My aspirational list

 This morning I was tired of the endless to do list that I have been making for decades. I also have been failing to complete them most days which I find quite discouraging.  So today it became my aspirational list. These are the things that I aspire to do during the day. If I don’t get everything done oh well, no harm done. I did manage to complete 80% of my aspirational list today which made me feel pretty good. My dad always said it’s not what you say, but how you say it that matters.  Words do make a difference. Now I just have to get rid of all the list that say to do, and convince people to make aspirational lists instead. 

I was very busy for most of the day. I can’t remember a day recently that I did six full loads of laundry since the end of 2019.  Now to be truthful, two of them were hand wash. But that’s still six loads of laundry. Except for the clothes drying on the clothesline everything is put away too. I haven’t done that in a long time.

I even found time to knit and spin today.  I also managed to get in 10 minutes of Zenning by partly cleaning out a drawer and filling a trash can halfway.  Plus get over 6000 steps just by cleaning house today. So all in all it was a busy day and I’m really tired. I haven’t done this much work since at least the beginning of February so I’d say I’m well on the road to recovery.

TTFN

Bigger Steps

 Today I managed to do 2 loads of laundry without John. Empty the dishwasher.  Then pick up around the house.  Yes, it required a nap that was over 2 hours long, but I accomplished all of this on my own.  So I consider this progress.  Just a few weeks ago, I required a 2 hour nap after sitting and eating a meal.  Now if I could just build up my core muscles a little faster.  

After all the chores around the house I did not have the spoons to knit or spin.  Everything has a different priority on different days.  Just in case you were wondering. My to do list was only half finished. The top priority items all got finished.  

More Baby Steps

 Today I started with 3 pound weights.  I did a number of upper body exercises plus some stretching. We walked again after dinner. We went a little further without stopping. This is what progress looks like after months of being a couch potato.  

A little bit of knitting happened.  I have to say that after the little bit of exercises that I did, resulted in long naps.  

This seems to be a recurring pattern these last 4 years.  Get in shape and my body makes a bad decision.  Then rest followed by trying to get back in shape.  The good news is that I never stop trying to slowly get back in shape.  

Making Progress

 I got the all clear to resume normal activity at my post op appointment today.  So the first things I did was start a load of laundry and the dishwasher.  The dishwasher got emptied. The laundry is still waiting for me in the dryer.  It apparently was not the day to fold 2 loads of laundry.  

I also did a 5 minute Zenning project in the kitchen.  I pared down my measuring cups.  I have lost a lot of measuring cups over the years.  So I kept 1 metal and 1 plastic set of measuring cups.  The excess cups are headed to Goodwill.  I also have a set of glass bowls that have not been used for at least 10 years.  I had to face the fact that I just don’t bake as much as I use too. This might have something to do with kids growing up and moving out. So why waste the space.  My husband immediately put extra tea and coffee cups in the space.  So this is a massive win for 5 minutes of work.  The extra cups are no longer on the counter and the measuring cups are not falling down when I open the cupboard.  

The last of my Tour de Fleece yarn from Hilltop Clouds was washed and thwack.  It is now drying in the garage.  It will take a couple of days to dry due to high humidity.  My current plan for the yarn includes 3 different shawls.  One shawl for each stage.  Pictures once the yarn is dry.  

A Bumpy Day

 I made a very short to do list today by my spoonie standards.  I got half my list done by lunchtime.  After a small salad for lunch I thought it would be nice to close my eyes for 15 minutes.  Three hours later I woke up still feeling very tired. I made scrambled eggs for dinner  along with vegetables and honeydew melon.

I guess shopping at 2 stores and doing the driving in one morning is too much for me right now. I guess I still need help with the driving . Just when I thought I was finally getting my energy back.  My body decided it was in charge not my mind.  

In other news my dresses decided to get longer all on their own.  I see some hemming in my future.  

The Road to Recovery

 The road to recovery can be very bumpy.  This morning I was feeling very good. So I packed my car with shopping bags.  My first stop was Walmart where I picked up some Rit dye remover to try to fix one of my husband’s shirt that got some bleed over dye in the wash.  Yes, I had a fully saturated color catcher in the wash.  It is the first time in over a decade that the dye catcher did not pick up all the stray dye in the wash. 

Then it was off to Whole Foods to get some fresh fruit and goat milk yogurt. I got a treat for lunch too.  My husband graciously carried in the heavy bags and put the groceries away.   Then we had lunch.  I had planned to do paperwork and spin after lunch. Instead I spent the next 3 hours resting.  The morning activity had worn me out.  

I still do not have the stamina I had before I got sick in mid February.  Just walking around two stores and the house I managed to get 100 minutes in the Zone of moderate to vigorous exercise.  I have really got to figure out how to get back into shape so it is actually exercise instead of  just walking that causes an exercise heart rate. 

I am getting very tired of not being able to do much.  I am not a happy person right now.  My mind feels that I should be able to do more.  My body says no.  

First Day Back

 Today was my very first day back at exercise since I got sick in mid February.  I did my elliptical for 20 minutes.  I did the elliptical until I got tired.  That took all of 20 minutes.  Then I took a 2 hour nap.  It’s a start.  

The Snail is Ahead by a Whole Lap

 I am still in the very long process of healing from the March 1st medical emergency.  It’s has been a slow and bumpy journey. The things I still need to learn is how to sit quietly and rest. By far this is the hardest task I have ever had to accomplish. Also it’s ok if it takes me more than one day to accomplish a chore.  I did not have the energy last month to fold towels so I took my own advice to a new extreme.  In case you have forgotten my favorite laundry quote is “Laundry is like fine wine. No laundry shall be folded before its time.” So I went a month without folding bth towels. Guess what? No one complained about the wrinkles in the towels.  They still work well when hung on the towel rack.  I might just do that again this month. 

I also got new book in the mail that I pre ordered. Advocate by Eddie Ahn.  It is the very first graphic novel that I have ever read.  So far I am 66 pages into the book.  I am impressed by Mr. Ahn’s original art work. His ability to overcome adversity seems to be something I could learn from this book.  I do have an affinity for audio books so I can read while knitting.  I do believe this book needs to be a spiney version.  I am really enjoying it.  The quality of the paper and ink make it very easy to read with my dyslexia. I also tend not to read when exhaustion has set in.  That is why I have not finished the book yet. 

Well it is getting late and I have 1 activity tomorrow.  So I do need my rest.  

A Mixed Day

 Things got kind of strange this afternoon.  The cup that I stored my first pair of Apple Air Pods showed up this afternoon in the iRobot storage area.  There was a lot of dust in the cup and faded marks where the Air Pods were.  The Air Pods were no where to be found.  

The question remains how did the dish made its way from my knitting table in the den to the robot storage area?  A mystery still surrounds what happened to the Air Pods.  

I am starting to feel better.  I still don’t know my limits. We made a lovely soup today.  It left me tired even though John did all the chopping.  All I did was add things to the pot and stir.  Next time I will bring in a stool to do more sitting.  

I did finish one end of a pounder scarf, because I a changing colors after the next skein of blue. I am 47.5 inch done out of 74 inches. 

I over did today.

 I learned today that no matter how good I feel, over doing any activity can lead to jaw pain and a very long unscheduled nap.  It also leads to more consequences like not being able to knit at night. My hands were just too tired tonight to do anything. So tomorrow I plan to slow down again.

I have very big aspirations for tomorrow. Doing one load of laundry and having John help me put back a Closet that I tore apart. Doing some paperwork. Just maybe making some stitch markers or knitting. 

For tonight all I want to do is sleep.  Wish me luck.  

The Snail Won the Race Today.

 I am not regaining energy as fast as I thought I would.  After just 1 hour sitting and knitting with friends today I was exhausted.  I spent the entire afternoon binge watching television or sleeping. I normally reserve television watching for the evening.  I am following doctor’s advice not to over tax myself. It is harder than I thought. I thought it would be really, really hard.  

My plans after knitting with friends, I would just sit at the computer to type and edit new patterns. Not to taxing, not an energy drain. I did not work on a single pattern. Oh well, there is always a few weeks from now.  

The Calm After The Storm

 Yesterday after talking to the 3rd doctor in 2 days, I finally have my head wrapped around last weekend.  Partly be cause I finally had a definite answer. Be cause of it I am less anxious and can get on with the very slow recovery process.  We are talking months not days. 

I am designing a new shawl.  I will play catch up on a lot of UFO’s, one project at a time.  I will catch up with getting patterns listed.  I do have one question for you though. If I open an Etsy store for my patterns would you use it if you currently do not use Ravelry?  

I also have another question.  Does anyone else knit both right and left handed. If so do you have a different knitting style for each hand? The knitting nerd in me is curious.  

TTFN.  It’s rest time again.  

Post Surgery News

 I am getting excited. The stitches come out tomorrow.   Then I can work on some physical therapy to regain full use of my hand and hopefully get rid of the pain.  

I can also use some really big knitting needles to start knitting again.  I make it a point not to knit with stitches in my hand.  I have not been told not to, but all I think about is ouch.  I have 3 projects started that were interrupted by the last round of surgery.  Then maybe I can start knitting the knit along project that I was supposed to start in January and be finished in 8 weeks.  I was to sore and bummed out to go to the last 2 zoom classes.  I really felt like my hand had let me down.  

Life in Left

 I still have stitches in my right hand, in a very awkward place.  So if I forget and use my right hand I have quite the opposite of instant gratification.  Things like opening doors are really designed for right handed use. Things like brushing my teeth, I find that I tend to miss different spots unless I am very careful.  

Since I use both hands interchangeably this is usually not a problem.  I do notice that I am breaking more fingernails than usual on my left hand.  I still can’t try knitting until the stitches are out.  That is until round two this time.  So spinning it is for now.  

It is not a good thing that I have a small 3D printed Turkish spindle in a “me time” bag hanging from my purse.  I have one project on my knitting room table.  I have a full basket of half done projects for television watching time.  I think I am just as bad with spindles as I am with knitting needles. This means too many projects going on at once. I have managed to complete 3 spindles up until the point of needing to ply them. This is a plus.  I also have one less spinning basket. I put yarn for a knit along that starts this Saturday, what was I thinking? I will try to use my very limited daily spinning time to get as many done as possible. This means that more spindles will be leaving the herd soon.  I will not be able to ply, wash or thwack them until the stitches come out.  

*TTFN.  

Getting Ready

 While I have been busy recovering from my first cataract surgery, I can say I think it is going well. My distance vision in my right eye has ne going back to my 30’s.  I have an up coming check up to see if my right eye is healed enough to do my left eye.  Wish me luck.  

Meanwhile I have been doing a lot of napping.  I gave up stress eating.  I gave up eating when I am tired and have opted to take naps instead after all I am retired.  I have been doing some knitting, I have only finished 2 small projects this week.  I have gloves to seam, I have a shawl, 2 scarfs, and a third pair of gloves to finish.  I am also throwing in random acts of cleaning, not too much though because I am still supposed to be resting. They Obviously did not write those instructions with me in mind.  

Sorry for any misspellings, I am doing this with out glasses because my eyes are tired.  So I guess it’s good night. 

Still More Recovery Time

 I went to the doctors yesterday.  The bottom line is that it will be about the end of May or early June before I am totally recovered.  Apparently I am very good at hiding how awful I feel.  In my defense I did have almost 30 years of practice.  With Eric unless I was to sick to move, I had to keep going with that wonderful mommy smile. Who knew it would backfire on me.  

On the bright side I am cleared to start driving again. However with the COVID19 numbers in Pima county so high we are staying home.  This in turn will give me more nap and rest time. Isn’t it great how things like this work out?

Today was a prime example.  By the time I got my knitting project set up, I was too tired to move and took a 2 hour nap. I was to tired to concentrate on a pattern so I worked on the hat I started yesterday while we watched television tonight.  I only added 5 inches of knitting. I am Decreasing the crown right now. It should be finished in a few days. I don’t think I’m up to knitting  hat a day right now.

Doing Better

 I am feeling better than I have in years. I have started knitting again and have to active works in progress. I almost got to 10,000 steps today with a total of 9,729 steps.  Not bad.  At lot was just picking up around the house and putting things away.  

Either Or

 It has come to the point in my recovery that I either have the energy to clean or to spin. Today was cleaning. Not heavy duty housecleaning, just straightening up and putting things away. I do consider this progress. I think it will take me a while to be back at full speed.

I hope everybody will join us and staying home for New Year’s Eve, it has been a family tradition since so last century. Make an hors d’oeuvre tray and other munchies. Chill some sparkling apple cider. You won’t have to deal with driving and walk back to bedroom is very short. Have a happy healthy new year.

About the Same

 I came to the conclusion today that recovering from some types of retooling is like a very bad arthritis flare up.  The thing that they all have in common is erratic sleep, energy and the weird time of day that my body craves caffeine.  Yes it is 10:15 pm and I am having my first chai of the day.  The odd thing about this is once the caffeine hits my system I will be sound asleep within 30 minutes. 

I am one of those weird people who can fall asleep after caffeine and sleep for hours.   I also find caffeine very calming.  Three quarters of the way through the cup I can feel the tension leaving my body.  The lack of caffeine headache is leaving too.  

Also did I mention how bored I am being a partial couch potato.  So looking forward to next year.  I am just counting the days.  I know it is going to be better.  We are also staying home for New Years Eve and having a party for 2.   Please join us in keeping the party small and in your bubble.  

Not Quite Ready For Dinner

 Sadly I learned tonight that my left hand is not quite ready for dinner yet.  I make a fantastic thin crust pizza with topping to rival a Chicago deep dish pie. It requires a knife and fork to eat it. I tried my best, but my left hand wasn’t quite ready for the fork yet.  Instead of my walk after dinner, I iced my hand instead.  I am hoping that this resolves fairly quickly.  Yes, to those who want to know.  Even though the stitches are not out, I have started what physical therapy I can do   No, I am not over doing my hand with the exception of dinner tonight.  I prefer my left hand for eating as I am much more messy with my right hand.

By the way spinning went well today. I took some art yarn singles off the bobbins and started another set of batts. No yarn is getting soaked and thwacked until my stitches are out and the doctor says it’s ok.   After Spin Together 2020 is over it will be weaving time.