MMO is MIA?

Yup. Sorta. Life has been reduced to packing a Peke to the nursing home for visits, and sorting through 137 mismatched Tupperware containers, 1,200 Splenda packets (who knew??), and 20 odd pair of magnifying eyeglasses, all of which cause me to bang my head on solid objects and ponder the meaning of life. In my more lucid moments, I walk with the dog, knit a little, and make phone calls to various state agencies allegedly aimed at "assisting" elders...although at the moment I question the motives of some. Ravelympics? Yeah. Uh. I'm workin' on that!

It's a roller coaster. My mother and I are hardly what one could call "close". A nurses' ultimate role is that of patient advocate and educator and this whole experience has reminded me that truly one cannot ever stop being a nurse. It's kind of a Borg thing. We are Nurse. We are one. You can take the nurse away from the bedside, but you cannot take the bedside out of the nurse. Although my emotions are often at the surface and frequently conflicted, my role here really is that of advocate. While she can speak for herself she often does not, choosing instead to suffer until she's in so much pain that she lashes out at someone. That's not easy to watch, tolerate, or be silent about. The oddest thing for me, really, is to think that at 41 I am "already" a grandmother times two, and the daughter of a parent facing some pretty significant health issues. Mr. Wonderful says that this means the next 40 years will be a breeze, since I've gotten all the hard stuff out of the way early.

Peace equals:
Corruption of the innocent and spoiled - phase two of Tricky Woo's conversion.
And just like that? A dog becomes a DOG! Really. In spite of the daisy print jacket - it was 55 this morning, and the thing is only 8" tall and 9 lbs - this little monster is All Dog, All The Time. Dig, scratch, chase, bark, yowl, scratch more, dig more, etc.
Chasing feathered friends (or fiends depending on what time of day it is). Who knew 3 little old hawks could make so much racket? Mr. W. said we made a heck of a sight, me in hot pink Worcester State sweatshirt and Dazee in bright floral print stalking a hawk on hands and knees.Hawk seems concerned as well. "Natur fotografy - yur doin it rong!" (But Mr. W. didn't have a camera so the idiocy is not preserved for posterity!)
Shooting Fungi. And there's more but this is all I will torment you with...And H2O
Water, water, water, water. It makes me feel whole and at peace. Never thought I'd be so grateful for a simple brook.
If you need me tomorrow, I shall be at a very special shower, for a very special bride. A super special princess bride. In fact? The coolest bride since December 1997.