I haven't done a proper post in awhile, so let me catch everyone up on the past week. (LBE)

Friday, my aunt was scheduled to have hand surgery done, and her sister was going to take her. The surgery was to clean out the arthritis, the bone spurs, and move part of a tendon from her wrist up to wrap around her thumb to give it some padding since her cartilage was gone. On Thursday, her sister copped out, claiming allergies or whatever. My aunt's other friend who had also offered as a backup is still sick from some bug she's had for three weeks. So my aunt calls me to tell me this, and says she'll have to cancel her surgery. I told her I would take a day off work and take her to the hospital for her surgery.

I put in for a half day vacation, hoping I'd be able to get my aunt home and get back to work in time to get half a day in. Thursday was also the day we got drenched from the remnants of hurricane Gustav, so it just POURED all day non-stop. I came home, checked some emails during dinner, packed up a few things, and drove out to my aunt's house to spend the night there. Her surgery was at 7:30AM, we had to be there at 6:00AM, we had to leave at 5:00AM, so I had to be up by 4:30AM to get showered and dresssed. Ugh! Talk about sleepy!

Getting up and getting to the hospital was ok. We arrived at 6:03AM, she was taken back after only a couple minutes, then I got to go back and sit with her until they wheeled her back to the operating room. Then I got to go back out to the waiting room and sit. And wait. And wait. And wait. Finally about 10:00AM the doctor comes out and tells me the surgery was a success, but that they had to fully put her under as the block didn't work. I thanked him and went back to the waiting room to wait. And wait.

About 11:00AM, I was calling my boss to let him know there was no way I'd be there in the afternoon, when the nurse came out telling me I could go back to see my aunt. She did really well in the surgery, and the Zophan prevented any nausea, so she was hungry. Even though the block didn't work, her hand was still numb, so every time she moved her arm for something, she bopped herself in the face. I was afraid she'd end up with black and blue marks and a bloody nose by the time I got her home. We finally were allowed to leave just after noon, and the first thing she asked for was a dollar double cheeseburger from McDonalds.

I got her home and situated then ran to Target to get her antibiotic and pain meds the hospital prescribed for her. It was really difficult for her the first couple days because the nerve block lasted longer than it normally would. But then she's not normal, so I'd never expected it to react normally. She finally had all feeling back by Sunday morning. Anyway...Friday night after making sure she was fed and comfortable and would be ok on her own, I finally came home. I was in bed by 11:00PM and up Saturday morning at 9:00AM. Despite getting 10 hours sleep, I was still tired.

I had some things to do around the apartment in the morning, then met a couple friends for lunch. I haven't seen either of them for a few years, so it was really nice catching up. We've promised each other not to let so much time go by again. We finally left the restaurant at 4:00PM, and I rushed home to do some more things around the apartment before another couple friends arrived at 7:00PM for a "girls night out."

While I was sitting in front of the tv waiting for them, I really could have just taken a nap. Or maybe called them to cancel, saying I was too tired. But they would not have let me, so I forced myself to stay awake by watching baseball, lol. We had a really nice night, just the three of us. So many times when we get together they have their kids, so this was sorely needed for just the three of us to hang together as friends, not parents. We started out at a place called Features, which I'm told has pool tables and a dance floor in back, in addition to the large circular bar in front. I never ventured back there to check it out.

We stayed there for a few hours, then people really started coming in and the music got turned up, and it was so noisy in there, we really couldn't hear each other talk. Despite the chilly weather, we decided to walk across the street and check out another bar with a patio area, where we could watch the drunk people walk around, or into, things. One guy was so drunk he was holding up a wall. Another walked right into a signpost, and just kept going like nothing happened. It made me glad I'm not young and stupid anymore. At least not the young part.

It started sprinkling, so we headed back to the car, about three blocks away. Just in time too, as it started raining steadily the whole way back to my apartment. We chatted for a few minutes, then they left, as one had a 30 minute drive and the other would be about an hour and fifteen minutes. I sat and watched tv for a little bit to unwind before heading to bed.

Sunday morning I got up about 10:00AM (I wanted to get up at 9, but that was NOT happening). I drove back out to my aunt's house so we could have lunch together, then I helped her get dressed, and we went to see Bangkok Dangerous with Nicholas Cage. It was about a professional hitman (Cage) who goes to Bangkok to do four jobs (kill four people), who he meets, and what happens while he's there. Some great shots of Bangkok, including a floating market and a giant reclining Buddha. It was a good movie, but I didn't like the look Cage had, darker hair and longer, almost shoulder length. If you're a Nicholas Cage fan, I would definitely suggest this movie. Beware! There is one yucky part at the floating market that made me go ewww and close my eyes, but it only lasted a couple seconds.

After the movie, we ran a couple errands. One to Jewel, a local grocery store, because they had margarine on sale for 47 cents each. The other was to Target so my aunt could get her $10 gift cards for the new prescriptions I picked up on Friday afternoon. We went back to her place, and I still had to vacuum and mop her floors. I stalled a bit by feeding her birds, the outdoor ones, not pets, then got started on the floors. I finally left her house about 7:00PM, got home just before 8:00PM, still had laundry to do, and was really wiped from a busy weekend.

Between laundry and trying to get caught up on blogs, I didn't get to bed until about midnight Sunday night. Last night I came home and had planned on watching part of the NASCAR race from Sunday , but was just too tired and ended up napping for at least 90 minutes. Of course, that meant I was wide awake later when I should have been in bed. I stayed up to watch the Oprah rerun from earlier in the day with the Olympic medalists and David Cook from American Idol. I finally dragged my ass to bed at 2:00AM, determined that I WOULD fall asleep. I did, but boy was I tired this morning. I'm hoping I can finish up a couple more emails and be in bed at a decent time tonight.

More blogging to come!