Wrapping Up January With a Bow

From Holiday Elegance by RK Designs

Happy end of January! Man the first couple of months just seem to fly by, don’t they? It’s not time itself speeding though, not really. I always think, “yikes, fast!” at the end of January, but by the end of the year I think back and January seems so long ago. I think it’s just that everyone is so busy planning their projects for the year and making and breaking resolutions. It could be too that I am busy trying to break the mid-winter doldrums and that accelerates the time. Whatever the reason, I really don’t mind if the winter passes a little faster.


Speaking of the Weather

I have been watching, reading and listening with all the empathy I can muster as my friends and family in the states that have been hammered so bad with snow this year. One thing I NEVER did was giggle because it wasn’t us, which is what David says is the reason a major snow is coming through again and making a point of stopping in Toledo. Oh, he knows it’s not me, but he also knows there are people who laughed because it “missed us again.” Well, this time we’re gonna get it. The snow is supposed to start tonight, with 1-3 niches expected. Then Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday all day, we’re expecting up to a foot by Thursday morning! They are calling for wind too, making near blizzard conditions. :( Nani doesn’t like snow!

I’ve already canceled my afternoon therapy for Wednesday and Rapid LLC is scheduled to do driveway scrapes tomorrow morning and Wednesday night so David can get in and out for work and then the full plow-shovel-salt after it all stops. I am entirely blessed to already be on the regular customer list with Rapid. I won’t be scrambling all over trying to figure out how we’ll ever get out of the house before March while David is trying to dig a tunnel to his car. Whenever possible, proactive is the way to go!


A Black Eye

No, that’s not a metaphor for anything. I have one! I can’t tell you how much I DO NOT fancy this becoming an annual thing! If you’ll recall, last January I did a number on the left side of my face with a fall. This year, Thursday, I stumbled on some shoes by the door and couldn’t regain any balance. I fell face first into the corner of the refrigerator, putting a gash in the side of my face with the hinge on my glasses and leaving the right eye pretty well blackened! I didn’t hurt anything else, in fact, some of the things that are sore seemed to loosen up a little, but the shiner is so ugly! Yeah, I look tough, no one will mess with me, but I’m a people-person! The scary look just doesn’t suit me!


MRI Results

So Friday I went to therapy in the morning and my appointment with the doc to discuss the results of the MRI, sporting my new colorful eye. Well, see the back and eye are related like every other issue is related to the back. What makes me so unstable and makes me fall is the disk trouble and subsequent nerve trauma from more than on troubled disk! After doing some research and talking to some people who’ve had back surgery, I knew what I wanted. The doctor kept talking about pain management and steroids and I’d rehearsed my line. My Idea of pain management has no drugs – I’m in pain, I’ll manage. Except that I’m really not in pain. My pain is mental, I’m frustrated because I’m too weak and too unstable.

My first thought was happy and victory when the doctor came in holding the MRI results and said, “Well, we need to get you to a neurosurgeon for a consultation." Then it kicked in. If my steroid-advocating doctor is jumping to surgery, it’s bad! I’m waiting on the call-back from the Neurologist to set up an appointment for the consultation. There are several disks that range from deteriorated to herniated and screwed up nerve endings to go with them. Beginning with the end in mind, I’m ready to begin the six months of rehab after surgery. Then the surgery word hits me. Wow. Scary stuff. I’ve had oral surgery, but I’ve never been unconscious while someone carved me up before.

Well, right now is the consultation, finding out what insurance will and won’t cover and figuring out what I can afford that they don’t. This is big and I don’t want it done half way! So, I’m going to take it one day at a time, says the recovering ibuprofen addict.


Flying Grocery

The definition of “flying grocery” USED to be that I’d stumble to the door, sore from grocery shopping, and toss the bags in the house, hoping I didn’t break anything I’d forgotten I’d bought that was fragile. As of last week, Flying Grocery is how my groceries come to me without being tossed anywhere! I’ve been getting sorer quicker lately and David will get any groceries I put on a list for him except fresh produce! Most of what I cook, what I eat is fresh produce. So I did a search for grocery stores or markets that deliver locally and found Flying Grocery, a small service company in the Toledo area.

I expected the prices to be high or for a large delivery charge for that kind of service. I was so pleased! Delivery is $5.00 and the prices are so slightly higher than I pay when I hobble in on my own. The delivery charge is waived for the first order, so I figured I’d take a chance. I selected a delivery time, between 5 and 6, when I knew I’d be home. At 5 minutes past 5 there was a knock on my door. The owner of the company made my delivery herself. She refused a tip and instead gave ME a bouquet of flowers as a thank you for the business. The produce was all but perfect! Instead of the easy to grab bag with red delicious and granny smith apples with oranges, I got gala apples, my favorites, bananas and Bartlett pears. I also got a cantaloupe that is still making your refrigerator smell like a piece of Heaven with one piece still wrapped up on the shelf. I got beautiful, crisp and unblemished bell peppers in 4 colors, cucumber, celery and a bag of salad plus a bag with some beautiful zucchini. I got a couple of other things too, some lunch meat, a couple frozen dinners and egg beaters, to try out the non-produce part of the service too. Flying Grocery is a godsend now as I’m sure it will be through surgery and recovery for my back.

Let me add another thought, if you are in the Toledo area, imagine going on vacation and submitting a grocery order from your computer that will be delivered the next morning instead of trying to scramble to fill the cupboard and refrigerator after your plane gets in or after driving all day so you have basic lunch items for work and school the next day. With Flying Grocery, it’s that easy! I can think of a ton of great reasons you might use this service on occasion, sick kids, major project at work, anything that would have you picking up dinner on the way home instead of cooking a healthier meal, and in the long gun, more expensive than the delivery price.

I’m getting ready to place this week’s produce order, but for Friday, after the snow.


Okay, January blogging is a wrap! Back to school!

Links
Rapid LLC, Toledo snow removal and more!
Flying Grocery, awesome grocery delivery service in Toledo, Ohio