Class, Thy Name is Bug

Yesterday my boss’s wife called & as usual I answered his phone. I’ve never met her, but I really like her a lot. We dish about his foibles (of course, he can hear my end of the conversation so I dish gently). She asked about my surgery & had a horror story about a coworker who took six months to recover completely (thanks!). I told her that I would consider my recovery complete when I am able to raise my arm straight up in the air and shave under there. Yes, indeed, I told my boss’s wife that my goal is to shave under my arms.

Because I’m classy like that.

Cluckles the Chicken

Dr. M and I have been adopted by a hen. She belongs to the boys next door, but she’s decided that she prefers our yard. This could have something to do with the amount of shouting & running around & trampolining in her yard. There are usually five or six kids being kids over there. Dr. M & I like those sounds of childhood.

Anyway, one or the other of the boys is always coming over to ask if we’ve seen their hen. And sure enough, she’s scrabbling in the gravel by the central air unit, or checking out the delicacies in the yard or shrubbery, or hiding in the shrubbery. We think it’s the most hilarious thing. We love our chicken! Especially since we aren’t really responsible for her. We just have to watch our step a bit.

We’ve decided that she’s a barred rock. What do you think?

Sorry, no pictures of the fight…

I just watched a hummingbird fight. Although I’m sure they were VERY serious, I thought it was so cute. Miniature combat! Hummingbird A (I’ll call her Madge) was enjoying a lovely brunch from the flowers in our hanging basket, shifting every now & then to the buffet on the lattice fence. Hummingbird B (Ruth) thought that looked pretty yummy & decided to join Madge. And it was on! Madge chased Ruth off & came back. Then Ruth decided she was no pushover & went for the basket again. I can just imagine the conversation as Madge chased Ruth around the yard – “why you upstart whippersnapper!” I have no evidence that Madge is older than Ruth, other than my not very agile imagination. That and the fact that at this stage of my life I like to think age trumps youth. Heh.

I have never seen so much hummingbird activity at one time! Drinking, diving, swooping, even (gasp!) sitting for all of 5 seconds on a fence post. Unfortunately my gimpy arm & I were no match for all the swoopiness & I couldn’t get a picture. I took pictures of the flowers instead.

What a blessing on a beautiful Friday morning in Ohio.

What the doctor said…

I had my follow-up appointment today & the doctor said I could go back to work as long as I wear my sling. We didn’t discuss how I would get there. Heh. I’ve been driving one handed for six months anyway. Since it was basically my decision I decided to go ahead & go back tomorrow. I want to save my vacation time for when I actually feel vacation-y. This will also save my sanity.

I’ve tried reading (my Dean Koontz book is crazy-making).

I’ve tried sleeping (nice – but too much of a good thing…).

I’ve followed Dr. M around the yard as he waters flowers (too muggy!).

I’ve watched lots of PBS (I’m just not that into TV).

There are only so many blogs I can read or baseball games I can watch.

So, hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to work I go! For those of you concerned about me going back too soon – I don’t work very hard. Mostly I type letters & read blogs – so not much different than what I do at home!

PT starts in two weeks; there will be no more arm talk until then!

Relieved

First, thanks for all your well wishes. I enjoy the commentary almost as much as my drivel :) Mrsupole I’m definitely paying attention to the area we discussed. Brenda – I had arthroscopic surgery on my shoulder.

My biggest fear going into this business was “when will the doctor release me to return to work?” Well, that one is still simmering in the back of my head. (mmm, smells like marinara – oh wait, that’s lunch. Thanks Dr. M!)

My second biggest fear was that the doctor would confirm that I’m a hypochondriac & close me up without doing anything. At least that fear is gone – the doctor’s comment to Dr. M: “no wonder she was in pain!” Apparently there was some bone on bone activity. Ouch! Of course, that’s a mixed blessing because now I have to go back to worrying about fear #1. Sigh.

I’d like to say that I won’t take up blog time with a blow by blow of my recovery & physical therapy, but well, I think it will ease my mind to share my with angst with the blogosphere. Feel free to ignore!

Well, it’s time to go take the dressing off. That’s my bellowing you’ll be hearing. Dr. M is a saint!

Ice Cream

Surgery over
Healing begins

Slowly…

Yesterday, giddy,
Not groggy
I drove Dr. M bonkers

Today, with the reality
Of benevolent injury

I drowse through pain
And awaken to ice cream…

Leaving the Mad

Dr. M & I decided to explore our world a little more today. At one point we crossed the Mad River & I thought – wouldn’t it be cool if I could just leave all my madness behind on this river? My obsession with the recovery time for my surgery. My worry about money. My fear that my boss will be helpless without me. Let’s just take this sticky ball of crazy-think & drop it in the Mad River. There it goes – floating downstream… If you’d like to think of this as a euphemism for God, go right ahead!

Thinking about that was pretty interesting, but I think that seeing all the gorgeous flowers, and spending time in the Cedar Bog (which is not really a bog – it’s a fen! Dr. M. asked if that made my blog a blen) filled the empty place left by the sticky ball with a somnambulant peace. I think things will be just fine. And when I wake up on the other side I’ll do what comes next.

I’m not a drama queen, am I?

P.S. We passed by a sign that said “concealed carry course, $100.” I asked Dr. M why someone would carry a gun on a golf course. Ba dum bum. Of course, being from Lincoln County, NC he had a story about a friend who carried a gun on the back nine of the Crowder’s Mountain course…

Busy, Busy, Busy!

I’m too busy to blog! Or to comment on blogs! I’m still reading most of them though – I have my priorities in order.

But here’s a slice of my life to tide you over until I have more time:

• Our Saturn is now home & resting comfortably after its multiple surgeries. Actually, I lie – I made it return to work with me this morning.
• Speaking of surgery, I am FREAKING OUT about my pending surgery next Thursday. I don’t know why, but the closer it gets the more I question whether I really need it (never mind that I kept waking up last night because my arm & shoulder hurt).
• My boss gave me a project which has kept me busy. Imagine that – busy at work! I don’t know what the world is coming to.
• Our tomato plant got the blight & then a squirrel stole one of the halfway decent tomatoes. The rest of the plants look outstanding! We think the petunias are going to take over the yard.
• Last, but not least, I won this! from An Aerial Armadillo. I am beyond excited. Thanks Tessa!

I'll be back this weekend most likely - perhaps with pictures of said exploding petunias, or maybe a discussion of our Furby. We'll see what strikes my fancy.

Handwriting

After reading this post, I decided to post some handwriting samples of my own.

The first is just the beginning of a grocery list I wrote this morning. What I want to know is: what is Englich? I really get sloppy when I’m in a hurry!

The second sample is from a journal I found from the summer of 1980 – just after my sophomore year in high school. Unfortunately I only wrote a handful of entries (many of them about how annoyed I was at my cousin Kim – sorry Kim – don’t worry, we made up!). I was very interested in what I found worth writing at that time. I LOVED an entry about how I’d entered the world of drugs because a classmate had taken four painkillers. I couldn’t scan it because I named names, but here is another small snippet that tickled me.

I find my handwriting to be very uninteresting. Not really good, not really bad (ooh you should see Dr. M’s!). Kind of loopy, like me. I was a little more “upright” 29 years ago, but I still don’t have that much of a slant. Wonder what it all means?