Today's the Day

I'm heading off to the surgery center in a bit.  Yes, I'm nervous.  No, I didn't get everything I wanted done but I did accomplish a lot in the past two weeks around the house.

I'll be non-weight-bearing for six weeks.  I'm a total klutz using crutches on the staircase.  I mean, a serious case of klutziness.  I can barely walk on a flat floor with them but I've been practicing.  As I think I've said here before, I'm ambidextrous.  Although I now focus on my right hand, my left hand is in constant motion.  For instance, I mouse left-handed.  I played reed instruments for years using two hands simultaneously.  I played basketball in high school and dribbled with both hands.  But for the life of me, I cannot use crutches.  I get my left leg going where my right leg should be ... it's not pretty.

I don't know exactly how the upstairs/downstairs thing will work when I get home.  Bedrooms and full baths are upstairs.  But I know me well enough to know that I'll figure something out.  I've readied the sleeper sofa downstairs just in case.

Penny is boarded until further notice.  I have hired someone to come a couple of hours each day to get me up and bathed and dressed, maybe fed.  Friends and loved ones will, I'm sure, be checking in on me.  It'll work.  It just won't be fun at all. 

This year has been a total waste for me, hasn't it?

I'm going to set up my Ezi table with a Bernina in the main house.  I have three quilts that need bindings.  I hope to be able to work on those in a couple of weeks.  I know I won't feel like doing them right away but my goal is to get them finished before I'm weight-bearing again.  That's a small goal. I can do that.

The thing I'm dreading most is the anesthesia.  I get so sick no matter what anti-nausea stuff they give me.  I mean, sick as a dog for 48 hours.  Then it's over.  So that's another small goal for me - not be sick for the first 48 hours.  I'm going to try real hard to do that, too.

Thanks in advance for any good thoughts sent my way today.  I'll talk to everyone on the flip side!

Exciting Night

I came downstairs about 11:30 last night because Penny was agitated and wouldn't settle down for the night.  When I walked through the foyer, I heard a kitten crying outside on the front porch.  I opened the door and there was the cutest little black and white kitty just crying his heart out.  I reached down for it, and he jumped/fell off the porch on the side under some big azalea bushes.  I tried to coax him out.  He was under the bushes crying so loudly.  He just wouldn't come to me but kept peeking his head out and looking at me.  So I sat on the front porch until after midnight and finally he got close enough that I could grab him.  I just couldn't go back to bed with him out there, especially under those bushes.  I was so scared that a snake or something would get him.

He was so very tiny.  His little ribs were poking out under the fluffy fur.  He wouldn't drink anything and I didn't have anything to feed him.  Nourishment would have to wait until the morning, but at least he was safe.  At this point Penny had not seen the kitten.  He spent the night on top of the kitchen counter in the little kennel.  I scrubbed down and took antihistamines because I'm so allergic to cats., and went to bed.

This morning I called the local vet who advised me to call the pound.  I hated to do that but between my allergies and the surgery in a week, he couldn't stay here.  I did introduce Penny to the little fluff ball, and there were no issues with them.  (sigh)  No, Penny, we can't keep the kitten.

The St. Mary Parish truck came right away to get him.  Apparently they are just three minutes away.  The lady on the phone was so nice, and the young man who came to the house was just delightful.  He assured me that this kitten would be adopted in very short order.  I sent the little kitty away in a heavy duty cardboard moving box with an oversized bath towel for his comfort.

He asked me whether it was a girl or a boy.  I gave the stupidest answer which evoked the silliest grin on this young man's face.  I said, "I don't know.  How would we find that out?" 

Pause.

Silence.

Laughter. 

I can hear you!