#forrealtuesday

[elfpuddle]

My mother is right now (7:23PM EST on April 18, 2023), calling the cops to do a wellness check on my baby brother (46) because he needs psychiatric help and is suddenly off the deep end. Prayers, thoughts, whatever you’ve got, I’d appreciate them. Thank you!

St. George and St. Dymphna, pray for him!

[elfpuddle]

Did Elfie Leave?

No, no, no, I didn't. Well, not really.

The week before Memorial Day, my parathyroid flared up again. With it came the instant pseudo-gout and swelling of everything. (TMI, but without my bidet, there was going to be no hope of hygiene, because my hips and thighs had swollen enough that tp wasn't going to get anywhere it needed to.) And, of course the pain. The level 10, I'm not human anymore pain. I spent my fiftieth birthday in a wheelchair wishing that I could just get a friend to get this stupid little gland out of my neck. It took more than a week to get a hold of my endocrinologist because his staff is the literal worst. I do have a new doctor, an otolaryngaologist who is both an endocrine and ent surgeon. He's a teacher, a director of an ent / endocrine center in nearby Atlanta, and just all-around welcome member to my medical team.

I see him tomorrow. Please pray for HubbyTMC & my travels there and back...it takes me a solid arduous hour of work just to get from this spare bedroom to the bathroom across the hall. Getting ready to go, into the car, and then driving to Atlanta in the heat wave we're having is going to tax me beyond all my limits. I'm hoping that the next step is surgery, and that it is soon, like "oh, I have an opening today" kind of soon. My body is exhausted, my pain meds aren't enough, and everything except for my right ear hurts, and that's where my tinnitus is coming from.

Yes, I'm offering it all up. It's a huge blessings to be able to unite my sufferings to those of our Savior, and know that it all is being used for someone's good. But just because I endure it for the sake of others' souls doesn't mean I enjoy it or want it to last any longer than it already has.

I'll be back when I can. In the meantime, enjoy the food queue that I've been saving up for probably years. Keep HubbyTMC and all those caring for me in your prayers, and help me endure this for the sake of the souls who need the redemption. Sts. Blase, Servatius, and Roch, pray for us. Our Lady of Sorrows, hold us close. Our Lady of Prompt Succor, stand with us and guide us.

[elfpuddle]

Good news, everyone! Compadre and the kids (including BabyInNICU) are all in the recovery stages of Covid. Their tests have come back negative, and they’re cleared for school, work, and other public things. Two people from our parish have volunteered to get the kiddos back and forth from school. We’re running a meal train for the family, and are making sure that they have help with laundry and cleaning. BabyInNICU is off his oxygen, and has been doing very well. Compadre is well enough that he got to go visit BabyInNICU last Sunday night! Comadre is still sedated. She has a leak in her lung, and now has some subcutaneous air from the leak, making her look a bit puffy and weird. Her doctor says the leak is small and should heal itself. She has no air around the lungs and there’s no need for a chest tube or further intervention. She’s basically stable, which is better than getting worse, but not as well as we’re praying for. I’ve been able to sim again, and Robin River will be back this evening. Obviously, we could all still use your prayers, but it’s no longer as extreme as it was. We’ve gone from terrified to scared. Thank you, so very much, for your prayers and love. Thank you for your notes of support. I’m not going to send individual answers and replies, but know that I’ve read them all and I really appreciate them. After my horrible last year+ of medical drama, I know full well that the reason my compadres and I are doing as well as we are is because of all the love and prayers of people like you. God Bless you! Be safe. Be kind. Continue helping your neighbors. Love,

Elfie

[elfpuddle]

[elfpuddle]

Book Meme

@dramallamadingdang tagged me a while ago, and I just haven’t had the time to sit down and type. My apologies for the tardiness!

Rules: in a text post, list 10 books that have stayed with you in some way. don’t take but a few minutes, and don’t think too hard- they don’t have to be the “right” or “great” works, just the ones that have touched you. Tag 10 friends, including me, so i’ll see your list ;3

Dragonsong/Dragonsinger/Dragondrums (a trilogy, but so good you can’t read just one) by Anne McCaffery. I read these in Junior High, and again in High School, and again every time I find them in my immense pile of books. Young heroine who achieves her dreams despite (and in spite of) societal pressures and in the face of grave dangers. And she doesn’t have to break any of her (or her culture’s) moral codes to do it!

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I read it for the first time in the fourth grade. I read it again yearly until well past High School. I’ve read the whole series at least twice. Yes, there’s a series. Yes, you should read the whole thing to really understand the characters.

Hamlet by William Shakespeare. No, it isn’t a book. Yes, I’m counting it, because I cannot live without Shakespeare. Cannot. Live. Magic Kingdom, For Sale, Sold by Terry Brooks. No, not the Shannara series, though that’s good too. Who doesn’t want to buy a magical kingdom and get away from it all?

The Book of Ruth (from the Bible. I hope you knew that). Okay, you already knew (you did, right?) that I’m Catholic. I’ve read the whole Bible, multiple times. I teach teens, children, and adults about the faith. I don’t consider myself an expert, but I am a catechist. Ruth is a wonderful story about the love between a woman and her mother-in-law. It’s a great inspiration for all of us who want to change ourselves. And it’s a great explanation for the way I fell for HubbyKevinTMC as well.

Scuffy the Tugboat (a Little Golden Book) I must have been in the second grade or younger when I first read this. It’s my jam. Really. “I was meant for bigger things” ... to end up at home with the people who love you most.

The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis. It’s the last in the Narnia series, and I really ought to be counting the whole thing. But the others leave you knowing that there will be more to the story, and so they never really feel finished. This one ends not only the book, or the series, but the world itself. You already knew that Lewis was a Christian apologist and that these stories are all moral allegories and metaphors, yes? I love this depiction of the Second Coming. Farther up and farther in! Absolutely!

Where the Sidewalk Ends, by Shel Silverstein. Some of my very favorite poetry, including things I did skits to in my years as a grad student in the theatre department, are between these covers.

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak. I HATE THIS BOOK!! My mom watched the movie when she was 8 months pregnant, and I’ve spent my life named after a woman whose whole story wasn’t in the movie, but was in the book. Mrs. Zhivago, my namesake (”Well, I couldn’t have named you after his mistress!” ~ Elfie’s mom) died of syphillis from her husband because of his mistress. The movie was meh, in my opinion. And the book is yucky. Very yucky!

Beowulf. Okay, not technically a book, originally. It counts. I taught this every year when I was the 11th and 12th grade English teacher at SRCHS. This was so much fun to teach to the seniors. So. Much. Fun!!!!

My apologies to all the books I left out. I love you. You stayed with me. I just couldn’t fit you here.

Ten people....feel free to ignore this, and feel free to tag yourself. Just tag me so I can read it!

@shastakiss, @allaboutmary, @bluehoppersimming, @collegecatholic, @echinopeae, @simper-fi, @lesyasun, @monkrock, @catholicknight, @simtzu