Life-condensed

At the Moment …

… I’m running around with my head cut off today.

8:15 a.m – walked 3.25 miles on the treadmill while using hand weights, arms felt like noodles. (Which doesn’t sound sexy but necessary in order to burn off my flabby grandma fat). Watched Season One, Disk One of the TV series “Bones.”

Verdict? It’s getting better.

9:00 a.m. – wake up Dude, Jazz is already up. (Nothing unusual here. Dude would sleep until 2:00 in the afternoon if allowed and Jazz gets up around 8ish regardless of how much sleep he got the night before).

9:15 a.m. – check on husband – is he comfortable? Does he need a mid-morning snack? Mocha honey?

Yes on the mocha.

9:30 a.m. – Got into the shower.

Died a little. (Ahhhh … nothing like washing that gritty sweat off).

9:45 a.m. – Put on makeup, but not dry hair, and sat in front of my computer, with wet hair, and checked my blog, email, Twitter and waited for my core temperature to cool down.

10:00 a.m. – made beds, checked house temperature (a nearly full-time job now that the temps have been in the 90’s these past weeks), fixed my hair (which means I put it up in a clip and called it done).

Got back on Twitter and posted really asinine tweets.

10:15 a.m. – Hustled Jazz along, prepared to leave.

10:30 a.m. – Arrived at father-in-law’s arch-support store.

Waited for him to finish with a customer.

10:45 a.m. – Watched as he fit Jazz for arch supports. (His feet have really been bothering him, which is understandable considering the boy is on his feet all day, every day what with a summer school PE class and band camp).

11:00 a.m. – Visited with father-in-law while keeping one eye on the clock.

11:10 a.m. – Left store and rushed Jazz to school for his PE class.

11:30 a.m. – Received call from a hungry husband wanting to know where I was and was it time to eat yet?

11:50 a.m. – Arrived at Panera Bread, scarfed down lunch. (Food + pain pill = happy husband).

12:40 p.m. – Picked up prescriptions from doctor (since the pain killer is a narcotic, we had to physically go to the doctor’s office and show ID).

12:50 p.m. – Dropped prescriptions off

1:00 p.m. – Post Office – bought stamps (lucked out – no line!)

1:25 p.m. – Home / Relaxed / Kevin took a quick nap (which only worked out to be about 15 minutes).

2:15 p.m. – Left to go pick son up from summer school.

2:25 p.m. – Arrived at dentist’s office – we’re early and I’m hoping they would see Jazz early. They didn’t.

3:15 p.m.
– Kevin and I left dentist’s office and headed toward rehab center (which is conveniently located a few blocks from the dentist’s office! Win!)

3:25 p.m. – Dropped Kevin off, made sure he had a pain pill to get him through the session, headed back to the dentist’s office to pick Jazz up.

3:40 p.m. – Arrived home.

(PRESENT TIME)

3:47 p.m. – Jazz is now taking a shower.

4:15 p.m. – Jazz and I will leave the house, again, and head to Wendy’s. I will buy him a Crispy Chicken sandwich, a value fry and a water – for $2.15.

4:30 p.m.
– Jazz will scarf down his (pre) dinner, we will head back to the rehab center and pick Kevin up.

4:40 p.m. – Arrive back at the school, wait for Jazz to finish eating, drop him off for band camp.

4:52 p.m. – Kevin and I will arrive back home.

5:00 p.m. – Kevin will start complaining about being hungry.

5:05 p.m – I will prepare dinner (ravioli w/ dinner rolls and broccoli – I will save some so Jazz can eat his [post] dinner when he gets home).

6:00 p.m. – Give Kevin his Coumadin.

6:05 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. – Zone out and relax.

7:05 p.m. – Go tan.

7:35 p.m. – Catch up emails and plan for tomorrow’s blog post.

8:30 p.m. – Kevin and I will leave to pick Jazz up. We will get there too early and watch the kids go through marching drills on the parking lot. (I love this part).

8:55 p.m. – Band director will dismiss kids. Jazz will run in to get his drawstring backpack.

9:10 p.m. – Arrive back home.

9:15 p.m. – Bug Dude because I won’t have talked to him ALL DAY!

Whew!

Thank goodness not every day is like this, but it’s like this during the weeks that Jazz has band camp. But it’s totally worth it because the kid LOVES his music!

So tell me, peeps, how was YOUR day?

Flash Fiction

Flash Fiction: On the Dotted Line

“Sign here, please.”

I watched the couple give each other a bright smile before they each took a turn to sign their name on the dotted line. They sat on the edge of their seats, their excitement nearly palpable. Their baby, who couldn’t have been more than a month old, twitched slightly by their side.

“Okay,” I said and forced a smile. “That’ll do it. Your first payment will be due the 15th of next month and …” I opened my desk drawer and pulled out a keychain with two keys attached, “here are the keys to your new home.”

The woman squealed and the man chuckled as they both stood and prepared to leave. I watched them behind a veil of sadness. I had been in the real estate business long enough to know trouble when I saw it.

“Thanks,” the man said and held out his hand. I shook it firmly and appeared friendly on the outside, inside, I was seething and fought the urge to jerk him toward me and hiss a warning in his overly large ears.

The couple scooped up the baby carrier and without a backward glance, they exited the real estate area.

“Are they gone?” my boss materialized right outside his office.

“Yes.” I continued to stare after the couple as they crossed the foyer. “They can’t afford that house, Mike. We shouldn’t have approved their loan. I predict a foreclosure in about fourteen months.”

He shrugged. “Not my problem.”

I winced.
_________________________________

null

Fiction under 250 words.

I recorded this story through AudioBoo. You can find the recording here.

Life-condensed, VideoPlay

Working Those Legs

So, I tweeted this yesterday:

Capture1

And believe it or not, Kevin did it.

He needs to be on his feet as much as possible. The more he walks, the more he works those stiff muscles and the easier it will (eventually) get for him.

We have gone to the mall once. He didn’t walk the entire length of the mall, but he walked quite a ways. He took frequent breaks (sitting on the seat on his walker) and we stopped to buy a pretzel and drink some lemonade.

That was his “reward” for making it all the way down to Auntie Annie’s Pretzels.

His walking improves every day. He’s picking up his feet and no longer shuffling along. He’s still having trouble standing upright entirely, but he’s working on putting more weight on his legs and less on his arms.

He is still experiencing a lot of swelling in his right leg. It looks about twice the size of his left leg by the end of the day. We’re not sure what to do about that and we’re hoping most of it goes away when he stops taking the Coumadin (blood thinner). He has enough Coumadin for another month’s worth and we’re thinking when that runs out, the doctor won’t require him to be on it anymore since the whole reason he was on it to begin with was because he was immobile. And apparently, when your body has been through the trauma that Kevin’s body endured, your blood thickens and gels around your vital organs as a self-preservation tactic.

At any rate, he has retired his wheelchair. He no longer uses it, actually, he flat out refuses to use it anymore.

He’s doing more and more things on his own. He made his own breakfast this morning (and we’re not talking cereal and toast, we’re talking scrambled eggs and sausage) and though it’s hard for me to step back and watch him, it’s necessary. Though Kevin’s attitude has been amazing throughout this whole ordeal, I would be lying if I didn’t admit that there are days (like yesterday), that he just gets sick to death of the whole situation and though I wouldn’t exactly say he feels sorry for himself, he gets very irritable and impatient.

I can totally understand why.

He has two more weeks of physical therapy, well, four sessions. I think we’re going to try and get him on stairs this next go-around, or sometime this week, at any rate. He also REALLY wants to get into his truck. He won’t be driving, of course, but I can certainly drive him around (it would come in handy when he has band practice).

Driving. I should ask the PT’s about when they think he might be capable of driving again. I mean, he can lift his legs and move them now so … the only issue I see is the reaction time. Though I know he’s dying to get back to normal, I think driving will likely be the last thing he attempts – we certainly don’t want to put him, or anyone on the road, in danger.

A little over two weeks before we go to New York. The question is: walker or wheelchair?

Monday Stuff

Monday Mingle – Aging

Questions I answered this week: (submitted by Dee from Say Anything)

All about Aging:
1. What is the one thing you find most frustrating about getting older?
2. What is the one thing you like best about it?
3. What age did you look forward to most?

_________________________

Questions for July 5th:

Summertime fun:
1. When is the last time you went to a beach? Where?
2. What are your plans for this summer?
3. What are your favorite summer recipes (you know, those that don’t require the oven!)

Abundant Life

Teaching: Love: The More Excellent Way (Part One)

Every Sunday I provide videos and valuable links to the Truth or Tradition teachings. We’ve been following the Truth or Tradition teachings for many years now and they have truly blessed our family. We have found peace and happiness through our beliefs and we walk confidently for God. My hope, by passing on this information to you, is that what you find here, or on the Truth or Tradition website, will guide you to a better, more blessed and abundant life.

If you would like to read my views on religion and how we got started with the ministry, you can read this.

Let’s get started:

If you have any questions, or would like to learn more about God’s wonderful message, please visit the Truth or Tradition website. You can also keep track of the ministry through their Facebook page, their YouTube Channel, or follow them on Twitter.

Thanks for reading.

(Comments have been turned off. The information is here to inform and bless you. God granted you the gift of free will – take it or leave it).

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