Monday, March 29, 2021

It has been another whole week and I’ve not written, so now I try to reconstruct the events of the last week.  On top of the list is that Tom got airline tickets to come her for a visit from April 15 to 29th.  I’m looking forward to our enjoyable walks together and maybe even having a couple of dinners out again.

Everyone I talk to these days have come up with ‘after COVID vaccine plans’. I have made arrangements to take a road trip to Wisconsin the first week in April and will spend a few days with Pat and Roger and then a few days in Stoughton to visit Pat and Tracey and Dawn.  My last visit there was last July. I miss them all.

My new friend and neighbor, Mavis and I have been getting some good walks in together. We try to do at least 2 miles each time and have been pretty successful at it.  One of our walks is on the trail to Thompson County Park and at that point you can either walk around the small lake in that park or head east to Kaposia Park along the Mississippi River.  It’s nice that we are learning the options for walks only a short distance from The Winslow (our apartments).

Jill called last night to see if they could drop the girls off while they get the COVID vaccines today, since they are in spring break from school. I’m happy that they were able to get appointments. Dang, I have a dentist appointment at the same time so can’t do it. I will be hanging out with them on Wednesday.

Sunday, March 21, 2021

We have had several days of beautiful, springlike weather, creeping up to almost 60°, sunny but with a bit of wind that makes it feel a bit cooler. I sit here looking out my east facing windows and they are just filthy and it drives me crazy.  Since they are sliding glass doors on the third floor, with no balcony, only a railing, I am unable to get to the outside to clean them.  I stopped by the office last week to see if window cleaning was on the calendar for the spring and got “I’ll have to check with Corporate” for an answer. In the meantime, I cringe whenever the sun shines on my nasty windows.

I walk around this building many times during the day and it amazes me that some people never even open their blinds or window shades. The shade is open just enough for kitty to lay there and see outside. It is the first thing that I do every morning. It helps me to feel like I’m not cooped up inside these walls. But...to each his own, right?  There is one first floor apartment along the path where I walk Frisco, that I get to see a beautiful cat in the window every morning. 

I had an appointment with the Opthomologist on Friday for an assessment on my eyelids, as he said they were starting to obstruct my periferal vision. He will now submit to my health insurance to see if they will cover the surgery. 

I believe I was having some symptoms from the COVID vaccine on Friday also.  I felt quite stiff and sore when I woke up that morning and had planned to stop at my favorite consignment store after my appointment since I was in the area, but just felt like heading home. By the time I got home, I was ready for a nap and ended up taking several during the day and retiring early. I didn’t feel I’ll, just tired and kind of achy.  All was well on Saturday.

Frisco and I got a nice walk in yesterday along the River to River Trail. We walked out and back for almost two miles and he was really slowing down on the return trip.

Thursday, March 18, 2021

Big news today! I got my second Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine. Whoopie! I should have 95% immunity in 2 weeks.  I am feeling happy and relieved!  Here’s the proof!

Also, I finished the crochet blanket that I have been working on for Tracey for the last few weeks.  It measures 43” by 60” and consists of 178 rows of Tunisian Simple Stitch including 38 bobbles (3 stitches each) in every other row for a grand total of 37,914 stitches. I love it and I’m already contemplating the design and color for the next one - next time it will be for me. The color is a deep, dark purple.

Tuesday, March 16, 2020

Happy 36th Anniversary to my dear friends, Pat and Roger. Mike and I were married 10 years more than them and our anniversaries were one week apart. For many years, we did a spring anniversary trip together, visiting places like Memphis, New Orleans, Laughlin, and Chicago, we always managed to find somewhere to go for a long weekend getaway.  After Mike and I moved away from Stoughton, they would come to visit us and then we went to Key West, San Antonio, Austin, San Francisco, Sutter’s Mill, Calistoga, and Mesa. I have lots of great memories of those trips and we always had good times together.

I had a dental hygiene appointment last Friday but when I got there I learned that they are no longer in my insurance network, so I didn’t follow through and will have to find another in network dentist. Luckily, there is one right across the street from me that has lots of positive reviews and I was able to get an appointment there for later in the month.

I wasn’t able to get together with the family over the weekend as Norah had a fever, was tested negative for COVID, and the rest of them had sniffles.  

I always need some kind of project to keep busy with, so this week it was acquiring and recovering an ottoman/coffee table for my living room. Again, Facebook Marketplace is my go to resource for stuff that I can buy cheap.  I picked up an ottoman for free but when I got it home, it was way too big for my space, so I posted it on the board here and it went to Kathy. That turned out to be a good connection, as she and I had met briefly and I learned that she walks every day and we can do some walks together.  Then, I found another that I paid $15 for and it is just the right size, but is a glider. I removed the glider mechanism and replaced that with some wood feet that I got from Lowes ($12) and painted. I found fabric on sale at Hobby Lobby ($21) and proceeded to take apart and recover. I love how it turned out and it adds some pattern to my living room.  

I’m all about blue lately.  When I shop for clothing, I always find something that I like that is blue. Now, both my bedroom and living room are done in blues and grays.

The old, heavy wood box that I have used for a coffee table is finding a new home at Ben’s house. It is a tool chest that belonged to Mike’s grandfather, Bert Bridge. I snagged it from their basement and have treated the wood to keep it in nice shape through the years,

Thursday, March 11, 2021

It has sure felt spring-like this week with temps in the 60s, warmish winds, and lots of melting snow. The only snow remaining on the ground is on the north sides of buildings and the huge piles left behind from the snowplows.  Yesterday brought us the early rain that helped to rinse off the salty road surfaces and just gave everything a clean look. Last night, as I sat here talking with Dawn on the phone, I heard thunder and saw lightening in the sky - our first thunderstorm of the year.  

Speaking of Dawn, we ended up talking for almost four hours. Of course, there was wine involved and I had a little more of that than usual too, but various topics just kept coming up and off we would go again. What a nice night!

Monday was strange, as I felt like I couldn’t wake up, I felt foggy headed all morning, even after getting a good night’s sleep, having coffee, and doing my morning workout. I definitely had a strange senior moment when I went to the garage to get something from my car and on the way back up to my apartment on the elevator, I wasn’t paying attention and got off on first floor.  The hallways all look the same and I went to apartment 118 (mine is 318), went through the motions of unlocking the door and barged into another person’s apartment. I apologized and left there thinking that my key fob worked in her lock, but then realized that her door wasn’t locked, thus I was able to open it.  I kept thinking about that and realized that I certainly wasn’t being very mindful and I need to focus on that. 

I also had a great conversation with my friend, Susan, this week and learned that she plans to move back to Stoughton from Georgia. Her husband, Dean, passed away last October and she wants to be closer to her sons now. It was good news to me as I will probably see her more often now, as I keep hoping to make more frequent trips there, especially now that COVID is becoming more controlled as people are getting vaccinated.

Saturday, March 6, 2021

Frisco’s strange behavior and anxiety continued over the last few days and I was able to get him in to see a vet on Thursday afternoon.  Fortunately, there is nothing serious going on with his physical health but he has hearing loss and age related issues such as dementia that can cause confusion, insecurity, anxiety, and  sun downing (increased confusion later in the day and through the night). He prescribed Melatonin and that has really mellowed him out after his last potty break of the day. He continues to be able to walk a good 2 miles at a good clip without any issues.

I had a nice lunch-time walk and talk with Ben on Thursday. It’s a good time to catch up with him. Frisco stayed at his house while I went to the Dermatologist for another steroid injection on my forehead where I have lost hair.  The previous treatments for the Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia have been successful is stopping the hair loss except for one small spot and he treated that one. Hopefully, it will respond in the same way.

Frisco and I have been able to get some good walks in this week, as the temps have been in the mid to upper 40s and it’s only going to improve over the weekend.

Tuesday, March 2, 2021

Well, March came in like a lamb - a beautiful sunny day yesterday, although a bit cooler than it has been, we didn’t reach 25°.

It was a rough day for both Frisco and I as he had a very rough night. He was unsettled, couldn’t find a comfortable position, sat upright and panting a good part of the night. We made 3 trips outdoors for potty, although it seemed like he was sending an ‘urgent’ message, all was normal there. I think I may have gotten 3 hours of very broken sleep, certain didn’t feel rested.

I took a couple of naps during the day and Frisco seemed to be back to normal as far as his sleeping, resting, eating and potty.  I gave him a half of a Benadryl at bedtime and he slept through the night. Boy, did he sleep through the night as it was 8 am when I woke this morning - 10 hours of sleep? I never do that! Guess I needed it and he sure did too!