Tuesday, February 26, 2013

It's only TUESDAY??

This has been a long week.  A long, ugly week.  And this is only Tuesday.  *sigh*

Okay, so what's been wrong with this week?
  1. Work stuff that I'll refrain from discussing on the internet, since Big Brother may be watching (for those of you who do not understand that reference, please read the excellent book "1984" by George Orwell).
  2. Sinus problems that have been dragging on for weeks.
  3. Exhaustion caused by items 1 and 2 above.
  4. Nothing tastes right; probably caused by item 2 above.
  5. I've had a sudden attack of "I hate my hair" syndrome.  Not unusual.  This happens from time to time.
  6. I need a snow day.....really, really, REALLY need a snow day.  And the best we're going to get are a few snow showers Thursday.  Phooey.
Now, what's been right with this week?
  1. Louise has been in the hospital, but is improving and will hopefully be home very soon.
  2. Daddy's improving a little more each day.
  3. I finished knitting a scarf for Mom on Sunday.
  4. I learned how to crochet one of those Sashay scarves last night from a YouTube video (I've already knitted several, but hadn't learned to crochet one).
  5. It's been a gray, rainy day.  I love gray, rainy days.
  6. Dessert tonight will be a pear.
  7. I'm close to finishing another pair of socks.  I've nearly finished the heel, and the rest of it is just knitting my way up the leg until I run out of yarn.  Good television knitting.
Okay, good outweighs bad, as it usually does.  Sometimes it's just a little difficult to see until you actually make a list.

Maybe it won't be such a bad week after all.  Keep your fingers crossed.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Adios, Taco Bell

I used to enjoy Taco Bell.  I never really considered it to be "Mexican food", but it was okay for fast food.  For years I was a fan of their steak taco salad.

Then they started putting rice in their taco salads.  Don't get me wrong; I actually LIKE rice.  But I don't like rice in Mexican dishes.  I especially don't like it when rice is used as a filler.  I learned that I could order a taco salad and request that the rice be omitted.  I got along with that pretty well for awhile.

Then I developed an aversion to meat.  This was a real shock to me, because I'd always loved beef.  I mean really loved it.  Anything from filet mignon to ground round.  Loved it.  But a health issue that caused me to be in severe pain for several months robbed me of my joy of meat.  Not just beef; I couldn't eat chicken any more either.  I'd been allergic to seafood for years, so I found myself depending on peanut butter and legumes to get my protein.

You'd be amazed how difficult it is to find fast food that doesn't involve either meat, chicken, or fish.  Taco Bell's bean burrito became my go-to fast food.  This afternoon I went through the drive-thru to get myself a bean burrito after a particularly rough day.  I wanted a treat.

I was happy to see a black bean burrito on the menu.  I really like black beans, and thought this sounded wonderful.  When I got home I unwrapped the paper from the burrito and took a big bite.....of mexican rice.  *bleah*

And so after years of enjoying quasi-Mexican fast food, I bid farewell to Taco Bell.

I'll miss you, Taco Bell.....it was fun while it lasted.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Update on Daddy

Night before last, Daddy had the worst pain he's had since injuring his back.  I suspect that if he'd been taking pain meds regularly after his surgery, this wouldn't have happened.  He began taking them on a regular schedule yesterday, and today he was much, much better.

I went to visit him and Mom today and had the opportunity to see his two tiny incisions.  Each has one tiny stitch; if the stitches weren't there, I'd have had trouble finding the incisions!  I'm always amazed  by the advances in medicine.

He's still tired, of course, but his pain level seems to have subsided appreciably.  I'm very grateful.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Quite a Week

It's been a very busy, tense week in my little world.  On Tuesday, Daddy finally had his long-awaited much-needed back surgery.  He had a repair of a compression fracture, and all seems to have gone very well, thank goodness.

The hospital visit, though, was less than stellar.  Don't get me wrong; he received excellent care.  But he'd been told to arrive on the morning of his surgery at 11:00 a.m. with surgery to begin at 1:00 p.m.  As usual, we arrived a little early, around 10:30 a.m.  They took him back to the short-stay surgery area right away and put him in a hospital gown.  Then they left him on the gurney in a curtained area until AFTER 4:00 P.M.!

Keep in mind that he'd been admitted for back surgery.  Then left ON HIS BACK on a gurney for nearly SIX HOURS.  Not good.  He was exhausted, hungry, and thirsty before they even got him to surgery.

The procedure went beautifully, but because it was so late in the day when they finished it was decided that he should stay overnight for observation.  We learned that "overnight" is a relative term.  By the time he was released and we'd picked up a prescription for an antibiotic that he was given, it was 2:00 p.m. before we got him home.  Nearly a full day after we expected to be able to get him home.

He was tired, irritated, and suffering from nicotine withdrawal by the time we got him out of the hospital, but luckily his pain level was not as severe as he expected.

This afternoon he was doing better, still having a little post-op pain, but much better than yesterday.  I can already see an improvement in the way he holds his body, so I'm hopeful that the procedure has actually helped his problem.

What a week.  I'm glad tomorrow is Friday!

Saturday, February 09, 2013

A Busy Morning

I've been a slug all week. I'm still recovering from a vile sinus infection, so I've been really tired.  The stress level at the office was even higher than usual this week, so that added to the fatigue.  Last night I actually fell asleep in my recliner and woke just after 4:00 a.m. with a vile migraine and a fever blister.  Happy Saturday.  *bleah*

I had a lot of housework to do since I was too tired to do much of anything in the evenings after work this week, so I'd made myself a "To-Do" list for today.  It was so long it made me tired just to READ it. So, I decided to just take each task on the list one at a time and work in 20/10 increments (20 minutes working/10 minute break).  I'd just work until I ran out of steam and quit, no matter where I was on the list.

I did pretty well for about 3 hours, then just ran down. That's okay, though. I checked off several tasks, and maybe after lunch and a little nap I can check off a few more.

For now, though, a bit of knitting and Netflix sounds pretty good.  :-)

My Dad finally got a surgery scheduled to repair the compression fracture in his back.  He'll have surgery next Tuesday; we're very hopeful that it will help alleviate the pain he's been suffering for the past several months.  Keep a good thought!  The procedure is interesting, and minimally invasive, so his recovery time should be relatively short.  Mom asked the PA how long it would be before Daddy could get on a treadmill, and he said probably a week or so after surgery.  I asked Mom if she'd checked to see how long it would be before he could drive, but she'd forgotten that. I suspect Daddy'll be much more anxious to drive than to get on the treadmill.  *LOL*