Had a brief goodbye visit with Alex yesterday morning (he was going to be gone by the time I got back from the gym) at which time he helped me get the recent Lifestylez clip. 

Had hoped to share it here so everyone could see it - but preview didn't seem to allow me to run it.  Maybe after I actually post?

Since I seemed all recovered from Wednesday's indisposition I had no trouble at the gym yesterday.  During my workout Jim and I discussed Mom's current lethargy, and he had some nutrition ideas I passed along to Andy, who thought there were some good ideas. Getting Mom to do them could be a different story... <g>

After I got home I said goodbye to Aja and Tyga, and then walked over to the Open House at the Van Wienan's house behind us.  Carrie put a lot of work into the remodel, and it certainly looks a LOT different than the last time I saw it!  No surprise that I was not the only curious neighbor checking it out; Mimi popped in.

Also had another nice chat with Julie, our neighborhood realtor.   Since she had not seen the house before the remodel she had no idea how vast the changes were.  I remembered the kids' bedroom (for 4 of them) as being on the left side of the hall, but that's a laundry room now.  Just figured it was just another example of how bad my memory has become...

Afterward I ran a few errands, one of which involved popping up to the auto supply store to buy some little round additions for my car's side-view mirrors.  Shelby Van Wienan was working, so she helped me while we chatted about the "new" house her mom created.  

I did mention the laundry room, and guess what.... it used to be a bedroom!

FYI the little mirrors work great - no more blind spots!  They even swivel in their holders for the perfect view.  I also picked one up for the van after Tom mentioned Alex need one.  I got a larger size one for him (because his van mirror is bigger) and don't think that one swivels.

Mitch came over in the afternoon,
when we discussed what I want for privacy around the hot tub.  

Expect a quote next week, but it shouldn't be too bad; fewer materials than the patio cover of course, and he thinks he can get it done the work done in just a day.

Driving home from the gym it looked like potential buyers were checking out the new 2-story houses at 43rd and Union Hills.  Sure enough when I was getting gas across the street later in the day there was a "Now Selling" sign up - so I stopped in for a peek.  They have 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms in  1600sf (and the "backyard" isn't much bigger than my quilting table) so the available space for the living room is tiny. Still I was pleasantly surprised by the size of the kitchen, and the bathroom and walk-in closet for the master.  Pretty pricey ($285,000) starter homes - and the space between units can be measured in inches.

Afterward I stopped in next door at Walmart for a few food items (couldn't whip up a protein smoothie after the gym because we were out of juice) and a jug of cranberry juice slipped out of my hands and exploded when it hit the floor.  Definitely made a big wet mess, which got all over my jeans and shoes, but they were more concerned with whether or not my foot was okay.  Despite appearances the bottle had not landed on me, so I was fine.  Just very apologetic about the mess I'd created.

Except for that, my day had been going well - until I heard from Andy.  Mom has been feeling so crappy lately she had done a 180 and decided she did need help, but before Andy could schedule an aide to come in she needed to be re-evaluated.  And this is what I got from him yesterday afternoon:  

After the evaluation the nurse called me and said she was very concerned about how out of breath Mom got as soon as she stood up and the fact that her blood pressure, which was within normal limits sitting down, went very low as soon as she stood up. To make a long story short, we arranged to have Riderwood call 911 and transport Mom to Holy Cross*, where she is now.  [*That's the hospital across the street from where I grew up]

Andy headed over to the hospital and kept her company while they awaited the results of some tests.  Not sure whether they actually got those results last night, or were going to have to wait until this morning, but last night they had admitted her and were going to do more tests.  Nothing more yet as of this morning.