Moving Along

I really meant to write something before five days had gone by between posts but well, I've been a bit busy -sleeping!

Much as I despised the old catheter that had accompanied me home from the hospital and which -thankfully -was removed last Tuesday, a week ago today now, I have since discovered there was one thing really nice about having to deal with that damned contraption.

It allowed me to sleep -soundly -for 5 to 6 hours, solid, uninterrupted sleep, sweet blissful sleep!

Since its removal, my sleep patterns have gone back to waking up after 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours, maximum, sleep at a clip and as a result of that, sleep deprivation followed rapidly behind those patterns. It seemed the last week, all I have wanted to do was sleep, sleep and sleep some more!

My sleeping has improved slightly -not up to the lovely 5 1/2 to 6 hour spans I had been enjoying but slowly, it is expanding a little bit and that's a good thing to have that happening, isn't it?

I have to try to tell a little bit of a story here but it's gonna be hard to tell this because I really can't give all the necessary particulars without risking starting a small war in the neighborhood. So I'll try to give just a few of the bits and pieces here and hope this makes sense.

This weekend, we learned of something that had happened to someone we know. It wasn't a nice thing to have happen to a person -and no, I can't even tell you more about this for fear of identifying too much detail. Sorry about that, really I am, cause I'd dearly LOVE to tell the WHOLE story as well as the REST of the story, as Paul Harvey would have said.

But the crux of this whole tale centers on how I don't believe in trying to get revenge or retaliating against people (or things/events) that seem to beg, at the time, for one to try to seek revenge. I've always told my kids that if something happens that we think should deserve revenge/retaliation, that it is always better to take the high road and do nothing to gain that bit of self-satisfaction cause if it is something that actually warrants revenge, leave it alone and in due time, the offenders will end up with something happening to them that will serve them right. Know what I mean there.

My older daughter has never liked that I believe this way and often has wanted to do something, anything, to people she has felt wronged her or me or her siblings in some way and it's been difficult over the years to tell her even if she feels it is taking way too long for the revenge she wanted to see happen, it is always well worth the wait.

And this past weekend, something did happen to someone who she (and yes, even I too) felt had wronged us a long, long time ago. Like 22 years ago! Something none of us could ever have imagined as a potential punishment came along and knocked a certain someone off the pedestal they've sat on for way, way too many years.

And you know what? As I was told the whole story of the current event, I sat here and laughed and laughed till I cried. Repeated "No S**t!" over and over during the telling of the tale way too many times too. Apparently said that so many times that hearing that phrase kicked in with Kurtis and got his ecolalia into full gear that he came up to me, index finger to his mouth (the gesture we use on him when trying to get him to listen and please be quiet) and he said, voice slightly lowered too, to me "No S**t!"

Now I have to do a lot more work on my bad vocabulary I guess so that someone isn't trying to work Karma my way as a punishment, don't I?

But anyway, we -all of us in my little family -have been basking in the delight of seeing someone get their comeuppance -22 years after the fact -but you know, better late than never. Right?

I have been waiting -fairly patiently -for the day to arrive (after the surgery, during my recuperational period) for me to feel confident enough in my footing to be able to start walking again. I've felt pretty good, really and truly, I have but the idea of starting to walk the roads here again was something I still hadn't really felt quite up to -at least, not by myself.

However, late Sunday afternoon, Mandy had taken Sammy out for a necessary stroll and I decided (knowing she wouldn't indulge in a really LONG walk) that maybe I could try strolling along beside her and the dog. And so, on went my old walking shoes and out the door I headed and walked down the street -past two houses -turned around then and we walked up the street and back past about six more houses. And the legs held up okay -with no shakiness at all! I figure the distance walked to be probably a total of maybe 1/3 to 1/2 a mile -no big deal in the walking sphere -but a big move on my part to get my life a bit more back to normal!

Yesterday -that would have been Monday (in case you can't keep track of days -or feel the need to know that) we (Mandy, the kids and I, along with Ms. Randi, one of the kids many therapists) drove down to Bellefonte to pick up Alex, the older grandson and bring him back up here to spend two days and nights here with us. Because this Thursday will be his 13th birthday, we all went to a really nice restaurant in Bellefonte (Bonfatto's) for lunch as a treat for him, the birthday boy! Had a delicious lunch there -Bayou panini sandwich -that was so big I couldn't eat but only half of it and had to bring the rest of it home to enjoy for lunch maybe today or tomorrow.

The kids have been pretty much running their normal course -some good behaviors, interspersed with some not the best kind of stuff, but yet, nothing drastically bad or memorable.

Well, with one small exception that is.

Yesterday morning, Mandy was trying to do a little clean-up of the living room floor which was, after the weekend, in dire need of sweeping, sure, but also of the kids being put to the task of picking up, putting away, the toys they had strewn about. As is usually the case when it is time to "clean up" Maya went into a bit of a hissy fit, refusing to help out, insisting it wasn't her toys, that she hadn't made all the mess, Kurtis had and well, yadda yadda, ya know.

And in trying to get Maya to help, Mandy had told her that she didn't like her attitude.

By that time, Kurtis decided he would try to dig his heels in too and not be helpful in the clean-up process which prompted Mandy to grump at him about his unwillingness to help out.

His response was to turn to Mandy and quietly announce, "I don't like your attitude."

Needless to say, both Mandy and I cracked up laughing then at his refusal. Maybe not the best thing to laugh or even snicker when the kids do/say something that isn't quite the behavior we want to see, but gee, his comment was really comical to us at the time anyway.

And besides, Kurt usually is pretty good about helping to pickup stuff. Sure he may whine and grumble about cleaning up, but generally, he does listen and does help out! (Just wishing his behavior in that respect would begin to rub off a bit on his sister!)

And that's about the extent of my busy, oh so exciting life here for the past few days!

Hope your days hold a lot more fun and games and good things in them now! (And yes, I am positive that mine will improve over time too though!)