8/13 Surrounded by saints

Jan stopped by at lunch and took care of Gus. Cindy picked him up after lunch. When I got home at 8 PM Joe and Cindy brought Gus home and also gave me a huge salad and a huge brownie. As I said, I'm surrounded by saints.

And St. Jane is doing taxi duty for my epidural on Friday, although Jan said she may go too.

Here's the non-saintly part. They're going to go to lunch while I'm having my spine stuck with a needle the size of Cleveland. Ah well...

8/8 Happy birthday to Jane

Of course Joe has blogged Jane's birthday, but I wanted to acknowledge it too. She's born in 54 and is 54 today. Also today is 8/8/08--what a special day.

Can't wait for all of us to spend time together tomorrow. Love you sis.

7/31 Say hello to Charlie

Yep, Snickers is now Charlie. For some reason I found it hard to remember the name Snickers. So he is part of the Grandpa Gussie clan now. Grandpa Gussie's first name was Charles. So both dogs are named after my great grandfather. Sorry, Sarah, but Charlie fits the little critter. And he's getting used to his name quickly.

My boss is taking on call responsibilities for me from Friday night until Sunday morning, so I won't have to be on call for my birthday after all. That makes me happy.

Jane sent me a text message today saying they are leaving Wisconsin tomorrow morning. They've had a great time.

7/18 Act quickly

Family, I'm falling in love with Snickers. You better act quickly if you want him. It won't take long for him to be totally mine.


Bozie loves both dogs and plays rough with them. But when she's tired of it, she climbs the gate and goes to the living room.



A drug rep took some nurse practitioners and nurses to Maya last night. I was invited to join them because some other nurses couldn't make it. It was the day after Jan's birthday, but Jane had arranged for her to get the birthday treatment anyway. Omigod this was fun. She seemed to enjoy it too. And to top it off, the fried ice cream was delicious.

7/16 Happy birthday, Jan and other stuff

Hope you have a great birthday dinner tonight with Kris and Tim. Thanks to you and Jane for a delightful taxi service today.

The epidural went well. Other than two brief times when I experienced bad pain (he was trying to find the right place to inject the meds), the procedure was painless.

Right now, the paim is gone/minimal in the upper areas of my spine, but still hurts from my lower back down to my knees. I expect this to be gone in a day or two. The power of positive thinking. :)

Gus and Bozie were happy to see me. There's a chance I'm going to get Gus's brother as well. Will keep you informed.

7/13 More down than up

Today is the worst day I've had in a long time. Jane took me shopping for some things I needed, and while in the stores I kept experiencing attack after attack of extreme pain. Spent a lot of the time in tears and there was nothing I could do about it.

It's very discouraging.

Plus my internet isn't working except for two sites--my writing bb and Blogger.com. I can post but can't go to my website and answer comments. This is freakin' weird.

Anyway--back to bed.

6/28 Good weekend so far

Got up early and took Gus out. For the first time he decided to roll in poop, so at 5:45 AM he got a bath. Such a skinny little thing when his hair is wet. Went back to sleep until about 7:30 or so. Made breakfast, then talked to Jane. Jan was busy, but Jane, Sarah, and I went to the Midsummer Art Faire at Washington Park. It was really nice.

Saw so many people that I knew. It is indeed nice being home. Plus got a personal tour of the Tranquility Med Spa, owned by a physician who works with Jane. It is a beautiful (and peaceful) place.

Gus was a star. I can't even count the number of people who stopped us to talk to Gussie. A popular fellow. This is another good thing about having a small dog. I can take him places with me. Right now I'm at work (trying to get my new office organized), and Gus is sleeping at my feet. Just what I want.

Forgot my security code, so the police came out. Oops. But I finally found the right one and everything ended up fine.

Nothing going on tonight, but tomorrow is the Gustison reunion, so Gussie is definitely going there since he's named after their patriarch.