The Other 364 Days

“The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year.”

– American humorist Mark Twain

And Lord, what fools we mortals be! So far, there have been two successful April’s Fool’s jokes played on me. The first was to wake up to find my car covered in snow this morning. Granted, it wasn’t a lot of snow. That’s not the point, though. The Weather Deities have still had their little prank. I’m glad I found a nice sheltered spot for my as-yet unplanted primroses. It would have been traumatic to lose them before they even made it into the garden. The second prank was successful because the person who pulled it hadn’t intended it to be a prank. I just went and took something literally that was supposed to be a joke. Just call me gullible.

I did manage to fall up the stairs to my office this morning, which would have been a great April Fool’s Day prank on myself had I managed to injure myself. I bent my hand back rather badly, but nothing is broken or even sprained. There were no witnesses, so my ego is even intact. There is a security camera whose field includes the door to my office, so there’s always a chance the guys in security witnessed my tumble. If they did, the best I can hope for is that they didn’t catch it on tape.

April is the cruelest month, breeding

Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing

Memory and desire, stirring

Dull roots with spring rain.

– T. S. Eliot, The Waste Land, 1922

And here we go: the inevitable MELD standing for the week. It would appear that people are sneaking past me on the list. I continue to sit at a solid 18.

All Types:	421
Liver Status 7 (Inactive):	46
Liver MELD / PELD <10:	250
Liver MELD / PELD 11-18:	108
Liver MELD / PELD 19-24:	17

The results of my blood work from yesterday once again showed improvement, but I don’t think my doctor is going to submit them. I started the new diuretic this morning, and the bathroom and I are solid buddies at the moment. My poor kidneys probably don’t know what’s hit them. They’d gotten used to slacking off, and now they have to work double-time again.

The Younger Sister phoned me last night, which is most unusual. She called just to “touch base” with me. I suspect the Elder Sister might have had something to do with it either directly or indirectly, since Younger Sis indicated that Elder had been keeping her up-to-date on how I’ve been. We made plans for both the Elder Sister’s birthday (which falls on the 12th) and for Easter. Younger Sister will host a tea on the 13th for Elder’s birthday (I have to work on the 12th) and we’ll do the present exchange then.

Easter will be at my place. Younger eats no meat, so Easter will be a bit of a challenge. I’ll thumb through some of my cookbooks tonight looking for low-sodium, no carnivorism options for a festive dinner.

With no segue whatsoever I now jump into plans for this weekend. My company sponsors a Health Fair every year. Many moons ago I volunteered to help out when they passed around a sign-up sheet looking for extra hands. I indicated I was really only good for “light duty”, and when I didn’t hear back I assumed that they had no use for me. Ah, beware the lure of “assume”; as they wise folk say, it makes an “ass” out of “u” and “me”. Yesterday, while I was out, the coordinator left a message on my phone that they wanted me to help with the med records at the free blood-testing booth. Figures. I’d already gone and made a hairdresser appointment. Still, I did say I’d help, so it would be small of me to back out now. I’ll have to see if I can get the salon appointment changed to late afternoon.

When March goes on forever,

And April’s twice as long,

Who gives a damn if spring has come,

As long as winter’s gone.

– R. L. Ruzicka