Fri, Jul 06 2007

On a personal note this first week in July...

We had an unusual 4th of July holiday in that we took our older truck to IKEA to do some shopping. We had a great time buying things and we loaded up to head home. Unbeknownst to us, the truck had been leaking fluid and the clutch seized to work about a block and a half away from the store's parking garage. If it had to happen, it was in at least a relatively safe place. My deft spouse managed to get the truck into a left turn lane that was in a fairly good position for other drivers to just pull in front of us. He set the emergency flashers and called our trusty AAA road service while I motioned traffic past us on the passenger side. Of course, it was July 4th, so AAA road assistance was extremely busy and they ended up using a third-party service to come to our rescue. The driver got our truck up on the flat bed and we all got into the cab of his tow truck and rode more than 50 miles to our place. (Thank goodness we had signed up for that extra mileage the last time we renewed our membership.)

Our driver was personable, friendly and full of great conversation, so the trip went quickly and we were treated to the site of lots of (mostly illegal) fireworks displays through his truck's huge windshield.

When we got home we still had to unload all those boxes of furniture we had loaded in the back of our truck. Our neighbor came over and never even asked what needed to be done. He simply started untying the ropes that secured the load and began pulling boxes off the truck. If you have good neighbors you know what I mean when I say they are priceless gifts.

The next day we had to get up early and prevent our little outside kitty friend from eating or drinking. He had to go to the vet for the day for a biopsy on his nose and a check of his throat (unrelated to the nose issue). He's had a sore nose for some time and the vet has been trying to deal gently with it, but feels that a biopsy is in order, since cats with white fur and light skin on nose areas are susceptible to the same type of skin cancer that humans get on our noses. So Austin came home at the end of the day still a bit loopy and disoriented. We were a bit concerned that he might wander out into the road, since he kept trying to navigate the sidewalk and falling off it. Since I'm allergic to him, he isn't usually allowed inside the house. But on this particular evening, Ron put a soft rug and towel on his lap and sat on the floor just inside the front door and let Austin rest on his lap for awhile. I went to put some things away and when I came back into the room they were both dozing.

It's been quite a week. And next week begins with a bang too, because I go to the endodontist on Monday for a root canal on my infamous crescent-shaped root. I hope your holiday week has been relatively stress-free and fun. And if it hasn't, I hope you've had the blessing of friends and strangers to see you through the stress.

posted at: 12:57 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry