All in a Day

Yesterday, I went to my orthopedic surgeon for my six-week post surgery check-up.  I told him that my flexibility in my knee was pretty good, but that I still had swelling.  He grabbed some skin around my knee and said, "That's fat."  Oy vey.

OK - that's the second doctor in a week that said that.  I went to my cardiologist last week and told him we'd gotten a dog, but I'd had knee surgery, so I couldn't walk him any more, and that Wayne was walking him and had lost 15 pounds.  My cardiologist said, "And you found those pounds."  Oy vey again.  Now I feel like I need to go to Jenny Craig and lose 40 pounds.

I did get 15 cc's of fluid removed from around my knee though.  I asked how long it would take, and the doctor said about 30 seconds.  I was counting sporadically, and I said, "That seems like more than 30 seconds."  When he finished withdrawing the fluid, I looked at it, and it was yellow - no blood.  I was shocked.  Then I got a steroid shot in my elbow.  I have golfer's elbow, but I don't even play golf.  What's wrong with that picture?

From the orthopedist, I went to get my allergy shot.  This is all happening the day before we are supposed to be hit with Hurricane Isaac.  I couldn't believe the doctor's office was open, but since they were, I went.

I drove home, avoiding the Interstate, because it was moving at a crawl, due to everyone trying to evacuate.  But lo and behold, the woman behind me in traffic rear-ended me.  Oy vey again.  I got out of my car, and I said we should pull over to the parking lot of Wendy's.  I called the police, and the officer got there pretty quickly.  It wasn't too bad waiting for him in the heat because of the breeze blowing, courtesy of the oncoming hurricane.  Of all days to get in an accident, right?

The woman who hit me said, "I can't believe you're not cursing me out.  You're so nice."  I said, "What good would it do to do that?"

Both of us used the same insurance company, so I called my agent, and he instructed me to call back with the police report number.  My car wasn't too badly damaged because she had a small car and didn't get a running start to bump into my car.  The thing I worried about was that I started having neck and shoulder pains and a headache.  I've had four neck surgeries, and I have plates and screws in my neck.  You don't want hardware moving around so close to your spine.

We both drove off after the police man gave us copies of his paperwork, and we waved to each other.  Nicest and least complicated accident I've ever been in.  Hope my neck hardware is OK.

I went to my physical therapy appointment, and they iced my neck, knees, and elbow, and put heat on my back.  While I was lying on the mat, I watched the newscasters giving the weather report.  I hadn't been nervous about the Tropical Storm turning into Hurricane Isaac, but after watching the news report, I felt like I should be at home packing up to evacuate.  My heart wasn't in it to do my full physical therapy regime, so I did a modified version, and then wished everyone safety.

I drove home and talked with my husband about our plans.  Even though our parish was under mandatory evacuation, we decided to stay because the side of the river we live on is protected by a levee.  We figured we would get some flooding and would lose electricity.  We have a generator and plenty of batteries.  He picked up all the stuff outside and tied down the stuff too big to bring inside.  He helped a friend move his boat, and then he came home and helped our neighbor with his generator.  It seems most of our neighbors are staying, not evacuating.

My friend's daughter had her baby, a girl, and thank goodness, she went to the doctor because she was in labor and didn't know it, and she had to have a Cesarean!

All of this happened on one day.

It's 12:01 a.m., as I write this.  All day Tuesday, we watched TV because we were getting our fill before the electricity goes out.  The wind is blowing pretty hard and gusts are up to 80 miles per hour, according to the newscaster.

I let Walter out in the back yard earlier today, and he whimpered because everything looked different:  no plants or chaise lounges, and the tables were upside down against the house.  He wasn't sure what to do.  Later in the day, when the wind started blowing hard, he barked like it was something he had to protect me against.  This is his first hurricane.

When you live with the possibility of hurricanes six months out of the year, you keep all your important papers in a plastic bin with a locking top, so in the event that you have to evacuate, you can just pick up and go.  It's more complicated than that, but you just have that in the back of your mind.  You hope you make the right decision.

What's so ironic about this is that Mother Nature is celebrating the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina (which traumatized all of us) with Hurricane Isaac.  It's officially August 29, 2012.  That's a first,  I think:  having a hurricane on the same date.

God protect us all......

Smartest Raccoons Ever

We feed the feral cats on the backyard porch, but because of Walter's penchant for cat food, if there's any left when it's his time to go out in the backyard, I try to outwit him by hiding the food in the garden cart.  This afternoon, I opened the garden cart and saw that I'd forgotten to take the food out of the cart last night.  This is what I saw:

When I lifted the paper plates out of the cart, all the food was gone.  The clever raccoons opened the garden cart and ate all the food, and then closed the cart, so I didn't even know they'd been in there.  I'm telling you, these raccoons are so smart, they should go on Jeopardy!

Happy Anniversary

Yesterday was our 24th anniversary.  I told Wayne that for our 25th anniversary, we should get "painted alive."  Have you seen that?  The artist uses your body for a canvas and paints the most creative things - you don't even realize what you're looking at until the person moves, and you see that it's a human being!

Wayne is used to my ideas.  He didn't flinch at my suggestion, but he said, "Those models don't have an ounce of body fat on them.  If the artist painted us, it'd be the Michelin Man or the Pillsbury Doughboy."

I still think it's a fun idea.   We shall see.....


Craig Tracy - Painted Alive Book Video

The Mark of Zorro, I mean, Walter

This is my Croc.  This is my Croc with Walter's teeth marks.  Do you see all the tiny little holes?  Inevitably, if we forget to put up the baby gate leading to our bedroom, Walter will take our shoes and chew on them.  Sometimes, he takes one or both of Wayne's slippers, and sometimes, he takes one or both of my Crocs, and sometimes, he takes all four shoes or one from Wayne and one from me.  He chews them on the rug right at the front entrance, so that's the first thing we see when we come home.  In this case, the shoe is still wearable, but he chewed off the strap.  Good thing we think he's cute!

Rain? What Rain?

While everyone else in the country is suffering drought, we are inundated with rain.  It has been raining almost every single day, and sometimes it rains all day or most of the night.  Walter does not care.  He bolted out of the door into the backyard, and he ran around the yard for at least an hour.  When it's time to come in, Walter stands at the back door and barks once.  That's his standard, "OK, I've had my fun, now let me in" bark.  As you can see from the picture, Walter does not melt in the rain.  What's nice about the type of coat he has is that he can just shake once or twice and he's dry.  Wash-and-wear Walter...

 Walter Deer

Tell me this doesn't look like a deer.

Are They Adorable or What?

I keep my camera out for an occasion such as this.  Henry and Zoe are on the window seat, where they have front row tickets to the bird feeder action.  When we first found Zoe, she was only a pound and three ounces.  Now she's bigger than three of our cats, but she still thinks she's the baby (and princess). Wherever Henry is sleeping, she nudges him over and cuddles right up to him.  He returned the favor by putting a protective paw around her.

Walter's in Love

No, he's not in love with another dog or a person.  Here is what he is in love with:

It's an elk antler.  Yesterday, my husband and I went to the dog show in our area, and after watching and admiring all the dogs, we visited some of the product booths.  We asked what this was, and the woman told us it was an elk antler which was the best thing for dogs to chew on, and she said it should last a couple of months.  It cost $15, which seems expensive, but if it really lasts that long, then it's not too bad.

When we got home, Wayne gave the elk antler to Walter.  Delicately, he took it in his mouth and padded over to the carpet in the dining room.  He laid it down gently, and he thoroughly sniffed it.  Walter was occupied for the rest of the day.  He brought it over to the foyer rug and chewed on it forever.  When it was time for him to go outside, Walter picked it up and ran around the dining room table four times before he would even consider letting us put his leash on.  He is absolutely in love with his elk antler.