Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Ho Hum

It's been a rough month. I've really been feeling worse than my usual lousy. My 'normal' lousy is incredible fatigue, sore muscles and joints, foggy brain, poor concentration, depression, no enthusiasm for much of anything.  In the past month or so, I've had all that but the fatigue has been worse and I've been really nauseous, dizzy and have had abdominal pain. And because I've been feeling worse physically, the depression has worsened some. The only upside was the nausea helped me lose 14 pounds - and that's always a nice surprise!

So, after some convincing from my family and friends I finally went to the doctor, got a load of tests done and nothing serious, just needed a medication change. I'm on the road to feeling better. In the meantime, I still have a few lingering symptoms, so I'm trying to find ways to entertain myself without using much energy, wearing out my sluggish brain cells, spending money by on-line shopping and staying out of the heat we've been having off and on. It's not easy! It's like trying to keep a toddler happy when she misses her mommy and needs a nap!

Here are some ways I found to break the monotony:

1.  I sat in the backyard at dusk and waited for the neighborhood rat to come. I counted how many times he ran the length of the fence in a half hour.  I tried to tell if it's the same rat as the night before. Due to my poor memory, I could never remember, so it was a like new game every night! I pretended it was my brain-teaser exercise of the day.

2.  I tried to teach the dog to speak. Any one of them. I did care who learned. It didn't work, but they enjoyed the extra treats. I realized I'm not a very good dog trainer. But I sure know how to 'treat' them right.

3.  I tried to identify a new 'beetle' type bug in my yard that seems to like my hot tub. I thought it might be a  Eastern fivespined ips, Ips grandicollis - but those are only 1/16" long and they tend to live in Florida. My specimen is 1/2" long, so the search continues.



4.  I spread catnip around and watched the cats have a field day. They had a great time rolling in it, drooling, battling over territorial rights, watching each other writhe in ecstasy while they waited for their next turn.  Now that was great fun for all of us.
                                                                           
                                                                             


Simple little things, but it broke the monotony of the endless boredom and took my mind off how crappy I feel.  I'm glad I still have enough brain power (most days) to pull myself out of whatever ditch I find myself in. I'm pretty good at maintaining a positive outlook and a decent sense of humor even one the worst days. I'm lucky in many ways. And one of these days I'll feel well enough to get back to painting that door blue. Again.
 
                                                                          


Saturday, July 7, 2012

UNLOADING X 2

The first 'unloading' resulted in some amazing changes to my living room and bathroom. I found things I thought had been lost forever and found things I forgot I even had. It was amazing how many things were donated (let's be honest, how many bottles of unopened sunscreen does one person need?) And things that got tossed - old check copies from as far back 1998 (probably don't need those and it cleared out a whole drawer in one fell swoop!), enough rubber bands for 5 years worth of daily Sacramento Bee deliveries, and piles and piles of bills that had been paid years ago.  I also broke down and tossed the birth control (ah, such fond memories) that expired in 1997. Sigh.

Although there were light moments, there were also some difficult ones - sorting through greeting cards from and photos of loved ones is always difficult, especially if they are from people that have died. I have this weird feeling that I'm dishonoring a dead person if I do that. I don't believe in Heaven..... but then again, what if I'm wrong and they're up there watching me toss that card they so lovingly signed right in the recycling bin? Or put them through a shredder?? So, some tears were shed, a memory box was started and piles were made. Piles were sorted and resorted. And eventually shrank. 

I had to buy a few items to keep my new world organized.  A new end-table that's actually big enough to hold a glass, a box of Kleenex and a cat who may decide to sashay on through. And a shelf underneath to hold stuff so it's not on the floor. A laptop tray that I can move away from me when I'm not using it, rather than putting the computer on the floor (a safety issue for me and the computer).

Today we tackled the kitchen. I didn't realize I had so much in there that would be happier at the Goodwill home! Someone who makes mostly smoothies and canned soup doesn't need 15 pot holders, 6 bent Marie Callendar pie tins, and 4 roasting pans.  I donated at least 5 gigantic vases (like the kind you get from a florist), and tons of mismatched salt & pepper shakers.

Then we came to the dreaded "Cupboard" that holds the washer and dryer, and whatever else I can throw in there that won't fall out before the door shuts. On the shelf were two boxes that had been sitting there since the day I'd move in in 1994. One labeled "JUNK DRAWER" and one "COOK BOOKS".  The junk drawer contents were just that - junk: old phone cords, adapters, cables, all that kind of stuff just perfect for the donation box. The cookbooks were not quite as easy - lots of memories there: several of Granny's little kitchen books that came with her pressure cooker (which I still have), etc. Adam's Home Ec. folder with homework, recipes, etc. (memory box bound!) and old Weight Watcher Recipes from back in the olden days when I stuck to the program and it worked for me. Those things I kept. The other cookbooks were donated. Let someone else fatten up on those 101 Best Desserts of All Time!   That cupboard is now amazing - everything has a place, you can see what's there, it's organized, accessible and it makes me smile :)

Believe it or not, I have a 3rd appointment with her. Hopefully the last. I haven't decided what the next space will be - bedroom maybe.  She wants to work on the garage. I think it may have to wait til cooler weather, though. She's "disturbed" by the "randomness" of my garage (which I thought was one of my more organized spaces, but clearly, I'm not a good judge of this concept. Maybe I will be by the time we're done....