Here's the Scoop, Alley Oop!

For some reason, when I taught kids in Philadelphia, if I would start out a lesson by saying, 'Here's the scoop, Alley Oop!' , it would crack them up.  They'd laugh as though I were the funniest person in the world.  Probably, that's why I enjoy teaching.  It gives me a chance to act up in front of people without being locked up. 

My Grandmother Britton used to say that I was 'acting a fool.'  'Sally, why must you act a fool?  You're perfectly intelligent, but people would never guess it." Of course, this was also the woman who, whenever anything broke in her house,  would insist that I call one of my brothers to come and fix it.  'Don't touch it, Sally.  You'll only mess it up."  Perfectly intelligent, but not intelligent enough to be useful.   I will never forget the day her reading light would not turn on.  I was getting ready to go take a look, and she said, 'No, call Johnny."  Johnny rode over on his ten speed, parked, walked into the house, bent down and plugged the light into the outlet.  He , then, got on his bike and peddled back to my Uncle's feed store where he worked.

Of course, she liked it when , while taking her to her Ahtleoka club meetings, I would drive too fast,  and she never told Daddy on me when I ran red lights.  Once, I was stopped at a stop sign, and asked her if anyone was coming on her side.  She said, 'No.' I started through the intersection, and once I was smack in the middle of the road, she said, 'If you go like hell, you can make it!'  It would appear that I inherited my ability to act a fool from her.  But,  I'm wandering off the subject.  Here, indeed, is the scoop.

Yesterday, I got up early and prepared for the drive to Albuquerque.  The sky was that gorgeous blue, and I could smell the early morning aroma of sage and pine.  The clouds were so billowy and white thay looked fake.  I was reminded that one of my co-workers believes that when clouds are like that, they are artificially induced......by aliens in UFOs so they can navigate over our planet without us knowing it. Since I moved out here,  I have seen enough odd things in the night sky that I could, almost, believe that.  Except what on earth would they want with us?  If they're smart enough to get here, why would they want to make the trip? 

So, I'm driving up the road from Ganado towards Window Rock, and I saw on one side of the road, an entire herd of sheep.  They were heading towards the road in a fast run.  Their owner/shepherd was running behind them, but the sheep, quite clearly, had had a good head start.  No way was he catching them without a struggle. The ram who was in the lead  was running like mad towards the road.  I was positive that, if I listened, I would hear him yelling, "Run free, run far, my brothers and sisters!'  Now, of course, I had spent Sunday watching 'Men Who Stare at Goats,'  and I was probably still under the influence of George Clooney (and hasn't he grown into a terrific little hunk?), but in my heart, I cheered them on.  They got across the road without losing so much as a tuft of wool, and off they went.  I hope they found their Utopia..

Got to Albuquerque, found Presby Hospital, found the surgeon who, believe it or not, doesn't want to do surgery!  At least, not right now.  She says there is a treatment which involves inserting an IUD with progesterone into the uterus.  In a good percentage of cases, just doing this causes the pre-cancerous cells to decrease.  She wants to put this thing in and go back and check in ninety days. She says that she's seen lots of cases that will reverse themselves with this treatment alone, some that don't change at all and will , still, require surgery, but no one has ever tried this treatment and had the condition worsen.  I figure ninety days will buy me time to lose more weight and, also, that brings us to Christmas.  If I have to still get the operation, I will have the entire Christmas break to heal which, when added to my sick leave would be a huge load off my mind.  Of course, as my doctor said to me, 'Sally, the graveyards are full of people who didn't want to take off work,' and if the surgery were required, I would darn sure get it  Still, it's heartening that I won't have to take time off a brand new job. 

I didn't get home until after ten,  eleven in Oklahoma, twelve in Pittsburgh which is why, I did not call any of the people I promised I would call, 'no matter how late it is.' I'm sorry, and I love you all, and I hate that I have worried you.