Saturday Morning Update

Hello Ms J.

Sorry I haven't written lately. I've been busy doing nothing and doing without. There are two things I'd like to write about today, before my leg begins to throb and I'm forced to return to my recliner chair downstairs: Dan is the first on my mind.

Dan's assistance has been ... adequate this past week. I have not starved. But it is the very nature of a teen to be selfish. Dan is a teen. He is 18, but in many ways, younger. On Monday, I rose at 8:00 after a sleepless night, and descended the hardwood stairs. On my bum. One step at a time. Like a toddler. I hopped painfully to a chair and there I sat until nearly noon when The Boy finally crawled out of his bed of tangled sheets and cat hair.

I explained my predicament (disgusted that I should have to) and he promised to set his alarm and rise earlier. 10:00. For my part, I'll do my best to stay in bed a bit later. I am the kind of person who likes to have coffee and breakfast soon after waking. I will adjust to Dan's (now modified) schedule.

Dan does whatever I ask of him. He's really good that way. And he doesn't complain. Much. But he does things in his own way, in his own time. He does NOTHING without being asked.
Dan washes the dishes. He hates it, but he does it. Once a day. Upon rising in the morning. Sometimes, he lets things pile up a bit and tidies up every second day. I hate this. I like a clean kitchen. I like a clean house. Dan is perhaps the laziest man I have ever met. It wouldn't surprise me if one day he married a pregnant woman. OK. That's a bit extreme. But he IS lazy.

He leaves recyclables at the top of the cellar stairs until the mess spills out onto the kitchen floor. Why not carry a few items each time you go into the cellar, Dan? He prefers to warm food in the oven, because it's "too much bother" to transfer the food into a non-metal container and add a few drops of water before putting it in the microwave. I eat a lot of unnecessarily dry food. He makes me coffee in the morning. Not drip coffee from the coffee maker, the way I like it, no. "Too much bother." I get instant coffee. Yuck!!

"Damn, boy!" I tell him. "This coffee's wicked strong. Did you use just one teaspoon?"

"There's no more clean spoons, Dad," he hollers from the kitchen. "I just grab the jar and dump some into yer cup."

Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh .......

I am adjusting. I will adjust. And I am grateful for his help. I am, and I tell him so. My home and my Life will return to normal in 6 - 8 weeks.

I worry every time he goes out, but to the best of my knowledge, Dan's been drugfree all week.

There was something else I wanted to write about, Ms Journal: The generosity of friends and family. It's been awesome, I say. Awesome!

I'll write about it later, though. My foot is swollen and throbbing in rhythm with my shin. Oh, and I'll tell you about my visit last Tuesday to the fracture clinic. I have to return there again next Tuesday.

Arse down now. Foot up. Where the hell did I leave that remote control?