I need to see if I can write myself into a better mood.
There is so much to be grateful for. My dermatologist told me yesterday, after zapping my face in three places with liquid nitrogen, that my chances now of a reoccurrence of my melanoma are less than me getting another type of cancer. I am in full remission.
The sun is shining, the temperature is mild, it is dry with a bit of a breeze as the leaves are starting to turn in earnest. I have water pressure, electricity, enough money to buy groceries even though prices are going up. It is the weekend! I don’t need to teach again until Monday.
This last week I taught with a focus on grip strength and fingers and hands. I decided on this because last weekend I received a packet of absorbent bar towels I had ordered that are this beautiful purple color and I thought, cool, I will wash and fold them and take them to my in-person class. There is much one can do for the hands with a tea towel, dish towel, kitchen towel, whatever the heck one calls them.
I asked everyone to bunch up the towel and then grip it in one hand and squeeze continuously for one minute. Then switch hands. Then you do it again for a total of two minutes on each hand. Not only does this simple exercise build grip strength, but it also dulls, and in some cases removes arthritic pain in the affected joints for hours. The studies show that if you do this every day for two weeks you will see a marked difference in grip strength. And people who have relatively strong grip strength tend to live a little longer.
So, I have a week to go. My hands fingers and wrists, and especially my forearms, do feel like they have been well used.
Carlo is becoming a spoiled old man cat and a bit of a bully. He is getting picky about his food, and he wants it at 3 AM and is not shy about explaining that to me in no uncertain terms. If I get up and feed him at 3 AM and then go back to sleep like I did this morning I end up having all these dreams and waking up feeling tired.
I could get a feeder on a timer I suppose. But right now, we are at a standoff. This year the time change can’t come soon enough. We just won’t tell him. Okay? And I’ll get an extra hour of uninterrupted sleep.
My flu shot is scheduled for next Friday. That is all normal and good. But when I went to schedule my Covid shot along with it, no dice. Then a few days ago my health care provider said they had shots available, but the appointment scheduler didn’t work. This morning, I stopped by the place where I am getting my flu vaccine and asked if they had the Covid shots available now.
The clerk was kind of flippant with me. Saying… maybe, I should check back, but in an I could care less tone. OK fine. Does this remind you of anything? Ugh. We are on our own, I guess.
When I got home from the above trip I did check with my provider and lo and behold the appointment scheduler was working. I got an appointment in two and a half weeks. So, I will get both vaccines just in two different places and times. That is a relief. Fewer and fewer people here are wearing masks.
Except of course, well, we won’t go there.
Last night we had a board meeting for the League. One down, seven to go. Our new president is very process oriented and there are all these new forms and protocols and things to reflect on and…but I have to say, we have some dedicated folks doing good work and I am going to try my darndest to shine on the rest. We’ll see how I do.
On a more typical morning I get my cardio in before the morning class. Not this morning. Mr. Adorable but spoiled bully cat has enjoyed this. He gets kind of riled up when I do my cardio. If it were up to him, I would read, write, sleep and most importantly feed him little bits of a wide but select variety of delectable food which a preference for changes at a whim, with any potential available time. He is currently totally crashed out on his heated cat bed.
Someone around here has a pretty ideal life.
One of these days it might be me.
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