Seemingly, It is Always Something

 I tied my own shoes today and while that sounds like a ridiculous declaration coming from an adult, around this household, it is a very big deal. Now, if only I could properly wash my hair! Not that it needs it all that often, even less so as I age, however it would be nice to get a good lather every now and again. Because I cannot raise my arm very high, and certainly not for more than a few seconds, it is a real chore. During my therapy appointment today Lisa decided that I need a cortisone shot in my shoulder to jump start the healing process and while that sounds pretty terrible to me, if it will help, I am all for it. 

As is always the case with me, nothing goes as we hope it will. Another thing she has been watching is some red areas that are hard to describe but apparently are  infected dissolvable stitches, making it very sore, thus I am visiting the doctor tomorrow to get it looked at. Today also marks seven weeks since my surgery and it would have been expected that the site would be all healed by now. Not so for this gal.

What I have found great comfort in is going to the pool when it is not raining. Apparently without the pull of gravity, exercising in the pool is far easier. While everyone else was playing Saturday morning pickleball, I went to the pool when only two other folks were there. One other swimmer was Mason, a six year old who I have watched, over the last two summers, learn to swim. He's also a very bright and inquisitive little one who invited me to come look at the swimming fish in the lake. Whether it is the county or the city, I am not sure which, but one of them has been treating the lake resulting in very clear water. It's fun to watch them dart around and even more so when you crush up a goldfish cracker and watch them pop up for a snack which is what I did with Mason.

My world is small these days. Therapy, pool, church and that's about it. I did have a nice walk with Patti the other morning, calling her my chaperone. Bruce is not the only one who is fearful I will take another tumble, Bill is crazy worried about me which, while sweet, is unnecessary to my mind. That is also why I am still not driving because they fear that with my wrist and shoulder still not working normally, I might not be able to react quickly enough should something out of the ordinary occur. In other words, they are only thinking of me. While we were walking, we came across this very cool mushroom.

Birding is helpful when I am feeling down. I can report the the Night Heron finally took off after three days in mostly one place. Calling Orange County Animal Rescue, I explained the situation only to learn that unless it showed real signs of distress, they were not able to come out. Because it was only exhibiting unusual behavior it did not meet the criteria, and as it turns out, they were right.  Along the shores of Lake Pineloch there have been other pretty birds that only show up every so often, including the pretty Snowy Egret sporting bright yellow feet and legs.

A Green Heron made a surprise appearance. Great Blue Herons are frequent visitors, in fact one was just outside my window when I began typing, but this pretty heron is pretty uncommon.

And yet another type, a Tricolored Heron.  I'm not great at identification, but if I had to gues,s I would say it was a juvenile.

Bruce took me shopping at Marshalls and was that ever fun, especially when you go in there with nothing in mind and find all kinds of goodies. In our case, it was a cleaning tool and while we all know how much I don't like cleaning, anything to make it easier has to be good, right? This Bona floor cleaner is working beautifully, especially for a one-handed person. Ha ha! Actually my fingers are quite mobile and my stumpy thumb is being somewhat cooperative. 

The lever on the handle, after given a light squeeze, sprays out a fine mist of cleaning solution that you then push around with that pad. If you can imagine, I've already used it twice. Let's see how I do when the novelty wears off. 😁

Happily I am back to doing some cooking, although I surely am out of practice. That said, I've made some dinners and a batch of blueberry muffins that turned out pretty well. Speaking of food, we went to lunch after church to a new place for us. If you've lived in our part of town for long you might have eaten at Dexter's on Washington Street, or the one most recently in Hannibel Square. Bruce and I spent many a fun evening at Dexter's, often dining at a sidewalk table for hours, watching the pretty people walk by. Sadly the two of them closed, but the owner did open a new spot at the corner of Orlando and Lee Road called New Standard.

It is quite attractive inside, far different decor than the other locations. On this day, there was live music on a really nice stage.

The only problem was they took forever for their sound check. One reason we ordered two boards, meat and cheese,

and bread,

was so that it would take longer to eat and we could listen to live music. Turns out, once they began, it could have been better is one way of putting it. 

Instead of holding my arm up by hymnals, this week I brought along my exercise sponges that I squeeze to build strength.

"Motion is lotion" as Lisa keeps reminding me. I am taking it to heart, constantly moving all the parts that hurt which is about as much fun as it sounds! 

When we saw the rug below on sale at Target, many months ago, we purchased it knowing what a short life rugs seem to have on our front porch. Far less colorful than the last rug, Bruce got it out of storage and we are hoping this one will not show dirt quite as easily.

Mr. Peck did a marvelous job cleaning everything, including the kitchen window which is so clean, well, it sparkles. Because of all the rain, which btw, is coming down now, the flowers are looking good. Of note is the bird feeder which is seeing more action recently,  I am happy to report. 

Pleased as well by a new development which is that the birds are now using the fastest growing tree on the planet! Seriously two years after planting the Japanese Fern Tree, he had to trim the top and sides so our upstairs neighbors could use the steps. 

Unrelated to anything else, for posterity I should note that Covid cases are once again on the rise, something that does not surprise me as not enough people are getting the vaccine. At least that is my way of thinking. Today's front page story in the newspaper was about 22 people in the 911 offices testing positive. Although we have gone back to mostly the way we used to be, time will tell if we need, speaking of our family, to make any adjustments. During therapy I have to wear a mask as does Lisa in spite of both of us having our vaccines. 

Well, let us hope they can help me with this problem tomorrow, as well as my shoulder.

I really, really want to put all of this behind me, sooner rather than later!

your friend,

Gail