Petunia rambles on and on….

Last night there was Earth Hour, a global effort to vote to save the earth, reduce global warming.  Vote with your light switch.

Grabbed from the Earth Hour website:

For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote – Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009.

So for an hour, Pop and I sat in the dark, snuggled on the couch, talked to each other. Hey, this is a really good thing, and I wonder if I could talk him into doing it more often. And how many other couples and families whose lives revolve around staring at the tube or a computer screen (that pretty well covers both Pop and I !) would benefit by more time saving energy and investing it in personal relationships?

Turn out the lights. Light a candle.

Love the one you’re with.

Make it a habit, a date night. Cheaper than going out, too!

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I had just cast on a new pair of socks in the Louet Gems yarn, in colorway Crabapple Blossom that I got from The Loopy Ewe last week. I’ve wanted to try out the new Diagonal Lace Socks pattern generously given by Wendy of WendyKnits.  I have sock yarn enough to re-insulate the house (don’t tell that to Pop, lest he think it’s a good idea and start leering at my stash) but almost all of it is hand-painted beauties with too many colors for this pattern. I did have a few solids/semi-solids, but fear that my eyes are not up to pattern work in dark colors in fine-weight yarn.

It’s a toe-up pattern, and I think I had 2 increase rows done when the lights were turned off last night! As I’m out on sick-leave, I think I may see how far I can get on those socks today – at least it keeps me out of the stores!!

My name is Patricia Jane – it ought to be changed to Calamity Jane!!!

After a routine colonoscopy (or “:” oscopy, as my geeky son called it) that had me admitted to the hospital for aspiration pneumonia back in January, I stuck to tradition here. I had oral and dental surgery scheduled for Wednesday, March 25. Extraction of teeth, filing down the jawbone to even it out, placement of lower denture. The actual surgery part went well, I guess. I went in, they verified all the facts, “Yes, I’m me and Yes, that’s what I want done.” and I was OUT!!!! Next thing I knew it was all done and over with!! We were out of the oral surgeon’s office on time.

Painkillers (percocet, one of the strongest ones) did not kill the pain, did not even touch the pain. Did not put me to sleep on the sofa as I had hoped. Instead, they “hyped” me up and had me bouncing around the house like Tigger, ready and wanting to scrub the kitchen floor!! Figuring it was just nerves or relief over having the procedure done and over, I keep taking these pills every 4 hours, hoping for pain relief – and getting bouncier!! (Husband was ready to tie me to a chair by this point) Did not sleep at all the first 2 nights after surgery. Then I noticed that I would start to itch after I went to bed (right after a dose of meds). Head to foot itching, lasting for hours, then going away. This, too, I waved off, blaming nerves. Bruising like I never expected. The insides of my mouth are mahogany colored, and in spots the bruising has bled (Har Har Har) through to the outside, visible on my cheeks.  Truthfully, it looks like Pop finally had enough of my crap and clocked me good. There was a lot of swelling, lips, chin, cheeks.  From the ears down, I looked like a hamster!!! (Oh, this would all be funnier if it was someone else!) Swelling went below my chin, down to the collarbone. I was slower to detect the tongue swelling, because, well, with oral surgery, hell, you expect everything in that area to swell and feel weird. All of a sudden a light finally lit in my pea-sized brain. Itchng, swelling, especially tongue swelling are signs of a critical allergic reaction. Almost missed the call here because I really expected, and was told to expect, facial swelling after such a procedure. (and because, when the chips are down, my latent stupidity basic-instincts-only-mode kicks in and the only thing I’m able to do is control my bladder. Everything else leaves)

Husband calls doc. I could still move tongue, and had NO trouble breathing. Advised that if anything swells any more, to go to ER.  I’ve been holding an ice bag to my face for 3 days now, to keep swelling down – I expect that Frostbite will be the next problem!!

I’m now 3 days post-op, and the swelling has gone down a good bit. I can keep the new denture in my mouth for longer periods of time.  Just can’t seem to keep it in place really well yet!!!  (learning curve here) Speech is impacted, and I work in telephone ops, switchboard!! I may have to delay going back to work.

Pop’s gonna get strange looks if we go out together – I really looks like he belted me!!

Two years today that I’ve been off of cigarettes. After a seeming lifetime of smoking, and 2 failed attempts at quitting, I was finally able to quit for good.  And it is good!

And I understand why the kids hated it so much when I smoked, because now I don’t like the smell of cigarettes, either. It’s the first thing I notice when a smoker gets near me. Like they’re using eau de skunk as cologne. I don’t suppose apologizing to the kids will help much at this point. One thing I’m glad of, though. My horrendous multi-pack-a-day habit turned all of my kids into rabid, fanatical non-smokers. For that, I’m very grateful.

Early on, I did some math.  The price of cigarettes per week at that time, times 52 weeks a year. I was wasting a lot of money. Double it if Pop quits. I’ve found a lot better things to do with my money than set it on fire. We’ve gone on several week-long vacations, I’ve bought a lot of yarn (!!!), a spinning wheel, we’ve enjoyed many evenings out, and each and every month since I quit, I’ve sent hundreds of extra dollars to the mortgage company, to be applied directly against the balance.

And my house doesn’t stink like smoke anymore.

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Thirty nine years ago, young and scared, I was delivered of my first child, a baby boy. We have each grown up a great deal, and it started that day for both of us! I went from thinking I knew it all to realizing that I knew nothing – in the space of a just a few minutes! I gradually learned new meanings for common words: concern, worry, exhaustion, fear, pride, joy, guilt, love.

Happy Birthday, sir. I raised a damn fine son.