Another Chapter

Interesting week-end. Trying to digest the news that my job will come to a screeching halt on July 1st. Wham, bam, thank-you ma'am. Your position has been eliminated. Nothing for you to do here. We're gonna take your salary and put it to better use elsewhere. Understandably.

I certainly wanted to be busier, better utilized. But it was never gonna happen. My fate was sealed some time ago. Time to move on.

For Your Viewing Pleasure...

A couple of pics from PhillyTwo's fabulous visit to UT Hospital.



A few hours after surgery...

And then the next morning...

I will say that she has come a long way since then (will post the after-pics later). All the bandages are off, and while her face grew tremendously after these shots were taken, most of the swelling has gone down. There is a slight complication with having wired-together-teeth, but she's coping.

And she has really enjoyed all the cards and flowers she received, as well as the thoughtful get-well basket that was filled with useful goodies.

She's getting really good at talking through clenched teeth...good practice for later on when she has children and has to reprimand them in public!

Let's See, You've Got Three Shirts, Four Sweaters, A Chalkboard and A Christmas Tree Stand...So Your Total Comes To $4.85

J.C. had her spring (as opposed to her early summer, late summer or mid-fall) garage sale last week-end. She called to tell me about it and I knew there had to be more to the story than just that tidbit, because in this family, having a garage sale is more common than having a mosquito bite. So, yes, there was an amusing sidebar. It seems she was selling a "brand new, never-been-opened" set of flannel sheets, and as is our way, they were priced to sell - 'cause we don't ever want to box that crap back up once we "put it out there". So when the rather large, rather slovenly woman picked them up, eyed them dubiously, then inquired as to whether or not J.C. knew the thread-count of those sheets - those flannel sheets - well it was everything she could do to keep a straight face...and sell the product. We, of course, further reflected that the woman was probably used to 6 or 8 hundred minimum on her thread counts. And if you thought our garage sales were just to get rid of things we don't want or to make extra money, you should think again. They're purely for entertainment.

Home From the Hospital

I'm happy to report that PhillyTwo's jaw surgery is over and she's resting comfortably here on the couch. But the last two days have been anything but fun. It started on Wednesday morning when we got to UT Hospital, as requested, at 9 a.m. We spent 4 hours in pre-op. That was fun. She was on the bed wearing the hospital gown and shower cap, getting scared-er and scared-er by the minute, and I was sitting in the chair by the bed, wishing they would just hurry up and get the whole thing started. They finally came to get her at 1 p.m.! Then while I sat in the surgery waiting room for 4 1/2 gruelling hours, she apparently was sliced, sawed, stabbed and stitched until they, Dr. Wonderful and three accompanying surgical residents, accomplished their task. Her Anesthesiologist, Truman Capote, and his team (2 assistants) kept her sufficiently sedated through the whole ordeal so that she wouldn't know the torture they were putting her through. As Dr. Wonderful described to me afterwards, the screws in her chin (from a previous surgery) that they had hoped to remove, had become one with the bone around them, and weren't interested in leaving the party. So he just sawed through them. That explains the bruises on the side of her neck where they had the "jaws of life" clamped down so tightly to stabilize her head. Three hours after the surgery, they finally brought her down from recovery to the ICU where I was allowed a brief visit. She was truly pitiful-looking. But by 6 a.m. the next morning, Dr. Wonderful removed a lot of the bandages and most of the tubes and she began looking human again. By noon they moved her to a regular room and by 3 p.m., one of the accompanying surgeons, Dr. McPerfect (who PhillyTwo wants to marry - if he is, in fact, single) was signing her discharge papers. It was amazing to me how quickly she progressed. Her new best friends and constant companions are now the syringe and a pair of wire cutters. With her jaws banded shut, the syringe is the only way she can ingest anything - her pain medicine (most important thing in the world) and her various liquid meals - smoothies, Ensure, etc. And the wire cutters, well they're always within reach, just in case. From what I can see - through the chubby cheeks and swollen lips - her face/jaws/teeth/gums - everything - looks fabulous.

I Feel Like I've Done This Before

We're heading back to the hospital this morning for PhillyTwo's long-awaited surgery. If they take her temperature and find that she's again running a fever, well that would just be weird because she's been fine since the moment we left the hospital...this time last week. Her temp in the hospital that morning was 101 and rising. We drove straight home and took it again. It was normal. She was convinced their thermometers were wrong...until she saw the pictures that I took of her in the various stages of what was supposed to be pre-op that morning. Her eyes, at half-mast, looked anything but normal. One look at her and the Anesthesiologist said, "Oh, hell no." And like Frank Abagnale, Jr. (Leonardo Dicaprio) in "Catch Me If You Can", I concurred.

What a Change

This is a picture of the Cedar Bluff exit taken around 1960. Amazing.

Complete Thoughts

1. Maybe I should stop worrying.
2. I love the smell of freshly-brewed coffee, honeysuckle, and anything cooking that has garlic in it.
3. People would say that I'm opinionated.
4. I don't understand why people think that I'm opinionated.
5. When I wake up in the morning I immediately start forming opinions.
6. I lost my willpower to not eat sweets.
7. It's nice to be healthy.
8. I don't always need to be doing something. Just sitting on the couch watching t.v. can be wonderful at times.
9. Life is interesting, to say the least.
10. My past is my past.
11. I get annoyed when people are late.
12. Parties are for young people.
13. Dogs are good companions.
14. Cats are only cute when they're kittens.
15. Tomorrow is Monday - ugh.
16. I have a low tolerance for stupidity.
17. I'm totally terrified of bears.
18. I wonder if anybody really cares about this shit.
19. High school was a very long time ago.
20. When I'm nervous I chew my nails.
21. Take my advice: read the directions.
22. Making my bed is a chore.
23. I'm almost always thinking about something.
24. I'm addicted to shopping and poker.
25. I want someone to teach me how to hit a fairway wood.