Skywatch Friday and a Good Day!

For this Skywatch post, I'll give credit to my daughter. She took this photo of a summer sunset from our front yard in July. I've been using this photo as my desktop background for a few weeks. The actual temp. when I got up this morning was -3 F., so it's nice to think back to July and a warm summer evening.

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We had a late start for staff training for school today and the topic was CPR and AED (Automatic External Defibrillator) certification. Every school here has an AED, so it was good to learn how to use it. It was surprisingly easy, so if you're ever in that situation, don't be afraid to try to use it. The device automatically calls 911 and gives audible instructions of exactly what to do. In our county they have made a Google map with pin points for all of the available AED's and also lives saved by CPR or AED's. I would suggest that you Google it for your county and see if a similar thing is available.

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It's been kind of tough week with some ongoing extended family issues, but I'm feeling like the worst is over in that I'm trying to be able to let go of what is out of my control. It's important to remember that we can take control of our own attitudes and how we react to difficulty, so that's what I've been working on. There has been good news in that my mom is recovering well from her broken hip and may be going home quite soon.

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Our staff training ended early today, so I went out for coffee with three of my coworkers. It was very enjoyable to have a chance to visit outside of work and catch up with each other. Tonight, SD has a piano recital, probably her last ever, so it will be nice to hear all the Christmas music. She has made her decision on college and will be attending the same one as CS, so we're all happy about that. She bought herself a lap-top this week and is in the process of getting signed up for housing, so things are moving along. Happy Friday everyone!!

Skywatch Friday and Surgery Update

I took this picture out of the van window as we were driving home from the visit to my mom in Iowa over Thanksgiving weekend. I liked the way the sky looked, but I didn't realize it had that greenish tinge. There were many birds migrating and I could see large flocks flying from Northwest to Southeast. They must have known there was a storm coming in a couple of days. My hometown is in central Iowa in the midst of some of the best farmland in the country. Now that I've lived in the city in Minnesota for several years I am always surprised by how very flat the land is. You can see for miles and miles. This time of year it is pretty desolate and colorless with farm fields showing black dirt or grain stubble. Then there's the smell of hog confinement facilities which have popped up all over Iowa in the last few years. My husband's hometown is in the county with the most hogs I believe. It is so sad to visit his old farm, now in a state of total disrepair, with hog facilities in every direction and not a single farm with a family living on it in sight. Stepping outside at his parents who live in town was really disgusting. They pump the liquid manure out of the facilities and spray it on the fields surrounding the town so as you can imagine it really stinks! As a former farm girl it is rather depressing to see so many deserted farms and see how the family farm culture we grew up in is disappearing fast and nearly gone never to be regained.

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A quick update on my mom...she came through her surgery on her broken hip okay. She's in quite a bit of pain, particularly when she has to be moved for some reason, but I guess that's to be expected. She'll be in the hospital a few days and then move to the nursing home for the rest of her recovery so she can have therapy, etc. I hope it will all go well, so many things can go wrong along the way.

Bad News

My 81 year old mother broke her hip this morning. She was getting out of bed and fell, I suspect it was already cracked or broken before she tried to get up. Thankfully she wears one of those call buttons around her neck so the ambulance came and got her. She'll have surgery tomorrow morning and then quite a long recuperation I'm sure. I'm glad we got to see her over Thanksgiving. We spent Thanksgiving with DH's parents and then went to my mom's an hour away on Friday. We hadn't seen her for quite awhile, but she seemed to be doing pretty well then. Anyway, I hope her surgery will go well tomorrow, prayers would be appreciated.