Off Kilter

It all started on Sunday. Warren was working, so I went to the Irish Dance Spring Fling by myself. After driving in circles trying to find the place, I found it, & parked here by this young moose treating himself to a little pine breath freshener.

I really don't know why I bothered to take my camera along. I knew the pictures wouldn't be good, because of no flash photography rules, & of course my own operator ignorance.
The auction was packed with people, & things to bid on. I thought these funky fleece fish hats were quite amusing.

When I got home. My arms were full of stuff. I had my camera slung over my left shoulder, as I juggled the keys, purse, bags etc., & when I got the back door open, the cat was there to greet me & try to make a quick escape (we live in bear & moose & large predatory bird country, so he has to stay inside). My camera bonked against the door casing, & my heart sank, because I knew it was a hard hit. So this is what the next pictures all looked like.

It made me very sad. My Rebel XT has a head injury!

Well maybe it's just the auto focus part of the lens. I did manage today to figure out how to take a little better picture on manual. This is a post quard my big sister Em made for me. Isn't it cute? It's needle felted & free-motion stitched, & machine applied the beady eye. Several firsts for her. I love it!

Monday I felt kind of funky all day. I worked, slogging through my day, energy feeling low. I had a Dr appointment about my knees at 3, so I went & saw Pete, the Orthopedic surgeon. He said he'd be happy to replace my left knee, & give me a new better bionic one. I was hoping he'd do both at once, as both hurt all the time, but the left is worse than the right by maybe 1 point on my pain scale. We left it at just the left knee, scheduled for May 20th. I went home & worried over it.

When I got home, I was feeling like I really wanted something chocolate. I decided to make my Mocha cookies. They're only 1 point a piece on Weight Watchers. I use 1 cup of coffee in them, & rather than brewing an entire pot, I decided to haul out my little espresso maker from under the counter. I pulled it out by the top, & the little glass pot slid to the floor. CRASH! It shattered. #@!_% so I cleaned up that mess. I just used the measuring cup for the espresso. When it was done, or maybe I should say, when I thought it was done I cranked off the part that holds the grounds, & BOOMF! Very fine Coffee grounds were everywhere! What a mess.

I finally baked the cookies, ate a couple & went to bed.

At 3 a.m. I woke up & couldn't get back to sleep. My stomach was cramping, & I figured it was all because of the knee worries, & maybe the high fiber cookies. I got up Tuesday morning & went into work at 730. I was only working until 330, I had a pre-op physical scheduled for 4, but I called & cancelled it. Pete came into the recovery room where I work at 10 after his first surgery of the day, & I sat down & told him I've chickened out. I want to be sure that it's the right thing to do, only the left I mean. I explained how when I go down stairs I have to lead with the right, one step at a time, because it hurts to bend if I try to lead with the left, & leading with the left is what I would HAVE to do after a left knee replacement. He said we can do an MRI, maybe the cartilage is worse in that knee than what shows on xray, or maybe Synvisc is worth a try. So Surgery is on hold for now, but will probably be in the near future.

By the time I left the hospital, I seriously considered calling Warren & asking him to come get me. I was feeling AWFUL. I had thought it was just a stomach tied in knots over the worries, but after talking to Pete, then talking to my friend Mindy, I figured the stomach would be better & it wasn't. I didn't eat anything all day either. I drove myself home. Made it into the back door, put on my pajamas, & crawled into bed at 4 in the afternoon. By 7 p.m. I decided to check my temperature, & it was 101.7. No wonder I felt so rotten. I called in sick to work for today. I stayed in bed until 1045 this morning, then spent the day on the couch. A little Ibuprofen, some fruit, crackers,& water, & now I'm heading back to bed.

Oh, & speaking of off kilter, Vicki was right on my previous post, the backing was short, but no, it wasn't upside down. I had to add another piece of fabric before completing the quilting.