It’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything anywhere, so, I thought I ought to do a little update. But, life here moves at a slower pace than other places so it’s hard for me to think of any of it as being worthwhile. Hubby says it is what it is. I guess it is. Anyway. I had this thought just to record a day. So here it is.
A day in the life.
5:25 am
I wake to Gregg’s alarm. He kisses me good-bye, good-morning and gets up. I snuggle down for more sleep. Some times it happens. Today it didn’t. I stay there in the quiet for one more hour.
6:30 a.m.
I sit up slowly. Feeling rested. I assess my statis. Left foot is it’s standard numbness, left side it’s standard weakness. Brain is quiet, calm. No headache.
My/Grady’s cell phone lights up and chimes. It will do this every 15 minutes forever unless I hit the dismiss button. I do and use it’s light to see. I unhook Spencers cable (He’s a bad dog and needs to be restrained at night}, put on socks and slippers. This morning none of this is too difficult. 65 degrees.
We get out to the living room. I check the wood stove. It is good. It hasn’t been too long since Gregg left. He always banks it. Next I feed Spencer. He’s excited and wiggles around me. Once he’s feed he goes to lay on the couch. He’ll stay there for quite awhile most mornings.
I start the coffee maker. I pre-loaded it last night so plugging it in and pushing a bottom gets it going. I mix an orange juice with honey and applecider vinegar (my latest experiment). Put it on the wood stove top to warm it a little so the honey dissolves. I drink it and take my med. One Tecfidera. (I’ve been on this for two years and tolerate it just fine. My next MRI will be the tell if it is working well for me.) I place my little glass cat on the pill box as a reminder that I have taken it this morning.
While waiting for the coffee. I change the fishes water in their bowl without dumping them in the sink. They live in a gallon size glass jar. I had moved them into this kitchen last night in preparation for this. I have a gallon pitcher of two day old water placed by them overnight to match water temps. Pouring took care. This all went smooth and I carried them back to their living room shelf.
I sit in my glider chair, drink my coffee, water 2 cups and try to type this out. So far this has been the biggest challenge. Bathroom break. Reading and checking online stuff is next. Fuzzy brain and I notice my right wrist is hurting a little. Like when I have too much vitamin c on-board.
7:30 a.m.
Grady is up now. We exchange greetings and he goes to grab his 2 3dss and laptop from the back bedroom. Online in seconds. First crisis in a minute. The Puck lost under the deck. This little drama plays out like this.
We live on the fringe of wifi land. Our signal is weak at best. So, we put the puck outside on our ladder to improve it’s chances of getting a signal. This morning we woke to fresh snow. It’s on everything, including the ladder rungs Grady places the puck on. Normal we wipe the snow off first. I forgot to remind him of this step. After a minute or two. I hear a thump agains the house. I know what this means and tell Grady. His reaction is not to favorable. We investgate with our flashlights in hand. (a CSI trick for finding things) and sure enough the puck warmed the snow and slide of the ladder, bounced off the side of the house (the thump), and was A perfect pool table type shot that landed it under the deck. Our lower little deck which is only maybe a foot off the ground level. We have a foot of snow. I am in my robe and slippers. Grady is in dispair.
After calming him down a little, getting dressed, and putting on boots,etc. I am able to find the pucks exact location. Yep. Under the deck. I use my walking stick to shove it toward the wall in bounced off of and am able to retrieve it. o.k. onward.
Dog meds at 8. Well. They are not meds any more but I still give him a treat at 8. A placebo as Gregg calls it. For 5+ years our Spencer was getting meds to control epilepse. We weaned him off because of cost constainst. He’s been seizure free for 3 monthes. He deserves a treat.
I have a Bread breakfast. Stoke the wood stove. And sit down to do more Reading. A Facebook birthday wish prompts a picture search. It fails.
8:30 a.m.
I finish my coffee and face book wonderings. It’s time for Toileteries and time to do a little laundry. Folding some items and reloading the dryer. Start it for a 15 min tumble.
Sitting back down in my chair I go online with the computer to check amazon. And a few other business type sites. Then onto justhost to check and renew a domain. Decide 2 years is wise for me. It’s a nonsceneical blog at onceinabluemoon.us or deeisme.com
9:30 a.m.
Listening to a bit of music while finishing online business. Check the wood stove and sweep the hearth. Check laundry status and restart the dryer (We only run it in 15 min. incriments. Another story).
I start the day’s clocks(today 5) . Dishes next and a bit of kitchen working. I uncover and check on our little finch, Hoodeedee (that is what he says in his high pitched cheep). Check the stove again while burning a bit of paper trash from the kitchen counter clean up. Struggling with a large piece of wood. Too large. Set it aside for a smaller piece. Sitting down again. Watch a bit of tv with G. While regrouping my thoughts.
10:30 a.m.
Re-start the dryer. Add some notes to the calendar on my Kindle. G is a bit volatile and silent. Residue from this morning? Don’t know. Time will tell. No poking the bear. I sit down in my chair to do a bit of Bible reading.
At this point I notice my hands feel numb, weak. Not an uncommon occurence. Some symptoms stay all day (numb left foot, weak left side) others waft in and out like fog or smoke on a windy day. Restroom break. I start my leg strengthing execise. My nuerologist suggested I try to strength my left leg so it does drag when I walk. I do 15 leg lifts with that leg throughout the day.
11:30 a.m.
Preparing for lunch (nothing fancy). I fix Grady a chicken patty sandwich on a bun. I reheat leftover strognaph. I drink my experiment before sitting to eat. I’m hungry, fussy brained, and have a little pain in abdomen (hopefully hunger pain, not in my stomach tho’).
I restart the dryer.
We eat our lunch while watching the noon news. G is better. Grady does his insulin. I use the commercials to restart the dryer, clean lunch dishes and put items away, and check the wood stove adding a log. 67 degrees.
12:30 pm
After lunch I change the sheets on my bed. New fleece. Looking forward to bedtime as always.
Changing sheet now always prompts a memory. Awhile ago I was at my Mom and Dad’s home. She was doing some housework while we chatted. I watched her change her sheets and as she did I was flooded with a memory of my Mom’s Mom. I remembered watching her change her sheets in the same way when I was little. In that moment I was back in Gram’s bedroom watching her take a erfectly made bed (her bed was always made this way) and roll up the comforter and blankets from pillows to foot then lifted this roll and place it on her hope chess that was against the wall near the foot of the bed. She then stripted the sheets off and uncased the pillows. After placing the clean sheets on the bed and recovering the pillows with fresh cases she picked up the bedding and unrolled it back over he mattress. Smoothing the edges she was done. She scooped up the disquarded sheets and we walked to the laundry room.
I cherish memories like these and have adopted this method as my own. Changing sheets this way is do-able for me. I am grateful to put memory in to practice.
Load the clothes washer. Another bathroom break. Change the toilet paper roll. Back into the living room I sit down to blog a bit. Read a bit. Fuzzy brain is less. Hands still weak , numbness less by 75 percent, maybe. Head ache’s a little better. Wrist still hurts. I plan to drop the vitamin c pill. Drinking Orange juice three times a day is enough I guess.
I take more water, 2 cups. Try to organize the books on my Kindle. This presents a challenge to my fuzzy brain. I have to re-do it a couple times and double check myself. I think I have it.
1:30 pm
Finish the lunch dishes. Bathroom break. 15 leg lifts. Fold some of the towels. Put the gate in the hall way so Spencer can’t go bark at the road grater. Writing a few things down. Gregg gets home. Hellos are made and a bit of how was your day chatter. After getting caught up he goes out to the driveway to shuffle the cars making sure the driveway is passable after the grater plowed us in. Then out back to bring in some wood and shovel a bit of snow. Gregg comes in and stokes the fire. 69 degrees. Quiet time of reading and Kindling.
2:30 pm
I take a couple aspirin and wrap my wrist. Hoping to gain some control of this mild head ache and aching wrist. Blogging and reading. Editing the mistakes written this morning. Bathroom break.
Gregg scans the stations fit so inferring to watch.
(O.K. I had to leave this sentence. This is the next day. I am doing more editting of this blog. I always re-read and do editting before I upload anything. This is an actual sentence I wrote yesterday. I am not sure what this means but I think I meant to say “Gregg scans the stations to find something to watch.”)
More water. We watch a movie and plan dinner during the commercials. All of us confer and agree. My head ache is better but my wrist still hurts.
3:30 p.m
Watching the movie. Gregg starts the preparation for dinner. Defrosting the hamburger for the meat loaf. At 4 I feed Spencer his dinner. During the next commercial I make the meatloaf. A simple recipe. Two pounds of groundbeef, a box of stuffing, two eggs. Mix it together and pound it in a loaf pan. Gregg adds some 7 spice. WaLa.
4:30 p.m.
We preheat the oven and I put the load in. (after it is almost done, we add maranara to half of the top and finish cooking. Grady does like the sauce, hence the bare half) Next commercial Greggo continues more prep. Spencer gets his dinner but doesn’t want to leave the kitchen. We continue to tag team dinner. Bathroom break. 15 leg lifts. Re-wash. Orange juice experiment drank. Evening med taken. Dinner is awesome and nets 100 percent (3 people eat the same meal. No re-makes). Yum. 69 Degrees.
5:30 pm.
We watch the news. Grady and I take our supplements. Grady does his insulin. Gregg and I put the remnants of dinner in the refrigerator and stack the dishes during the commercials. I wrap things up by doing the dishes. Fatigue is the main symptom. Fuzzy brain still. Headache gone. Hands still numb but not as bad. Both hands and arms feel heavy. Sitting cozy and watching tv.
6:30 p.m.
A nice quiet evening of pumpkin pie and tv. A little more time online.
7:30 p.m.
Movie time. At 8 I give Spencer his bedtime pseudo med. Restroom break. 15 leg lifts. The winding down begins in earnest.
8:30 p.m.
Getting ready for bedtime. I literally start a count down. Cover the finch. Stop the clocks. Brushing my teeth and check on all of Grady’s shut down needs. We always retired at different times. His a bit of a nightowl. Bedtime prayers said. Good night. Sleep well.
It was a good day. Tomorrow will tell if I used too many spoons today. It was a home day though and I am less guarded then if I was having to leave the house. (another story, another type of day)
Thank You Jesus for Your Grace and Mercy.
69 degrees in the house. Only 0.12 miles walked today. 151/94 bp (I have high bloodpressure) , 68 bpm, 36.2 c 97.16 F I don’t have a fever and thankfully running cool, 190# I am not happy with my weight but exercise is a challenge. I know if you can do some it will be a benefit. I do a little. I wonder about the leg lifts. Some day I think it is getting stronger but other days it seems just as weak. I will continue trying.
September was my 5 (2015) year anniversary. I didn’t celebrate. Just noted the passage of time. I still here. Praise The Lord.
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
Be not wise in thine own eyes; fear the LORD, and depart from evil.”
Proverbs 1:5-7 KJV Scofield
ttfn, k
