Not for the faint of heart...

Years ago, the biggest women's shoe was an 8, or 9 if you were lucky. Women with size 10 or 11 feet had to squeeze into size 8 or 9's, and that was not conducive to happy toes. Nor is arthritis or a variety of other ailments that age brings. So, this first picture is of my mother's left foot (the right looks about the same), before surgery. She had been to several podiatrists all across the USA, and finally found one who said he could fix it. He is also listed as THE best podiatrist in Phoenix.
That was just moments before the Dr. began taking out knuckles, fusing knuckles, inserting pins to help the healing process keep her toes straight this time.

And after we got her home and in her Lazy Boy Recliner (and got her to stop puking) this is what her toes looked like! The Pins go straight in her 4 toes and then bend up at the end of her toes and there are yellow plastic tips on them to keep them from snagging on stuff.

This is a picture of the screen showing the x-rays 1 week after the surgery. You can see how long the pins are (I estimate they are about 5 or 6 inches long from the tip of her toes to the inside of the foot). They are there to keep the toes aligned.

Now, this is the worst of all the pictures. I call her "Mollie Scissor Toes" and this picture proves Frankenstein had something to do with it! The stitches are out now, but I wasn't there to get the pic. Dr. Harlan told her to stay off her foot now, because she was doing too much and it was swelling.

In about 6-8 weeks the pins come out. When the left foot is healed, it will be the right foot's turn. It will be much longer before she can drive after that foot. Volunteers call at your earliest convenience!
Mom is such a trooper. She puked in my new car...but she used a garbage can I brought...just in case! WHEW! She took maybe 2 pain pills since surgery. She was driving again after 1 week. But she is tired of cooking, so anyone who cooks can come see her anytime! (you can come see her and not cook, too!)

Then and now.

It's a 2009 Black Honda CRV EX-L
The GMC was a 1999, black and 182,000 miles on it.
It got brand new tires about 6 weeks ago, and the
battery was 3 days old. It is being demolished.
I got it with the Cash for Clunkers campaign.
I just hope it really does get demolished...how do you know?
I thought about letting DMV know so they won't transfer the title.

I love Q-Tips!

This is a TON of Q-Tips, but I will use them all! Promise! In my lifetime!

3 Grand Baby BOYS!

Alex is 2 years old. Alex loves his "brudder". And he is scared to death of Uncle Scott...justifiably so.

Alan is 5 months old. He is long and is no longer skinny. I cannot call him string bean anymore. He is very quiet and watches everything. He might write a book about it all one day! (and he loves to feel [pull] hair!)

Avery is 2 months old. He smiles a lot. He eats and sleeps a lot.
It is difficult to get a good picture of a 2 year old, a 5 month old and a 2 month old. Just be glad #1...none were crying and #2...they were all awake at the same time!

Who does he look like?

People often ask me who my grandkids look like. Well, Alex is a no-brainer. His hair is so blonde and receding, it is almost white, his eyes are blue, his skin is pasty white...his daddy's family is from Minnesota and his daddy has blonde hair which is receding, his eyes are blue and his skin is pale, although he does tan some (and in Jenn's defense, he does have some traits and characteristics that are very mommy!):


But in the case of Alan...do you see the similarity? How on earth can a grandson look so much like his paternal grandmother? WOW!!! So you see it?