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Wednesday I took a vacation day to run errands. Applied for a passport at the P.O., went to AAA & got a map & tour book of Scotland (!), got my chain saw sharpened while I watched, and got a few groceries. Missed the narrow window of open swim at the Gator pool. C came over after work and we went to Red Lobster to celebrate our 11th anniversary. Home & watched a few things on TV and let Punkie sit on the sofa with us. He cries a lot nowadays; I don’t think he’s in much pain, but he’s lonely, bored, frustrated, and depressed about being jailed in the cage. When I let him out to sit with me, he curls up and goes to sleep. He’s not using the leg, but the doctor says the nerve should heal in a few months. I hope so. Poor purring Punkin puss.
Friday, C & I went to dinner ay NY pizza for his birthday, then hurried back downtown to Dickens of a Christmas. We saw the parade & our legs got tired. Saturday, he helped me make cookies. I made the shortbread cut-outs and he decorated them, putting gunshot wounds on the groundhog cookies and eyebrows on the angels. He left & I made peppermint brownies and snickerdoodles.
Sunday was the SheVaCon online meeting, then my neighbor's choir came around caroling. They skipped my house, so just for that I went out and tagged along with them. Monday I went to Valley View mall. It wasn't bad for December. Still don't have a lot of presents.
Thursday I dashed out at lunch and got Punkie and took him home. He is back in the cage. Thursday evening was the WiNS holiday event. We had dinner at Carlos and went to a play at Showtimers, Miracle on 34th Street. I sat with Linda and Ann, and found out Ann was born in the same city as I was and we overlapped for a year. Her family got transferred to Roanoke the same time mine did because our fathers were both engineers at the same company. She grew up about a mile or two from my house and went to my elementary school when I was there. Now she works at the same company and is about to buy a house 2 blocks from mine.
Friday after work, I bought some waterbed sheets from some people on Craigslist and went shopping in Vinton at Goodwill, Big Lots, and Kroger. This morning it SNOWED! It was more than a dusting; almost an inch stuck to the grass. Instead of going out shopping, I wrapped a package and got it ready to mail, and wrote my annual letter to enclose in the Christmas cards. Washed one load of laundry and kept Punkin company.
I felt much better today! I expected the cold to be set in, but maybe it's just hiding & waiting until I'm off guard. Went in to work and helped solve some production problems. Today was C's birthday, I gave him some CDs of a book read aloud. I got him hooked on it last summer so now he has a copy. Dashed to pick up Punkie after work and the doctor said the vet school at VT recommended they take OUT the pin from his thighbone. The bone is in the process of mending, but is not stable yet; but the bigger problem is loss of nerve function. This is scary, I don't want him to break the bone all over again. He will need complete cage rest for a month. I'll have to listen to him cry for awhile. They are going to take it out tomorrow, so I have another Punkless night.
Saturday I cleaned up some more dishes. Tried to cut up some old branches for firewood, but my chain saw just doesn’t cut. My neighbor says the chain can get dulled easily. Let Punkie out of his cage during the day and sat on the sofa with him to watch TV. Stayed up late watching TV and put Punkie to bed in the kitchen, outside of the cage.
Sunday I put up the outside lights, and no, it’s not December yet. Went to the 419 library.
Wednesday we got out of work early and I started the cooking & cleaning. G came over after work and we baked the pies; they came out beautiful! We did the open lattice on the apple & blueberry. I got the wrong kind of pumpkin; this was the mix instead of just canned pumpkin, but it worked out OK. Then we stuffed the turkey and she went home. I got up around 7:30 and popped the bird into the oven, then cooked the mashed potatoes & sweet potatoes while watching the parade on TV. C came over about 11:00 and cooked his delicious cauliflower. Hillary fixed my wi-fi. Clare and Al arrived about 12:30 and everything was ready. She made me a beautiful cornucopia centerpiece with real flowers! We all stuffed ourselves, then G & H went table-hopping to his family's house for dinner. C watched football, Clare & Al helped with the dishes and leftovers, then we 3 watched my copy of an old movie from the '60s, Good Neighbor Sam. They went home & C & I found some sitcoms on TV. Then he went home. Talked with my 2 sisters and one of my nieces for about 1.5 hours.
Friday, C came to dinner. He helped me with Punkin – we wiped him with a wet washcloth because he hasn’t been cleaning his fur recently, even before the leg broke. Then he sat on the sofa with us while we watched TV and he washed his face, so maybe the sponge-bath encouraged him to take care of himself a little.
Saturday morning was the annual Grandin Road parade. C & I sat on the curb to watch it. He went home after lunch and I called G a few times, because she had arranged to come over about 1:00. I peeled apples and made the pie filling, made cornbread, and dried out some bread crusts in the oven to make stuffing. G finally arrived and we made pie crust. G found a pie crust recipe from Good Eats a few years ago that is better than my mother’s. She found it for me in her own handwriting in Momma’s favorite cookbook. I probably do this every year, but I pointed out another paper that has my handwriting on it, one that has Momma’s, and one that has her mother’s. We have a pie crimper that also goes ‘way back, but I don’t know whose it was.
G has been encouraging me to play World of Warcraft, so she brought her laptop and we downloaded the game onto mine. It took overnight and was still installing when I got up Sunday morning!
Sunday was the SheVaCon meeting at the Holiday Inn. I got there extra-early and Gina and Lynn were already there going over updates. This meeting went quickly, then they shooed everybody else out to work on the schedule matrix. I cooked some of the kale from my backyard garden! G and I rolled out the pie crusts.
WoW was still installing the next step on my laptop Sunday evening, so I played it on hers with lots of kibitzing. I’m a total klutz at computer games. After she left, I played some on my laptop and got killed. I couldn’t get through to the Spirit Healer to revive me, and ran around as a ghost trying to find my corpse. That’s where I left off last night.
Sunday I took down Linda’s dog cage and washed it, because Punkin has been confined to the kitchen. I swam at the Gator Pool again. We had more beautiful weather, and my neighbor Jackie was sitting on the front porch with her week-old baby, so I went over to see her. Several other neighbors came by to see her while I was there.
Monday evening I let Punkie out of the kitchen while I got my emails & stuff. I’ve blocked off the stairs and the dining room and built steps up to the sofa, so he is OK to wander around downstairs. I sat at the computer desk and held him like a baby, and he fell asleep in my arms. I cuddled him for about 5 minutes, then carried him into the kitchen and gently laid him down on his bed. Just as I did so, he went berserk! He jumped up and hissed and growled and nearly turned a somersault trying to lick his leg, and hissed and growled and ran toward the front door and hissed some more. All this was within a few seconds. Then he ran across the living room while holding his leg up in the air, and huddled in the corner for about a quarter hour. Poor baby! Did I re-break the bone when I laid him down? I’ve carried him for the last few weeks without any trouble. Did the leg get caught in my shirt? Did I startle him awake when I set him down? What happened? I cried on the phone to C for awhile. Later on, Punkie came up onto the sofa and slept while I watched TV. When he woke up and stood up, he growled again. He’s always been very calm and easygoing, so he must be in pain. I had one more dose of pain medicine left, so I gave him that and went to bed.
This morning I took him to the vet and cried some more at work. They think the pin inside his thigh bone is sticking out or has worked its way out a little bit and is touching a nerve. They can’t do much until the bone heals except give him pain medicine and keep him quiet. Brought him home & set the cage back up again. He had another hissy-fit awhile ago. It must be some movement that sets off the nerve and sends a stabbing pain through his leg. He was even biting the leg and some things inside the cage. I'd like to dope him senseless for the next few weeks. I feel SO SORRY for him! I hate to see him hurting, he doesn’t deserve that.
Took Wednesday off. It’s a good thing I did, because I woke up about 2:30 Tuesday night and lay awake until after 5:00. Went to the Gator pool around noontime, and it was very un-crowded there. Dropped by Rodney’s game store, but he wasn’t in. Went to my neighbor’s new cupcake shop in Grandin Village and she sat with me while I ate it because there was nobody else in there at the time. Yummy cupcake! Got a few things from the co-op.
Home & made a new walk-in litter box for Punkin. He has used the regular one a few times recently, but it looks difficult for him to climb in & out of it. I think he has trouble bending his knee. After the new box was done, he refused to use it, of course.
In the evening, I went over to see a dear old friend who was feeling blue. We had a nice visit and chatted a long time.
Thursday evening was the SF meeting at the library. We watched another episode of the Sara Conner Chronicles.
Thursday evening was the SF meeting at the library. We watched another episode of the Sara Conner Chronicles.
Thursday, G came by after work and had some dinner with me. I gave her the rest of the Mexican casserole from the week before.
Friday, I took Punkin to get his stitches out. The doctor showed me how to flex & stretch his joints because he is stiff. She encouraged me to give him subcutaneous fluids at home, but I’m not about to do that. The PT is bad enough!
Saturday I dug up my crop of beets and cooked them and their beet greens. I like having free food in my back yard! There is still some kale left out there. I took down the tent cover from my back porch and washed it, and washed a few other loads of laundry and hung them out. We had beautiful sunny warm weather all weekend! This doesn’t feel like November or Thanksgiving. Saturday night was drum night, and it cooled down enough that we huddled by the fire.
Sunday, my neighbor Jackie had her baby. This is their second girl. I took Punkin out for a walk and let some little neighbor kids pat him. He loves attention! I mowed the yard with the bagger on the mower, which picked up all the leaves. I had to keep emptying the bagger, but it sure beats raking! The compost bin is full to overflowing now. Sunday afternoon, one of my drum buddies who lives nearby came over to drum with me on the front porch. Some neighbor kids came by and played with us. Then we had pizza, beets, beet greens and wine for supper and watched my copy of The Visitor. I forgot to take the cardboard out from under the pizza, so it was doughy. This lady (Becky) is very interesting! She flew to India for hip surgery, where they resurfaced the joints instead of replacing them. She flew to Thailand for other surgery, and apparently the care is just as good as in the US, but much cheaper.
Punkie is getting restless and is tired of being cooped up in that cage for so long. I let him sit on the sofa while I watch TV, but when I put him to bed in the cage, he cries. I hear him yelling at night sometimes, even with the door closed. The doctor says I can let him out a little bit at a time, so I’m getting ready to confine him to the kitchen again, the way he was before the surgery. Building stuff for my cat out of boxes makes me feel better. I hope it helps him!
Sunday was chilly and rainy. I washed the blanket from Punkie's cage and reset all the clocks. Cooked the pumpkin and mashed it up. I still have pumpkin from prior years, so this time I got the bright idea to freeze individual portions in muffin pans.
Today, the vet called me to ask how Punkin is doing. Isn't that unusual! She is a recent graduate and she really seems to care about her patients.
Thursday evening I went to B&N after getting Punkie settled. Afterwards, some of us went to see Zombieland at the theater. That was funny! Friday I took a vacation day, which worked out well. I made another walk-in litter box for Punkin because the first one was too small. Then I cleaned up the house some and made up my own recipe for Mexican food, inspired by the stuff Wayne made for Lois & me last summer. It didn't turn out nearly as well, of course, but it was edible. This was thin steak, onion, peppers, tomatoes, a little bit of leftover salsa & leftover black beans & cheese rolled up in tortillas (wrapped, I can't roll them), covered in enchilada sauce & cheese, and baked; served with plain yogurt & fresh cilantro. C came over for dinner & gave P his sympathy. We went to Greene Memorial again this year. They showed the silent movie Nosferatu, made in Germany in 1921. The church organist jammed on the pipe organ as accompaniment. That was cool! C went home & I went to the midnight movie at the Grandin, Ghostbusters. Couldn't find my friends at either movie, but I enjoyed them. I think the Ghostbusters print was either damaged or cut; one scene in particular was missing.
Yesterday I was all energized and did a bunch of projects around the house. Got outside and enjoyed the lovely October weather some. Last night about 6:15 (OK, this morning) I started feeling bad. Now I don't have much energy; although I put the ghost decoration up in the attic and made French bread for C. He came over and helped me tie up a bush beside the driveway, then we both sat on the front porch while I carved the pumpkin. I made pea soup with a big ham bone in it.
After work, I picked up take-out from Taaza and took it to MiG's house for dinner. Her husband is out of town and she has 2 toddler boys, so she appreciated the dinner and adult companionship. I got to play with the boys and their toys while she had some time to fold laundry and chat. She seems to be an excellent mother - she makes them be polite and mind her without yelling or spanking; at least not while I have ever seen her.
- Mood:
chipper
Met up with Jim P after work Monday and we rode all the way to the Southeast end of the greenway.
Called the vet this morning to check on Punkie, and the lady held the phone up to his cage so he could hear me. Later, the doctor said he is up and around, but has a catheter in his arm and a splint on his broken leg, and he doesn't like either one. They may take the splint off today. He couldn't sit down all weekend, he could either stand or lie. Poor baby. I got depressed today. My blessings vastly outnumber my troubles, but I can allow myself a little bit of depression once in awhile. The doctors are very optimistic about his recovery.
Went to Walmart on the way home today & got brave enough to try making enchiladas for Friday.
- Mood:
depressed
Thursday I parked at Jim & Claire's house and Jim & I crossed McClanahan and went through the tunnel to the ball fields and the greenway that goes to Wasena. The low water bridge is closed for repairs so it doesn't connect now. We rode back toward RMH and saw where the Wasena greenway is now connected to the new greenway that goes to Southeast! Woo-hoo! Rode on that one partway. The plans are to extend the greenways all the way to west Salem.
My plan for this weekend was to attend the movie party on Saturday and wash Punkin on Sunday. He is elderly and has stopped taking care of his fur. Friday evening he came in limping very badly and wasn't using his right rear leg. He said it hurt when I examined it. I took him to the vet first thing Saturday morning, and the thigh bone is broken and bent at an angle. Poor baby! They gave him a shot of pain killer, so he was very mellow. I stayed with him while he got some IV fluids. They scheduled surgery for Monday morning to put a pin and some wires in the bone. Again, poor baby. I brought him home with some pain killer. I took the chairs out of the kitchen and put a soft blanket under the table. I can close him in the kitchen where he has access to the bathroom and his food and water. He has been very calm and stoic.
My neighbors are all very close, and Friday morning I got ghosted! It's kind of like Secret Santa, where there was a gift on my front porch and a little poem that says to give a gift to another person. I got a skull-shaped mug, 2 cookie cutters, a glow necklace, and some candy. Saturday afternoon I bought some trinkets to ghost another neighbor. Also Saturday was the Halloween movie party. I took a pumpkin spice cake and met Clare, Marty, and Blair at Keith's house. We watched the original Halloween, Phantasm, Halloween H20, something else, and The Lost Boys.
Today I hung out 3 loads of laundry & took the screen off the tent on my back porch. Didn't have the energy or ambition to take the tent itself, or do much of anything else. Carried Punkin outside 3 times and stayed with him for a brief outing. His surgery is tomorrow, so I hope it goes well. Poor baby.
Sunday we had an online meeting for SheVaCon. My neighbors had scheduled a baby shower during that time, so I ran next door for about 5 minutes. I'd already RSVPd that I couldn't stay long. During the meeting, I played with the new LED kit I ordered, and got it working. Woo-hoo! It's a HAL 9000 eye that fades off & back on constantly.
I'm a pack rat; I save everything if I think there could be a use for it someday. When I skim the meat grease off the top of foods, I store it in the freezer until the container is full. I used to throw it in the garbage, but now C saves the sawdust from his woodworking for me. After the meeting, I mixed a batch of meat grease & sawdust and packed it down into empty tubes from paper towel rolls. Voila! Home-made fire starter!
Friday evening, my drumming friends got together at Grandin Gardens for pot-luck supper. I took some butternut squash that I grew in the yard, and we drummed awhile. The next morning, some of us worked on building a rock wall around a small fire circle. We gathered the rocks a few months ago. I helped haul them from the parking lot to the fire circle; even walked home and brought back my hand-truck to move the bigger ones. Later, I re-hemmed some corduroy skirts and lit the furnace for the season.
Sunday I hung out my rock-work laundry and took apart the wind harp that was on the front porch. The top ring had broken so I got a new one of stronger material. Grace & her friend Kori came over briefly and helped me take down the screen tent from the pool. We only broke one tent pole this time.
Grace's grandmother passed away this week. She was a really nice lady and quite a character! She had a big family and lots of friends. I made sure to go to the visitation & funeral and to take Grace to see relatives that she hadn't seen in years. They were all happy to see us both. The visitation was Thursday evening, and G & I ate at Cici's first. I lay awake most of Thursday night because the cold has reached its coughing stage. I had a dentist appt Friday morning and went by G's work to pick her up, but she had overslept. I found her at her apartment just as she was about to leave. I took her to BK for breakfast, then to the funeral at OLN on 419. We paraded across town to the cemetery and met some more relatives and saw the graves of some of G's ancestors there. I just wish C didn't object to my socializing with them.
