More Travails, and, Yet...

Even the cats hang out on the down comforter

While I was listing out everything that happened last Wednesday (the day Dave hauled me to the hospital to have my gallbladder scanned), I forgot to include all the Austin stressors that probably contributed to the root cause of the attack. The Great White North was not the only area of the country to be struggling with weather last week. Down in Austin it got so cold that the discharge pipe from the RO system on our well froze, and a water pipe to the apartment above the garage burst, spewing all the water in the well tank onto the stairs up to the apartment where it froze into a slippery sheet of ice all down. I found out about it when the realtor called because the cleaning people were at the house to do the deep clean, and there was no water. 

Our wonderful neighbor (who shall remain unnamed because he abhors social media and online presence) turned off the water to the house, replumbed the RO discharge, turned the RO back on, and tested it for us. When it didn't work right he diagnosed the problem (a bad pressure switch), and fixed it! Today he is meeting with our plumber to let him in to fix the pipe. I love him. Were it not for Dave (and his wife)...

I don't know what the status is of the cleaning--which has to be done before the staging, which has to be done before the photography, which has to be done before the house is (finally) listed for sale. But I trust Dina (our realtor) implicitly, and I know she will Handle It.

Today I am waiting for the guy that delivered our firewood to come and plow us out. J went out with  friends last night and had to walk down to the road (about a half mile) in some pretty deep snow so they could pick her up. Even when we're plowed out today I bet her Challenger is sidelined for the rest of the winter. 

My right hand aches as I type from where I either dislocated, sprained, or partially tore the tendon in my right, index, metacarpophalangeal joint a week ago. It is still swollen, and still painful, and a doctor friend who called to chew me out last night for still considering Oaxaca with my gallbladder issues also laid into me about potential permanent damage to that hand if I don't get it looked at by a doctor. When I went to the walk-in clinic, they x-rayed it to see if it was broken or still dislocated, but that was about it. I got a loose, supposedly-finger-immobilizing splint-thing, and no guidance how long to keep it on or if I should follow up with anyone... *sigh* Bodies suck.

And now the yet of this post... In spite of all the work it takes to live here in the snow, maintain my body, and learn how to manage retirement (that's a post for another day), I am happier than I have ever been in my life. There is nothing I can't handle, nothing I won't face, nothing that fills me with dread and makes my stomach tight and achey. Life is just right--and I'm going to keep it that way.