Christmas In July

I've been noticing the "Christmas in July" sales and activities recently. So I have decided to offer my contribution to the mix. This is Ryder being defiant and demonstrating that he is King of the House and can do whatever he wants.

Selling Our Library

I took the first step. I called the local paper and placed an ad to sell our books. I don't know how it happened but we are totally overrun by books. They have outgrown our so-called library and are lurking in every nook and cranny. They're in drawers, in stacks, in the hall, here, there and everywhere. I know coat hangers have the ability to reproduce in the dark of night. I'm beginning to think that books do too.

Another of Life's Ironies

How ironic that Lance Armstrong with his small team and relatively simple machines, bikes, are flying high. At the same time NASA with the support of thousands and its expensive, complex machines, shuttles, are grounded.

Rome Wasn't Built In A Day But.....

I hate waiting; I am not a patient person. My husband loves to tell about the time when I was fussing about something that wasn't happening as fast as I wanted it. My mother-in-law tried to console me by saying "Lil, Rome wasn't built in a day." To which I grouchily replied, "Well, it would have been if I had been there."

Cerebral Dominance In Unexpected Places

Today I had my first long chat with a neighbor who is a veteran of both dialysis and a kidney transplant. Her matter-of-fact understanding and acceptance of her situation was inspiring. Her attitude seems to be one of "Well, this is the way things are and I might as well regard it as an adventure."

It was during that part of the conversation that she related that one of the things she had learned was that if you were left-handed, the new kidney was transplanted into the left side of your abdomen. She also said that the transplanted kidney was the left kidney of the donor.

I don't know if her understanding is standard medical practice. It makes sense and if it is true, doesn't it make you wonder about the genius of the person who figured out the importance of cerebral dominance even in transplanting organs? Wow.

Kiss My (Unbroken) Foot

A few weeks ago, my right foot started hurting. Maybe "hurting" is an understatement. It became downright difficult to walk, to sit, to sleep. The foot looked innocent enough. It was slightly swollen and slightly reddened on the side where the pain was centered. Finally, I realized that "walking the pain away" was not working.

I called the doctor's office. They told me to go to the emergency room and have it x-rayed. After twisting my foot into impossible positions (which should have broken anything not yet broken), the x-ray technician announced she had the films she needed and she wheeled me into a special area of the emergency room. The walls were lined with crutches of all sizes, plaster-of-paris, gauzes, splints, braces, etc. As I waited for the doctor to come in, I started imagining a grand cast that grew from covering just my foot to one that was basically a body cast. Just as I had moved on to selecting a set of crutches, the doctor came back and told me that my foot was not broken and that I was suffering from tendonitis.

Tendonitis, my foot! In fact, I almost suggested that the doctor kiss my.....foot. Fortunately, I kept my mouth shut and he wrote out a prescription for a powerful painkiller. The painkiller improved the pain but a few days later, my foot started to turn black and blue. Isn't that an unusual sympton for tendonitis?

A Cabinet Crisis (Mine, Not Bush's)

When I returned home from visiting my husband at the nursing home today, I discovered that a wall cabinet in the master bathroom was partially hanging off the wall. (Maybe there was an earthquake, although none was mentioned on the news tonight.) One of the doors had come open and there was broken glass and cupboard contents all over the floor. So I did what any reasonable person would do. I took a nap while I considered my options.

Several hours later, I decided that this was a crisis situation requiring immediate action. So I got out the power screwdriver and a million or so screws and bravely approached the touchy situation. I soon discovered that I could not hold a 900 lb cabinet, keep a screw in place and operate the screwdriver all at the same time. So I did what any reasonable person would do. I went to the backdoor and told the chatting neighbors down the street that I needed help.

To make a long story short, we felt it was better to take it off the wall and let someone else worry about getting it back up. I guess this means a future blog post "A Cabinet Crisis-Part 2."

A Perfect Day

Today we had a family gathering because my brother and sister-in-law from Florida are spending a few days in NYS. The weather was perfect and so was the company. And to wrap up such perfection was the setting sun tonight. Sorry I couldn't do it justice.