It’s been a while since I sat down and wrote a blog post. It’s not that we stopped eating – perish the thought! It’s just that life has a way of catching up once in a while.

Right after my last post, we decided it was time to ask Victor’s mom to move in with us. She’s pushing 87, and just not as quick on her feet as she used to be.

We brought her over for a few days to get used to the idea and see how she liked being pampered and waited on hand-and-foot.

We cooked her ‘ronies and meat sauce, and chicken cutlets with a nice salad…

I started cooking and made several things that were portioned and frozen for quick lunches… Onion soup, breaded chicken strips, pasta sauce…  A big fruit salad. Things that Victor could quickly prepare even with his phone headset on.

She had her quarterly Dr appointment coming up, so she said she’d make a decision after seeing him. We went in to see  her primary care Dr, he decided she wasn’t doing as well as she should, and he sent us over to the hospital for tests. That was a 4-day stay that pretty much determined she should come live with us. They released her to a rehab facility for some physical therapy to get her legs working better, and we went to work.

Our normally boring, quiet lives got really busy, really fast. Moving mom in with us entailed more than just putting her in the guest room. The guest room needed to be transformed into her room. We had to empty out our furniture to fit in hers. The basement I cleaned so well got really full, really fast. I’m going to have to get down there and organize, again. One of these days.

And closet space. Thank goodness we had just done a closet clean-out! We’re still a little cramped, but we’ll sort it all out.

There’s a million-and-one details that need attending when you undertake something like this – and more things become apparent halfway through others. Fortunately, we have plenty of family support with Victor’s brother and sister, and our neighbor is a geriatric social worker with one of the better services in town. We’re getting the in-home visits set up as soon as we learn just what she’s going to need. The paperwork has already been started.

So this past week, more meals have been taken standing up in the kitchen, than at any time since we moved here. Saturday – the day we were supposed to have dear friends arriving for a 4-day birthday bash – saw us with the first meal I had cooked in a week – Beef Braised in Guinness. I added potatoes to it this time to make it a one-pot meal.

And then it was early to bed and early to rise to move more furniture.

So meals are going to be changing a bit. I know mom’s likes and dislikes pretty well, and will be catering towards some simpler menu items. The foods will be fresh, flavorful, and plentiful.

She deserves only the best.