MAID'S NIGHT OFF
18 July 2003
"Jeri's taking you shopping today?" Walt asked. "I take my mother
shopping," he added.
Harumph. His mother is 90.
I said that yes, we were going shopping. He asked if we were doing food shopping and I
said we were, adding that I was looking for a specific 10 calorie salad dressing that I
like (raspberry vinaigrette).
"Are you and Jeri taking care of dinner?" he asked, adding "Is it maid's
night off?"
I pointed out that it had taken me 38 years and a dislocated shoulder to get a maid's
night off, but said that yes, he could have a night off and Jeri and I would handle
dinner. (Ok, that's a bit of an exaggeration--I have not cooked every night for 38 years
and he does occasionally cook, but it was too good a line not to include.)
Then I remembered that Jeri was going to have lunch with her grandmother and then to
dinner at Ned's, so she would not be here for dinner. That meant it was ME cooking dinner.
Back in the saddle again, one handed.
We ran our errands and I was finally able to get padded envelopes needed to mail out
videotapes I'd promised before the accident. We also stopped at the post office to get
postage for said envelopes.
Jeri kindly unloaded the groceries for me before she went off on the rest of her day.
This time I was smart--I remembered that I'd need canned tomato sauce for the pot roast
I'd decided to fix, so I had her open a can for me before she left.
That left only browning the beef, and getting it into the crock pot. Something I could
do! I added mushrooms, but bought the more expensive sliced ones so I wouldn't have to
deal with slicing.
It was something that I would have done automatically without really thinking about it
two months ago, but today it was a real triumph. As I write this, my pot roast is cooking
and all I have to do is put some broccoli in the microwave to complete the dinner. I've
done it all by myself. Life is good.
Of course there's still carving the roast and cutting up my portion--but maybe the maid
won't mind working just a bit.
I also had another moment of passage today. I decided to try getting into a pullover
shirt. Mrs. G had bought me four of them when I couldn't put my arm in a sleeve and they
acted as a tent to hide my immobilizer under when I went out in public. I thought maybe
they were big enough that I could manage to get my arm in the sleeve. It worked! I now
have four new tops to wear!
Even better, I've only had a couple of telephone calls from my next replacement. I
think this one is going to work out all right. She seems to be figuring things out OK and
doesn't seem to be freaked out by the multi-tasking.
The scab has finally fallen off of my twice-injured knee but there is still minor
swelling. It goes down significantly each day and I can actually bend the knee almost
normally now, but when I try riding the exercise bike, it feels like the strain might
split the skin--logic tells me it won't, but it also tells me that if it doesn't feel
"normal," I shouldn't be treating it "normally" yet.
But all things considered, today has been a good day. Even if the temps are 104.