Only for a short time more

Well, we are still here. This short time is getting to be a little longer than I thought it would be.

Everyone has moments, including myself.

The children are turning out to be my strength. They all need a little extra attention, but it's usually just a hug or a quick ride to the store for one on one time that works. They have figured out how to keep the house from blowing up. My big girl has become quite creative with her cooking and figuring out what to fix for each meal for our allergy ridden family. I am so proud of her! The bickering is high, but that really isn't new. It just seems like more because the referee is gone. They have been making more cookies. I like cookies.

Mom in law is getting better. I know she is because she is getting darn mean. No one can do anything right. The last two weeks have been pretty scary. She swelled up so big and didn't care what happened to her. She was nice. That was way weird. She got worse and worse and taking more and more pills. We finally had the head doctor take her off of everything so that her kidneys could start to heal. Whenever they work on her pressure or her edema, she gets worse. So it is a waiting game. She is finally starting to get some of the swelling down. Her arms and feet are starting to look normal again. Her face is starting to look more normal. She started getting really bad tremors from being so off balance in her blood chemicals and all the meds and the all the swelling. Today tremors are almost gone.

Mentally, she doesn't see or feel the changes. So she is complaining more. That there is proof she is doing better. She no longer wants any visitors. Yup, that sounds more like her. Everyone is stealing her stuff. Mmhmm, that's normal. Like any one would really want her used saline bottle. Oh well. She is complaining about the nasty food and refusing to eat. That is more like the real her.

For me it is hard to see her in the extremes. When she was so passive, it broke my heart. That was not the woman I have known for 27 years. Watching the nurses and doctors harming her is hard. But that is post all in itself. Watching her age before my eyes is hard. To see her go from a very vigorous woman that we could never track down because she was out running the streets, to someone who can barely stand to get to the commode is tough. Listening to her talk in her sleep is pretty funny though.

I'll let my sweetheart talk about his travels on this path. It is complicated.

Our grown son is having to actually grow up. Until now, he has been able to do whatever he feels like for the most part. He is having to take care of things around the house more and will be more responsible for maintaining things. We are all going to have to learn how to cook different now. She has been put on a renal diet which is sort of the opposite of her diabetic diet. This should be interesting. I will be pre-making all her meals and color coding meals. I'm trying to figure out how to make it all part of our homeschooling. I see math, science, reading, research, and home economics. All the food she loves is pretty much off limits now. My son says "Are you ready for a fight?" Yeah, I'm ready, bring it on!!