Oh, N0..........What Have I Done?

This delivered with much grinding of teeth and heart rending groans.  No, I have not fallen down again......this is disaster of a totally different kind..........Lois accepting herself as capable of the most unblievable stupidity...........

Only a smidgeon of a teaser today.........yesterday I was rattled to the tips of my pink toes by the discovery that I had created the most incredible blunder in the midst of the afghan I  had just finished crocheting..........somewhere in the middle of the thing at about the 30" x 45" point I had negligently overlooked the process of creating the 4th corner and ended up with a........an abomination.........a partially 3 cornered afghan.  Don't ask me how I could have managed this amazing feat........I can only blame my feeble condition, my less than perfect vision and the fact tht I have b een so enthralled with watching Consolee whip out HER afghan in less than a week (gasp) that I simply neglected keeping tabs on what I was doing. 

Anyway, I have had to rip about half of the damned thing and it did cause me much pain to have to do so not to mention much questioning of my mental faculties............it takes so little to send an old person into fits of worry about dementia that I have attacks of terror several times a day these days........sigh.

Anyway,  I am bravely confessing my idiocy in the hope that you will forgive this offering of a partially indigestible morsel instead of a full meal.  As I have  been known to promise all too frequently............
more later.  hmmmm....I wonder how long I can keep getting away with that?

Shower, Smogchk, Sushi

What, you may well ask, do the title subjects have in common?  Actually, not a damned thing, intrinsically, except that they happened to be items on a mental list I made while dozing off the other nite.

For a long time now......way before the Terrible Tumble, I have been in the habit of making mental "to do" lists and storing them in the corner of my brain with only the first letter of the word..........yes, I know that is a risky system but I have proceeded on the premise that, if the letter is "M" I am more likely to need Marjoram or Margarine or Mushrooms  rather than Morphine or Marijuana.........

Anyway, off I drifted with three "S"s on my little list and when I woke up I actually remembered that I wanted to:

* take a shower (hey, I know it doesn't sound like a big thing to YOU, but when your shower routine involves inserting your bod into the shower stall by transferring from the walker via the use of 3 or 4 strategically positioned grab bars in order to get your fanny comfortably nestled on the shower seat, it becomes a bit more complicated than just stepping in and getting wet.)

* take my car to the mechanic to get a smog certificate for my vehicle registration renewal.  (seemingly simple but I could not remember the name of the shop nor could I find it in my little phone book....fortunately I did remember where it was located.......)  I could hardly believe that my car needed a smog check.....I bought in in 2004 and only have 10,000 miles on it.....where do I go? .....to the doctor and the supermarket....it is practically brand new.........the DMV doesn't care......bureaucrats!

* take Consolee, my wonderful caretaker, out for a Sushi dinner  (I am crazy for sushi and found that she loves it too) at my favorite sushi restaurant.

Amazingly, we actually accomplished all three objectives...........what a frabjous day.  Delicious shower, got the smogcheck and had a sensational dinner which I am still salivating over in memory.

All in all, things are definitely looking up.  I am getting around quite well with the walker and wheel chair and am relishing the company of my Angel...........how very weird..........here is this hermit who couldn't bear to have anyone around for more than half an hour once a week......turned into this unrecognizable person who regretfully bids goodnite to her pal after only 12 hours.....)  big problem now is what I am going to do if and when I have to give her up.......I have pondered adopting her.........will have to give more thought to that problem anon.

So that is my story for today.......take it or leave it........for the moment it is my best work.

A Little Bit of Everything

Well, it seems to be Wednesday........I am only sure about that because the Pool Man is here.  I seem to  be slowly getting my faculties back, except for some worries about my memory having been fried by the fever and the drugs.....I spent an anxious half hour lying in bed this morning trying to remember the name of the large Greek Island out there near Rhodes.........finally gave up in despair feeling doomed to go thru the rest of my life having to look in my wallet to see what my name is.......then, just a moment ago it came to me......I think it is Crete and I think my name is Lois.....I will just be thankful for small favors......

I have had lots of good news this week......I finally seem to have beaten the pneumonia....my xrays looked good and the niggling fever seems to be leaving....tenks gott.  I saw my surgeon 6 weeks to the day after he re built my hip and was pronounced relatively sound..........I can now put as much weight on that hip as is comfortable which means that if it doesn't hurt too much I can try to walk normally with the walker........my new walker tray made it possible for me to put my own breakfast cereal together and schepp it into the dining room for munching.  You have no idea how liberating that is!  I have dispensed with my nightshift caretaker and am slowly getting back to a more "normal" life.....whatever that may mean.

However, I am not ready to give up my wonderful daytime caretaker, Consolee.  She is my ticket to the outside world among many other things.  In fact, even if it isn't part of her job description she gave me one of my biggest laughs of the month yesterday.  She was driving me to my doctor's appointment and we were blasted out of our calm by one of those idiots who HAS to honk his horn frantically if you don't start to move the very moment the traffic light changes.  I, in my usual civilized fashion (windows closed, of course) uttered something typical like, "#$%&#%%.....go "f" yourself you miserable piece of garbage".  She simply said, "If you are in that much of a hurry to get there you should have left yesterday." 

Nothing I can say can top that so I am going to truncate this offering and try to add another chapter later.

Be well and happy, all.

sunday May 2

hell and damn.  I have been bonked by a recurrence of my fever.....not huge but enough to make me groggy and feel lousy......I guess I have not quite beaten the pneumonia yet....will know more tomorrow after I see the doctor.


Actually yesterday was the bad day....today my temp is normal so far but I am concerned.  This thing is dragging on much too long........it is now boring me to death.   I am completely losing Pollyanna and turning into world's #1 Bitch......gripe, gripe, whine, whine, complain, complain.   Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrggggggghhhhhh!

Awaiting Torture by the Physical Terrorist

Once again this will be a poor excuse for a blog, but as my dear Mamma used to say.....it is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

I am preparing my mind and bod for the hourlong session with Jay, my adorable physical therapist.  I sort of dread it beforehand, but, after it is over I always feel better and am thrilled at my progress even though I may ache for a while.....there is always Tylenol and it is a thrill to be able to lift my own leg up onto the footstool.

I have a new achievement to brag about............as some of you may know I have been doing a lot of crocheting durng the past 10 or 20 years...........actually I relearned the art back when Pete was alive and we used to sit in the den and watch sports on TV for hours......I decided there had to be something fruitful I could do during that time so I took up crocheting and have been producing prodigiously ever since....mostly afghans for friends and for the clients of Meals On Wheels (the wonderful charity who feeds the elderly, many of whom  are given our lap warmers on their birthdays.)  Of course I also keep the prettiest ones for myself.....why the hell not?....... and I have been enveloped in one while in my cosy chair for the past few weeks while playing out my version of Camille.......languishing theatrically (but certainly not wasting away.)

Anyway, I have this remarkable caregiver named  Consolee.........a gorgeous young woman from Rwanda, Africa, about whom I will write more later, but she was observing me looping away and said she wished she could do that.  I must confess that one of my worst lacks has always been the art of teaching, but I offered to try to teach her if she wanted to learn and, due to her extreme intelligence and my slightly improved patience she learned instantly and the two of us have been sittting together in the afternoons crocheting away looking like a tintype photograph of some ladies of 100 years ago....what a hoot......in less than a week she has produced a gorgeous scarf ,   off white with some stripes of olive green and turquoise, festooned here and there with a row of popcorn ball stitches and finishing in a fetching fringe.  She is crazy with joy over her scarf and her new skill.....claims it is great fun......and I am tickled to have been able to pass this pleasure on to her.  Who would have dreamed???  Perhaps she can keep the art from dying out or at least have a great time trying.  Anyway, it has  been a wonderful fringe  benefit of this odd adventure I am experiencing.  And, in the process I have made great progress on the afghan I am working on so it is a win-win situation.

Yesterday was not a great day for either of us.....dunno why we behaved like escapees from shock therapy or something, but today is better and if I survive the physical terrorist we plan to roast some barbequed pork chops for dinner along with a side dish of apple, cinnamon and brown sugar compote.  If you would  like to drop in, we have enough to share.

wednesday apr 21

Apologies to all..........I have turned into a poor excuse for a blogger.........todayI found more important things to do,,,,,,(if you can believe that)

Took my first shower in my newly equipped invalid shower stall festooned with metal grab bars at every possible spot....sheer heaven.  Then, to celebrate that mountain of clean hair which I have  been hiding under I went to the barber and got a haircut.........finally I can almost recognize that wizened old lady I have been seeing in the mirror.  Also entertained a guilt ridden friend who has been trying to come visit since I first fell down, so it was a pretty full day.

Do stick with me, folks........I still hope to get my momentum back one of these days.

Luv 'ya.

The Wandering MInd Beneath the Fevered Brow

 This may be a sort of stream of consciousness blog.........please forgive if it is a bit disorganized........after all, it is only 6 am and totally new territory for this Nite Person......sense of humor not awake yet.....only my center of gratitude is stirring.
 

* the lovelieness of just breathing, perhaps not without pain, but without effort.

* the deliciousness of sinking into your favorite recliner. ........leaning back full tilt and feeling cradled in a wonderful tender chair embrace...........practically orgasmic delight.

* Savoring a taste of the most incredible food on the planet........Great Greek Honey Flavored Yogurt.......my Sainted cuz, Jen, brought it into my life at a point when I doubted that anything could make me want to live..
One incredible spoonful and I was convinced that I had already died and gone to heaven and that God was personally spooning ambrosia into my mouth.  Talk about taste thrills..........I decided then and there that I had to live long enough to devour every blessed drop that came my way.  Oy, words fail me.........can you imagine that?

*  I will have to do an entire blog on this subject, maybe two or three, but for the moment I will simply mention, with wonder, the absolutely incredible joy an erstwhile hermit experiences upon being waited on hand and foot..........sigh.   Pollyanna is seizing control again, but the truth is that, without the disaster of the broken hip, I might never have had this most delicious experience.......go figure.

Sorry folks.......time to munch my bran flakes and strawberry yogurt...........more later.