A different perspective

Tallulah didn't want to be outdone.

Fresh Vegetables

I've been eating meals that I made ahead and froze in individual packages all March, and while it's been convenient, I am incredibly sick of tomato-based... whatever.  Chili.  Soup. Stew.  Pasta Sauce.      Bleh.


I really just wanted some fresh vegetables, so tonight I made  a stir fry.

Thank you, God for the food we eat.

Amen.

11 pounds

I was hesitant to say this, because I was afraid it would be temporary.  It's been almost a month, though, and so far it's holding true.

I lost 11 pounds of fluid in the days following my surgery, most of that from my feet.

Yesterday, a friend and I celebrated the return of my feet tendons by going out for a mani/peti.

I let the lady who did my nails pick the colours and pattern.  I don't know what that thing is on my big toes... not really all that fond of it either.  But my feet aren't swollen, so I don't care.

A gift from the boys

I wear a Pandora bracelet, so when people give me gifts, lately they tend to be Pandora beads.

My preference tends to lean towards the more intricate beads.  I like filigree and colour, so I tend to pick out the ones that have stones.  Nestled amongst some of my most ornate beads, however, is a new favorite.

It came from my nephews.  My sister said she brought them to the store, told them they were going to select a gift for me, pointed out the section they should choose from and let them pick.  They thought about it for a good fifteen minutes, I hear.  They compared them all, debated over it for a while, ruled some out and eventually decided on the best one.

My nephews, after a great deal of thought, decided that the most appropriate bead for me would be a toad.

It makes me smile every time I see it.

DIY grooming

Himself loves to be combed.  In fact, he'd want me to comb him 24/7  if I was willing.  I do comb him fairly often, but that leads to problems.  First, he's an angora.  His hair floats in the air at the best of times, and there's really no way to comb him without finding yourself in a cloud of long white cat hair that clings to your clothes and your eyelashes.  And that leads to the second problem - I'm allergic to him.  I love him.  I don't love the sniffing, sneezing and watering eyes that happens when I comb him.

And so, sometimes, I let him do it himself.

Somehow, I don't think he minds.

Follow up from the vet visit:  The vet suspected that he had a bladder infection, and gave him a shot that takes effect over three days.  He seems to be doing better, but is still having moments of supreme crankiness.  She also wonders if he might have arthritis in his hips, which would take an xray to confirm.  If he does have arthritis, then she's got a number of treatments that we can discuss; but we're both hoping the shot will be all he needed.

The ottoman

Before my surgery, I set about to make an ottoman.  My favorite chair is a recliner, and I didn't think I'd be able to get it in and out of the reclining position.  As usual, I bit off a little more than I'd planned.  I ended up going into the hospital with the pieces cut out and planned.... even partially stained... but not put together.  Lucky for me, my ever cool dad stepped in while I was away and put it together enough that I could still use it until I get it finished.

Never having made an ottoman before, I wasn't sure how to go about making it sturdy.  If I made it too narrow, it would tip.  If the legs weren't attached tightly, it'd wobble.  Since this was supposed to be a cheap and quick project, I was also limited to the scrap wood that I had in the basement.  So, I ended up making it about 20' by 32'.  I bought the legs, and used plywood and 2x3 scraps to make the frame from two rings under the base.

The inner ring holds the legs in place under the seat.  The outer one will slide up outside of the legs, but underneath the seat to hold everything tight, hide the edges of the upholstery and hold the trim I just had to have.

The reason why my dad didn't finish it for me is because I'd already decided that I don't like the stain that I originally picked out.  It's too flat, and a little too black.  So, he went as far as he could go without having to take it apart to make it right.  I'm waiting for the go ahead to start working on projects like this before I restain it and finish putting it together.   In the meantime, thanks to my dad, it'll do for now.  It's actually more comfortable than the recliner is alone; but it doesn't look very good.   It's very clearly not finished, and won't be done for a while.

That's not the point, though.

The point today is that, finished or not, Tallulah thinks this ottoman fits her to a T.

(Pardon the mess in the background.  Everything was piled on the rug because my mom was washing the floor.)

To the vet

Winter, who has been particularly cranky for a while, spent Friday last week with diarrhea and vomiting.  After a day, he seemed to get better but the crankiness continued.  Last night, I woke up three times to discover that he'd been vomiting again.  We're off to the vet in an hour to get him checked out.  I really hope that the worst thing to come out of this is that Winter remains mad at me for not feeding him this morning.

Not my story

This isn't about me...  I don't have anything going on to talk about, so I'm going to borrow a story from my nephews.

My nephews, 9 and 12, were downstairs in the basement with their friends, playing Wii.   They have limited tv/Wii time, so it shouldn't have been a surprise when their dad went downstairs and told them to shut it down and go outside to play.    Of course, they said that they were going to finish the current game... yadda, yadda, yadda... ten minutes later, my brother in law went downstairs again to tell the boys to shut off the game and go outside.

The younger nephew, who looks like an angel, has himself something of a temper.  He's a blond-haired, blue eyed cherub on the outside, but I'm pretty sure he was meant to have his mom's read hair, if you know what I mean.  The other boys start to pack it in, but not him.  He says -  Dad, I can't go outside.  I have to stay in.

     His dad says, no you don't, you need some fresh air.

DAD!  I can't go outside!

     Yes you can - off you go.

DAD! I can't go outside!!!!

     And why not?

Because I'm Lactose Intolerant! 

Excitement for shut-ins

The next door neighbours were skinny dipping in their hot tub yesterday, which I'm pretty sure is illegal. It was 10:00am, but I'd just woken up because of the time change.  I blindly let the dogs outside, and they immediately started to bark their fool heads off.  They wouldn't be quiet, and I couldn't go down the stairs to stop them. The only thing I could do was stand on the deck (where I had a clear view of the hot tub and its inhabitants) and yell, let them bark or call my other neighbours - the police officer- to come help. 


I let them bark, but I have plans for a new tree in the back yard.  It's going to be big and bushy... doesn't matter how much I like my neighbours, there are some things I don't want to see.

Lazy bones

Somehow, I don't think the pets object to our latest lifestyle.

I'm sleeping a lot.  They're sleeping more.

A few nights ago, I woke up to the sounds of Cotton vomiting in the middle of the night.  He was non-stop sick for a day, but managed to work through it and is OK now.     (Notice the towel on the bed - he wouldn't hear of staying off the bed while he was sick, so that was our compromise... which you might also notice that he's oozing off of.)

I'm doing OK.  I'm a little more mobile, and am off the heavy duty pain killers.    My mom has gone home, so I'm here by myself now with somebody stopping in each day to help out.  It hasn't been a walk in the park, but it was never as bad as I imagined it would be.    

Ouch

I'm home.  The surgery was a success but they discovered while they were in there and digging around that I have (had) adenomyosis.  That's like endometriosis, except that the  cells lining the uterus grow into the uterus muscles instead of outside of the uterus.  The good news is that now that the uterus has been removed, there's no chance of the adenomyosis returning.

It hurt like a sonofabitch the first few times that I got up and moved around, but seems to get easier each time.    I'm trusting them when they say that the more I do now, the easier it is for me, so I've been doing a fair bit of walking and moving around.

I'm happy to be home, but on the flip side, it's harder here.  There are no guard rails on the bed to pull myself up with.  The chairs are either too hard or too soft.  When I tried to have a nap this afternoon, I had to get up and have my mom strip the bed because my knit pj's were sticking to the flannel sheets.  Shifting a few inches or rolling over was too much of an event.  Plain cotton sheets are better, but I told my mom that I need satin pj's with satin sheets.  Although, then I might be in danger of sliding right out of bed and landing on the floor.

Anyway, that's about it.  As much as I hurt, I already feel a lot better.   The Edema is gone, although it's too soon to say if it'll come back.  I hope not.   I really hope that having this surgery behind me means that I'm past the other health problems too.

Don't give me that static