Well, so much for blogging everyday!

I had about three possible titles for this post and this was the one I came up with!? Oh well, it has been an exhausting week.  Last I posted (with the exception of the wonderful YouTube debate of the previous post, which doesn't really count as blogging, just scrapbooking) it was Sunday! Sunday feels like a lifetime ago. I have wanted to blog throughout the week, but I've come home after 9 pm every night and have just been too tired.  And I'm not even the one who's really been running around!

Where to I begin? Let's see... I didn't mention this before, but last Thursday, my father had spinal surgery to correct some rather nasty issues with the tissue - or lack thereof between a couple of lumbar vertebrae.  To coin a phrase used by Maureen, my dear stepmom, his spine at those junctures consisted of "bone rubbing on bloody bone." Yes, he was in some serious awful pain - so much so that he had to use a wheelchair.  This, coupled with the previous surgeries for spinal stenosis and a miscommunication betwixt his brain and his voluntary muscles called "gait apraxia" resulting in some horrific falls (one down an ancient very high stairway built into a mountainside in Greece!) have given him some serious suffering.  So, the fact that his surgeon thought he could bring him some relief from the pain was a great sign of hope.

According to Maureen and my brother, Chris, who was in NYC with them, he got through the surgery OK.  The recovery room was another story - he spent a WEEK there - not the two or three hours one usually associates with a recovery room.  It turns out, the docs were giving him

 all of his home prescriptions (including some heavy duty painkillers) along with the hospital

 meds and it took about 5 days for those excess meds to clear his system.  Thank GOD Maureen was there to intervene - they would have made a vegetable out of him!  And this in a good NY hospital with a highly competent surgeon! Frightening thought, isn't it?

Well, he is finally in a room and they are finally moving him tomorrow to a nearby facility for the weeks of serious rehab he's going to need after months of not being able to do very much.  And Maureen, who has been spending days in and out of the recovery room, busing it back and forth from their home on one side of town to the hospital, is EXHAUSTED!

I want to offer to come up to NY, but am (1) concerned it would be one more person for her to deal with and (2) John is sick with the flu which makes that thought a little tough right now. I'm so glad one of my brothers and one of my sisters live nearby, but still feel like a wimp in the meantime.

I did have a brief phone conversation with him and Maureen a few moments ago and encouraged him to give everyone (except Maureen, of course) a hard time.   He's still in pain from the surgery, but it's a different pain, so here's hoping for better days ahead.  He's still young and he should be enjoying his retirement, not suffering.

After all of that, the issues in my week seem a little silly.  Not that I'm going to keep quiet about them, LOL!

Sunday evening at D and D's house went well until the end.  We had a nice dinner, D and D had really done well and the kids proudly showed us their bedrooms:) There was a bit of a stink at the end between two people present - a misunderstanding nothing to do with D or D - but all is well now.  Ah well, I guess it's true when they say we put the "fun" in dysFUNctional!  The ride back was somewhat  eventful, given that the snow that invaded the next morning was already on its way.  We got home safely, despite the fact that S jammed/sprained her ankle/foot yet again trying to get into B's car. Oy.

Monday, I thought for SURE the courthouse would be closed but oh no - so I made the tobaggan ride to the main roads from our back road and actually got to court on time.  THEN they decided to cancel the afternoon docket and close the courthouse! Damn - all that knitting time gone, LOL! Our Stephen Ministry meeting was canceled, so I don't have an assignment yet - have to wait for next Monday:) So... it was a rather tense afternoon and evening at home (things are well now, but they weren't yet then), but I did get a bit of knitting done that evening.

Tuesday was somewhat quiet - I basically took much of the day to be available to the office via telephone and of course I returned calls, but I had that dr's appointment.  I found out I gained a bit of weight (oh what a surprise, LOL!) and had some blood work done and this coming monday I'm going for a CT scan of the abdominal area just to be cautious.  Then I've got to schedule ye olde regular check up. 

Oh snore...

The best thing on Tuesday was bell prax.  All I can do is my best, LOL:)

Wednesday, I spent the day finishing paperwork, and finally organizing my desk and calendar, so it actually looks like a grownup works here! When I was done, I went to the last Living the Question class - it was about prejudice - the stuff one grew up with and more of today's issues - good ole Fred Phelps (gag) was featured.  It was really wonderful to hear theologians - gay and straight - talk in an intelligent manner about what is (in my opinion) morally like being left or right-handed. thankfully mssr. phelps was not one of the people anyone agrees with! I hope when he gets to Heaven, God is a big Black Lesbian who takes this sad soul to her ample boosom in a Big HUGE hug:)

I can dream, can't I?

Thursday was court all day - and then choir which was pretty much all business, except for the occasional smart remark and giggle:) but not by me (RIGHT).

But before I got there, I actually FINISHED SOMETHING, so I do have some KNITTING to show you:

Yes, the ribbon lace scarf is fini, done, fertig! And I was able to quickly block it (ok, I cheated and used the iron) and give it to Donna for her very belated Christmas gift - and it was still cold enough to use it:)!!  The colors looked quite nice on her, too! 

So, I am now focusing on (1) the Daily Sweater; (2) baby items (especially the lacy Debbie Bliss blankie); and (3) a birthday gift for Nancy.  I have to ponder that one a bit:)

Well, it's Friday.  John is off tonight - since Tuesday, the grandgirls have come down with that high fever, achy joints and muscles strain of the flu that sometimes gives one a sore throat.  And remember we were there with them on Sunday, so John has been ill since Wednesday and when he got home yesterday, arranged his schedule to have the next two nights off.   The pharmacist suggested ibuprofen, lemon and honey tea and fluids.  He has been really laid flat with this thing - he's come downstairs all of three or four times in the last two days!  It also looks like B may be coming down with it - knock wood, I've been very lucky!  But it has been a Major Medical week for casa de FugueState!

Wishing you all good health and happiness, dear 3.5 readers.  Until next time, God be with you 'til we meet again!

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