Just another precious day

It is almost noon. Two children are still in their pajamas. One is wearing a tattered Spiderman costume over his clothing. One of the pajama-clad children is reading a book upside down, the other is downloading photos from her Barbie doll. Spiderman is playing catch with a grandparent.
Later in the day our daughter is finally asleep, preparing for a night shift. Her husband and mine are outside building a playhouse for the children. A neighbor is supervising. One dog is limping, after having stayed out almost all night long. The other dog is as hyper as ever and enjoys getting overly friendly with the cat. He also likes to play tug-of-war with the bandage on the bigger dog’s injured leg.
The horses abandon their hay and wander over to the fence to enjoy a few baby carrots that are on the verge of softness. They compete for the small treats and linger for a bit of petting. I get a surprise kiss from the larger of the two.
I call my mom to check on her. She tells me she got new shoes which she is certain are too small, as they don’t allow enough room for her feet to grow. Her home health aide is in the hospital, having some tests done.
Her regular visiting nurse is also absent with family health problems. Mom actually likes their replacements. This surprises me as does the fact that there haven’t been any strange reactions to the intravenous antibiotics yet. I am pleased that they seem to be working. We won’t know for sure if they eliminated the infection in her foot until at least the end of the month.
She is still convinced there is a doctor somewhere who will have the perfect treatment that will allow her to feel as healthy as she did when she was young. She cannot understand this will never happen. It makes me sad.
It is chilly outside today. It is 51 degrees in Houston and a balmy 13 degrees in Portland as I write this. I’m glad we are in Texas for another day or so, although we are planning to be home by the time this column is printed.
When we first arrived, a couple of cousins were visiting. The grandparents caught up on the news while the children ran and played. That evening we gave the little boys a bath. I went in to check on them and saw two of them standing in the tub with upside down blue rubber duckies stuck on their chests like remoras stuck to a shark. They seemed proud that they figured out how to get the duckies to stick.
A day or so later after the cousins were long gone, we made cookies. The children fought over who was to add each ingredient. They also ate a good portion of the dough. Thankfully, they lost interest before the dough was baked. The cookies turned out better than I expected and only lasted a couple of days.
Today we baked chocolate swirl bread. It is cooling on the counter and looks nothing like the picture on the recipe. The two littlest prepared the dough. while the eldest enjoyed some quality time watching television with her grandfather.
Late this afternoon, the eldest baked her own birthday cake, to be eaten tomorrow.
The children are upstairs, supposedly watching a movie. We are deciding exactly which day we want to head back north, to the frozen tundra we call home.
Thus begins another year. Nothing extraordinary, just everyday life. Yet, every moment is precious and unique. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to play catch with Spiderman.[[In-content Ad]]