Back On Track...I Guess

Everything went well with my hand on Thursday. Now that her deck is back, Sneaky is back to hanging around. Junior is letting us touch him now. Rossie is doing as well as can be expected, but we're not sure what we can expect for her. She's a sweet cat but so reserved.

Last Sunday's ranch trip was a comedy of errors. We got nothing done except deer corn in the feeder and the SD card swapped out of the camera. Why? Numerous reasons, but mostly because the nephew of the people we lease the hayfield to cannot figure out how to properly lock the gate, and he locked us out. The man is not a kid (close to my age), but he's far from the sharpest crayon in the box. After a couple trips back and forth, Mr. L cut the chain, then we had to wait for our folks to get back from church to get the key to their lock so we could finish setting everything up so the locks were far enough away so the only way to lock it is to another chain link.

I got one pool workout in on Monday, but Wednesday's workout was scrapped to help Mr. L with the trailer at the ranch. That went well, except we forgot to bring water with us, so we were zapped. Flat fender Jeep trailer and motor home seats are now in the shop. Still no tree work completed. Neither of us have the stamina to get the right amount of work in for that task.

Tree limb and brush drop off was successful yesterday. We mated some keys and locks and identified a few keys for the scrap heap. I guess that's decluttering. Sort of.

This week, we're looking into the Texas Foreclosure Auction process.

The Week Ahead:

• Physical therapy twice
• Stitches out on Thursday
• Thursday will be a busy day
• Back to watering, since the rain has stayed away
• Fredricksburg swap meet. Test out the electric scooter in preparation for Hershey
• Probably some other stuff I'm too tired to think about.

Next...

There's another reunion in the bag. This one was different because Chad was only with us a few days, and he brought his girlfriend and her daughter. They stayed in a hotel, which made my life a lot easier. Actually, it was pretty darn easy all around. Between work and that submission deadline, I was swamped, so Eric did most of the prep work. He even handled all the picking up and dropping off. I went with them to the train station to drop Vicky off, but I didn't see O'Hare at all, which was a real treat.

Having the kid around was, well, it was all right, but I'd like it better if she came back again in ten years or so. She's the only child of divorced parents and acts like it. She thought Vicky was the coolest person ever, which was fine for Vicky for the first three hours or so. After a full day of sight-seeing, she declared the kid birth control. At one point, the kid was fake punching Vicky, and I could see Vicky's BS tolerance plummeting, so I got the kid's attention and said, in my best mom voice, "Let's get something straight. That's my baby." The defiance in her eyes turned to terror in about a nanosecond, and she started the "I didn't do anything" litany, all of which got her mom's attention. It was great! She did listen to all the adults better after that.

So now I'm transitioning again. We hope to close on the house the week of the 26th, and we leave the 1st for Scotland. "Pack" is the watchword for the rest of the month. I also have to find a cat sitter. I've heard our usual sitters will have someone come and stay the night, so that is my back-up plan. I'll call and confirm tomorrow. Ideally, though, I'd like to have someone I trust stay here, or at least come and hang out for several hours a day. Limited human contact for ten days will have my furries neurotic. Boarding them is my worst case scenario. The last time we had to board the girls, it was near impossible to get them in a carrier a year later to move them to the house in Mascoutah. They were completely freaked out about being caged, and I can't have that this time. Not when we have to be out of the apartment by August 31.

I hope to get some writing done. I haven't written this month, and I can feel it. June was amazing--my best writing months in, I dunno, years, probably. I'm not sure I want to dig up the old spreadsheets to check stats. I think I'm going to work on the dragon story again ad try to get that whipped into shape before we go. Or I could review King Or Country and see if I can get the plot(s) for that solidified so I know what to look for in terms of research while we're in Scotland. Our stateside trip coordinator, who is a writer and married to a Scotsman, tells me there are a couple used book stores in Inverness I Must Not Miss. There's a reason I'm mildly obsessive about packing light for this trip!

I'm sure there's more. My brain has been all swirly with details for weeks. Anxiety levels have spiked enough lately I looked up acupressure points and have started drinking Tulsi tea. It's bad enough I have over-caffeinated myself on my second cup of coffee a few times, and that hasn't happened in 20+ years.

Oh! There was a little excitement with the job. I got a $1.00 raise with my promotion a couple of weeks ago, and I just got another raise, courtesy of the City of Chicago. A new city ordinance is raising the minimum wage to $13 by 2017 (I think), so my pay popped up another $1.25. Who knew you could make $11/hour stirring fro yo? So there's another reason to commute to this store instead of inquiring about transferring to the franchise near the house. The house is outside city limits.

So this week, I'm packing and writing. I welcome comments and opinions about what project I should work on immediately. Y'all have a good week!

Worried About Sneaky

We've been home since Wednesday and still no sign of Sneaky. Normally, she would have appeared by now, so I'm concerned. I love that little cat, and I hate to think something might have happened to her. I'm inclined to think she has two families, and when we're not here, she goes somewhere else to hang out.

Junior and Walter have both been seen regularly since we've been back. We haven't seen Boomer for a couple of weeks now. It could mean he's only coming out at night, or it could mean something more sinister. I don't have a game camera set up, so we could be missing him.

Rossie and everyone else is doing well. Keeping Rossie in the big crate, letting her out in the parlor for a couple of hours per day seems to be working well for her and the other cats. She is responding to attention but not seeking it out.

Today was a test of my stamina. I trimmed crape myrtles, dragged branches into a pile, helped Mr. L finish setting up his scaffolding (the third level), mowed the lawn with the riding mower, and changed out the battery on the older 24V electric mower. I rested and iced after the branches and scaffolding, but resting was enough after the other stuff.

Yesterday, I did a one hour pool workout but recovered fairly quickly from that.

Glaring Upheaval in live. I've done some reading. I've kept up on my blogging. I'm still studiously avoiding writing.

The Week Ahead:

• Trip to the ranch on Sunday to load the flat fender trailer onto the 16ft trailer, cut up a tree, fill the deer feeder, check the game camera for proper operation. Avoid getting poison ivy!
• Get two pool workouts in. Plan is for Monday and Wednesday. I'm doing really deep squats in the pool, and I think it's helping with my getting off lower seat heights.
• PT on Tuesday
• Knee followup on Wednesday afternoon
• Hand surgery on Thursday
• Take it easy for a week after that

Hitting July Running (Right.)

Had a lovely Independence Day with friends. For whatever reason, most of their kids had other plans, so it was us old folks chatting for the day. It made it easier to keep track of who we were talking to (we only see most of these people once a year, and this is the only experience we have with some of them).

San Antonio was a busy trip, but I held up pretty well. Drove on Friday. Mr. L started his chili and let it cook on high overnight. He turned it to low in the morning. This batch was especially hot but tasty. That's our contribution to the party which also had brisket, baked beans, a veggie tray, fruit tray, 7-layer dip, mixed veggies, a to-die-for sausage dip, and a cake for dessert.

Sunday was for yard work. In three sessions, I got the front yard mowed. Nothing else.

Monday, I dropped my truck off at the glass place for the windshield replacement, then we ran errands. (Mr. L's term for shopping -- that man will put women to shame for shopping. If you've seen guys hanging out while they endure a shopping trip with their wives, you've seen me tagging along with Mr. L as he does "errands.")

Tuesday, I dropped my truck off to get new tires and have it serviced. Mr. L was supposed to have a doctor appointment, but but they called and canceled because he didn't have lab work done (he was ready to do it that day if they wanted, but they never tell him what they want), so he go lab work done, and the appointment was rescheduled for August. After I picked up my truck, we headed to Devine (south of San Antonio) to hang out with a friend of Mr. L's, so he could talk metal lathes.

Last week, I had my VA evaluation appointment and a couple of PT appointments. I couldn't find any deer corn, but I set the game camera up anyway (I hope I remembered to turn it on). Mr. L got the trailer in an awkward place, so we wound up tugging until we could move it to where he could hook it up to the truck again and position it. By the time we got that done, we were too tired to do anything else, so we'll head back out there this week to do what we planned to do. I'll check the game camera then to make sure it's working. The pond is full.

The Week Ahead:

• Physical therapy on Thursday
• Friday, I'm going to head to the hotel pool to do my water therapy. I have an album on the phone that has a runtime of exactly 60 minutes. I got a splash resistant Bluetooth headset, so I can listen to music. When the song changes, I'll change exercises. I'm going to try to get three sessions in before I have my hand surgery next week.
• Pick a cover photo for Glaring Upheaval
• Check text for accuracy in Glaring Upheaval

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Man, I'm tired. I allowed myself a half hour nap after church and could have slept longer, but I'm glad I didn't. I'll be heading to bed early.

I'm going to pull the trigger on the short story submission tomorrow. Thanks for all the help. The story is stronger now, and I've done enough research that it shouldn't be too hard to expand the world into a longer book.

The house inspection went well. We should be getting the report any time, but the inspector was really trying to find things. It's all pretty minor stuff. I'm mostly doing mental furniture placement while we wait for the VA appraiser. That's the big obstacle right now to getting out of dodge. Can't come too soon for me. Fireworks season has begun here. Every stinking night, but so far none from the roof. Oh, and our car got keyed Friday night. Some jackass walked into the carport and ran their key down the whole drivers side. We filed a police report, but I don't expect anything will happen. I think my stepdad will be able to fix it, so I'm not worried.

The games begin Thursday. Looks like I have to get someone to cover a couple hours of my shift on Thursday so I can make the first airport run. Eric has done a lot of the prep work so we're in good shape. He has found it's easier to just do the work than deal with freaked out Wendy. Works for me!

As far as decluttering, we took a big box of miscellaneous crap, an old TV, and 2 trash bags of clothing to Salvation Army yesterday. There's more to do, but that will do for now.

I think there might be a correlation between sugar intake and my allergies. Yesterday I binged on sugar and caffeine, and I didn't take my allergy pill because I didn't feel like I needed one. Today I woke up with one eye irritated and tearing, and it cleared up pretty quickly after I took a pill. It might be coincidence, but I can use a reason to avoid sugar to see if there is a connection.

I think that's about it for now. Hope y'all have a good week.

Back To Work Soon

Yes, I think I'm nearly to the point where I won't be able to use this knee as an excuse not to work. I still have to pace myself, but stamina is returning. I got a little of everything done on my list for this week: medical records mailed, annual exam at VA (plus an additional appointment, quickly given, to get something wart-like cryogenically removed from my arm), physical therapy (two solid sessions), pre-op consult (scheduled for July 16), three weed whacker batteries of weed whacking done, but very little housework.

My VA nurse practitioner cautioned me about getting the carpal tunnel release done. Her nurse's husband had it done, but still had problems. The nurse practitioner advised to wait longer, because often the results aren't so good from this procedure. My doc is confident I'll see good results, and my physical therapist said it's important to get it done before I experience muscle loss, because that won't come back. I like my VA practitioner, but in this instance, based upon results I've been getting from them so far, I trust my orthopedic surgeon and physical therapist in this matter.

Our town is having a tree limb and brush drop off day on July 18th, so I'm going to see what I can get trimmed and gathered in time to participate in this event -- it's rare for the city to do this, and I want to take advantage of it.

In clutter release, four empty boxes have left the house. Three toner cartridges have made their way into the UPS truck for recycling.  I boxed up the coffee maker in preparation for putting it in a yard sale this summer (It's still on the ktichen counter, though -- I need to find a staging area for this stuff).

I'm identifying little tasks that need to be done in the overall housework realm. Unfortunately, it took me most of the week to bring the broom and dustpan into the downstairs bathroom to sweep it. I'll get back into the swing of things soon. I'm not a great housekeeper, but I can be a lot better than I've been able to be since the surgery.

The Week Ahead:

• Evaluation appointment with a VA contractor on Monday, and there may be more appointments related to this at some later date
• Physical therapy X2
• Set up the deer camera and fill the deer feeder
• Maybe we'll finally cut up the tree that's been sitting on the motor home for a couple of years
• Bring the flat fender Jeep trailer back from the ranch and stow in the shop.
• Head to San Antonio to celebrate the 4th with friends.
• Yardwork
• Housework

Looking up

We've had interesting developments here. We have a signed agreement on our offer to buy the house in Berwyn. I'm leaving work a little early on Friday to go out there for the inspection, although I'll be surprised if they find anything. It's a recent flip, and the city is very strict on code enforcement, or so our realtor tells us. We're hoping for a quick close, ideally mid-July. We'll still have to pay August rent, but that's fine. We won't have to make a mortgage payment until September. It's going to save us a lot of money, which is crazy. We're going into debt to get out of debt.

Still no movement on the downstate house, but with the breathing room we'll be getting, we're a little less concerned. We'll see how the market looks in September or so before we decide to renew the listing for another 6 months or take it off the market and try to rent for 18 months. That'll put us back to April, and hopefully the market will have picked up, plus we'll have another 18 mortgage payments covered by rent and our break-even point will be lower. It's not the ideal situation, but if we find a good rental agent like we had in VA, it'll be fine.

The Chicago Games went well yesterday. It's been wet, so the area was a little muddy, but we talked to a lot of people and the weather cooperated. It didn't storm until we were home this time, even after we stopped for dinner along the way.

Work has been interesting. I'm doing more managerial duties, but I don't have the title or the pay yet. I'm supposed to be training with one of the other managers for a couple hours tomorrow morning. Honestly, I don't know what else they could have me do. I'm already doing inventory and ordering, scheduling, and bank runs for change. The kids already call me when something goes wrong or someone doesn't show up. I'm already reminding them of what to do and what to wear. (We have a couple of girls who think it's fine to show up in white short shorts as long as they have the t-shirt and visor.) I already meet once a week with the district manager. And they've gotten me the info to take the Chicago food sanitation course, which I'll be reimbursed for once I pass. I guess I'll find out tomorrow what else I need to be doing to get to the next level because, frankly, I'm getting to the point that they're not paying me enough to put up with this crap. I'm my own worst enemy, of course. One of the girls called me this afternoon to make sure we don't have a repeat of a situation last week, and I told her we wouldn't, but if it did happen again she could call me and I'd come in. But I vent to poor Eric when they call and pester me, or when I have to cover a shift because someone didn't call in sick in time to get someone to cover for them. Working with teens is so much fun.

Writing has been going better. Blogging has not. I really need to get a handle on that.

I think that's about it. The latte I drank at 5 p.m. seems to have just worn off. Maybe tomorrow won't stink after all!

I Can See Normal on the Horizon

While I can see normal on the horizon, I'm also experiencing momentary despair that the knee will ever be "normal." I know this is silliness. It will, and it will be in a few months, but right now, in these moments, every now and then, I'm tired of it. I know this will pass.

It's the busy season for routine medical appointments. With physical therapy on top of the appointments, I have some long days running around in Temple. Last week was with my primary care doctor. Thankfully, anticipated prescription problems did not materialize at Fort Hood, but nearly everyone in the waiting room was speaking some language other than English. Do you know how strange this is in an American military hospital? This week, I see my primary nurse practitioner at the VA where the women's health exams will take place. I'll update her on my knee and my next steps I'm taking to alleviate my carpal tunnel symptoms -- a visit to my orthopedic surgeon on Wednesday to discuss surgery. Other than issuing me braces for my various ailments, the VA has been useless to me for anything other than Women's Health (the primary reason I see them). I'm so thankful I have other health care available to me. On the 29th, I see a VA contractor doctor for my increased disability evaluation.

If surgery is indicated for my carpal tunnel (and I think it is), I'll schedule that for mid-July. I should just be finishing PT for my knee, so I can begin it for my hand.  Interestingly enough, my PT place seems to do pre-employment physical fitness tests for employers that need it (the jail being one). That sounds like a good way to supplement income.

We got the birdbath installed in the side yard this week. I got the lawn mowed. I still need to do trimming. I'm barely keeping ahead of yard work, and I'm not doing well on housework. Stephen, I spoke too soon about being thankful I didn't have to pound laundry on rocks. A couple nights ago, while we were working on a jigsaw puzzle at the kitchen table, Mr. L looked down, and water was oozing across the floor. The washer was leaking somehow. We think at the drain pump, but we haven't verified it yet. I guess we're in the market for another washer again (we bought this one used from our former neighbor in San Antonio two years ago). Will Mr. L find the time and energy to move the 220 outlet and the dryer vent to the other side of the laundry room so we can buy the new stacked unit we prefer? We'll see. Until he figures it out, I'm hauling dirty clothes to the laundromat at the end of the street for washing and bringing them back here for drying.

Quin is published. I think I haven't done a blog post for it yet, so I should do that. Thank you, Stephen, for your help with the cover image as well as reminding me how much revision we did from my electronic copy to the final version in BFF -- and for sending those copies for my use.

I have the Glaring Upheaval and Malone's Way file assembled. I'll need to select cover art, and do a quality check.  I plan to release that next month.  I've kept up with my blogging schedule. Stamina is seeping back in. Despite this, I'm still not getting much creative work done.

So far, Rossie is responding positively to the us putting her in the cage. We hope she feels safe in there, and her behavior so far indicates she does. Or she is beginning to feel safe. Either way, we feel hopeful for the first time in a long while with regard to her. Will this work, and how long will it take? We have no idea.

The Week Ahead:

• Mail surgical medical records to VA
• Annual exam at VA
• Physical therapy X2
• Pre-op consult with orthopedic surgeon
• Do some yard work
• Do some housework

Y'all have a great week and hang in there.

Glimpses of Productivity

Thanks to Stephen's no too gentle prodding, I read through the Amazon KDP terms of service and accepted them.  Then I looked through some stock photos. I created a book for Quin. I found the same photo I'd liked for Quin on colourbox on my stock photo site that gives me a photo a month, so I downloaded that photo and created a cover. It's not ideal, but it's a start. Ideally, I'd make the background transparent or find a way to make the photo a little smaller on the cover so the "an" of Jean isn't obscured by the mannequin's foot. Other niggling things like that, but I have a cover. Maybe the fonts aren't right. Maybe the colors aren't right, but I have a cover. Then I played with the document file. I added the front matter, added the three poems from BFF at the end, and added a bio.

Wendy observed the indentations were too large. I agreed. I made the indent smaller in the file. No change in .mobi. I removed the indentations, and .mobi had no indentations. I added three spaces where every indentation should be. That sort of works, better on some e-readers than others from what I could tell. I'm nearly ready to move to the pricing page, but I'm letting it cool for a while first.

I'm looking for cover images for Glaring Upheaval/Malone's Way. Nothing really grabs me yet, but I'm also looking with an eye for title, subtitle, and name placement visibility. Now that I've seen the cover wizard in action, I see what some of the limitations are and am trying to work with them.

I've kept up with my blog posts. I drafted an opening scene to a post-apocalyptic story. Writing-wise, this is the most productive I've been for a couple of months.

I troubleshot the iMac wake from sleep problem yesterday. After I exhausted all the cures I found on the internet to no avail, I called Apple Tech support. They exhausted everything they had (not much more than what I'd already tried), and the next step is to lug it into the Apple Store next time I'm in San Antonio. At least I have a trouble ticket on it with everything we've done so far, so we shouldn't have to backtrack much. The interim solution is to never let it go to sleep, which works well. I make a point to turn it off if I won't be using it for a while.

Mr. L is on his way back from San Antonio, where he had a productive week, repairing siding, a window sill, painting, and fixing two water leaks. Probably a few other things he's not mentioned which are likely to be impressive, because he does stuff like that.

I got the tree down for a very reasonable price, mowed at the store, tried to trap cats, trapping all the wrong ones (and letting one I sort of wanted to trap escape when I foolishly tried to transfer him to a carrier -- just take him to the vet in the trap; I should know that by now). We probably have some things to do to prepare for the upstairs AC tear out and install next week.  We're looking forward to having a new system installed and hoping it will be more reliable and efficient.

I have physical therapy for a few more weeks and several medical appointments, routine, but important, as well as the evaluation appointment for the VA to determine not only my temporary 100% disability but my request for an increased rating for my right knee (I didn't specifically ask for that, but they interpreted it that way, and I'm fine with that). I know the knees are not 0% disability, but they may still see it that way. A replacement with no complications, according to the chart, is an automatic 30%. I don't want it rated any more than that, because that means I'm having serious problems with the implant, and I do not want that. Thankfully, I don't think I'm having problems with the implant, so I imagine after one year, the temporary 100% will revert to a permanent 30%.

I still need to try to trap Boomer -- he needs medical attention. Junior is in the good to trap category, because he needs to be evaluated for health, neutered if healthy, and vaccinated. He probably needs treatment for parasites as well.

I cannot believe Walter walked into the trap yesterday afternoon and caught himself. Then he cussed me out but good for a couple minutes while I was holding the trap open for him before deigning to walk out and go under the house. He cussed so loudly, Boomer came to the steps to investigate. Not long after, I'd rebaited the trap, and Boomer looked inside but chose not to go in. Nobody even approached the trap this morning.

I've been trying to walk in the mornings and am slowly increasing my time. My knee "clunked" in a disconcerting way (I felt a vibration all the way up my body). I've since learned if I pick my foot up just a little more when I walk, the clunk does not happen. This leads me to believe it's a gait thing, and if I'm clunking, I'm not walking properly. I'm going to run that theory by the physical therapist on Tuesday, but it seems sensible. The new knee walks fine, but my old knee complains at the 8-10 minute mark. That's going to be a problem until I get it replaced.

The Week Ahead:

• Upstairs heat pump installation
• Primary care doctor appointment
• Physical therapy re-eval
• Mowing and yard work
• Walk
• Attempt to capture Boomer and get him in for medical attention
• Publish Quin to Amazon
• Gain traction on other writing projects

Climbing The Health Ladder or Ways To Go Crazy

It's been a rough, rough, rough past few days. We changed my diabetes meds, and I'm going through a drastic "adjustment period," as the doctor so nicely put it. That's because, of course, he's not going through it.

Just to add to the general stress of it all, my insurance company -- the one I was so proud of for insuring me for the first time in my life -- denied my new drug. It's so frustrating. The rotten thing is working, I'm enduring this danged adjustment period, and they won't pay. No explanation for why they won't pay. They just won't pay. I'm appealing the decision. And I have enough samples for a couple of weeks. I certainly can't afford it if they don't pay for it. So I might be doing the whole danged adjustment over with a new drug.

No writing for the past two weeks. That is also annoying, but I can't seem to find the concentration necessary to hold a story in my head. Part of the adjustment, apparently, and it will get better, they say, and soon I will be writing again, I hope. Yeah, a lot of commas in that sentence. Want to make something of it?

Okay, I'm a bit grumpy, too.

But I am doing To-Do lists again and getting things done. Not as much as I once did, but it's getting better. I'm hoping that in a couple of months I will rev up enough to make people jealous again. Or at least keep up with them.

This week:
- Household chores.
- Family newsletter.
- WRITE!

Have a great week, whether you want to or not!

Six Week Post-Op Blues

Yes. I'm whining. Everything hurts. I'm sure it's ergonomics and compensation while I try to minimize weakness in my leg. Trying to figure out what it will take to get past this lower back and both legs pain.

The iMac is set up. I'll add things as I need them now.  Dropbox is still synchronizing. And I don't seem to be able to wake it up from sleep. Does it just turn itself off? Do I have a setting wrong? I'll explore more.

I got my haircut. Therapy, despite my lower back troubles, is going well. My follow up with the doctor went great. My last granddaughter graduated from high school today with her cosmetology license as well, so she's thrilled. Not sure what she has lined up. Vacuuming did NOT happen. I guess it's too early for that.

The Week Ahead:

• Rest to see if this back will ease up
• Walk -- some of it behind a lawn mower at the store unless Mr. L has time to load the riding mower into a trailer and take me over there tomorrow so I can "get 'er done."
• Physical therapy; schedule my 12 week follow up with my surgeon -- forgot to do it Friday before I left
• Probably some other stuff I'm forgetting.  Good night.

Catching myself coming and going

I don't know where this week has gone. It's a little disconcerting.

I had a meeting with my district manager on Wednesday. Their plan is to get me trained for Assistant Manager this month, and move me to Store Manager at some point after that. They're not very specific with timelines. One of the new tasks is to take over scheduling. It's currently being done by a guy at the home office, and he doesn't know who is good at what. He had a train wreck for tomorrow night (one weak closer with an opener who's never closed), but I fixed it with the DM's blessing. I have to have a schedule for the week of June 15 ready to go for approval this Wednesday, and rumor has it I'm going to have one of the other managers back in the store to train me that week. It's great to have a challenge again.

I'm pulling the post-apoc short together. I haven't started writing yet, but I have a good feel for the plot, stakes, and characters. I'm building in conflict already. I have an retired Navy MD and an eccentric herbalist in the same compound. The main character, a former Corpsman (Corpswoman?) lost an arm in combat and has PTSD, and one of the other characters is a guy she dated several times before she deployed. They Skyped and e-mailed while she was in country, and after her accident she cut off contact with him as well as most of her Navy friends. So she won't be happy to see him. I hope it comes together quickly. I've put a lot of work into it so far.

We've pretty much decided we're going to move out of here when our lease is up in mid-September. I'm not sure yet if we're going north or west. Both options have public transit options for both of us. I can't say I'm happy about it, but the city has made the building management do several stupid "improvements" to bring the building up to "code." I don't know why they've been allowed to have tenants in here for so many years with it not up to code, unless they're new codes. They've virtually made one of our parking spots inaccessible by making the spots next to us handicapped and painting the yellow lines in our front spot. (I guess they never notice the handicapped plates on our car. The one parked in the carport now.) Then they moved the garage door from the outside to the middle and placed a curb in front of the door--just in our spot--to prevent parking on the lines, thereby chopping out another foot of parking space. The Impala barely fits in there. The van won't. That was three weeks ago. Building management has no idea what to do about it. There is a lot I like about living here, but the burbs are looking really good right now.

So that's what I've been up to. This week is more or less the same except I'm driving up to Mom's for a couple days on Friday. The timing is good since my hours are supposed to increase a bit.

This week:
- Finish the schedule.
- Start writing the story and figure out the title. "Luci In The Sky With Demons" isn't going to work after all. I guess I'm saving that for another time.
- Get going on the guest room.
- Make a Salvation Army run. (They call it Salvo here.)
- Fight like crazy to not get overwhelmed.

This Space Intentionally Filled

George Carlin was clearly anti-Conservative. But he wasn't fond of certain Liberal sacred cows either. Watching one of his DVDs where he was hammering the Baby Boomers. His response was the audience wasn't entirely adoring. I think as he was going off, he realized he needed to generalize a little away from that demographic, because they were most of the audience. He,s awesome on the immune system and terrorism.

I've resumed my regular blogging schedule.  It's the next step to returning to intellectual normalcy.

I'm still adding more household and yard tasks. This week I added the riding lawn mower, walking around the yard for two hours, and changing the sheets. I've felt worse today than any day since the surgery -- my six week anniversary. I checked on the hangnail infection, and, according to my surgeon's nurse, it's nothing to worry about. Despite all that, I was able increase levels on several of my physical therapy exercises, so I'm gaining strength and stamina.

The Few Days Ahead:

• Finish setting up the iMac
• Get a haircut
• One more therapy session
• See if I can do some vacuuming

This Space Intentionally Left Blank

Crazy train

Hey guys.

I know it's been months, and I'm sorry. Life is crazy insane lately. LittleMiss is a maelstrom of energy and she keeps me hopping until everyone else gets home in the evening. I can (slowly) scroll through facebook and share a quick post, but anything more coherent is tough to manage. Three year olds are a blast, but they're EXHAUSTING and keeping on constant vigilance isn't helping. Turn your back and something is dismantled/destroyed/scattered everywhere/sticky. This was a lot easier in my 20's, I tell ya!

Otherwise, stuff is mostly excellent. My weight is up, but my diet's been pretty good, so I'm blaming it on stress, hormones, and the weather finally warming up. I always bloat up when it starts to get hot, just like my mom. I've been walking the town almost every night - walked six of the last seven evenings - and my usual route is 1.54 km. I did a 2.2 km walk last weekend - I was feeling energetic since Bill had been home to help munchkin wrangle,  but maaaaan, my calves paid for it later! - and need to up the distance at least a little. Make some progress. I do 1k in 13 minutes 15 seconds, pretty consistently (within 3 seconds, either way), so maybe I should up the pace a little, too. I told Bill I want to do a 5k again this fall, so I'd better get on upping the workout.

SPORE's officially out in a couple of days and I'm trying not to stress. I usually get really upset and scared and angsty, at least I did with the Dubric books, but that's not happening, thank goodness! I am, however, fretting over how well it's selling, how well it's reviewing, did I do enough, that kind of thing. I am assuming that's a lot more normal reaction to a book launch than my previous suicidal contemplations, vomiting, and weeping. I asked my events coordinator - she's easier to get ahold of than the marketing department - about it's pre-release order numbers, but she hasn't been able to find any data yet. I certainly hope it's more than the six or eight people I know have ordered. We really could use the money. I have four public events scheduled for June and July so far - ComicCon Des Moines, a book signing at Barnes and Noble (it's the same day as ComicCon, I'm renting a car and Bill's taking a vacation day), a book fair in Fort Dodge (Munchkin is at her dad's and the truck's available for the short drive), and an artists' talk/event/launch party/thing in Cedar Rapids (Munchkin at her dad's again and the car's available for the long drive). I was invited to do HorrorHound in Indianapolis but declined because I just can't swing the logistics of babysitting, a vehicle to drive, etc. Someone - maybe everyone - has to take time off work to watch LittleMiss and I need a dependable vehicle. One day is one thing, several days is something else. And that's not even counting travel, hotel, and food costs. Ah well. The current block of real life and online events will help with sales, I hope.

Morgan is still out and about seeking a publisher, plus I'm (well my agent's) in the midst of negotiating a GhoulBane graphic novel script. I'm hopeful that Dubric can go graphic, if this works out well for everyone involved. Keeping my fingers crossed. Other than the GhoulBane stuff, I haven't written any fiction at all for about 6 weeks now, which is highly distressing.

I've also become extremely forgetful. I hope it's just stress and not my age, and that my memory and focus will come back. I miss them. They've always kept me on top of things even when life was crazy. Now I'm showing up at wrong times for appointments, losing track of how much money's in checking (I ALWAYS know how much we have in checking, usually to the penny but at least within change from a dollar) what's cooking and when it'll be done (I'm burning things. I never burn things. Or I forget to turn the oven or crockpot on). Stuff like that. I almost paid a bill late which I haven't done for almost 30 years. It's rather distressing.

It's stress and exhaustion, right? Gah, I hope so.

Maybe stuff isn't 'mostly excellent' after all. {{hugs}} and have a great week!

improvement

I feel like things have changed drastically and not at all. While my days look a lot different than they did two months ago, they still all look more or less the same. The good news is I'm writing a little more regularly. I think I'm finding a rhythm, especially since I gave myself permission to write on Sundays. I've been trying to do that sabbath better, and last month I heard someone say the sabbath is supposed to be about worship and joy. Writing is kind of both to me, so I've made it a point to write Saturday and Sunday the last couple of weeks, and it's made a difference. I don't feel so pressured on Monday morning because I'm picking up where I left off. I'm least likely to write on Wednesday and Thursday now because those are my back to back days at work.

Speaking of work, I've learned to close, and while I haven't done it on my own yet, I feel like I have a better handle on it. I'll get some practice this week. Next weekend is prom for some of our kids, so I've got a couple of extra shifts. They're both evening, so it won't interfere with writing time.

That's really about it lately. I'm starting to feel more human when I leave work. I've taken to leaving a cup of coffee in the coffee pot when I leave for work so I can drink it when I get home. Eric gets home before me, so he's usually got dinner well in hand by the time I get here, assuming we've remembered to thaw something.

Hope y'all are having a good week.

Turning the Corner

Well, it's been a rough month or so as I've adjusted to new meds for my diabetes and other conditions, but I think I've finally turned the corner ... or at least can see the corner ahead of me. I've had a couple of days where I felt more like "me" if that makes sense.

I've been making To-Do lists the past four days, and that has really helped both my mood and productivity. Checking those items off gives me a little kick to keep moving. I'm using Remember The Milk to make my lists, and so far, I really like it. I do print my lists because I'm often not at the computer during the day. Besides, making a check showing an item is finished is more enjoyable than clicking a button with my trackball.

One of my new diabetes meds is Farxiga™. It's that one where your kidneys pass sugar out in your urine. Sorry, should I have warned you that was going to be a medical moment? In the Farxiga™ commercial, it shows people dancing. That's because they need to pee and are rushing to the bathroom! The first week or so was rough, but slowly your body adapts to it, and the ... ah ... dancing is less urgent. Be sure, however, to take it in the morning! You don't want to take it at night; otherwise, you'll get no sleep. The drug is working, too. My blood sugar is going down; it's not a cure-all, of course. I still have to watch my diet. No ice cream sundaes, dang it!

We have received an incredible amount of rain here. We've been under a flash flood warning for days. It's enough to drown Noah. But the forecast says a couple more days of light rain/cloudy skies, then it will be sun. I hope it doesn't burn our skin; it's been so long since we've seen the sun that the townsfolk are getting that pale frog-underbelly look.

Tonight, the Boy Scout troop at my roomie's church is having a spaghetti dinner to raise funds for Summer Camp. I will be going, I think. It's a good cause, and it's only $5 for a complete meal. I hope it doesn't rain. Any type of grumpy weather, and people stay home. They're hoping 200 people will show up. They need that many to show up.

This coming week, I will be:
- Working on the family newsletter.
- Working on Undying: Men, Myth & Monsters.
- Working on "Last Ride Out of Ryton," the next short story I'm putting up for Kindle.
- Household chores.
- Appointments with doctors on Wednesday and Thursday.

And that will be a full week and then some. Hope you have a great creative week!

Mentally Out of It

Physically, I'm doing great. The knee is right on target for it's recovery.  The incision looks good. I get a kick out of the random aches, pains, and prickles that my Bonesmart group assures me are all normal.  Just yesterday, I experienced some sharp prickles under the skin, which tells me some more nerves are reconnecting.  All the steri-strips are off. I'm walking pretty well. If I take the time to concentrate, I can do stairs "the right way." Most of the time, I don't, because it's tiring, but I try to do a few each day, and I can feel some strength returning.

I'm doing short duration housework tasks -- dishes, laundry, litter boxes, segments of outdoor work but nowhere near the whole task. No problems with personal care. I'm getting better about handing the drive to Temple and back. Well, I haven't actually made the drive yet, but I can do the ride in the front seat. I take my cane with me, and I use it when I'm out and about, but it's "just in case." I will have to make the drive on Thursday, because Mr. L will be in San Antonio for a week and a half.

My challenge comes with intellectual tasks. I can do light reading. I cannot pull together any writing work yet. Even blog posts are eluding me, and I usually find them pretty easy to put out there. I've been assured this is normal.

I fired up the Mac Mini earlier this week thinking I just needed to sit at a desk and try to get some work done, but it died almost immediately after I fired it up. I think it's the power supply, and that thing is so old, even the Apple Store didn't have a power supply for it when I took it in last year to get Lion loaded on it. So I whipped out my Armed Forces Communications-Electronics Association  discount (thanks to Valerie if she's reading for inadvertently reminding me I had this) access to the Apple Web Site and saved $315 on the Retina iMac. It should be here late in the week.

The scooter Mr. L thought I needed arrived this week, and it should do the job. I know Stephen is disappointed it doesn't have flames and a pirate flag, but I'm happy to have interchangeable red and blue panels. For the record, Drive Medical makes good quality equipment for a reasonable price. That's been my experience with the tub grab bar, the shower stool, and the scooter.

We're still getting lots of rain. I'm not thrilled about the flooding, but I know when the rain stops, the heat sets in and will not leave. I don't like that, so I'm not complaining about the rain. I haven't heard God's voice from the heavens telling me to build an ark, so I'm either one of the damned, or He isn't planning on drowning me yet. Either that, or I need to be paying closer attention to the thunder.

I never heard back on pain management strategies from my doctor's office, but I added one Aleve to my two bedtime Tylenol, and I've been fine. I even forgot to take my afternoon Tylenol one day this week (I don't recommend this yet).  Outpatient PT was underwhelming, but at least I'm comfortable that we're going to have compatible philosophies.

No progress on PBOTL, presumably because of the intellectual fog mentioned above.

The Week Ahead:

• Continue gradual physical improvement process
• See if I can find a way to gauge mental acuity improvement

chugging along

There hasn't been much to report lately. Same old thing--work, write, sleep, chores. Nothing very exciting. We have had some interesting customers in. There was one teenage Asian boy today with fake Bozo red hair who asked if he could have a spoon. I said no, he had to eat it with his hands, and he looked at me blankly for a second before he laughed and took a spoon. Then there was the little boy in last week with a group of moms and kids who managed to reach down a large yogurt bowl and put it on his head. He and his little friends were giggling about his bowl head. One of his friends, not to be outdone, took one bowl in each hand and put them over his ears, Princess Leia style. I must be a grandma-in-training because it was adorable. I think my body must be adjusting to the job. I'm not exhausted and drooling when I get home anymore. I'm not ready to go out dancing, of course, but it's a lot better than it was. I bought thick hiking socks from Eddie Bauer a couple weeks ago, too. They're expensive and worth every penny.

We did the Springfield Games last weekend. I got sunburned, of course. We leaned the "Story Telling On Request" sign against the tent leg and I had several people come by and ask, which made me happy. I sold one copy of BSF, and we went to dinner with a couple who are going to Scotland with us. Jenn split her time between us and photographing the StL dancers who were there competing, which was great. I e-mailed her last week and told her Walter the Muse wants a new dragon story, and now she talks about Walter like he's a physical person. She wants me to find a Walter model for a photo shoot. That makes three different ones we want to do, not counting the new author photos I should have now that my hair is long.

Eric started his permanent job today. He Facetimed (that's an iPhone video call, Stephen) me from work. His view is amazing. He's right on the river, across from the opera house. My commute is still better. :-)

I need to figure out a blogging schedule, maybe devote one day a month to blog posts and schedule them. I've been blogging on Mondays for a long time, but I forget and then I go to work, and when I get home I don't have the brain power to do it. I'm holding out hope that I'll continue to get more functional, but in the meantime I need to do something differently.

So I think that's about it. Jean, I'm glad to hear your knee is healing properly. What's going on with you, Stephen? And we haven't heard from Tammy in eons! Have a good week.

Moving Along

Yesterday's adventure may have been just a little too much. I think the long drive got to me the most, because I didn't do any more walking than usual. Only 3800 steps, and I've done a similar number of steps on other days without discomfort.

Outpatient PT begins on Tuesday. I'm concerned Tylenol alone may not be enough of a pain reliever. It seems to just barely be doing the job. I may stop in at the clinic either before or after PT on Tuesday to discuss other pain relief options with my surgeon's nursing staff and see about getting a prescription for something like Tramadol to get me through these next few weeks. Technically,  can still take two more extra strength Tylenol a day, but I'm not comfortable maxing out the dosage on that given the potential for liver damage.

Sneaky is happy to be back outside. I felt bad opening the door to the porch while it was raining outside, but she happily strolled out. I'll need to capture her briefly Tuesday morning to get swabs from her ears to get checked.

An ultrasound of Tarzan's bladder showed some cause for concern, so he's been on pain relievers and antibiotics here at the house, and Dr. Val is doing a course of four injections of hyaluronic acid, which she's had some success with in blocked kitties. It's been known to soothe the bladder lining. It's hard to gauge, but Tarzan seems to be feeling better. Dr. Val asked if I could pill him, and I said, "Sure." before realizing I'd never had to pill him before. Mild-mannered chicken cat Tarzan resists pilling and administration of antibiotics like a wildman!  I have to wrap him in a towel and hold him very firmly and even at that, I've wound up wearing nearly as much of the anti-biotic as I've gotten into him. He goes back for his second shot on Tuesday. Dr. Val will check progress with her trusty ultrasound machine. I'm amazed at what a useful diagnostic tool the ultrasound seems to be.

I've been sleeping upstairs all week, and I've very much enjoyed that. Delta, The Brick, has been amazingly respectful of my leg space, choosing to stretch out beside my leg, leaving me plenty of room for a change. It's been sad not having Natasha there. Tarzan seems to be trying to make up for her not being there.

I managed one PACTS sentence for Polar Bear on the Loose. I want to get back to work on it, and I'm finally feeling as if I might be ready to concentrate long enough to do something.

The Week Ahead:

• Check on pain management strategies with my doctor's office
• Begin outpatient PT
• Make progress on PBOTL
• Pull together plans for where to go from here.

Post Surgical Blues Are A Thing

Yes. They hit today. I have some legitimate things contributing to this, but the BoneSmart site talks about this. People get the blues during post-op recovery. I had a little bout with them this afternoon.

Am I a good enough daughter or wife? I miss my Natasha. Death comes at you hard. (A good friend lost his wife yesterday after a brief, intense illness.) Some of these things flit through your mind now and again -- or they do mine. Usually, I can deal with it. It's a good time to briefly assess if I need to make any changes to make sure I'm living my life as best I can. It's usually not grounds for a melt down. Mr. L handled it well. (He has been surprisingly marvelous in ways that matter during all this.)

Doctor visit went well on Friday. The staples came out. I've decided to shift from prescription meds to Tylenol. I still have plenty of Hydrocodone if this turns out to be a bad idea, but I want to drive again, and I can't while I'm taking that. So far, so good. Prior to surgery, I was taking 4 Extra Strength Acetaminophen a day. For now, I'm taking 6. That's the max dose, so I'll want to back off that in a few weeks if not sooner.

I'm mostly walking with a cane. If more walking is likely to be required, I take crutches. Right before the surgery, I was using those electric carts most stores offer as a courtesy. I haven't felt the need so far, but I haven't done much shopping either. I should be discharged from home health therapy either on Monday or Wednesday, and I'm preparing to start outpatient physical therapy, which is likely to be much more intense, so I may need to switch back to stronger meds for a bit. We'll see how that goes.

Rest, ice, and elevation. I'm planning to try sleeping upstairs next week and just using the chair for daytime rest, icing, and elevation. If that doesn't work, Mr. L will set up a cot down here for me until I'm able to spend the night in the bed.

The week ahead:

• Begin outpatient PT
• Keep pain managed
• Get Sneaky in for annual exam and shots and get Tarzan checked out
• Begin transitioning going upstairs for bed at night

Big thing

Well, maybe a big thing will happen over the next couple of weeks. Will have to tell you about it in Hangouts. But if it works out, it will be a huge burden off me.

Tomorrow, or really today, I will go to the diabetes doctor. Should be an interesting visit. We're going to change meds. I'm hoping the new med I want will really make a difference in my blood sugar numbers. They've been inching up, and it's time to stop that.

My back is still hurting me. Some days better, some days almost crippling. Overall, I think it's getting better.

I helped Kent get one of his stories up on Amazon. It went really fast. I think I have a handle on that now. Been working on a checklist for me to use when formatting and uploading a story. Just so I won't forget anything.

This week:
- Doctor
- Continue to work on the big thing (which is not publishing or writing, but a personal project that might be a solution to a problem I've struggled with for years).
- Try to start walking. Need to exercise.
- Household chores.
- Finish "Last Ride Out of Ryton" and put up for Kindle.
- Finish April family newsletter.
- And a few other odds and ends.

Hope you have a good week!

Survive and Thrive. Nap Time!

As you know, I survived the surgery just fine. The knee is doing great. I'm very pleased.

You also know we lost Natasha, my beloved kitty. Yes, we still have seven indoor kitties that need my attention. Mr. L even carried Sneaky in to say hello the day I came home and got settled into my chair. Today, I sat on the side porch steps and coaxed Junior to eat from the bowl beside me.

In home physical therapy is going well. My knee is a little ahead of schedule on recovery but not by leaps and bounds. My surgeon encouraged me to get off the OxyContin as soon as possible, so instead of a morning and evening dose, I've just been taking an evening dose (except for this morning when I forgot and took it). I'm not sure how necessary the Hydrocodone is every six hours, but I take it religiously. The idea being, to prevent pain from emerging to keep it manageable.  I have my first follow-up appointment this Friday, and I'm sure we'll discuss the next step, because I need to be off the narcotics before I can drive, and it would be nice be able to hold a thought for more than a minute or two at a time.

I'm sleeping a lot. Despite not pitching in for a lot of household chores like I'd hoped, Mr. L has been most attentive in other, more important ways. I was lamenting the unexpected loss of Natasha in another forum, and I was reminded how fortunate it was that I hadn't lost Mr. L instead. What a sobering thought that was. By doing the dishes and laundry, I work in short increments, and it helps make sure I do get up and get moving for short bursts, which is helpful to my recovery.  Besides, if i were alone, like I was for my last surgeries, I'd be doing it all myself anyway.

While Mr. L was mowing today, I retrieved the hedge nippers from the shed and began trimming the hedge by the street. I could feel my energy being visibly sapped. I've been napping for the rest of the afternoon, trying to regain my strength, and I'm still feeling wiped out.

The Week Ahead:

• Sleep
• Physical Therapy
• Follow-up Visit with surgeon (most likely staples will be removed)
• Try to form a coherent thought

Let the Games begin

I had a storytelling gig yesterday. It looks right now like it will be the only paid gig of the year. I'm telling stories at the Springfield Games in two weeks, but they're strapped for cash, so we bartered clan space and food. I haven't heard anything from Chicago yet, despite talking to the coordinator and giving him my business card. I know it's all volunteer work, and it's labor intensive. I've been on a Games board so I know what goes on. But it seems like the IL Games are all suffering from Don't Give A Crap syndrome lately. In fact, I have it on good authority that MO is infected, too. At this rate, all the small Games will die out within a decade, and we'll all have to travel to NC to go to one. Grandfather Mountain is the Mecca of Highland Games, so that one is probably safe.

Huh. There's a guy on the corner doing squats, push-ups and calf raises. 10 squats, walk around a little, ten push-ups, walk around, 12 calf raises. He's on his third round. Seems like there are better places to work out than on a sidewalk, but I guess he's getting more exercise than I am right now. I wonder if he knows his hands are a little too far back on those push-ups? The things we see around here.

Job is going well. I got words in last week. I'm working on getting a menu together so I can go to the commissary on Tuesday. We might have good news on Eric's job soon. I'll jump over to Hangouts as soon as I know anything. I think that's about it.

foggy

I don't know why starting a new job kicks my butt, but it does. Every. Single. Time. I like the job and the people I've worked with, I've already got added responsibilities, and there is virtually no learning curve. That's nice. But I get home from work and have dinner, and then I'm done. Just flat out, drooling in front of the TV, done. I hope to be over that part in a week or two, but I fear it might take longer because I'm 7 years older than the last time I started a job, plus I'm working more hours than I did at the old one. I'm scheduled for 21 hours a week, and at the old place, that was a crazy busy week with multiple parties or a huge event. I'm shocked at how much the weather affects our business. It's been mostly cold and rainy for the last week, so we didn't do much business. Next week doesn't look like it's going to be too much better. I wish I could take my notebook and write when it's not busy, but there are cameras everywhere, so I end up wiping clean counters and stirring yogurt. I'm told we'll be swamped all the time in the summer. I hope so. Road construction on our street isn't helping matters at all, and that's going to be with us at least through this year.

On the bright side, I did get words in this week, and I discovered a few things I didn't know that will help with the story. In fact, I got on a roll the other day, and when I looked up, I had half an hour to get ready to go to work. It wasn't a problem since my commute is about 200 yards, but I was still in my jammies. I don't get dressed for work until it's close to time to go so I don't take cat fur with me.

I signed up for a year-long class today. It meets (online) twice a month and covers everything from writing to self-pubbing to marketing. My friend at church told me about it. The teacher is a friend of hers. I didn't think I'd be able to do it until I scrolled all the way down to the bottom of the page and discovered there's a monthly payment option that I can easily handle with my paycheck. With half of one paycheck, really.

So that's the excitement here. Hope y'all are having a good week.

BSF launches for Kindle!

Blackbirds Second Flight now available for your Kindle!

Enjoy these dark fantasies:

A writer challenges her murderous muse.

Dragons and riders stage a daring rescue.

Gangsters face off over the world's fate.

Warriors duel to their deaths in the sky.

A dad battles ghosts to save his daughter.

The sidhe never forget nor forgive.

It's Malone's way, or the fur will fly.

A shaman invades Tulsa on a killing hunt.

And much more!

Kindle version!

Buy Blackbirds Second Flight for Kindle!

Print versions!

Buy on Amazon!

Buy on Barnes & Noble!
Buy on Books-A-Million!

Buy on Lulu!

Almost exactly 3 years

Today I cashed my first steady paycheck since March 2012. I checked the calendar, and it appears my last day at The Gathering Place was March 23. Work at the fro-yo shop is going well. There is no rocket science involved. Every part of the job at least relates to something I've done before. The hardest part is being on my feet for 7 hours at a time. The second hardest part is staying focused that long. We don't get formal breaks, and I've become spoiled in the last 3 years. I take coffee and a protein bar, and nibble or sip as needed. It's not ideal, but we don't have a place for a break room, and they don't want us sitting with the customers. They're grooming me for management, so that's fun. I was talking to the boss the other day, and he commented that most of the kids that work there just want popcorn and movie money. I told him that's more or less why I'm working there, but he's got 30 years of work experience in me.

I think the new schedule is going to work nicely. The three days a worked last week, I got up, wrote, and did a few chores before going to work. The days I didn't work, I got around to writing late in the morning. I work 10-5, which is pretty close to ideal at this point, except for the whole being on my feet thing. Too bad the only way to get used to it is to do it. At least I'm getting words in. I worried I might not.

No nibbles on the house. We had one showing right after it went on the market, and then nothing. I'm not worried. Yet. Viewings should be picking up pretty soon. People will start moving to the base next month.

The weather is improving, which isn't hard, considering torrential rain is preferable to snow at this point! Well, maybe not torrential. Not for everyone, anyway.

This week:
- Blog
- Continue work on Phillip's backstory
- Research e-book formatting and marketing
- Buy some hiking socks. My old ones are MIA and thicker socks seem to help at work.

Countdown to Tuesday

I'm about as ready as I'm going to be for my new knee. Mr. L will take me to the hospital and probably wait around until I get out of surgery and into my room. Then he'll probably head for home until I need him to come get me. Bedside manner is not in his vocabulary. The hospital is an hour and a half away, so running back and forth is not practical. Staying with me is not practical, because he has stuff to take care of at the house. I'm okay with this.

I got the trailer of trash emptied at the dump this morning before it got busy. I hope it got busier after I left, but with last night's rain, I think people were getting a slow start.  The community service guys did a great job emptying the trailer as they do every year. The trailer is back in its spot in the driveway awaiting its next task.

My nest is prepared.  The shower stool and new lawn mower blades arrived this morning. I assembled the stool and tested it. It should work fine. Cost $24, which is more than the $5 we spent for the elaborate transfer chair, but our bathroom was not set up for that chair to be usable, so we'll put it back in the yard sale for the same $5.

The Week Ahead:

• Survive
• Begin trudging the road to recovery

Back from Vacation; Preparing for Total Knee Replacement

We survived vacation and the roller coaster ride of excitement offered by Amtrak schedule changes.  Through it all, Amtrak personnel were wonderful.  If you've been following my A-Z Challenge posts, you're getting the highlights of the trip. I won't repeat myself here.

I think our Blackbirds Second Flight Hangout went well. As a result, I was inspired to spring for the Webinar Jam Studio package before the annual price increases in a week. I'm playing with it now, and Stephen, Wendy, and I will do a private test webinar on Tuesday. Some of it's intuitive, and I think I missed a few things, so I'm going to check the tutorials, which are pretty good to see what I haven't figured out--mostly how to get the test webinar to save and post to YouTube. It should have done so in private mode, but I don't think it did.  Wait! It did. I went to the YouTube site and clicked on My Channel, and both private tests are there. (Mostly, it's a video of me looking around the screen and muttering to myself as I explore the interface.)

I had my pre-op appointment on Wednesday, and everything should be good for my surgery on the 21st. I love how blase (I don't know how to get the accent on the e; pretend it's there) the surgeon is about the procedure (this is a good thing). I picked up my recliner the same day, and we moved it into the house. I'm starting to set up my "nest." Mr. L will be in San Antonio next week, so I should be able to get everything done with the house while he's gone.  He moved the piano into place in the living room, making room for the dining room furniture to be moved into the living room for the time being. In theory, I helped him, but nearly anything I tried to do to help resulted in me being in his way.

The yard was a fright after three weeks away, so I got most of it fixed up this week. I still have the store to mow, but it's supposed to rain all week. Next weekend is going to be a busy mowing time.

We have the City Wide clean-up on the 18th, so Mr. L and I backed the 16' trailer into the shop and have been filling it up. We're thankful we're having to look for junk we want to throw away. The trailer is about half full. I'm going to toss some branches on before I take it on the 18th, but I'm not sure how much else we'll come up with for the load.

I plugged the power cord into the dead MacBook Air, and the charging light came on.  I'm going to see if it greens up. If it does, I'll try starting the laptop again. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.  I hope so.

Junior found his way into the garage sometime on Thursday. We got him out today. Well, WE didn't get him out.  We left the doors open, and he found his own way out. He used the litter box we put in there for trapped kitties once (it took him a while to find it, because he didn't use it once, too). We put food and water in there this morning, but I don't know if he was in long enough to drink or eat.

The Week Ahead:

• Dental appointment and get haircut on Tuesday. Maybe get the truck washed and vacuumed.
• Stop in to talk to countyVA rep on Monday.
• Take temporary disability paperwork to Temple VA rep on Wednesday to get that process started
• Start up my old Windows laptop this week to see if I can recover my Mom's hard drive to an external drive -- it's read only when I plug them into my Mac, but it should work fine on a Windows machine.
• If I am able to recover everything, send the drives back to her and Dad.
• Get the "nest" set up (Hook up TV, DVD player, move clothes downstairs, etc)
• Declutter the parlor (April's decluttering task)
• Clear off the kitchen counters (again). They'll stay that way until somebody returns from San Antonio, then they'll be filled with stuff again.
• Find as much stuff as possible to toss onto the trailer for the clean up trip to the city dump (this trailer size costs $70 any other time of year, but on this day, it's free)
• Resume work on Polar Bear on the Loose
• Continue trying to entice Junior to let me touch him

I hope you're all having a great week. Stephen, I hope your back is relenting.  Tammy, I hope you recover from your book fairs. Wendy, I hope the new job is going well.  See you next week.

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