Scanned and sushi-ed.
So, I survived my PET scan just fine today. Actually, I had a chest x-ray and some blood drawn, too, but those were minor compared to the PET scan. I prefer that, though, to the CAT scan. Something about all that barium really messes up my insides for a couple of days. In fact, when I told my oncologist that, she agreed to stick with the PET scans, unless they showed something to be worried about so that I didn’t have to deal with the indigestion and, um, other attendant problems that came with the CAT.
In any case, I won’t get the results of that for a week.
Afterward, my driver of the moment, J., and I went to a sushi joint. It was a place on Kirby called Azuma. It was pretty good and not too expensive, even if we did get the lunch specials, with a little extra. It had a nice, relaxing atmosphere and the sushi was really top-notch.
And, I’ve been meaning to mention that I had sushi with an old friend from back East a couple of weeks ago, too. He’s a consultant doing work for highly-confidential clients. It’s something he takes pretty seriously, which is a good thing, but, as a result, he couldn’t tell me that he was in town until he was, well, in town. So it was a really nice surprise and I ran down to his hotel to pick him up for dinner. We went to a different sushi place, which is why I thought of it again. That time, it was Shimako‘s on Westheimer. Also a very good place for sushi. He paid, though, so I have no idea about the prices.
I’ve been pretty lucky with my friends over the years. Somehow, I manage to find the most loyal, giving people who weather some of the strangest, most uncomfortable times with me. I’m honestly not sure how that works, but, well, I’m just going to accept it and be grateful.
Speaking of being grateful, I had a lot to be grateful for this weekend.
First of all, I came into a little money unexpectedly. Not enough to dig me out of debt completely, but enough to pay one, lingering, medical bill that I’ve been ignoring with enough left over to do some charity stuff and pay cash for Christmas. It was a very, very pleasant surprise, though, I have to admit, I was a little skeptical at first.
In any case, that got me so pumped up that I managed to motivate myself to get something like eight boxes of my ex-wife’s books out of the house. Even better, I took them to the local Half-Price Books, so I actually got $60 for them. Not bad, especially for books I really didn’t want in the house any more. After the first of the year, I’ll have a couple more boxes sorted and ready to get rid of, so I’ll head back. Now, sadly, I admit, I spent that cash on books for myself. Still, I figure, books that I like are a good trade for books I don’t.
Now, the funny thing is, one large box of books was, um, rather, ah, “adult”. So, I warned the nice lady who was going to sort them and make me an offer. I didn’t want her to accidentally expose any kids to those books and scar them for life. But, to ease us past the social awkwardness of that moment, I joked that they’d scarred enough lives already. That got a little laugh and a bit of curiosity on her part.
When she called me back to tell me how much they’d give me, she assured me that I didn’t have anything in there that they hadn’t seen before. Now, that might have been a bit of an exaggeration, I knew that there probably wasn’t much in there that would shock her. But, I laughed and shrugged and said, “Well, you know, ex-wife…”
She laughed and smiled and said, “Yeah, I know, ex-husband.”
And she was kind of cute, in a butch way, and had some nice tattoos, so… Well, let’s just say I’m looking forward to bringing the next batch of books which are somewhat less, ah, exciting than this last batch.
But, I was still so charged up from what I managed in the morning, that I got my laundry done and folded and put away. And, I managed to get the wireless card working in an old, spare laptop, so it’s going to become a Christmas present for my red-neck nephew. He’ll be excited, because he can sit in the coffee shop in the little, rural town where he lives and use their free wifi. Yes, a coffee shop with free wireless in a town of less than 4,000. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
And, then I got the rest of my Christmas shopping done. My siblings and their families will be getting something from Bell’s Farm, as usual. I like sending Texas fruit to the poor folks up North for a couple of reasons. First, because fruit is so expensive up there this time of year. And, also, because I had an uncle in Florida who used to send fruit every year, too, and I liked the idea of carrying on the tradition. Though, I have to admit, he sent fruit to more people than I do!
Anyway, it was a great weekend and I got tons and tons of stuff done. I did so much that I already have plans for a similar weekend coming up! Though, next weekend will be devoted to photography and web design and stuff for the Super Secret Creative Project of Doom. And, possibly working on a map and some background material for a setting idea I have for fiction. I hope making it more solid, more real, will help me come up with ideas for stories. We’ll see. Oh, and I’ll write another post later in the week about my planned charity with a portion of my unexpected bounty.
Until then, though, keep your holiday spirits bright!
