...Life Goes On
Sun., December 4, 01:17 AM
You get a sense of perspective, y’know, we do go on despite setbacks.
I should say that Thanksgiving with M.D. and Son-in-Law was quite pleasant. My son traveled down from Boston, although we missed Ms. P. We may have to figure some other plans next year, as her family doesn’t seem ready to share her. Aside from the pleasure of Son’s company, he took such a load off my shoulders as he shepherded Husband up and down the stairs, in and out of the car, and so forth.
The (professionally) deep-fried turkey turned out to be surprisingly good, as all the juiciness was protected from drying out. M.D. made two kinds of dressing, not to mention spinach and sweet potatoes and corn casseroles, all of which were delicious. There was cranberry chutney, of course, and the most successful pie I’ve made in some time. And Son-in-Law couldn’t wait to show off his newest toy, a coffee-press that makes very good coffee indeed. (He makes good coffee, even though he doesn’t drink it.)
On Monday U.D. accompanied me to my regular oncologist appointment, and I’m fine – return in six months. I am somewhat concerned about my low energy level, and the doctor ask if I’m depressed. “Well,” I said, “is it really depression if you’re actually surrounded by discouraging stuff?” We agreed that I’m just gonna have to work it through.
Since she had already taken the day off, U.D. took the opportunity to see her own doctor, who adjusted her medication, and maybe she’ll feel better. I faxed in the new prescription, but didn’t get to pick it up till much later, because things in general are not going to settle down yet, as you will see.
I got into the office on Tuesday to find that Bosslawyer is busy again, which is probably a good thing. I’m not thrilled that he’ll hand me a sheaf of papers and say, “open a file and write some letters of representation…” If I’m the one who has to figure out what to write and who to send it to, or exactly what motion he wants me to file, it’s a lot harder than if he did some dictation himself. So I had a lot of work on Tuesday, both legal and Boy Scout stuff.
Wednesday was a nice day. I had lunch with my old friend Vee, who I first worked with some eighteen years ago and is always fun to catch up with. I really enjoyed dropping responsibilities for a few hours – and I ate such a hearty lunch that I didn’t need to make myself dinner!
On Thursday morning I printed out Bosslawyer’s e-mail at home. (His computer is a story unto itself, to be described at some later date.) One piece had – so help me – a 25-page attachment. And then I walked into the bathroom to see water all over the floor. I yelled for U.D.
The toilet bowl was empty, but the tank was full. “Did it run over the top,” she asked – but the rim was dry. I was certain that the darn thing had cracked and that I would have to replace it. I sent U.D. off to work.
I called the plumber (named Royal Flush), left my name and numbers, including the cell phone. If they called back while I was at work, I could be home in five minutes. Which is exactly what happened. It took half an hour for the plumber to diagnose and remedy the problem. (No, we didn’t have to replace the john.) I returned to the office.
I had left a note, saying I'd be back, with Bosslawyer’s phone messages, but he hadn’t noticed it. George (the doggie) was very upset to find out that the Cookie Lady wasn’t there. And Bosslawyer informed me that one of our clients had sent an e-mail that I would have to retrieve.
I discovered that the mailbox was clogged with a couple of useless videos someone had sent – useless because we can’t open them on the office machine. Furthermore, the mail he had sent was about 2700K, and there were other messages that mail had been returned to sender because there wasn’t enough room to accept it… It just so happens that the client was the same guy who sent the junk; no sense of e-mail etiquette.
It seems this guy had received a couple of letters he wanted Bosslawyer to see, so he scanned them. It would have been easier to fax them, even if he had to go out to the local business store and do it. He scanned them as huge jpg’s instead of text, and I couldn’t print them. I managed to scroll around enough to get the sense of the letters so that Bosslawyer could attend to them, but I was thoroughly annoyed. I get so tired of herding little children through their paces – and yes, they’re little children even if they are of legal age! But I forgot to go to the pharmacy to pick up our prescriptions.
Well, Friday is my day off, and I figured I would go to the drugstore, pick up milk for Husband, and return home before going out again. And the new prescription wasn’t there; the pharmacist said it was probably in that shipment coming through the door and they’d do it up immediately. The dosage is increased so much that they didn’t have enough on hand! Fortunately, I always do better on a day I don’t have to work. Without time constraints, I can be a lot more mellow.
My big plan for the day was a trip to Costco, which I wanted to accomplish before it gets too close to Christmas. I wasn’t shopping for presents, mind you, just for staple supplies, like bagels, coffee, creamer, orange juice, batteries. (I had mailed all the batteries I had to my friend Gloria.) I managed to spend $165 – but I don’t think I have to return until next year. I enjoyed doing it. I came home, had some lunch and a couple of Tylenol, and took a nap.
Yeah, I complain a lot these days, but I’m still feeling rather lucky. I called Gloria to find out how she is and whether she liked what was in the package. She had gotten it the day before, but didn’t have the energy to open it. As the weather gets cold, her legs will bother her even more, and she will spend more and more time in bed. And remember Miss Neighbor, who fell last July? She’s still in the nursing home and doesn’t know when (if ever) she’ll be back in her house. Sometimes it takes other people’s bad luck to make you realize what could have been. Whew!
