When things go bump in the night

I don't know which end is up.

Well, I know which end WAS up when the tree fell on my house. That's the end of a big tree limb which was supposed to be up facing the sky but which was instead facing across my garage roof (which probably saved me) and into my bedroom window.

My house is a mess, and my two special spaces – my bedroom and kitchen – are in disarray. And that has affected my head. Also the squamous cell biopsies came back as positive, i.e. needing more Mohs surgery, but I found out in an unfortunate way when the system (the Patient Gateway portal) spit out the results in medical jargon (invasive with wide margins and other scary stuff) before the doctor had a chance to call me. I called the office and she returned the call the same day and apologized for that happening. It is more of the same, more Mohs surgery, skin cancer as a chronic disease. She is suggesting a new medication that might cut down on these, but I have to run them by my team due to the side effects.

Bedroom ceiling

I had been hesitant to put it on Facebook because I'm trying to use it less, but I did it anyway and was gratified by the outpouring of support. So that is the good thing about Facebook. If you don't already know, here it is. A tree fell on my house. Actually it was part of a tree. Here's what I wrote, referring to the night of Dec. 18th:

So this happened Wednesday night. I was in bed and heard a big boom. The tree split in the wind and came in right above my head. I had spent around $6,000 this spring to remove dead or damaged pines but this one seemed fine. South Hadley police came over to check me out. I was pretty shaken up but eventually able to sleep in another room. Obviously insurance will pay but I’m not looking forward to how much work needs to be done. Will need to get some areas covered to keep cold out. Oh also there is a big hole in my garage roof. Nobody died or got hurt so that is the bright side.

Things are moving along. The original tree work was done by THE tree guy – Peter Edge – and I don't think he is responsible for what happened. It was a very windy night that included an ice storm. In any case he came the next day and cleaned up the mess. I have a contractor who sent someone over to put a tarp on the garage and the house. I learned a new verb. To tarp. They tarped the garage and the house roof. Spell check doesn't think it's a real word but they were using it. So. An insurance adjuster came and said he has seen worse, such as houses split down the middle. Of course on the news we have all seen worse caused by tornados and other disaster. The copper roof will be a challenge.

And Australia is burning. Of course climate change is a hoax.

But I digress.

Tree guy working

My bedroom has to be emptied out. It is mostly done. Joe and Katie helped a lot. So did my honey, who took apart my brass bed and put it in another bedroom while I was out and about. Before they were moved, I took out some dresser drawers and tried not to put them back until I threw away or gave away some stuff. I have drawers full of cards from the kids. Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, birthday, cuteness and love. I read some and put some back and could barely stand to do it but I threw just a few away some. Buried underneath, a wedding photo in a beautiful frame and a letter from an old flame whose handwriting sends me back. He wrote that he couldn't believe we were 50. I kept the photo in the frame and threw out the letter.

To make room for everything that I need to remove from a large part of the kitchen (above which the ceiling is caving in), I cleaned out a cabinet and found a treasure trove of kids' writing. I brought Ben a notebook of his from 1992 to 1993. A lot was about sports. He also write a Clinton-Gore campaign spot. (He didn't believe Bush, and he thought Ross Perot couldn't win.)  Katie wrote about the adventures of a character named Louise and put out a newspaper.

In the room where I'm sleeping, the radiator snaps, crackles and pops. It is in the old part of the house with radiators, not the quiet baseboards from my room. It is Joe's old room, and the floor is so slanted that I feel like I'm downhill skiing to get out. The morning light comes in so brightly that the first night, even with good curtains, I was half asleep and wondering who turned on a light.

If things come in threes, hopefully I'm done. But I think I might have four. First the car accident, then you could maybe count rolling over on my glasses, then the skin cancers and then the tree. Maybe I should remove the glasses from the count.

I went to two fun Hanukkah parties and had one nice Christmas eve and Christmas morning.

It was great to have two kids living in the house for more than a couple of days.

As usual, I was sad that they left but grateful for all of them.