Quick Takes • The Feeling Better Edition

Mom and I both are, that is. Seven snippets of life right now:

1. Mom is hanging in there. She is excited to be spending time on the nasal cannula, and less time on the CPAP machine. I miss her like mad right now, but know that it's not safe for her until I'm totally out of the woods with the stomach flu. So glad that our family was together last Saturday night for her anointing by Fr. Mike...that was a gift to have the four of us in the same place, at the same time.
2. My temperature was under 100° for the first time today. And it was awesome. Promising Jonathan and Mom that I would continue to take it easy, I managed to do the bare minimum of mini projects and still keep myself low key. I'll tell you though, Thomas is ready for a life away from the farm again! Or at least outside playing...we're going a bit stir crazy!
3. Auntie Karen was my angel today. She came down to help me get our home back in shape after the past week of being gone, and the past few days of being sick. We totally took down Christmas (which is always sad) but got things safely packed away for next year. And she snuggled with Thomas when he was on his nap strike. So incredibly grateful.
4. I am a Food Network junkie. I watched the Iron Chef America episode tonight, featuring the White House garden, and I am so excited to plant a real garden on the side of the house this spring! I would love any tips you have -- this is all new to me! :)
5. Speaking of food, we're cleaning things up a bit around here. Jonathan and I made a commitment to continue cutting junk out of our diet. Ever since I read this article about diet soda and kidneys (affecting only women!), we have made a conscious effort to stop drinking diet soda. In the past 3 weeks, I think we've both had less than a dozen diet drinks, which is a huge adjustment. Especially since I don't drink coffee. More water.
6. I also started making our own yogurt. It's insanely easy, inexpensive and has no corn syrup or preservatives. I love that I can make a batch of nonfat yogurt for me for the week, and the next day, make a batch of whole fat yogurt for the Wee Ski. The servings end up being about 12 cents each, using Costco's milk. I have a batch of yogurt cheese that's in the fridge right now and should be ready in the morning. Yum.
7. Fr. Ron Rolheiser. Historically, I have never been a big fan of his columns. However, his column in the Progress today was just what I needed to hear today, and of course, it's not online yet. But when I was looking back through his archive, I re-read his column from last week, which was published the day after Mom entered the ICU. And that's especially timely as well. So I leave you with this for now: Living in the Face of Mortality