Week 4 - Another Sad Week

It was not a good week. I was still worried about Rene, of course, but then there was the raccoon.

I had noticed on the weekend that a raccoon was sleeping in the cat shelter on my deck. The cats weren't happy about him being on the deck and I didn't want him there either so at lunchtime on Monday, I made a trail of raisins and chicken skin to lure him away from the shelter so I could move it off the deck. It worked so I opened the slider and grabbed the shelter, taking it through the house, out the side door and into the backyard. But when I walked by him on my way back in, he fell over and as I watched him hobble back towards the corner, he fell over again. He was injured. 

I thought on it for the rest of the afternoon and at 5:00 called the Wahoo Police since we don't have animal control. They said they'd come and when they got here, rifle in hand, I warned them that he was in the corner right by the open trapdoor that gives me access to my faucets and if he woke up, he'd go under the deck. It was like talking to a wall. One of them charged onto the deck and down went the raccoon. As I walked away, the last thing I heard was "I can see him right there. We can shoot safely." I went inside not wanting to hear or see anything. But 10 minutes later, they were at my side door to tell me that their rifle hadn't fired. OMG! Aren't the cops the ones who should have working guns? They told me to call back when he was out from under the deck and the trapdoor was closed. I moved the house back to the corner and put some lunchmeat by the trapdoor and went to knitting. He was not back in the house when I got home so I went to bed in hopes that he would go back in it overnight.

Of course I woke up at 4:00 am and had to check on him. He was back in the house and I was able to put the cover on to block his access to under the deck. Alas, I didn't fall back asleep until 30 minutes before I had to get up. I called the police first thing and they said they'd come out again. I was on a zoom when they came and I heard nothing. They came to the door to tell me it was all taken care of and I felt instantly relieved. I drove through Scooters for a latte to give me some energy and made it through my training session that afternoon just fine. I prepped for Wednesday on campus and had a relaxing night.

First thing on Wednesday, Cindy presented me with an early birthday present. She couldn't wait for me to open it and it was great. She had bought me the 2 colors of sock yarn I needed for my temperature socks! I can't believe I went into that level of detail on the colors I needed and then that she remembered it and ordered the yarn from Brown Sheep. Lovely! Layton cancelled lunch but I went with Steve and we had a nice lunch at Bahnwich Cafe. The day was full of meetings and flew by then I did a Walmart run in search of Tetley's British Blend, which of course they were out of.

When I was telling my co-workers about the racoon at the end of the day, Lacey asked why I hadn't called a wildlife rescue and I was gobsmacked. I had literally never thought about that and started to feel guilty. I googled before bed and there was a rescue in Omaha and their website said they took raccoons and even mentioned broken legs. The stewing started and I slept badly, waking up on and off all night thinking about it. When Deanne called me Thursday morning to ask how I was doing, I burst into tears and couldn't stop. I zoomed with Cindy and then took a shower to wash away the tears, which seemed to help. Normal people would call in sick but I feel guilty about that too so didn't have a productive morning but was fine by the afternoon.

I had plans to meet Lori in Omaha at Imagiknit to use my 20% off coupon on a skein of yarn. I took a short lunch and left at 4:30. We had a lovely time chatting with Karla, I bought a beautiful skein of yarn and then we went next door for a Vietnamese dinner. I stopped at Walmart again and this time scored my tea. Things were looking up.

Friday was the last above freezing day before a cold snap so I washed my sheets and hung them out to dry over lunch. I had a productive day but Carolyn messaged at the end of the day that her mom had died. It was quick and she was teaching a dance class at her assisted living when she fell ill so was doing what she loved. More sad news but I made the bed, took a shower, put on a fresh nightie and was ready for a relaxing weekend. 

I texted Rene on Saturday morning and she asked if she could come up with supper. She needed to get out of her house so I told her to skip the food and come up for tea. I did a mad neatize and the floors - vacuuming, sweeping and washing - then put blueberry muffins in the oven and some dough in the bread machine. We had a nice afternoon - she talked and I listened - then I made pizza and we had dinner and watched the new Knives Out movie. It was a nice day and Rene was happy for the change of scenery.

With all my chores done and my 3 week diet over (not that I'd stuck to it on the last day between the muffins, pizza and beer), I did some cooking. I made homemade baked beans, corn muffins, baked squash, sausages and apple crisp. I was going to make the most of my week off before my next rotation but not blow it too badly. I'm 12 pounds down and need to keep losing.

So it was another bear of a week but hopefully things are looking up. Winter weather is here for awhile so I see lots of knitting and streaming in my future. I can live with that and am hoping for less drama in the days ahead.