June 3, 2009

• You want to get a mother's attention?  Especially a widowed mother?  Just droopily tell her when she walks into the house that "I need you to take me to the hospital."  

  Darn near had an apoplexy, demanding to know what's wrong with him?

  Dmitry apologized swiftly, explaining it was Carolyn who's in the ER with abdominal pain.  Actually she was in the hospital (Harris SW) the day before for several hours, having been taken there by ambulance.  Eventually she was released with no diagnosis. 

  The pain came roaring back on Sunday so this time her parents took her to the hospital where her mother works, with Carolyn asking for Dmitry.  Off we headed to Arlington, where the hospital is, ran into Carolyn's mother and one of her sisters in the parking lot and were lead to her room in the ER.  Poor lamb was clearly pale and in pain.    She had to drink some stuff to aid with the CT, which tasted pretty awful, based on her expression.  After a goodish while it was her turn in radiology and off she went.

  More waiting.  A bit before 10:30 Dmitry and I decided to hit the cafeteria prior to its closing as we hadn't eaten yet.  Tell you what, for a lot of food at a low price, nothing beats a hospital cafeteria.  Especially when the check-out woman glances at one's hair and automatically gives the senior discount. 

  Still, I had a pile of sliced turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, green beans and a Sprite, while Dmitry got a hamburger, mashed potatoes, and beets (heck of a combo!) and a Coke....the total?  $4.54. If we lived in that area I'd quit cooking entirely and just start buying our meals there.

  When we arrived back in Carolyn's room it was to find the doctor had come with the test results and they were all negative:  CT, blood, etc.  By all accounts there's nothing wrong.  Most frustrating and demoralizing!  After another while the doctor came back and said he was sending her home with a bunch of painkillers.

  She's better from what I hear, but still not up to par, and nervous of the pain recurring.

  *****************************

  The other evening Max and Magellan took stock of each other, one a good deal more surreptitiously than the other:

  

  The sofa table came!  What a mercy there's Kenny for it hadn't occurred to me it'd need to be picked up at the catalog department then assembled.  My apologies for the spots...stupid camera:

  

  It's lovely, and rather a shame it's mostly hidden behind the sofa.  Kenny took some wood and raised it up to the level of the back of the sofa.  When the table was ordered I hadn't a thought in my head of getting a kitten, particularly such a curious, exploring kitten such as Magellan.  Didn't take him any time at all to locate the new play area:

  

  Right after this he moved on to the fireplace area:

  

  All that exploring wears a cat out:

  

  Oh, and two more additions!  Kenny got the "Tiffany"-style hanging lamp installed in the kitchen corner, replacing the 8" square light.  Those blasted lights were all over the house, and a nuisance they've been, too.  First it's hard to change the bulb, and second, if you want to replace the fixture you've got this whacking big square hole to deal with.  Drove Don mad and has vexed Kenny, too.  He sawed a piece of wood in half, then joined it together and stained it to match the cabinets and used it as the base; didn't it come out well?

  

  This morning he assembled the chiminea I bought on Monday;  it's going to be great once the chilly weather returns, and in the interim I just like the look of it:

  

  Haven't had the heart to mention the wood baker's rack thing I ordered from Target to replace the rickety thing currently holding the toaster oven, etc.  Assembly required. 

  • 2:18 pm
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