What a trip!

This was posted on Runnemede Remembered.

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I'm posting this on The Fat Lady Singeth as well. Covering all my bases here.



Alan and I just got back from a cruise to nowhere. That's what they call it when you basically wander around in the Atlantic ocean for days on end and enjoy the cruise ship as a resort, instead of getting suffled off the boat every day to try to see sights that you can't possibly see well in the time alloted.


I will get to my ONE TOUR this trip.


The trip was out of Baltimore. This was a first time to use this port and I have to say that for passengers with mobility problems this was the best ever. And our immobility this year was the worst ever. So that's saying a lot.


They were very attentive to our needs and got us to our cabin in good time. Dumb us. We showed up two hours too early, thinking we were on a Miami boarding schedule. Not at all. But that's okay. They were still very nice about our earliness (and we weren't the only ones) and weren't put off by it at all.


We had pre-ordered scooters so we would be able to get around the boat with little or no pain. Well, that worked well for three and a half days, then Alan did a back flip with his scooter -- the back wheels got caught on the ramp through one of the doors to the upper deck -- and he got the wind knocked out of him, bruised several ribs, and was in misery the remainder of the trip. Basically, he stayed in the room for the rest of the time, except for meals when after not liking the room service selection he decided he would join me for meals at the restaurants. Someday I'll write about those mis-adventures, but not today.


Anyway, on Thanksgiving day, we were in Nassau, Bahamas. Now, I've walked from the ship to Nassau several times, and each time it has been a wearying, hurtful process. But I want those free bracelets and other jewelry they hand out at the various jewelry stores there. I now have enough charm bracelets for all my girls, big and small! All free! And I have necklaces for stockings, etc. I'm so excited about that.


Anyway, this trip what normally took me 1 hour to get into town, took only 10 minutes on the scooter. It was so much fun and I could see so much more. Granted many of the shops didn't have ramps, so I couldn't go into them. Their loss, as I was in a spending mood, and I had saved my meager allowance for six months! I bought myself a present for Alan to give me for Christmas -- that's a tradition. I buy it, he pays for it, and wraps it up, and I enjoy it for as long as I live. Then one of my girls will enjoy it. See? Isn't that the way it's supposed to work?


Alan had been complaining and saying he was sure he had shingles, and I kept checking (this was after the back flip) to see if he did have shingles, and I saw nothing, so I decided he needed to get to an ER as soon as we landed. Well, lucky for him, shingles showed themselves for the nasty things they are and now he only has to endure a trip to the doctor's office to get some anti-biotics. He has the pain meds that they gave him on the boat, and the meds he's been taking since his last shingles attack.


You see, with a compromised immune system once you get shingles you never get rid of them entirely. You get rid of the rash, but the pain may lessen some, but it's still there. Sort of like fibromyalgia. And because his immune system is compromised, he can't have the vaccine that is available for singles.


So at the end of the trip -- and I have to say we had the best wait staff ever -- I packed us up, and boy did that hurt, because I had been having to lift Alan from a chair or bed, and I was so totally sore from doing that. I packed us up. Got us all set to get off the boat which was slicker than butter this time. What a difference from other cruises. They wheeled us right up to the taxi. The cab-driver took care of transferring out luggage to our car which was had parked at the hotel in which we stayed in Baltimore, and off we went.


Home again, home again, jiggety-jig!!!!




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Up all night.

Seems that lately that's been my modus operendi.  Did I spell that correctly?  Oh, well.  I worked really hard from 5 a.m. yesterday when I got up, and then crashed around 2 p.m.  I didn't wake up until midnight.  Of course, that meant, I was up all night.  I'll see how long I can go today. 

While I was up I did two loads of laundry.  And no, I didn't put them away yet.  I'm really bad at that.  And I read a book, a Christmas story called "Christmas Pearl" by Dorothea Benton Frank.  I will pass this book along to my neighbor who enjoys this author.  It was a cute story, and it will probably be made into a TV movie and shown on  Hallmark or Lifetime in a couple of years.

Okay, so I like Christmas books, new ones, old ones, most anything Christmas.  I'm looking forward, also to the upcoming TV movies on Hallmark and Lifetime and ABC Family -- the Christmas movies.  I know I've seen them many, many times before, but who cares.  I still love to watch them.  There are few that I don't like.

Let me just say:  Warm and fuzzy.

Well, I'm off to do the days work.

Oh, did I mention that this is now DAY FOUR of walking without a walker and with minimal pain in my knees.  I'm praying that the combo of meds that I'm currently taking is the one that works.  Fibro?  Well, that's a different kettle of fish, but I'll work on that as soon as I'm sure the knees stay functioning.

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A new day

Today was my bi-monthly doctor's appointment.  Nothing to worry about.  My kidney functions are up from 40 percent to 55 percent, my BP is 120/80 (perfect score on that one!), and my weight -- well we won't go there.

I spent a few minutes asking a lot of questions about fibromyalgia and why I sometimes feel no pain at all, and other times, I don't even want people to get within 10 feet of me. 

Like today -- all is well, even my knees are good enough to be walker-less.  I'm practicing using just a cane, trying to do away with the walker upon which I have grown very dependent.  I am doing quite well with the cane and maybe tomorrow I'll feel it because I'm using different muscles, but as of tonight, all is well.

The fibro attacks come and go randomly.  I plan things and pray that I can do what is planned.  I did find out today that if I take a muscle relaxer, I will feel better -- less flu-like symptoms.  Well, we'll see.  I still can't take anti-inflammatories which would really help, because of the kidneys.  The anti-inflammatories would help the arthritis as well.

And praise God that the back pain is still in the zero range (on a scale of 1-10).  The knee pain today was about 3, which is wonderful, and very, very low for me. 

Tonight I'm very tired and so even though it's only 8 p.m., and I'll miss Jon and Kate Plus 8, I'm going to bed.  I'm just too tired to even think.

So...ttfn.

What's up with this?

Yesterday I could barely move.  My hips hurt, my knees hurt, my back hurt.  Even with a walker I had difficulty.  Then today I woke up in no pain and nothing hurt.  Why?  It certainly wasn't because I took any pain killers.  Did everything just snap in place during the night?  Must have.  Believe me, I'm not complaining.  This has been a great day. 

• I polished the piano.
• I put ALL my laundry away.
• I cleaned the floor of the pantry (again).
• I washed dishes (in the dishwasher and from the sink)
• I concepted Christmas decorating all around the living room, dining room, kitchen areas.
• I reapplied the dog sofa cover (don't ask).
• I washed the kitchen counters. 
• I degreased the microwave vents.
• I made Alan lunch.
• And I knitted another inch for my neck scarf.

Now, I'm reading all the BLOGs I like to read every day, and I'm adding to my "diary".  I should get out and go to Staples and pick up what I need there while I can move, but I think I'll just stay in and stop doing anything for a while.

Oh yeah, I put a chicken in a pot of salted water, and after I pick the bones clean, I'll add dumplings to the pot, for chicken and dumplings for dinner tonight.  C&D with a nice salad.  Yum.

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Veterans' Day

Tomorrow is Veterans' Day.  Yes, it's still the 10th of November.  It's been a long day.  The first long day in a long time.   Most of my days are extremely short.

I want to thank all the men in my family (you know who you are) who have served admirably in one branch or another of the armed forces.

Tomorrow all vets will get a free meal at Appleby's, so ever though Alan doesn't particularly like that restaurant (I do), we're going there so he can get his free meal.  All we have to do is show him in his uniform in a picture.  Well, duh, who would recognize him now from 40 years ago?  I could show them a picture of anyone in uniform from 40 years ago, and say it was him and they would have to believe me.  Let's see, I have a picture of his brother in uniform, his nephews (three of them) in uniform -- new ones. 

But, I don't think that's going to work, so I have a back-up -- his discharge papers.  We have to show them every time we book a cruise so we can get the armed forces discount, which is really neat. 

I'm looking forward to the meal -- he wants to go around 1:00 p.m. instead of at dinner time.  I don't suppose they'll care that we're coming at that time instead of at dinner.  I'll bet it will be crowded even at that time.  I can't imagine how hard it's going to be to get a seat at dinner time.

I made sausage spaghetti sauce today and once again it was delish.  I think that's my best "gravy" for the "pasta" that I make.  The sausage gives it a special flavor that I particularly enjoy.
Poor Alan, he didn't tell me he wasn't feeling well and I piled his plate high because I know he likes sausage spaghetti.  Well, he left most of it on the plate saying he didn't want it.  I'm concerned because with all the non-eating he's been doing, he's gaining weight. 

Doctor's appointment for him soon, no buts about it.

Well, I'm off to bed now.  It's almost Veterans' Day and since it's a holiday I must get my Veterans' Day Eve bedrest.

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Today's bright spot

My dear sister called me.  It's Friday, and she called me!  She almost always calls me on Sunday, so a Friday phone call sort of freaked me out until I found out that she was just missing me.  Isn't that neat?  And she had a question about the piano.

That was today's (Friday's) bright spot.  I realize I'm writing this on Saturday at 3 a.m., but these thoughts are about Friday. 

I woked up in the middle of last night in terrible pain.  A really bad fibro attack.  It was too soon to take any meds, so I just layed still and wished sleep to come.  I woke up again around 8 a.m. and downed my meds which took effect shortly after that, at least I think they did.  I fell asleep and woke up again around noon, but hurt too bad to actually get out of bed, so I stayed in bed, and fell asleep again, and woke up around 5 p.m.  I made Alan some dinner, and then went back to bed.  I fell asleep again, and woke up around 11 p.m.  Now, I'm wide awake, and will probably not sleep all night.  At least the pain is much less.  It's still there, but much abated.

I keep thinking about our soon-to-be-taken trip and pray that I don't get any such attack while we're away.  It's not fun being out of commission when one is traveling.

My dear daughter's sister-in-law recently had a baby who is not doing well at all.  Feeding tubes, etc.  Her name is Savannah.  Isn't that a pretty name?  Pray for her.  Reminder to myself as well to pray for her.

Well, after a day of freezing, I'm not in the throes of a very, very hot flash.  Boy, I hate those things.  You'd think I'd be through with them.  But then I take to some of my 80 year old friends, and they still have them occasionally.  Part of life.  I just need to get over it.

I guess I'll shut down on this diary report for today.  I feel like I need to get back into bed.  Tired, I'm so tired.

Good night.

ttfn

DST

That's not a disease or anything, or maybe it is.  It's Daylight Savings TimeTime -- which is over, for a couple of months.  Even with the extra hour I didn't get any extra sleep.  My body clock sleeps when it wants to sleep and that's it.

I have a cousin who takes an afternoon nap and as she told me recently, it takes a good chunk out of the day, but being retired, it's so worth it.

I take a nap more often than not, as well, but I feel so guilty afterwards because I've given up that chunk of the day, and at night I'm worthless.  But then, I can't sleep at night if I take that nap.  At least that's the case most of the time

So, here we are...the clocks got changed.  Well, some of them.  In my house there are so many clocks.  My dad had a clock thing.  I think when we moved him out of his house we found 75 clocks, or was that flashlights?  I can't remember, but I do know it was a lot of clocks.

Have I gone there?  Do I have that fettish that my father had?  I have at least one clock in every room.  In my kitchen there are three -- count them -- three clocks ...the microwave, which is still set at the old time, the coffee pot, still on DST, and the stove, I didn't change that one either.

I have two clocks in my sister's room, one is changed, one isn't (three if you count the computer clock, but that's the only one I don't have to worry about because it changes automatically).  And then I hate to tell you how many watches I have. But I don't worry about them, I just change them out.  I keep several at DST and several at EST (Eastern standard).  Of course, there's the clock in the car, the one down in the garage.  Have it covered them all?  I'll get around to changing them all out sometime in mid-December, about a month before they have to be changed back.

Why don't we just leave them the same year round.  Farmers don't even use clocks.  And I find that I'm using them less and less because, well, I just get up when I want, do what I have to do, then go back to bed when I want.  If I don't have a specific appointment, I don't worry about time.

That's saying a lot for me because I used to be so tied to my watch.  Do I go without wearing a watch?  No way.  I have one embedded into my left wrist.  It's waterproof so I don't have to worry about it in the shower.  Just kidding, but I do have that annoying habit of checking it out from time to time.  Why?  I don't know. 

Maybe I'm just checking to see if the sun is doing what it's supposed to be doing.

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POST TTFN:  Have I mentioned lately that I hate the dark.  And it seems to be dark all the time now.  I get up in the dark -- it doesn't get light out here until almost 8 a.m., and then it gets dark around 6 p.m.  If I sleep away the afternoon, I'm giving up a lot of the light time.

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