I'm still in the land of the living and feeling a little bit better. Saw the doctor nine days ago and was told to stop the blood pressure medicine and return in a week. Did that and about five days later started to feel a little less dizzy and nauseated, but still feel crummy with headaches and constant nausea and frequent dizziness. Thursday I had a follow-up visit and he felt that my blood pressure is good enough to continue without meds for a month and then return to see him. He's also ordering a brain scan to see if I have a brain, ha ha. I guess he wants to rule out a brain tumor. I don't think it's that. I asked him if it could be an inner ear problem and he said yes, but that hopefully it is something we can treat instead. Amen to that. I'm feeling a bit better but, as Toad says, am not yet ready for the Olympics.
Have you seen the tv show Hoarders? I've been watching episodes of it and find that they help me feel more motivated to get off my ass and work in the house, even if I can only accomplish a little dab of organization or cleaning. With the sickness I haven't been able to do much, but I have had two decent bouts of getting-stuff-done in the last three days. Wednesday I worked in the bathroom and got 90% or so of my toiletries organized into baskets on shelves. I also got Toad to help me hang my large round antique mirror over the sink. It's great to finally have a mirror other than the shower door or a hand mirror, and I think that it looks rather classy.
Thursday (yesterday) was my doctor appt and shopping day, so that pretty well drained me of all energy. We had to get Toad a new computer mouse, buy a few groceries, and get the car licensed for New Brunswick. My Ontario plates were good only until the end of this month and New Brunswick law stipulates that residents' cars must be registered here within a couple of weeks of being brought here. I had been nervous about driving the car with the Ontario plates on it, but now I don't have to worry about it anymore. Yay! Today I pushed myself to work in the kitchen and was able to better organize the pantry and the area under the sink. I also put away several things that were cluttering up the table. It is not finished, by any means, but it's an improvement. I've been good about keeping the dishes washed and the stove and counter clean. It hasn't been easy. Oh, I also made (and helped) Toad hang a framed art print in the living room today. Considering my dizziness and nausea I've been doing fairly well, I think.
When my son was here over the holidays I enlisted his help with putting up my magnetic knife holder, my wall shelf (over the stove) and my spice racks. What a difference those things made in the kitchen! One day I managed to get Toad to put up a peg-type coat rack on the wall by the back door to help corral his jackets and hats. A couple of weeks ago I hung simple curtains in the living room window, using white flat sheets and clip-type brass rings. So little by little I'm getting things done that help create some order in the house. It's a good feeling. Creates hope and helps chase the blues away.
If and when this dizziness and nausea goes away so that I can think more clearly I want to get going on my photo scanning project. I have an area set up to work on it. I just can't think well enough to get going. I feel like I'm not operating on all cylinders, if you know what I mean. I'm more forgetful than usual and just have a feeling that something is wrong in my head. I get confused easily. It's scary. But every once in a while I have a moment of clarity and get an idea to follow through with. Hence the bathroom shelves and baskets the other day and today's organizing efforts. Before I start scanning photos and documents I need to have a good labeling system in order to organize them. I've muddled up the labeling of my digital photos stored on my computer and dread having to go in and rename the files once I find a system that works for me.
When we went to the doctor nine days ago he put Toad on an antibiotic to help clear up his persistent wracking cough. He said that when a cough lasts several weeks like that it won't go away on its own. Toad is doing a lot better now, still coughing sometimes but not so frequently or so hard that I feared he would rupture something inside. He has one day of antibiotics left to go. In spite of everything he has continued to take care of the animals and keep the woodstove going. He's a trooper.
We haven't had to use the woodstove all the time, which has been a help in terms of Toad's efforts and our firewood supply. Often we let it go out because the house is too warm! What a wonderful change from those miserably cold winters back in Mattawa! We have had unseasonably warm weather here according to the locals, who get a look of wonderment on their faces when they talk about the weather. Today, though, we have had a lot of blowing snow, technically a blizzard, we hear on the radio, and starting tomorrow are in for a cold snap. We'll have cold temps but sunshine. I'm looking forward to the sunshine.
Baking bread sounds good to me. I've been wanting to bake bread since we got our stove and in November bought a big bag of flour and some yeast in preparation for the day I actually do it. My excuses have included my poor health and the state of the kitchen table (i.e. clutter). If I can get as much done in the kitchen tomorrow as I did today I should have the table available for a work surface. The big bag of flour is sitting right there in one of the chairs, begging to be opened and used. I can almost smell the bread baking....ahhhhh.
A friend wrote today and mentioned that she is re-reading Stephen King. I had to give him up years ago and, in fact, left behind my complete collection of his books when I sold the house. I find that his writing upsets me, especially the way he writes of animal torture. I can't take it. I've been avidly reading every book by Alexander McCall Smith that I can lay my hands on. I own a few of them, bought secondhand, and the library book mobile has been supplying me with the remainder. Another good read that I requested and picked up this month is The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch. After reading it I watched his Last Lecture--Achieving Your Childhood Dreams on YouTube, absolutely spellbound by this man. Heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time. I also read Joseph Boyden's Through Black Spruce recently and was quite impressed and pleased with it. I still have four or five books to read before Feb 12th when the book mobile comes back to our village. They've already notified me that they'll be bringing me five more books from the wish list I gave them, so I had better get cracking!
Speaking of books, I have quite a few in my living room. Getting them organized and shelved attractively (to me, at least) gives me great joy. Here is a small pocket of joy in one corner of our living room.
Well, I need to quit looking at this screen now. I've been concentrating for too long and was already dizzy and nauseated before I started thinking and writing. Working in the kitchen so intently this afternoon pretty much did me in and now this screen is giving me a headache. I bid you adieu.
0 spicy remarks:
Post a Comment