Oh well..

So early afternoon didn't happen. Afternoon, evening - same difference. :) Hey, at least this post is technically in the same day. :)

So let's see, what's happened since May 30th? Well, I did go into work for 1/2 a day last Wednesday. I met with the guy from FEMA, who's personality was the best comparison to a wet mop I've ever seen. I asked questions and got very little for answers. He asked questions and cut me off after the first 3 words. He wasn't interested in seeing any of my receipts or pictures. He hobbled down the cellar stairs, looked at the electrical panel and left. He asked me more questions about the upstairs then he did about the basement. Odd, I thought I only had damage in the basement...? Whatever, as they did come through with a direct deposit for about 1/4 of the total damage costs (not including the cost of lost personal items.) That wasn't the way I was told it happened, but help is help so I won't complain.

Thursday & Friday were filled with doctor stuff and phone calls. I had my radiofrequency ablation procedure done and after that, my time was filled with a drug induced coma. I'm still sore, but am hopeful that it will go away soon. At least I'm now off the pain killers. :) I really dislike feeling all woozy and slow like that. I'm the type of person that needs to be hard pressed into taking an aspirin for a headache. The pain has to be there and very, very real in order for me to take anything for it. But, that's all done and I'm hopeful that this time it will last a year or more - pain free time is wonderful. :)

I didn't do much over the weekend because of the drug induced coma. I rented some DVDs and watched those. No cleaning got done. No work got done. Nothing. Nada. Null. Zip. I finally had some time to do nothing after the last 3 weeks of pure physical, emotional, and psychological hell so I took advantage of it. :)

Sunday, I took Freddie to flyball practice. Can you say "Dawn is stupid"? I can. Stupid. Note to self, don't perform any strenuous activity after a back procedure. Sooooo stupid. I paid for it the rest of the day, even with the help of those pain killers. So, I again became one with the couch. Stupid.

I was supposed to go back to work Monday. Didn't happen. I was then supposed to go back to work Tuesday. Again, didn't happen. On Monday, in addition to the pain, I had the ins. guy and the adjuster come to the house. On Tuesday, in addition to the pain, I had the ServPro guys come to the house to clean and disinfect the basement. Again, one with the couch.

I didn't have much of a choice on Wednesday. I was starting to think of the couch in ways you shouldn't think of a couch and the stir craziness started to kick in, so I took 1/2 a pain pill and went into work. I got beyond nothing done between getting email caught up on and checking in with my co-workers to see what had happened in my absence. Surprisingly enough, not a whole heck of a lot happened, thankfully. The Access application I built kept blowing up - I still can't tell you why - but that was really it!

Today was another day of not being productive. I went through every inch of code in my application and *nothing* is wrong. Sigh. Just another reason to hate Microsoft. :) I did, however, manage to get all of the necessary documentation in for the next 2 quarters of school. Yay. I have to start off the Fall quarter with Algebra - a subject I was beyond not good in in high school. Anyone want to tutor me for home cooked meals and beer? :)

While all of this was happening, a few neighbors and I have been planning the block party for the city workers. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before or not....? Anyway, we decided we were very thankful for all of the city personnel that went above and beyond the call of duty during our time of need. So, we got the appropriate licenses to close the street to the public and started planning on having a big BBQ to thank them all. I put flyers at the fire stations, the police station, the DPW offices, City Hall, had the Chief of Staff send out an email to every city employee, and called a few of the people I had business cards from to let them all know. We asked for everyone to RSVP so we'd know how much food to get and so far we have 6 people. Yup. Six. I'm not sure what to think as we made it very clear in the flyers and the email that this was our way of saying thank you to everyone who helped us out - and that we would have beer, lots of beer. But, so far only 6 people have said they were coming. I guess small and intimate will be a lot cheaper for us anyway. :)

The only other thing of significance that has happened, happened today. I got a call from my lawyer from the cement truck accident 2 years ago saying the ins. company would like to know if I would be interested in settling before going to court. I'm completely out of my league on this one and really have no idea what to do. So, besides asking everyone I think has a clue for advice on questions I should ask my lawyer, I'm going to speak to another lawyer up here. Maybe they'll be able to let me know what I should be watching out for, what questions to ask, etc., etc. Yeah, I know that's what I'm paying the lawyer in CT to do, but that ain't happening. I'd like to make a decision based on what's in the best interest for me, but I don't even know what that best interest is. When it rains it pours.

Speaking of which, I have a few choice words to share with Mother Nature when I get my hands around her skinny little neck. I've had all I can take with the amount of rain that's fallen and it needs to be done. Now. I'll backhand the first person that mentions the word "drought" to me this summer. And not that I'll have to water the lawn for the next 20 years, but if I decide to at any point, people better just keep quiet about it. The commercial fans that ServPro have in my basement are making ripples in the streams of water running through my basement now. It's sickening. Needless to say, I will be looking into flood insurance very shortly.

On a lighter note, I went over to my grandparents house for dinner after work tonight. Today was their 65th wedding anniversay - an amazing feat in this day and age. My grandmother cooked even though I offered to take them out to celebrate. Neither of them like going out at night so I understand why she chose to cook instead. And since I'll never complain about eating my grandmother's cooking, it's all good. :) Afterwards, we had a great time talking over cake and coffee. I really enjoy hearing stories about my grandparents youth. :) Society was so different then. We had a great night. :)

And now that I've typed my fingers to the bone and have given you all plenty to read, I'm going to bed. :)

D