THE WEEK IN REVIEW

I have been such a bad blogger lately.  I am so tired all the time and just can't seem to get myself together to do it.  The day is just beginning and I'm just getting up, so I'm well rested and thought I'd try to catch up some.

I didn't mention that because I did not have my procedure I was able to go to Joe's aunt's funeral last Saturday.  I sat with my mother-in-law and she was surprisingly nice and thoughtful.  OK who stole my mom-in-law and where are you hiding her?  Usually she is all about herself and that day she was trying to take care of me.  She's even called a couple of times to see how I am doing.  I like the new and improved Mary Ann!

It was the strangest funeral I have ever been to.  One of Joe's cousins said the "thank you for coming" bit and then if you had a story about Aunt Julie, you stood up, told your story and then sat down.  After about a half hour the same cousin said, "We appreciate your stories about our mom.  Have a nice day."  Strange.  Very, very strange.

I showed you the picture of the empty street in front of the library on Monday.  But on Tuesday it was back to this:

 Just ignore the date.  It's really not May 23, 2034.  In fact it's not even 2034!  Ha, ha.  The date went strange on my camera.  I hope it's fixed now.

Speaking of work, I took this picture on the way to work on Tuesday when I stopped for a red light.  I love seeing the buildings on my way to work.  I was trying to show you how the sun was glinting off of them, but it didn't show up.

 
Tuesday night is my late night so I try to have something quick and easy for dinner.  I made up this recipe for what I am calling "Mediterranean Pasta".  I cooked some penne (but you could use any kind of pasta).  While it was cooking I put some olive oil in a skillet and added black olives sliced in half, grape tomatoes (cut in half) and some chick peas.  I added some basil and parsley and stirred it all together until it was warm.  Then I put the cooked penne in with the veggies and mixed them together.  It was very good.  But I think I would add some minced garlic next time.

Also on Tuesday I got a call from my dentist who wanted to set up an appointment for my cleaning since my heart stent was in.  I told her I didn't even have the procedure yet.  She said she had talked with my cardiologist and he said it was a done deal.  So then I talked with him.

He insisted that I MUST have the cardiac catheterization.  I told him it was a horrible experience and I absolutely would not have that doctor touch me.  So he arranged for another doctor to do it.

This new doctor sounds wonderful.  He is the director of the department, has two masters and three doctorates.  Joe read his background and said he's a genius.  I even spoke with one of his patients who highly recommended him.  He is very good with nervous patients and tries to make you as comfortable as possible.  We'll see, but at least I'm willing to give him a try.

Originally I was scheduled for April 17th, but I reconsidered and moved it up to March 27th.   I have been having nightmares about it and am under a lot of stress.  So I figure the sooner the better.  There will be a few things I cannot do at work because they are going in through my wrist and I have to be careful not to tear out the stitches.  But everyone is willing to work with me for a week or two so I will be able to go back right after Easter.

We were going to go to the Flower Show today, but I'm really not up to it.  I think I will be cleaning the house (at my own pace) and going grocery shopping.  We don't need very much, so it should be a fast trip.

Tomorrow is Charter Day in Pennsylvania.  It's when William Penn received a land grant from the King of England to start a new colony.  There is a big celebration at William Penn's house, Pennsbury Manor.  I went a couple of years ago and had a great time.  But Joe was not with me, so we are going to try to go tomorrow.  You can read about last time here and here.

Well, off to start my day.  It's 10:30 a.m. and I still haven't gotten myself together.  See everyone later!

A MONDAY AT WORK

I woke up feeling WONDERFUL this morning.  My back and legs were not hurting.  I had gotten lots of sleep.  I was in a good mood.  I have not felt so good in a very long time.

It was a beautiful sunrise this morning.  I actually felt good enough to go up to the third floor to take this shot out of the front window.

 
It took so long to get to work.  Usually it is a 10-15 minute drive.  Today it was 35.  For some reason I just sat and sat in traffic.  There wasn't any construction going on, no accident...  I have no idea why it wasn't moving.  I called my boss to say I would be late and he told me to take another street.  "I would, " I told him, "if I could get to a side street and get off.  But I'm in the middle of the block, with cars both in front and behind me, and I haven't moved in 10 minutes."  He wasn't happy with my answer.

Everyone was surprised to see me since I wasn't supposed to be back until Thursday.  But glad.

I was surprised when I pulled up to see no construction vehicles in front of the building.  Does this mean that perhaps they will get finished earlier than expected and I can park in front of the building again?

   
I am sitting here with the smell of daffodils in the air.  Yesterday when we went to the supermarket Joe bought me a bunch of them.  They were tight little buds yesterday and today they have all opened up.  So pretty.  And just a hint of spring in the house.

One of the crepe myrtle trees I was growing has died.  But the other one is doing wonderful.  Just another month or so and I will plant it out in the yard.  I love the idea of having a tree in my yard.

Our Jenny has begun sitting on the back of whatever chair Joe is sitting in.  She loves him so much and just wants to be with him all the time.  She follows him around.  If he goes upstairs, she will sit at the bottom until I tell her Daddy is upstairs and then she runs up to be with him.  I just had to snap these pictures tonight.  They're so cute.

Well, got to run.  I have tons to do before I go to bed.  More tomorrow.  Good night! 

THIS AND THAT

Yesterday began with a trip to the hospital to get pre-admission lab work done.  I got there at 7:30 a.m. and left at 9:40 a.m.  The blood work and x-rays took about 10 minutes top.  The rest of the time I sat there... and sat there... waiting for someone to see me.  There were only two people ahead of me.  I hate that about the medical profession.  They seem to think that your time is not valuable.

Since it was a fasting test I had to go home and eat and take my medication before I went to work.  So I didn't get to work until 1:00 p.m.  At least I had a note from the hospital so I could take sick time.

I have a huge bruise on my arm from them taking the blood and am wearing a rubber name bracelet that I am not allowed to take off until after the procedure.  It's kind of neat because it has a bar code on it.  All the tubes of blood and the x-rays have the same bar code.  The test results are scanned into their computer system.  Tomorrow morning all they have to do is scan my bracelet and all my medical information will pop up. 

Work continues both in the neighborhood and at work.  Last night when I left work I took these pictures to show the continuing saga of the street.  Wish I had had a chance to take some today.  The men were standing inside these huge holes and digging away.  The holes were so deep that all I could see was the tops of their heads.

Today we had a martial arts program at work.  It was aimed at teens and adults, but mostly children showed up.  They had a good time learning different moves and how to fall.

In just a few hours I am leaving for my heart catheterization.  I spoke with two different nurses today to answer health questions and get admissions directions.  I am nervous, but just want to get it over with.  For some reason they are giving me general anesthesia rather than twilight.  I don't know why, but I'm OK with it.  I would rather not be awake to see them cut open my wrist and punch through my vein.  I don't know if I will be coming home the same day or staying one night.  In any case, I will be updating you as soon as I can.  Pray for me, please.  Thank you in advance.

THE WORLD WITHOUT COMPUTERS AND OTHER HAPPENINGS

What a time we've been having at the library.  Last week we had a constant high pitched screech coming from the router.  Try working with that all day, day after day.  And the wifi has been out for over a week.  So on Wednesday our IT guy came out to fix the thing.  By this time it had resolved itself, but he thought it was a good idea to change things out.  He said the computers would go down for 2 minutes tops.  Well as of yesterday they have been out for 2 DAYS.  People come in to use the computers and we have to tell them there aren't any.  We can't check any books in, so we have been piling them on any shelf at the front desk that I can empty.  We have about 3 or 4 hours of work to clear everything and put them back on the shelves.  To check things out, we have to write down the card number and the book or disk number.  We have about 6 hours worth of entering to do.  We have three big totes (so far) of books being transferred to our branch for holds.  Another 3 hours of work.  Then there's new cards to be entered and mailed out.  I don't want to even think about how busy we are going to be!

We are closed today and because it is my Saturday to work, I have today off.  The computer people are supposed to be in there today fixing the problem.  We can only hope.  Every day that goes by makes more work for us and more disgruntled customers.

Many people who come in think that this is the reason we have no computers:

 

But that is not the case!

Yesterday I took Joe to the dentist at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.  He has to go to a hospital because of his epilepsy.  He has two teeth that need to be extracted and it is too dangerous in a regular dentist's office because the lights can cause him to have a seizure.  He will be having his teeth extracted on the 21st of March.

It was fun being down center city Philly.  I really am a city girl.  I love the traffic, the people walking, the tall buildings, the noise, bustle, etc.  I know that sounds strange to some people, but to me it's invigorating.

While we were waiting in the lobby of the hospital for our ride, we saw the most interesting thing.  A Brinks truck was stopped in front of the PNC Bank.  I guess he was either picking up or dropping money off.  A SEPTA (public transit) bus came down the street in the lane next to him, but could not pass him because his mirror was sticking out into the next lane.  The driver honked several times to no avail.  Finally she got out of the bus, pushed the mirror against the side of the truck, got back into the bus and drove off.  The truck driver runs out of the bank, yelling and waving his hands.  He goes to see his mirror and another bus comes by and he can't move across the street.  Then a lot of other cars come by.  Finally he gets to his mirror and, yelling and complaining, moves his mirror back into place.   Everyone in the lobby was watching this, commenting, and laughing.  If he had parked like he was supposed to instead of leaving his truck in the middle of the street, it wouldn't have happened.  He finally drove off and we all applauded.  Such fun!  There is always something happening in the city.

Last Tuesday I made lemon sugar cookies for Bible study.  They turned out so good.  I put yellow sugar on top to make them look more "lemony".

  

  I am glad to get back into my baking.

Like I mentioned, I have today off since I am working tomorrow.  So I am going to get off of here and get some things done around the house.  Take care everyone! 

SATURDAY DOINGS

I decided to have another lazy Saturday.  I do have to get some things done, but I'm doing them slowly and resting a lot.

One thing I did was go to the hair salon this morning.  I really love the girl who does my hair, Jamie.  She is so cute, so friendly and does such a fantastic job cutting and styling it.  She always makes me feel so pampered.

I had such a hard time getting there.  It's only 5 blocks from my house and I started out to get there.  But they are digging up all the streets in my neighborhood.  Two of the streets I needed to use were completely blocked off.  I tried to find parking on one of the side streets, but they were all full.  So I ended up going back home and calling them to say I couldn't make it because I couldn't get there.  The girl that answered said that she came in by driving in the opposite direction from where I lived.  That part of the street was open.  So I ended up taking the avenue, going up about a mile and then back tracking and parking in the lot of the Rite Aid across the street.  Don't make it easy for me, Philadelphia Streets Department!  But they held my appointment for me, I got my hair done and it's really cute.

It sort of reminds me of how the streets all around where I work are torn up too.  I can't win.  The other day I was meeting my former supervisor for lunch and I took some pictures of the street in front of the library to show her.  I thought I'd show you too.  Consider this your "Friday View" on a Saturday.  

We are closed on Fridays and it's a good thing because they turned off the water to all the houses and businesses yesterday.  Sort of glad I was working at the Fishtown Branch instead.  We would have had to be closed down anyway.  Can't have people working in a place with no water/bathrooms.

Well, back to my cleaning/shopping/baking.  Until later...