Yesterday was my mother's cataract surgery. I had to get up at 5 am in order to pick her up and bring her to the hospital at 6:15 am. Oh, it was still dark out when I left; hate that this time of year.

So the day before, I was shoveling snow in my driveway furiously, knowing I'd need to clear it for the next day. My house is on a curve where the road widens out and the plows always pile up a lot of extra snow at the foot of my driveway. I got 4 blisters from just 30 minutes of heart-pounding shoveling. I didn't do the whole driveway, just 2 paths for the tires.

I stayed with my mother in the waiting room until she went in and left at 7 a.m. It was too early to run any kind of errands, so I just went home and washed the dishes and checked my email and before I knew it, it was time to head back to fetch my mom.

I brought her to her place and I knew she didn't want to be alone, so I stayed for about 4 hours. she had 3 different antibiotic eye drops to put in 3x a day, so I did the first round. I made us lunch and we generally hung out and talked. She wasn't really in any pain but her vision in that eye was blurry and she had to wear a clear glass shield to protect the eye. When we did the eyedrops, I had to peel the tape holding the glass shield off and she was saying ouch, ouch becus the tape was pulling her hair.

I went back home to attend to some stuff there, and told my mom I'd call her at 4 pm to remind her to do the next round of drops. I then decided I should really go back to my mom's (3rd time!) with take-out dinner cus I knew she didn't really feel like cooking. She wasn't sleepy, just feeling out of it due to the dilation.

So I picked up 2 meals at Boston Market (believe it or not, she's never eaten there) and she really enjoyed her meal. The place is very close to her condo and is very conveniently located, so I may give her a Xmas gift certificate for the place for some time when she's out shopping or running around and heading home, hungry but tired and not feeling like cooking.

The good news is, she's feeling well enough already that she doesn't think she needs me to pick up her art on Monday from a show at local library; so that would be one less chore for me and save me the drive.

So that's how I spent yesterday.

I spoke with her today after her 1st follow-up with her doctor. He told her she now has 20/25 vision in that eye, so sounds like it worked out well. She has another follow-up on Tuesday.

This morning I met 2 former co-workers at a diner. It was supposed to be a group of 5, but 1 was sick and the other had a freelance deadline he needed to meet. It was nice to see my friends and also nice that T., the only 1 of the group still working, picked up the tab for our late a.m. breakfast. This is the same person who bought me chocolate and a herbal tea gift selection when I had to put my last cat to sleep. He's a stand-up guy.

On the way back from the diner, I stopped at Costco (packed) and Petco.

For this weekend, I need to make further revisions to a real estate blog I wrote last month. I need to make it more upbeat, less "gloomy." I was being too realistic, he said. Ha!

I also need to call a guy in town who's active in local environmental town boards and is making some sort of film and who needs a writer. I really don't know anything else, but a good friend of mine does his books for him (he's a landscaper) and she recommended me. I'm not sure I'd be the best qualified, but I'm sure they don't have the big bucks to pay someone who did. I can certainly write and I have a strong interest in environmental stuff, but I've never written narrative for a film. Could be a great opportunity or something that never comes to fruition and a huge drain of my time. I'll have to listen closely to what he tells me and take it from there.

It's hard to believe that Xmas is just around the corner. I'm done with shopping except for my sister, and I still have to wrap everything.

I was at Xpect Discounts the other day and I got a very nice clear glass cake pedestal dish for $3.99 and 4 16 lb. bags of walnuts for $2.99 each. Walnuts go for at least $6 a pound everywhere else, but this is my secret source of walnuts, rich in omega fatty acids. I eat a small handful daily for health reasons. I freeze the bags til I'm ready to use them.

So after 2 consecutive days of unusual activities, I'm back to the normal boring routine of being unemployed.