2011 Project 365 – Week Thirty-Three

This is kind of an unusual week of pictures. For one thing, I actually took most of them. And there are no birds! (I don’t know how that happened either). And I do believe that there’s a State of the Bug picture practically every day this week.

Sunday, August 7^th   

Since I knew that I wouldn’t be using makeup for a while I decided this was an excellent opportunity to wash out my makeup brushes.

Dr. M bought me a present. She's a pillow! She's a pet! She's a penguin pillow pet! Her name is Mavis (I introduced her earlier this week on my post after my surgery).

Monday, August 8^th

The Day has Finally Arrived! Here I am looking all chipper, ready to head into surgery.

And here I am afterward – don’t I just look blissed out?

And here I am in my room trying to look cute.

Tuesday, August 9^th  

One of the many excellent uses of Mavis. She was a great lap desk!

Dr. M went home on Tuesday to do some stuff around the house & theoretically get a good night’s sleep. He took this picture – made me smile.

Here I am at 9:00 at night wondering if I’ll be able to stay awake for the Braves game. The answer is no.

Wednesday, August 10^th  

I was awake at 5:00 taking my pain meds. I was just dozing off when I glanced out the window & saw the sun rise.

I look ready to go home, don’t I?

They sprung me! And I took a picture of this great car – the license plate says: TWDY PIE

Isn’t the sky beautiful? I thought maybe I just thought it was pretty because I’d just been sprung, but I’m pretty sure that you think it’s pretty too. [Note: I am still taking pain meds]

Here I am taking a picture of mobile me. I was instructed to keep both hands on the handles young lady because that’s a wheeled walker thank you very much.

Thursday, August 11^th       

Busted! Dr. M thought it would be cute to take a picture of me coming around the corner, but then he got all annoyed because I was trying to carry my netbook at the same time. As it happens, he was right – that thing was very tricky to try to carry that way!

To soothe his temper, he went outside & took pictures of green things.

Friday, August 12^th

The home health care folks stopped by yesterday, but today is the day I remembered to check out the folder they gave me. I decided to not be offended by the first insert I saw. Heh.

Our neighbors stopped by to see how we’re doing & brought me the cutest little miniature rose. Thanks K & R!

Dr. M took a picture of the moon. Love it!

Saturday, August 13^th

The weekly squirrel. Doing some silly squirrel thing.

Look – I’m wearing a different shirt! Just in case someone was worried about my wardrobe.

Here’s my little futon nest – you can see Mavis’s backside there. Sometimes it’s just more comfortable to have something at my back when I’m sleeping on my side.

I’m doing a lot of sleeping and working seek-a-word puzzles. That’s about all my brain can handle currently. I will probably visit all your blogs, but whether or not you get a (coherent) comment will be hit or miss.

Go to Sara’s blog here to see the blogs of all the other Project 365 participants. Have a great week!

Thankful Thursday

Well, I have a lot to be thankful for this week! I'm sitting in my own home composing this post from the comfort of our futon. I got discharged today about 3:30 or so. I'll have home health care come in for two weeks to do blood draws (because I'm on coumadin to thin my blood) & help with physical therapy. The PT in the hospital wasn't bad at all - I think I'll ace this recuperation. As I said to Dr. M today, I don't know why I couldn't just go ahead & go back to work now. There's the little issue of not being cleared to drive yet, but otherwise I think it would be a breeze to go back to work. Heh. Daddy & Amy are coming to visit & help out on the 22nd so I'll be taking my full three weeks off no matter what I think about the situation.

Dr. M has just been the BEST. He worked hard to get the house ready for me & a walker. We were a little concerned about me and this potential weapon, but he did such a good job so no worries here. While he was out getting my prescriptions filled I snuck* and took a couple of pictures. The first one is showing how he fixed the kitchen so I could actually go between the table & the refrigerator. The second one is me at the wheel, so to speak - aren't I always taking pictures while I'm on the go? As you can see, life is good right now.

So, what are you thankful for today?

* I don't think I knew until just now that snuck wasn't a real word. I use it all the time, so I consider it to be a word. I mean, I wouldn't use a made up word, would I? Heh.

She's Alive (and slightly loopy from the meds)

My second dose of pain meds is about to kick in, so this will be brief. I survived my surgery - glad to have the easy part over. Now on to physical therapy - yikes!

My doctor said that the arthritis in that hip might have been caused by the construction of my hip at birth - something wasn't quite right. I had wondered how I got arthritis in that hip at age 41!

Here are some pictures from today - keep in mind that I look ROUGH. It's to be expected I reckon. But I have no shame, so I don't have any problems posting these. Heh.

Before all the poking & prodding began

Ah yes, the meds are kicking in now...

Post surgery - feeling pretty good.

We just really like this chair in my room :)

The view outside my window

Wherever we go there's always a sheep. Ha!

Mike got me a penguin pillow pet! Her name is Mavis & I will be sleeping with her tonight. 

Well, tomorrow is predicted to be rough - apparently they take their physical therapy seriously around here. You know I'll be letting you know how it goes - but maybe not until later this week.

Well, the baseball game is about to start. Have a great week everyone!

Monday Miscellany

I know I know – it’s not Monday yet. But you all know where I’ll be on Monday morning. My alarm is going off at 4 a.m. so I can shower off with the special liquid soap (It’s pink! And kinda slimy!) and then leave the house shortly before 5 a.m. for our hour long journey to the hospital so we can meet the arrival time of 6 a.m. and then do all the pre-op things for my 8 a.m. surgery. Whew! It’s like getting to the airport two hours early only the pat-down is a little more intense.

I can’t eat or drink anything after midnight, which means I’ve already had my pre-surgery meal – spicy chicken filet sandwich from Wendy’s. That might not have been the wisest choice, but I am no gastronomic wimp!

I was anointed with oil at church this morning – that laying on of hands is pretty powerful business. And I’ve had an overwhelming outpouring of virtual laying on of hands. I wonder if that’s why I have to use the special pink soap? I jest, because that’s what I do – but I am so incredibly thankful for all of you guys. I’m so at peace that I’ll be skipping into surgery in the morning. Except for the skipping part.

Now I’m going to ask for a favor of you all. Once I’m in surgery I’ll pretty much be out of it & not caring what’s going on. But Dr. M will be waiting by himself & chewing off any remaining fingernails. He could use some of the peace I’m feeling – could you please wish it for him?

I’ll leave you with a gift that he gave me yesterday. You know I had been trying to take pictures of the Queen Anne’s Lace that’s so abundant right now. We took a little drive up to his school so he could deal with some paperwork & on the way back he stopped so I could take these pictures.

Can you see? I’m in the center there, surrounded by delicate, perfect love. Thanks!

2011 Project 365 – Week Thirty-Two

I know I’ve already talked about it a lot (will she EVER just SHUT UP?), but my hip surgery is on Monday. I really appreciate all the thoughts & prayers that everyone has expressed so far. I’m actually looking forward to it at this point. And, bonus, I get a few weeks off of work too! Watch this space: there may be blogging from the hospital.

For now, here’s my week. If you want to see more pictures, go check out Dr. M’s blog post from today.

Sunday, July 31^st   

We had our annual church picnic Sunday afternoon. I got to interview Ms. Phyllis for our church newsletter. She taught school for many years before she retired to cheat at scrabble at church picnics. Just kidding. Although I’ve been told that she does cheat.

Here are some other pics of the day – our hosts had a new pontoon boat. We had a great time tooling around on a hot day.

Monday, August 1^st

Here’s our cement pond picture of the week.

The weekly squirrel. Sigh.

The ground crew.

Tuesday, August 2^nd   

What, me steal green tomatoes?

We’re really enjoying seeing this juvenile woodpecker. Dr. M has more woodpecker pictures on his blog today.

Wednesday, August 3^rd

It’s a purple pepper! Our golden ones look pretty ripe too. We think. How can you tell when you’ve never grown one before? We’re going to do the taste test later this week.

Our chickadee.

Thursday, August 4^th       

Our first tomato! They sure have taken their time getting ripe this year.

It’s a buckeye butterfly. But I don’t see any chocolate or peanut butter so I’m not sure I believe it. Heh.

It’s the State of the Bug. Have you ever had a time when you had to go too badly to even brush your hair? Apparently I was having just such a day on Thursday. It was my second ultrasound in two weeks – this one for the uterus area (the first one didn't show any kidney issues). My facebook status for that moment was: Waiting on my ultrasound - they'd better hurry or things could get embarrassing! I’ll find out the results next week.

Friday, August 5^th

Lots of pictures today. Dr. M took some pictures in our back yard. The cypress vine is doing its usual takeover.

Birds! I know, you never see birds on here… We’re thinking the blue one is maybe a White Breasted Nut Hatch.

Our garden.

And here’s the Tax Time Pig, looking pretty in purple.

Lookit! I made a tool! My boss had closed my blinds & then left, & I couldn’t reach to open them back up. So I put a paperclip on the cane handle. It worked fabulously.

  

Saturday, August 6^th

Double double lilies!

My first ham, cheese & homegrown tomato sandwich of the year. (Please ignore the dirty dishes & bread crumbs on the counter. Thank you.)

Go to Sara’s blog here to see the blogs of all the other Project 365 participants. Have a great week!

Mom Boxes Rerun

I was going to write something new for the Poetry Jam. Chris from Enchanted Oak has asked us to write a poem about the loss of something beloved. I wanted to maybe talk about my beloved lunch bag that I lost a few months ago, or my mobility, or the more recent loss of my mother-in-law. And I might come up with something new later on because the topic intrigues me. However, for now, I'm bringing out a poem I wrote almost a year ago. I didn't change the passage of time in the poem, but if you're keeping track, it would now be six years, one hundred thirty seven days and one hour, give or take.

Mom Boxes

It's been
five years, one hundred
forty two days and
four and one half hours
(give or take)
since you left.

I have boxes that
store my memories -
good and bad.
I sometimes mix them up -
thinking I'm opening
the 30th birthday box
and there you are -
five years, one hundred
forty two days and
four and one half hours
ago (give or take).

Frantic,
I open boxes
willy nilly
only to find you
there in all of them.

Here is my wedding day,
and here is that trip
to look at colleges,
and the time I busted my chin,
and the time you came to Africa,
and there you are just beyond
the window where I can't
see you anymore.

I am a woman grown
and it's been
five years one hundred
forty two days and
four and one half hours
(give or take),
and obviously
(obviously),
we aren't done yet,
are we?

Please go here to read other elegies.

Thankful Thursday on a Wednesday Night

This is my last Thankful Thursday…until after my hip surgery. So, that right there is something to be thankful about! What else?

·         I’m thankful that I actually woke up on time this morning – I have no memory of hearing or turning off my alarm clock.

·         I love that I make myself laugh on a daily basis. Like today when I almost had a worker’s comp claim when I injured myself putting new staples in the stapler. Really! That thing is a menace!

·         I also laughed as I was trying to take pictures of the Queen Anne’s Lace that is so abundant on the roadsides right now.

·         Oh look – I was somewhat successful. Kinda hard when you’re driving…

·         Here’s another thing I was laughing about. I was grousing that there was so much traffic on my way home – why there are about 10 cars in front of me! Usually there are only about two or three. I guess I’m a little bit spoiled.

·         I’m so so thankful that at least for now there’s nothing wrong with my kidneys.

·         I’m just beyond thankful for the squirrel in our back yard that is causing Dr. M to guffaw in the kitchen. The squirrel is burying sunflower seeds all over our yard & then running back under the bird feeder to get more – scattering all the sparrows as he goes. Dr. M is calling it Bowling for Sparrows. Too funny!

OK, that’s enough for now. What are you thankful for?

Random Thoughts While Waiting at the Doctor's Office

[Note: if you're looking for Monday Miscellany, look no further. There isn't one.]

This afternoon after I had been sitting in the inner office for about 15 minutes waiting for the doctor to come in & tell me about my test results, I had these random thoughts:

• I really need to pee. Should I risk going now, or wait?
• Man, my nails are a mess.
• I wish I had brought a book to read. There aren't even any interesting disease pamphlets in here.
• I wonder if I would get in trouble if I tried the reflex hammer on myself? (After picturing my potential black eye I back away from the hammer).
• The girl on the Gardasil poster looks too young to be having sex.
• I am officially an old fuddy duddy.
• I wonder if I'm going to EVER stop shedding. I might need to shave my head. Or pretend we have shag carpet. Eww!
• My doctor sure has ridden in a lot of Multiple Sclerosis bike fundraisers. Good for her!
• My handwriting is terrible! I wonder if I'll be able to read these notes when I go to put them on my blog.
• Maybe I'll read one of these diabetes pamphlets after all.
• Well that was not interesting. I sure hope I don't have diabetes because the only precaution I already follow is brushing & flossing my teeth.
• I called Dr. M just now to say I would be late.
• Yay! It's the doctor!
• Yay! All is copacetic (no kidney issues)!
• Except the blood test results didn't come back. Now I'm waiting to see if I have to give more blood. Sigh.
• Snuck out out to pee.
• Texted Dr. M.
• I'm eyeing the hammer thingie again. (Back. Away. From. The. Hammer)
• Oh joy, here comes the carton-o-blood vials. I'm a pin cushion!

So, after an hour and a half I got to leave the doctor's office with an order for another ultrasound. The first one showed "a 2-3 cm hypoechoic lesion, abutting the fundus of the uterus." What in the world! Could it be my broken tail bone? Stay tuned for the further adventures of The Bug, in "Can't I Just Have Hip Surgery & Be Done With It?"