Birdbrain!

True story: My son and I went to lunch at Burger King a few days ago. We returned to the car and were getting ready to drive away when we both just stopped, mid-conversation, to watch a bird. It had in its beak what looked like a chunk of bread. The bird swooped down to land just under the shade of a car parked across the way in front of us. It was a hot day and there was a little puddle of water there, probably condensation that had run down and back from the car's air conditioner. The bird cocked its head one way and another, dipping the bread into the water. I have to believe it took the softened bread back to its nest for babies, or for a nesting momma bird. 

What a birdbrain!

Getting better

I know, my last post was pretty dismal - but I thought it was better than nothing at all.

This week I have felt much better, but have been very busy at work, trying to make up for missing half of last week. Still not quite caught up.

This afternoon I am going to a birthday party-- my youngest grandchild is one year old today!

Lost week

From March 16 to March 19 ... 

I woke up Monday morning with a scratchy throat - just like three weeks ago, and again a month or so before that. 

Tuesday morning it was a little worse, with obvious sinus drainage. I decide to call my doctor for an appointment right away, instead of waiting and hoping it would clear up on its own. Got in to see him Tuesday afternoon, by which time I was feeling much worse. He prescribed me yet another round of antibiotics (stronger each time, with me thinking about this bug building up its immunity) plus a decongestant.

Usually when I make an appointment with my doctor, his staff will tell me they can work me in, but I may have to wait a while. So far - in the last 20 or 30 years I've been seeing him - that usually means 10 or 15 minutes. Not so this time - it's Spring Break! Most of the other doctors in this clinic have escaped for ski trips or whatever. I spent over an hour in the hallway, with the overflow from his office lobby.

 

Two unhappy toddlers, with their irritated and irritating young mother complaining into her cell phone, just about drove me away with their whining and crying. I was relieved, as were all the others waiting, when a cheerful and competent young mother with two ill but otherwise contented toddlers arrived. She sat in the middle of the floor and played with all four children. I wanted to give her a medal. After the whiny crew were called in to see the doctor, another patiently waiting patient rewarded the good mommy by insisting she and her little ones go next in line, ahead of the adults.

So for my 3:45 appointment, I got in about 5:00 and was out by 5:20 with two prescriptions in hand.

I wearily drove down the street to Homeland, where the pharmacy has a convenient drive up window, and turned in the prescriptions. The lady said it would take about 15 minutes. Too long to wait at the window, and just about long enough to go home and come right back, so I drove to a shady spot and worked on a crossword puzzle. (Didn't even feel up to knitting - and still don't want to think that hard.) 

Went back to be told they were able to fill one prescription, but they were out of the other. My options were to let them order it and pick it up the next afternoon, or go somewhere else to have it filled. Didn't want to deal with that hassle, so I said to just order it for me.

Drove home and was almost in my garage when I remembered that I had a book on reserve to pick up at the library. Headed out again, and was halfway there when the pharmacy called me. They did have the second medication, had overlooked it on the shelf. Did I still want it? Yes! 

Went on to the library. Had to park the car and go inside - no way around that. Looked at the new book shelf on my way to the service desk and found two new books by old favorite authors - John Sandford and John Harvey. Harvey has finally written another Charlie Resnick novel after a hiatus of several years! So I got those, plus the Anna Zilboorg hat book I had reordered, paid my dollar for overdues. 

Went back to the pharmacy window, paid for the second prescription, then finally made it home about 6:30.

I thought about calling to let my pals know that I was not going to our knit-night at Borders, but I fell asleep before I could decide who to call first. Woke up about 8 and took my meds.

Stayed home Wednesday, read and slept a lot. 

Got up Thursday morning, got ready for work, started out to my car and realized I really didn't feel well enough to drive to work, much less be there and try to focus on anything. Called in sick and went back to bed.

I am thankful for my family

Had a great Thanksgiving Day - all the kids and grandkids gathered at Sarah’s house. I only had to provide a thawed turkey and make the gravy. No cooking, no cleanup, and just a little grandbaby holding duty! I did have to use the allergy meds more than usual due to the two grand-dogs and one grand-cat in the house. I got home about seven and crashed in my easy chair - woke up at one AM breathing freely and feeling restored. Now here I am, wide awake at three AM! Maybe I should go shopping …
I've spent the last half-hour trying to send photos from my phone to my blog - no success, so here we are, photo-less. You will just have to use your imagination!

Mission Statement

Today is an anniversary for me - seventeen years ago today was my first day at GLP - and here I still am. I'm hoping to work one more year of five-day weeks, then go to three-day weeks for two more years, then retire from here and see what comes next. I want the next phase to involve lots of arts & crafts, with some of them for-profit. Hmmm . . . that almost sounds like a real plan. Subject to change, but a plan.

Boo!

I know, I haven't posted since the Fourth of July, but life is busy and I'm disorganized. That's just the way it is. I'll post some pictures one of these days and fill you in on what I've been up to since July.
I sat on my porch swing last night with a bag of candy and a bag of knitting. Added several rows to my February Lady sweater and treated about 20 kids, if you count my three grownup kids that stopped by individually. (see note below)
After the trick-or-treating was all over, I curled up in my easy chair to watch a recorded Criminal Minds and started a new Forest Canopy Shawl. Next thing I knew I was looking at the menu screen and had four and a half tiny rows, with half a row of loose stitches. I frogged and went to bed!
Note:
1 Tired Dad, with two boys dressed as Pumpkins, on their way home from church carnival, his wife at home ill with something probably carried home from preschool
1 Firefighter, accompanied by a Monk, on their way to a party
1 Pizza Delivery Person, after delivering a pizza in my neighborhood

Fourth of July Weekend

Hello all!
Hope you had a great Independence Day weekend. Mine started with going to watch the annual parade that travels through my home town along part of Route 66. There were lots of vehicles to enjoy, antique and otherwise, along with horses and bicycles and floats and all those hopeful candidates campaigning for our votes.

I wimped out, though, and left early - wasn't enjoying the heat and I've mostly seen it all before, every year for the last 30 years or so.
I went home, cooled off, blocked my Forest Canopy Shawl, and took a nap.

Sam and family invited me to go watch the 'booms' with the grand-boys, but I just couldn't bear the thought of the traffic. On the Fourth, it takes an hour or more - each way - to drive less than two miles to the park, then there is the walk from the parking lot into the Festival area. So again I wimped out, opting to enjoy the sound of the 'booms' in the air-conditioned comfort of my home.

Saturday morning the kids and I met for breakfast and had a good time in spite of the slightly odd service. They wouldn't let us have a high chair at the end of our booth - the waitress said because someone might trip on it. It was a little close, but we managed. The rest of the crew had places to go and/or naps to take, so I went up the the LYS to knit and visit until Sarah called. She and I went and got our toes done! Funny how a quickly a pedicure can change from a luxury to a necessity!

Later I went to a movie at Penn Square. A few years ago I would never have thought to go to a movie alone, but there are advantages to going my own way. I saw Hancock, the superhero movie starring Will Smith. I wouldn't recommend it for family entertainment, because of bad language and one especially unusual bit of violence, but it was a lot of fun and - dare I say? - somewhat heartwarming. I still want to see WALL-E and Get Smart and maybe even the American Girl movie.

Today - Sunday - I slept in much later than I intended, then decided I had been a lazy slug for long enough and unclogged my slow tub drain. Yes, again. I suppose it needs some regular maintenance if I want to avoid this nasty annual snake job.
Then I got out my big old screwdriver and my rubber mallet and set at defrosting the old refrigerator that sits in my utility room. The freezer part was completely iced in, so between sessions of chipping ice and leaving it to melt (I took a few breaks for knitting and reading and TV watching) I finally got the freezer door open and took the food out. It went much faster after that.

I seem to be falling back into my old habit of reading daily. This week I listened to Nevada Barr's Winter Study on CD (in my car) , read Robert Crais' L.A. Requiem and Jennifer Chiaverini's Quilter's Apprentice. Last week I read Brendan DuBois' Resurrection Day, a disturbing story set in 1971, depicting what our country might have been like if the Cuban Missile Crisis had escalated into nuclear war.
I also started Absolute Power by David Baldacci, but when I figured out why I kept thinking about Clint Eastwood I gave it up. Decided I'll try to find a Baldacci book that wasn't a movie that I have seen.
Next up on my eclectic selections are Mrs. Pollifax Unveiled by Dorothy Gilman and Twilight, another dark story by Brendan DuBois. I'm not sure I will read Twilight right away; I love DuBois' Lewis Cole series, and he is a very good writer, but I'm not sure I can stomach two such dark stories so close together - his writing makes them seem almost real.
I have a reserve in for William G. Tapply's One-Way Ticket - he's another of my many favorites.
And so to bed, for tomorrow is another work day. 'Night, all!