Home again from Susanville - quick trip this time. Mom had 'stuff' going on this morning, so Alli and I left earlier than usual. That gives me time to come home and clean and do laundry, the shopping, etc. Bummer!

Dad is doing well. I don't think he is as well as he thinks he is. He is ready to get out of the hospital, but I don't know that he is as ready as he thinks he is to be home! It will probably just take time for him to get his strength back up. He is pretty weak right now.

Alli was so good on the trip! We went almost directly from here to Reno - just stopping for a few minutes to pick up Mom in Susanville, and then in to the Rehab. The original plan was to take Dad out to lunch, but....he was at lunch when we got to Rehab! Mom and Alli and I went on to lunch without him. Alli had (for her!) good table manners at the restaurant, and except for choking on a french fry, was a perfect angel! We went back to Rehab, and visited with Dad. The first thing Allison did when we walked in the room was sit down on Dad's bed. Unfortunately (for Allison) the bed is wired to set off an alarm - to prevent Dad from getting out of it by himself (see prior blog entry about how he broke his hip!) We had to wait for a nurse to come and re-set the alarm. Since they knew he was in his wheelchair, I don't think they were too excited by the alarm - they didn't respond very quickly anyway! (Evidently, Dad sets it off all the time, and not because he is getting out of bed by himself anymore.)

After we got everything quiet again, we took Dad outside for a while. We spent about an hour outside, just talking. Alli played the whole time on a set of steps they have in the courtyard - sitting, laying, climbing, etc. She was such a good girl! I had told Mom that we would stay as long as Alli was happy - thinking that we would be there 30-45 minutes! By this time, Mom and I had really run out of things to talk with Dad about, and were ready to leave, but....Alli was being so good! We ended up staying over two hours, without a single fuss from Allison. She was about to fall asleep in the chair back in Dad's room when we finally left. We paid for her 'good behavior' later, though. She was a pest at the store - deliberately pushing into us, and not listening to me (with a grin on her face - she knew she had been good, and deserved the time off!) All in all, a good day for her!