Top- and Bottom-Heavy

I really missed Robin this morning, as I had nobody to complain to about the sudden influx of work that really had me hopping all day. Unusual for a Friday, especially since I don't really do that many timesheets any more. The big toe kept me up some of the night, I just hope it heals enough that I'm not limping through the supermarket tomorrow. I also have to catch up on finances, including paying some hefty bills, as well as my medical files. And now I've exhausted myself just thinking about it...

Modern Medicine

I'm still not quite used to the 21st century in some ways. I had my annual mammogram today, and it took all of 10 minutes. The commute was at least three times that, as I had to take a crosstown then uptown bus to the medical center (and the uptown was in the middle of gridlock, just like my homebound express bus), but I was so astounded by the quick in-out and the lack of discomfort that I completely forgot to apply the deodorant I'd brought for afterwards. It wasn't as bitter cold as it had been on Tuesday, but it's supposed to plummet again this evening, which makes me feel bad for Robin who has his own medical appointment tomorrow morning. Oh, and my left big toe is hurting like the dickens. Not the Dickens, in keeping with the season, just... well, you know...

In Keeping with the Season

Even though it was a work from home day, I'm still way too tired to write about it, especially after we had a bit of a family meeting regarding Mom's situation and What Happens Next. So I'll just leave you with the last Randy Rainbow of recent weeks:

 And you know, so it is.

Exhausted

Finally home after way too long and way too cold a day in Manhattan, which saw me taking a late morning "A" train (cue mandatory music) up to my diabetes doc; the trip there and back, in addition to the visit, took under two hours total; not bad between 34th and 168th! Definitely my favorite subway now. The "1" train, not so much; when I finally got there I had to wait through at least three packed trains before squeezing onto one (and getting a seat right away thanks to a nice young man), then I had to wait a bit at the Bronx transfer point for the local bus. I was able to get my lunch at Whole Foods and wandered practically the entire store before finding the Amazon returns section to bring back an item Robin had ordered. All that walking really took it out of me and my poor left big toe, plus I'm way behind in updating all my medical files and completely missed out on my quarterly blood draw, plus my next trip to the podiatrist which will be in the new year. Time to update tomorrow, when I'm working from home. One good thing, they do bone density tests at the endocrinologist's office, so as I'm due for one I had her switch the requisition from my primary doc's name to hers as her office is much easier for me to access than the one around Rockefeller Center where I'd been going. Now to switch as many specialists as I can to the 168th Street area. But I did promise another Randy Rainbow, didn't I?

 One more Randy tomorrow, in keeping with the holiday season.

Rainbow Week

Too cold to think about anything but satire. Here's Randy Rainbow from a few weeks back:

 I'll have another one tomorrow!

Mom Update

Today was Mom's last day in the hospital. As I speak, my brother should have settled her back into her long term care facility. My other brother is flying in to help out this coming week, which will probably mean a day off work so the three of us can be together to discuss how things will be going forward. I'm just amazed and delighted she's not only alive but cleared to be discharged! She's still sleeping a lot, which is both good in that she needs to heal more and bad in that she can't build up her strength if she's sleeping instead of eating. But I did help her get some lunch down, and although most of my visit consisted of just keeping vigil while she slept, there's enough of my mom still there to have made it well worthwhile. The coming week is going to exhaust me somewhat, as I have medical appointments on Tuesday and Thursdsay so the only day I can head back to Jersey is Wednesday; a NJ day sandwiched between two Manhattan-and-medical days! I'm tired just thinking about it; I think I'll go to bed now.

Closer to Home

Thank goodness our heat situation is presumably fixed, as it dipped below freezing last night and this morning brought a frost and ice warning. Adding to that, I was way too tired to drive to and from New Jersey with any sort of safety assured, so we opted to visit Mom in the hospital tomorrow and celebrate Robin's birthday with a sushi meal at our favorite conveyor belt place, which happened to be in the same strip mall as a Super ShopRite so that's where we wound up doing our grocery shopping. Glad I stuck close to home and Robin wasn't overly exhausted by a trip over the bridge! Besides, I got to keep him all to myself today, which made for a lovely day. Happy birthday again, my love!

Heat at Last

When I woke up it was 51 degrees F in the house, but my third call of the week to the landlord's office finally paid off. We saw his van around 10:30 this morning and he seems to have finally taken the boiler off its timer, leading to an actually pleasant temperature in the mid-60s, which is amazing considering how much we've been shivering and how cold it continues to be outdoors. It's so much easier to do things like job stuff when I don't have to worry about freezing! Unfortunately Mom isn't doing well and has taken another downturn, so tomorrow's trip will be to the hospital again, possibly to say goodbye for the last time. But I've thought that at least twice before, so it's in the hands of fate at this point. Both good and bad news to end the work week, as these things tend to be.

Number 27 and the Biggest Chill

Exactly 27 years ago Robin and I were married at City Hall on a lovely bright winter's day, bedazzled by the sun glinting off the World Trade Center twin towers when we emerged. Nowadays, a bit different. It's colder than the proverbial wiccan's breast, and I'm very glad I opted not to stick around for my firm's annual holiday bash after work, as that was at the Javits Center and the wind and cold are bad enough on 9th Avenue without a 7-block walk there and back to some sort of subway where we'd have to wait for the express bus anyway. Best to leave at 5, show my coworker my new shortcut (bypassing the worst of the Moynihan Hall and LIRR crowds by walking to the post office, then outside to cross the intersection to MSG and Penn, and walk through the much more pleasant NJ Transit area to finally end up at the tail end of the LIRR mess to catch our respective uptown trains. Robin and I had a pretty low-key anniversary, as we didn't want any delivery folks coming out in this weather, and I place another call tomorrow to the landlord's office to remind them they're not obeying NYC law with heat that keeps going off before it ever warms the place up. Wish me luck!

On Stepping Forward and Back

Mostly forward, I hope. Although we're still running space heaters more than we should, given our landlord's repeated stinginess with heat that we cannot control (trust me though, a lot of folks even in this semi-ritzy neighborhood have it far worse). But work-wise I'm experiencing a lot of forward momentum, now that I can more successfully ignore the constant worry about Mom in the back of my head. And there is a plan going forward for Mom's care once she's back at the LTC facility, so I'm feeling better about a lot of things than I was a few days ago. We decided to forgo our firm's holiday party as the temps are supposed to be brutal tomorrow and I'd just rather head for home after work. And besides, it's our anniverary so I'd rather it just be the two of us.