A busy and quiet Saturday

Last night was fun. The contractor who remodeled this house in 2000-01 held a 30th anniversary of his business last night. I stopped in at the party (at his office), met many of the folks who worked on my place and also met others who had work done by Steve. It was a nice group and Steve put on quite a spread of food, wine and good fellowship. http://www.rehdercon.com to read more about his company.

Today, I slept in because I was just plain tired. Once I was up, showered and dressed, I headed for the lab to do a blood draw (routine). Because I was fasting, I wasn't sure if I should take my pain medications before that so I did not. That is how one learns if they are doing any good. Oh, did it hurt until I took them after the blood draw! Ouch and it wasn't only the rib. Both the elbow and wrist were singing to tell me they were hurting.

After my first round of Tylenol things got better. They were much better 4 hours later when I added a dose of Advil. Since then, I have been good all day.

Errands were the order of the day. Dog food, dry cleaners, blood test and a stop in at the Vet to find out why they sent me these cards about the dog's health. As a result, my next appointment is next Saturday that includes lessons to teach the clueless dog owner how to take care of the critters. Who knew?

The rest of the day has been spent working on finding the appropriate tax documents. Last spring, my CPA filed an extension given that Mary died on April 8 and I had not pulled paperwork together in time for the filing. He has sent a note that September 1 is his cutoff for the Oct 15 filing so I am plowing through our paperwork. Mary and I had a system that we used each year where the bills, brokerage statements, insurance mailings, etc., had a place in a set of 3 ring binders we kept. Well, the 2008 binders were never used and during 2009 there was no way. So I am now properly sorting and filing 30 months of paperwork while grabbing every tax related statement I can find to send to my CPA. Job one is to simply put the right paperwork in the right stack for each year. I have been on that for several hours now and 2007, 2008 and some of 2010 is done.

As I noted above, the 2008 papers were never put in our filing system. In hindsight, I am wondering if Mary was starting to feel poorly and the lack of filing effort may have been a symptom. Then my mind goes to "Well, if it was a symptom, so what? Until the gall bladder pain became so extreme, there was no justification to do surgery. And, surgery was the only way to confirm that cancer was present."

While working on the paperwork, my iPod was playing Roberta Flack's albums. "Killing me softly" was her biggest hit, I think. Combining her emotion packed songs while looking at Mary's handwriting and other bits of her history is 2008 is an emotional roller coaster for me.

My grief counselor suggested I plan to be alone tonight (since I had no plans anyway) to let my emotions come forward. I have been so busy with work and other social activities since Alaska they were being probably being sidetracked by all the activity. Basically, it is good to slow down and let the emotions come forward. And yes, they do come forward. Finding Mary's handwriting on a check or a note on a bill that is is paid triggers strong feelings--just seeing her writing strikes pretty hard. God, I find myself crying over "Paid, BoA on-line, May 10" on a monthly bill.

Kelli, my counselor, said that grief is totally unpredictable. The fact that the month of August was an emotional high for me does not lead to the conclusion that my grieving is over. It does point to a likelihood that I will be able to move forward positively from here, but I will also have those horrible down cycles between here and full emotional health. One day at a time.

p

The rib is getting better

I stopped the Vicodin on Sunday morning and my head came back to me by late afternoon. It was nice to have it return to my control!  

On Monday night, I scrounged some frozen thingys from the fridge.  Tuesday, work wrapped up shortly after 8PM (another 12+ hour day) and I sent Ingrid a text message. She had not had dinner so we went to a place in Mountain View and had a tapas meal.  Wednesday was dinner with two of the Habitat for Humanity executives at nice neighborhood Italian place near Santa Clara University.  Tonight was dinner with a co-worker who is in his 2nd year of assignment in Germany and is in town for the Strategy Meetings I have been working on so diligently the past weeks. I haven't had a chance to talk to him for a long time so it was nice to catch up.  He wanted ethnic food not easily available in Germany so we had Mexican tonight. 

MaryR has stopped by each morning to place fresh bandages on my elbow after my shower. Thank you, Mary!  I learned I could not wrap the darn thing myself so her 10 min visits have been most helpful! 

It is a little after 10 and I am fading.  I think I will sign off and do a catch up blog on Saturday. 

Pat

A long day getting longer

Well, one of the nice things about High Tech is that when you have things to do, you have things to do. And right now, work is a priority.  So my first work day after breaking a rib was a short 12 hours--and after I eat, I've got a couple hours of work to do.  Then its off to bed and up early again!

That is actually unfair. This is the closing week for the strategic plan I have been working on since mid-July and it simply must get done.  After Thursday, it will become easier for about 12 hours and then I start on my product launch project again.  Man, feel like a treadmill! 

Last night I hosted MaryR, her daughter Emilie and step-son Rich who I had not seen for 18 years. And, Emilie's girlfriend, Joy.  Ingrid wasn't able to make it and we missed her.  Hosting is a strong word. I sort of hung out with my painful left side while MaryR did most of the work.  And, Rich learned a bit being in my kitchen with all the toys my Mary had acquired over the years.  The lettuce dryer was #1 until I showed him the digital meat thermometer which allows me to cook to perfection! 

This week will be uneventful, I am sure. I am just tired and sore and not moving too fast. 

p

Yup, its a broken rib

And a contusion on my left elbow and a mild sprain on my right wrist. Yesterday was 'have-a-nice-trip' day on Vicodin. Hey, I even watched a NASCAR race for the first time in my life. When you are on Vicodin, it seemed interesting!

This morning, some of the Vicodin side effects are showing up (nausea in particular) so I think I will cut the dose in half for the next couple of cycles. The instructions allow me to do that.

MaryR has been very helpful. First, she took me to ER on Friday night and brought me back. And, stopped in a couple of times on Saturday with food! Most appreciated. The key thing is that I need to wrap/compress the elbow contusion and that is virtually impossible to do that on yourself--at least for me it is. So MaryR has also done nurse duty by properly wrapping my elbow. Thank you!

All I can say about this whole thing is "Wear your helmet!!" My fall was basically caused by the front brake grabbing and on a bike, that can put you head over the handlebars--which is exactly what it did to me. I managed to do this in front of neighbors out walking their dogs. In fact, I was slowing down to stop and talk to them when it happened.

We didn't quite have the conversation I expected to have given I landed on my head with my bike on top of me. At first I was very concerned because I could not breath--had the wind knocked out of me. I then realized another neighbor had come out of his house--I managed to pull this stunt in front of the Doctor's house. He was firing questions at me and I know he was trying to determine if a call to 911 was necessary. Thanks to the Doc for making that assessment.

Anyway, I walked home while the original neighbor I had wanted to talk to walked my bike home. I called Ingrid who had one more client for the evening and MaryR. MaryR was able to come over and take me to the ER.

The rest is straightforward. X-ray confirmed a broken rib on the left side. Observations confirmed a contusion of the left elbow. Mild sprain of the right hand and a number of minor abrasions. The biggest issue is the Vicodin simply puts me in a parallel universe...Happy, Happy!

That's all for now!

p

Friday Nite Pain

I managed to go head over heels on my bike tonight. No head or neck damage. I think I broke a rib, trashed my left elbow and sprained my right wrist.

I am in ER, have seen the doc and now waiting for pain killers, tetanus and a trip to the x-ray department.

Long night ahead.

Drinking from a fire hose

My company does its strategic planning in the month of August. And, as a strategy officer, I have to pull together a bunch of inputs from managers all over the world. Herding cats is easier. Long days--start at 8 or earlier and wrap up by 8 or so in the evening. Makes one tired.

Marge and Dave did invite me to the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance on Sunday. It was a blast seeing all of the old cars. Jaguar was a featured mark as was Ferrarri, Pierce Arrow and Alfa Romeo. I have to say these old cars are just so beautiful with their complicated lines and antique mechanisms. It was just a riot.

Ingrid, MaryR and I had a nice dinner on Saturday. It was full of laughter and story telling about the cruise. Ingrid brought the smoked salmon she had purchased in Alaska as the prime feature of the meal and we matched it with all sorts of fun stuff including some really nice champaign.



Saturday was almost exclusively errands and house duties. Laundry, ironing, shopping, etc. As my dry cleaner noted when I dropped in "It seems so strange to see you here without Mary. You two always ran your Saturday errands together." I really do appreciate his comment and it is true. And, the comment didn't send me into a grief depression either. My spirits are feeling pretty good overall.

This week is two concerts, a couple of dinners and time to work on my photos so I can post them here for you.

All in all, things are very good right now. One of my direct reports said today, "Your spirits are clearly much better so the vacation did you a world of good." I agree.

p

I'm back!

I didn't post because I was in Alaska on a cruise.  I've decided to not post until after I return so that the house is not a target while I am traveling. And, cruise ships in the north Pacific do not have reasonably priced internet connectivity so I simply waited until I got home.  I am home now.

The ship was the Holland America's Statendam departing Seward (aka Anchorage) and arriving Vancouver BC a week later.  The ship stopped to view glaciers in College Fjord and Glacier Bay.  It also docked and spent a day each in Haines, Juneau and Ketchikan.

The weather was pretty good overall with only one rain day and that was in Ketchikan.

I did travel with friends and we had a blast.  I'll write more about that later.

Overall, I am feeling so much better.  Being away, no concerns, spending time with friends was absolutely a great thing to do.  When I picked up the dogs on Monday, Diane the Vet looked at me and said, "You look so much better, clearly you had a great vacation week."  Well, she isn't a doctor but she does judge the health of most of her patients by simply looking at them so I guess that is a fully qualified medical opinion.

As is typical, I have a bunch of pictures. I'll post the link when I have them uploaded on the picasa website.

And, Idjit Dawg is just fine.  She just doesn't have the typical doggie digestive system that allows her to consume fowl droppings--apparently a doggie treat according to the vet.

Later

I've been busy...

No posts this week except for the medical issue with Idjit Dawg and goose poop.  The Vet says she is fine and will, hopefully, avoid ingesting the same stuff again. I can only hope.

As for me, I have been very busy with a special personal project.  I'll be able to report on that on Monday so watch this space as of Tuesday morning. 

Otherwise, things are good and I'll be posting more soon.

P

Idjit Dawg has passed her latest crisis

Amazingly enough, Idjit Dawg refused food last Thursday (both meals) and Friday morning. At that point, I called the vet and MaryR was kind enough to take Idjit to the vet's office.  They took possession of her and began a battery of tests.  We're talking blood tests and x-rays, hydration techniques and collection of anything she happens to "produce." 

The bottom line is that the tests of blood and stool indicate she had ingested the droppings of some fowl--duck or goose--and her digestive system did not tolerate it at all.  In fact, she was very sick, no energy, no barking, no irritating behaviors at all. She had become a lump with a wiggly tail. By Saturday she was back at 90% and the vet kept her so they could watch over the weekend. 

The bottom line is that she is just fine.  And, another "tiny" vet bill has been incurred.  Smile...