Trying To Be OK

Hello Friends, and Happy June to all of you! I'm afraid I'm still having some troubles getting back into the swing of things. Besides having to say goodbye to Angus, there's been some not so great health news in my own family that is also causing me to not feel much better about things. But I really am trying to be OK, I absolutely promise you. And I know I'll be OK, it's just a never-ending pile up of stuff at the moment.

Which is also why I haven't responded much to all of you who have been kind enough to leave comments on previous posts. Even doing that is more than I can handle some days. So I'm not blowing you off, I just don't currently have bandwidth. I'm hoping that any comments I get on this post will be ones I can get the wherewithal to repond to, since "talking" to all of you is such a happy thing for me.

I'm still behind on other things too, though I am doing the things that absolutely are necessary to do, so I'm not a complete zombie. Which is good, because distractions (even cleaning things up, UGH!) are a good thing at the moment.

Other that that, I picked up a stitching project I started last summer, and did only a small amount on, and I did manage to finish a section (did I already show this to you? I can't remember):

I'm happy with how it is turning out. Hopefully I can finish it this summer. 

I also finally get started on a knitting project that I've meant to do for over a year - even had the yarn ready!  This is the start of the Skyline Tee, by Tori Yu. This is the first time I've knit one of her patterns, and it's so well written and clear. I was a bit hesitant because there were some things I've never tried before, but her instructions made things incredibly understandable. 

Like the stitching project, hopefully this will be finished this summer as well. 😜

After Alfie and I cleaned up the garden a few weeks ago, we have been able to enjoy sitting out there together first thing in the morning. He enjoys watching the birds and squirrels, and just hanging out. We usually go out for about an hour or an hour and a half, and it's nice because it's usually so quiet. I generally read and enjoy my cup of tea, and on very rare occasions a squirrel will not realize he is there and he'll go to chase it, but fortunately, the squirrels are MUCH faster than he is! It's become a pleasant ritual, and other than rainy days, we do it for sure. I don't know if we'll continue once the extreme heat and/or humidity arrive, but it's nice for now.

So that's the news from me. I hope all of you are well, and trust me, I've been reading all of your blogs even if I don't comment that much at the present. Thanks for hanging in, it's nice to have comments to read, even if currently I'm quiet at the other end of things. 

The Good, The Bad, The Stupid of This Past Week

What can I say, some weeks just do whatever they want to and you just have to live with it, right? This past week was like that, but the good news is that obviously we have all survived.

I have photos of The Good.

First of all, the other day, Miss Esme decided that a) she would come up to the third floor (rare), and then also sit on my lap for about half an hour (even rarer!). She sat there and purred her sweet little head off.

I was also amused at the position of her tail. I was sitting next to a large pillow on the end of the couch, and she placed her tail straight up!

She can be a goofball when she lets herself be brave.

Another good:

These are the buttons I ordered for my completed cardigan, aren't they fantastic? I ordered them from Wooden Heart Buttons, and they are just perfect for what I wanted. 

Getting them was a challenge to say the least. Since the shop is in Canada, there was the whole thing with it being a "foreign package." I kept getting notices that it was being held in U.S. Customs to make sure there were no "contraband" ingredients. (Do lots of things get smuggled into the country with wooden buttons?) Then they were alledgedly delivered, but of course were not in the mailbox. I checked with the seller, and they had been mailed in an envelope, so I didn't think there was any way they could have been porch-pirated. Then after a week and a half, a whole s**tload of mail was sudeenly in our mailbox, and there they were! So I don't know what actually happened, but I have them, they are on the sweater, and someday I can hopefully get a photo to show you the whole shebang.

The Bad.

Take your pick. God knows there's plenty of choices. 

The Stupid.

A week ago today, I woke up and my right eye was swollen shut with dried blood all over it. It hurt slightly, but was more uncomfortable than anything else. So off to the emergency room - because obviously I haven't been there a while and we can't have that! - to see what was going on. It turns out that I scratched my lower eyelid while sleeping apparently, and so I had two stitches put into the area and even got an eye patch to wear for four days (this was the up side, I must say, matey!). And no, it was me, the drs agreed that it was in no way a cat scratch. As of today, my lower eyelid is slightly red, but there are no other indications that anything happened. And though it was kinda fun to look like a pirate for a few days, it messed with my perspective so I was happy to not wear it any more. Even more stupid: did we think to get a picture? Of course not.

The main thing that was an issue is that last Friday, I had made plans with my friend Louise to meet for lunch, and I had to cancel. We had made plans to do it last time we met, and at the time I didn't realize that it would be Lent; now that I know it's Lent, I'm gonna wait until after Easter to reschedule. Usually during Lent, I give up buying myself a coffee/tea/pastry/lunch during the week, and at the end of it, donate the equivalent (usually plus some) to a local food organization. Not that I buy something to eat or drink every single day, but it's not unusual to do so two or maybe even three times a week, so it does add up. So Louise, if you are reading this (and I know she sometimes does), let's plan for after Easter to get together again!

*****

No plans for this weekend, as far as I know, which is fine with me. Next week, I have things I have to attend to every day except Friday, so a no-plan weekend sounds good to me. 

I've been knitting and reading away, and have almost finished the second sock of my February yarn from Farmer's Daughter Fibers. Of course there is a story related to that, which I'll tell you in the FO post.

Have a good weekend. And be careful not to injure yourself in your sleep! 🙄

You Need to Start Somewhere

Hello all, I hope you are well. And somehow managing to continue to go along every day in this world full of trauma. It's hard. And sadly, getting harder each and every day. Just remember, you have to take care of yourself first and foremost, because otherwise you can't help anyone else at all.

I have two things to look forward to that are keeping me from complete despair. The week after next, we have two little trips planned, and since we haven't really had any outings since our trip to WV over Memorial Day weekend, the fact that these trips are coming up have been keeping me going. I'm the sort of person who can put up with just about anything if I know there is something to look forward to, even if not for quite a while. 

I promised I'd show you my sock project that is in progress, but I keep forgetting to take a picture of it. The first sock is well into the foot section, so by the time I photograph it, instead of a piece o' sock, it might be a finished sock. 

But I did take this photo of a something I knit yesterday:

When did I become a knitter of fiddly things? Let me be clear, this is not my fave kind of knitting, but I have always avoided anything looking or sounding the least bit fiddly in the past. The stuffed doggie I knit was just fiddly in parts, but this project is nothing but fiddly! So we'll see how long it takes for me to finish it. Though it is nice to knit for a short amount of time and have something to show for it, LOL.

This is my first piece in the Fall Harvest Charm Set, by Susan B. Anderson. Apparently I do love kits, and I do have to say that Barrett Wool Co., Anderson's company with her son, put together really lovely kits that usually are not overly expensive, considering what you get. Anyway, I bought this kit a very long time ago, and much like the puppy kit, decided during a recent stash review that this fall I was actually going to make this thing. Making this tiny acorn reminded me of the quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson: "The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn." Reminding me that in both knitting and life, you may start small, but it's the starting that is important.

So I need to figure out how to try to start in so many ways. I've gotten some things started, and they just need to continue. But with the world constantly bombarding me with so much terrible, I need to make my way through to finding positive things to start, to move along with, to keep myself sane.

I hope that those of you reading have been able or are able to start finding ways for yourself to be in the world without complete despair 24/7. Granted, what works today may not work tomorrow or next week, but we should all keep on trying so that we can work our way to better days, better health, just better all around. 

My plans for today are to post this, then work on finishing the laundry, and take a walk. I woke up this morning with a killer headache, so instead of taking my walk right away, I took some Tylenol and just sat for a while. The headache is close to being history, so the walk will come soon. I'll probably also work on the aforementioned sock, and read a bit. The Tim is cooking dinner tonight, so I can forget about having to plan that. 

Have a good day, however you are able to. (Well, unless that means murdering someone - that's not good and face it, they are likely not worth a lifetime in prison. Try to focus things elsewhere. 😉)

Almost There!

The puppy I'm knitting has a body now! It just keeps getting cuter, if you ask me. Now I have the front paws and back paws, and finally the tail to knit, and then he will be complete. As you can imagine, I talk to him a lot as I'm knitting him, so he's become a therapy dog of sorts. 😊

I haven't been around this week because I've been getting used to being uncomfortable from an outpatient procedure I had last Friday. A visit to the dermatologist a few weeks ago led to her finding something suspicious on my back. It turned out to be a basal cell carcinoma, and she scheduled me for August 1 to have it removed. The procedure itself was completely uneventful, but boy does having a line of stitches on your back make for being uncomfortable! I think it's because most of us don't have a lot of padding on our backs. The doctor told me it would be unpleasant for at least a couple of weeks, because there are internal stitches as well as the ones I can see (though not that well, based on where they are located) on my back. I was very happy to hear from her yesterday to learn that they got clear margins on the area they removed. So unless another one pops up again, I should be OK. Though she warned me that with my - as she calls it  - "pale Irish skin" and being of a generation that grew up before sunscreen was invented, it may not be the last time a carcinoma shows up. Ugh. Even after a childhood spent avoiding the sun because I sunburned in record time, I'm paying for it now. 

At least I have a dermatologist who is paying close attention.

So what have I been doing? Well, I spend an inordinate amount of time trying to get comfortable, or at least less uncomfortable. I know it could be lots worse, but after a summer of ridiculous heat and humidity, I have little patience left for anything. The doctor told me to take it easy for two weeks, and not do anything very vigorous. I've done some reading and a little bit of knitting, but have a hard time really concentrating. I haven't been able to sleep well, so I feel very tired most of the time, which does not help with my attention span.

OK, enough whining, let's just talk about something else.

I don't know if I've ever mentioned the ongoing saga of our garden door. The short version is that we had a door - really more of a panel - that had a padlock on it that closed off the entryway to our front door from the garden. (I'm not explaining this very well, but just go with it.) It was neither attractive nor durable, but it came with the house, and it did what it needed to do. About two years ago, it finally just fell apart, and we took it down. Which is not a big deal, but we agreed that at some point, we wanted to replace it, for two reasons at least: 1) so if the cats were in the garden with us, they could not leave and go out onto the street; and, 2) for privacy and a fake appearance of security (because if someone wants to get in, they can figure out a way). 

When I said something about it earlier this summer, The Tim informed me that it could be "my" project. So I've been looking for someone to give me an estimate on the cost. I finally asked local friends for a recommendation on Facebook, and a friend who I know has high standards recommended someone who had done some work in her house.

He came yesterday, and took all kinds of measurements. Once again, nothing is standard about the measurements, so it requires a bit of finagling on his part. But he had a couple of good-sounding ideas, and he is going to see what kinds of things would be involved and send me an estimate. If it seems reasonable at all, I'm gonna go with it because most people I contacted either wouldn't come into the city to do the work, or weren't interested in such a small project. The thing I didn't tell them, since they were being kind of rude about it, is that we have some internal door-type and other projects that, if the garden door project would turn out well, we would consider asking for estimates for those as well. So we'll see how it goes, but I would love to have a garden door again. And the cats would be thrilled, because then they could explore when one or both of us are out there. And at a minimum, Alfie MUST be allowed to do that!

And that's the excitement around here lately. I just realized that this post is brought to you be the letter P:

Puppy

Pitiful me

Property improvement

But somehow, "Tryon Street" doesn't have the same ring to it as "Sesame Street," does it?

Take care, and I'll be back soon!

🌷🌹🌻

How Are You Doing?

Hello, I hope this finds you being cozy and taking care of yourselves. The cold or whatever it was that I had seems to at last be starting to move along. The last two nights I've actually been able to sleep three hours in a row, which is a major accomplishment. That's the most sleep I've been able to get for about two weeks. So I've decided I'm on the departing end of being sick, and boy am I glad! For a couple of days, I have to admit that I was concerned it was more than just a cold.

Anyway, it put me behind on what I was hoping to do, and where I hoped to go, etc. and that is annoying. But I can't change anything about it, so I'm trying my best to just go along.

Today is supposed to be rainy around here, but I am hoping to go out during a calm period to pick up something that I ordered and stop at a local market for a few things that I can only find there that we like to have for the holiday season. Yes, I could wait until tomorrow, and will if I have to, but you know how it is when you get something in your brain and want to take care of it RIGHT THEN. 

I thought about doing some cleaning around the house, but I'm going to be digging into various boxes of decorations and ornaments, so that would just be a waste of my time and energy. I'll clean up after the boxes have returned to the basement. There have been years when I have thought Oh well, I'll do it now and then just pick up once the boxes are back downstairs, and let me tell you, that did not work well at all. I ended up doing a major clean twice, and well, nope! Live and learn, you know.

Not much to report, since I have been down for the count. But I'm hoping to get back into the swing of everything starting today. I am less tired than I have been and don't have to spend all of my time coughing violently and/or blowing my nose, so I feel like I can actually enjoy a day of doing holiday things. 

I hope your day goes well, and that you can avoid getting whatever I had, which seems to be traveling around and visiting everyone I know. No one welcomes that kind of holiday guest!

Resurfacing After Being MIA

Well here we are, almost in the middle of the month, and I'm finally checking back in with all of you. The past couple of weeks have been difficult, but things are looking up, so fingers crossed that it stays that way.

At the end of July/beginning of August, my Reverse SAD finally got me and got me good. It was so hot and so humid for so long that I got to the point where I could barely function. I was tired and miserable all of the time, and my depression and anxiety ramped up like it has not for a while. I was in pretty bad shape to be honest.

I did manage to get myself together enough to enjoy a weekend visit to NYC to see a lot of family, which was really nice and I'm glad we went, but then we came home to the same slop and that caused me to crash big-time. Fortunately, last week, even though it was still humid, it wasn't as hot and the rain did a lot to make the flowers, trees, etc. look and obviously feel better.

This week has felt so good! It's so nice to be able to have the windows open, especially at night, and to take walks without being soaked in sweat after a block and a half. And considering that it's August, it's a nice surprise that it's feeling that way now.

As mentioned above, we were in New York to see a lot of family for a weekend overnight. My sister Nancy and her husband live in Southern California, but they come to NYC usually every summer to visit with a lot of his family who live in the area. This year, their kids and families joined them. My nephew and his wife in Arizona have four kids, and the last time we saw them was 11 years ago. Three of them were able to make the trip, so it was nice to see them as young adults now. My niece and her husband who live in Northern California have two kids that we have never met, so we got to meet them in person, which was nice. Then my other sister and her husband from WV came for the weekend also, and one of their daughters and her family live in Brooklyn, so it was really great to get to see nearly everyone! It was loud and funny and frustrating (none of them are planners, ugh!), and of course, we always enjoy the train ride to and from there. It would have all been perfection if it hadn't been in the high 90s Fahrenheit with the ever-popular "feels like" temperature of 108 degrees. 😡

Only for family would I even consider braving it!

Then, we had found someone who could do our bathroom and kitchen floors - meaning that sooner rather than later, the new refrigerator would be in the kitchen where it should be! There were a couple of blips - the original date they said they'd start had to be pushed back, because the person they dealt with at Home Depot/Lowe's (I forgot which one) ordered the wrong bathroom tiles. 

The guy who was the head of the crew then said they would show up "early afternoon" on this past Saturday to get started on one of the bathrooms, after they finished another job. Which was fine with me. So I was going along in my day, and about 1:15 in the afternoon, The Tim informs me that he called and told the guy not to come, because it was "way past early afternoon." WHAT? I consider early afternoon  to be until around 3 p.m. Then he went on about how he told him it wasn't professional to treat people this way, etc. All I could think of - and I really don't think this very often - was WTF??

This, from the person who weeks ago explained to me (even though I already knew it) that contractors are usually working on several jobs at once, so they seldom devote all of their time at once to your project only. So I don't know what kind of needle ended up in his butt to cause him to do that, but I was really afraid that the guy would say, here's your down payment back, find someone else.

So currently, they are supposed to come tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday to get all three floors replaced. The lead guy texted me yesterday and told me he would text me again today to let me know what time tomorrow to expect them, and where they were starting, so I could have things ready. I hope it all works out this time. Otherwise, The Tim better have something else lined up.

In the meantime, Alfie will be in heaven when they finally arrive. I told a friend that it wouldn't surprise me if he has been watching floor repair videos on YouTube so that they have no excuse to not let him "assist" ... 😄

And now you are all caught up on the high-/lowlights. Cross your fingers that the next time I post, the floors are at least underway!

Update: Me, The Garden, A Knitting Project

Hello everyone! I hope this finds you well and that you are having at least a tiny bit of springtime weather to enjoy. 

I am back, with just a tiny bit of my upper respiratory infection left - you know, enough of the cough and congestion to keep you remembering that it's not *quite* done with you. In my previous short post, I mentioned that I was hoping to get some help from my dr's office with some medications. Well, it turned out that they had me trudge over to the office to see a nurse practitioner. She informed me that I didn't have pneumonia (knew that); that it seemed I had an upper respiratory infection (duh); and that I would just have to "wait it out" because no one at their office prescribed medications anymore for it, because too many people "thought they needed it, when in fact there is actually no real treatment." 

So I trudged back home and coughed until I cracked a rib (which they said Tylenol would help), and did not get more than 3 hours of sleep for about the last ten days. Good times. 

Also - the cats are NOT amused. They liked the idea that I was pretty much just always in one spot, since I was really wiped out. But they were highly annoyed with my noisy, violent cough and the fact that I kept blowing my nose. Please offer a thought for them during their time of need.

Anyway, I'm more with it now, which is an improvement, and things are gradually settling down. But I still think I would have felt much better much sooner if I could have had some cough syrup at a minimum. (No, I'm not a doctor, but I think I could play one on TV.)

Anyhoo, I'm on the mend, just a lot more slowly than usual. Onward, right?

In some VERY exciting news, today I went out into the garden and brought these inside:

For the first time since I bought a lilac bush three years ago, there were blooms! These are all of them, but they make me so happy, and even though the bush itself is pretty spindly, if I can get a few blooms every year, that's fine with me. I figured that since it is supposed to rain later today and through the day tomorrow, I would bring these inside for us to enjoy. I've always wanted lilacs, and I'm happy for any this plant will provide.

Also, I noticed when I was outside that my clematis plant has approximately 20 buds on it - if even half of them bloom, it will be absolutely stunning! I'm sure you'll be seeing photos of it down the road, because well, any blooms in my garden are miraculous as far as I'm concerned, since I'm not a talented or very dedicated gardener. I was thrilled when my spindly forsythia plant had blooms on it around Easter, since they are another fave of mine. 

We may have to disrupt things in our garden this year since a neighbor might have to have some work done on a wall we share (long, unpleasant and very annoying story, I'll spare you), so I don't know if I'll try to plant very much. I'm hoping we'll know sooner rather than later if anything is going to have to happen. Fingers crossed it will be able to be left alone. 🤞

I did feel good enough after our guests left on Easter Sunday to finish the body of my bulky sweater that I've been knitting.

The color is more of a light blue than this photo shows, but I was happy to make progress. I managed to get one sleeve underway, but put it aside because it was hard to concentrate with all of my coughing, etc. 

It's funny, because when I started it, everyone kept saying, "Oh you'll be finished before you know it, bulky knitting goes so fast." Well, maybe for them it does. I do want to finish this sweater, even though I won't be wearing it until next year. But I can't say I'm a fan of bulky knitting. This has taken me as long as it has because after a pretty short amount of time, my hands hurt from the large needles. So I can't really sit and work on it for any more than maybe an hour or so, which explains why it has taken me so long to make any progress. Not that I had a deadline, but I have to say I will be glad when it is finally completed, and I can go back to "regular" sized needles! 😊

And those are the main updates for you today. I have been up since 1:05 a.m., when woke up coughing, and then was just plain wide awake. Sigh. But at least it wasn't a work day for me.

I have a few small things I want to accomplish today, but otherwise I hope to read and knit. Tonight I'm planning to make quiche for dinner, so I walked over to the market to buy some frozen pie shells (my pie crust skills are quite tragic. Not bad - tragic!) We have some nice peppers and mushrooms to include a long with lots of nice cheeses, so I think it will be yummy. And I'll make some roasted asparagus to go along with it. There are some frozen homemade brown-and-serve rolls in the freezer that The Tim made at Easter, so I may give us each one of those as well. 

(Now I've just made myself hungry.)

Anyway, I hope you are able to enjoy the rest of your day, and manage to fit in some time to do what you like. Take care.

I'm Glad It's Friday, But Blergh ...

OK, I've had better weeks, I have to say. And for anyone who is waiting for a prize from me, I have to apologize. I have been sick all week with a killer cold, and have hardly had the energy to do much of anything. I'm not sure where I picked up the cold, but it sure did a number on me. 

I was finally starting to feel like a human again yesterday, but then I went to the dentist. Years ago, I had the last tooth on the bottom of my right side filled at the dentist, and it was traumatic. Mostly because the dentist was one of those, "Don't be ridiculous, it can't hurt that much" types, and though he kept hitting the nerve, he thought I was being melodramatic. So when my current dentist said that I would need to have a crown put on that tooth, I was not looking forward to it. 

Yesterday was the day, and I have to give her credit, she numbed my mouth well enough that all I felt was pressure when she was working in there. So it was not nearly as traumatic, but it did take a long time. And once the novacaine wore off, it was really sore - the tooth area and my whole jaw, from all of the drilling, being propped open, etc. So I took a whole lot of Tylenol for the rest of the day!

But ugh, I did not sleep well and then when I woke up this morning, I had a really swollen jaw, with a HUGE, dark bruise. I look like I've been in a prizefight, and came out on the bad end of it. Sigh.

And because I do have a certain degree of vanity, I decided that I am unwilling to leave the house today and go out in public (besides that I'm tired from not sleeping). It's disappointing, besides everything else, because I had made plans to meet my friend Louise for lunch today, and that is always so much fun. But I know she'll be willing to reschedule, and I can take a nap and avoid people saying "hilarious" things like, "Wow, I'd like to see the other guy" and having to be polite about it.

But, you know - BLERGH.

Anyway, I'm surely on the mend, and it will all be OK and hopefully nothing else will need to be done with this tooth for another 50 years. But what a week - especially since this time last week, I felt just fine, and though I was not looking forward to going to the dentist, it was no big deal.

So much for that!

Anyway, I know I'm on the mend, and will try to catch up with everything and everyone this coming week. In the meantime, let's all have the best weekend we can, and if you have anything fun planned, I hope it is even better than you hoped. See you next week!

Indeed

Well, Blogger and/or my e-mail seem to have decided to gang up on me as far as blog comments go. I am suddenly getting four copies of each comment. Then, any comments I have tried to respond to have come back as undeliverable. I even broke down and tried to respond *in* the comments, and when I would go to publish them, ZAP! they disappeared into the ether.

So again, apologies if you have commented recently and I have not responded. I'm not ignoring you, but at least for the moment, it seems that any type of response just isn't working.

To quote The Tim, "Technology is great, except when it isn't." Sigh.

In any case, I am going to try to move on from my annoyance and frustration and enjoy my day with nothing to do but laundry. I went out for a walk earlier, hoping to get out before it got too hot or too smoky. There was a nice breeze, but it was already pretty smoky so it wasn't as long a walk as I may have wanted to take. But I did get outside, so I'm glad for that.

Kim has lately been lamenting the prospect of many visits to the dentist as well as the many dollars such visits will cost. I feel her pain. We have dental insurance - technically - but it pays about $10 in benefits. One of my favorite (not really) things was recently when I needed to get [yet another] crown, and learned that it would pay a very small amount towards a metal crown, but zero towards a ceramic crown, so which did I want? I am vain enough (and now poor enough) to not want a metal crown on a front tooth - I mean, it's not like it was gonna be gold or something. And I'm not a rapper anyway. 😉 I dread the dentist enough without feeling like I'm going into major debt just because I showed up for an appointment. Ugh.

I haven't gotten new glasses yet because I'm too busy paying for my teeth! Fortunately I can still see with my current prescription, but when you are planning to keep the same frames and the lenses still cost hundreds of dollars, it just seems like something in that equation is wrong, you know?

Well, enough complaining. I hope you are getting along better with your e-mail and blog platform providers. And please keep a good thought for Mabel, Vera's sweet kitty who has been missing for a few days. Please come home, baby!

Fitness, Falling, Friendship

I think I mentioned last fall that my friend Lisa, my niece Amanda, and myself had created a little fitness challenge group on our text chain. We started slow, and then each month would switch up part or all of the challenge. Each day we did some sort of exercise/movement/effort, we would text when we were finished and encourage each other. 

The accountability has kept all of us going, and we are still doing it! We are all realistic - for instance, during the holidays, we allowed ourselves some grace, since we knew that each of us would be busy with work, holiday plans, etc., and each of us managed to keep going. I'm really proud of us.

I had a hiccup at the beginning of October, though. 

Substitute "walking" for "running" above, and this could easily be me. After a week of rainy days, we had a beautiful, sunny, fall day. So I took myself out for a nice long walk outside. It was glorious, and I had walked quite a distance, had turned to head home, crossed Washington Avenue in South Philly (if you are local you know Washington Avenue, it can be harrowing), and then ... 

Well, I *sort* of remember someone saying, "Don't worry honey, I'm a nurse, I've called an ambulance. Oh dear, look at her teeth." And I *sort* of remember a paramedic asking me how to contact my husband and being with it enough to give him my phone to call. But mostly the next thing I remember is waking up in the Trauma Center at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. 

Yes, I'd fallen. Just like years ago when walking the dog. PLOP and then waking up and remembering absolutely nothing about it. Last time, I had lots of bumps and bruises, and had broken a tooth and my glasses. When they had scanned my person for interal injuries, they had found the kidney cancer, which turned out to be a good thing because I could have it dealt with before it got really bad. But overall, it was a terrible fall that hurt, nothing more.

Many tests, many doctors, and many tellings of the story over, the closest they could come was that I had had an episode of syncope. Gradually, I managed to regain confidence and went along with my life.

This time, however, the results were much worse (well, OK I didn't have cancer again, but ruling that out and moving along). I had fractured my nose, shredded the septum, and all of my top front teeth had been pushed back into my mouth. Plus of course cuts all over - my knees were shredded, I had serious cuts on my face - and bruises to give me "color." 

That night, a maxillofacial surgeon came to my hospital room and with the help of his resident, pulled my front teeth forward again and put them in temporary braces. Those were on for eight weeks. 

The next afternoon, an ENT surgeon got my nose back where it was supposed to be on my face, repaired the septum, and placed splints in my nose to keep it in place until it healed.  That took 4 weeks until the swelling abated, and 4 weeks until the splints were removed.

After that nose surgery, I was allowed to go home. THANK GOD. I had to sleep sitting up for two months, but I was home! I missed four weeks of work, and could not wear my glasses for those four weeks. Which meant not only could I not knit, but I couldn't read, or even watch TV that well. 

In late February - again, after many many tests for heart issues, neurological issues, and any other issues anyone could think of - I had a cardiac loop monitor implanted in my chest so that any irregularities could be seen whenever they happened, not after the fact. 

And really, I'm doing OK at least as far as anyone can tell. So that's good.

My fitness check-ins became the "today my neck doesn't hurt as much" variety, but Lisa and Amanda still kept me in the text chain like I was exercising as usual. Which really kept me going, you know?

And gradually, I've upped my activity and gotten back into the swing of things. 

But I do have to admit that this time around, it is taking me longer to regain my confidence when I am outside walking or bicycling. I do it, and fortunately nothing terrible has happened, but since my injuries were so awful, I tend to worry I'll fall and hurt myself again, or worse, not make it across a street, but collapse in the middle of one (for instance, if I had collapsed while crossing Washington Avenue instead of after crossing, I might have just been a goner. Yikes!)

Lisa and Amanda are not here in person, BUT they are not only helping to keep me inspired to keep moving, the fact that we still check in with each other is a kind of comfort, since I know if they didn't hear from me, and didnt know ahead of time why, they would check with The Tim. 

Still though, I'm now hyperaware of where I am and if people are around or not.

But I'm getting there. I'm still doing my best to keep fit, and my friends are doing it with me. I have something in my body that will immediately alert the doctors if something happens, what exactly happens, and hopefully why.

My hope is that it never happens again, and never that the monitor never has to report anything. In the meantime, all I can do is keep going. And I hope this will encourage you to find one or two more fitness friends, to both get you going and keep you going. You won't regret it. Ever.

*****

Don't forget - you can ask me any question you may have (even related to this story) in the comments of this post! There aren't many questions at this point, so head on over and add yours, and I'll answer them all on Monday, April 24.

In the meantime, have a good weekend, and if (God forbid) you are like me, try really hard to remain upright! 😊

Yeah, Well, I'm Still Here

Hello everyone, it's been a while. I knew it had been a while, but then I got a comment on my last post (from a while ago) from Ellen D., and it occurred to me that I should at least let you know I'm still here. So thanks Ellen, for both your concern and giving me the boost to post something.

I have much to catch up on with all of you, but it won't be happening today. However, I do have a book report to post, and I have been knitting (and actually finishing) things, and life has been full of things that you will eventually hear all about - whether or not you want to hear about them! 😉

Just to reassure you, everyone is well - or at least as well as anyone in our house ever is when summer really decides to show up. 

I hope all of you are well, too. And if you actually enjoy the summer, I hope you are making the most of it. If you're like me, I hope you are managing to find a way to cope. It certainly sounds like most of the northern hemisphere is just too darn hot. I sincerely hope that the southern hemisphere is having just a normal winter and nothing too extreme. 

I hope your week goes well. Take care of yourselves.

New Year's Day and Then Some

I just have to say up front that I am glad that this year is an even-numbered one, I enjoy even numbers.  Though 2-0-2-1 did add up to five, which is another good number.  Yes, I am a weirdo with numbers, which is funny because math freaks me out, and has been the cause of low grades all through my school days.  Math and science - ugh.  Anyway, I do like numbers, as long as there are not difficult expecations ...

We had a very quiet New Year's Day, as expected.  It was too warm for this time of year, and incredibly dreary, both of which were dismaying.  I'm just hoping that it was not a symbol somehow for the upcoming year.  We just stayed put, and watched some movies, read, I finished a pair of socks I had been knitting, and there were a couple of walks with Hamlet.  Later in the day, we enjoyed our New Year's Day dinner:

Veggie bratwurst, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, and blackeye peas (added after the photo was taken).  When I posted this picture on Instagram, Kim commented about the "his and hers Dijon mustard," but I had to disappoint her by telling her that one is Dijon and one his honey mustard, so they're not as quite "his and hers" as she suspected.  Anyway, it was really yummy, and we had leftovers for dinner last night, so we got two meals out of it.  Also, three different times that day, I kept saying "green-eyed peas" (instead of blackeye peas) and I don't think peas can be jealous?  So who knows what that was about.

Yesterday was just a day of getting little things done and/or out of the way, and (at least for me) wishing that work didn't start again today.  If wishes were fishes, etc.

I have a dentist appt this afternoon, for a cleaning.  I'm looking forward to it because it means I get to leave work an hour early.   You know it's bad when a DENTIST appt is something you look forward to happening!

I still need to make a final decision on my word for this year.  I thought I had one chosen, but the more I thought about it, the less I liked it.  I would rather not spend a year begrudging my word, you know?  So it's time to give it some additional thought and find one that is actually meaningful to me.

And that's all of the excitement from me, and no, it's not really exciting.  But a lot of life is just going along from day to day, doing the best you can, so I'm on track so far this year! 😉

I hope your day and the first full week of 2022 is good to you.