Knee Surgery, Covid, and Healing

It’s been a crazy year, hasn't it? Recently, my mom went in to have her knee replaced. She lives halfway across the country, so I couldn’t be with her. With Covid19 running rampant and my immune system out of whack, plus a zillion other health problems... I’m at a greater risk of contracting it, than most. And, so is my hubby who has COPD. He is 81. And is not doing, so great. Therefore, traveling too far from home... is a big NO NO. In addition, we both have mobility issues too, so we’d be of little help trying to take care of her. So… my brother and niece moved in temporarily, and took her to the hospital. And they have been nursing her back to health... there on the home front, since her release. Fixing her meals, getting her in and out of bed, etc. The doctor only let my mom use Tylenol, at first. Even though, she was in horrendous pain when the nerve block wore off. Since then, he has prescribed 5mg of Oxycontin a day, for a few weeks. My mom is in a much better place physically and mentally since he did that. She said it takes the edge off the pain and helps her sleep. But she isn’t going to let herself get too dependent on it. Physical therapy sessions have been grueling. Then when she gets back home, she has more exercises that the Physical Therapist has asked her to do. It has been difficult, to say the least. But, she’s hanging in there, doing the best she can. She is 86, so she’s not a spring chicken. She's a tough lady, but this has lowered her defenses. I told her to take things one day at a time, one step at a time. My brother and niece leave in a week. They have jobs and school to get back too. So I hope my mother is strong enough by then, to be on her own. I suggested a visiting nurse but was met with resistance and a bit of anger. So I’m not making anymore suggestions and we’ll see how it goes. If she needs help, I know she'll ask for it. In the meantime, I’m sending healing thoughts and talking to her every day. It’s all I can do from a distance. I love her so much. I wish this pandemic would loosen it’s grip and just let us be. So... we can come and go as we please. I never thought at my age, that my health would be an issue… now everybody’s is. 

Cleaning Out My Garage

I had an eBay store. And over the years, I collected quite an inventory of stuff to sell in it. Got rid of one storage area filled with things, a while back. Think I wrote about it. Trouble is there is still another one, that needs cleaning out. And then there is the garage. It was piled high with flip top boxes and more items than you’ve ever seen. Every time I try to tackle the mess… something happens to stop me, dead in my tracks and I never make any progress. After 25 years of this… I finally said, enough is enough. And I went full throttle working on it, 3 days in row… up until 5:30 am each morning, before stumbling into bed til noon, and starting all over again. It was a big chore to be sure. My hubby wanted to keep the plastic boxes, which had me scrambling for cardboard ones. Some looked pretty ratty but I transferred the stuff from one to the other. I could have had everything auctioned off and made quite a pretty penny. But with everybody hurting right now. I know they are looking for bargains. I thrifted for years out of necessity, before I did it for fun... and always got some great deals at Goodwill. So I will donate the inventory there, and let them sort it all out. Before we took the first couple loads over to them, there was not a square inch of floor showing in our living room because of everything I’m giving away. Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving. Figurines, plates, decorations, trees. Cloth table cloths and napkins, new in package shower curtains. Wooden crafts, wreathes and clothes, lots of clothes. Books, designer purses, shoes, etc. It’s been like a weight off my shoulders getting done what I did, out there. One half of the garage is finished, still have the rest to do. But for now, I’m taking a break. My back and knees hurt, I can hardly walk and same is true for my hubby. My goal is to have it all done before Christmas, so I can pull my car in garage for first time in 34 years. Fingers crossed. Your encouragement will help egg me on. 

PS)  I'm having a fit with this new format. My photographs are offset and enlarged too. Can not get them centered. My text is underlined and won't go back to normal. I hate this. And all my links to your pages need to be redone because when I click on them, I'm redirected. I reverted back to The Legacy version and I'm still having issues.