So Thanksgiving could have gone better

[NotASurfer]

Slept in a little yesterday, for starters. Why not? Low-expectation day, just Mrs and me, no major plans and no expectations of having to deal with blood pressure-elevating issues, other than the usual amount of necessary coffee. Got the stuff for a lazy vegan breakfast and dinner ready to go, take time do it the right way, remember to call my mom, it should all be good

Started to make breakfast. As I took the fake bacon product out of the toaster oven, the smoke detector went off. Not that there was any smoke, just sometimes it has a hair trigger. We know the drill: make sure the kitchen is not on fire (check) then open some windows for ventilation, get fans going, press the reset button on the smoke detector, and double-check the rest of the house.

All clear

Then, just as we get back to the kitchen, the alarm goes off again. Same drill as before, this time I checked the garage and the attic too. Nada

About this time, the usual amount of necessary coffee kicks in. But while I'm, er, adjusting bladder pressure, the alarm goes off again

As I'm hitting the reset switch again, Mrs remembers this happened to her last year while I was at work, and the local Fire Department - after giving the house a once-over - had said to try replacing the batteries in those smoke detectors. That sounds like something that might explain the problem!

It took some driving but I finally found a store open at 11AM thanksgiving morning that had the right batteries. Progress. Get home, grab a stepladder, start swapping in new batteries. I got 5 of the 6 replaced when I heard a crash and a few unprintable words from Mrs. I find her sitting on the floor in the living room.

Turns out cats are bad about putting their toys away; she stepped on one, her foot went flying, she fell more or less uncontrollably. "I think my wrist is broken" she said. Something she did once before as a 12-year-old, thanks to being 12 and having a homemade skateboard, so she was speaking from experience

Helped her get dressed, slammed the battery into the last smoke detector so hopefully the alarm wouldn't go off while we were gone, and straight to the ER

Six hours later, with official x-ray confirmation of a broken ulna (clean break, minimal displacement, no need to try to manipulate bones to set the break fortunately) and a temporary cast/splint, we were heading for the closest pharmacy open on Thanksgiving to get the prescription for pain meds. Never did get breakfast. Or lunch. We spotted a small Mexican restaurant that was open for some reason, while the prescription was being filled we celebrated the day with tostadas for Thanksgiving dinner

Well, the new batteries seem to have done the trick, still haven't had that lazy breakfast, and the pain meds have nausea as an unfortunate side effect, as I learned at 3 AM when Mrs needed help making it to the bathroom to throw up - which she says was something she expected, she just feels the reduced pain far outweighs the nausea

So Thanksgiving could have gone better. But all in all, I think we're doing fine. Her arm will heal soon enough; meanwhile she's drafting me to help keep her metaphysical stuff website updated as new merchandise comes in. I know we have enough food on hand to put a couple of meals together. And tonight I finally called my mom, who understands why circumstances kept me from calling yesterday, and was happy to hear from me anyway

And yes, sometimes our pets are pests, and sometimes our homes seem possessed; sometimes circumstance conspires to frustrate us. We are fortunate. Remember that. As we deal with these annoyances, in California tens of thousands of our neighbors have lost their homes entirely in the past two weeks; thousands of pets are separated from the people they love unconditionally; and we still don't know how many people will never again be able to tell their mother or father how much they are loved. Remember too that the first response to their suffering from the current occupant of the White House - who many of these same people voted for - was to sneer sadistically, and twist the knife.

Please, do what you can. California is personal for me, an example. I hope you can address something personal to you. And if there's someone you care about who hasn't heard from you in a while, find a way to let them know you love them.