Well, that was a week. Monday was lovely, it was a Bank Holiday so I got to have a repeat of a relaxed Sunday... coffee, reading. Weather was terrible but at least I wasn't in work.
Tuesday to Thursday I was in work. As usual, I'm juggling three sets of priorities so my brain is constantly in flight mode. But it was OK, I made it through with the consolation that I'd booked Friday off.
Thursday night, Jan phones me. You know that we speak most nights but this wasn't scheduled as it was a Grand baby Day. I immediately asked if she was OK and she wasn't. Her Springer Molly had collapsed and after immediately taking her to the vet, she was ringing to tell me that she was gone.
Molly was just so lovely. Molly, I proclaimed my God Dog upon her arrival thirteen years ago (having only one God Child to date.) She was such a calm and loving dog. When my sister's Lupus was active, she would be her pal and just lay or sit with her. She saw my sister through losing various loved ones and has just been there for her through a string of really, rubbish years quite frankly.
Jan's description of the sequence of events reminded me so much of my experience with a human loved one; collapse, unresponsive; dramatic journey to medics, the worst news. It reminded me of everything and my heart was full of emotion for her experience and for the loss of Mol. Animal or human, it's still a family member, a friend and the loss is felt deeply. Before I went to sleep on Friday night, I asked Mum to take care of Molly and told Molly, if she wasn't already with her, she should find Christopher's Nanna. I'm sure they're together though. Mum loved Mol and used to take her treats on every visit.
Friday I had a telephone consult with a physio re the hip thing. Long story short, I have either hip flexor damage or tendinopothy, either way, I need actual physio. I've been trying to do a little exercise again but it seems to be making matters worse.
So I was off work on Friday, I'd scheduled my new bathroom tile cleaning gadget to arrive plus I was awaiting a new, extra long foam roller from Amazon to really unbunch my spine. My bathroom gadget was scheduled for delivery between 8am and 8pm. I expected it to arrive at 7.55pm but just to be sure, I stuck a sticky note to the front door as I left home, just in case. I'd hit two supermarkets by 8.30am, I had an extremely quick coffee (and speed read) so that the day wasn't a complete dud and headed home. I was home before 10am and BOTH of my parcels had arrived and were in the place that I'd requested the expected one to be left. How lucky am I?
The rest of Friday was spent Spring cleaning my bathroom with my new gadget. The tiles look like new and I wish I'd heard about this thing a couple of years ago before I spent a fortune on various cleaning products and grout fixers. In the end, I used my gadget and white vinegar and hey presto... it looks like new.
Saturday and the sun is shining. Jan is starting to do better, she's still crying through our chat but she is improving. I had a terrible night's sleep but on the plus side, I'd accomplished three loads of washing by 7.30am. I had a lovely coffee and read for an hour at my usual haunt, did a little food shopping then headed home to continue with the Spring clean. As it was sunny, I decided to hang the washing out on the line which is when I noticed bluebells growing out of the lawn. How does that happen? Aren't they bulbs not roots? I get it when one plant I hate at the top of my front lawn ends up at the bottom with no intervention from me, but bulbs? Anyway, I dug them up and transplanted them somewhere where they will hopefully take to their relocation. I do love bluebells. So pretty.
Hip is really hurting today so no additional exercise for me, except for a few sit-ups. I've still managed to clock 11,000 steps just by going about my business and that makes me feel better.
Sun is shining, beautiful day. Love you x
Sunday, 23 April 2017
Sunday, 16 April 2017
Easter
Finally got to see my Doctor, the hip thing is soft tissue damage. She's given me some anti-sickness medication so that I can take anti-inflammatory meds which should help and I need to speak to one of the physiotherapists for some rehabilitation exercises to help things along. I'm relieved it's nothing more serious, although we're up to thirteen weeks now so I'm really ready for it to be completely better so that I can get back to normal and stop taking so many painkillers.
Called in to see Bee yesterday, it was Good Friday and she had fish for me. Part of the conversation went like this;
Bee; Guess what's on this afternoon?
Me; Jesus of Nazareth, The Robe, Ben-Hur? (All are her favourites.)
Bee; Ben-Hur
Me; Is Jesus actually in that one?
Bee; Sort of, you see his shadow and you see his hand when he gives Ben-Hur water.
Me; Can you believe he's still alive?
Bee; Well he's not physically alive is he but he's...
Me; Not Jesus! I know he's not still alive!
Bee; Ohhhh
Me; And he's been married for about 80 years already!
I didn't even know where to begin with this. I'm nowhere near as deeply religious as my sister is but did she really think that I thought the actual Jesus was still alive... in his original form? Still, she's a keeper, she's always been a great big sister and it's too late to swap her now anyway.
Then of course, I later realised that in fact we both have some kind of Alzheimer's as I'd confused Ben-Hur with Spartacus and Ben-Hur is actually the amazing Charlton Heston and not the amazing centenarian Mr Kirk Douglas. I do the same with The Great Escape and Escape to Victory, whenever either of these classics comes up in conversation, I have to ask; motorbikes or football?
P.S...
P.S. I Love You was on TV this week, which only served to remind me of my perpetual disappointment that Hilary Swank was cast as Holly from my favourite book of it's time. I used to sit in Starbucks and openly weep as I read each chapter and then they made the film and no, I did not weep, did not laugh, did not emote anything. No offence intended to Ms Swank, but she just wasn't my Holly. What were they thinking I wonder?
Happy Easter Col x
Called in to see Bee yesterday, it was Good Friday and she had fish for me. Part of the conversation went like this;
Bee; Guess what's on this afternoon?
Me; Jesus of Nazareth, The Robe, Ben-Hur? (All are her favourites.)
Bee; Ben-Hur
Me; Is Jesus actually in that one?
Bee; Sort of, you see his shadow and you see his hand when he gives Ben-Hur water.
Me; Can you believe he's still alive?
Bee; Well he's not physically alive is he but he's...
Me; Not Jesus! I know he's not still alive!
Bee; Ohhhh
Me; And he's been married for about 80 years already!
I didn't even know where to begin with this. I'm nowhere near as deeply religious as my sister is but did she really think that I thought the actual Jesus was still alive... in his original form? Still, she's a keeper, she's always been a great big sister and it's too late to swap her now anyway.
Then of course, I later realised that in fact we both have some kind of Alzheimer's as I'd confused Ben-Hur with Spartacus and Ben-Hur is actually the amazing Charlton Heston and not the amazing centenarian Mr Kirk Douglas. I do the same with The Great Escape and Escape to Victory, whenever either of these classics comes up in conversation, I have to ask; motorbikes or football?
P.S...
P.S. I Love You was on TV this week, which only served to remind me of my perpetual disappointment that Hilary Swank was cast as Holly from my favourite book of it's time. I used to sit in Starbucks and openly weep as I read each chapter and then they made the film and no, I did not weep, did not laugh, did not emote anything. No offence intended to Ms Swank, but she just wasn't my Holly. What were they thinking I wonder?
Happy Easter Col x
Sunday, 9 April 2017
Finally Spring x
Col... it's Spring! Finally. Yesterday was the first sunny and warm day we've truly had and today is hot on its heels. My phone tells me it's 19 degrees, doesn't feel like it but I'll trust that it's true. We've had a beautiful blue sky all day, I have washing on the line and the back door is open to air out this place, it's lovely.
Hip/leg is still not OK but is improving... very slowly. I finally get to see my Doctor on Tuesday, I'm hoping she'll just tell me it's a sprain, of course I've been pencilling myself in for a hip replacement in the past few weeks (imagination running wild,) or at the very least a progression of Osteoarthritis but suffice to say, as soon as I can move without pain, I will be exercising again. It's made me realise that if you can move, then you should move. We need to look after ourselves.
This past week I've been getting itchy feet, I've been lusting after visiting you and also wondering about changing my job. I didn't think I would change again but a friend from two jobs ago sent me a text to let me know that jobs were coming up and it piqued my interest. Really got me thinking.
Anyway, had a rubbish few weeks, leg is making me miserable then we had Mother's Day and today is Mum's birthday, so you know what I'm like but I did get a white feather 'Hello' yesterday which was lovely to see, (I had the back door open while I gardened and was in and out, went back after a few minutes and the white feather was on the mat, inside, by the back door.)
Oh... major news... I've given up wine! Well, strictly speaking, I've given up drinking wine alone. I still like wine but I got to the point were I finally recognised that my body wasn't handling it very well, it was too easy to open a bottle of wine here and to finish it off and it literally felt like I was poisoning myself. In the past month, I've had a thimble full of Prosecco at my cousin's birthday afternoon tea and half a glass of rose one night at Bee's with a meal, (so don't think we can't have wine when I see you next!) I have a few G&T's at the weekend and that's me... done. I was practically teetotal before Mum died and it's taken me all this time to sort myself out, I probably could have funded several trips to you.
Next weekend is Easter so that will be a nice, long one. I plan on sleeping... a lot, and who knows, I may be able to start exercising again. Keep everything crossed. Love you x
Hip/leg is still not OK but is improving... very slowly. I finally get to see my Doctor on Tuesday, I'm hoping she'll just tell me it's a sprain, of course I've been pencilling myself in for a hip replacement in the past few weeks (imagination running wild,) or at the very least a progression of Osteoarthritis but suffice to say, as soon as I can move without pain, I will be exercising again. It's made me realise that if you can move, then you should move. We need to look after ourselves.
This past week I've been getting itchy feet, I've been lusting after visiting you and also wondering about changing my job. I didn't think I would change again but a friend from two jobs ago sent me a text to let me know that jobs were coming up and it piqued my interest. Really got me thinking.
Anyway, had a rubbish few weeks, leg is making me miserable then we had Mother's Day and today is Mum's birthday, so you know what I'm like but I did get a white feather 'Hello' yesterday which was lovely to see, (I had the back door open while I gardened and was in and out, went back after a few minutes and the white feather was on the mat, inside, by the back door.)
Oh... major news... I've given up wine! Well, strictly speaking, I've given up drinking wine alone. I still like wine but I got to the point were I finally recognised that my body wasn't handling it very well, it was too easy to open a bottle of wine here and to finish it off and it literally felt like I was poisoning myself. In the past month, I've had a thimble full of Prosecco at my cousin's birthday afternoon tea and half a glass of rose one night at Bee's with a meal, (so don't think we can't have wine when I see you next!) I have a few G&T's at the weekend and that's me... done. I was practically teetotal before Mum died and it's taken me all this time to sort myself out, I probably could have funded several trips to you.
Next weekend is Easter so that will be a nice, long one. I plan on sleeping... a lot, and who knows, I may be able to start exercising again. Keep everything crossed. Love you x
Hip Thing
Hi Hon,
Well, I'm not going to lie... this week has been a mega bitch. Has left me mentally and physically exhausted. But it's done now, it's over and that's work for you. I'm not going to bore you with the details but to summarise; eighteen hour days, sleepless nights, immobility due to being chained to a desk, travel... exhausted isn't the word.
Thankfully, I now have a week of leave, I need to use it or lose it and it could not have arrived at a more opportune moment. A couple of weeks ago, I had a whole week of being chained to my desk, no lunch break, no power walk to clear my head, and as I'm obsessed with getting in a minimum of 10,000 steps a day, (even though I set my bar at 14,000,) well that meant that I had to get in the majority of my steps after my evening meal and before bed. This resulted in what I thought was sciatica but in fact, I think it's some kind of hip strain. Whatever it is, it's painful. If I had highlighter pens, I would highlight my left, very top of thigh bone, my outer left knee and my left ankle. It's agony and it's making me miserable.
My dream of having a boot camp while I was off was derailed when everything I read was 'keep mobile but rest' as in...don't aggravate it anymore than you already have done.
On top of the leg problem, I went to Bee's for lunch on Sunday and from Monday, I have had terrible griping pains in my tum. Now, Bee can cook and even though she has a blatant disregard for 'use by' dates, she also knows how sensitive my stomach can be, so apart from the 'homemade' mustard, I don't think there was anything in the roast that could have given me grief.
I'm going to put the stomach cramps down to the ibuprofen I've been taking for the leg thing, I know that it can be harsh on your innards and I don't usually take it so it must be that, but it has me living off white... WHITE... toast. You know white, processed rubbish doesn't usually pass my lips, but white toast is what I need and white toast was all I ate for two whole days.
It's a good think I'm off this week. I don't do sick days so I would have soldiered on and been totally miserable... more miserable than I have been. I'm getting plenty of sleep, which only serves to remind me of how sleep deprived I am on a daily basis. Leg is waking me up in the night., just hurting really, nothing major.
My time off, dodgy hip and lethargy, turn out to have a positive effect. I read. I'm in no hurry to have my ritualistic coffee at my weekend location and hurry to the next thing on my to-do list. I sit, I read, I make the most of the free refill policy and I read some more. Bootcamp turns out to be a Masterclass to myself. I get to read every day, because I'm free, not chained to my desk, and awake.
Well, I'm not going to lie... this week has been a mega bitch. Has left me mentally and physically exhausted. But it's done now, it's over and that's work for you. I'm not going to bore you with the details but to summarise; eighteen hour days, sleepless nights, immobility due to being chained to a desk, travel... exhausted isn't the word.
Thankfully, I now have a week of leave, I need to use it or lose it and it could not have arrived at a more opportune moment. A couple of weeks ago, I had a whole week of being chained to my desk, no lunch break, no power walk to clear my head, and as I'm obsessed with getting in a minimum of 10,000 steps a day, (even though I set my bar at 14,000,) well that meant that I had to get in the majority of my steps after my evening meal and before bed. This resulted in what I thought was sciatica but in fact, I think it's some kind of hip strain. Whatever it is, it's painful. If I had highlighter pens, I would highlight my left, very top of thigh bone, my outer left knee and my left ankle. It's agony and it's making me miserable.
My dream of having a boot camp while I was off was derailed when everything I read was 'keep mobile but rest' as in...don't aggravate it anymore than you already have done.
On top of the leg problem, I went to Bee's for lunch on Sunday and from Monday, I have had terrible griping pains in my tum. Now, Bee can cook and even though she has a blatant disregard for 'use by' dates, she also knows how sensitive my stomach can be, so apart from the 'homemade' mustard, I don't think there was anything in the roast that could have given me grief.
I'm going to put the stomach cramps down to the ibuprofen I've been taking for the leg thing, I know that it can be harsh on your innards and I don't usually take it so it must be that, but it has me living off white... WHITE... toast. You know white, processed rubbish doesn't usually pass my lips, but white toast is what I need and white toast was all I ate for two whole days.
It's a good think I'm off this week. I don't do sick days so I would have soldiered on and been totally miserable... more miserable than I have been. I'm getting plenty of sleep, which only serves to remind me of how sleep deprived I am on a daily basis. Leg is waking me up in the night., just hurting really, nothing major.
My time off, dodgy hip and lethargy, turn out to have a positive effect. I read. I'm in no hurry to have my ritualistic coffee at my weekend location and hurry to the next thing on my to-do list. I sit, I read, I make the most of the free refill policy and I read some more. Bootcamp turns out to be a Masterclass to myself. I get to read every day, because I'm free, not chained to my desk, and awake.
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