Way to Go Leah!

Leah is now employed as a Health Educator for Clackamas County, Oregon - organizing H1N1 flu immunization clinics. Excellent! I know how being unemployed/underemployed has weighed on her this past year - Portland is REALLY difficult during this recession. I was talking to Jane last evening and she mentioned a recent notice in the Portland media where a company was hiring a handful of positions and hundreds showed-up to apply.

It seems that this downturn is particularly hard on young adults. No jobs and no health care. I spent an hour or so chatting with a guy Leah's age at the Seattle airport the other day. He was from Denver, just out of college and going through the job hunt ordeal. Denver doesn't sound a lot better than Portland on the employment front for young folks...

Meanwhile...back here in the 'burg I have successfully picked-up from where I left-off with the elders...

It's not as grim as I had feared. I assumed I was in for a battle yesterday on how to proceed with mom's knee replacement while assuring dad was cared-for. Turned-out that we're pretty much on the same page. I accompanied mom to the bone doc's office yesterday and we're now on course for surgery - probably in mid-November. She needs a physical from her primary care doc first - to confirm she's got a good chance of successfully tolerating surgery. Should have that appointment set-up today.

Dad is demonstrably weaker than when I left; but he certainly does not require 24-hour skilled nursing care. That's not to say that his care is easy or fun - but I don't see anything with which I cannot cope - particularly with ongoing support from the home health folks. I THINK I am as capable - at least physically - as crippled 82 year old mom!

So...the bottom line is I will be relocating to the elders while mom is in the hospital and for some period during her convalescence. I HOPE I will still be able to sneak-out for a few hours each day (could be 6 AM workouts). My sister cannot lift dad by herself if he falls and she is unwilling to undertake some of the more odious tasks so I will be on a pretty short leash. I am going to reconnoiter the neighborhood to see if there is someone who would consistently be available on very short notice to assist in case of a fall.

Just finished paying the monthly bills and now I'm going to start downloading vacation pics. It will be awhile before they're all processed and posted on the Kodak site - but I'm looking forward to the task. Later today I'm going to see if I can take mom and auntie to DMV and maybe stop at the doc's office so mom and I can get flu shots. And yesterday I bought the fixn's for chicken stock and zucchini bread...

The weather is supposed to improve today and be relatively nice for a couple of days. There's a couple of days of work to put mom's and auntie's gardens to bed for the season. If I'm ambitious, I may even plant some bulbs. And one last cord of wood should be dropped in the folks' driveway in the next couple of days...

Feeling reasonably chipper - all things considered...