6 week mark

Yesterday, Jonathan met me at Mom & Dad's and we did a slew of chores outside. Thanks to our wonderful cousin Mat & his lawn service for mowing earlier in the week, which let us focus on more than just mowing and weedeating the whole 3 acres. We were finally able to check out the Ford tractor and get it ready for one of us to do the next mow in a week or so. We did an overall cleanup of the dog pen including mowing, weedeating, cutting back small mesquite trees that had re-sprouted, and cutting back low-hanging oak tree limbs around the dog pen and barn. Thanks to Jon's willingness to get on the roof, we were able to clear out the rain gutters too. Mom also pitched in especially as we fed the burn bin with limbs and leaves and made sure we had lots of water. She was also on fire ant patrol around the yard with the Amdro in tow. All in all about 5 hours of work and my arm/shoulder muscles are a bit sore today but it reminded me of "old times" when we did that kind of work every spring/summer with Mom and Dad. Dad helped replace a bulb in one of the "streetlight" outdoor lights when we first started and then supervised our work from his recliner in the sunroom and his new hammock in the backyard. Go Dad!

Tomorrow, June 8th, makes six weeks since Dad had his surgery. He's lost another pound or so and is sitting at 186 lbs. Taste seems to be his biggest challenge to eating more these days along with a smaller appetite in general. But overall he's doing well at the normal halfway point in his recovery. My boss, who is a physician, was quick to remind me that recovery from a Whipple procedure of any sort is about as big as it gets.