Mother was in good spirits and looked well when Mike and I visited her yesterday. As usual, she paid closer attention to Mike than to me, kept asking about the brace on his leg, and told me twice what a fine looking man he is. Bless her heart, she can still flirt when she wants to. She's one tough cookie!

The nursing home's business manager has resigned to take a better job in a doctor's office. She was so knowledgeable and helpful, I will miss having her to explain the arcane regulations of Medicare and Medicaid to me. The Medicare payment we were expecting to cover the last two months of 2005, was not approved because Mother was not in "skilled care" for 100 days following her hospitalization, only 51 days. So they're carrying a past due amount that she doesn't have the money to cover. Medicaid really should have paid it, but they wouldn't approve it either. As long as she isn't evicted, they can carry it until the final accounting. And as Forrest Gump said, "That's all I have to say about that."

Speaking of eviction, though, Mike's ex and daughter had to move last weekend. Their landlord dropped Mike from the lawsuit, and the court gave them 3 days to vacate the premises. I would love to have been a fly on the wall! To see his ex not allowed to obfuscate the whole matter with her drivel would have been priceless. Bonnie still has not let her dad know where they went, but it isn't bothering him nearly as much as I thought it would. Maybe he finally saw the need to let her learn some hard lessons.

We finally got the insurance straightened out with our agent. I told him in the nicest way I knew how that his secretary was not very proficient in handling my complaint, and that I hoped it did not cost him more business than he could afford to lose. If he had not been a personal friend, I would have already gone to a different agent. Unless all his customers feel that personal loyalty, it's going to cost him dearly, I'm afraid.

His wife's tumor has shrunk from 11 cm to 4.5 cm (thank you, Lord). She's scheduled for another week of chemo starting Monday. Her 50th birthday is Thursday and he wants to have a party for her next Saturday, but he's not sure whether to get a caterer or let people bring dishes. With her immune system being so compromised, I'm not sure a party is a good idea, but he thinks she should have one, so we'll go. I hope he lets us all bring dishes.