This morning, Mom was eager to go to the store so she came in to get me up. I’m not an early riser, but it’s not because I’m sleeping. I take that time first thing in the morning to read my Bible and pray.

Besides going to the grocery store, she took me to a store that has odds and ends of all kinds of stuff for less cost. It’s kind of along the lines of TJ Maxx or Ross, only less fancy and less full. I think she just wanted to get out since she’s been sick at home for a few days.

While we were doing that, the hospice chaplain went over to Dad’s house. I asked Dad how it went and he said he did most of the talking. He told her all about his life. I think he’s figuring that Elaine and I will have our chance to talk to her as he becomes more ill.

This afternoon, Mom and I had an appointment to tour the King City Senior Village, a senior center Mom wants to move into sometime this fall.

The woman who took us on the tour showed us the dining room and the bar where they have happy hour every Wednesday at 3:00. She took us into the library and the theater and showed us a model room. Then she showed us a room that just became vacant. The room has a view of the garden pictured above. Those big waist-high pots can be reserved, one for each resident who likes to garden, and they can plant whatever they want in their pot. Mom loves to garden, so it was nice to see that they have that available for the residents.

When the tour guide wanted to take us upstairs, she started to head to the elevator and I said, “We can take the stairs.” She said, “Oh, I don’t get that very often!” I told her that Mom will be 95 in September and that I have sometimes seen her run upstairs. She was impressed!

There were a couple of other tours going on at the same time as ours, so our tour guide said that if Mom wanted that room with the view of the garden, she should put money down on it on the spot. It felt a little pressured, so I told her that my sister in Klamath Falls handles Mom’s finances and has her checkbook. I said we’d have to check with Lauryn before Mom could make any kind of downpayment. As Mom and I were walking out the door, she said, “I want to spend this one last summer tending my own garden at home. I’m not ready to move yet.” I was glad that we had an excuse to get out of there without paying anything. I’m not saying that it’s not a good place. Mom is looking forward to moving in there, maybe next fall, and they have all sorts of activities and outings to keep her from feeling lonely in the winter, but she isn’t ready yet.

When we got back, Mark accidentally called me. He was at the quilt group at our church in Tucson. They don’t just do quilting there; they do all sorts of crafts. This year, he has been working on crafts with the women. He and I have been working on reupholstering some chairs so that we can take out the benches that are peeling at the dinette in the RV.

While Mark was talking with me, all the women called out, “Hello, Denise! We miss you!” It was nice hearing from them. Mark said that others in the church have said they miss me too. It’s nice to know that they are thinking of me!

This evening, Mom and I played marathon Scrabble. I just happened to be drawing well and I won all 3 games we played. Mom said, “When is it my turn to win?” It’s more fun when each of us takes a turn at winning!