Friday

First, I'll say that when I saw an item on David Etienne's facebook status about tragedy in Western Arkansas this morning, I was not even aware of where it was exactly. Now that I do know, I will say that I am devastated by this news. I've only watched a couple of news videos(I haven't turned on the TV today), and I know I can't watch any more or I'll be a complete mess. More of one than I am already this week. So I'm gonna get this out of the way first.

I went to Albert Pike with my friend Mandy Emerson when we were kids. It was a Sunday afternoon. I asked for some water and her Dad made some weird comment about Russian vodka and he laughed because the look on my face said, "I'm drinking what?" (That's what I remember; it was one of those "you had to be there" kind of things.) I've also canoed the Caddo. I also know that I hate flooding. I had the Mississippi River in my den over in McGehee one spring. I waded through ankle deep water in my house in DeQueen three summers ago. These are reasons why I live in a second floor loft.

I can't imagine being as terrified as those who were just enjoying a weekend of camping. I can only hope that everyone is found. I was glad to see Mike Beebe out there in the middle of things. It reminded me of Gary Johnson of New Mexico, who slept on a cot at the Fire Station in Los Alamos when the town was burning down in 2000. Don and I were in Arkansas, hoping we still had a duplex when we returned. We did. And we found our dog, too. Go Animal Planet!

(And is it just me, or do tragedies seem to happen Thursday nights? Mena tornado, last year?)

I'll probably not watch any more news, because, I will cry, (I don't mean to gross anyone out, really), and I don't know how much more fluid is going to come out of my nose. I had my deviated septum un-deviated Monday morning, and I'm still recovering. I have splints packed inside my nose and I sound like I have the worst cold in the world. I don't hurt, I'm just really uncomfortable. I have to walk around with gauze taped to my face, because my nose is running a marathon, so to speak. It did stop bleeding though, on the left side, on Tuesday. Every so often I have to rinse with salt water, so then I'm drooling. Today I've had to sneeze a lot, and that's made my eyes water because you have to do it through your mouth. I did get "celebrity" treatment at the surgery center, though. That's pretty cool when you get recognized and can hand out business cards in pre-op.

I can get up and move around, but a short trip to the grocery store was about all I could stand yesterday. My "nurse" had to go to work in Warren, but that's okay. I'm functioning. I can take the dogs out. I don't look very glamorous doing it, but the dogs don't care. I worked on my online classes last night and may have done it for too long because I felt kinda queasy this morning. That seems to have gone away. Today I watched my latest Dark Shadows DVD, and just took it easy. My voice is fine-I tried some super quiet Journey on the radio yesterday, so it's still there.

The packing comes out June 23. I'll probably be amazed at how well I can breathe.

And that's my two cents worth for this Friday.

One Night at Home

Since we moved to the loft over two and a half years ago, this is only the fourth time I have spent the night alone here. Which seems kinda weird, I guess. I spent many nights by myself when Don was doing a lot of work on the road; even three months in a row right after we moved to Los Alamos. And I spend a lot of time alone when I'm at the Hut during the school year, so why is this a big deal?

It just is!!

Spending time alone in DeQueen is pretty much a drag, mainly because there's only Wal-Mart for shopping and I don't have all my favorite channels on my superbasic satellite plan. I don't have a safe place to ride my bike. And I'm usually doing homework. I'm still doing that, but now my "free" time is much better.

I've got more than one place to "slum shop." And they're open on Saturdays. I've got Old Navy and TJ Maxx and Big Lots. (Three stores I should probably stay out of.) I can ride my bike on the bike trail. I can go to the gym, and there's a pool there.

But that's in the daytime. What's this night thing all about?

Well...it's like this: I can do whatever I want! :)

What I used to do was order a pizza, sit down with a 2-liter bottle of Coke, a bag of chocolate-covered peanuts and watch all the dumb movies I either had seen a million times or had never seen at all. I'd play Minesweeper and stay up almost all night doing all the other stupid things I like to do to waste time.

Since I'd already had pizza this week, and am trying to cut down on candy-eating, I altered my routine somewhat. (Still drank my Coke, though. Just not the whole bottle.) My day was like this:

I did the bike ride. And will do it tomorrow and the next day, because after Monday I won't be able to exercise for a while. I cleaned up and went to Salvation Army. I was going to buy this really cool CD-player-clock-radio thing I saw earlier this week but it was gone. Bummer. I went to the grocery store for another gallon of milk and a 12-pack of strawberry soda.

CHILDHOOD THROWBACK MOMENT: It's summer. That's when you buy cheap, fruity-flavored soda, like Black Cherry, and ginger ale. And generic brown sugar/cinnamon toaster pastries. Then all is right with the world.

Then I came home, and I don't plan on leaving the house for the rest of the weekend, except to ride the bike and take out the dogs. Did menial housework. Finished watching The Women. (The 1939 version, with Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford and the completely hilarious Rosalind Russell, not the crappy remake with Meg Ryan.) I made soup in the fondue pot. Finished my homework assignment and prepped for the next one. I sat down and fed Mama Kitty, fending off the other cats with a water bottle. She ate a good amount of food and drank some milk. Hopefully, she will start to fatten up and will come out into the open again.

Since all of the video stores are closing all around us, (and TV basically stinks anyway), I browsed Netflix for the new version of "The Women" so I could see just how bad it really is compared to the old one. It wasn't available for "instant watching," so MST3K won out. I watched Super Agent, Super Dragon and now I've got another one on, and I can't even remember the name of it. It's funny stuff regardless-and I laugh every time. I shared my popcorn with Zorak, who ate it even though it was sprinkled with Tony Chacherie's and hot wing seasoning.

HOLY CRAP!! They just said "Garth Vader" on this MST3K movie!! If only I could create a YouTube moment for that!!

Now here I am. Enjoying my boring evening at home. I'll probably read another goofy 1970s cheesy gothic novel before I go to sleep.

Tomorrow's routine won't be much different. I'll do more homework, work on my Internet summer classes, and get things in order before my surgery. And for the next few days, I'll learn to function on Vicodin just like Dr. House.

Wait...is there any chocolate around here?