Poor Squirrel!

Ok, I know that cats are "predators"...but I REALLY don't like it when Loki and Dread kill anything. So, I do take steps to free whatever animal they have...so long as it looks like it is actually ok and will live. Today, first thing in the morning, I'm sitting eating my breakfast. The cats have been running crazy all over all morning, but they seem to have disappeared. Dread hops up onto the window sill, stares at something and jumps out the window. I look and what do I see? Loki carrying a HUGE squirrel!

Now, this is no silly little mouse. She can barely get her mouth around it's back! It's looking around and seems fine. She couldn't run, 'cause it was too heavy! Hee hee. So anyway, I chase her down, corner her under one of the cars and she drops it. It lays there for a moment, then TAKES OFF! Got behind some planters. I picked up Dread (who had, of course, come to chase it too) and Loki, take them inside and close the window. I watched the squirrel run back to the woods. Not even a limp.

The cats were not impressed with having to stay inside. But I was not going to let them catch that poor squirrel again! When they went out they went straight for that planter. Hee hee. HOORAY! Another defenseless animal saved!

And if you haven't believed me about the raccoon and the cats....
Dread then turned over so his back was to the raccoon. He's s cute!

Leg update

Don't worry, I won't gross you out with pictures of my leg. Basically, the operation was a success, but the wound on my right leg is just not healing. It's so tender right now, I couldn't sleep last night. Just the sheet touching it made me cry! :( So I went to the doctor this morning, and she;s not happy about it. It needs to be debrided as a first step. Right now we're doing everything possible to avoid a second surgery…which is still very likely. And/or skin graphs.

So what I have to do is soak it then take a toothbrush to it twice a day, to remove the dead tissue and stimulate the tissue to grow. I also have to put a wet gauze in the wound, wrap it up, let it dry, then rip it off along with all the dead tissue at least three times a day. I'm supposed to do that for about a week, and if it's still not healing, she's going to try a different debriding technique.

That doesn't work…it's back into the OR. When they excise a wound they have to make it 3x the size of the original, and I'll be in a cast and OFF it for at least two weeks. I don't really care if the scar is longer/bigger...I just want it to heal well. And it has to be healed before I go on my Mexico trek in November…or else I can't go. No way can I go down there with an open healing wound. If the surgery doesn't work (which I'm SURE it will if we have to get that far!), skin graphs are the only option.

Sigh. The surgery itself has gone well and looks like it may have fixed the problem…but the wound on the right leg is just not healing. I guess this might be an FYI that I can't lead some rides I've committed too. I'll know more in a week or two. And on top of all that it really hurts DAMN IT! It's so tender! :( :( :( Which of course is only going to get worse as I debride it. Ulp.

And I spilled coffee on my white capris this morning! :(

And the doc said no swimming until it's healed.

And when biking, no hills that put pressure on that leg…it makes the wound separate.

But on the bright side I changed my living room around this weekend. In my last place I used to rearrange everything about every 6 months. I helps your brain stay active...it has to think, even unconsciously, about where stuff is. Studies have shown it help. That, and I like moving stuff around! But in my current place the living room seemed very limiting. I decided, screw it and tried something new anyway. Not sure how much I like it...but I can keep it for a couple months and then change back! :)

And why am I supposed to still wear a bandage over my incision while biking?

I went biking this morning, and discovered why I'm supposed to still wear something over my incisions while I'm biking: I'm still doing the weenie rides, so I convinced a friend a do one with me. Just out the the chicken and back at Phil's. All went well until we reached the chicken...I went to stop, unclipped my left foot, then overbalanced to the right and fell right on my right leg. And of course it's the outside of the leg that hits the ground! I tried to twist as I was going down so that I wouldn't land on my leg...but no go. Really ground it into the dirt.

I was COVERED with dirt, and my incision was pretty much packed with dirt and pebbles. Sigh. When I got home I washed it out as best I could. I had to rip off a lot of the scab, cause it was really moist and I couldn't get the dirt off! It's still pretty dirty and I'm a bit concerned. I'm going to take a bath in a bit, and hopefully soaking it will get the dirt out! :)

Friday night I went to Spiderman 3 at McMenamins with my friends Julie and Heidi and her husband. Last weekend Heidi had a fall and mangled her elbow. Earlier this week she showed us how when she pressed her thumb in the dent stays! Her arm is really swollen...and it doesn't bounce back like healthy tissue. See...can you see the dent?

Ick. I'm tellin' ya, that's NOT normal!!!!!!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

OMG I'm SOOOOOOO freakin' excited! And terrified of how it's going to end. One more day. I finished #6 last night, and I can't wait. A friend sent me a link to this, a very funny song written by the brother of John Green (teen author, An Abundance of Katherines). They've been doing this Web 2.0 stuff and this is one of his posts:
I LOVE IT! :) Amazon better get it to me tomorrow, like they promise. Boy, wonder if tomorrow is going to be UPS and FEDEX's busiest day of the year?

Fish tacos and grilled veggies

Had book club last night, and I promised everyone that I'd post the recipes...so here they are. I LOVE fish tacos, and these ones are very different than any I've ever had. No cabbage and not fried. Now don't get me wrong, I love the deep fried ones with the cabbage, cilantro and stuff. Parilla Grill has my absolute favourites. Anyway, these are different...but just as yummy, right guys? :)

Anaheim Fish Tacos

• 1 tsp oil
• 2 Anaheim chili pepper, chopped
• 1 leek
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 large tomatoes, diced
• 2 tbs ground cumin
• 1.5 lbs halibut fillets
• 2 limes
• 12 corn or flour tortillas

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat and saute the chili, leek and garlic until tender and lightly browned. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Mix the chicken broth and tomatoes into the skillet, and season with cumin. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low.
3. Place the halibut into the mixture. Sprinkle with lime juice. Cook 15-20 minutes until the halibut is easily flaked with a fork.
4. Serve with sour cream, lime, cilantro, authentic Mexican cheese (or any kind!), salsa and avocado slices and warm tortillas.

Grilled Vegetables

For the marination and drizzle (makes about 2 cups)

• 1 cup olive oil
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• 2 tsp minced garlic or roasted garlic puree
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/3 cup champagne vinegar (tonight I used a orange muscat champagne vinegar, YUM!)
• 2 tbs Dijon

1. Mix all ingredients well. Can be refrigerated for up to 7 days.

For the vegetables (suggestions! Use whatever you want)

• yellow, orange and red peppers
• onions
• yellow squash
• mushrooms
• asparagus
• zucchini

So...there you go! Two super yummy recipes. Enjoy! :)

Happy Friday the 13th!

I know Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day, but in my family we always considered 13 and the 13th a lucky day. My mom was born on June 13th....don't think it was a Friday, but we extend the luck to that day. There are so many origins of Friday the 13th! Wikepedia has a pretty good, expansive explanation...but as we all know, Wikepedia can't be counted as an "authoritative" source!!!!!!! Snopes.com, the buster of urban myths (you ever have a question about a computer scam/virus...anything, go here!!!!), has a great explanation of Friday the 13th. Ok, now that I've gotten my daily education out of the way, on to other things.

Legs are....doing ok. I won't post a picture of them all icky with the allergic reaction, 'cause I know some weenies don't like seeing those sorts of things! :) But if you're curious, you can see them here. I rode on Tuesday morning, and it was good. It was REALLY short...but baby steps. I can't swim until the rash clears up, but that should be by next week. I hope!

Instead of my legs, I thought I'd show you this:
The neighbourhood raccoon is coming out during the day now. He comes up and sits at the window until I bring him some food. He's not as skinny as he was a month ago. I know, everyone freaks out...but it's fine! He's NOT a pet, and I never forget that they're wild animals. But this one isn't at all aggressive to the cats.

In fact, the other evening I looked outside and there he was with Boston sitting about a foot away on one side, and Loki lying down a couple feet away on the other. They just sit around looking at each other. Now, they don't like it when he comes near the house or the windows, but as long as he stays outside, or close to the door, they don't care. The other night it was so hot that when he came around he just lay outside all sprawled out. Rolled over on his back, waving his legs around...I think we was trying to generate a wind to cool himself off!

Yup, it's been HOT. H-O-T, HOT!!!!! Poor kitties. The house is all closed up during the day, so it stays fairly cool. Compared to outside. But as soon as that sun isn't directly hitting the house anymore I open it up. Here's Dread flopped out. Man, he was really hot that night!

Should be some relief next week though. Off to watch the Twilight Crit tonight. Let's hope for no crashes. I'm perfectly ok without blood!

Minor setback....

...sorta. I seem to be having an allergic reaction to something topical. It's not a medication I'm taking because the rash and itching is localized around the incision. It itches SO BAD I want to just rip the skin off. Actually, I have in several places. Oopsie! I'm either allergic to the sutures, which would be really bad. I think it's more likely that I'm allergic to something that was put on topically to help the steri-strips adhere better to the skin.

It wouldn't be bad except it is starting to get puss-y. I don't know how to spell that word...not that it's a real word! Puss is the fine on it's own...but if you want to use it as an adjective I don't think it's supposed to he "pussy"! That's something else entirely!!!! :)

I tried a mt bike ride on Saturday, but it was definitely too much. It would ave been ok if we'd started off flat, but where we started it goes right uphill. Not too steep...but more than my legs can take right now. I really paid for it later. I've developed these weird bruises around my ankles and up my leg right over the anterior tibialis. Showed up after the bike ride. Have I said oops yet? :)

Oh well, it's still moving forward. I'm seeing the doc tomorrow though, just to make sure that it's all still ok. They look nasty...much worse than this time last week. As I keep being reminded, BABY STEPS! It's just so hard! I'm tired of just sitting around, and it's so beautiful out, and ....

Happy 4th of July!

Had a great 4th of July yesterday! Sheila, Julie and I went up to Elk Lake. It was hot up there, but definitely cooler than down in Bend. We'd gone to The Grove on Tuesday evening for drinks to say "good bye" to it. So sad it's closing down. Anyway, by the time we got up to the lake it was about 1:00, but we still managed to find a nice spot. Two actually. One in the shade for our stuff, and one in the sun.
It was just gorgeous up there! Clear blue sky, no wind at the beginning...just perfect. You could see Bachelor...what a great view.

Here's Sheila paddling out on my new floatie! I lvoe these ones, they're the best! The Swimways Spring Float Recliner. LOVE IT! :)
And here are my legs, 11 days post-op. They're doing pretty good. Saw the surgeon on Tuesday and she was pleased. I'm allowed to bike and walk/hike as much as I can tolerate, but I have to wait another week or so to swim. Needs to heal a bit more and dry out. The left one's been really "weepy" in one spot since it was re-wrapped on Tuesday. Still, they're looking really good.
The wind picked up later and the sailboats were just whipping around! This one almost looked like it was going to tip over!
After getting back from the lake I went to Blenders on the corner of 8th & Greenwood to watch the fireworks with friends. Rode my cruiser from Gear Pedler over to Blenders...and while it didn't really hurt...I sure felt it! Sat around 'til it was dark hangin' out with a bunch of friends. I know the owners of Blenders...they rope off the section of the parking lot by their business, so we could spread out. Big group by the end. I'm telling you, that Erickson's paring lot is THE PLACE TO BE! Man, tons of people with fireworks...it was pretty CRAZY! :) The fireworks were pretty good. I'm used to Vancouver's Celebration of Light fireworks competition, but these were pretty good for small town! :) Very enjoyable.

And the Butte did catch on fire this year! Hee hee hee hee!!!!! I tried to take a picture...but they all came out blurry. The fire is there, on the right bottom of the picture. Yea, really not clear at all.