Sunday morning

Had a few days of feeling pretty punk this week but hopefully, I'm on the mend again.  One day at a time is about all you can do.  I didn't take a nap yesterday (and that's unusual) so I was quite surprised when I went to bed at 9 pm and couldn't drop off to sleep.  Surprised and slightly ticked off!  At midnight I was still tossing and turning and getting more and more frustrated as I was very tired.  At 3 a.m. I opted to take an oxycodone tablet.  I've been pretty much staying off them as the pain was there but I was coping.  Last night, however, I was achy and tired and knew it would help me sleep.  I'll rethink that decision next time as I  knew it would probably give me nightmares.  And it did.

More than once I've found myself back at the mill working at my desk and when I'm in nightmare mode, I'm struggling to get caught up on my work.  I won't go into details about the various obstacles I was facing but they were typical for my "mill dreams."  Only two loaders appeared in this particular dream -- Jerry Bundy and Ron Mosher.  As I attempted over and over again to complete a task, I finally woke up with a horrendous headache -- and a sore jaw!  I'm sure I must have been grinding my teeth.  I'm definitely going to use oxycodone only when the pain is more than I can bear. Those damn nightmares are not worth it.

Sometimes my dreams take place down near the Railroad Y area.  Often times in the grass area you used to walk through to get to the beach.  Kind of where Safeway's gas station is now.  Anyhow, more often than not, my dreamscapes are in and around Port Townsend areas.  I've had some where I was hitchhiking down the S-curve and getting rides down in the flats.  Barbara Shaw picked me up the other night in my dream and suggested we go have a drink.  It was a tall green thing called a Cool Jake.  ha ha ha  I never know who's going to show up in my dreams. Alta Nelson, for example, was there a couple nights back.  I might have missed that memory of her except a suction grab bar in the shower lost its grip and fell onto the shower floor waking me up at 3 a.m.  After looking out all the windows to see if prowlers were about, I discovered the gadget on the floor.  It's pulled that stunt before.

I've been practicing moving my arm upwards the past couple of days.  It's still slow going but I keep reminding myself that every day gets me closer to a healthy arm.  My low back and/or right hip are reminding me every now and again that another body part is wearing down.  More than one person has told me of having both hips done, one or both shoulders done, and one or both knees done.  I hope to avoid that path but if it happens, well, it happens.  I wouldn't have had surgery on my knee or shoulder if I hadn't been forced into it by extreme pain and not being able to use the limb.  Sometimes decisions are made for you.

Every day I set at least two or three things I plan to accomplish.  Today it was vacuuming, washing dishes, putting away clothes lying around in the closet, and tidying up the back deck.  Even completing little chores gives me a sense of accomplishment.  Hunter came by this morning to shake out some rugs for me, move the patio table to the other side of the deck, pack some suitcases away in the garage, and move a small table to the living room.  Later on this week or next he'll come by and cut the lawn.  Grass isn't growing up the dandelions need a good chopping.  I wanted three of my garden birds moved from the back to the front, as well, so he helped me with that.

This pretty little yellow flower bush has held up well this summer. And so easy to plant too. Bought them at WalMart in the plastic flower section.

Here's a couple pictures that Mary and Andy sent me while on their trip to Whistler.

I started driving a few days ago but only go out for short distances and then get right back home again. Yesterday it was to the Dollar Tree and Safeway.  In a couple of days I'm going to have to go downtown and renew my drivers license.  Kind of dreading that as I know it can be a long wait, depending on what time of day you get there.

I made a taco/rice casserole  yesterday.  Got the recipe from Jenni but hers turned out a whole lot better than mine.  Probably because I didn't realize I needed a can of tomatoes for the Spanish Rice box.  I can't seem to cook worth a darn anymore.  I'm lucky if things turn out even halfway okay. I think I've gotten lazy with reading directions.  Have noticed my dishwashing skills are hit and miss too.

I went to Goodwill and picked up a couple of 500-pc jigsaw puzzles so I'll have something to occupy myself if the computer is bothering me.  I seem to be getting a little better at typing, though, so perhaps I've crossed another plateau in healing.

I watched golf yesterday afternoon and have it on again today.  I find it relaxing.  On Netflix I've been watching this Discovery series called "Out of the Wild: The Alaska Experience".  Netflix also has some shows they've put together themselves that I'm enjoying.

Guess I'll head over for the recliner now.  Because of the headache I woke up with, I had to get up a lot sooner than I really wanted to.