A First

I caught my cat drinking my coffee.  That's a first!  I know better than to leave a glass of milk or water on the counter or table because  the cats can't resist taking a "sip."  Actutally, they'll stick a paw in the liquid and lick it off the paw, or if the liquid's high enough, they'll lick it from the top.  What I caught Harry doing this morning was licking the top of the coffee in my coffee cup.  I never thought my cats were interested in coffee.  Now I know...

The Sound

Everyone who lives with cats knows the sound: a cat upchucking.  It's what made me launch from the coziness of my bed this morning.  I saw my little gray cat, Henry, crouching at the foot of the bed, down on the carpet, throwing up, and a dark stain appeared on the carpet.  I got out of the bed quickly telling Henry, "Don't eat it!"  Yes, people who live with cats know about this lovely habit, too, though in this case, it was a hairball or hairlog, and Henry didn't seem to be interested in eating it.  But that didn't stop the other three cats or the dog from investigating the mess on the carpet.

There is a certain way to clean up vomit.  DO NOT RUB IT INTO THE FIBERS!  Get a knife, and delicately scrape the mess into a paper towel.  You can almost avoid stains if you do it this way.  You can learn from my experience.  I have LOTS of stains throughout the house.  That's because I'd sop up the mess with a paper towel, which just pushed the detritus further into the carpet fibers, thereby, forever marking that spot with cat vomit.  No matter what cleaner you use, for all their promises, this method guarantees that the carpet will retain the mark.  Oh, well.

So this morning, although I wasn't fully alert, I ran for the paper towels and butter knife and tried out the gentle technique of scraping rather than smashing.  I was pretty happy with the result.  It also helps that the color of the carpet is gray...

Cat on the Microwave

This is Henry:

He sits on the microwave and oversees the table while we eat.

Here's a close-up:

Ouch!

This is what I stepped on:

It was on the patio in the backyard.  Good thing I had very thick flip flops on - I felt something when I stepped on it.  Imagine my surprise when I saw what it was!

Come to Capernaum

               

This past summer, our church put on a different kind of Vacation Bible School.  

Our minister's wife, Beverly, made the poster to show us the  blueprint. 

We had a well in the center of the town of Capernaum.  All of the adults had clothing that we imagined the people in Jesus' time would be wearing.  The children had "tunics" (T-shirts) cinched in the middle with a leather string, and each person wore a name tag.  The children's name tags bore the name of the tribe they were in, and each tribe was headed by a tribal mother.  Each shop was staffed with one or two adults and two teenaged helpers.  Altogether, ninety children signed up for Bible School.   

Acting out the Bible story of Jesus and the loaves and fishes

The well in the center of Capernaum

The story book which opened up with several different backgrounds which changed according to the skit being acted out each morning

God's Story - the front of the story book 

Map of Israel - the back of the story book

Benjamin's Garden Shop - we taught the children about the types of plants and how they were used for food and medicine.  Each child got to plant seeds in pots, and they took the plants home at the end of the week.

Joseph's Carpentry - the children got to hammer pieces of wood together and paint their creations.

The Pottery Shop - children rolled out clay and made animals or whatever their imaginations came up with, and at the end of the week, they got to take their work home.

The Weaver's Shop - the children learned how to weave and make an artistic piece.

Ephraim's Fine Foods - the children got to taste lentil soup, flatbread, stuffed grape leaves, and other types of foods.

Manasseh's Metals - in this shop, the children made bead necklaces. 

Mosaics - the children made pictures from tiny pieces of tile.

Issachar's Prayer Rugs - the children embroidered the fish symbols onto pieces of material and made their own rugs.

Synagogue School - the children, led by a Rabbi, wrote scriptures on scrolls.

Hannah & Ben talking with Mom in front of their house, talking about what Jesus said

Every day, the children watched a short skit.  

Then each tribe went to their home and learned about what it was like to live in Jesus' time.

Tribe of Simeon

Tribe of Zebulon

Tribe of Levi

Tribe of Gad

Tribe of Naphtali

Tribe of Dan

Tribe of Asher

Tribe of Judah

One of the most wonderful things about preparing for this was that everyone in the church contributed their time, talents,  service, and resources to make this happen.  We worked for seven months beforehand to get Capernaum ready for Vacation Bible School. 

80 cc's

I called to get a doctor's appointment today because my left knee was swollen.  I did everything I knew how to do on my own: interferential current therapy unit, ice, elevating my leg, and compression sleeve.  Leg still in a bad way.

"We'll see you today at 10:15 today."  I hadn't realized that it was 9:45 already, and I hadn't even gotten dressed or eaten breakfast.    I can get ready in a hurry.  And I did.  I might have been on time, but then it rained like it was a hurricane.  Still, I was only 10 minutes late.  Of course, all the handicapped parking places were taken, and I had to park in the parking garage, and that is a long walk when only one leg is really working well.

I should never worry that I'll be late for a doctor's appointment.  When was the last time you made a doctor's appointment and the doctor actually saw you at that time?  Right.

I waited until almost noon before the physician's assistant came into the exam room.  I knew what she was going to tell me.  "We should drain your knee."  Yep.

So I told her, "You should ask for someone to come in here and hold down my leg while you're draining it because it's going to come off the table."

She heeded my warning, but the person she came back with was a tiny woman.  I looked at her doubtfully, and she must have read my mind (or known from the look on my face), and she said, "I'm stronger than I look."

The P.A. was good, and she told me she wouldn't do anything without letting me know ahead of time.  I appreciate that.  She sprayed my knee with ethyl chlorhydrate, at least, I think that's what it was, to make my knee cold and kind of numb.  Then she told me when she was injecting the knee.

The tiny woman held tight to my leg, pressing down with a death grip.  She was right.  She was stronger than she looked.

OK, not too bad.  And then it was bad.  I had forewarned them that I wouldn't curse or scream, but I would probably yell.  I did yell, but not too much.  The tiny woman asked me  questions about where I swam, and I knew she was trying to distract me, and again, I appreciated that.

I asked if it was finished, and the P.A. said, "No, not yet.  Don't sit up yet."  The tiny woman asked if she could let go of my leg.  I told her, "No, you better not let go yet."  She held firm.

It started hurting a lot (understatement), and I yelled a bit ("ow, ow, ow, ow!!!!).  The P.A. said, "Almost done."  And then it was over.  I asked how much fluid she pulled off, and she said about 80 cc's.  The I sat up and saw that there were two full syringes.  One was yellow, and I asked if that was pus.  She said that was just the fluid around the knee.  The other syringe had blood in it, and she said that was because they'd drained the Baker's cyst in my knee.  She said, "You didn't even know that I put another syringe on the needle.  That's why I said for you not to sit up yet."  I said, "No, I didn't even realize it." (Good thing!)

So I caught my breath, and the P. A. said she'd send in the man who'd fit me for a knee brace - which is a stop gap measure until I decide to go through with knee replacement surgery.  He came in, measured my poor knee, and said he'd contact me in about two weeks.

Walking very slowly back to my car in the parking garage, I marveled at the people walking so easily past me.  I told one woman in a tan uniform, "You are so lucky that you can walk so well."  She laughed, but watching my painstaking gait, she understood.

I'm sitting here with Walter at my feet and a huge ice pack on my knee.  I've cancelled all my activities for the next few days.  I'm taking it easy.

Duck Crossing

I wish I had a picture to go with this post.  Yesterday when I was riding my bike in the neighborhood, I saw a flock of ducks crossing the street.  I sped up to see them.  There were about 15 adults and 3 youngsters.  They crossed the street all in a group - one of the coolest things I've seen in a while.