It's Gone!!!

The cast is off and the stitches are gone. They said it was healing nicely and I have to wear a brace for a while. I'm not sure how long they said to wear it; until the incisions heal I guess.

I go back in 3 weeks for a re-check.

My wrist actually hurts more now because it can move more now, but it is still ok. Not as painful as pre-surgery.

Spring Break Awaits

Or what there is of it, anyway. But I go to the doctor tomorrow afternoon and hopefully I'll get rid of my cast and stitches. THEN, on Friday I'llgo to Hunting Island SP.

I have it all planned. Neal will load the heavy stuff in the car for me and I'll leave the food and cooler in there instead of unloading it. I'm not planning to set up the screen house anyway, so I'll just put the stove on the table and use my car for a pantry.

I can set up my tent and get my things into it.

I need to work on getting our tax stuff ready for H&R Block so we can go the week I get back. And I never have gotten the progress reports finished yet. But I am so looking forward to getting away and being by myself, just for a little while. It will be restorative.

Back at Work

People seemed to be surprised that I was back at work...I guess they are used to people that take a looong time to recover.

I am tired though....and my hand is kind of achy, so I think I'm pretty much going to call it a night.

Happy Birthday for Me!

Today was a very nice day! Sarah cooked lunch and Rachel was able to stop by and eat with us. She gave me the Joe Newberry cd that I wanted. Neal gave me a very sweet card and a portable flush toilet to take camping. It will be nice when I am camping by myself b/c I can just put it in the tent and I won't have to go out to the bathhouse in the middle of the night.

Oh and I got unfriended again! This tinme by Donnie Scott. I guess he falls into that category of people that only wants friends who think like he thinks. Oh well....

I got lots of Happy Birthday wishes from Facebook friends and emails too. My principal even called to see how I was feeling. Nice.

Flowers and Gifts

I had dinner tonight with Thom & Melissa (for my birthday). Thom fixed his wonderful grilled pork roast and Melissa fixed a lemon meringue pie. It was all delicious and it was so great that Anne and Sarah could go with Neal and me. I also got Barnes and Noble gift cards fro Thom & Melissa and Florence, Thom's mom. That was a surprise and really thoughtful.

Today I had a visit from all five of the Oliver-Martinez family...Mariela, Amanda, John Paul, Sr., John Paul, Jr. and Jean Renee. They brought me the lovely flowers shown here. All of this and my birthday isn't even until tomorrow!

Two Days After

Today I vacuumed some and did some laundry. I think I may actually be able to go camping after all because my hand is feeling great!

I can tell when I have overdone though.

Most exciting news is that I took a shower and washed my hair. Sarah helped me wrap my arm up in a trashbag and close it with rubberbands.

Here is a photo taken the day after my surgery.

Not Too Bad

I am not really having any pain. I came through the procedure very well and as a bonus, my OR nurse was Dalton Shaver! I hadn't seen him in years.

So now I have to figure out how to bath and wash my hair with one arm in a plastic bag!

I've had some visitors; Mom came and Carissa came with Braxton. Jenny called and so did Tracy. Tracy says she is coming tomorrow.

I've almost finished Alaska!

Can't type much though, so this is it for now!

Today Is the Day...

I don't know what this will bring...I am just hanging around, doing schoolwork, waiting. Trying not to dread it and hoping I don't throw up.

I wish I could have a cup of coffee or something to eat!

Surgery Tomorrow....

At noon. I have to be there at 11:00 AM. Nothing to eat or drink after midnight. I'm so tempted to stay up eating and drinking!

But actually I am kind of tired and I'll be going to bed soon. It's so nice that I don't have to hear the alarm for the next few days. What a pleasure! Not worth having surgery to get it though.

I feel a little anxious about it, but not that much. My main concern is the stuff I won't be able to do afterwards, like wash my hair or get dressed easily! Good thing I can stay in my jammies with dirty hair for a few days.

One More Day

One more day before I have carpal tunnel surgery.

My hairdresser says that it won't help and it will come back. Not sure where he got his medical degree, but he seemed certain about it.

I do have some anxiety about the recovery; I'm thinking I probably won't get to go camping, but I haven't ruled it out yet. I'm more concerned about things like washing my hair and that sort of thing.

Well, not much else to say. I need to put some pintos on to soak to cook in the crockpot for tomorrow and then get back to my assessments and progress reports.

So long for now!

PS-I don't guess I'll be able to do much blogging the first few days. So, even if I hadn't already broken my resolution, I would have to!

Goodwill Shopping

I went to visit Bob today and keep him company while Rachel and Ben were gone. He didn't really need me there, except I did help him put on his socks; they are compression socks, to prevent blood clots and he can't bend over to get them on. He really just didn't want to be alone all day in case he did have a problem or needed something that he couldn't manage. He's doing very well though.

Aaron came a little after 1:00 with some lunch so I left and went to the Lexington Goodwill. I didn't find that much except I did score another 100% cashmere sweater for unraveling as well as a pair of wooden candlesticks and a lamp. The candlesticks were very cute but were painted a yucky gold color so I sanded them some and they are in the process of being painted an off-white. I still need to put another coat on so I am letting them dry really well.

The lamp is a glass and brass lamp; it is not too terrible looking as it is but I may paint it white too, or maybe just the brass parts white. I'm not sure; I'll wait and see what strikes my fancy. But, it would look cute in Sarah's room painted white with a green checked lampshade out of her curtain fabric. Here is a photo of one that looks similar. I found this on the Centsational Girl blog.

Rachel's Paper

Rachel called tonight and we talked for a long time. I was trying to help her sound out ideas for a paper she has to write involving the Church and charity. One of the ideas I had was that that we know what the recipients get out of the charity the Church shows, but what do the vounteers/employees of charitable institutions receive?

Anyway, I hope that talking can help; it is good to have someone to bounce ideas off of.

Tomorrow I am going to help Bob C. for a couple of hours. He had a hip replacement a little more than a week ago. His wife and son will be gone for the day and he still can't do everything by himself, so I am going to help out.

And what am I getting out of that? The pleasure of knowing that I can help out a friend who needs me. I really believe that what goes around comes around and I am not expecting a return on my gift of time, but I just believe that by being helpful it creates positive energy in the world.

I really believe that all good things come from God and by doing good works, you are setting God's love in motion for the rest of the world.

And, it is good to feel needed. There has to be a balance because some people don't feel useful unless someone needs them. I am quite happy to not be needed most of the time, but I think that it is a sad person who never has any obligations or demands/requests for their time.

Speaking of demands for time, I am going to demand that I get off of the computer and probably eat ice cream for supper and then read and go to bed. I actually finished my lesson plans at work because I have so many assessments/progress reports to do over the weekend that I needed to at least get the plans out of the way before leaving work. BUT, tonight is mine just to read and enjoy myself.

So, goodbye and goodnight.

Pizza, Pizza and More Pizza

Today I ate pizza for all three meals.

For breakfast, I had some school breakfast pizza left over from last Friday. I didn't bring lunch today so I had to buy from the cafeteria and my choice was a corndog or pizza. I have never eaten a corndog and I'm not going to start now, so it was pizza...again.

Tonight I volunteered to do childcare at school for the ESL Family Night and they were serving....yep.....pizza! I even brought a whole one home as a bonus.

So, that is a lot of pizza in one day, and none of it too awfully good.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Today is my friend Bob's birthday; for so many years we had birthday parties together because we are the same age; only 11 days apart. Maybe we'll throw a big one for our 6oth in three years!

It's strange to see yourself and your friends getting old. For a long time I didn't really see myself aging very much. I mean, there were little signs; my skin wasn't as firm, I began to get those jowly things at my jawline, etc. But during my fifties, I feel like I have really gotten older.

But, I don't really care that much. I still feel the same as I did when I were a child. And if I feel that way, I think that probably everyone else feels that way too. We see ourselves as we feel and then we look in the mirror and it's shocking...who is that person looking back?

I know my gray hair makes me look older. There are certain people who will remain nameless who want me to color it; they are mostly my age or near it. I think by looking at me with gray hair, they feel older so it makes them uncomfortable. Or they just think that gray hair makes me look just OLD. But, this is the color hair I have and to color it it just a waste of time and money for me. And I'll have to admit; I hate gray roots! To me, gray roots are worse than any other kind of roots. It's like your secret has been exposed; you are not who you seem to be!

So, I'll stick with the gray hair, even though other people treat me differently because of it. Especially people who work in stores, etc. They don't look at my face; they just look at the hair and they see gray hair so they think "old person". I get called things like "sweetie" and "little lady" and (the worst of all) "young lady" by people who are often younger, but sometimes every bit as old as I am.

I would just like to say, "I know you are trying to be nice, but that just doesn't make me feel very good, so please don't call me young lady."

Or I could just slap them, but I'm really not the violent type. Most of the time.

Instead what I would like people to see when they look at a person with gray hair is wisdom and knowledge and all of the experiences that we have accumulated in our still too few years of life.

I'm patient, I have an incredible sense of perspective that I didn't have as a young person. I know that things will always work out, not because I am some unthinking optimist, but because I have learned that there is a solution for every problem and with time, it can be found.

I understand that people don't always tell the truth, not because they want to lie but because they are afraid for some reason. I've learned that even though people can do terrible things, inside they do not see themselves as terrible.

I don't feel the urge to "make every minute count", that it is okay just to be, to enjoy your life, to feel happiness for no reason other than that you are alive and that your day is full of potential. So having said that, Happy St. Patrick's Day and Happy Birthday Bob.

Beware....

Today is March 15...the Ides of March. To be honest, I couldn't really remember exactly what it is except that I thought it had something to do with Caesar....so I did what anyone thinking person does when they want to learn more about a topic...I Googled it.

Okay, so I was right. This is the day in 44 BC that Julius Caesar was killed by Brutus and some other people.

So, in other news...

My cat bites look really bad. I am going to go take a bath and read AND soak my hand in the warm water before applying the peroxide, alcohol, antibiotic ointment and bandaids. And then, bed.

I hate daylight savings time. Really.

Oh, for other news. Amy told me today that her daughter Sarah is pregnant and due on August 8. She and her boyfriend have no plans to marry, not anytime soon and they are looking for their own place since they are both living with Austin and his girlfriend in the house in Galax.

Amy seems very happy. She said that she never thought she'd live long enough to see a grandchild born.

Cat Attack

I got attacked by my cat today. It was my fault, but really, did he have to bite me so hard??? And in so many places?

Here's what happened. Normally we keep Marmalade confined to the sunroom during the day because he and Styles do NOT get along and Styles spends a lot of his time stalking Marmie and then there will be a screaming fight with actual fur flying, etc. So, we just keep them apart.

I thought that maybe Marmie would like to trade places with Styles and let him be confined to the sunroom for a day, so Neal and I each got hold of a cat and traded places.

Apparently Marmalade was not happy with the arrangement because a short time later I walked into my bathroom floor only to find that he had peed all over it. It was back to the sunroom for him!

So, Neal and I cornered him in the dining room and I grabbed him. He promptly began to scream and struggle. I held on tight...and that's when he played his winning card and bit the crap out of me. On two hands! In multiple places.



And, to add insult to the very real injury, the worst bite was on my right hand...the one that is hurting day and night because of my carpal tunnel. The one that I will have surgery on in 10 days.

So, as soon as I could slow the bleeding down, I grabbed a towel first and we did it all again. He tried but with that towel thrown over him and protecting me, his efforts were in vain.

He is confined to the sunroom for the rest of his life. But isn't it hard to believe that this sweet, innocent looking cat could be so vicious?

Alaska

Alaska is the book for this month's book club meeting, which happens to be Tuesday. But, I am not going to finish the book in time. It is a looooong book! It's very interesting though, which surprised me, because I am not a huge fan of the state.

I have been reading today, interspersed with vacuuming, mopping and hand applying this shine product to the kitchen floor. I am putting on two coats because our floors look so awful. And down on my hands and knees, they look even worse; gouges in places, scratches and there are places where the finish has pretty much worn off and the wood is actually darker from being soiled.

Anyway, this stuff is by Holloway House and it is called Quick Shine. The bottle says that you can apply up to six coats! It does improve the look of the floor.

I also figured out how to take the front part of the oven door off and clean it. I also pulled the stove and frig out and cleaned behind them. And of course my hand is hurting. My surgery is in a week and a half. It will be interesting to see how I get along; a week and a day after the surgery I am planning to go camping at Hunting Island State Park.

I am still planning to go, but I think that I will use some of my Hilton Honors points to get a room in Beaufort for Thursday night and then camp for Fri/Sat/Sun nights. We have to be back at work on Tuesday, I think.

I guess I will go by myself. No one has said that they want to go, and really, I think I might enjoy being all by myself. It will do me good to get away and not have to be responsible for anyone or deal with anyone's problems. So, just to keep me thinking about Easter, here is a photo of Hunting Island SP.

Happy Friday!

I am so glad it is Friday. I worked till past 7:30 tonight and I still lesson plans to do, cot sheets to wash and two assessments/progress reports to do. Why only two? Because that is all I brought home! I have only done two so the two I'll do this weekend means I only have 11 more to go! I should have had these done in February! But, with being sick and my carpal tunnel, I didn't get them done.

So, better late than never is what I say.

Anne and Sarah have gone to see Rachel so it is just Neal and me...and the six cats. So, I am pretty much on cat duty all weekend.

I wasn't able to go to sleep till after 2:00 AM this morning, so I am tired. I'm ready for a hot bath and reading. I am never going to finish this book (James Michener's Alaska) by Tuesday for the reading club, but I need to give it my best shot. I am only about 3/4" into the book. It's a really thick book. It's very interesting though.

So, I guess that is it for now. Happy Friday to me and everyone else who gets to have a weekend.

Happy Birthday Mom, Again....

Today is my mom's actual birthday. She is 82. We had her over last night for a delicious dinner that Sarah cooked.

Sarah and Anne have gone to DC to see Rachel till Sunday. Tomorrow they are going up to see Melissa; I hope Anne can get up and out in a reasonable time in the morning so they aren't so late getting up there.

I broke down this morning and called the doctor, who called in a prescription for me. I think I do need an antibiotic. I am not getting any better and it seems that every day something new hurts; yesterday it was my throat and now today, my ears have joined it. And I am coughing up the loveliest color of mucus...if you like slime green, that is.

Since the girls are gone, the litterboxes are all mine. I am going to send some photos off in an email for Neal and then attack the litterboxes...and then I think I will attack my bed and the book I am reading.

Happy Birthday Mom!

I just wrote a post and something went wrong with the blogger in the sky and it ALL disappeared. Arghhhhhhh!

I'm not writing it again.

Enough Is Enough...

Okay God, this just isn't funny anymore. I am sick of being sick. This morning it was the sinus headache that woke me up at 4:00 AM that just wasn't amusing....and the all day coughing and on and on it goes.

Now I am not actually blaming you God but someone is responsible for this and I don't really think it is me, or at least, not me on purpose. Maybe I am not doing something I should do or doing something I shouldn't but I obviously don't have a clue as to what that is.

So I guess what I really want is some insight here on what I need to do to get better.

Tomorrow I go for a chest x-ray because of my upcoming carpal tunnel surgery. I have to have it because I have asthma.

I keep getting letters from people who will be involved with the surgery telling me what my copay or my share after the estimated insurance has been applied will be. I'm not even adding them up. I don't even care. My only concern is that I hope this surgery takes care of the problem in my hand or I am going to be mighty disappointed.

And I hope I can still go camping over Easter. That will just be a little more than a week after my surgery but I'll have the stitches out by then, I think. I am not going to be very happy if I have to stay here for Easter. Although I do like the church services during the Easter season and also I like my mom's Easter dinner.

Well, now I am going to go crash in the den, drink the tea Sarah made for me and try to feel somwhat human.

Oh yeah, and I can't find my school camera either. I could use some help with that too.

Forgetful Me

I also forgot to post something yesterday. Which isn't that bad considering I don't have that much to say.

I will write about the Rededication/Open House at the Vet Safety Net.

This is the house in High Point where John lives; it's operated by a group called Caring Services, in affiliation with the Veterans Administration.

The big rambling building, formerly a funeral home, was, by all accounts, very drab and rundown. A volunteer, Pat Phelps, recruited a designer friend of hers (Alan Ferguson) to redo it, mostly painting. However, they just jumped way into the project and ended up with a near total renovation of the living quarters.

Nasty old indoor/outdoor carpet was replaced by wood floors, all of the walls were painted warm and contemporary colors; new moldings went up; new furnishings including rugs, draperies and bedspreads/pillow shams AND original art were donated. It looks fantastic!

John is very proud of it. He was one of the vets that did a lot of the work during the renovation. And it has been good for him as well since Pat Phelps has some properties where John has been able to get some work.

Mom, Neal, Sarah, Anne and I were all there for the lunch, short ceremony and tour. We are proud of him and happy for him.

Soon he will have been sober for a year. His life is going well and I am really hoping he continues to do well and choose a good life for himself.

My Second Favorite Day of the Week

Friday is my most favorite day of the week, obviously because it is the beginning of the weekend and Saturday is my second.

I went to bed fairly early last night after watching a movie (My One and Only) and eating two bowls of popcorn for dinner. I slept pretty well I think...(because you can be sleeping badly and not know since you are asleep) but at least my cough and congestion seem to be somewhat improved today.

It is a lovely day today; blue skies, sunshine and predicted temperatures of near 60. I am going to go kayaking this afternoon for a while at Lake Thomalex. I have wanted to go for so long and for one reason or another, I haven't. Now it is less than three weeks until my carpal tunnel surgery and I need to make kayaking a priority. Post surgery, it will be at least a couple of months or more before I can go.

I also need to do laundry, begin getting tax info together, do some cleaning and I still want to do some sewing; I'd like to make another set of pillowcases for the pillows my students use for rest. And, the closet in my sewing room is one huge mess so I need to start working on that. Not to mention the renovation projects I have waiting to do.

But, I'm definitely going kayaking.

PS-I didn't go.

I was so tired after cleaning (thoroughly cleaning) my bathroom, and I stil had things to do. Vacuumed and dusted the den and my right hand was really hurting. Trying to get up the energy to finish unloading and then load the dishwasher, but I don't want to. What I really want to do is go to bed and read.

I may have to accept the fact that between my bronchial problems and my carpal tunnel, I might not be able to go kayaking until the summer. Not happy about that. Not happy at all.

If I Were Queen of the World

If I were Queen of the World, I would wave my wand and get a job in DC for Jason. He is so discouraged from looking for the last several months. He is tired of camping in their condo and having this strange half-life existence a seven hour minimum from Rachel.

And she is so sad that he is not there. Her school and internship are going really well but missing her boyfriend and the financial strains are really difficult.

Everyday I pray that he will find a job soon.

He is really an awesome person; so smart and engaging; so on top of things. I can't believe someone hasn't scooped him up by now.

I kind of passed out briefly before dinner. I was really hungry and dinner wasn't ready and it was after 7:00. And I was tired, so I laid down on the couch and the next thing I knew, Neal was shaking me and saying that Rachel was on the phone and dinner was ready.

Anne had salmon, brown rice and sauteed vegetables. Yummy....

Now, I think I will go to bed and read for a while. I am reading Alaska by James Michener. It's very interesting, which is surprising because I didn't expect it to be.

Back to Normal

I am feeling better again...I drank so much water last night to thin the mucus...I know that is too much detail for a blog, but this is my journal, so in it goes!

Everytime I woke up during the night I drank water and drank a couple of glasses before I went to bed. I also made sure to take my medicine and use my nasal spray. Gee...what you have to do to breathe.

I read some really sad news today; Marcy Brenner and Lou Castro, who attended the church that I went to at Ocracoke this past summer, just lost their daughter Charlotte. She was little, I'm not sure how old and she had some kind of a disability, but I don't know what. I read on one of my Ocracoke blogs today by Kate that the entire island was mourning the death of a "beautiful child" and then on Philip Howard's blog someone posted a comment about it.

Marcy and Lou are musicians; she is a breast cancer surviver and they seem like very nice people. Although I haven't been formally introduced, we sat behind them in church and I enjoyed the work they did with the children during the services. I can't even begin to imagine the pain and loss they are feeling at this moment.

Well, I guess that is it for tonight. My thoughts and prayers are with all of those who are suffering. May God lift their burden and supply their needs. The order in which He does it is His choice.

Okay, Now This is Ridiculous

I just finished taking my prednisone yesterday, felt really, really great and today, I'm getting congested and I feel bad.

I'm really getting tired of this.

My head kind of hurts and my eyes hurt so I have made some tea and I am heading to the den to eat Milk Duds, drink tea and read. And maybe watch tv. If Law and Order is on.

Weather Update: We are having snow; it's pretty. It's not sticking to the roads which is even prettier.

Forgot Again....

Okay, so I have broken my New Year's Resolution twice now.....I have forgotten to write my blog again.

I did update with photos from Friday night, so I guess I was thinking that I had done it. Oh well....

Today was a little rough at school; the kids were not very good. There were horrible on Friday so I guess they are still carrying it over till today. One of them actually came in asleep and laid across a table and slept for an hour, with his backpack and coat on. All attempts to arouse him were unsuccessful. I took a photo of it and sent it home with him today along with a note of how he was so sleepy and that young children needed to be in bed by 8:00. I hope she didn't think it was funny.

Another child's mom wanted us to keep him till 2:30 (we dismiss about 1:50) so she could pick him up for his doctor appointment and another one failed to return her child's permission slip to attend the play tomorrow. This was after I called her on Friday, which is when they were due. Another parent has only written one book on her child's reading log in 10 days and still another had only written 2.

Geesh....

I think that reproduction shouldn't be one of people's basic rights...I think that fertility should be latent and then after a person takes parenting classes and agrees to provide at least a basic level of decent care for a child, then, and only then, should their fertility be activated.