LadyGypsy.net – the blog of Kimberly Dowd of New Jersey

Screaming Banshee, from Hallmark

I had a great Memorial Day weekend. I took Friday off and Mom & I went to Ocean City. I was off Monday anyway, but upon return to work Tuesday, I was immediately behind the 8-ball with stuff to do.

The weirdness started out on Wednesday night when a friend of the family passed out at her job. She was put on life support, but was brain dead. At only 50 years old. It’s sobering and sad and I feel heavy pangs of sadness for her survivors.

Then on Thursday, I got a phone call that Mom was in an ambulance heading to a hospital.

Wha?

She stumbled during a field trip and broke her ankle. She’s in a partial cast and using crutches. Her orthopedic follow-up is Tuesday afternoon. I’m pleased, because the doctor we’ll be seeing is associated with the Rothman Institute, known around here for skillfully reassembling South Jerseyans. But no matter what the doctor says, she’ll be off her foot for a bit. John and I and Kristen and WM and Mom’s friends are all pitching in and helping out, but it’s still chaotic. Tomorrow, I’ll swing by there before work to feed Chip, let him out, and get her settled for the morning. My brain is on hyperdrive trying to come up with crutch-friendly ways for her to go through her daily life without having to depend too much on other people showing up.

Work is a hot mess because I’m super-HYPER behind from missing most of Thursday, on top of the Monday & Friday before. And I’ll be off Tuesday afternoon, too. Yikes! I pre-emptively worked 2 hours on something today so I’d be set for a meeting tomorrow morning. (And so I can count the 2 hrs toward leaving early Tuesday & any other time I might need to leave to take care of something for her.)

And I have something else cooking too. Just can’t blog about it. No, it’s not a baby.

Oh, and everyone at work seems to think we’ll be having layoffs again before the month is out. Whatever. At least it’s summer.

But none of this is BAD, just chaotic. I used to pirouette gracefully when everything around me was up in the air but as I move more toward the “get off my lawn” stage of life, unpredictability leaves me cranky and short-tempered.

Anyway, dear CookieCrumbs, if you have tips on how to make crutching around any easier for a lovely lady, leave them below.

I’ve been flipping my page on April Fool’s Day for quite a while. If you come in via facebook or a feedreader, sorry.

Examples:
2009 I liked the purple.
2008 (that theme makes me angry – it was free, and ended up getting some pharmacy spam code injected into the header)
2007 (a temporary breakaway from my usual font. I don’t think my hair will ever be that long again)
2006 (red hair, marriage falling apart behind the scenes)

Other than this, I’ll stay away from the ‘net today. I think the big companies have ruined April Fools with their slick productions that are designed to make us think “wow, they’re so cooooool!” I know I’m looking at it from the viewpoint of an overworked cube dweller, but I don’t think corporate frivolity belongs on someone’s task list.

I’m also looking at it from the viewpoint of someone who tore herself out of bed early to flip her page. So there is that, too.

Friday Five is here. Have a great weekend!

I fall into this pattern all the time. I do a blog design in Photoshop, start fleshing out the framework, get lost down a thousand rabbit holes & stop updating the blog because I hate how it looks.

This is a free theme called Bueno from WooThemes. It took me about an hour to install & customize. And now I’m back on track!