Going Home, Laundry Day, and Cat Scratches – Thoughts from March 1 and 9, 2024

March 1, 2024

I woke up about 9:00 am and all four of the cats were in bed with me. This was as good a time to get up as any. I looked at my phone and hadn’t heard from Patti. I texted her and told her I was up and to call me when she got up. She called and said they still needed to run another test, so I continued my regular morning routine. It felt good, having missed my routine the day before. When I was done, Patti said I should just start grocery shopping, and she would call me when they released her. I started at Sam’s Club and got gas. Next, I went to Aldi to get mainly produce. I called her because I had a question about something on the grocery list. She said she was still waiting to hear from the doctor (different from yesterday’s doctors). I went to Walmart Market (we call it Walmarket). It was the last of the stores.

I was taking the groceries to the car, and Patti called me. The doctor was going to tell us both what he found and what she was going to be prescribed. He prescribed three things, including aspirin. This was something she was supposed to be taking already, but she stopped. I told her she needs to consult with the doctors before deciding on her own to just stop taking something. I had a flashback to my grandmother, mom, and dad who all played the same games with their medications. They would release her in about an hour, giving me time to take the groceries home and then pick her up.

I got to the hospital, and they were still waiting for one more thing. The one more thing finally happened, and we were on our way home. The cats were a little freaked out when she walked through the door, but they quickly realized who she was. I think Patti’s friend’s voice, who came to the house to check on her, mostly freaked them out. The grayness in her right eye was still there and had gotten no better. We both ate and watched TV. Much earlier than our normal schedule, we were both tired. Patti went to bed, but I had to stay up to make five meals for my work week ahead. My days “off” were over, so I had to go back to work.

March 9, 2024

Tomorrow is the stupid daylight savings day, but I smartened up this year. I took tomorrow off from work, so I have a whole day to get used to the missing hour. There are several things I’m not allowed to do tomorrow while I’m at home because it’s Sunday. Patti has said I’m not allowed to prepare food beyond putting it in the microwave. I was thinking I didn’t have to make all my meals for the week, but she told me I must make all my meals (even the one for my day off). Sunday is cooking, laundry, and whatever Patti says it is day. She was the one who reminded me it was the crappy daylight savings day in the first place, but that doesn’t change Patti’s Sunday rules.

There are only thirteen days left until Patti’s retirement. This makes me wonder if laundry day Sundays are going to continue. My best guess is that she will. She’s a creature of habit like I am. Things get forgotten and lost when we get out of our routines. She set her quitting day for smoking one day after her last day at work. That’s March 23 for those who don’t like to do time math. She’s going to need many distractions in the first few days. I will be at work on day one of the great American smoke out. “Smoke out” doesn’t really sound right. I should call it “operation smoke no more.”

This morning, I was lying in bed with all four of the cats around me. Scout and Luna were taking turns getting rubbed on my chest. I was thinking about getting up but was staying on my back with my eyes closed. Suddenly, someone ran across my chest and scratched my hand. I looked at my hand and it was bleeding profusely. Around me was Scout, Luna, and Willow. The only one missing from the bed was Beatrix. She was the number one suspect for the run by scratching. Later, I took a picture of my hand with the scratch and Beatrix on the cat tree. Whenever I get majorly damaged by the cats, I take a picture of the scratch with the offending cat in the shot. I have many of these pictures over the years.

On my way to work today, I just finished the autobiography of RuPaul. It came out less than a week ago. Last I checked, I was at over seven months of listening to Audible books. That’s over 5000 hours of listening. Enough about me. RuPaul is someone who you may think I would have no interest in, but you would be wrong. Patti and I do not watch Drag Race, but we watched the series he starred in, AJ and the Queen. We also went to a drag show in Vegas. I have listened to many books by authors that made things I didn’t watch or wasn’t interested in watching, but someone’s story differs from what they do for a living. People who only talk about what they’ve done in their career are never as interesting as hearing about people’s personal lives. RuPaul opened up and was vulnerable. That makes a good story.