Of Major Celebration or "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!!"~~~~

My Dear Darklings,

Thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU all, Trisha, Lucretia, Tea and all you wonderful, wonderful Darklings for you Best Wishes!!!

In just a few words-----I WON!!!!  EVERYTHING!!!

He is paying for all the medical expenseses that was not covered by my medical plan that I had to pay out of pocket, he is paying for the replacement cost of the "nearly new" car that I purchased, he is paying all lawyer/legal fees and he will pay for any continuing medical treatment and therapy up to two years.  He is also re-imbusrsing me for 1/2 the costs of my two caregivers.  I wanted the full amount but my Lawyer said we were in the home streach and to not "blow it".    And he is paying me the difference in loss income because I had to go on disablity which pays less.

Oh there was some consessions from me, but they were minor.  All so he won't lose his job and position, it seems he gets paid "Very Well".  But there was one thing I would not budge on.  I insisted that he admit he had an drinking problem and to go to AA for treatment and that he had to stay with the program for at least 2 years, the same time that covers my continuing medical treatment.  If he didn't there would be serious ramifications.  He accepted the terms.

Darklings, it was a mild day, the room was comfortable but he was sweating "buckets".  The overwhelming evidence nearly made him faint, as a matter of fact I thought he would.   Later, his lawyer informed my lawyer who informed me that he realized that not only would I have won in court but if we insisted on a jury trial it most likely would have resulted in him being bankrupted and losing his job.  But my lawyer told me that if I had been so injured that I could not work anymore or was going to be in a wheelchair there would have been a trial and he still would have lost.

I half expected the man to be arrogant, and I think in other circumstances he would have been, but for what we had.   There was a woman with him who never said a word, never looked at me just down at the confrence table,  I found out later she was his wife, and the look on her face would have made God run in fear, and the look was not directed at me or my lawyer, but at her husband at the conclusion of the meeting.  My lawyer said that the wife has "major bucks", extremely monied, I thought so by the cut of her clothes and the expensive diamond pin she wore on her jacket.  I knew it wasn't costume jewerly.

And now I'm home, HOME!!  Relaxing, typing on my computer, Louise called me to find out the results and was happy for me, I'll see her tomorrow and Friday and then sadly she will be off to another assignment.  My sister called our brother to give him the good news which he will inform his family, seems there is some event at School and he's to join them there.

Doyle is insisting that he treat us to a very fancy dinner, I do wish that Chez Pannisse was open but he is going to surprise me, and Sis is setting up the television to record "Law and Order" at 8 p.m. something about the murder of a female vampire, which should be interesting viewing for later.  And my Doctor said that if I'm not taking any pain pills tonight I can have a glass of wine. 

What wine, it will be Champagne!!!  Doyle surprised me with a bottle of Dom Perion Oh you know Darklings, the Champagne that "James Bond" drinks although not the most expensive vintage, but at $250 dollars a bottle expensive enough!  It was enough to make my eyes grow wide and pop out of my head!  Where he got it I haven't a clue, but Doyle can be that way.

And now my Sister is insisting that I go upstairs and freshen up and put on my most glamorous dress, and to be on the safe side my fanciest cane. 

Later Darklings

Of Seeing the Lawyers (very short post)~~~~

Well My Darklings,

I am a bit nervous.  But I'll have my sister and Doyle as well as my Lawyer at my side.  We are going in 15 minutes to my Lawyers office to have The Meeting with the Lawyer and the idiot who hit me and put me out of work for a long period of time, totalling my car, and medical costs.

My Lawyer re-assured me yesterday that we hold all the cards, the man is nervous, is in a very bad position, and wants to settle this quickly without going to court.  But coming to an agreement could take most of the day as there are various points to go over, and we have a serious stack of paperwork.  I've made notes of the points that I want to be sure will be covered.

So my Darklings, wish me well.   I may have this man's scalp by this evening (as I put on my "War Paint")

Later Darklings

Of "Grim and Gory, Attorney's at Law" and other updates~~~

Dear Darklings,


Again I Thank You.

If my comment about what it is to be Goth, resonates with your personal feelings then I am Happy to have in some small way inspired you.

Perhaps that is why I also enjoy “The Addams Family” and “The Munsters”, in spite of being different, they are also family, with family values.

Now for something different---- I did promise to “talk” about happier things.

First updates on the progress on the kitchen and laundry room (yes that was involved because of water damage). The sheetrock walls in the laundry room have been replaced and even now is being painted. The support beams and posts are dry so we will not have to worry about mold, thank goodness.

Next will be the purchasing of a new washer and dryer, Doyle’s friends took the old one’s away but one of his friends thinks he might be able to work on them so they can be used at a homeless shelter or women’s shelter. If they can that would be wonderful.

Much of the basic work in the kitchen is still being worked upon, my major concern was matching the metal ceiling tiles, but Hank found an answer. It seems that the cupboards have the same tiles, so they will be carefully removed and modern reproductions that nearly match the pattern will be installed in the cupboard area; the old ones that are original to the house will be installed over the stove area, if there is not enough, then a mixture of old and new will be intergraded over that area.

Hank found a cleaning crew that handles clean up after fires and are now washing down the ceiling and walls etc. in the Butler’s pantry. I know some of you are wondering why I’ve not had my weekly maid service do that, well it is a bit more specialized and it was better for me to have them do their regular assignments, a bit more briefly. One of the ladies did help to move all the fancy china etc. from the butler’s panty to the dinning room table, and cover it with a large old sheet to protect as much as possible from the dust.

We still are either eating out or getting take out, my brother has invited us over Saturday and Sunday for dinner, something we all are looking forward to, I have not seen my niece Coralline or her over-active brothers in what seems like ages.

My sister’s progress on the purchasing of her home will be complete tomorrow with the signing of a lot of papers. With the permission of the bank and the realtor, she had her friend move in and “camp-out” in the living room to prevent copper theft, and he managed to clean up one of the bathrooms for his use, Sis is going to pay him for that hard work. Then she is next going to have the place completely fumigated, and cleaned. It is a good thing she makes good money and has a hefty savings account. She says it will mostly be a good size tax right off. But I am so happy she will again have her own place that she can work out of.

As much as I love having her live with me, and she could for as long as she wants, it is only right that she has a place of her own to decorate the way she wants and live in it the way she wants, although I do believe she will be dropping by very frequently, we are even thinking of installing a connecting gate between our back yards, although hers is not quiet as deep as mine, it is good sized.

I can now happily say that the root canal work is done and we are onto the crown work, once that is done I can finally relax.

I am scheduled to go back to work in June, just in time to cover for some of the staff who are going to graduations and the first blast of vacations. I fear that I will not be able to take a vacation this year, expect maybe for a long weekend or two. But my plans for another wine vacation will have to be put on hold this year. C’est La Vie. But that is not to say that I will be staying at home, no, there are the weekends, so who knows where the winds will take me, so to speak.

I will regret losing Louise, she has been wonderful but come May 31 that will be her last day, however she does have another assignment lined up so she will not be out of work I’m happy to say. I am keeping hers and Ella’s contact information for just in case.

Belladonna has been a bit upset with the strangers coming in and out of the house, so I’ve made arrangements to have her stay with my elderly neighbor during the day and occasionally stay at the Doggie day care, get her back to feeling something close to her normal routine.

I am able to walk around the house much better and without the use of the cane, but my Doctor did advise that I use the cane while I commute too and from work, as a precaution. And I still will have to see the therapist periodically as well.

The idiot who ran into my car has finally conceded to settle out of court and next week we and our lawyers will meet to settle terms, my lawyer said that I will get what I want, the man is frightened about losing. It seems that if he does go to court there would be some serious ramifications for him, what I don’t know, my lawyer would not elaborate, but he said for me to walk in using my cane to prove a point.

I have gotten into the habit of watching “Perry Mason” at 12 noon prior to having lunch, and lately they’ve been having a T.V. host on by the name of Greg Gory. And I finally caught up to a newish T.V. program called “Grim”, I remarked about that to Doyle last night and he said “That would make for a perfect name for a Gothic law practice if those two names were paired.

I looked at Doyle for a moment and then it hit me “Grim and Gory, Attorney’s at Law”----that would put it right up there with “Dewey, Cheatum and Howe” I nearly put out my back with laughing as Doyle and I went on with coming up with other businesses to pair with those names like “Grim and Gory, Funeral Directors” and others. They do say that laughter is the best medicine.

As a matter of fact there are several newish T.V. programs that I hope to catch up with such as “Motive”, “Grim” and Hannibal” they might be just what I need for the T.V. summer doldrums, besides reading my wonderful collection of books from the Friends of the Library Booksale.

Now I must go, my contractor friend Hank is asking me to look at something.

In my next post I’m going to give my thoughts on some of the fashions for Spring (which I’ve nearly missed) and Summer.

Later Darklings

Of further Updates and dealing with Lawyers~~~

Hello My Darklings,

Thank you Carrie and Kellie for your warm concern and your good wishes,  I will do my best to be patient and take my time, even my Doctor said healing cannot be hurried.

I saw my Doctor yesterday afternoon, Louise took me to my appointment, she and Ella are very caring people.  I feel very safe in their care.

The Doctor said I am healing but slowly, he is concerned about the spasms that I have in my back muscles, but the heat therapy seems to be working, and I'll have to use a muscle relaxant for a short while,  the cuts and bruises are slowly healing, but the worse of them make take a couple of months, he is photographing my progress for my Lawyer.

It seems I will not be able to go back to work for at least 8 weeks minimum and I will still need treatment, possibly massage and heat therapy afterwards, he's looking into several things.  There is no bone damage which is good.  And he has seen some progress in my range of motion with the exercises, not a lot but more than before.

I'm seeing my Lawyer this afternoon, I did have a chance to talk to him on the phone yesterday, he said that the other driver's Lawyer is trying to delay things, and looking at the progress of my case it may be several months before we go to trial,  but he said that is good because with everything it will help build my case even better, he's finding witnesses who saw the accident and the photo's clearly show the other driver is in the wrong.

My Doctor is a little concern because I'm starting to cough, he was concern about my heart or that I'm coming down with a cold, but so far it appears to be allergies, so I'm on medication for that as well.  Just when I want to enjoy the dark beauty of my garden this happens.  My caregivers and Marie and Doyle are going to monitor this new development.   My Doctor thinks that with the shock of the accident my system went down, as he calls it.

Oh Darklings, you should see the beautiful plantings my friends did, lovely deep dark reddish purple pansy's, outlined with these white flowers that I've seen I think it's called "carpet of snow",  and my Iris's bulbs that were planted last year are coming up, dark colors I know and some unusual ones as well.  Whitish Daffodil's as contrast.  One of my friends have planted several rose bushes the color's are a deep purple red, and several that are a purple red with white center, I never had a chance to get the names, but the pictures of them are so beautiful.

They also started work in the Greenhouse to make it into a garden to enjoy during the cold months, my Koi are already established in their pond in there and the outside pond has the free mosquito fish from the water company, with a little feeding they should get a bit bigger,  my friends also put in the inexpensive gold fish in there for color, what they call "feeder fish"  if any of them disappear I can always get more.

The cat that use to sleep under my front porch has a permanent home now, it seems to have adopted a neighbor who is taking good care of the little thing, it looks much healthier.

I am able to move around the house a little better, but I still need help to bathe and dress, but Ella thinks that in 4 or 5 weeks I should be far more independent, between her, Louise, My sister and Doyle they make sure I do my exercises and walking, it's not good to sit or lie down for too long, too much of a chance to develop clots in the legs and they are right.

I am sad about the loss of my car, but Doyle and my Lawyer said that we can make the cost of a replacement car part of the settlement,  we shall see, I just do not have an idea what would be a good replacement, all these new cars have so many whistles and bells, so something reliable and stylish and easy to drive and get in and out of.   Some of these cars you feel like you are being stuck in a sardine can.

I am so glad I didn't drive my vintage car that night.   If that had been damaged I would have cheerfully strangled the other driver in spite of my injuries.  Just a simple run to the grocery store, who would have thought such a calamitous event would have happened.

I did have fun getting my Mani-Pedi---Marie was right, a bright color was and is perfect, I have "geranium" by Essie on my fingers and toes,  the ladies at the shop were so kind to me, even brought me tea, and told me to relax and enjoy everything.   And Louise's suggestion about going to a gym that has a very warm jacuzzi tub to help my muscles has been working,  we are going right after we see my Lawyer today. 

I must be getting better I was able to type much longer than before, but now I must go.  My therapist is here and she will not tolerate a delay.  ***sigh***  I hate the idea of surrendering myself to other's care, but there are times when it is for the best.

I will post more later.

And Thank you for all your warm concerns.

Later Darklings