it.

Thanks!

Sundays in My City

I've been so busy this week, I haven't been outside in the daylight. Consequently, my Sundays in My City pics are from my house, instead.

Here's how much Beef Barley soup I ended up with (the pot is half-full):

The soup swap was really nice; two of my sisters, my sister-in-law Karen and niece Abby, plus my mom swapped Beef Barley, Southwest Taco, Chicken Vegetable, Tomato Bisque, and Chili soups after enjoying some samples and salad for lunch :)

Cooper had some company in Homer (Mary's Australian Shepard), who helped Cooper watched for squirrels while we ate.

Mom and Homer cuddled a little bit...

Then, she told this joke:

A little girl about 13 came down the stairs in a tight, very immodest shirt and was confronted by her grandma as she went to leave for school, "What in the world are you doing? You can't go out like that; I can see right through your shirt!"

"Oh, Grandma..." the girl replied, pointing to her tiny breasts. "These are nothing but rosebuds!" She left for school. When she came home, she was met by her grandma coming down the stairs wearing no shirt or bra.

"Grandma! Have you lost your mind?!  I hope you're not going out like that!"

"What?!" replied Grandma. "I thought you'd like to see my hanging baskets!"

Visit Unknown Mami to read posts to take that image out of your mind....You'll be glad you did :)

[originally posted Sunday, January 18, 2010]