The Clouds Have Parted!!

This morning I feel like my normal self! I feel cheerful and happy and the dark cloud has moved from over my head. Yay!! Funky can be a good thing-IN a funk isn't!! So today I feel funky! LOL

Got up earlier than usual due the the fact that my cat was harking up a hairball. GROSS. Bless her heart. She gets some kind of rash every summer and scratches and licks and makes terrible sores on her neck. Well, I bought one of those "megaphone" collars for her and she can't lick when she wears it. I put medicine on her, snap on that collar and she's good for the night! I think it's finally registered on her that I'm trying to help her, not hurt her, and she sits still and lets me put the thing on her. But since she woke me up harking, she must have had some residual hair. Ick.

Changing the subject, but I am convinced that Yoo-Hoo is one of the best drinks ever. At Wal-Mart this weekend I saw a half gallon of it for a little over two bucks. I bought it, brought it home, and OMG!! I've always loved Yoo-Hoo, but to get it in a carton is bliss. I made an iced mocha latte with it last night. Delish.

And that brings to mind my kitchen. Have any of you ever felt like you had just completely lost control of your kitchen?? My boys are constantly cooking and the amount of drinking glasses they mess up in a day is appalling! I keep asking them why they don't just choose one glass for the day and use it? Rinsing it out is not any trouble. But noooo. I come home every afternoon with the sink piled high. The dishwasher can be completely empty but the sink is piled high. *sigh* Ah, that's not such a big problem, just irritating. I'm glad to have them around.

My daughter is gearing up for her move to Birmingham. She is moving downtown into a really cute apartment. She is a medical transcriptionist and works from home, so she is able to take her work with her. How cool is that? She has a boyfriend who lives about a block and a half from her and she's right there at Five Points near Mellow Mushroom, Jim and Nick's, and all kinds of cool places. I think she'll fit right in. She's especially delighted to be near a store that specializes in vegan and vegetarian diets. She's funny. She doesn't do it because she thinks it's wrong to eat meat. She does it to lose weight and it's worked like a charm for her. If I didn't have to give up chicken fingers and ribeye steaks I might give it a whirl! I love soy milk, edamame, rice, beans, etc. Aw heck, I like anything except sausage and Burger King hamburgers!

All this food talk has got my stomach growling. Think I'll mosey on in the kitchen (it's CLEAN because I did it last night!) and make a latte or oatmeal or something. Everyone have a nice day and thanks for putting up with my downer posts that I have written lately. Sometimes you just have to let it out, you know?

Toodles!!!

Got my boy home

Jimmy is now at home. Well, actually, he's at work. :( The doctor told him to stay out of work this week to recover and do you think he did? Nope. He's the most stubborn man I've ever seen. He's doing all right, eating pretty well, but he's very weak. He's taking 2000mg of antibiotics a day. That would make anybody feel like crap. I'm hoping he'll come home early today.

We go to the surgeon on July 29 to set up the surgery. I think he's scared; I know I would be! What indicated this to me is that last night he asked me if I was going to the doctor visit with him. This, from a man who never wants me to go. So I'm going.

I have a plane ticket and two concert tickets for shows August 12-15. This probably isn't going to happen. I have very mixed feelings about it even if his surgery is scheduled after these shows. I need to spend as much time as possible with him doing things and having fun because after the surgery it's going to be rough. I'm afraid he'll get a blood clot again after this surgery like he did the last one. There's just a lot to think about, and this is more important than seeing a couple of shows. I just hope when I make up my mind definitively that I can sell the concert tickets. They were expensive. The plane fare will be all right; it's with Southwest and I think you can bank your money with them for a future trip. If not, oh well.

Nothing much else to say today. I'm about caught up at work since I came in two hours early yesterday. I still have a few things, but nothing really pressing.

Another day

Jimbo's still in the hospital with a perforated colon which will require surgery in about four weeks. He has to heal first. He's had nothing but jello, broth and popsicles since Wednesday. Tonight he did get some vanilla ice cream.

Scary stuff, people. The surgeon said that the surgery will be major and I dread it so bad for him. Yeah, the English minor in me says that it should read "I dread it so badly" but I didn't want to write that.

Home isn't home with him here. Even though most of the time he's playing his bass with his headphones on and I'm clacking away at the computer, we are together. We may be in the bed with him doing a crossword puzzle and I may be reading, but we are together. And when I go to sleep at night I can reach out and touch his arm or hold his hand. I miss him being here.

I guess my anger has passed that was so very evident yesterday. I'm petrified, and anger is just part of it I guess. It's a hurdle I have to jump over and apparently I did it in record time this go around.

Looking toward tomorrow with hope that he'll get some cream soup or mashed potatoes to help build his strength.

Plans sure can change. Instead of getting ready to go out tonight to see Jimmy Wayne I am instead sitting in the Huntsville Hospital with my husband, who is sick as a dog. This is like bad deja vous. We have done this so many times in our marriage. I used to keep count of how many times one of our immediate family (Jimmy, me or one of the kids) has been in the hospital, but I gave up.

We've had our share, that's for sure. I don't mean to bitch about it, but it gets freaking old. I know people who have been married as long as us and nobody has ever been sick, much less in the hospital.

Here are just a few admissions:

Mystery pain about 4 times
Ruptured appendix (the reason for the mystery pain)
endometrial ablation
hysterectomy
infant sleep apnea (twice)
knee surgery
gall bladder surgery
kidney removal
blood clot

Oh, and I could go on. And on. And this isn't counting stuff like ER visits, nephritis, outpatient surgeries, etc.

I'm just depressed. I keep waiting for the time when nothing is going to be wrong. We've always joked about the "Rowell curse" we have, but it's not too freaking funny anymore.

I really, really need to vent today. People who think I'm crazy for traveling and who say things like, "I don't see how Jimmy puts up with it" can kiss my ass. They have no clue what is going on in my family or the relationship my husband and I have. What is so wrong about trying to squeeze a little pleasure out of life in between the crises? He has his music, I have my traveling. It makes us happy to do these things and takes our minds off the stresses of day to day life. And it's none of anybody's damn business.

Now. I would say I feel better, but I don't. I'll get past it. When my Jimmy is better. I'm really worried about him.

Wouldn't you know it??

Yesterday I got up and faced the day knowing I could only have clear liquids. I went to Foodland and bought all different kinds of juices, popsicles and jello. I worked half a day, came home and popped the two magical pills that supposedly would get me started on my way to colonoscopyville. Four hours later I had to start drinking this salty stuff that I flavored orange. I could have chosen cherry, pineapple or lemon-lime, but I chose orange on Jimmy's recommendation.

At six p.m. I drank a glass of the stuff. Yuck! I sat on the couch all snuggled up to Jimmy and about 7 or 8 minutes later I vaguely started itching. It didn't register on me at first. Then I looked down at my chest! Blotches were all over my chest, arms and legs! Bumps started forming and my mouth got as dry as cotton. I promptly called the pharmacist. He said he had never had anyone have any problems with the liquid, but he would check. I held on for a few minutes and he came back on the line and told me that yes, reactions like mine occur in less than 1% of people who drink it. He told me not to drink any more. No kidding. I guzzled some Benadryl and clawed my way through the evening, feeling nauseous and light-headed.

On the up side, I did get a Coke icee and some fries from Burger King. (I know, I despise Burger King, but I will eat their fries and drink their frozen Cokes!)

This morning I still feel like a truck hit me. The blotches finally faded out an hour or so ago and I no longer itch. I took pictures of the rash just in case nobody believed me! It sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?

Thankfully I received a call from the hospital last night. They wanted to pre-register me and I had the opportunity to tell them that I would not be there this morning. Nor any other morning. Dr. D can just forget about it! It was just a screening test and I'm not going to worry about it.

Dum Dah Dum Dum...

Sounds like doom and gloom, huh? Well, it is. Tomorrow I have to prep for a colonsocopy. OMG OMG OMG. All this stems from my little annual visit with the gyno, and he is insistent that I need one just for screening purposes! OMG OMG OMG. No food tomorrow. Just stupid clear liquids, popsicles and broth. Yuck. The I start popping some little magic pills at 2 p.m. What joy that will be! And the worst...the GALLON of crap I have to drink. (no pun intended)

What I dread is the I.V. And the drugs. I despise to be drugged. I'm allergic to a lot of drugs so it scares me to death to take anything. The actual poking and prodding? Well, that doesn't bother me too much. Sounds weird, but it's the truth.

So today I've eaten some good food. Didn't need it, wasn't really hungry at supper, but you know what? Tomorrow when I'm starving I'll be glad I had that steak.

Thursday's Ramblings

Oh, thank goodness, the work week is almost over! I've got to get busy this weekend and get Layke's room ready for him to move back into. Since he's been gone, it has turned into the laundry/ironing room and it's a mess. Where I'll put all that crap is beyond me, but I'll make do!

This afternoon Jimmy has a doctor's appointment in Huntsville. Wish I was going along for the ride because I know he'll stop at Starbuck's. But I've missed too much work in the past month to go today. Long story short, Jimmy, my mother and my daughter were all in the hosptial at the same time in February. Jimmy and Mother were in Huntsville and Rachel was in Arab and there I was, running around like a chicken with its head cut off! Thankfully they are all much, much better now and things are looking up. One thing I will say about their illness though- Huntsville Hospital is fantastic. They got wonderful care there. MMCN was ok with Rachel. MMCS ER- well, that's a whole different ballgame. Don't get me started. I don't know who nurse Angela is, but I'd like to claw her eyes out. Good thing I was stranded in Baltimore at the time- I might be in jail otherwise. Suffice it to say that nobody would let a dog suffer like they let Jimmy suffer that day. Incompetent bastards. Pardon my French.

Deep breath and I'm moving on...

I'm trying to make my mind up about going to the CMA festival this year. That is the week before our 30th wedding anniversary and Bo hasn't announced an appearance yet. It will be a load of fun but I just don't know if I can fork out that much money. I've got to make my mind up real soon. My friend Debbie has booked a room and I need to let her know something soon. Next week she and I are traveling to Nashville to see a show. Kelleigh Bannen, a recording artist from Nashville who lost her brother to drugs last year, has been doing "90 gigs in 90 days" in order to to raise awareness about the power of addiction and hope of recovery. Next Wednesday night will be the 90th and Bo is making an appearance with her. He had her open for him for four shows to help fulfill her 90 gigs. There are several of us "local" (TN and AL) girls going to support the cause and a few from other states, too. We always have a great time together.

Jimmy is going tonight to rehearse with the Classic Rock/Country/Blues band. The name of it is Morgan's Acre. They came up with that a couple of weeks ago. Two band members have the last name Morgan and they practice at their house, so I guess that's kind of where the name came from. Personally I liked Twisted Dixie that they had tossed around, but they were afraid it would give the wrong connotations to some people. The Contemporary Christian band's name is A 1000 Second Chances. One of the young guys came up with that. I like that group; it is such a hodge-podge of people. Their ages range from 16 or 17 to 48. They're really good and opened for Disciple in January. That was such a fun day! We got to be there from the time Disciple arrived at the church and we met them and listened to them do their sound check. My son Seth was thrilled to death. He has loved Disciple for years!

Back to the present...tonight I plan on watching Criminal Minds that I recorded last night, see who gets voted off Idol (Please, God, let it be Megan!!!) and I'm going to watch Grey's Anatomy. Sounds like a couch potato night to me!