Day 228: on a calmer-than-intended day

After shifting a few things around yesterday, the Queen Mother took her shower today. I had a few things to do, but never really got out of first gear, so shelved my plans till tomorrow, which will be a busy day. 

It occurred to me today that I might be entering Menopause, as there are small signs, but no significant flow as of yet. I remain watchful and I wait. Definitely no possibility of pregnancy outside of Immaculate Conception. ;)

It's not that I don't have much to say today, but the words are not coming together quite yet on the page. It has turned out to be a day of Consideration and Contemplation, along with on and off showers. I'm missing my Sunny SoCal weather for sure!

Instead of trying to force the words to come together, I'll leave off here for tonight, and see what comes up tomorrow. 

Day 227: on a break in the pattern

The skies were that mix of clouds and sun that inspires paintings. The rain is expected to come back overnight tonight, maybe a bit into tomorrow. Friday is our only day to have actual clear skies. If anyone back East is suffering from excess heat, they are welcome to come out here. Our Summer seems to have been postponed due to a longer than normal spring.

The good news: we DO NOT have a slab leak! What is really going on: the pipes for the kitchen, washer/dryer, and bathrooms are not set deeply into the ground, so if we take several showers consecutively, or use a lot of hot water otherwise, we might feel some heat. If the heat spreads out to cover the entire floor, and/or we find excessive moisture building up, THEN we have an issue. Happy that our homeowner's insurance covered the cost of the nice plumbing gentleman to come out and check for the slab leak.

That was the only part of the day that went "as planned" before the schedule went sideways. The Queen Mother would rather shower tomorrow instead of today, thank you, and Himself has a meeting tomorrow evening he needs to attend, so I had to change plans in the calendar - and found myself getting peeved at having to rearrange the calendar, because what had been laid out suited ME just fine. So I did a little Work around that.

I also noted I was feeling more like Isolating myself, as in "leave the dark chocolate at the door and step away, thank you kindly." I might not be actively Flowing yet, but I'm getting close. At least I had a chance today to fortify myself with some of the aforementioned dark chocolate.

Shower vs. Appointment tomorrow: we shall see which way the wind blows.

Day 226: on rainy day activities

The rain was falling when we got up this morning. Needless to say, Inkblot wasn't happy. He started in on his "protest nap" before we left for our Sunday Support Group.

Himself and I arrived at the group at a reasonable time this time, and we managed to hear everyone sharing. I want to tell everyone I meet to write a letter to their Higher Power! I'm not quite as serene as I was on Friday, but I'm still feeling Lighter.

As we finished group, it started raining again, so I quickly reviewed my mental shopping list and determined we could grab groceries tomorrow, so we headed home instead. Wouldn't you know that the rain became just a little heavier the moment we stepped out of the car!

I finally talked myself into doing a bit of cooking for dinner, so I took a can of lentil soup, added some pinto beans and half a can of corn, then added it to some of our rice for another round of my "Iron Stew." I have been advised in the past that I have a tendency towards Iron deficiency, and as I'm expecting to enter my Moontime within the next day or two, I thought I would eat some iron-rich food to bolster my blood.

I find myself returning to my Step-Work these days, and have picked up where I left off. I have my own Recovery Program I am working. I started this particular set of steps in November 2017, then went way off course; the time finally felt right to pick up and continue on.

Tomorrow we have someone coming in to see if indeed we have a dreaded Slab Leak in the house, and what steps need to be taken next. There is also the matter of asking the pest control company that is in charge of the fumigation about their chemicals. So I'll be jumping back in with both feet, but not completely in the deep end. I'm going to remember: Easy Does It. :)

Day 225: on stepping out

I got my contemplative walk in! It was so nice to be out in the fresh air and sunshine!

I went to Kit Carson Park - not the wildest of places, but they have a neat duck pond, which I have shared about previously. There were ducklings today swimming about with their moms and practicing their diving skills. As it was May, they were no longer the tiny cute fuzzy ducklings, but I identified them by their peeps and their slightly smaller size than the mature ducks.

I also took a small walk about the park, saving a long hike for another day. What struck me most was towards the end of my sojourn, when I saw an orange tree that had been previously burnt (?) that had new growth in its center, and was producing oranges again. It was in bloom, and the orange blossoms smelled Divine. I felt that tree was a lot like me: scorched by calamity in the past, but with new growth arising from its center today.

I find my Serenity and Inner Peace when I can step out of the Nonsense and Cacaphony of the human world, and connect directly with the Natural World, whether in a forest, at the beach, or even a semi-wild park. As I walk upon the bosom of Mother Earth, observing my Wild Relatives, I come back home to myself.

I have been needing to do this for some time, and I am needing to remember to do this more often. So I shall set down my Intention and see what happens. :)

Day 224: on finishing strong

I rose to the occasion today, making some of my necessary phone calls, finding a new lead or two, and keeping some balls rolling. I washed my hair (which is one of my new barometers for a successful day), got some groceries, and hit up my/our weekly meetings. I handled today Like a Boss.

My renewed vigor was partly the result of the chillaxing day I had yesterday, and partly a suggestion that I followed: Write a Letter to (Your Higher Power). Between writing that letter, reading it aloud, and the meditation I was inspired to do afterwards, I had a significant Come to Mama moment. I experienced a profound Reconnection, and woke up today feeling more grounded and centered than I have in quite a while.

The second part of the suggestion is to take a quiet contemplative walk. I think I can manage that tomorrow, before the next round of rain moves in. The trick might be to get away for a few moments By Myself! I'll see what I can do.

Suddenly Life doesn't seem quite so Heavy, so I'll go with this Flow for now. :) 

Day 223: on consciously slowing down

Today was a good day to put my brain in the fridge and chill out. I made a choice to put business to the side and allow my mind to empty out and stay empty; for the most part, I was successful. I finished coloring in my most recent mandala, and started to read a new to me book.

I did have to proofread a letter Himself had written, and help the Queen Mother to sort through her shoes (She's down to two pairs now). I also had to return a call from her doctor's office, to find out her Vitamin D levels are a bit low, and her cholesterol levels are a bit high, so we need to make a few tweaks to her diet. Whether she will go along with said tweaks is to be determined.

Mom received her DVT diagnosis, and began this journey in earnest, just before Himself finished chemotherapy. When he had his heart attack a week and a half ago, I started waiting for "the other shoe to drop" in regards to mom. If this is the worst that is going to happen, I will gladly accept it!

I made it to my caregiver support group this evening. Two new caregivers showed up, one who had just connected with SCRC, and one who was possibly looking to connect. It was good to share and to listen, to be with people who Get It, and won't look at you cross-eyed when you go into detail about how crazy your odyssey has been.

I feel refreshed today, enough to tackle some of the business waiting on me tomorrow. Himself was doing his part of the legwork today, so perhaps tomorrow will be his day off. Doubtful, though - just before he was admitted into the hospital, we received word that the fumigation is back on, for the middle of next month, so we need to see if we can take care of that.

Once I'm past Friday, I can put my brain back into the fridge and chill some more. :)

Day 222: on following up (part 2)

We started off today with the Queen Mother this time. Her doctor wanted her to get some labs done; I believe it's primarily an annual test of her cholesterol levels. So I woke up a bit earlier than usual, assisted by my very hungry cats (who then completely snubbed their breakfast, go figure!) and had a quick shower before bundling the Queen Mother into her chariot, getting her in the car, and driving over to the Labcorp office.

The fact that both the main parking lot and the multi-level parking lot were both full should have been our clue. We went up to the second floor, orders in hand, and found a waiting room at full capacity. All told, it was an hour before the Queen Mother got her blood drawn...and this was a fasting lab, meaning she wasn't supposed to eat beforehand. Add the fact that she can't tolerate ANY air conditioning very well, and she was not a happy camper when we were finally finished.

She says she will "never" go have blood drawn again. I say she won't remember what happened in about a week. We'll see who is right in about a year or so.

By the time we returned home, and the Queen Mother was ready to eat breakfast, Himself and I had to go to tend to his appointments. It quickly became apparent that Himself wouldn't be able to make his eye appointment in anywhere near a timely fashion, so we will have to reschedule it again. Third time will hopefully be the charm!

So we made it down to Mission Valley and found a Starbucks that wasn't horribly crowded, and I was able to cash in some of my loyalty points to get a free Baja black bean burrito wrap. It's new and it's good, especially with a touch of the ranch dressing - though I'm not sure if it's worth the eight-and-a-half dollar price tag. (Yikes!)

There was a bit of Synchronicity for both of us while Himself sipped and I brunched: on one side, there was an interview being conducted for a medical appointment ride service. That brought Himself's ears up, as it might give him something to do once his heart issues are squared away. On the other side, there was an interview being conducted for a caregiving service, which brought MY ears up (hello, Respite Care!) Both of us grabbed the respective business cards; I will be in touch, at least on my end.

We wound up arriving for Himself's appointment with his primary care doctor a bit early - and we still wound up waiting an hour ourselves! It was worth it, though, as we had a long, thorough discussion with his doctor, both about his Cardiac Event and his new medication regimen. We will have a couple of his regular prescriptions to pick up on Monday when he starts his next round of appointments for that week.

Traffic wasn't too bad on the way home, and dinner was duly served when we arrived. Fortunately for me, 1) there aren't any other appointments to attend to for the rest of this week, and 2) there's a caregiver support group tomorrow, which I'm going to attend come rain or shine - and it's forecast to rain for six of the next seven days! It's not supposed to be a hard rain, but the question still remains: when did Southern CA change places with Southern OR?? (Really, rain at this time of the year is very unusual around here!)

Planning to kick back and rest for a few days, while the rain falls and the plants grow, and the nose runs, tickled by all of the pollen in the air... ;)