The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot. ~ Baseball Pitcher Justin Verlander
The good news is that the recent cold weather has given me some beautiful sunsets to photograph. (See left.) The bad news is it’s cold outside.
The bad news is that I fell yesterday and hurt my wrist. 
The good news is that it isn’t broken. The bad news is that it’s sprained and painful. The good news is that I don’t need a cast. The bad news is that I do need a carpal tunnel splint. The good news is that I didn’t hurt anything else. The bad news is that I feel like a clumsy oaf!
The bad news is that my glasses fell apart in my hands on Thursday night. The good news is that I now have new ones with no scratches. The bad news is that they weren’t in my budget. The good news is that they were having a sale on Friday so I got a good deal. The bad news is that I’m feeling somewhat unlucky lately. The good news is that I’m an optimist; I’ll cast those negative thoughts out of my head.
The good news is that Lulu likes to lie on my lap and sleep. The bad news is that Lulu wants to sleep on my lap all the time. The good news is that I’m happy she likes me so much. 
The bad news is that I can’t get anything done. The bad news is that if I don’t let her sit on me she gets into mischief. She climbs among the electric wires behind the television. She climbs on the bookshelf and deliberately knocks things off. She gets under the end table and reaches up and tries to scratch my arm. The good news is she has finally settled down and is sitting as close to me as she can get with her head resting on the side of my laptop. Good cat, bad cat.
The bad news is that fifty people died in a hotel fire; the good news is that we got exclusive footage. ~ News Anchor Jessica Savitch (I can’t believe she actually said that on the air.)
Back On My Own 
Hi Darling,
It has been far too long, it’s on me, and I’m sorry.
Eek! I hope your wrist continues to improve, give it the time it needs to heal before you start crocheting. If the baby blanket really needs to get done, I could whip one up – in fibre terms that’s like two weeks – and send it out? I have a ton of wool suitable for this, and no babies to knit for. That’s not true, I knit for the wee ones in the maternity and premie ward, but I don’t get to see their enjoyment. Although I am well aware they are totally appreciated.
And what is ‘Arnica’? I could probably google it… I’m wondering if it helps with bone growth?
You are in my thoughts, always.
xo – S.
P.S. I type this as I lie in bed – still on bed rest for the most part, but physio starts this week! – my two cats cuddled on each side and the little ones head under my arm. I can’t keep them away, so have stopped trying. But it really is one of those good/bad things, isn’t it?
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Hi, Sweet S. I’ve missed you. I appreciate your offer. Here’s the deal. My friends who now live in Chicago just had their fourth child–a girl after having three boys. I made blankets for all three boys and I must make one for that sweet little girl now. The wrist is mostly better and I’m able to crochet again.
Arnica is a homeopathic treatment. It comes in a gel for topical use and it comes in tiny pellets that you put under your tongue three times a day. If you have bruising or unhealed surgical scars, it might be helpful. Ask your doctor about it. I seriously doubt it would hurt to try it.
Good luck with your physio. I think about you often and always send good vibes your way.
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Despite your wrist that I hope is better, I really loved this…so clever and the photos are great. Love the little Lulu litany, how she does naughty things to get your attention. Cats are so smart…and you are anything but an oaf. Your writing gets better and better…it’s all that reading that you do and for the record, J.S. is nuts. Really enjoyed this.
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Thank you, Susannah. And btw, I’ve learned that you’re not the only who thinks J.S was nuts.
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Arnica is a very good product. Peter and I, we both use it for our mouth on the recommendations of our dentist..It’s very sad how Jessica’s life ended. Glad your wrist is healing fast. I like the colors in your photo. Good shot! Thanks for sharing.
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We here in the States are slow to embrace homeopathic and other natural cures. I think Arnica is starting to catch on though. i learned that it’s available at WalMart. I knew I would be able to find it in health/health food stores but I was a little surprised to know WM carried it. Maybe that means I’m the one behind the times. 🙂
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Lovely post, Pat. Sorry to hear about the wrist but glad it is feeling better.
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Thanks, Brenda. It’s getting better faster than I ever would have imagined. I probably could have crocheted tonight but I didn’t. Maybe tomorrow night.
It’s good to hear from you.
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Gah to your wrist! Gah! And a huge “holy wow” to that parting quote. I don’t recognize its speaker’s name, but … wow.
(Also, my phone helpfully auto corrected “gah” to “gay.” Not quite, phone. Not quite!)
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Hi Deb. Thank you. As noted in comments above, my wrist is improving rapidly.
Ah, self-correcting smart phones aren’t always so smart. I’ve inadvertently sent out a few “mis-messages” that I would like to take back.
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Ups and downs – beautifully and wryly recorded! But how would we appreciate the ups without the downs? Whoever Jessica Savitch is, she must be wanting to bite her tongue off!
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Thank you, Cat, for your compliment. And yes, I agree. The downs are a necessary part of living and I do indeed enjoy the ups when they grace me with their presence.
Poor Jessica. She died an untimely death when the car in which she was a passenger “one dark and stormy night” (along with her dog Chewy) went off the road and into some water and mud. The driver was still buckled in but Jessica had apparently tried to get out. They say the mud sealed the doors. Sad story.
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Pat, It is funny that you write about Jessica. She actually died in New Hope in the Delaware Canal, not far from the Logan Inn. For the past three days we have been following a very tragic story about a missing woman who worked in New Hope and lived in Lambertville, just across the bridge. She was walking home at 2 am on Saturday and never got there. Her body was found in the canal yesterday and Laura and I had been talking about Jessica’s accident. So far they think she slipped and fell into the icy water. We pray that it was this kind of accident and not foul play!
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Hi Kathy. Sorry I’ve taken so long to respond. Been a bit busy.
I hadn’t heard about the recent demise of the woman in the canal. Sad.
I vaguely knew about Jessica. Using a quote from her has been interesting to say the least. I’ve learned that those who knew who she was have rather strong opinions about her. Somehow, based on my brief research and others’ comments, I think she would like the fact that people are still talking about her.
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I can’t believe Jessica Savitch would say that. Mind you I’ve never heard of her, but it was an uncommonly stupid thing to say, let alone think. That aside, what a brilliant post is this. It had me smiling and chuckling as I went from light to shade sentence by sentence. You are a registered treasure in my book.
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Hi Ducks. See notes above about Jessica Savitch, if you’re interested. I value highly your “registered treasure” comment.
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Hi..glad to see you kepy positive amongst all the mishaps. …here is to a better day tomorrow 🙂
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Thank you, Elizabeth. As mentioned above, my wrist is improving in leaps and bounds.
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Loved it, Pat. Please keep us posted on your progress with the wrist. Can’t believe you’re able to type. Hope there were three bad things in all that (and I think there were – weather, writst, and glasses.) Means your bad luck is over 😉
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Hi Tish. I hope you’re right about my run of bad luck. My wrist is remarkably better today. I’m thinking it must be the homeopathic cure LMR gave me. Have you heard of Arnica? Typing was a little uncomfortable Sunday night. Since then it’s been okay. Crocheting is not quite okay yet. I guess my current baby blanket will wait for me.
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The Swss swear by arnica – good stuff!
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Good to know. Thank you.
Sent from my iPhone
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Never heard of it. So now I have something to learn about. Thanks for the learning opportunity. Can understand crocheting taking a little longer to get back to.
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Jessica Savitch said that? OMGosh. I watched her bio not long ago. Fascinating. Xxx
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I actually researched her, wondering if she really said it. I found several sites that credited her with the quote, and none that denied it. She was apparently a golden child who died too soon. Still, that quote is pretty gruesome.
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