And complete with a freshly coiffed pixie! It never fails. And underneath the bangs is the face of my mother, a little worse for wear,but yes,here she is one year later. It will be a long 2 weeks,lol.

The voice. That is the first thing I hear before I even lay eyes upon her. My cousin had the honors of opening the garage door this time to help her wheel in the luggage. Already it is high pitched, animated, and excitably full of the story of the SuperShuttle ride that she has just embarked upon.

Well heavens, can you believe the driver missed our street!! And he had to make a U turn and come back around! Can you imagine? And then the plane trip stories. Oh yes, wasn't it strange how the man sitting next to her put his carry on bag on the opposite side of where he was sitting? Didn't he know he was supposed to put it above him on his own side?

I give her a once over. Yes, she's gained a few pounds. Always in her stomach. The rest of her is pretty thin. Guess the trip to the casino she took with my sister and her husband the day before didn't help. Sis said she really chowed down at the buffet. No surprise. There will be none of that here.

I had lunch ready. Baked herbed fish,spinach,some of the Barefoot Contessa's creamy basil potatoes. She didn't ask for seconds. She never does when I cook. I always ask if she liked the meal. It's always "good". I don't believe my mother has ever put anything into    her mouth that I've made that was "delicious". Hmmm, funny since everyone else in my family has nothing but compliments and requests to make such and such dish again.

We have problems. At first I thought she might be having a stroke. Her talking was a little slurred. Then I find out she had bitten the inside of her cheek the day before so our conversations have been peppered throughout with occasional "ouch's!" The bottoms of our feet feel "sore" and "burning" and she can't figure out why. This can be an affliction with diabetes which she has recently acquired.

I mention that to her. I say, "you have to do more exercise and keep moving." I'm saying this while she's sitting in the easy chair next to me. She looks down at her feet, lifts them up and swirls her ankles around. Somehow I don't think that counts.

My sister calls to make sure mom has arrived. Mom jumps up to take it. From the other room I'm hearing the exact same conversation I heard as she walked in the door. Word for word then a squeal of laughter. About the Shuttle Driver missing the street. I sigh.

Already I'm thinking, "when's nap time?" I thought after she ate she might wind down. After all she "hadn't slept a wink" the night before. No such luck,lol. After the phone call she settles down in the easy chair again. Starts chat chat chatting again. Then she said she was cold and still trying to warm up. The plane was cold, the shuttle ride had the air conditioner on. It is almost 70 degrees out and I want to open the doors. Instead I crank the heat up and get her a soft throw.

She's staring at the TV as she's talking. I know she wants me to turn it on. But I don't.    She grabs a magazine instead as I get up to go into the kitchen. There is a container of blueberries I need to use up and am wondering what to do with them. Good excuse for an escape. I ask mom what should I make and hear "cobbler" come out from behind the magazine.

I find a "diet" cobbler recipe in one of my cookbooks. I am always watching my diet and try to "health-ify" most everything I make. She's got to watch her sugar and carb intake but I figure it's her first day here, okay, a little treat. Before I even begin gathering my ingredients I take a peek around the corner. Ahhh...Nap time has finally arrived.

The magazine splays open on her throw covered lap. Her head is tilted to the side. Dead out.

Yes, it's February but as I mentioned a flew blogs ago I have mom's Christmas presents waiting here for her. She doesn't sleep long and is up from her cat nap in seconds. (It feels like) I turn on the little fake 3 foot tree decoration to get her in the spirit. The gifts are just little things. "Oh, you got me my puzzle books." She loves circle-a-word puzzles. "Oh,you got me my almonds". She loves Trader Joe's sugar free chocolate covered almonds. "Oh you got me a Trac Phone card".

The gift that got the biggest "Oh," was the new slot machine casino game disc I got her. It has Texas Tea on it. She loves playing those on the computer.

The tape recorder is still waiting in a box. Something in me is hesitant about giving it to her.

It is morning now. I tip toe towards the living room and hear snoring. She insists on sleeping on the couch. I slide the door shut and say yippee to myself inside as I sit down to write this.

OOP! It's not long before she wanders out. She's on her way to the bathroom with bedhead. She walks into the hallway and doesn't even see me sitting in the family room. She looks lost. Funny how she can look so lost in a house she lived in for 40 years.

My peace and quiet is gone for the day.

My mother is sitting next to me now rambling on and on about the games she doesn't like at the casino and how she gets so annoyed when they page people over the loudspeaker while she's there. Out of the corner of my eye I see shadows dancing but it's really her arms waving back and forth as she's talking on and on and on...day 2 has officially started.

And I am thinking to myself....Do I really want this tape recorded? lol.