2024 Life Logs, Day 16: Getting Ready
Date: Tuesday, January 16, 2024
Weather: Snow Overnight, Then Rain, Mostly Cloudy; High Temp 42, Low 28 F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth MA
54321. Tomorrow, in just a few minutes, is THE day for my back surgery, and I am so ready mentally. Unfortunately, I was not as ready as I thought in terms of things to be done. It is almost midnight and I still need to add a couple of things and attach photos to this log, so it will not be sent until tomorrow or whenever I am next able to work on my computer. But here is how the day went.
Shadow and I woke up to white snow covering everything outside, so we hurriedly got dressed, Shadow in his red coat to keep him from getting soaked and me in my winter coat over my pajamas. No time to really get dressed as we were both too anxious to get outside. I put on my new slip-on boots, and out we went only to be met by Jed and Heather at the door. We all went out and played for a bit,
with me just watching but still enjoying it. Shadow will not pick up tennis balls that have snow on them, but Jed started throwing snowballs.
Shadow loved chasing them even though they fell apart upon impact.
Heather said it seemed a bit mean to throw something we knew could not be retrieved, but Shadow was having too much fun for Jed to stop. Plus, it was great exercise for Shadow.
The outside walks got shoveled plus a short bit of a path to the cars and then our attention was turned inward. H & J got the new shade attached to the kitchen door and Heather insisted on taking the mattresses off my bed and properly lowering the frame. That all got put back together and the bed was made with clean sheets. But in addition, the nightstand was moved to the other side of the bed and the bed moved closer to the wall, making my nightly trips to the bathroom about half the distance. That and the bed being lower is going to make my life a lot safer and easier. Thank you, Heather and Jed.
The rest of the day is a blur, but it entailed making beef stew using old root veggies that I discovered when cleaning out the refrigerator yesterday, a trip to Falmouth Hospital to pick up the antibacterial soap for the two required showers prior to surgery, a trip to the Post Office to send something to my sister, a trip to the grocery store to get items needed, and a stop at Walmart to return something … all things I wanted to get done before my surgery day. Once home, the very slow process began of getting the grocery items from the car to the house and put away. And in between all of this, I played fetch with Shadow in the rain and melting snow. I took the first required shower after dinner and then started the work I really needed to accomplish before going to bed. As I write this, I am questioning why I put off the ‘must do’ items to the end of the day, but I did. All is done now, and I am heading to bed, full of anticipation for tomorrow’s surgery. Oh, one more thing. Dena Brody, a member of my book group, delivered a chicken pot pie, friends sent more well wishes, Lynne in New Zealand, Olga Mitchel, Detta in New Hampshire. If I left anyone out, please forgive. It has been a very long day.
