Good News and Bad News

I really need to blog more, so that I don't have to write such monstrous updates when I finally do post. Here, in bulleted form, is what's been going on. All things are either Good News (GN) or Bad News (BN):

• BN. Bear's rehab is going too slowly for his surgeon's liking. Instead of being cleared to go back to work, Dr. Wexler has ordered 6 more weeks of physical therapy. If Bear is not significantly better than he is now, there may be another surgery.
  
• GN. Things are going swimmingly for my fiber shop, Highland Handmades. So well, in fact, that I've begun a video podcast about it. It's called The Fiberista Files. I hope you'll consider watching! The videos are short (under ten minutes) and you get to see me, living my passion.
• BN. I'm officially being laid off at the end of the school year.
• BN. Administration hasn't told me yet. I heard it from a student who was at the meeting, and subsequently from other teachers who were there.
  
• GN. I've decided to celebrate instead of cry. This week my students and I will be having a Pink Slip Party, where we watch The Blind Side and eat popcorn and snacks. We're not done learning for the year, but I am determined to show my students that one can make the best of a situation.
• GN. I may have a job lined up for next year. It's not teaching - it's better. I can't talk about it yet, but it has potential life-altering possibilities. Good ones. Amazing ones.
  
• GN. With Bear's enthusiastic encouragement, I'll be doing my first trade show for my fiber business. The Maine Fiber Frolic is June 5-6 and I'll be a vendor at this event. I'll be crazy busy until then, but I'm so so so excited. Bear has been HUGE in this - encouraging, building, guiding, helping ... I'd be lost without him.
• GN. Jackson continues to grow like a weed and delight me daily. The pup, who's about a week shy of being five months old, is a whopping 52.2 POUNDS! I can't wait to see just how big he's going to get. I'll have to post new pictures soon, with a puppy pic for comparison.
  

So that's what's going on in my life ... how about in yours?

The Care and Feeding of Bear

I don't if it's just not his year, or if maybe Life is clearing the way for him to have a really excellent fall, but poor Bear has lost most of his spring to ailment and injury. First was his knee surgery on February 23rd, which we thought would put him out of work for a month - turns out that his knee was worse than they thought, so one month might be as many as three. He's been keeping himself busy, though, so it wasn't as bad as it could be.
But then last Monday Bear underwent surgery to remove his gallbladder. He'd been having pain for years, but all of his tests kept coming back negative. He had no stones, it functioned within normal parameters, he didn't have full on attacks like some people did, so the doc wasn't certain that removing the gallbladder would end the pain Bear was in.

When I met with the surgeon after the surgery, however, I was informed that the gallbladder was in fact bad (filled with cholesterol deposits and covered with adhesions, where his body had literally wrapped around it to protect itself). We both breathed a sigh of relief, happy that this was the cause of all of his pain.

What we weren't prepared for, especially after the ease of his knee surgery, was Bear's pain post gallbladder removal. The poor thing has been laid out all week with pain, tenderness, and some remarkable bruising. He's beginning the upswing now, but it's obvious to those that know him that he is not himself.

I hope that this is the last of his medical problems for a while, that he is able to heal and get some life back in his days. Warm weather is coming, and with it our favorite time of year. I just hope he'll be able to enjoy it.