The Good, The Bad and The Sad

Strange post title, I know.  But, it just about covers the three things I wanted to quick post about.
The Good:
Mom had her knee replacement surgery yesterday!  Everything went very well.  She was able to get up and take a few steps to and from the recliner.  They didn't take her to therapy yesterday, but will be this morning.  She'll be released from the hospital either tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon or Thursday morning.  She was in great spirits, although a bit bored, last night when I talked with her.  I had talked with Becca a bit earlier in the day and even though she was tired, she was confident of Mom's surgery.  I'm so very thankful that Becca was able to come out here and that Mom is able to have this surgery done.  Mom really needed it for a while now and it will be so nice for her to be in less pain and be able to do simple things like climb stairs without too much extra effort.

The Bad:
I have strep.  Yep, this actually factors in to why I'm so glad Becca was able to come out to PA to help Mom out for almost two weeks.  If I'd been the one to take her to the hospital yesterday morning, we'd have been in a heap of trouble as I hadn't been started on antibiotics yet and the last thing you want in a surgical area is someone with an active infection like strep!  So, after a miserable weekend and a painful start to the morning, I got on some antibiotics and was told to take essentially a double dose of Alieve for the pain.  I think I'll stick to single doses for now.  I don't normally have breathing issues with pain meds, but last night I'm not sure if it was stress or what but my breathing was off.  I don't think my inhaler would have helped any, but it just wasn't quite right.

The Sad:
A very dear and good friend of mine at work passed away over the weekend.  Bill Dudley was only 66 years old.  He'd been like a father at work for me many times.  He has such a huge and kind heart, but trust me when I tell you he wouldn't take guff from anyone.  I knew we were in trouble with some of our contractors we'd hired into the service group when he admitted he didn't even bother to learn their names because he knew they weren't going to be around long.  He'd help you out in an instant, but if you kept coming to him with the same stupid things, he'd stop helping you and just ignore you.  Everyone here really cared about him, and he really did care about everyone here.  He let me rant and rave in his general direction a time or two when I needed to let off steam, but as soon as I'd gone just a hair too far or ranted just a moment too long, he'd put me in my place and remind me that we were at work.  Like I said, he could be a father to me at work some days, and I never once resented it.  I actually was quite comforted by it, that someone in this building really did care when some days it felt like no one did, especially in the early years.
He lost his 3 year long battle with cancer.  It started out as throat cancer of some kind, but eventually moved into his bones.  He will be so very missed around the office.  I will miss you Dud!

So, I'd better actually get some real work done, I've been procrastinating most of the morning.  Peace to all and may you have much, much more "Good" than "Bad" or "Sad".