Catching up.

Been a little MIA since St Patty's Day, but I'm trying to get back on track. Been a busy 6 days or so. My wife was scheduled for an out patient surgery on Friday. It was time to change the battery on her DBS again, and instead of going a couple suburbs over, we needed to go downtown for the procedure. We are going to try a rechargeable battery so we can get about 9 years between replacements instead of 12-18 months.

Had to get things taken care of Wednesday and Thursday - clean house, clean sheets, you know the drill. Well, the washer decided to take a crap Wednesday night. So that's where everything started to go downhill. Ok - maybe downhill is a real negative statement. Let's just say that the weekend continued to be a struggle after that.

Friday came surgery day. We check in at 9:30am. They had moved up the surgery time from noon. Well, we are in pre-op about 10:30......and we wait. And wait. And wait. Finally, about 12:30, we start getting the doctors in charge coming by to say she is going in soon. The previous scheduled surgery went long. Kath gets in about 1. At about 2:30, I can go back to the post op to see her. When I walk in, the first thing she says is "I have to go back in". I figure it's the sedative talking so blow it off and just help her out as needed. Then the nurse comes in and tells me Kath is right. They were getting resistance in the current from the battery and need to open up the incision and see what's wrong. So back the the waiting room, and back into surgery. Come 3:45 or so, she is back out. Doc said they think there was some moisture on the leads causing the issue. It's resolved and the battery is functioning properly. We finally leave the hospital at 4:45 - 7+ hours for a procedure that took a little over an hour last time. And we head home in rush hour traffic.

Ok - get home, drop off the prescriptions and Kath hits the sack. I crash pretty early too. Got a big day tomorrow. Since payday isn't for another week, and I spent a lot of the last paycheck on bills and other issues, there is little money for a washer. When my mom passed, we left the washer and dryer in her house. I figured I would go back and grab it (yes - it would be breaking and entering, but tough crap). So Saturday, we head for my mom's house. As we walked to the back, I looked in a window and noticed it was very clean. Like super duper clean. Sure enough, they had cleaned the place about a month prior, according to a sheet I could read on the kitchen counter through a window. The appliances were still there, but they are more than likely inventoried. No way I am going to take them, even if they should be mine. I was still able to sneak in the house once more and took a look around. It was nice to see it as it was when my mom and I moved in there in Dec of '88 (I think). With the struggles she was having emotionally, the house was borderline hoarder, so it looked nice all empty. I'm sure she was pissed, though.

So heading back to hit the laundromat. We stop to visit my wife's mom, and she kindly offers to buy a washer. Pay her back next week. Well, that will help. Go back home, but it's late and we didn't make it in time for the pharmacy.

Up Sunday morning. Kath is having some issues with her DBS. She has it cranked to the top limit they set, and she needs to take extra meds to control the tremors. Something just isn't right. She's listless, groggy and says she doesn't feel right. We leave a message for the doc, but it's Sunday. Kath relaxes for the day. I am researching washers and decide on a couple at the outlet store nearby. Look doesn't matter. We head over and find the one we like. Here's the good part of the weekend - it was mispriced, but the manager honored the price that was on it. Got it home, got it installed and it works.

This morning, Mother Nature is a dick and drops 3 inches of snow. Kath also has a nasty cough and still feels kinda blah, so she stayed home from work. The assistant calls us and we talk. She brings up that she was put under twice and the extra amount of anesthesia used is probably still in her system. Plus, they just reset the DBS device back to how it was prior to the replacement, so we may need to get the settings tweaked. Kath is starting to feel better later in the day. Plus, she is getting off the pain meds, which could be attributing to the general blahness.

That about wraps it up. I was running around left and right. My wife was cut open twice and generally feels like crap. The washer broke, but the new one seems to be working well. Let's just end this with a couple scans of cards.

As opposed to how flagship looked in hand, I am SO not completing the Heritage set this year. Oh, they did a decent job. I just don't like it. I was in the case break from Chris over at Nacho Grande. I had Sox, Indians and Phillies. If anyone wants a Indians or Phils team set, let me know. You can have them. Above are two of the White Sox SPs in the set.

Here is the other, and a nice action variation of Sale. Came out of the last box, thank goodness, as I wasn't getting hit love in the case. Then Chris opened a box of 2004 Topps Clubhouse Collection and the gods shined on me.

Great addition to the Konerko binder with a relic bat numbered to 50. Thanks for the break, Chris. Here's to a normal week.