Being competitive

Today wound up being pretty full - for not doing all that much.

A manicure and pedicure filled up most of the morning.

A pretty decent nap filled up the afternoon, with the chinks filled in with the newspaper and computer stuff.
We played duplicate tonight at the Bridge Center. We came in 9^th out of 12 couples, not great, but not too bad. There were some folks there with zillions of master points - this may not be our best venue for learning the methods. We do have one inherent problem with duplicate. Deep down inside, where it really counts, neither one of us is strongly competitive. We like to play our best, we like to improve our game, and we like to win. But we just don’t have that killer competitive instinct. Oh, well, we’ll find happy medium somewhere along the way.

Wonderful Wednesday

Swimming and PT this morning. The therapist always tells me how good I’m doing. I know that’s part of the spiel, but I hope it’s true. Three more sessions before I see the doc again on 8 August.

We had Tina, Missy, Renna, and Bob over tonight to eat up all the veggies Margaret brought. Plus Tina brought BBQ ribs for the meat part of the dinner, Tina and Renna brought fruit for dessert, and Bob brought a bottle of wine. It made for some damn good eating. To say nothing of the great company.

Miscellany

This is the Thought for the Day from Wordsmith.

To keep your marriage brimming,
With love in the loving cup,
Whenever you're wrong, admit it;
Whenever you're right, shut up.
            -Ogden Nash, poet (1902-1971)

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One of the blogs I follow is Messy Nessy Chic. She is a young woman living in Paris who finds an eclectic mixture of things to post.

Today, she posted a piece on the wonderful photographs of Native Americans by the great photographer, Edward Curtis. They are amazing, and well worth taking the time to look at. Click here.

Bridge and weather

We came in 2^nd last Friday at the Bridge Center. We played some very good defensive bridge - we set 10 of the 18 hands played. And we’re now the proud possessors of 1.02 master points. It just shows you can do some good when you have crappy cards. I had them (crappy cards) again today, but it wasn’t duplicate, so it was just a pain.

There was some terrible weather overnight. We just had some thunder, lightning, and 0.6” of rain about 2 a.m. as the front came through. But we going to have some lovely days coming up, with cool nights and low humidity. We’ll always take this in July.

Another one

Except for doing laundry, today was another do-nothing Sunday.  We enjoyed it thoroughly!

Good stuff!

Margaret brought a lot of good stuff yesterday.

There’s fresh corn, green beans (cut and strung), field peas (shelled), okra, yellow squash, last year’s tomato juice, and lots of incredibly wonderful tomatoes.

I’m probably going to make myself sick eating the tomatoes, but it’ll be worth it.

A busy week

After all my recent inactivity, this week turned crazy. Something was going on almost every day - not just the usual swimming/coffee/grocery store stuff.

PT was three days, we played bridge two days (once regular, once duplicate), company for dinner, haircuts, early voting, massage.

Margaret is here tonight (carry-out Chinese for supper). She and Tina are going to Atlanta to meet Sue and go to a glass show, and check out some of the antique shops. I hope they find some goodies - I know they’ll have a good time.

I know, if you’re working at a regular job, it doesn’t sound like much. But for us old retired folks, it’s a lot.

A late July Wednesday

The therapist told me that I’ve got a nearly normal range of motion now (passively at least). She says, starting Friday, I’ll be doing more to gain strength.

John’s Cousin Bob came to dinner tonight. He’s having some major changes in his life. We were glad to be able give him a sympathetic ear, some food and adult beverages, and some time out of his situation.

The incredible shrinking woman

I had a full morning - starting with a 6-month check with my primary care doc. I’m a few pounds lighter than I had feared, but also shorter. Having been 5’5 7 ½” for most of my life, I’m now down to 5’5”.

Then to Aldi, WalMart, and a vegetable stand (good tomatoes, no peaches worth buying). That did it for this hot, muggy day.

An early night

We had rain this morning, but just grey and muggy this afternoon.  With rising temperatures, we still have rain predicted for the next five days.  Welcome to July!

Monday is currently a long day for me.  I went to the regular swim class this morning and did pretty well - just a few moves I couldn't do.  The therapist has three new tortures to add to my repertoire, so I keep progressing. 

We had six tables again at bridge.  My cards were mixed - I'm sure I wound up somewhere in the middle again. 

So Monday is almost over, and we're on our way into another week.

James Garner (1928-2014)

One of my all-time favorites, And my favorites of his roles were

Bret Maverick (1957-1962)

Jim Rockford (1974-1980)

King Marchand (Victor Victoria - 1982)

A rainy Saturday

We set another record today, for the lowest high temperature on record. It was 78. We’ve had 2.5” of rain over the last couple of days. This is really unusual for July, but we’ll enjoy every minute of it. The heat will be coming back.

I actually paid attention to a newspaper ad today. We went to a local salvage store, looking for (and finding) an area rug to put on our carpet. We’re hoping to freshen up the aging wall-to-wall. It’s looking pretty good.

A nice Vietnamese dinner followed by ice cream on the porch with Tina finished the day nicely.

Allergies

John went to the allergist this morning. Including the stop at the drug store on the way home, he was there for 3 hours. He had a number of major reactions. The usual trees and grasses, cats and dogs, but also mold and the dreaded dust mites. (He got a good laugh when the tech asked him if he had a reaction when his wife vacuumed or dusted.) I’ve washed the bedding on our bed in hot water, and will do that on a weekly basis. Plus the cleaning lady is coming Monday, so I'll get her to clean in that bedroom (she doesn't usually do the bedrooms). He was changed to generic Allegra for his daily antihistamine and given another Rx for an inhaler. He's supposed to carry one of them with him, and use it more often.

I know this house has a mold problem. Sue, Jean, and Alison all have trouble when they're here. We might have to have the whole house treated, and I'm sure that would be a huge undertaking...one I don't even really want to think about. So we'll see how it goes.
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We set a record temperature today - the lowest high ever recorded on this date. The high today was 72!!!

Writing again

Sorry I’ve been bad about not writing.

I’ve been going to the pool, to coffee, and to physical therapy. The therapy has been great. The stretching-out is uncomfortable, but necessary (and I do take a pain pill before I go). They keep telling me how good my range of motion is - and I can tell that I can already do things I haven’t done since I fell nearly two years ago. I have eight more sessions currently scheduled, and can only hope I continue to improve.

We went to play duplicate at the Bridge Center again tonight. I’m sure we came in low this time. Mostly we had lousy cards, but there were a couple that we didn’t play too well. We’ll get better, I’m sure - and we’re planning to stay with it.

John goes for his initial visit to the allergist tomorrow. I hope they can help him with his respiratory/nasal/sinus/etc. problems.

Tough Monday

Tough day today - some workout in the pool, coffee, PT, and bridge. I'm shot, and the arm is sore. John "cooked" - picking up burgers at 5 Guys.

The PT went well, but she really stretched me out. We're all pleased with my progress. The actual measurements are much improved over the first treatment ( last Monday), and I can see that I have more range of motion than I've had since I fell almost two years ago.

I had some good cards at bridge today - some not-so-good ones, too, but it was still good to get back. We had a good crowd - six full tables.

We're in the path of the storm system by tonight or early tomorrow, then the much cooler weather.

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There was huge news from Chattanooga this morning. Volkswagen announced this morning that they will build their new SUV crossover at the Chattanooga plant. Wonderful news for our city and for the regional economy!

Sunday

Breakfast and laundry.

Not very exciting, but

Tomorrow busy.

Sunday Stealing, etc.

Click here for some great sculpture pictures.
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From: Cool Free Surveys

One Thing .....
that makes you smile:
I can’t come up with one thing. Family and friends are high on the list.
that makes you cry:
Just about anything - I’m a good cry-er.
that you love to do on the weekends:
I’m retired - not too much difference between weekends and weekdays.
that you do for only yourself:
Get a manicure and pedicure
that you have in your underwear drawer that's NOT underwear:
I think there is only underwear in that drawer.
that you do before going to sleep:
Write my blog.
that you do within the first 15 minutes after waking:
Bathroom, start the coffee, breakfast
that's in your purse:
Wallet
that you actually LIKE to clean:
Nothing
that you DETEST cleaning:
Everything
that other people would find odd about you:
That I enjoy time by myself.
that you would buy if I handed you a $100 bill:
Maybe some nice fancy yarn.
that you feel you HAVE to do before you die:
I’ve done so much - I don’t know what I’d put on this list.

Week #1

This has been an exceptionally busy week - at least for me at this time.

Full days and full evenings -  I guess it's a way of getting me back into a "real" life.  I did my second day back at the Y - just walking and moving my arm in the therapy pool.  Coffee, and then on to PT for the third session.

I've been saying that I thought I already had as much range of motion as I had had before this last surgery.  Today, the therapist had me doing something that I hadn't been able to do since the accident.  It was just a simple arm movement, but it seemed like a big step to me.  Now to continue to work on things at home.

Tina's friend Melyssa is here visiting, and we went out to dinner with them.  That made for a pleasant finish to the day.

Something different

Today was different.

I finally got back to see my massage therapist, and she was wonderful. I always feel so good afterwards.

We had no plans for the rest of the day. But then our bridge-playing friends, Rosemary and Darryl, called to ask us to go play duplicate with them at the Bridge Center this evening. Well, of course - that was easy. It was a longer evening than we had thought it would be, but it was a nice group of people, and we got a lot of hands played.

Duplicate is an interesting version of bridge. It takes some getting used to the mechanics, but we’re enjoying it. We’re not so competitive that we’ll be striving for master points and life master status. But I’m sure we’ll be going back.

Session #2

I went to the pool this morning, and it surely did feel good. I didn't go to the regular class, but it was good to see the gals. The second PT session wasn't quite as benign as the first, i.e., she DID hurt me this time. "Stretching out" sounds like it ought to feel good, but... Actually, it wasn't all that bad, and the therapists are very good at what they do. I took my pain pill beforehand, and so far I've not had any followup pain. We'll see how it goes when the meds wear off.

John has cleared me to drive , so I'll take myself to my regular massage appointment tomorrow, and then I have another PT session on Friday. Busy, busy.

Contagious?

Jean’s been having lots problems with allergies. The problem has been around since childhood, but has gotten so very much worse. Any kind of artificial scent does really bad things to her lungs and breathing.

Well, over the last few months, John has been developing more breathing problems. He’s seen our family doc and the office PA. He has a prescription inhaler, and is using an OTC nasal spray. But over the last few weeks, even at the beach, and since we’ve been home, his symptoms have been getting worse. This morning, he made an appointment to see an allergist (a week from Friday).

This morning, he took me for my mani/pedi. As soon as I got in the car when he picked he up, he went into a spasm of coughing and choking from the salon scents that was really scary. This didn’t happen the last time he picked me up from there. Fortunately, we’re not too far away, so I was able to get out of the car and away from him quickly. I got my clothes changed and hands well washed, and things calmed down.

‘Twill be interesting to see what happens at the allergist visit.

Baby Steps

The next step in the process of healing has started. I went to the first PT session this morning. The therapist (Corrie) said I had very good range of motion for just starting out. I feel like I have almost as much range of motion and pain as I had prior to this surgery, so anything I gain from here is new progress.

I dutifully took some pain medicine about an hour before the session - lots of advice on that subject, and I believed. Most of today was evaluation and passive movements by the therapist. Actively, I did some stick lifts and some table slides. If you’ve had PT for shoulder problems, you know what those are.

I still appreciated the big ice pack at the end of the session. The plan is for three sessions a week for three weeks, followed by two sessions a week for two weeks. We’ll see where I am after that.

Not too much discomfort this time. We’ll see what happens after later sessions.

Home

We're back home from our wonderful week at the beach.  What could be better than sun, sand, salt-water, shrimp, family and friends?  Only more of everything.  Unfortunately, we have to wait until next year, but the reservations are made.


Maybe I'll be able to get back into a routine in a day or two.  We'll see how I feel after physical therapy starts on Monday. 

From the beach

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

The measure of a country's greatness is its ability to retain compassion in times of crisis. -Thurgood Marshall, US Supreme Court Justice (1908-1993)