I'm lying on my hammock with my laptop on my lap. Can you see the dirt on my feet? Crocs aren't the best thing to wear when you're doing yardwork. The chimes are singing, a morning dove is who-who-ing and the songbirds are doing their thing. It's almost 6:00 and still so nice out. I wish this moment could last. It's been a really full day, and a good one. It's also the first day without any kind of abdominal discomfort. I don't know why but I'll take it. I went to my parent's house in the morning and kind of rushed my mom out of the house. First stop was Walmart. You know it's her favorite place, right? She especially likes to go with me. She got three pairs of capris and a top. It's very hard for her to try clothes on. Everything is so difficult for her to do because her right arm and hand don't work. Her arm just hangs, uncomfortably. Getting up is a chore as is sitting down. Her right leg doesn't really bend at the knee and her toes are rigid, so walking is hard. It's very sad when I think about what this stroke did to the quality of her life. So many people die from strokes, and my mother is lucky to be alive. Sometimes I have to remind her and myself that many people are much worse off, and we are thankful. Anyway, to change the subject...my shopping consisted of a composite cable for the TV and snacks. I keep a lot of snacks in my pantry. Pop-Tart Go Tarts, Little Debbie cakes, fruit roll-ups, cookies, granola bars, Cheese-its, goldfish, Cheetoes, etc...I don't eat any of it. They're mainly for Em's lunch and after-school snack. I have healthy stuff too. How'd I start talking about that? After Walmart I treated Mom to lunch at our favorite Chinese place, then we walked a few stores down to a big shoe store. I made my mom buy two pairs of shoes. She's always afraid of spending money, but I'm not afraid to use her credit card. She deserves to have new clothes and shoes. I brought her home after that; she was pretty tired out. I went to the grocery store, then home. That was about 2:00. I spent the next few hours raking out my strand of woods. Usually I bag the leaves, but this time I thought I'd try raking them onto a tarp, then sliding them into the trashcan. Then I got the idea to drag the tarp over to the sediment control area to the back and right of my house. And that's what I did. It's a pretty wild area with grasses, scrub, trees, cattails, and leaves from the woods. Now there's lots of leaves in the area closest to my house. I think it's OK. The area under my deck is covered with leaves but that will have to wait for another day.