A Level Field: For Now

Today was an average day. Pain levels were down, except my knees. Depression lessened. No agitation or frustration to speak of. I wasn't ecstatic, but I wasn't mad either. Like I said, an average day. 

We went to church, getting there about 15 minutes late. I don't know why; I think I was trying to get a jacket that wasn't covered in cat hair. Or maybe I took too long on my teeth. Whatever, we got there.

Service was good. Teaching/Preaching was good. Worship service was good. My neighbors were friendly, and the babies were adorable. (There are about three new babies around me.)

I tried to write the last couple of days but I keep getting so sleepy. It's very frustrating when that happens. I can't stop it or correct it because I do not know what is causing it. So, I just walk away. And lie down.

And of course, at this point in the writing, everything sucks. I don't know why that happens either. For a week, I thought it was great. Today I don't want to look at it, let alone read that drivel.  

Tonight, I watched funny videos and shared them on Facebook. I laughed so much but I feel better. 

Jet is sitting next to me on my desk, in the bed I put there for him. When he gets in it, he's much less annoying. I try to remember to pet him now and then, so he gets the attention he craves. At the moment, he's making biscuits. He only does that in this bed. Very weird.

The house is colder because I'm keeping my heat down lower. The utility bills are simply insane here and they want to increase them. I don't know how they think people will keep the power on. My utilities are now about what my house payment is. I feel for folks who are paying more for their house and have even larger bills. 

I'm getting ready to go to bed for the night. I may shut the cats out. They keep waking me up early and I'm not resting well. They seem to think they can't finish their breakfast without me in the kitchen. Jet has begun messing with my water container, which has a lid on it. He knocked over the lamp when I swatted at him about the water. It is a glass lamp, but he didn't break it. I was still angry with him because it was 7:30 and I didn't want to get up. So, I'll probably lock them out tonight. I really hate to do that to them.

Oh yeah, we had snow this weekend. I got up on Saturday morning and opened the kitchen curtains and was shocked to see several inches of snow. As of today, the snow was gone. We may get more in a few days, but for it to stick around, the ground has to freeze. 

I still haven't finished my handbag project! Will work tomorrow on it. I hope.

For now, I'll get off here and turn in for the night. I hope 

I Live for Excitement! Not.

  So, I wasn't feeling very well and decided it was time to take a shower, wash my hair, and just go to bed. That was my intention when I got in the shower. 

Things did not go as planned.

I have a nice standing rack in the back corner of my shower that holds soaps, shampoos, conditioners, back scrubbers, and I keep clothes pins to clip wash cloths on to prevent mildew and to dry after you shower. I suspect I've had this rack for 20+ yrs. It's been a convenient thing to have. 

Right until it collapsed, the pole snapping in half into the shower. All the things just tumbled around me and I'm holding this pole yelling, "Help! Help! Help!" 

I live alone, y'all. Well, with three cats, but they were nowhere to be seen. Any other time, Jet would be holding my hand. Not this time. Nope. I'm standing in the shower, the way I came into the world, holding the shower caddy with a broken pole, surrounded by various bath accessories, screaming for help. I love living dangerously. 

Eventually, I realized no one was coming, thankfully, and took a breath. I assessed the situation and realize the rational thing to do was get rid of the broken rack without getting cut on the rusted pole. It now lies on the bathroom floor. I rinsed my hair and got out of the shower. After I dried off and wrapped the wet hair, I cleaned up all the bottles, brushes, tossed things that were not good, and then I dressed. Well, there was no sense messing up my clothes. 

With an annoyed backward glance, I left the broken caddy on the bathroom floor till morning. Our encounter was traumatizing enough. I wasn't dealing with relocation tonight. 

A Bird in the Hand, Well, The Cats Mouth

 I shared this episode on Facebook first simply because it was there. However, I like to keep track of the drama here. So, here ya go. If you've already read this, you can move along to something really interesting. 

Got sidetracked by drama.  

A tiny bird got into the house. I tripped and fell over the recliner when it flew by. Jet and Kiki went on the defensive. It landed on the desk and Jet was on it in a second. He got it in his mouth. 

I yelled. "NO!"

Mike yelled from the garage, "What's going on!?" 

I yelled, "A bird got in the house! Jet's got it!"

"What?" he yelled back. (He's lost his hearing aid.)

I got up, Jet took off, followed closely by Kiki, followed by me, followed by Mike.

I yelled, "JET STOP!"

He stopped in the hallway with Kiki, but when he saw me he tried to run. I grabbed his tail. Yes, I know. Not cool. But he had this tiny bird in his mouth!

He dropped it. 

I reached down and picked it up. It was so tiny it fit in my hand. It fluttered and flew back into the living room. Jet went after it. 

He caught it again. I made him put it down. I reached down and the stupid bird flew under the bookcase. We couldn't find him.

Mike got down and looked under it with his light. I looked behind. I even took a stick and swept around. Finally, it flew out and into the kitchen. 

Jet took after it. It landed on a water bottle on the counter beneath the paper towels.

Jet was standing on his hind legs, watching.

I grabbed a dishtowel and caught him. 

Mike opened the back door, yelling at the cats to get back. I took the bird out and shook it off the towel. The little thing was so small!

It landed on the patio. We closed the door.

After things settled down, Mike checked the patio. The bird was gone. 

Whew. 

All I can say is, My Life. Eat your heart out.

Have A Seat

My back was terrible for a week, right until yesterday. It eased up and today is much better, still touchy but better. Today I could vacuum the den, living room, hallway and bathroom. I tossed the cat beds in the dryer to give them a good beating and remove any cat hair and dander. I changed the filter on the air conditioner, too. I couldn't believe how filthy it was; my nose should have told me.

After that, Mike and I watched Alabama nearly lose the game with the Texas Longhorns. I haven't watched a football game in years. Probably not since Jerry died. Mike asked me why. I told him it was because I didn’t enjoy watching them alone. I don’t like ball games a great deal, but I enjoy watching with family or friends. 

Most of the week I spent sitting down, and that is never good for backs, even on a good day. Walking is really the best thing you can do for a bad back. Most of my pain was in the lower right quadrant of my back. I also had an issue with my right hip and right knee that created additional issues with walking. I suspect all of it was because of arthritis. The doctor doesn’t think RA causes the back pain because it doesn’t affect those joints. It drifts around in smaller joints like hands, wrists, elbows, feet. Whatever. I couldn’t walk without pain. 

Sometimes you have to sit down. So, I’m trying to do that and still keep up with cleaning. I’m tired tonight but the Braves are playing in Seattle and I’d like to see the game. It won’t start till about 9 p.m. so might only see part of it. I’m going to bed, then and hope to be in church tomorrow. 

Another day gone.

September Update of Life on the Ledge

I have no idea where the last week went. If you find it, please send it on. I was very busy last week, after I returned home from Ohio. I celebrated with David and family. They took me to see an outdoor play called Tecumseh. It was amazing. 

The whole weekend was pleasant and I had a great time . I came home feeling pretty good. 

By the middle of the week, I began to have problems with my lower back and right hip. My aunt and uncle came for the weekend and left on Tuesday. This morning I could hardly get out of bed and when I did, walking was a huge problem. Lots of pain.

Mike is here for the weekend. I think he just wanted company but he also has been helping me by running errands for me. I simply couldn't handle a trip to the store. 

I haven't slept well in nearly 5 days and I think this has added to the problem. They got my new BiPap machine in.... finally, after a year. It looks like the old one but obviously the guts are updated. It still is a pain to use but necessary.

I'm about to head off to bed. I really have several things to do tomorrow and if my back isn't better, I don't think they'll get done. I've been turning in earlier but not sleeping any better. We'll see about tonight.