I'm blogging today from Fort Worth. My mother had surgery this morning to amputate a toe that has been giving her trouble for a couple of years and has been aggravated by her advancing Parkinson's Disease. The operation itself was not a huge deal, but she is quite fragile and anything that requires general anesthesia is stressful and risky. (Not to mention the stress of saying goodbye to any part of your body, no matter how small!) But she is home again and resting, doing very well just a few hours after coming out from under the anesthesia. My lovely sister-in-law Rachel, who works for Mom and her husband full-time, is taking good care of her and running the house, so I'm here purely for moral support and just wanting to be with her.

If everything progresses as we expect, I will head back down I-35 tomorrow and resume work on the school plans for the semester. Seems like it's been a long time since we've been at the books, and I'm looking forward to a schedule and routine again. But I'm also thankful for the kind of life that allows me to take "off" and be with my mother or my in-laws when there's a need. And that would be thanks to The Papa and to kids who are independent, capable, and who (mostly) cooperate with one another in keeping things together while I'm away. Cheers to all of them!