Wednesday, November 19

Following two weeks of ceaseless rain and wind, sunny fall weather has finally arrived. Tommy and I both enjoy sitting on the sun-bathed back porch in the morning and pitching the ball out into the run for Penny. Tommy also watches the occasional passing fishing boat heading out to the inlet, as well as the construction of the weirdly painted town houses that are going up across the creek (so far, we have pink, powder blue, purple and (for the creekside poolhouse) lime green. The builder seems to have a fixation on Key West.
Tommy continues to progress, although since yesterday he has been dealing with ye olde problem of constipation. He was uncomfortable yesterday, but this morning, with several doses of Milk of Magnesia under his belt, plus lots of prunes, broccoli and warm green tea, he's feeling better. Yesterday, when we realized there was a problem, I got good guidance by phone from a Beebe home health nurse; and today, Tommy's visiting nurse, Linda, is coming around 11, and she will guide me further on the best strategy. This afternoon, Stephanie (occupational therapy) will be here, and I will give Tommy a shower under her watchful eye. I am so glad I have the help of the Beebe home-health people, especially since the visit that Gaie scheduled in late September to help me when Tommy came home ended up happening early because his rehab stay was extended (nevertheless, Gaie gave me invaluable help when she was here, plus we had lots of good Scrabble games). My sister, Trudy, is due tomorrow (flying into Philly & driving down) for a couple of weeks' and my brother, Marshall, will join us for Thanksgiving. Tommy's sister and her husband are also coming to visit pretty soon. Tommy is still getting lots of calls and cards from family and friends, so he is getting a lot of warm attention (me, too '-). Irv is going on his annual hunting trip to West Virginia for a couple of weeks starting this weekend...I always like knowing he's in town, but he has promised to bring venison for us, as he does every year. He and I are going to make up a huge batch of venison stew and freeze a bunch of portions. With apologies to Rachael Ray, I can only say Yum-o.