September 1 through 4

[chochiyo_sama]

Thursday, September 1

I had an appointment with Dr. Vita at 11:10 today.   I was able to get up early enough to take a shower, get dressed, and prep my purse for a several hour visit to the clinic—it always takes a hell of a lot longer there than it should, so I make sure I have a book to read, some hard candy to suck on if my throat gets dry, Kleenexes, and paper and a pen.  I still had time to work on using Golden Glow to polish my DVD shelves and to wipe the dust and cat hair off my DVDs.  Lily arrived at about 10:30 to pick me up.  She dropped me at the Clinic and went on her own errands.  I had to wait about 30 minutes past my appointment time for the doctor to show up.  My blood pressure was lower but still too high.  168/85.  My pulse is much better at 80—at least it is no longer in triple digits.  She doubled the new med Adam, the cardiologist, prescribed for me.  We’ll see what happens.

Last night I dreamed that I had a big old 3-4” nail imbedded in my foot.  When I pulled it out in the dream, I said, “It’s a good thing I am seeing Dr. Vita tomorrow as I will probably require a tetanus shot.”

I mentioned the dream to Dr. Vita as I thought it was funny.  That scamp looked into her computer records and said, “Turns out you are DUE for a tetanus shot!”  So, after our visit, I had to wait for about 40 minutes for a nurse to show up and give me a tetanus shot.  Sigh. 

She was skilled as I felt almost nothing when she gave me the shot.  She did warn me that my arm would be sore for about three days.

Then she took me to the appointment desk where I scheduled the appointments the cardiologist had ordered for me.  It took a long time.  My appointment was at 11:10 and I did not get out of the clinic till about 2:30 pm. 

Lily was waiting in the parking lot.  I was feeling grumpy and out of sorts about how long it took in the clinic, so I didn’t know immediately if I wanted to go anywhere or do anything.  She wanted me to come to her house to spend the rest of the day (so I could help her with her technology).  There is nothing wrong with her devices.  She just cannot remember how to work them—no matter how many times I explain it to her.  She is 82, so it isn’t surprising that she cannot absorb the technology.

She suggested Jimmy Johns, so I said fine.  I ordered a tuna sub there.  I would have preferred something hot, but at this point, I just wanted to go home.  Then she went through the drive through of the Dairy Queen as she wanted a shake.  The menu showed a double cheeseburger that looked delicious, so I ordered one of those and a hot fudge malt.  She got a caramel shake.  I paid for all of it because she drove. 

I drank the malt on the way home and ate the burger after Lily left.  I saved the tuna sub for later.  The burger was good.  The tuna sub was nothing special.  I ate it for supper. 

I got a text from Jason before we left Owatonna telling me he had left a bag of tomatoes from his garden on my doorknob.  I gave several of them to Lily as I couldn’t eat that many tomatoes.  He is such a sweet heart.

I had to listen to a long lecture from Lily about how I should not isolate myself and just stay at home all the time.  She said I should “force myself” to get out and do things.  I found it extremely irritating since what she really wants is for me to come to her house and help her go through her stuff, type her recipes, and help her with her electronics.  Sigh.  For one thing, she is always freezing, and her house is always so hot because she will not use her air conditioning.  I will not suffocate for her—even though I love her. 

She doesn’t grasp the fact that I am not an extrovert.  I am an introvert.  I don’t need to run all over the place constantly.  Also, the never ending pain in my knees and shoulders makes it very unpleasant for me to be out and about.   It is getting really hard for me to hold my tongue while she is hounding me about this crap.  One of these days, I am afraid I am going to yell at her.  It’s frustrating.  I don’t want to hurt her feelings, but I also am sick of her hounding me constantly about shit I do not give a fuck about.

Arg. 

When I was finally left on my own again, I finished polishing the DVD shelves and wiping down the DVDs.  It looks so pretty, organized, and clean.

That wall gives me hope and inspiration to continue to bring the rest of the house to the same level of beauty and cleanness.

 

Friday, September 2

I did not sleep well last night.  My shoulders and arms were so sore and achy from all the scrubbing and polishing I’ve done lately that I could not get comfortable.  Also, I was up constantly to pee.  I am sure I had to get up and go to the bathroom 5-6 times in the night.  It was so annoying.

I couldn’t sleep any longer, so I got up earlier than usual.  I cleaned the litterboxes in the breezeway, swept the floor, used Golden Glow to polish the tall narrow bookshelf in the breezeway, wiped down the books (mostly paperbacks) that I put in the shelves, and added more books to fill the space. 

I made myself a couple of over-easy eggs and pumpernickel toast for lunch.  While waiting for my grocery order to be delivered, I caught up on my DW journal.  Once Ross delivered them, I put them away.  They had “Lunchables” on sale, so I had bought six of them.  I ate one for supper.  Sawyer insisted on sharing the cheese and ham slices with me.  Greedy little piglet.  He was not interested in the watermelon I had for dessert.  That black diamond watermelon is the most delicious watermelon ever.

I called my brother Jack in the evening.  Tomorrow, they will be taking Cora to her college and moving her into her new dorm room.  I cannot believe that my youngest niece/nephew is off to college.  I am both excited for her and jealous of her.  My college years were the best years of my life.  I hope she loves it as much as I did. 

She will have a much more satisfying support system than I had.  Her parents will make sure she has what she needs and will keep in contact with her instead of just dumping her and forgetting her like mine did.

 

Saturday, September 3

Another restless night with frequent peeing.  My arms and shoulders are still sore and weak from all that polishing and cleaning.  My tetanus shot is a little sore today—not terrible—just kind of sore and itchy.  When I got up, I filled my pill caddy, did my morning routine, and decided to take my day pretty easy today in hopes of resting my sore shoulders and arms. 

Poppables were on sale, so I bought some of them as well as a package of red licorice.  I munched on those for breakfast/lunch.  I was just not in the mood to make anything real.  I watched two movies—The Legend of Cable Hoage, which was depressing, and The Missing, a movie with an aging Tommy Lee Jones, which was also depressing, but not as depressing as the first one. 

It was a beautiful fall day—totally blue sky without a cloud anywhere and slightly breezy. 

For supper, I made a box of PastaRoni, spread Cheese Whiz and sliced green olives on pumpernickel bread, and had a pretty odd supper of it.  It was good. 

Not much else going on.  Lily called to harass me again about my “isolating myself.”  Sigh.  If only she could grasp the fact that her hounding me about this makes me want to avoid her like the plague.  She is on the run for several days a week as it is.  Why does she want to force me out and about when I have told her a million times that I DO NOT ENJOY IT.  Sigh.

 

Sunday, September 4

Finally, last night I slept wonderfully well.  I did have to get up to pee twice, but that is fairly normal for me.  I got an early text from DeAnn asking if I minded doing our Zoom meeting an hour later than normal, at 11 am instead of 10, as she was really tired and needed more sleep.  I was fine with that.  So, I picked up a little clutter, ate one of the apple fritters I had bought from Lerbergs, and fired up my computer.  I watched a little TV while waiting for DeAnn to log on and cleared out my email in-box.

When we did our Zoom, I showed DeAnn how lovely my new bookshelves look in the office and how clean and shiny my DVDs and their shelves look.  Also, how happy the portrait of Cousin Mary looks with her frame all polished and shiny against the beautiful spring green paint.  She talked about her search for a new house and what she is hoping to find—basically more private space for herself and her son, and dedicated space for her art—the messy art studio for clay and pottery and the “fine art” section for painting and other art that is cleaner. 

We ended our session earlier than normal too as she wanted to attend an open house showing.  I was fine with that too.  I was fine with having a lazy day watching TV and playing around on the internet.  My arms and shoulders feel a lot better today—not nearly as sore.  My tetanus shot is more sore now and very itchy.  I’m sure it will get better very soon. 

I texted my brother Jack and asked him if he could drag my garbage to the curb as it is very full and needs to be emptied—if he happened to be out and about today.  He texted back that he would do it.  I was hoping he’d stop in to visit a bit, but he texted me that he was meeting a friend on line, so could not visit today. All fine. 

I watched an episode of The Virginian which guest starred the little boy who played Jody on Family Affair as a runaway who turns up at Shiloh Ranch.  I also watched the movie Hondo, starring John Wayne.  Later, I watched two episodes of the “new” random people Walking Dead.  It’s okay,  but I like the original far better.

I didn’t feel like cooking, so I just ate another Lunchable for supper.  Peaches and Sawyer gobbled up a good share of my cheese and ham. 

As soon as I post this to DreamWidth, I will be going to bed.  I had written these days out in much greater detail earlier, but somehow managed to delete it and was unable to bring it back.  I almost said fuck it and just head to bed, but I wanted to get it done.  So I redid it. 

It’s just as well.  I whined a lot more about Lily’s daily hounding me about my “isolating” myself, so it’s just as well I accidentally deleted it.  No one needs to hear more whining.  Not when we have trump and his minions whining their heads off on TV every single day. 

Comments

[cmcmck]

Know what you mean about parental support at uni.

I got none at all.

[the_godiva]

I don't think Lily is being entirely selfish. You do need to get out once in a while. Plus you need to sit out in the sun a few hours a week just for health. I found lockdown very easy, in fact it was rather soothing as I didn't have to make excuses to avoid going out. But I recognize I also do need to get out and interact with people occasionally. I have the pool for that, although they have reduced the open hours at the therapy pool even further to a few days a week for two hours in the morning from 7-9 am. That does not meet the needs of the senior community. While the water walking hours in the rec pool have increased, the minute the weather cools that will not be adequate. I've already drafted a letter to the Salvation Army and will be dropping it off at the office the next time I go to the pool.

I'm sure Lily also has some self interest and is thinking of herself. She has to be with people all the time and wants your company and your help. But I also thinks she knows you shouldn't isolate yourself so much.

I think DeAnn should be looking for a house for just herself. Put it off a bit until Josh is 17, then tell him he has a year to graduate and get a job to support himself as on his 18th birthday he is on his own and she is moving to a new house without him. Yeah, I know she'll never do that. She's like my sister. She should have done that to both her boys after they turned 18. It's get a job and move out unless you're full time at college, upon which at graduation you get a full time job to support yourself and move out.

I looked at your weather and it's lovely. Much better than what we have here. You're also getting more rain than we are, of course doesn't take much. Whether it's dry mid 90s or humid 90s it sucks either way and I spend day and night in my bedroom with the AC cranked to 64 and it still doesn't get below 80, but I know it's working as when I leave, the rest of the house is so freakin' hot and I end up so sticky it's a relief to go back to the bedroom.

I did get a little done yesterday. I put a new liner in the trash can and I broke up all of the cardboard and put it in. A few more I'll get tonight and I can pull it out and reline to put in garbage. From now on recycling and trash goes to the front cans and the garbage goes to the alley can.

My parent's AC is so much better than mine but they are cold all the time so I always end up sweating up a storm when I'm over there since they can't tolerate putting it as low as I really need to make me comfortable. At least it takes the humidity out of the air. Even though my little window AC can't get my bedroom at home below 80 in this heat it's still better than the oven their guest room is. I've had talks with my Mom about what would make the house livable for me, redoing the bathroom to make it an en suite with the new wider doorway to make it handicapped accessible. Then take down all of the drywall, put in insulation, then install an AC wall unit like they have in their bedroom. I didn't tell her what else I wanted to do. Like put in a beam so I could take down the load bearing wall between the two bedrooms to make them into one room, make one long closet along the east wall and replace both of those shitty windows she bought with two Hopper windows like the one I have in my bedroom. There are Jalousie windows in both bathrooms which are original and my Mom has never replaced and I have mixed feelings about them.

I need to repack my bag for my parent's house. Not sure how long I'm going to stay. A week would be nice but my entire yard will die without water so I would need to come back at least every other day to water. Of course, that would also give me a chance to remove the dresser and bring it home. I want to remove the remaining door on the toy chest/armoire and bring that home too, thus establishing my ownership of that as well. With both doors I can buy some paint remover and see how badly damaged the finish might be under the sanding job those shits at my high school did to it.

Staying a week would also give me an opportunity to get more work done in the yard, maybe get a lot of the irrigation repaired and move on to the trees and the front yard. I already made a shopping list for Home Depot and have bought a few things on Amazon that are arriving in the next few weeks.