Sylvia's Journal

No shakes this night. After some consultation with my doctor we settled on Tylenol with codeine for bad periods, and plain Tylenol for mild discomfort. It worked; I had a fairly good night. It is an odd reality for me to be writing so much about nights when I, in my pre-cash life, I took nights entirely for granted. It is the same with limbs. Pre-crash I had taken them all for granted, but now, with my right leg in a cast, uncomfortable and useless, I am acutely aware of what it cannot do for me. Joan called me ecstatically from Worcester saying “I have my left arm back!” Such a great gift. We are all anxious to have our limbs back.

Edith Maxwell took over morning duty from the girls and drove from Ipswich with a special blend of her granola breakfast and home-made muffins. She showed up at 6:30 just when I had gotten myself dressed. She is recovering from hip surgery, but has made great progress in getting her mobility back. I watched her walk with envy. The rest of the day was overshadowed by the continuing pain management challenge so it was good there were no visitors as I was not in a good place for most of the day. I tried to postpone bedtime as long as I could, fearing a difficult night (which it wasn’t). I watched a bunch of silly movies while Sita was doing the household’s administration, trying to keep costs under control. I did not think we’d done a good job teaching our kids about financial management but it appeared, after all, that we did, or else she picked it up someplace else. I am astounded at her organizational skills.

Tessa had a few setbacks dealing with vets and Canadian banks and found solace in a trip to the mall. She returned among other things with more pillows so that we can build Axel a multi-pillow nest like mine.

I started a new challenging puzzle and am looking forward to tackle it with puzzle enthusiasts. I also made some promises to my colleagues at work about starting taking on a few tasks come mid September. I should be out of my current cast and I hope the ribs have healed by then.

The new dishwasher did not materialize as we had hoped but it got delivered in my dreams instead. We hope it comes today as we are adding a new member to the household.

We got more cards, so the postman’s arrival is an event each day. Tim and Iris manage to find the most outlandish cards and send these with great regularity. A package arrived from Hala and Bill with goodies for the girls and an eye mask for me and more. Alistair and Birgit sent us their love from Beirut with an extraordinary gift. We are humbled by all your attentions, expressions of love and gifts.

Our summer neighbor Debbie came to say goodbye as she leaves for her regular homestead and told us some great stories about dog spas in the East Village in New York and how to apply for a spot (private room or suite). I wished Alison had been there to hear them. She also left us with tons of mixes for smoothies and huge bags of coffee. Thanks Debbie for all your support and encouragement.