Tuesday, January 26

It's been a day. We got up at 6:30, so we could be ready to go to an 8 a.m. meeting of home medical services and Caring Hands Hospice at the meeting room of a local bank.

We left the meeting around 9:15, to go to a surgeon's clinic, where Hubbie had an appointment. After an examination, the surgeon scheduled Hubbie for surgery at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning. The hernia is not at a critical stage, but Hubbie is just anxious to have it repaired so we can get on with other plans.

From the surgeon's clinic, we went to the hospital, where Hubbie had pre-op tests done. It was noon before the tests were completed.

We got back home around 12:30. Mother had leftover chicken noodle soup and applesauce muffins ready for lunch.

After lunch, we ran errands...to the art gallery to pick up Styrofoam cups for the 11-bean soup we'll make and contribute to the gallery's "Souper Saturday" event. From there, we went to the pharmacy, where we stood in line forever to pick up prescriptions. Then, it was on to the health store to buy 8-grain cereal, to the dollar store to get more lotion and some baby shampoo, and to the WDCS for groceries and incidentals. Lastly, we stopped at the gas station to fill up the van.

We were back home about 4 p.m. Supper tonight was leftover steamed veggies, potatoes, and corn-on-the-cob, with slices of multi-grain bread that I found on sale at the WDCS. It has a distinctly rye taste and is very good.

At 6:30, Hubbie and I went to a town meeting at City Hall, where a group of master's degree students and their professors conducted a workshop to ascertain the community's needs and desires for recreational and cultural venues and events. A large crowd attended, and each of us had an opportunity to stand up and voice our opinions on the needs of the community.

The community theater president pressed for a permanent theater, so we can produce shows someplace besides the local college. I expressed a need for an arts center, since the art gallery is now housed in a storefront downtown. Others asked for an indoor swimming pool, which I also champion. But most of those present are strongly in favor of better recreational facilities.

We left the meeting at the break, because Hubbie needed to get home, relax, and prepare for his surgery in the morning. We are to be at the hospital by 6:15 a.m.

Since I'll miss water aerobics again tomorrow, I called our leader to let her know. But she herself is sick with bronchitis, so she didn't attend Monday, either, and won't attend tomorrow. So I called the alternate. The ladies worry when one of us doesn't show up for several days, and I wanted to let them know I'm fine.

I expect we might have a nasty winter storm by Friday and none of us will attend water aerobics. Predictions are for both ice and snow, but it's the ice that disturbs us most, since it tends to knock out power to thousands of homes. We escaped last year, and our power was off only four hours. If it does go out for any length of time, though, we'll take up residence in the camper. In anticipation of that possibility, Hubbie put the cage in the camper for Mother's cat, so I won't have to try to wrangle it in there.

Explanation for why I bought baby shampoo: at our scrapbook meeting last Thursday, the other member who attended said her ophthalmologist recommended washing her eyes with the shampoo to alleviate itching from allergies and winter dryness. I tried it tonight, and it did make my eyes feel good. I put some shampoo on a wash cloth and washed my eyelids and under my eyes, then rinsed. Of course, since it's baby shampoo, it didn't sting.

Funny: at the home medical service meeting, one of the staff members gave a progress report. On a handout was this statement: "% of patients who are SOB less often." Since "SOB" can have a derogatory meaning, one of the board members asked what the acronym stands for. It means "short of breath."