Well, I started back to work today. Boy was it hard to get out of bed. That alarm went off waaayyyyyy to early.
So far it's not too bad. I'm keeping my email and voicemail set to say I'm out of the office so I can get caught up with everything that happened while I was out. I'm through all the paperwork and email, and now am starting to sort through mail and what jobs were done. Another day or two and I'll be back to being as behind as I was when I left!
Dan was scheduled to head back to Seattle yesterday, so we all (about 20 peope) met him for brunch. Michael was there, which was a bit awkward and not fun. I doubt I would have gone had I known. Afterwards I headed home to walk the dogs - yes they're finally back! It was freezing cold and wet, so we didn't go far. Mickey got hurt at dad's and isn't quite himself - he doesn't even beg for food right now. He just lays around and looks pathetic. He won't let me touch his head, and his ear was bloody so I'm guessing he tangled with something bigger than him. I guess I'll keep an eye on him to see if it gets worse.
I headed to church, then to Eric's for an Oscar party. I never actually got around to watching any of the Oscars, but it was very nice to catch up with everyone. And guess who walked in the door? Dan! His flight was cancelled and he's stuck here until tomorrow. I head to see him next Friday - how funny!
Monday, February 26, 2007
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Random Update
I'm starting to get the hang of this being at home thing. I got ambitious yesterday and actually was productive, unlike my fat cat who slept all day in the sun. I was on the computer for hours working on pictures, email, posting crap I want to get rid of, and I made four candles out of an old candle. I made four more candles today, too! I think I enjoy candle making. Christmas gifts anyone?
Last night I also got a surprise (and much needed) get well visit from a good friend who moved to Seattle last year. He flew into town on business and stopped by my house after leaving the airport. He is such a sweetie - for stopping by and for bringing me Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches and some ice pops! I love Skinny Cow!! Hopefully he'll have time to go to dinner while he's here. If not, I'll be going to Seattle to see him in a few weeks. I have to travel for business, so I'm planning on staying with him a few days after the business part of the trip is over. The company has to pay to fly me out there anyway, so I might as well take advantage of a free trip to see him.
I've begun the process of updating my house. I'm planning on installing laminate flooring in the dining room, repainting the kitchen and hallway, refinishing my kitchen cabinets, redoing the lighting and flooring in the bathroom and updating the bathroom with paint and new accessories. Nothing like taking on major projects all at once! I have purchased the underlayment for the flooring, and the accessories for the bathroom. I have to get the laminate flooring this weekend, and start thinking about destruction. I'm a little nervous because I had counted on Michael offering me some advice and guidance on this undertaking. But hey - I'm an intelligent woman, surely I can figure most of it out. God Bless the internet (and 'Chelle's mom)! My friend Chelle has a mom who flips houses. If she has time, she may be able to help me, if she doesn't she is willing to offer advice over the phone and let me come to her place to use any tools I may need.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Ready to Re-Join the World
Well, I finally feel more like myself. I'm only taking pain meds at night to help me sleep. I'm ready to re-join the world! My only recommendation is if you know someone recuperating, forget sending flowers - send a maid service! It's hard to clean and do laundry when you feel like crap.
I go back to work on Monday. I was scheduled to return on Friday, but my boss thinks it's silly to come back on a Friday, so I'm off an extra day. I'm looking forward to going back - get a little more structure in my life. I can now recite the entire line-up of daytime TV by heart. I think I would make a lousy stay at home wife.
I do have some good book recommendations though. I read three great books while I was down. Size 12 Is Not Fat and Size 14 Is Not Fat Either by Meg Cabot. They were both lighthearted murder mysteries. Very good for mindless entertainment. The third book was Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA by Ellen Meister. A little less mindless, but not much. Kind of Desperate Housewives goes PTA. It does get into their problems and how they deal with them a little, but overall a good read.
For those of you keeping score, Michael and I have again parted ways. Same problem as always. I thought since he came to me this time, maybe things would be different. Ultimately we ended up at the same place - an impasse. He's fine with dating me for the rest of his life - I'm not.
I go back to work on Monday. I was scheduled to return on Friday, but my boss thinks it's silly to come back on a Friday, so I'm off an extra day. I'm looking forward to going back - get a little more structure in my life. I can now recite the entire line-up of daytime TV by heart. I think I would make a lousy stay at home wife.
I do have some good book recommendations though. I read three great books while I was down. Size 12 Is Not Fat and Size 14 Is Not Fat Either by Meg Cabot. They were both lighthearted murder mysteries. Very good for mindless entertainment. The third book was Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA by Ellen Meister. A little less mindless, but not much. Kind of Desperate Housewives goes PTA. It does get into their problems and how they deal with them a little, but overall a good read.
For those of you keeping score, Michael and I have again parted ways. Same problem as always. I thought since he came to me this time, maybe things would be different. Ultimately we ended up at the same place - an impasse. He's fine with dating me for the rest of his life - I'm not.
Friday, February 9, 2007
Home and Recovering
Well, things are going better than I'd feared, but not as good as I hoped. I told the nurses I am a total pain wuss, and they got the docs to give me two versions of Oxycontin. One is a pill I take every 12 hours. The other is a liquid I take every 4-6 hours for "breakthrough" pain. My body is quite adamant about the 4 hour schedule. The pain is my personal alarm clock. I take the meds then try to stay up for about 30 minutes for them to kick in so I can drink a little. I'm currently waiting for the meds to kick in before I go back to bed.
I feel pretty good, unless I have to actually swallow. I see why dehydration is such a concern. It's so tough to force anything down when you know it will cause agony. Marilyn is checking me periodically to encourage me to drink. I have some Propel water from work to keep electrolytes balanced, and we made some orchata (Mexican rice milk) as well. I figured both of those have some nutrients as well as liquid to keep me going.
Not hungry at all, except when dad made pork tenderloin for him and Marilyn last night. It smelled good and my tummy was growling. I didn't really want to eat, so it must have been the good smells. I'm slightly nauseous from the meds, but not too bad. Mostly I just sit up and watch TV until I doze off.
I can't lay down - anything more than a 45 degree angle and I have difficulty breathing and start choking. One of my co-workers had warned me about this, so I have lots of pillows and just sit up.
I've gotten your phone calls, and I'm texting folks I know have it on their phone, so keep 'em coming. I'll check email whenever I have energy to get down here, and don't feel too shaky. Thanks for the positive thoughts everyone!! I love you all.
I feel pretty good, unless I have to actually swallow. I see why dehydration is such a concern. It's so tough to force anything down when you know it will cause agony. Marilyn is checking me periodically to encourage me to drink. I have some Propel water from work to keep electrolytes balanced, and we made some orchata (Mexican rice milk) as well. I figured both of those have some nutrients as well as liquid to keep me going.
Not hungry at all, except when dad made pork tenderloin for him and Marilyn last night. It smelled good and my tummy was growling. I didn't really want to eat, so it must have been the good smells. I'm slightly nauseous from the meds, but not too bad. Mostly I just sit up and watch TV until I doze off.
I can't lay down - anything more than a 45 degree angle and I have difficulty breathing and start choking. One of my co-workers had warned me about this, so I have lots of pillows and just sit up.
I've gotten your phone calls, and I'm texting folks I know have it on their phone, so keep 'em coming. I'll check email whenever I have energy to get down here, and don't feel too shaky. Thanks for the positive thoughts everyone!! I love you all.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Busy Week in Review
Whew - it's been a busy week! Let's see....
Wednesday, January 31 - I took dad out for his birthday dinner - finally! It was almost Michael's birthday as well, so he came too. Two of our friends, Eric and Naomi joined us, as did Grandma and Aunt Jean. We went to a great Brazilian place. The food was amazing! They have a buffet with several traditional Brazilian dishes, plus fresh fruit, fresh veges and about 15 different kinds of cheese. The cheese was in huge blocks and you just carved a slice off. The buffet also included delicious, homemade flan - in your choice of chocolate or vanilla - or both! In addition to the buffet you could order chorusco (spelling??). That was traditionally prepared meat, as much as you want, served directly to your table. There was pork, chicken, lamb and several cuts of steaks. YUMMY! The guys called it "all you can meat." It was absolutely delish!!
Thursday, February 1 I hooked up cable to my bedroom. If I have to spend some time in bed, I might as well enjoy a few good movies!
Friday, February 2 - I went to Michael's and we watched movies and ate pizza. Basically hung out and let the dogs play. It was too cold to do anything else.
Saturday Michael and I went to Costco and Kmart - errand kinda stuff. He loves running errands in my car - plenty of room and good gas mileage. We had to get pet supplies and video tapes - Dad has discovered my cable and has me taping movies for him. :) Heaven forbid he watch one on the 1589 channels he has with dish. I also completed my taxes!! Yeah me!! Of course, I can't send them in because the form for my car credit hasn't been finalized by the IRS. Supposedly it will be done the 16th. Considering that's $2,600 by itself, I can wait another week.
I met back up with Michael Saturday night to celebrate our dear friend Traci's birthday. We went to a karaoke bar in the Central West End and had a great time. Any night with the gang is fun. Our infamous Canadian friend brought his "book of wisdom" again this year for all of us to contribute to. It's a large book of art paper and a box of markers. Everyone writes notes to the birthday girl. It's fun and the notes get very interesting as the night wears on.
Sunday was Michael's birthday, so I cooked him dinner and made an apple pie. We watched the Super Bowl (GO COLTS!!) Ok, we watched the commercials and the Puppy Bowl with a few minutes of football tossed in. I was sort of rooting for the Colts -they seemed like the underdog. Since I really didn't care one way or another, underdog seemed like a good team to root for.
Monday I can home to a very, very sick Turtle. She threw up all over my house. My sweet neighbor had cleaned up the gunky piles, but I spent the evening scrubbing the carpet by hand. Tonight I have to buy a new part for our carpet cleaner, and some cleaning solution, and shampoo all the carpet. This was NOT on the agenda of things to accomplish this week. Hopefully Turtle girl is feeling better.
I go into the hospital Thursday. In case you need a website to order flowers from, http://ww11.1800flowers.com/welcome.do or www.hallmark.com have some nice choices. :) (he he) ( Face it - how often do I get to blatantly beg for flowers?)
That's it for now - my next post won't be until post-surgery.
Wednesday, January 31 - I took dad out for his birthday dinner - finally! It was almost Michael's birthday as well, so he came too. Two of our friends, Eric and Naomi joined us, as did Grandma and Aunt Jean. We went to a great Brazilian place. The food was amazing! They have a buffet with several traditional Brazilian dishes, plus fresh fruit, fresh veges and about 15 different kinds of cheese. The cheese was in huge blocks and you just carved a slice off. The buffet also included delicious, homemade flan - in your choice of chocolate or vanilla - or both! In addition to the buffet you could order chorusco (spelling??). That was traditionally prepared meat, as much as you want, served directly to your table. There was pork, chicken, lamb and several cuts of steaks. YUMMY! The guys called it "all you can meat." It was absolutely delish!!
Thursday, February 1 I hooked up cable to my bedroom. If I have to spend some time in bed, I might as well enjoy a few good movies!
Friday, February 2 - I went to Michael's and we watched movies and ate pizza. Basically hung out and let the dogs play. It was too cold to do anything else.
Saturday Michael and I went to Costco and Kmart - errand kinda stuff. He loves running errands in my car - plenty of room and good gas mileage. We had to get pet supplies and video tapes - Dad has discovered my cable and has me taping movies for him. :) Heaven forbid he watch one on the 1589 channels he has with dish. I also completed my taxes!! Yeah me!! Of course, I can't send them in because the form for my car credit hasn't been finalized by the IRS. Supposedly it will be done the 16th. Considering that's $2,600 by itself, I can wait another week.
I met back up with Michael Saturday night to celebrate our dear friend Traci's birthday. We went to a karaoke bar in the Central West End and had a great time. Any night with the gang is fun. Our infamous Canadian friend brought his "book of wisdom" again this year for all of us to contribute to. It's a large book of art paper and a box of markers. Everyone writes notes to the birthday girl. It's fun and the notes get very interesting as the night wears on.
Sunday was Michael's birthday, so I cooked him dinner and made an apple pie. We watched the Super Bowl (GO COLTS!!) Ok, we watched the commercials and the Puppy Bowl with a few minutes of football tossed in. I was sort of rooting for the Colts -they seemed like the underdog. Since I really didn't care one way or another, underdog seemed like a good team to root for.
Monday I can home to a very, very sick Turtle. She threw up all over my house. My sweet neighbor had cleaned up the gunky piles, but I spent the evening scrubbing the carpet by hand. Tonight I have to buy a new part for our carpet cleaner, and some cleaning solution, and shampoo all the carpet. This was NOT on the agenda of things to accomplish this week. Hopefully Turtle girl is feeling better.
I go into the hospital Thursday. In case you need a website to order flowers from, http://ww11.1800flowers.com/welcome.do or www.hallmark.com have some nice choices. :) (he he) ( Face it - how often do I get to blatantly beg for flowers?)
That's it for now - my next post won't be until post-surgery.
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