The Matt That Knows Too Little

A new hobby my buddy John R. planted in my head

I have been doing a lot of odd things to keep myself busy while Jill is medicated or sleeping in the hospital. I know I am only one block from the Nike store on the Magnificent Mile, I can see Lake Michigan from the hospital window so there is lots to do all around me. But, I am here to help take care of Cha Cha and I take that responsibility very seriously so the furthest I have gone while she has been here, other than home most nights to keep normalcy for Fabio, is down to the second floor to get lunch or occasionally dinner or breakfast. The point that I have been leading up to was that I have been spending lots of time on the computer and reading. Writing this blog has helped keep me occupied and I thank you for reading it to give me the drive to write about Jill's progress once or twice or thrice a day. In a large way you are helping Jill by helping me stay focused. Facebook has been a huge source of entertainment and comfort. All the love that you have sent Jill and I that way, among other ways, has helped to keep both of our spirits higher. I will ask her, "Who is that (person liking a post about her)?" And she will say something like, "She is from work, you remember her, you met her at the Christmas party..." And she will ask me, "do I know him?" And I might say, "I went to high school with him" or "we were in Drum and Bugle Corps together." People will also post crazy quizzes and facts and things that normally I might ignore that help keep me out of trouble. My friend Emily V.D. (who I used to work with) posted a thing about what our elf names would be at the North Pole and Jill and I cracked-up to find out her name would be Pudding Sugar-Socks and I had tears pouring down my face from laughter when I read that my elf name is Pixie Pickle-Pants. My friend John R. (drum and bugle corps and friend since I have been about 10-years-old) posted a photo for me that, if I can get away with it without getting busted by hospital staff,  I am going to try. I will take a photo when I am done. I am going to be like Andy Dufresne (yes, that is the way to spell his name - you don't have to look) from Shawshank when I am hiding it in the closet whenever I hear the screws coming or I leave the room. Thank you for your help and joy and distraction you have been. We really do appreciate every one of you.

While I was driving in this morning I was dictating notes to my phone (who says I don't have friends?). I said (and it wrote) " I am in a horseshit mood. I usually do not swear much because I was always told that 'swearing was a lazy mind trying to express itself forcefully' but sometimes things are horseshit and sometimes I am just a cantankerous moody son of a bitch... Maybe it's because tomorrow is Pearl Harbor Day? I should probably just find a bar bear the hospital and splash down some kamikazes."

The drive back and forth is tiresome sometimes but I know I have a couple different worlds to juggle right now. Many, many people have offered to help with home or here but I NEED to do them both. I will let you know if I need help - I promise. Last night it only took me about 85 minutes to get from the hospital to home. The traffic was moving well and I just kept-up with the flow of traffic. That was probably a bad idea because at one time I looked down and I was going 106 miles per hour (theoretically, because that would be reckless driving and I would not do that - I have immunity via poetic license). People are under the impression that the new Fiats are slow - they are VERY wrong. The speedometer goes up to 140; I had always thought that was just for show but now I am not so sure. I may have to head out to the Salt Flats in all of my spare time. Mostly I really like the drive in and out. A couple of mornings ago another Fiat (a white one with stripes) got on the tollway and moved in right behind me. When she entered the tollway I was next to her and she looked over and we waved at each other and smiled. It is funny how Fiat people are like motorcycle people. They always do the hand wave thing  and we always do the wave and smile thing. I think we hurt some big vehicle egos when we both blew by some people at 85 MPH.

The other day it was all the way up to 37 degrees and when I passed over Wacker Drive I put the top down and drove the rest of the way to the hospital with the top down. I love looking up at the tall buildings when I am sitting at the stop lights. I also was in SPORT mode which allows me to shift on my own and wind the engine-out a little bit. Cha Cha hates when I drive that way because she thinks it is going to ruin the engine. Then why does J.Lo do it in the commercials? It was meant to do that plus you are using more fuel that way and supporting all of the poor oil companies. Today when I drove in it was 40 degrees but just as I was coming up to Wacker I saw a lot of traffic ahead so I decided to take Wacker Drive again this time. Therefore, I left the top up because they are no tall buildings down there. The whole way from Congress to Columbus there were only three other cars down there. Can anyone ever drive on Wacker Drive and not think of The Blues Brothers? I know I cannot. I pretty much think about Jake and Elwood off-and-on while I am anywhere in the city (as well as Batman, of course).

Jill isn't feeling very well today. She has been having lots of pain and nausea. She still has not pooped but she is peeing fairly regularly and we just went for a walk around the east-side of 12th floor. EAST SIEEEEDE! We even ventured out into the area that connects the east with the west where the elevators are The Forbidden Zone. We are such Mavericks. Cha Cha also is not eating hardly anything. Based on all of that and the criteria for her to be able to bee free she is not ready to go home. I know it is only Saturday and the surgeon said it would probably be Monday and he would not be concerned if she were still here Tuesday. So, now worries yet.

There is a hiccup with my paperwork and with me getting paid for being here. The problem is that I asked a doctor here a week or two ago (too lazy to check my notes for the exact date right now but it doesn't MATTer for this anyway) to fax some information to the Human Resources Department at my work. I succinctly wrote-up all of the stuff they needed, gave it to the doctor and he told me that it would be no problem. No problem? I got an email from my boss (very nice - just looking-out for me) that she hadn't heard from H.R. that my FMLA had been extended. I tracked-down the doctor today (that was not that easy in a hospital this big). He called me right back and said that he had sent it as promised and said he would fax it again today. I still would like that copy for my files/records. So, I emailed my boss and the lady at H.R. and just hope that it works-out. Me getting paid is important but there are LOTS of things more important. I will do what I can to make this right with H.R. but, as Jill and I were humming right before she went into surgery, Que Sera Sera. I think that link is a better video than the one I posted on surgery day. Did you know that that song was introduced to the world in film The Man Who Knew Too Much (Alfred Hitchcock, Jimmy Stewart, Doris Day)?

There is a Crohn's Disease commercial on television here in Cha Cha's room while we watch The Firm - weird. I have always loved this film - Grisham is fantastic.

I am going to stop now. It is 1416 and I have nor eaten anything today and, as they say, I need to keep-up my strength; I don't want to get sick too. Thank you for stopping by on your weekend. I don't know how any of my days will go lately so I don;t know if I will blog again today or not until tomorrow. I do know lots of people want to keep updated on Cha Cha