Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

Well, after six weeks, my thumb is still swollen and it still hurts. Wednesday while I was at my physical, my doc said it was time to x-ray it (I kinda think this should have been done six weeks ago, but I'm just a lowly English teacher who has no medical training). The x-ray tech said yes, there was definitely something but wouldn't tell me what. The doc had to tell me. The doc, though, ended up having her nurse call me and tell me my thumb was fractured. I needed to see an orthopedist. The orthopedist sent in his nurse practitioner who informed me a piece of the bone did break off and slipped down into the joint, which is why it still hurts and is still swollen.  There's nothing that can be done for it.  I knew before going to the orthopedist that most likely a piece of the bone had chipped off. All along I could bend my thumb a little bit and move it. The only issue I have is gripping things and using my thumb to open my car door. Any pressure on the thumb pad is painful...

I am now six weeks in to being "two steps away from being completely vegan" as Angel Baby puts it. The two steps keeping me from being fully vegan is I still eat mayo and honey. When I think about it, though, I so seldom eat either one that it's kind of silly for me to even have them. Maybe I'll do what I did with the milk and eggs -- toss them in the trash. I felt just a tad bit bad about dumping out a half gallon of milk and throwing away two dozen eggs, but it had to be done. The three packages of unopened cheese, though, I kept. I gave those to Funny Delightful Son when he was here for the weekend. He bowed slightly when I handed him a bag full of cheese, bacon and sausage I'd had in the freezer, along with a package of frozen salmon, and said, "Thank you for your vegan ways."  My vegan ways have me cooking a lot. I was cooking quite a bit anyways, but now I'm preparing things I've never tried before. Yesterday it was falafel with a tahini dr...