Friday With Mother and An Escape to the Ranch!!

Louis Dean and I just happenstance to arrive at Trail Lake Nursing Home within an hour of their Christmas Social. We had no idea but were happy to be there and joined right in.

Everything was decorated and cheerful.

Normally, I stop at the nurse's station and deliver my goodies.....which I did on Friday.

I had made Fruitcake cookies and left them there.  Then the first room I come to is Mother's and I peeked in and saw that she was eating lunch so I decided to go on in and give her one of my homemade banana muffins......the same kind I gave her last week that she so enjoyed. She was happy to see us.

I still had had lots of muffins to deliver and the party was to start at 2:00 so I wanted to get on with it before it started. Mother was not happy when I left to give the rest of my muffins away.

Alas, I left Louis Dean in the room with her and that wasn't good.

After I had given out a few, Louis Dean told me he would be waiting for me in Lillian's room - which is where I should have left him in the first place.

Lillian was all dressed up and excited about the party!

Louis Dean took our picture.

I accidentally visited Bob, who is the resident Santa Claus, while he was getting dressed.

His room mate is on a liquids only diet so Bob called me on back to his side of the room so he could grab a snack before his performance.

Here is Roberta - the classiest lady in the place and my role model!

I got a good pic of Lillian and Santa Claus!

It was a great party and the staff outdid themselves.

There were gifts for all the residents!

You would think by these pictures that it was a lovely afternoon and I hope it was for many of the residents. In reality, I left there with my hair on fire! The mere two and a half hours I was there used up every ounce of my patience and all the smiles I had in me!

When we walked to the car I was breathing deeply of the fresh air and felt so relieved to be out of there. I am being real here.

Mother is back to her more normal self these days. I don't know if they adjusted her meds or what but she is pretty much her old self. Which is not really good......

She was mean spirited and hateful when I delivered the muffins to other residents....did not like her gifts and was not nice to me or anyone else.....

and I am not going to say any more but it was an extremely hard visit and I am thankful I was able to keep a smile on my face and escape in good grace.

We made it home in good time without a lot of traffic which is a miracle on a Friday afternoon.

I was so happy to be in my pretty Christmas house and I thought I could throw off the trauma and drama of my time with Mother......but it didn't work out that way. I melted down.

I went to bed early and cried myself to sleep.....after praying for a good while asking God to redeem that awful day.

I woke up Saturday morning feeling all zig zag inside.

Louis Dean brought me coffee in bed and I opened my prayer journal and spent some time praying.....

and shortly after I finished praying while I was making up the bed, I got a text from Dean and Sherry....

"Turned out nice today. If y'all want to run down, we have anything you don't bring."

I took that as an answer to prayer and within two hours we were on our way!

We drove straight through to Waco only stopping at one rest stop on the way.

El Conquistador for a late lunch and a margarita!

Louis Dean was happy with his fajitas!

This was the first time ever that I did not finish my margarita.

I only drank half of it....what a waste! It was really good.

We drove on in to Mart and bought milk at the Dollar Store.

Driving down Texas Avenue.......we noticed that the Firewater store was open!

I had to stop and go in and meet the owner!

He's only 21 years old and from Nebraska and gifted with so many skills including carpentry!

All the displays were made by him using reclaimed wood from this historical site.

It is a beautiful shop.......

And he is an amazing young man!

He has other ventures in progress - a full gym and loft apartments and more.

Mart is grateful to have this new blood come to join the city!

We drove on to the ranch.....

I could feel myself relax more with every mile....

County Line Road......looks simple. Feels special.

Louis Dean stops for photo ops! He's such a good guy!

Mr. Jackson's cattle - just across the road from the ranch.

We drove in with no problem and unloaded the essentials and then walked down to see the critters.

The baby geese are all big now and have an attitude!

Such a scenic peaceful setting......

I could sit here and stay for a long time......

Our camper is just across the tank and on the right......

Louis Dean was glad to get me 'Out of Dodge' as he calls it.

This is my peaceful place.....

and that right there is my happy place.

I was so glad to be here!

We came in and settled down to go to bed.

In the country, once it gets dark you think about going to sleep.

As it turned out, I had taken the sheets off the bed when we were here last in August, so I opened up the cupboard above the bed to get the linens down and found that they were all wet.....

We thought there might be some water coming in after all the rains they have had here.

The camper roof is delicate and Louis Dean put 'stuff' on it a couple of years ago and that fixed the water coming on on my side of the bed. But he also had done a lot of repair prior to that so this has been been an ongoing problem. Louis Dean says these campers are not built to last long.

SO! I slept comfy, dry and warm in the girl bunk and Louis Dean rolled up Indian style in the cozy blankets and all was well. We went to bed early and slept well.

I love our mornings together. Home and here.

It doesn't take much to make me happy!

I was mesmerized by the smoke swirl of the coffee.

Once our reading time was over - and Louis Dean was awake - he went to work.

We do not have a complete Bible here - and we need to bring one!

So we read Proverbs from a Gideon gift Bible when we are here.

31 chapters for 31 days of the month.

He did the work he wanted to do and we hope it does the trick.

Sooner or later he will need to put a roof over the camper.

This afternoon I decided to go out and feed some critters.....

I noticed the horses milling around.

These two ate a bag of mini carrots.

This one was late to the event and didn't get anything.

In the morning I will feed him first.

Dean and Sherry came down to pass the time for a few minutes between their projects.....

and I was finally able to give Dean the gift I bought for him in Oregon when we were visiting my friend Linda and her son Roger. Roger took us on a Sake tasting and I bought a bottle for Dean.

Who knew it would take so long before I could give it to him.

Later in the afternoon we took our scraps down to the new goat pen.

On our way I gave the ducks the 'Gourmet Critter Food' I had bought in Colorado for them.

They started quacking as soon as they saw me and came right up off the water and marched into the pen every single one of them.

We walked on down to the meadow - my favorite place.

In my normal life here - I would call my friend, Linda in Oregon. on Saturdays.

We have had lots of good conversations down here.

I am feeling like myself again.

Louis Dean is really happy about  that.

I didn't mean to be mean ...so it was a good thing I just went to bed early Friday night.

I hate it feeling ugly.......and am grateful for Louis Dean being so kind to me. Always.

I painted today while he did the repairs.

I think I paint better here than I do at home.

Louis Dean built us a good fire tonight.

Sherry had brought up some good firewood for us....

I love our place down here.

It's Glamping at its finest. And I love it!

Wine, leftover pizza from home, and a Hallmark movie......Perfection!

By coming to the ranch I missed being a part of taking Reaoma's ashes back to East Texas.

Pam has been on my mind today.

Love and prayers for her tonight and many happy thoughts of Reaoma as she was in life.

She left me with so many good memories and gifts to my heart of her time, love and care that she spent on me and my children. She blessed my life and I hope when I leave this world I can have blessed others as she did mine.

We will go home tomorrow. Not early. I will drag my feet and not leave until the afternoon.

I am feeling like myself again and will pace myself as we approach Christmas.

I am puzzled how something like an afternoon with Mother could send me into a mental frenzy and meltdown. I thought I was stronger than this. I was wrong.

I need to be more aware of the triggers that can send me spiraling into feelings that are not good.

It's crazy but when we think we are strong and past all the drama and trauma.....we really aren't.

We are all only one step away from being overwhelmed by life.

And I bid you all a good night.

It's 9:30 here in the country so I am going to bed now.

If I were at home, I would be getting a second wind and starting another project.

I think I could get used to this country life.......