A Good Day

Yesterday the Home Health nurse came by, and said it was his last visit here. He repeated his urging that I get a dog. His wife has a dog that "she loves better than she loves me," and Stephen himself entertains a whole slough of feral cats, doesn't even know how many. I'll miss him.

Then in the afternoon, Susan came by and we went to meet Pat at Cracker Barrel, where we partook copiously of their comestibles.

This morning I did two loads of laundry, and took out all the trash. I fixed my lunch, and then cleaned up the kitchen. I suddenly found that I felt terrible, for the first time since my "incident," so I spent the rest of the day in bed.

Poem for Sunday

 

Where Has All the Kudzu Gone?

Greener than this pallid privet flower

It was; edible, able to boast:

“No one need starve on my watch.”

Cursed while flourishing for a century,

Acres of it vanished overnight,

And the President has not said a word.

 

by JRC 05/17/15

Yesterday I went to TKC for my appointment with Dr. Gruman. He was very complimentary about my quitting smoking, and said I looked wonderful. I just wish this craving would go away. The feeling is something on the order of having lost one's best friend. No comfort. No one to talk to. Cold and lonesome.

*

Toward the end of Post Captain, there's a scene where Stephen says to Jack, "Come, brother. Here is too much blood altogether." And the tears roll down my face.

Progress

Pat and India brought me this lovely bouquet the day I came home from the hospital, and it's still fresh and pretty.

I've had several home health visits, from Steve, Anne Marie and Dan, who have shown me new easy exercises to add to my routine. Mostly they just want me to walk, so I try to do several laps a day around the house, inside and outside.

Some time ago, I saved up enough cash to get my kitchen painted. Now that the smoking issue is resolved--I lit one and it nearly knocked my head off so I'm quits there--I thought I should be able to save for another special project.

Maine Coon!

I found a site online that sells Maine coon kittens, and I emailed them to reserve a male for me. As a tentative color choice, I said black-and-white or gray-and-white. but they're all gorgeous.

So, last night I dreamed that I received notice that the April litter was now eight weeks old, and my boy was available. The picture of him showed a poor scrooched up black object. They said he was the runt of the litter, but I could have him if I still wanted to pay $800. I thought there might be room for negotiation.

Another Day Without a Smoke

The only way I keep myself from lighting up is telling myself, Wait another hour.

. . . Tall Buildings At a Single Bound. . .

This morning I got up at 5:00, did a load of laundry, cleaned up the kitchen, and got ready for a visit from one of the home health agents. That turned out to be a false alarm, because she hadn't coordinated with Steve, who came yesterday from a different agency. Anyway, later on, after Jed went back to Atlanta, I paid up all my bills, which had been weighing on my mind, and went to the post office.

Last Friday night I went to the hospital with the chest and back pain, and it turned out I had a real heart attack.  So on Sunday, I had a procedure where they placed a stent in my damaged heart artery. Man, this was weird. A team of about six or eight stout men and women, or similar creatures, all wore various hats, and the sound effects were deafening.

Ker-Blam! Ka-Pow! It sounded like they were flinging hundred-pound sacks of grain around the room. Maybe slaughtering cattle. Loud laughter. Muffled screams. I never felt a thing, except freedom from pain. But at last someone came in and told them to put down their weapons, and they all looked sheepish and sort of dried up. As I was wheeled from the room, I called back, "I like y'alls' hats!"

The team applauded!

I only slept about 4 hours last night due to back pain. When I sit or stand up, it quits hurting, but lying down brings it back. So if I can get comfortable, I may sleep some more today.