overdone

My surgery was four weeks ago, yesterday. At two weeks, I stopped using a walker, and about mid-week last week, I stopped using a cane. No cane, but I’m still hobbling around.  When will the limp go away – everyone is different, so says the physical therapy folks. The longer you walk with a limp before the surgery, the harder it will be to stop limping.  Well great.  People have been telling me I walk with a limp since about 2012; long before I ever believed them.

Things were going totally great with recovery until today. I wanted to go to Walmart and get some “stuff”.  I hate Walmart but there are just some things our Kroger doesn’t have, like towels, which was the main thing on my list.  Our towels are all old and really tired...or maybe I’m just tired of using our old ratty towels.  Hindsight is 2020...I should have just ordered off Amazon and let it be...but no, old KYLady decided to get out and see towels in person so that she could pick the color accurately and feel the weight of them.

Someone LOVES Walmart (like you have no idea how much he LOVES Walmart).  He was delighted that I wanted to go and said he’d come with me.  OK...and he wanted to drive...OK.  We get down there and the place is a zoo, because it’s Saturday.  Without considering my condition, he parked where he always parks, at the very end of the parking lot.  I should have objected, but I thought the walk would be good for me.  He even asked if I wanted him to move the car closer to the building, but no...I wanted to walk.  By the time we got to the doors, I told him he could pick me up at the door when we left. 

Then into the madhouse we went.  The store was re-arranged from the last time I’d been in there.  We had to wander a bit to find towels.  I selected some nice ones – soft and thick, sort of a ashy aqua color.  We made a pass through the soap and shampoo aisle, and then to check out.  We did not have to wait too long... thank the Lord.  My hip was getting pretty achy by that point.  We walked out and Someone said he’d bring the car up.  Well he did...about 20 minutes later.  It was raining and cars were waiting on parking places...it took Someone forever to get up to the front of the building...while I was standing there all that time because there was no place to sit out of the rain.

So, ever so slowly, we made our way back out of the parking lot and finally got near the road to turn out of the chaos, when a car zoomed up beside us, honked, and motioned for us to roll down the window.  The kind driver reported to us that there was a huge bulge on our tire.  Sure enough, there it was, like the size of a softball.  Someone bought his tires at Walmart, so we just drove around to the car maintenance area.  Someone ran in and they told him it would be about a 30-minute wait.  Long story short, we parked in the line and went inside to wait in the customer service area...lovely, hard metal benches were all they had.  About 15 minutes of that and I was wishing I’d thought to bring some pain pills with me (I’ve not taken anything stronger than Tylenol since the first week).  An hour went by and there were still several people in front of us.  I was beyond done at that point.

We don’t have Uber or Lyft in our area (and only minimal public transportation services).  I called for a cab and that was going to be a 40-minute wait. In the meantime, Someone called Emily who was on her way to work.  She called her boss and detoured to come and get me (I cancelled my cab).  My angel of mercy!  I was nearly in tears by the time I got into her car.  Home, a pain pill, a cup of hot tea, and now I’m back to normal.  Lesson learned.  As it turned out, Walmart’s 30-minute wait was more like a 150-minute wait.  Someone’s tire was under warranty, so no charge, at least.  He got to "enjoy" Walmart for a very long time.  I’m grateful that the man in the parking lot was kind enough to chase us down and warn us. 

Emily saved the day

This past week, because I’m getting around better, I’ve been taking a plant into my office every morning. I won’t be taking anything giant, although there is plenty of room for giant plants.  It’s just too much trouble and stress on the big plants to transport them, and then I’d have to bring them home by mid-May.  I bought a fun pot that looks like a skull over Christmas.  Initially, my plans were to put ivy in it, but my mind changed today.  It needs to be a small succulent garden.  Coming soon...I will share photos when it’s finished.