Behold, the Kenmore Elite

We recently replaced our refrigerator and dishwasher and the next day, while working in my office, I look up and see this ...



Denny sitting and staring at it - mesmerized by the shiny front doors. You can almost see the thought bubble ... WOW! Is my food in there too?



It is a thing of beauty and sometimes I stare at it too - but I open the doors!

A Trip to Austin

I'm a month behind on my blogging, so I'll catch up today (3/20) in the rain!

Our February trip to Austin was a good break from the issues I'd been dealing with and we stayed at our favorite Austin hotel - the beautiful Four Seasons on the banks of Town Lake.



We enjoyed a few long walks/runs and I took advantage of perfect lighting to shoot a few photos of the Congress Ave. bridge reflecting on the lake.



Another angle ...



After finally getting some rain, there were beautiful blooms on the bushes ...



and the squirrels were out in force looking for snacks and eating from the top branches of trees.



Along with some "R & R", our main purpose was attending the wedding reception for the son of our long-time friends, Joe & Diane Appolito. It was held at the Zilker Clubhouse - a venue that none of us knew existed, but offered a spectacular view of Austin.



You can click on the panoramic image for a larger view.

Patio Dresses

To say that my mother had an interest in clothes is an understatement. In many ways, she was obsessed with fashion her entire life - not runway fashion - but the nicest clothes she could purchase on sale.


Photo taken in 1955

Growing up, we didn't have money but we always had nice things - either hand-made by Mom and Grandma Skinner or purchased on sale with her additional employee discount at J.C. Penney's. We learned about high-end brands by shopping the Fire Sale store, where undamaged merchandise was sold off at a deep discount - today, there are outlet stores.


Photo likely taken in 1949

We observed all of the fashion rules ... patent leather in summer, suede in winter - never the two shall meet. Straw or canvas handbags could be carried in Spring, leather in the fall. White only after Easter and never after Labor Day - unless, of course, it was "winter white" and in an appropriate fabric weight (think wool or boucle). I'm not entirely sure how Mary and I managed to talk her into those white "go-go boots", but we did.


Believe it or not, this was in style in 1972

In addition to THE RULES, there was what she considered appropriate. Never wear black or white to a wedding. Never wear anything completely sleeveless to church, work or a business event. And, probably the most important - if your shoes and handbag are expensive, no one will notice that your clothes were bought at a discount.


2011 Birthday Queen

For Mom, shoes were the cat's meow. Her arthritis prevented her from wearing anything stylish in later years - we'll call them the Reebok years - but after moving to Holly Hall she was developing a great affection for the Cole Haans that I found on sale.

Her favorites were a dusky plum and at the hospital on Monday, as we were leaving the ER and wheeling her to the ICU, she could barely talk but managed to ask if I had her purple shoes!


Her final collection

So this gets me to the patio dresses.

Going through and weeding out Mom's clothes was a delicate matter and these sessions resulted in much negotiating and shouting - we had just done this during the move to HealthCare. Without consulting her I had put three hideous, moo-moo style dresses into the donation pile and when I visited her the next day she asked about her "patio dress" with the elephants on it.

I had never heard the term "patio dress" and didn't know where she had come up with THAT, but I knew exactly what she was talking about and had to admit that I'd ditched it in the move. Her nurses had told her that she was allowed to wear a robe, or said patio dress, to the dining room on the days that they were not able to get her showered and fully dressed before breakfast at 7am. This would make things easier for her, so I fished out the elephant dress and another, equally hideous version, from the give-aways.

It's not what anyone would consider fashion, but she was thrilled.


In all it's glory - the patio dress

A few days later, I get a sales email from Nordstrom advertising PATIO DRESSES! I thought that was funny, because I honestly didn't know where the term had come from and apparently, in the end, she was still in fashion.

Calling All Angels

Mom passed away at 7pm on February 14th - she was 84.

I found this picture of her as a younger woman and thought she looked pretty and happy, so I wanted to share it. She had just opened a present, but I don't know which birthday or event, and it looks like she was admiring a new black sweater.



The last few months have been quite a journey and it is hard to believe that both Mom and Dad are now gone. For those of you who don't know the story, Mom fell and broke her arm in two places the day after Dad passed away in December. It was difficult for her to work through the pain and fear of her new situation. She was very weak and physically frail, although she remained spirited - living up to her life-long nickname "Snapper" until the very end.

For many years, she had loved anything having to do with angels and as I think about her struggle to recover from the loss of Dad, regain the use of her arm, walk again and deal with the pain of a serious pressure sore, I'm reminded of the Train song, Calling All Angels.

I need a sign to let me know you're here
All of these lines are being crossed over the atmosphere
I need to know that things are gonna look up
'Cause I feel us drowning in a sea spilled from a cup

When there is no place safe and no safe place to put my head
When you feel the world shake from the words that are said

And I'm calling all angels
I'm calling all you angels ...



After 6+ weeks at The Hampton (photo taken in their Library), we moved her back to Holly Hall, into HealthCare. She was glad to be back and thought her new room was beautiful, but she was still suffering with the pressure sore. Her best day was when the Medicare/Medicaid inspectors came and spent a lot of time with her - asking questions about Holly Hall and the care she was receiving. She told them very good things and seemed proud to have been asked her opinion - she told Ramona "I laid it on thick!"

The beginning of the end was Sunday, when she became extremely weak, but she was still able to tell Ed exactly what she would and would not do, in terms of her medicine. On Monday morning she was barely conscious and we took her to the ER where we learned that she had, or was having, a heart attack and was going into septic shock from infection stemming from the pressure sore and bladder.

She was very worried about how she would battle back to better health and knew that she didn't have much fight left in her. While she was unable to say many things, just a few words put together now and then, she said thank you, she said she didn't know what was wrong with her and that she felt that she was dying. She was right.

Even though we tried, Mom's passing was not as peaceful as Dad's and I regret that. Being in an ICU/CCU setting puts you at the mercy of physicians trained to go to extra measures to save or prolong lives. They are well versed at stating opinions to overshadow legal documents backing up a patients wish. At 5am on Valentine's Day, they intubated and put Mom on a ventilator and by 3:30pm she was unable to maintain her blood pressure and her heart was racing. Even then, she was fighting.

Everyone was there and we listened to music selected for Dad's service/family lunch, which still has not taken place. When Earth, Wind and Fire came into the mix with "Sing a Song", in my mind I could hear her saying "NANNETTE, turn that music down!" In a short while, when her respiration was limited to the output of the ventilator, we asked them to remove the equipment and let the struggle be over.

And now there is peace.

This is just a silly photo I took of Mom with my cell phone last May, on the way back to Holly Hall after one of our many trips to the doctor. We had just gotten her hair done and she looked cute. Growing that last perm out of her hair and changing styles was another memorable struggle!



Godspeed, Mom and thank you for showing me that inner strength can overcome a lot of limitations.

Oh, this Elvis!

He spends all his "spare time" camped out on my desk and when he gets bored, or just wants some attention, he goes upstairs and brings down one of his toys.



He has always carried things around in his mouth - toys, the cap off your water bottle, my hair clips, Jerry's toothbrush (we went through a LOT of toothbrushes when he was a baby). If you're not paying attention, he'll steal the straw out of your fast-food soft drink.



Yesterday, he brought down the chicken, his fish, the big kick toy and the little mouse. I was working on a layout and didn't take much time to play with him. Next thing I know, he has carried down the bag of cat snacks that I keep on my nightstand.



This cat is such a mess ... he earned a treat for that one!

Apples for Breakfast

Our squirrels have been a little hungry lately - I haven't put much out for them with the rain. Yesterday, I had an apple on the verge of going bad, so I sliced it up and set it out for their morning visit.



They didn't know what to think at first



... but decided they like them!



I might have the fattest squirrels in the neighborhood.