Welcome to Chaos !!

So I had a small accident. I injured my hand. And for the first time since I have been in the US I had to go to the Emergency Room. NOT a good experience. The accident happened around 11 am on a Monday almost two weeks ago, hence no blogging. It also coincided with a person coming from Europe here to Portand kind of last minute so I have been busy with that. Basically driving them around and helping out with the DMV, banking stuff and looking for a vehicle and housing for them. Yes I am also many people's private assistant and a go to person when they are in need. I should open up my own private assistant business. Good idea actually.

OK back to my hand injury. The doctor at the Emergency Room decided to put four stitches in my hand. I have a REAL fobia of needles so when she numbed my hand SIX times I almost fainted and yes I cried LOUDLY. Then I was given a tetanus shot, one antibiotic pill, a prescription for antibiotics and told to go home and take some Tylenol or something for pain. I was not offered any kind of Tylenol or anything at the Emergency Room. Oh no. They are avoiding giving out any form of pain management in case you happen to be an addict looking to get high. I came in looking very disheveled so they probably thought I was homeless or something (they probably thought I was an addict, it would not suprise me).
Two days later by Wednesday my hand was getting very swollen, warm and red. The day after, so Thursday I go back to the Emergency Room in the evening and ask if this is what my hand is supposed to look like? No of course not. I was seen by a doctor a bit after midnigt and was told that I had to spend 24-48 hours in the hospital on an IV antibiotic drip.

I was like.....say what?! 😱

Again, I have a REAL fobia of needles (this stems from an extended VERY traumatic hospital experience as a child).
I NEVER had an IV. I almost passed out sitting down when the doctor told me this.
Also, I brought NOTHING with me going there cause I did not expect a longer stay. No toothbrush, no contact lense case, no glasses, no face cream, no comb - NOTHING.
Then the moment when the nurse came in to put the IV in my arm. OMG...sheer TERROR for me. Somebody came in to see if everything was alright cause I screamed so loud and they had to close the doors to the room I was in to not alarm the other people waiting to be seen. From then on I received a bag of antibiotic IV drip every six hours, it felt cold in my arm going in. Uncomfortable.

I could barely move my right arm that the IV was lodged into and I did not like the feeling in that arm plus I had no function of my left hand that was injured. To make things even MORE fun.....there was an abscess in my hand.
The stitches prevented the pus from coming out so my hand got infected. A hand surgeon came to look at it while I was sobbing and told me he had to take the stitches out and clean the wound really good. And in order to do that he had to numb my hand with Licodaine that came in a long needle that he had to basically stick into and around the wound. Like six times to numb my hand. I could not believe that this was happening to me. Again, LOTS of loud screaming (like horror movie style screaming) and crying on my end but I did not yank my hand away, I kept it still. 
He told me afterwards that some people get combative and try to punch him. I just felt terror and sadness.
And on top of it, the last night a nurse came in to my room at around 4 am to get more blood from me....I was like ABSOLUTELY NOT! So she came back with "my" nurse and my nurse told me it was necessary for them to get a blood sample, so I gave in.
I spent like 36 hours in there, or more? I lost count, it was all a blur. Got out last Saturday afternoon. The food was good though! I had vanilla latte twice. Yummy breakfast burritos. Mac and cheese and mashed potatoes. The nurses were nice but somewhat neglectful and not on top of things which was surprising. And of course those four stitches should had never been put in my hand in the first place, I would had been better off with no stitches. Got sent home with a prescription for more antibiotics, lots of gauze and a great thing called xeroform gauze dressing. Everybody needs that at home. I am feeling much better today.....almost back to normal now. I never ever want another IV again, I hope I never need one. I do never ever want stitches. Or another hospital stay. 

So in case you wondered where I have been... I was in the hospital and also been occupied with a lot (drama with others and trying to help others while injured). I hope next week will be less hectic so I can spend more time on the blog.

Hiiiiiiiii everybody! What's new with you? I had a busy week. Too busy. I do not want to be an adult this next week, I would like a break. I am finally catching up on several days of emails and paying some bills. Relaxing in bed and actually listening to music while I am writing this (a 90s R&B mix on Spotify) with one of my best friends......my purple and white very soft electric blanket. I love that thing. One of my best purchases. I usually do not listen to music on my time off because I hear music non stop at work so I really appreciate silence but it is actually nice to have some music on to sing along to.
Anyhow.....what is new with me? I tried a new (for me) Häagen-Dasz, it was OK. Dulce de Leche Churro. I think my fave Häagen flavor might be cherry vanilla. This was after work Friday and all I wanted to do was eat this ice cream, read and relax in silence.

I saw this at Stumptown today when I was getting my latte. I like it. 

I had Pet Pack today (which reminds me, I need to fill out my schedule for the rest of the month before I turn off my lap top tonight), I met with one of my fave little boys - Tucker. He got two bowls (I get them at Dollar General for $1.25 each) and a new jacket. His jacket had a tear in it. Tucker is super friendly and very cute as you can see. ALL pets deserve love and a safe place. They give us so much and should be treated right.
Here is my prayer to God - Please God if you make it so I win a large sum of money I promise to help animals and people in need with the money.

This evening's moon. Not a full moon yet.....but soon. I might go outside and look at the moon when it is full like Monday/Tuesday if I remember. 🌕

What else is new? I don't know if you have noticed but the blog went through some changes. It looks slightly different and it is now powered by Styx, a weblog engine. So my blog migrated. I have NO CLUE how to do these things. Somehow I was lucky enough to come across a very kind and patient individual in Germany 🇩🇪 that has helped me with all my blog needs for over a decade now. My most frequent three words to him are, "I don't understand". I am sure he gets very frustrated with me but I simply do not understand these things. So THANK YOU KISA for ALL your help. Danke, Tack, Dziękuję, Merci 😘 I am pretty sure that after I post this he will write me an email and tell me that I did something that was not correct. It is not as simple as writing a text, putting up a picture and pushing enter. There is a LOT more to this.
Another of my friends encouraged me to look into coding years ago. Ehhhhhh OK maybe I thought. So I talked to a place in Vegas, I can't remember now some school of some sort where they taught some coding of some sort. I quickly realized that me and coding was not a good match.
Jeeeeeez......I guess I will just have to show my boobs to strangers until I am like 75. Not too far off now. And then MAYBE I can retire.
Another prayer to God - Please God let me have nice boobs until I am at least 75 so I don't have to starve.

Me and two other Pet Pack team members saw these two pretty and warm jackets today for dogs on sale at the store where we keep our supplies. So we split the cost, only $9 each. We could not pass up that deal. Besides kibble and canned food, jackets for dogs are the most sought after item. And harnesses for dogs.

I met a dog today that REALLY needed a jacket. First time visitor. Not a good situation. Together with a chaotic couple (the dog's humans), no place to live, not even a tent. The poor dog was visibly anxious, cold, shivering and just wanted warmth, safety and love. I cradled his head in my hands and cupped his ears with my gloved hands and he burrowed his head in between my thighs for a moment. A moment of safety but just a moment unfortunately. I wish I could save him. I hope he is OK tonight. It is cold outside. He got one of those jackets, a pajamas, two leashes, boots and food. The humans got a phone number to a person that can help them secure a better situation for themselves, that is if they make the effort to contact the person. I don't know if they will but I certainly hope so.
I have volunteered with the Portland Pet Pack for a few years now. I have seen a lot of people and I am quite comfortable maneuvering around everybody and their needs. My priority is always with the animals. The people get food too and there are resources out there for them. I know of some sucess stories, like the beautiful blunose pitbull girl Lucy and her owner. When I first met them they were living in a tent, Lucy was visibly stressed out. No it is not fun for a dog to live on the streets in a tent on some corner. It is loud, scary, stressful, cold, windy and food might be scarce. Once her human found an apartment and a job Lucy got to live inside and she is so much happier now. I love when they come and visit so I can get updates. Lucy's human is a very nice man and I care for him too. Everybody has a story. There is a lot of sadness and suffering but hope and happiness too. I see that when I am down there volunteering. I am grateful that I have what I have, food and shelter.
I really hope this couple I met today can get it together. In general I do not think you should have pets or children if you cannot take care of yourself. If you are responsible and trying to get into a better situation then yes but if you are living a crazy and dangerous lifestyle then you are not a good pet owner.
I get really sad over all the animals that suffer because of us humans. Please do not breed your pets. Take good care of the ones you have. They depend on you for everything. Maybe one day I will be able to help more. That is one of my dreams.

It snowed in Portland.....the city stood still for a while. It took a friend of mine 13 HOURS to get home from work the other day. A trip that takes about 30-40 minutes usually. That is insane. I would had lost my mind waiting in traffic for that long, I can barely do regular bumper to bumper traffic.
The hummingbird water that I have out for the little hummingbirds that circle my backyard is frozen, I feel bad for the birds. 
So the other day I tried an eye cream I have not used before (Andalou Rejuvenating Plant Based Retinol Eye Balm), I use other Andalou products for my face so I did not think anything of it. I woke up Thursday with two eyes looking like.....red, puffy, skin stretching downwards. My eyes did not look like usual. Not fun. Not a good look for me. An allergic reaction of some sort. I thought maybe some chilled tea bags would help so I applied those Thurday night before sleep, woke up looking puffy still. Then I read some articles that eye creams can cause CHRONIC eye puffiness and bags under the eyes and that the only way to reverse that is to get blepharoplasty. Now I am not ready to have a plastic surgeon cut up my face.....yet. Ask me in 10 years and I might tell you something different. So I got some antihistamine and some sort of eye scrubs yesterday. Then towards the evening the skin around my eyes started to itch. Earlier yesterday I exchanged the Andalou eye cream for another eye cream I have used in the past (Wild Carrot Wild Rose Hydrating Eye Cream) and patted it on to soothe the irritated delicate skin around my eyes. Did you know that the skin around the eyes (especially the eyelids) is the thinnest skin on your body? I regret not taking better care of the skin around my eyes. Learn from Tati.....treat the skin around your eyes with the most gentle care, get a good eye cream and DO NOT use tanning beds and cover your eyes and face while in the sun as much as possible. 
Woke up today looking better but still not fully recovered. I hope my eyes go back to their normal state soon.

I have been making coffee at home. I do not think that the latte at Black Rock coffee shop close to where I live is worth the $6 plus so I am trying to get lattes from places where the quality is worth it. Like Stumptown. Besides coffee at home is kind of cozy, I get up, make the coffee and go back to bed, sip on the coffee while reading what is new in the world. 

Took an evening walk through the snow the other night. Saw this. Pretty!

Now I am going to start my day. Work tonight. Pet Pack tomorrow.

I was planning on working today but since then we are currently (when I am writing this) under winter weather advisory and it snowed like two inches this evening.....so Portland is basically in shutdown and people in almost panic mode.
This happens when it snows in Portland. So the club was closed and I went to Powell's Books instead to browse books.
It was so serene in there and I got an overwhelming feeling inside that books are beautiful. Even got emotional and teary eyed. Reading is a beautiful thing. I can still kind of remember when I learned how to read, ever since then I have been constantly reading.

I found this great book on pierogis today. When people ask "what's your favorite food", I am like.....I love food too much to pick a favorite food. BUT my true fave foods are pierogis and barszcz. Those are childhood foods and DELICIOUS. But I love food in general.

Here are some pictures from the book. This is barszcz.....red beet soup. I haven't had a proper barszcz since last time I was in Sweden, staying with my Mom.

No I do not make my own pierogis. But growing up I did with my Mom, from scratch at home of course. Mom would make the dough and the filling and I would be in charge of putting a glass upside down on the dough to make the round cut outs and then we would fill the dough with the filling together.

My Mom was born in Southern Poland close to the Ukrainian border. The closest large town was Lublin.

After Powell's Books I went to the grocery store. There was one little sample cup (just for me) left and they had my fave brand of coffee to sample, Stumptown. That made me happy.

Today was the last evening of the Portland Winter Light Festival which has been going on here in Portland for about a week now. Super fun and super nice, especially for kids (but not for dogs, I do not understand why some people insist to drag their poor traumatized dogs into events like these). I went down there around 8 pm, it takes me about 15 minutes to drive to City Center from where I live. Lots of people were out and about.
I don't know if this robot, Mechan 42 Space Explorer is going to stay here in Portland at the waterfront, it would be nice.

Lights reflecting in the Willamette River.

Lights in the trees - the city is so pretty right now.

Poineer Square had a large happy crowd, live music and propane flames. A touch of Burning Man here in Portland tonight.

I stayed for a bit.....then I had enough and drove home. Dateline and Earl Grey was on the agenda for the evening.