A taste of the 'outside'

After several days on a hospital-regulated "soft food" diet, Mom received clearance this afternoon to have one treat from the "outside." On the afternoon of her first day in the hospital when she was intubated and thirsty, she had requested a specific drink: Taco Bell's mango strawberry Fruitista Freeze. None of us had heard of it, but Mom was on the cutting edge and had seen TV commercials about it. She seemed to enjoy it but joked that it could be improved upon with a shot of rum.

Mom had a good day. She jokingly arm-wrestled the doctor when he came to check on her. She's done so well on her breathing exercises that they're going to try to leave her on blow-by all day tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

Amanda was in Kansas City on Saturday to be in the wedding of her high school friend Emily and will be in Wichita through tomorrow. It's good for my Arkansas sis to be able to spend some time with Mom at the hospital, pictured at left, now that she's doing better and able to chat a little.


After some challenging physical therapy that Mom does daily now, she & I watched a bit of TLC's marathon of "Jon & Kate Plus Eight" this afternoon while she dozed and I worked on my quilt. Later, Jen came up and worked on her cross-stitch project for the baby's room. Jen's joked that we should be wearing bonnets when we're working together. Trust me: Neither of us would have believed even a year ago that we'd be hanging out and sewing together. I know Mom's getting a kick out of the irony.


Jen found a creative place to stash her embroidery floss while she was working ... Smile!