2 in One Month

Wow, I'm on a roll, right?  2 blog posts in the same month!

Okay, let's play catchup.  First off, I am trying to get caught up on all your blogs.  Usually I'm able to knock off 10-12 posts or more while at work on slow nights, but I'm precepting a student nurse who will graduate in March and feel I ought to at least  pretend  to work.  She's doing so well, though, she should be finished with me in a couple more weeks.

What else? Well, Workers' Comp is still "investigating" my arm re-inury, but in the meantime they've sent me to one of their docs.  Xrays show no fractures, so it seems I have strained my rotator cuff and my deltoid muscle.  I'm on Celebrex ($130.00 for a 30-day supply!), Flexeril as needed (knocks me for a loop!), physical therapy, and a 40# lifting restriction with no overhead work.  This means Christmas may extend into February.

Yep, the tree's still up. I don't turn the lights on anymore, though.

The PT scheduler, knowing I work nights, tried to be helpful and made my appointments for 8am Mon-Wed-Fri.  People, I don't see the sunrise unless I've worked all night. This getting up at 6:15 to be showered and dressed and at someplace by 8am is killing me! It's not by accident that I work night shift.

Appointments are ruling my life these days:
     Last Tues. I had a repeat mammogram and ultrasound at 10:45 (just fluid cysts again), met with the home medical folks at 1pm to get a new C-PAP mask, and saw the WC doc at 2:45. 

     Today I had PT at 8am, saw my ENT doc at 9:30 and endured the yearly GYN exam at 10:30. 

     Fri. I will have PT at 8:00, get a bone density scan at 9:30am and try for a hair appointment by noon.

     Next Tues. I only have 2 appointments (so far): dental cleaning and a WC follow-up Whatever will I do with myself the rest of the day? 

No sewing or quilting yet this month.  I tend to hunch my shoulders when machine sewing, so that doesn't work, and the forward motion of rotary cutting is one that causes difficulty. I need to dig around and find some handwork to take with me to all these appointments. 

In the meantime, I ordered a Kumiloom starter kit and additional book.  Have you ever heard of kumihimo?  I hadn't til a couple of months ago when someone in blogland mentioned it (can't remember who.)  The starter kit had a few strands of yarn in it, and easy as it looked, my braid was still a little lumpy.  Guess the tension wasn't even.

Anyway, look at some of these examples:

    Bracelet

Examples of braids

I wish you could get a closer look, but that's a fish with bubbles coming out of his mouth--so cute!

How clever is this one?

Not your average friendship bracelets, wouldn't you say?  Apparently some of the art quilters are using this in their work, too, especially with the beading.   I have a lot of beads left from when I used to bead earrings many moons ago, and other sizes that I've added over the years.  I love beads, but really haven't used them in quilting except for that one daisy wallhanging.  I can see myself playing with them again, but doubt I'll ever aspire to this level:

In the true traditional form, you should be on your knees in front of the maru dai, and lifting each thread with the open fingers and hands--not between the thumb and finger.  Very graceful and oriental, but I don't do knees. Or grace.

But I can see how it would be very meditational to work on one of these.

One thing the month has brought, however, has been a LOT of reading.  So far I've read the entire Hunger Games trilogy: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay.  (Yeah, I know they're considered young adult fiction, but I liked them. The author really knows how to grab your attention and not let go.)

I've also just finished Sundays at Tiffany's, by James Patterson, author of the Alex Cross novels and the Women's Murder Club mysteries.  It was fluff, a quick read with an interesting premise, but not much thought or substance to it.  No matter. Getting interrupted to go from one waiting room to another requires light reading.

Just to let you know that I do read non-fiction, one of the books I'm currently reading is Handbook to Practical Disaster Preparedness.  No, I am not a Rush Limbaugh fan.  Nor do I want to learn how to skin a squirrel with a pocketknife or eat pine bark.  However, we've had a rash of snowstorms the last couple of years, and I thought it might just be a good idea to figure out a preparedness plan, what to stock, etc., especially since I've had to leave Jack here alone while I spent a couple of days sleeping at the hospital or hotel. If I can have everything together and easily accessible for him, I won't worry as much when I'm gone.  This book encourages you to look at your own situation, what emergencies are likely to occur, and any special needs  you may have, such as small children, pets or disabled adults.  This guy's writing style is  conversational, easy to read, and, well, practical.


Last, but certainly not least, is the $376 plumbing bill today.  Sheesh.  Yesterday I spent several hours trying to plunge and then snake a plugged commode, and the only result was more arm pain.  I felt somewhat validated today when the plumber didn't have any success, either.  So we have a new toilet in the master bath, and a new floater thingy in the guest bedroom's toilet.  I'd post a picture, but really doubt you'd want me to.  Suffice it to say the commode is taller, which is easier for Jack, and it's low-flow. That's not what I would have chosen, but between that and fixing the slow leak, we should see the water bill go down considerably next month.

This has been an expensive month!  If this keeps up and if WC denies my claim, I may meet our annual deductible of $3500.00 all by myself in the first 32 days of the year.

More snow and sleet in the forecast for tomorrow, but no accumulation is "expected".  Doesn't mean it won't happen, though.  But at least we don't have the same problems as this guy:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1453678875/ref=oss_product

Snow Day

Can the month be 1/3 gone already??  I had bigger plans for January than this.

Christmas is still in force here at the Scraps household.  Tree's still up, inside and outside lights are still up (but not on!) and there are still gifts in their boxes, waiting for someone to play with them. Seems all I've done is work and lie around in bed or on the sofa. The sinus infection left me so congested, I couldn't use my C-PAP for 9 days, so sleeping was a distant memory, and I think that's why it's taken so long to get over this virus thing.

But Friday night I found the right combination of meds and got my first night's sleep in over a week and wow, what a difference!  The bathrooms are now cleaned, groceries were bought, the sewing room was put back together, Mount Washmore has almost been conquered and there was even some cooking done! 

And then it snowed.

And it snowed some more. 

And I shoveled.  And shoveled. Then the snowplow came and re-deposited snow onto my driveway.

I have a love/hate relationship with the snowplow.

Thurs. night I was put on call, which was great for me, since I was so tired, but they called Fri., Sat, and Sun. to ask me to work.  I felt really guilty saying no, but I had worked sick for 3 shifts, and was exhausted and the house was a mess.  When I got up Mon. morning, I was so glad I'd said no.  There was no way I'd have made it home until 3pm when the snowplows finally got to my road, and I have to work Tues. and Wed. nights as it is. 

Tandi amused herself by attempting to prune the rosebushes for me.

But after sticking with me through repeated shovelings, even Tandi was losing her enthusiasm for the snow.

So was I.

Then my little Halloween helpers came by and spent some time re-posing Napoleon Bone-apart.

Napoleon sported a Santa hat for Christmas; now he just serves to remind me where the edge of the driveway is.

Maybe on my next offday, I can get the cars taken care of, and on the one after that, take down Christmas, and THEN maybe I'll get to sew.

Maybe.

Last Post of the Year

This has been SOME week!

You'll remember we had Christmas on the 24th, because I had to work the 25th.  What I didn't tell you was that we got a phone call right in the midst of unwrapping gifts on Friday.  My youngest brother, the black sheep of the family, was found dead Christmas Eve morning.  The best we can figure is a heart attack, since nothing else seems out of whack.  He had been living with my mother and stepfather, helping them out, and when he didn't wake up early as usual, she found him.  With the holidays, arrangements were in limbo for a few days, and I wasn't sure whether we'd try to go or not.  I won't go into the weird family dynamics (I'm sure you all have some of those), but I hadn't seen him in over 20 years, and hadn't seen or spoken to my mother in even longer than that. 

Saturday it began snowing--and snowing and snowing!  We got a total of 8 inches where we are, and I wrenched my arm coming out of a skid trying to get to work.  I first tried to drive DD's car, since Jack's was unreliable, but got stuck twice, and had to be pushed up a hill by 4 neighbors.  I transferred everything over into the SUV and made it in early, but my right arm became increasingly more painful as the night went on, and I couldn't lift it more than about waist high.  After getting off work Sun, I went down to the ER and got it checked out.  It's probably a strained deltoid, but since it was a re-injury of a strain from lifting patients several weeks ago, I'm to see an orthopedist if it's not better in 7-10 days. They gave me a sling, which has helped considerably.

Mon. we got the word that my brother's funeral would be on Tues, so after talking it over, DD and I drove down to Birmingham to stay with my other brother and his wife.  Jack stayed here and kept the dog and DD's cat and just held down the fort.  DD hadn't seen her cousins in years, so it was good for her to visit with them, despite the reason.  Tues. night after the funeral, they all went out for Thai food and had a great time! I got to spend more time with my other brother and my sister as well as all the nieces and nephews--that makes twice in one year! 

Wed. we left there and drove back here to NC, and Thurs. morning DD left here headed for HER home.  That's a lot of driving in just a few days, but she's young and beautiful and she can do it.  lol  Yesterday I had the mandatory mammogram done, and last night came down sick with what is probably a sinus infection. I had chills and fever, with a temp of 101.4 and a very sore throat, but the worst seems to be over for now.   However, the Christmas stuff is going to stay up for a while longer.  Lifting is still difficult, and I don't even feel like playing with my "new toys" for now.  I plan to continue vegging out on the couch and may not see 2011 come in.  I will have to work this weekend, so conserving energy seems to be the best option.

Here's hoping 2011 will be a wonderful year for us all, and if you're making resolutions, hoping that they'll last more than a week! 

Anybody Home?

Sorry I've been out of commission for the last few weeks--seems like I would never get caught up.  And I almost didn't.  We had our Christmas this morning, since I have to work Christmas night, and didn't really want to get up, have Christmas, then go back to bed before going to work, and then come home to DD leaving on Sun. morning.  At 10pm last night, I declared the tree finished, even though only about a third of our ornaments were on.  When DD went off to bed at 11pm, I began wrapping gifts.  By 2am I had lost 3 gifts, one pair of scissors, and all my creativity. Found the gifts, got to bed by 3:00, but haven't found the scissors yet!

Here's what I ended up doing for ICU/Telemetry decorating this year:

These were repeated over all the doors in both units.

One wreath over a wrapping-paper covered bulletin board in ICU, one in Telemetry.

A little tree behind the nurses' station in Telemetry,

and a bigger one in ICU, because they had more space.

And wreaths for the glass doors on the rooms in ICU.

My sewing room is a wreck.

DD came in on Monday, and we've had a really good time with her and the animals (she brought both the dog and the cat.)  She set her alarm and we got up at 3am to view the lunar eclipse, but it was overcast, so we hurried back to bed. We've watched Sleepless in Seattle, Scrooge, other movies, finished shopping, cooked a little, and just hung out.  Wed. we all went to a very entertaining Christmas play and then out to eat. It's been good family times here at the Scraps  household.

There have been a couple of glitches, though.  I remembered my car registration hadn't been renewed and needed to get my emission test done first as well as an oil change, so I swung by on my way to the store and had them do it all, including rotating my tires, which was also overdue.  One of the mechanics came in very apologetically to tell me he'd broken off the stem under one of the lug nuts.  It was stripped and just broke off, and I don't even remember who rotated them the last time.  I've been so busy, I forgot to call the place the next day so they could make arrangements to fix it. They said it would be okay to drive with 4 lug nuts/stems, but it would need to be fixed soon.

Then Jack's car has been haunted.  (You'd think it would have been mine, right?) It's been locking and unlocking itself, and sometimes the inside lights go on and off.  He was going to take it in next week to be checked, but last night it apparently stepped up the pace, and when Jack went to make a trip to the grocery store for me, the battery was all but dead, and the security alarm was making weird noises.  Our roadside assistance service sent out a repairman, who managed to jump start it, but said we really need to get a new battery.  Right.  5pm on Christmas Eve.  Last year on Christmas Eve, there was snow and ice on the ground and I scraped my daughter's car as I backed out of the garage.  I think we are going to refuse to drive any car on Christmas Eve ever again.  As it is, I'm supposed to work tomorrow night and of course, it's supposed to start snowing tomorrow.  Keeping my fingers crossed either the roads won't be bad, or we'll be able to start the car.

Oh, and one other thing: I went to see my doctor last week, and my A1C, the 3-month compilation of blood sugar averages, has come down from a moderately dangerous 8.6 to a high normal of 6.5 in the 4 months I've been on the South Beach diet. I've also lost 35 pounds and lowered my cholesterol a little.  Still got lots to work on, but the progress is encouraging!

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and that you all make wonderful memories tomorrow!



End of November

Where has this month gone? Did you have a good Thanksgiving?  Did you get to spend time with family?

DD has a major deadline coming up next week, so we didn't get to see her this holiday.  It'll be Christmas soon, though, and I hope she has some vacation time left and can spend more than just a couple of days here.

We did have a couple of visitors, though.  Well, Tandi and I did. Tandi wants them to play, but I think they come by hoping I'll go back to giving them treats again.

The black and white dog loves to chase cars, and I'm worried one day she'll get hit. This was just as a car was coming up the street.

The brown dog is shyer, but has the sweetest expression in her eyes. I'd adopt her in a heartbeat if we didn't have Tandi.

I don't know to whom they belong, but I think they're the reason Tandi got fleas earlier this summer, so I don't encourage them to stick around.

As for me, I had 4 days of PDO to use or lose by Christmas,  so I took one day last week, and will be spacing the other 3 out during the next few weeks.  Since I was off  Mon-Fri night, I decided to go ahead and cook, even though there were only going to be the two of us, and one of us is on the South Beach Diet. 

Challenges can be so overrated.

I did try some new dishes off Kalyn's Kitchen website:   baked artichoke hearts au gratin,  Double Berry Jello salad, and SBD-friendly Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie with a crushed pecan crust.  Oh, my, goodness.  That pie was SO good.  Jack had dressing with gravy, and pecan pie, but he liked my cranberry salad better than the canned jellied stuff he usually prefers.

My weight loss has ping-ponged between 31 and 33 lbs for the last 3 weeks, and I think I'm going to have to go back on phase 1 for a few days just to get back in the right mindset. Now that I've lost enough to be comfortable in the next size down, I find my motivation to be slipping a bit. In 2 weeks I go back to my doc for repeat bloodwork and I am expecting much better numbers and a pat on the back. Maybe that'll help. I haven't told DD yet, and she hasn't seen me since July, so there's another reason to keep plugging.

Outside the weather was beautiful the last 2-3 weeks, with temps in the low 60s, until a cold front came through on Fri., and now the nighttime temps are below freezing. The Bradford pears are the last to change colors and drop their leaves, holding on to autumn as long as they can. 

They're also the first to announce that spring is on the way, with hard little buds appearing as early as February.  It's as if they know their time on earth is limited and they don't want to spend any more time sleeping than Mother Nature makes them.  One of them is struggling mightily, and I don't know if it will last the winter, or collapse with the first ice storm. Maybe we'll get lucky and not have any ice storms this year.

Sure.

My manager at work asked if I'd head up the Christmas decorating of ICU/Telemetry this year, because I "had such a fantastic Halloween display".  Pure flattery, as he didn't see it himself, and besides, being able to do Creepy and Macabre does not guarantee one can do Comfort and Joy.  But I'm a sucker for flattery, so I agreed.

Since themes seem to help me stay focused, I made an executive decision and chose "An Old-Fashioned Christmas".  We have a lot of elderly patients who will enjoy it, and I think it's something most people can relate to, whether we've experienced these ourselves, or watched "The Waltons" on TV or seen Norman Rockwell's work.  

Here's hoping I can pull this off--but if not, someone else will get asked next year and I'll be off the hook, right?