The Mom Situation

After I wrote last month that Mom hurt her back, and that she was getting better but really slowly, I didn't update more because that's where we were for a week or two: getting better, slowly, slowly. But last Wednesday she fell, the poor thing, and was off to the hospital again. It's really just one thing after another for her, the last few years, isn't it?

She had a big bump on her head and a black eye, and it turns out also broke her clavicle and scapula*, and a few ribs, all on the right side (already her bad side due to the shoulder surgery that went wrong a few years ago). 
*That's the collarbone and shoulder blade, for those of us who had to look the words up to be sure.

She was in the hospital for a few days, and then moved to rehab over the weekend, so they can work on her overall strength (on the left, and lower body) and balance until the right side is up to being worked on. The good news is that she's at the same place she was ~18 months ago, after hip surgery, and at the time she felt it was a good experience, as such things go, so hopefully this time again they will be able to help her. We don't know yet how long she'll be there, or what will be next. 

While I am very sorry she fell and hurt more things, I will admit that in a way, I am enjoying this period of time where I am not responsible for knowing what to do, if that makes sense. She is being well taken care of, and I don't have to worry that I'm doing something wrong or missing something important. Nursing is not something I'm good at, and I appreciate that she's in good hands for now.

On Friday night, I went in to the hospital to visit her after work, and took myself out to dinner after (so that I could go buy groceries without being so hungry I bought All The Food). Down here, "season" is finally over, the hordes of snowbirds and other tourists have vastly diminished, and it meant that I could walk into a restaurant that a month or two ago would have been crammed at 6 on a Friday night, and be seated immediately.

I got a fried rice dish with chicken and pineapple, and you can't fault the presentation:

It even had an umbrella!

On my way back to the car, I was overcome by the glorious scent of these flowers. I don't know what they are, but they smelled fabulous.

And looked good too. It was a beautiful night.

Anyway, now, I'm trying to accomplish things, whether it's laundry or dishes, or bringing things to Mom, or talking to medical people about her, or just getting things done that need doing. Which might be paying bills, or doing condo checks, or even things for my own sanity.

For instance, I have a few knit items that I've been meaning to wash and block, so I finally did the first one. This is the Swell shawl, knit in Mary Ann yarn from Wonderland (colorway "8 That first magical kiss," which is a colorburst/assigned pooling colorway with dusky pink/lavender as the main color, and bursts of blue and purple). Here it is laid out before its soak:

And then pinned out wet. It grew!

It wanted to curl up there at the top (aka the right corner), so I let it. I look forward to it being dry, so I can see how it falls. And then it will be on to the next!