'Normal' is good

The past week has been the most "normal" my life has been since late May, which is a wonderful, wonderful thing.

Mom has been home from the hospital for a month. She had her eighth and final visit from her physical therapist today. And tonight, she, Janice and I spent two hours at a jewelry party. Mom looked so cute in a new black & white outfit and walked with just her cane. If you would have told me in late May that I would spend time with Mom at a jewelry party in just a couple of months, I would have hugged you and cried tears of joy and relief. Last week, Mom & I hauled her wheelchair out to Kohl's for a shopping trip. It was my first shopping outing with her since our April bargain shopping day. What a blessing.

Janice & I went to quilt guild last week, where she showed the crowed the Christmas quilt I gave her. It completed a set of five generations worth of quilts that she now treasures.

Jen & I have been preparing for Amanda's wedding shower, which is later this month. I've been working on a special project for a special mommy-to-be. Nicole & I got pedicures this weekend.

Brian & I went to the drive-in ("WALL-E" is adorable. "Hancock" is awful.) We attended a dinner and game night at church. (You gotta love Apples to Apples. Great game.) And, thanks to a generous gift from my dad, Brian & I took his parents to our first Wichita Wingnuts game. Unfortunately, the home team lost ... and we didn't get to see an exciting outburst like this one, which attracted nationwide media attention last week.

I must say this: Life is normal. Life is good.

Sweet pets come in small packages

Meow Meow gave Brian & me quite the scolding when we got home Sunday afternoon after our camping trip. She stayed home to hold down the fort, but she was very vocal when we returned home. She was all over our stuff as we unpacked, and she especially liked playing in our picnic basket. I'm sure she'd be happy to hear me admit that there's no place like home.









On Sunday, Brian & I met Amanda & Kurtis' little tiny toy poodle Toby (Meow Meow outweighs him five times over). Seriously, I cannot believe dogs come this small. He's difficult to photograph because he's black, didn't sit still for more than a second and is about the size of an index card. Here are my best attempts:

Mobile Mama

Time for a Mom update: She's doing great and, when I was dodging the scorpions and navigating hiking trails during the long holiday weekend, Mom ventured out for her first public outings since before her hospital stay. She went shopping with Jen & Amanda and found, among other treasures, a couple of new quilting magazines and clothes to wear to baby and wedding events (showers, etc.) in the next month or two.

She has a wheelchair that we can use when she's out and about, and she occasionally sits in it at home (as she is in this picture) because it helps her with her posture and is, in some ways, more comfortable to her than even the cushiest furniture in their house. When I saw her Sunday afternoon, she was dashing around the house without a cane and came outside for a brief period to sit on the front step and watch Kurtis run around the front yard with Toby, their new toy poodle (photo of the two-pound cutie to come soon).

Mom told goofy jokes during dinner and told Kurtis that she must be feeling better because she was putting up with his crap. She looks and acts more like her old self every day.

Happy campers

Brian & I packed up our tent, rounded up the pups and joined our friends Tony & Nicole for a three-day camping trip at Cross Timbers State Park. We couldn't have asked for better weather: warm, but not stifling, with sunny days and cool, clear evenings, which showcased the amazing display of stars.

We weren't exactly roughing it. We did sleep in tents, but the one Brian & I brought had enough room for our full-size air mattress and floor space for Dakota & Lilly. Unlike our last camping trip, when we canoed about 18 miles along the Illinois River near Tahlequah, Okla., we didn't have to fit everything we brought into our canoe! So we toted along many of our creature comforts.

This weekend, we spotted several scorpions around our camping site, which freaked me out. But the few ticks we encountered caused more of a problem than the scorpions. This evening, I did a bit of research and was relieved to learn that the scorpions we saw where the centruroides vittatus species, whose venom is relatively harmless to humans and whose sting usually might feel like a bee or wasp sting.

Hiking was on our agenda, and we checked out the Overlook Trail (our favorite) and the Ancient Trees Trail, pictured here:

We spent plenty of time in Toronto Lake, and Dakota & Lilly were expert swimmers thanks to these spiffy doggy lifejackets that helped them float in the water, allowing them to swim for two to three hours at a time. (Please note that Brian arranged it so that Lilly transported his squirt gun.)

Among the highlights was watching the fireworks at night and seeing one incredible sunset:

It was a great way to spend the Fourth of July holiday. Hope yours was great, too!

When we arrived back to Wichita, we had dinner at my parents' house. Amanda & Kurtis were in town, and Jen & Ryan came over for dinner, too. It was the first time since our February family ski trip that we've all shared a meal together. What a blessing, especially considering all that my family has been through this summer.

Now it's time to get some rest before the week starts. My crew is dog-tired:

It's Miller time ...

... or should I say meower time?

Have a fun, safe and happy 4th of July weekend with your favorite peeps and a case of something you love.

Brian wanted to make sure that I offer the following ridiculous disclaimer: My husband, the beer snob, typically doesn't purchase 30-packs of Miller Lite. Such a rare occurrence happens only in July when it's hot out and he needs some kind of bland watered-down adult beverage to quench his thirst when he's in the middle of yard projects (more on this later).

What's the big fat hairy deal?

Brian is putting our new shears to good use and gave Lilly a buzz cut earlier this week. The little pup danced and bounced and frolicked around the house. It must have felt like shedding a winter coat. We celebrated by talking a nice long walk. We promised her & Kody that this doesn't mean we're sending them off to boot camp.

The name of the game ...

is recovery. I took a few days off work last week to take care of some business that I've been putting off. Not always so much fun, but that's life.

The good thing was that I had a lot of good downtime hanging out with Mom and have seen her take great strides on her recovery. We colored in coloring books (Mom's physical therapist recommended it to work on her eye-hand coordination and motor skills), worked on quilting projects and got hooked on our newest guilty pleasure TV show, "Baby Borrowers." It's completely silly: Teen couples who want to be parents must watch babies, toddlers, preteens, etc. to see whether they -- and their relationship -- have what it takes. It's one of those shows that's fun to watch and add your commentary on what you're seeing all the way through. Here's a preview that ran on TV earlier this month in case you've been out of the loop on this one:

Mom continues to improve. This week alone she walked outside, wore mascara (two firsts since May!), is using her cane (that she's nicknamed Abel) only as needed and had a chicken fried steak dinner at home with her good friend and long-time neighbor Faith. She's also been busy searching online for the perfect mother-of-the-bride dress for her to wear to Amanda's wedding next month. We're all excited for Amanda to come home tomorrow. The last time she saw Mom was when she was in the hospital, so it'll be good for them both to visit at home. (My Mom also reminded me today that tomorrow is the 18th anniversary of my family's move to Wichita. Have I really been a Kansan that long?!)