Update on life

I somehow missed in my last post that I had a growth on my right thumb. Sorry, no pictures of that. Two days after that post I had surgery to remove it. Turns out it was a Giant Cell Tumor (completely benign, apparently they just happen sometimes). The bump on my thumb was about the size of a grape (imagine cutting a grape in half lengthwise and sticking it on your thumb, that's what it looked like). I'm sure the actual tumor was only about the size of a pea. The doctor told me it looked really cool; I took his word for it. So typing hasn't been that fun for the past couple of weeks. That's my excuse for not blogging, and I'm sticking to it! You never really realize how much you use something like a thumb until you can't. It's healing nicely, though. Even my chiropractor was impressed.

My sister asked about my car. That's kind of a story too. I took it in on Wednesday, and explained what I knew of the problem, and they had never heard anything like that before. After some investigation they discovered that there was a known problem with Saturn Ion ignitions where the code from the ignition switch got lost to the car's computer. If I'd mentioned the problem a couple years ago I wouldn't have had to pay for it to be fixed. ARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!! Ok, different dealership where I take my car now, and the guys took good care of me and my car. except that they couldn't get to it on Wednesday. So they got me a rental car. It was a tank. A Chevy Pilot (or whatever their biggest SUV is). I did ask for something smaller, but they didn't have anything. Driving that thing brought back memories of driving the van my family had when I was learning to drive. But this one was bigger. And way tricked out. While it was kind of nice to be The Biggest Car on the Road, it was also not so nice that it took the seat 30 seconds to move (automatically) to where my feet could reach the pedals. Yeah, not a car for me, methinks.

So Thursday was the day I was having hand surgery. My very good friend drove me (and even took me to my morning appt at the podiatrist since getting up to Bal'more for the surgery would have been a timing issue otherwise). It was a local anesthetic, but they put a covering over my head so I couldn't see what they were doing (thank goodness!). Anyways, my friend drove me back to my house, to the pharmacy at the grocery store to get my prescription pain killers, and then even helped me return the Beast and pick up my car from the dealership. Her other car is an SUV so it wasn't as big a deal for her. And it turned out we only used one gallon of gas, so that's all I paid for :) So the car is fixed. No more worrying about whether or not it will start in the morning.

So since then I've basically just been hanging out reading (check my goodreads.com list for the books I've read over the last two weeks), watching tv, and sleeping. Ok, so I did go back to work the following Monday, but again, very limited when you can't type properly. Left early several days that week, the prescription they gave me wiped me out. Kitty was very happy, though. Ani not so much. I'd leave the door to the basement open so he could come upstairs, then lay on the couch reading, and sure enough he'd come up, but then see that I was there and get this, "Oh crap! The human is home!" look on his face. Then try to chase Kitty. I also got a U-shaped body-pillow, and man it was so comfy! Or maybe that was the drugs too... Still have it, still use it. Last night was the first full-night's sleep I had in a while. Even Kitty didn't wake me up (she usually does around 4 in the morning).

I think that's it for now. Bye!

Happy New Year!!

Yes, I know, the title is so popular almost everyone is using it :)

had a great Christmas with my sister and her family--very low key, the way I like it. got back and put in some time for work (this borrowing vacation time from the future is very exhausting! This should be my last year of doing that, though). New Years Eve went to a movie and lunch with my friend, then developed a severe headache and cancelled my NYE plans with a different friend. I really just wanted to stay home and watch movies with my kitties anyway.

Kitty wasn't too thrilled about me being gone, but loved having me home for last weekend. I would lay on the couch and she would curl up by my face--not on my face, you understand, I could still breathe without getting fur up my nose, and see the tv if necessary. We played with her stick&string toy, and she got to go in and out as much as she wanted to. Which wasn't a whole lot, since it was pretty cold outside.

Ani... well, he didn't seem to notice that I'd been gone, but he did make a few forays upstairs not knowing I was home yesterday. He managed to corner Kitty in the kitchen at one point, but I stopped that. I wish my kitties would get along. :(

Monday I had all these plans for shopping and stuff, but Sunday I did my finances and realized that shopping was probably not a good option. I have just enough for the bills I have left to pay and maybe some milk at the store, and that's about it until payday.

This morning was weird. When I got up, the sky was overcast. When I went downstairs after getting ready for work, the sky was clear. When I put the recycling out, I saw storm clouds moving in from the northwest, and the light was a yellowish color. Plus a few snowflakes. Snowflakes??? Yup. Let Kitty out for her morning constitutional, and about 5 minutes later she was desperately trying to get back in--it was definitely snowing. Light, powdery stuff. Too late for TPTB to cancel school, and it stopped before I went outside to start my car for work. Weird, weird weather this morning.

And my car started!!!! Why is this a big deal? I'm sure I've posted before about this, but for those of you who haven't heard, my car has a really funky ignition. It's a Saturn ION, and for some reason in this model they use some sort of fluid to carry the spark from the place where you turn the key to the thing that starts the engine. (yeah, ok, my brother owns a car repair shop and I don't even know the parts to the engine thingy). so back to my story. When it gets cold, the fluid won't carry the spark, and the car won't start. Up until this year this happened maybe 2-3 times a winter. A little more during Snowmageddon, a little less on milder years. This year, however, it's been 2-3 times per week. This is not acceptable. Takes me 1o-15 minutes to get my car started. How do I get it started? By warming up the key, sticking it in the ignition, and repeat. I have a lighter in my car now for this purpose. Better than running from the stove in my house to the car in the parking lot. Oh how I wish for a garage sometimes! I'm taking it to be serviced tomorrow (Wednesday), and I've told them about the problem, so hopefully they can think of something. Other than "Just buy a new car, silly girl!" I really don't want a car payment until at least after the family reunion next year. I don't want to tie up my funds that way.

Ok, enough of that. Here's hoping this year is a good one, for one and all!