Suziecreamcheese Sings the Blues

Ah, Mondays. I didn’t get much sleep on Sunday night – every now and again, I just can’t sleep, and my go-to remedy for that lately has been a hot shower before bed. It didn’t work on Sunday night, so I was still awake at 3:30 am, and had to get up at 8 to get Maverick to daycare at 8:30ish. I came downstairs, let him out, went to the kitchen to make the first cup of coffee and thought, “Why are my feet wet?” I opened the doors under the sink, flood time.

We’ve had a leak under the sink for ages. (Insert minor wife rant here – if he had fixed the damned thing when it started………..) The solution was to put a pan under the drip and since it was also leaking around the faucet, put a cloth there and change it. Every. Flippin. Day. I admit to being a slacker about checking the pan under the sink, so when I saw that it was full, I blamed it on my negligence, cleaned up the mess, put the pan back and went on about my day.

I taught a class at 12:30, sent Bear off to work, and got ready to take my walk. I filled up my water bottle – side note, I have one of those Cirkul bottles and I freakin love that thing. Current flavor is black cherry. Wait, is that racist? Seriously, I love ALL cherries. Except maraschino – they’re just nasty. I digress.

As I was filling my water bottle, I thought maybe I should check under the sink. I don’t know why, intuition? At any rate, I opened the doors and holy fuck me sideways, another flood. Grrrrrrr. I got the flashlight out and I could see the drip was now steady, so I cleaned it all up – again – and put a bigger pan down, then messaged the Bear to find out how to turn off the water.

Later, I ran into a friend who told me that her husband is very good with plumbing. He came up and took a look, told me what to get, we ordered the parts and he’s going to try to fix it today. We’re getting weather and he’s busy so fingers crossed he gets here because meanwhile, I’m washing dishes in the bathroom sink. Hey, it’s not the worst thing to ever happen!

What does this have to do with egg drop soup, you ask? Well. Because of the aforementioned dish washing dilemma, we’re trying to avoid dirty dishes. Last night’s solution was to order Chinese. Bear doesn’t like Chinese so he was on his own – he brought tacos home from work for himself, he didn’t starve, geesh. I got my normal chicken and broccoli, and a big container of egg drop soup for today – in case the sink is still not fixed. I recently had egg drop soup for the first time and loved it. So I was really looking forward to having some with my dinner. I’m not sure if my expectations were too high or what, but it was just sort of bland. I was a bit disappointed, but that was tempered by the fact that I used a paper bowl so I didn’t have to do dishes!

Maverick got bronchitis for Christmas. Apparently it’s a form of kennel cough, the vet said tracheal bronchitis – his cough sounded like a goose honking. It all started last week, and went full blown on Christmas Day. Maverick was all wound up with the kids here, wouldn’t settle, just batshit crazy actually. In the afternoon, he started coughing and it got progressively worse. I got it on video, sent it to our daycare provider and she said to give him something to eat to make sure it wasn’t a blockage – it wasn’t. So I told her to keep an eye on the other dogs and I’d be going to the vet in the morning. She won’t allow a dog that might be sick and I totally respect that. I would feel horrible if we got another dog sick.

So off to the vet on Monday. He listened to Maverick’s lungs, etc, watched the video and proclaimed 3 weeks of antibiotics and keep him home for at least a week. Research has revealed that it will more than likely be 3 weeks, and possibly a month.

It appears that when I make plans, Maverick laughs. I was expecting to have a month off with Maverick going to daycare all day and Bear going to work. I was going to do some major cleaning and organizing. This will not happen. So I will be doing a lot of sewing – because Maverick naps when I’m sewing. And I might get to hoe out the overflow craft room – once he falls asleep.

New Year’s Eve plans have been cancelled, the friends who were coming up are fearful that they’ll get contaminated by Maverick’s germs (he IS highly contagious right now) and take this home to their dog, who is currently battling an infection from her spay surgery. (I told them to wait on that surgery but they didn’t listen, because everyone is an expert and they only listen to what they want to hear.) It may be just me and the Bear on New Year’s Eve for the first time in years. I’m not sure if we can handle it! (Maverick will keep us from getting too crazy.)

Yesterday I learned that someone I’ve known for a very long time is dying from cancer, and it’s progressing very quickly. I wish her a gentle passage, carried home by the wings of angels. She unfriended me a few years ago over political differences, but I didn’t stop caring about her. I was told that she’s gotten every vaccine and booster available for Covid and I refrained from saying that research is showing that those jabs exacerbate any existing cancer and make it spread like wildfire. Her daughter in law said to me, “I blame the damned jabs.” I could only agree.

So this craptastic year is coming to an end. It was not the worst, but it was not the best. It was a tough time for everyone and I honestly hope that things will soon turn around. May we all remember how much we care about each other – and put political differences aside for once. May we all remember that we want the best for each other, and respect that we will find our ways down different paths. May we all be thankful that we made it this far, and may we all make it to the end of next year with lighter hearts and happier memories.

It’s been a year of Mondays, with a few Fridays thrown in just to keep us off balance. We had an ice storm the other day so I kept Maverick home from daycare. I fully expected it to be a nothing burger and I was right but since everyone had canceled, there wasn’t much point in taking him to play with no one. I was expecting a terrible day because it was raining and he couldn’t be outside and we couldn’t go for a walk. (I’m old, I hurt when it’s cold and raining and since he pulls like he’s the lead dog and I’m the sled, it wasn’t happening) He shocked me by being amazingly good all day. We watched a couple of episodes of season 5 of The Crown – we agreed that Charles is a royal dick – and had some snacks and complained about being fat – me, not Maverick, he thinks I’m just fluffy enough to be a comfy cushion – and then he took a nap and I arranged blocks for table runners and bemoaned the fact that I couldn’t go to Hobby Lobby to see if they got in the fabric I needed (one bloody 5 inch square, that’s all I needed!).

Yesterday he made up for his goodness the day before. It was not a pleasant evening, we shall say no more.

I had a birthday. I have one every year so it’s pretty much a non-event these days, Bear said he had no clue what to get for me, so we spent the evening watching a movie together (Blacklight, with Liam Neeson, I have no idea why that was the title but the movie was pretty good, a lot of action and not much plot, but hey, Liam Neeson!) It was a very nice birthday.

It was, however, one of those numbers. Apparently I’m supposed to be old now. Apparently I don’t play by the rules and I feel no different than I did the day before the birthday that declared me officially old. (I’ll let you figure out the number) I have the same random aches and pains I’ve had for the last 20 years and they’re not much different than they were then. I forget a bit so I suspect I’ll be that old lady that loses her glasses and keys in the grocery store, but with any luck, some hot young guy will take pity on me and help me out. 🙂 (One is never too old for a hot young guy) (Trust me)

We survived the weekend and got to Monday and things were pretty good for it being a Monday. Then Tuesday decided to be Monday 2.0. It started when I lost an ear bud. I searched for that bloody thing for 1/2 hour – at the park – which meant that my 2.5 mile walk became 3 miles – and I couldn’t find it. Got home, made lunches, went to the bathroom and got hit by the worst pain in my side that I’ve ever felt. Sudden, like a kick from Chuck Norris, right into my ribs. I doubled over, gasping for a full breath. When I could, I went to the kitchen and said to Bear, “what does a broken rib feel like?” He said I wouldn’t be standing – and how could I possibly break a rib on the throne? (If anyone could, trust me, it would be me) It was easing up a bit, so I thought I’d get a shower, but as I was standing in the bathroom, still not able to breath right, I thought, “something is wrong, I need the doctor.”

Back downstairs I go, tell the Bear I’m calling the doctor, and he agrees I should. The receptionist put the nurse on the line, who hearing my symptoms, tells me to call 911. And that’s when all hell broke loose.

Here’s a hint. If you don’t want all hell to break loose, do NOT under any circumstances answer in any way affirmative to the “are you having any chest discomfort?” question.

My chest felt tight, and my entire left side was screaming, including my chest. HOLY FUCK IT’S GOTTA BE HER HEART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (*if you want to know right now, check below)

EKG commences, the EMT says “hmmm.” “Hmmm?” I say. “well, something looks funny. We need to go to the ER.”

They took me out with no coat, no shoes, in freezing weather. By the time we got into the ambulance, my teeth were chattering. Two blown veins because she couldn’t get an IV port started later, I was starting to warm up. I had refrained from saying, “No shit, Sherlock!” when she took my hand, after I had said I was freezing several times, only to be told it was warm in there, and said “Oh my, you ARE cold!” Ya THINK????????

On to the ER, which was another chapter in the Cluster Fuck Saga. More tests, more waiting, meanwhile this pain has centered under my shoulder blade and is not getting any better. At least by then I could breathe. Bear, bless him, never left my side once they told him where I was – they left the poor guy in the waiting room for at least 30 minutes.

More tests, more waiting. Finally, after about 6 hours, they pronounce that it’s not my heart** and I can go. Umm, okay, but what is it?? They don’t know. And you’re sending me home??????????? I was NOT happy. I said that I felt that I was being shoved out the door. So off goes the nurse to talk to the doctor again. I didn’t want to stay but neither did I want this to hit again in the night and have to come back, and I wanted to know what was causing this pain that I was still experiencing. About 15 minutes later, a different doctor came in. HE actually examined me, felt the huge knot in my muscles and said “your heart is fine, you need a chiropractor or a massage.” (He wasn’t bad looking but he seemed to feel that this was the Bear’s job.) Finally I got some pain meds and a muscle relaxant and was told I could go.

A young lad came to give me a ride out to the car. I could have walked, but I do love a good wheelchair ride. He asked where my shoes were. I said, “same place as my coat, at home!’ He was a bit shocked, and said he was going to zoom me to the car as soon as it pulled up. We got to the door, he said, “Hold on!” and he ran to the car with me holding on and laughing like a kid. (That was the best part of the whole experience)

I climbed into bed and slept for 12 hours.

Today was a cardiology appointment. A very nice doctor told me to go away and not come back. He really said that! I howled with laughter. He said my heart is sound, but just a bit different from most. (As he put it, “you’re that kid on the playground with the bright red hair who’s just a bit different from all the other kids, but there’s nothing wrong with you.” I think I fell in love at that moment.) (Seriously, I love my Bear) (But one can have a tiny little doctor crush as well, I think, without breaking any vows) (I hope)

Then on to my primary, who said what we’ve all been saying, “It’s your ribs. You need a chiropractor.”

Sooooooooooooo, I guess I’m calling my chiro tomorrow!

Meanwhile, there’s candy to dip and fudge to be made and presents to be wrapped and a tree to decorate! And a hat to crochet for my youngest grandbrat that has little chance of being done, but will somehow manage to be completed by Sunday.

And the candy will be awesome.

*It wasn’t my heart

** told ya it wasn’t

Yesterday was sewing day. About a year ago, I bought a pattern for a table runner and since one of my friends had given me 73 fat quarters over the summer, I decided to use them for this. (He works at Walmart, they forgot to put out the Christmas fabrics, when they went on clearance for a quarter each, he snagged all of them.) (All 73) (Those of you who sew know what a bargain this was, fat quarters sell for at least $2 each) (I digress)

I cut my fabric and chose the ones I wanted for the runner. Sewing them together was a quick and easy job, cutting and sewing the first border was equally easy. This pattern seemed like a good one for someone who was just learning to sew again.

Off I went to Momma Joan’s house, fabric and pattern – and my partially done runner – in hand. She was excited to try this because she really wants to get back into sewing, (She had a traumatic experience with home ec back in the day, we don’t want to talk about it)

And then we tried to find a time when we could get together to sew.

It’s good to be busy, right? A year later, we finally got together to make this happen. Yesterday afternoon, we got out the fabric squares, I’d cut all the fat quarters into 5 inch squares soon after I got it, so all she had to do was choose which ones she wanted to use. I could see the moment when she realized that half the fun is arranging the blocks and rearranging the blocks and thinking about how you really want the finished product to look.

And then she started sewing. A bit of trouble with keeping the needle threaded – I think it was her crappy old thread – but she was having a great time, keeping those seams at 1/4 inch and pretty damned straight. I was in charge of pressing. (She was quite enchanted with my little craft iron, it is pretty damned cute.) (I’ve been told I have all the fun toys. And yes, yes, I do.)

We got most of the first part done before hunger set in and off to Texas Roadhouse we went, with a stop at Hobby Lobby on the way home for backing fabric. I indulged in a small piece of heavy felt for a doll jacket – on clearance, can’t resist for $1.50.

Our plan is to get together Friday and continue our work. I brought everything of mine home – I may finally get to work on MY runner, which has been up at Momma Joan’s unfinished for a year!

For those of you who don’t know, Momma Joan is 87. She is an inspiration to all of us – imagine wanting to learn something new (or relearn in her case) at that age, and going for it. It was a wonderful day, and the memory is one I will treasure always. Because time spent with someone you love is more precious than any other gift.

If I ever win a gazillion dollars, of get a full time position teaching, one of my first acts will be to hire a TA. (That’s teaching assistant for you non-academics). I seriously hate grading homework. I used to merely dislike it, but since the Rona pushed everything online, it takes twice as long as it used to in the Before Times. (I miss the Before Times)

Our internet was out from Friday till yesterday (Tuesday) morning. I had to haul my half awake ass to campus and teach a remote class from a conference room there because I couldn’t connect from my usual comfy chair in the dining room at home. (There are a few perks to teaching online, not driving is one of them) (Getting coffee in the middle of class because the kitchen is a few feet away is another)

Consequently, I’m playing catch up with grading homework. Why in the world I assigned these problems is a question that will most likely not be answered, but I suspect that Corn Pop had something to do with it.

That said, there are 13 more submissions in one class, and 15 in the other. (Praise Sweet Baby Jesus I only have two classes this round.) I will, most likely, be drinking heavily this evening, while cursing that students are the bane of my existence and if they would just get this shit right, it wouldn’t take nearly as long for me!

Yet another reason for drinking – the people of my state chose a man who can’t put together a coherent sentence to serve as our Senator. I know, the alternative was no great shakes, but dear Lord, at least he could talk! And y’all up in NY? What the hell? Do you LIKE being locked down, told to wear a mask and get multiple shots forever? Seriously? Hochul? In spite of PA electing Lurch, I’m glad I’m here and not there!

Speaking of the Rona, if you haven’t read The Vision of the Anointed by Thomas Sowell, I suggest you get a copy immediately. I’m working my way through it and find myself thinking how little we’ve learned and how well this applies to Covid policies.

Reason #3 for thanking the Gods that someone invented booze – Maverick has decided that the best way to eat is if I toss his kibble to him one piece at a time. Fortunately, I’m okay with this, because it gets the food into his stubborn little self. I was told by our trainer that this is a terrible idea. I chose to ignore that because said trainer does not deal with the daily frustration of watching a certain sweet puppy turn his nose up at expensive food as if it were poison, nor does she bear the expense of tossing out said food. (Her advice is to leave his bowl down for 15 minutes, then pick it up, wait 1/2 hour and repeat. Maverick would turn this into a contest to see who can hold out the longest and I’m pretty sure he’d win)

Reason #4 – my craft room should be renamed The Black Hole. It has become a bit chaotic in there in the last few months, mostly because of the hoeing out and reorganizing of the spare bedrooms. And by “a bit chaotic” I mean that I can’t find a freakin thing. I’ve bought thread that I know I have, and thrown up my hands in frustration because I can’t find knitting needles and just generally sat and felt totally overwhelmed. So my current occupation is slowly finishing up projectss, using up bits of fabric that people give me because I make doll clothes, ruthlessly tossing fabric bits into what I call the “Kathi box” because I take a donation to my friend Kathi every year when I visit NY. (Her daughter makes amazing things out of bits and bobs of fabric that I would throw out)

Reason #5 – no one in this house can decide what to have for dinner. Rarely, if ever, can that simple question, “what would you like for dinner tonight?” be answered. I am as guilty as the Bear. Why is it so difficult to decide what to eat? I think tonight might just be a hotdog because that and omelettes are my go-to and I don’t have any ham for an omelette.

Reason #5 – do you really need a reason to drink?

When it comes time to vote in a few weeks, remember –

• Who deemed your business nonessential while keeping Walmart open
• Who made it impossible for you to keep your business going because you were not essential, and you had to close and in many cases, give up your dream, while Amazon was reaping record profits
• Who denied your kids the right to go to school for months, in some cases extending to over a year, while telling you that “kids are resilient, they won’t suffer any learning loss!”
• Who made your kids cover their faces with a dirty piece of cloth because otherwise they’d “kill Grandma” and called them germ factories
• Who decided that it wasn’t important (and still isn’t in a lot of places) for the elderly to see their loved ones, who denied them the physical touch that is so important because, after all, we didn’t want to “kill Grandma!”
• Who decided that your dog’s groomer was not essential, and shut her down till your dog could no longer walk on nails that had grown under, and whose coat was so matted, his skin bruised when the mats were finally released
• Who told you to stay home while they partied – maskless – at private balls
• Who told you not to gather at church and worship together, but instead to march arm in arm through the streets because the first would kill Grandma but the second made you immune
• Who told you that no one had any ill effects from the jabs and that if you didn’t agree to get one, you were effectively killing Grandma
• Who didn’t bother to ask Grandma how she felt about any of this.
• Who announced they wouldn’t have anything to do with a vaccine that Trump helped push through, but mandated that YOU get the same vaccine once he was out of office
• Who are still forcing college kids and children to wear a dirty piece of cloth over their mouths and noses, while acknowledging that they have little risk of serious illness from this virus
• Who refused to acknowledge any theory other than their own, and were frequently bought and paid for by the very companies who were producing the materials that they were forcing on the public

When you go to vote, remember this. If you approve, then vote for the same policies. If not, then this is your chance to change things.

Yesterday I got the second shot in the back for my unrelenting sciatica issues. This was actually two shots, more targeted to the actual areas causing the difficulties. (L4 and L5 if anyone cares). The first one gave some relief but not enough, so my darling doctor decided this would be a better solution. I hope she’s right, I really want to get back to my walks.

They told me that I might (probably would) feel some weakness in my legs for the next couple of days. I was good getting off the table, walked to the room where the nurse checked me out and got changed, then sat with her while she went over everything. When I stood up, my leg went wonky. As in, oops, that isn’t holding me up wonky! The nurse grabbed my arm, I got steady, she walked me out to my BFF, who took my arm and walked to the car with me, refusing to let go even when I felt that I was steady again. I did tell her that I kinda liked walking arm in arm with her – we’re so terribly cute together sometimes. 🙂

While I was being shot, the young man doing his fellowship with my doctor said, as they always say, “you’re going to feel a pinch.” Pinch? Dear boy, that was a jab. They had to jab me several times to get around the arthritis that also gives me fits – have I mentioned how much fun it is getting old? After the third one, I said, “you do know that’s not really a pinch!” My doctor said, ‘what does it feel like to you?” I said, ‘A STAB!” She said she didn’t think patients would respond well to being told, “you’re going to feel a bit of a stab!” Out of my mouth came, “I do not think that means what you think it does!” referring to the word “pinch.”

She paused and then said, “PRINCESS BRIDE!” Gotta love a doctor who gets a Princess Bride reference! Then we had a lovely chat about our favorite movie – the most perfect movie ever made, by the way, which served as a nice distraction from the continuing stabs.

Today my legs are drunk. My body feels okay, but my legs are drunk. It’s a very strange feeling and one they told me to expect.

I also spent most of the week dealing with a cold or something (see early post in which Peachy tried to kill me) So I sounded like a frog still yesterday and was fulling expecting the mask Nazis to descend on me at the clinic. Not. One. Word. was spoken about it. Are we FINALLY out of this madness?

That sounds like it should be a song title.

I made a video today for my Managerial Acccounting class because while they can understand the High-Low method and how to solve for f and v, they can’t figure out a Contribution Margin income statement.
(See why their heads fall off?)

I sound like a frog at the moment. It all started when Peachy tried to kill me.

She didn’t plan to – I don’t think she did anyway. I’m pretty sure she would have told me. If you knew her, you wouldn’t find it at all odd that I say that. “I’m planning to kill you next week,” from Peachy, would be akin to the Dread Pirate Roberts saying, “I’ll kill you tomorrow.” **

She made a delicious cake called a Tuxedo cake. Perhaps it’s named for the tuxedos I expect all the gents to wear at my funeral. Except for those wearing kilts and playing bagpipes – I want Amazing Grace on the pipes and the kilts to be swinging. It’s quite heavy on the chocolate. Chocolate, that amazing stuff that hates me equally as much as peanut butter hates me.

I ate three bites of this delicacy and passed the rest of my slice to another person. In the middle of the night, it struck. I woke up with the worst migraine I’ve had in years. Apparently spending the entire next day in bed allowed every random germ to make its way into my bedroom to see if I was available for infection.

Sunday I got up with no more headache, except for the inevitable migraine hangover, and a fierce sore throat. Dragon claws were being sharpened in there.

It’s slowly morphed into a voice that sounds like a frog and a lingering tiredness. And a definite lack of appetite. It’s what we used to say was “something going around.” That was back in the good old days when we didn’t test ourselves for non-existent symptoms.

Meanwhile, the video is uploading and I have no enthusiasm for grading so here I am. Randomly writing about nothing much. The second Wallaby will be completed today. This one was more fun than the first, only one mistake, no ripping out, the directions are not terribly clear in some places but once you’ve run through it, you can figure out what to do. I’ll take a break from knitting and make another scarf next.

It looks like Summer is almost over. My second least favorite season begins. I wouldn’t mind Fall if it weren’t getting cold, and living in the woods with a man and a dog means the leaves are constantly trying to come inside for dinner and I’m constantly trying to keep them out. The same goes for mice and spiders but the Bear is in charge of removing those things from my presence.

There’s an obsession with Halloween where I live. I don’t get it, it’s already started – actually started back in August – it’s as big as Christmas and after 20 years I’m still baffled by that. Maybe it’s because we don’t get trick or treaters, we live way too far out in the country, with a driveway that goes through dark woods, to attract any kids. And the early start to the “celebrations” makes me tired of it by the time it actually arrives.

I’m getting another shot tomorrow. I’m kinda surprised they’re going to do it, since I told them I have a cold. I’m kinda wondering if they’ll make me take a Covid test when I get there. THAT will make me mad. My BFF is gonna be my driver because, well, she’s my BFF! That, and a couple of other things that happened today made me realize that while my blood family is miles away from me, I have built a true and loving family right here. And the wonderful thing is that this family of mine all care about each other as much as I care about them. (Even Peachy, when she isn’t trying to kill me. )

**random Princess Bride reference

This is fun! The first was fiddly , this one was much smoother and I really enjoyed it. The next two are already planned . 😂