My day

I've had a great day today.  It started with waking up to find Mewsic, my beloved car, curled up with me and of course my Indian Ringneck Parrot, DW, was in her cage near my bed.  As I lay there deciding whether to get up or to roll over and go back to sleep the phone rang, a number I didn't recognize but I answered anyway.  It was my long time, dear friend Wanda saying she was in the next town visiting her brother and would be over about 11 to visit me.  While I waited I did a couple things around home, including design a Roll Call sheet for my TOPS and KOPs group.  It was wonderful to visit Wanda and her boyfriend of about 10 months, so nice to see she is in a good and serious relationship after all these long years.  It's been about 6 years since we saw each other so had lots to talk about, just too bad I had a 2pm appointment in town so we had to say good-bye for now.

I rushed into town to my physio appointment where Pam worked on both of my wrists, the right 'sprained' wrist as well as the left 'shattered' wrist. My first treatment on the left wrist was Wednesday and I've been doing exercises at home since then as well as having it 'wanded' (will tell about this eventually). Pam, the physio therapist, said she already sees some improvement in the range of motion.

I went to A&W as I had a little over an hour between appointments and I was hungry. I ate a Spicy Mama burger with 2 cups of tea as I visited with a fellow that was there whom I've known for many years.

Next was the Chiropractor appointment to have my neck and right wrist/hand worked on again.

I went to Dollarama and got a new pair of gloves as I can't seem to remember where I put the ones I had last winter and with the sudden sub zero temperatures and the snow arriving yesterday, I need gloves.

Over to Joyce & Paul's house for a visit for around an hour or so, then home.  Ahhh, finally home. Now I am watching TV as I blog... my left wrist is shooting pains into my hand and up my arm as it is still a strain to type with this hand but type with it I must and I will.  I am very tired and know I will not need sleeping pills tonight, nor will I be up half the night reading and waiting to fall asleep.  I will be happy to crawl into my bed early tonight and to go straight into Dreamland.

Reminiscing

I was reminiscing today with a good friend.  I haven't seen Wanda for a long time, from what she said it's been 6 years since she was last in town so guess it's been that long since we got together. We had about a 3 1/2 hour visit today, Wanda, her 'new' boyfriend of 10 months, & I... way too short a time to catch up on what we've each been doing for the past 6 years. We of course also needed time to reminisce about our past crazy times together.  We also talked about health related things I am doing these days to get back my health and to heal my broken bones and damaged ligaments and tendons, etc.  I am into 'natural' health care things as much as and whenever possible. I remember when I raised show rabbits how I used to pick dandelions and feed them to my pregnant and nursing does because I knew that was a good way to how to product more breast milk for the does to raise healthy kits.  I've done some very interesting things in my life time. 

Busy Life

Wow, my life is really wonderful... and really busy lately.  I've had a full and busy life for some time and now on top of that I have Chiropractic treatments twice a week and Physio Therapy treatments twice a week. I have currently been moved up from Co-leader of my TOPS club to Leader and am President of my Toastmasters club... all on top of the rest of my life.  I've sure glad that right now I don't have to worry about figuring out and dealing with business debt consolidation.   Dealing with the insurance company about 1- the loss of property claim for my trike and 2- the injury claim for injuries sustained when I was hit, on my trike, by a car that was speeding and turned left across my lane, cutting me off.   I so enjoy the odd day when I get to stay home and relax or do my house work, read, etc.

Weather

It is pretty dark out right now from all the clouds in the sky and in about 2 hours it really will be dark.  These short days really are not to my liking, nor is the dark, dingy weather.  There was some sunshine today for awhile, a short while, and before that there was rain... I suspect there will be rain again before this day is done.  The forecasts are for snow to arrive soon... yuck.  I would really love to go on vacation somewhere that is not so effected by this time of year... maybe to Australia, or to Hawaii, or even to Outer Banks vacation rental.  Keywords to where I want to go include: sea shore, lots of daylight hours, sun shine, warmth, handsome men, laughter, fun, motorcycle riding, and many more.  I want to sit on a warm, sunny beach and read my books.

Healthy Weight

Today I went to my first physio therapy on my broken left wrist.  For the next while I will be going there 2x per week as well as doing many exercises on the wrist on my own.  I also will be having physio therapy on my right wrist that is sprained and on my neck for whiplash. 

After physio I went to my doctor's office for my regular diabetic check up with the health nurse. Unfortunately I was 20 minutes late due to the physio taking longer than I had thought it would.  When making the appointment with physio I did tell that I had an 11:00 appointment at the doctor so I thought they would give me enough time which they/she didn't.  Anyway, I did get to see Jennifer the nurse for a short while and have an appointment to go again in January.  My A1C blood test result is 6.2 which is very good, though Jennifer wants me to do regular blood tests and record food intake and exercise again.  This is a good thing for my health and blood sugar/diabetes stuff, and also for my weight.  I've been totally out of control with my eating lately and not exercising as much as I should.  Now I have to write down all this stuff that should keep me accountable for what I eat/drink and how much I move as well as how these things effect my blood glucose levels.  I knew I had gained a lot and was reading about Lipofuze yesterday.  Now I am seeing it as a good thing that I have to do this journal type thing.  Jennifer weighed me... down 1Kg = 2.2 pounds since our last meeting, but my waste measures over an inch more than it did.... With the broken wrist I have lost a LOT of muscle in my left arm while gaining fat around my waste... not good at all.  I must get this back under control!!!

Dreaming

Do you dream while awake?  Maybe you have dreams about your future career, or about a vehicle you would love to have, or that perfect romantic relationship.  I dream about some of those kind of things and one of my biggest dreams is about renovations to my home.  I want to build a big deck in the back yard, overlooking the lake and the lower part of my yard.  I also want to re-do my entire kitchen with new cabinets, more counter tops, much more cupboard space, bins and drawers, a new sink, maybe Grohe faucets. I also want to have to walls done in drywall rather than the paneling and wall paper they have now.  I want to put new siding on the outside with more insulation underneath the siding.  Things like that would make my home very nice.  Maybe I would even take out the living room window and put in French doors there.  Yes, dreaming... and dreams are good.

Just Weight

Do you know which are the  top ten diet pills?  I don't have a clue, but what I do know is that I have to make some really big changes in my life if I want to look good and be healthy.  The last while, each week when I go to be weighed in, I have gained rather than lost weight.  This is going in the wrong direction!!  I have been eating too many scones and though I have cut back on them, I am still eating too many.  Also, a friend of mine has been taking me out for dinner fairly often lately and this is not always good diet wise though it is great in other ways.  On Friday evening we went out to a great restaurant where I had BBQ Ribs, very yummy and yet not low calorie.  Last night it was 'all you can eat' fish & chips.  I peel the batter off my fish before eating it which is a good thing to do, though I am sure I still consumed 1000 calories or more in that one meal.  Today so far I've eaten 2 scones.  How much exercise have I had the last few days?  None.  I've been busy cleaning my home and trying to organize it which is a very big, tiring job so by the time I do this for awhile I am tired and sore so don't feel like getting onto my exercise bike and peddling for 30 minutes, or for any time at all. I must start to do the exercise even if I don't want to, and must make better food choices. 

Christmas is Coming!

Today is November 15th, so it is just around the corner to Christmas 2010.  Do you have all your gifts ready for giving? Do you know what you want to give each person on your gift list? Do you need ideas? Here are a few ideas of things you might wish to give people on your list:
- electronics: TV, computer, iPad, iPhone, Wii, etc. etc.
- books: there are so many good, interesting, entertaining, educational books on the market these days.
- concert tickets: lady gaga tickets or any other band that may be playing in your area in the next while.
- donate money to the needy or to people in 3rd world countries in the name of your loved one.
- gift certificates: for clothes, pets or pet products, toys, books, movies, etc. etc.

These are just a few ideas... I'm sure you can come up with some more.  I like to give homemade gifts, though this year with having a broken wrist just healing, I think I will be buying rather than making for the most part.

DW

My Indian Ringneck Parrot, DW, is driving me just a little crazy these days.  I don't like to keep her locked up in her cage all the time but just don't know what else to do with her to keep her out of trouble.  I guess I might have to clip her wings so she can't fly and maybe that would help a lot, though I really don't like to clip birds wings. 

DW is such a sweetheart, so cuddly and lovable, but always getting into trouble. She likes to pick and chew at things she isn't supposed to (wires on back of electronics, antique radio, etc.) and get into plants as digging and throwing dirt out of the plant pot is a favorite pass time for this girl. I have to keep her in my bedroom because if she is in the living room she picks fights with the other birds that live here (if she's out of her cage) and she nearly killed Miracle, my Pacific Parrotlet, about a year ago. 

DW loves to bath, so likes to ride on my shoulder when I go to the kitchen faucet and fill her bath dish with water, or sometimes she even likes to hop off and bath right there in the sink.  She loves to sit on my shoulder and eat out of my mouth during my meal, or pull my earrings out of my ears (as if I don't loose them too easily already).  I really love this bird and it makes her & I both sad that she has to spend so much time in her cage, but to let her out lately is a full time job just following her around getting her before she destroys something important or makes a huge mess.  The more I think about it, the more I think I will have to cut her wing feathers to keep her out of trouble and so we can both enjoy life more.

Trike Rebuild Ideas

I spend time each day thinking about my trike and about building a new one with parts from the old one as well as with other parts to make it different and even more unique than the last one.  I mostly think about how to make the box different. On the first trike, the box was a metal frame with cedar wood sides which looked great for the first while, but the wood didn't hold up as well as it could and after the crash it was left outside in the tow truck impound lot, then in the insurance company impound lot and it was rained on a lot during that time, so the wood now looks terrible.  It needed to be kept dry to stay looking as nice as it did in the start and I always tarped the trike when at home if it looked like rain, though did have to ride in rain a few times so in time the wood would not have looked good anyway.  I think about all sorts of different ways to do a different box, for example, use a small teardrop shaped box, or make it out of Ferrari parts, or an old trunk, even a wine barrel or beer keg.  I am sure that when the time is right something will present itself to me that will be just perfect for the job.

AD/HD??

I've been reading a very interesting book the last few days... Women with Attention Deficit Disorder by Sari Solden.  My Toastmaster/TOPS friend Pat found this book at a garage sale and bought it for me.  I have been wondering lately if I am one of the undiagnosed women with this disorder.  Many things I've read in the book sound like me, though many things don't, so I am still not sure.  I am thinking I maybe should talk to my doctor and have him send me to someone who could answer this question. Sometimes I'm focused on things, though more often than not I can be thinking about something and soon find myself thinking about something else instead, for example thinking about managed hosting one minute, then my parrot the next, then plants. Sometimes this is not a big deal though often it can create problems as it is very time consuming and tiring and at times I need to stay focused though don't always find it possible to do.  My home is such a terrible mess, as is my yard, and I don't seem to be able to clean things up, or to remember how to cook meals.  This kind of thing is talked about in the book.... maybe I'm not such a hoarder after all, but just a woman with AD/HD... hmmm.  One part of being diagnosed, of managing the disorder, is taking meds and I really don't like taking meds so must make some difficult decisions.

TO DO List

Some of the things on my TO DO list today have been done... some to do with ICBC (Insurance Corporation Of British Columbia), getting my pellet stove cleaned because with a broken wrist I can't do it myself this year, doing some blogging, feeding my birds & cat.  There are still several things on the list yet to be done.
- purchase ink cartridges for my printer
- meet Joyce & go swimming
- return book & movies to Wendy
- do some house cleaning
- 30 minutes on my exercise bike
- go out for dinner with Andrew & help him with his speech for next Toastmaster meeting (I am coaching/mentoring him through his first 3 speeches)

Right now all I want to do is have a nap.... sigh.  I have no good reason to feel so tired, but I just do anyway.

November 8

Yesterday I went to town for x-rays on my left wrist, then went for blood tests for my diabetic check up that is coming up soon. By this time I had to run to get a cup of tea to take with me and off I went to my appointment with the orthopedic surgeon that did the reconstruction on my shattered wrist nearly 2 months ago. I don't know if the computer software he uses is holter or some other brand, but he can bring up on his computer the x-rays done at the hospital as well as those done at the x-ray place downtown. It was interesting seeing what the metal plate & 9 screws look like and where in my wrist they are. He said to now start doing physio therapy on the wrist and go back to see him in 2 months. He also said it will be 6 months before things are back to normal if they ever get back there.

I went to visit Joyce then Tuggy phoned and wanted me to meet him at A&W, so Joyce & I went and had lunch with him. He was on his way to his doctor for more tests as he's not well & they're not finding out why or what to do about it. I had planned to go to Aqua Therapy, but by this time it was too late to get home for my swim suit and such, so I went to Joyce's for awhile longer then headed home to try to write a speech for tonight at Toastmasters. I had finally come up with an idea what to speak about... or had I? It just wasn't working.

During the evening I watched House, Lie To Me, & Hawaii 5 O on TV. While watching House I got on my recumbent exercise bike I had a workout. The timer quit working part way through so I don't know how long I peddled on it, but do know I did it for a fairly long time. Once in awhile I stopped for a short rest before starting again, and did this for the greater part of House.

Mewsic

I am so grateful to have my wonderful cat, Mewsic, in my life.  She is such a joy as she loves to cuddle with me often, and I rarely have to sleep alone.  I'm sure that even on the nights I go to sleep with her in the living room instead of on my bed, she comes in to join me after awhile. I don't think she was terribly happy with me last night so didn't stay here long as I was tossing & turning more than I was actually sleeping and of course that disturbs her sleep.  Have you ever heard the fairy tale about The Princess & The Pea?  It's the one where they decide to check to be sure she's really a princess and not an impostor, so without her knowing they put a pea under the bottom mattress of a whole stack of mattresses, and when she sleeps there & wakes in the morning complaining of being sore due to the lump they know she's a real princess.  Well, I think Mewsic is a true princess, mind you, every cat is, lol, but she likes to sleep on pillows stacked up on my bed just like a stack of mattresses.  I also love the way she looks, being a Tortoise Shell with white she's patches of black, white & orange. I thought I had a photo to share with you of my Mewsic, and see I don't have on this computer... guess I better do something about that.