Friday, May 16 - An early morning start saw a few hours of work accomplished before my morning coffee. Always a morning-person, my first thoughts of the day are always my most creative. This is the most energetic and alert part of the day.

Writing is an important activity. Before upgrading my operating system to OSX, I used Word for writing. The program was purchased for a whopping $500 and used daily. It is disappointing that that investment has been undermined by the introduction of a new operating system. No longer able to afford such expensive software, I am on the prowl for a replacement within my budget limitations. Today I am giving the Beta of Nisus Writer a work out.

Rain falls gently this morning on the soft green garden. Our drought resistant grass is healthy and thriving. Literature has recently advised against growing edibles near pressure-treated wood products. Replanting the raised boxes in the garden is almost complete. They are now filled with Lambs Ears, Hosta Lilies, and Dead Nettles.

My allergies prevent me from consuming a significant proportion of food products on the market. One of the items not available in a safe form is the herb Thyme. Our friendly organic farmer has promised a quantity in the near future. In the meantime, two flower boxes will be moved into a sunny spot and planted with this much-desired herb. It is disappointing that even the specialty, non-irradiated; herbs are often cured with chemicals. This renders "health foods" most dangerous, because they often lack that all-important label.

In Canada, the holiday long-weekend begins tomorrow. Attila will get one of these three days off work, we do not care which day. Our exciting plans include sleeping-in, puttering in the garden, cooking, and eating. Simple, inexpensive, and perfectly suited to our tastes.

Thursday, May 22 - Recently we had a leak in the drainage system under the kitchen sink. Attila's repair seemed to solve the problem, at least temporarily. Friday night the toilet fought for our attention and won. I woke up to the sound of running water and tracked the source to the toilet tank. I decided to try fixing it myself. That, perhaps, was a mistake. My little quick fix resulted in water aggressively spurting out of the tank and all over the bathroom. The commotion awoke Attila who proceeded to turn off the water valve. It remained off until Sunday, when Attila had his first day home. Luckily, we have a small bathroom in our basement, which served us well during the wait.

Bright and early Sunday morning we were off to the building center. Our first thought was to replace parts. Optimistic, yes, that was optimistic. Seems our house has the original plumbing; it is about thirty years old. Apparently, modern toilets are significantly different from that which we own. No parts were available. So, we filled our cart with new fixings and carted it all home, where Attila spent the remainder of the day installing the new system. It works!

The remainder of the weekend passed uneventfully and pleasantly, as we focused on our favorite garden projects.

On Tuesday last, I began to feel quite out of sorts. Aching muscles resulted from even modest levels of activity. I put it all down to overdoing things in the garden on Monday.

Weeks ago I had begun to walk about for five minutes out of every half-hour, marking my progress with my stones. I have configured the computer to close down and refuse me entry for this duration. Suddenly, this five minutes seemed like climbing Mount Everest, with a large pack. After the second stone, I fell into bed, exhausted, and fell asleep immediately. My dreams were violent and disturbing.

A short time after waking up, while sitting at the computer, a little voice in the back of my head said, "This is not quite right, this falling asleep business!"

I called the doctor's office and within the hour, I was sitting in one of his examination rooms. Expecting to be gone from home for only a short time, I left the bread on its first rise, and did not bother to change out of my gardening clothes.

After having a good look at me, he said, "I was going to send you for blood tests, but I am worried that we don't have that much time".

As the doctor suggested, off I headed for the emergency room, at the local hospital. What amazes me is that I drove myself to the doctor's office, to the hospital parking lot, and managed to walk about a quarter of a mile from a parking lot to a reception area. At the first reception area I entered, I was told to go to another area of the hospital complex. That walk seemed the longest I had ever taken.

I arrived at the second wrong location, feeling very much on my last leg. At the reception desk, cheerful smiles met me, asking me questions about who I was visiting, as I recall. Realizing I had not arrived where I needed to be; that I was too tired to explain my predicament; I had the first panic attack of my life and a sudden fountain of tears were the only response I could manage. Before I knew it I had been masked, escorted to a wheel chair, provided with tissue and kind words, and was on my way to the emergency department.

A few hours later the results of the blood tests were in the hands of the doctors, my hemoglobin level was dangerously low. I was hooked up to machine to assess my heart. It seems there is a concern that such a low hemoglobin level may result in a heart attack in a woman my age. All was well with my heart, I was admitted to hospital without delay, and began to receive blood intravenously.

This is what I remember, of course things are a bit blurry. Sometime after I was admitted to emergency, I had the presence of mind to leave a message on our answering machine for Attila, who contacted the hospital immediately, when he returned home from work and learned of the day's events.

All's well that ends well, or so they say. I am now home, recharged, and comfortable. Attila and Mist seem very happy to have me back where I belong. The doctor's feel my problems are not permanent, nor need they be life threatening. Although not back to normal, I feel good. These next few weeks will be busy with consultations, and decisions about future treatment.

The next hour or so will find me sitting in the sunshine with a hot cup of tea, enjoying my good luck, and another perfect day!