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.