9/17/24

 I drove to my appointment today. There was a lady telling me her whole life story in the waiting room. It wasn’t a very good life as addiction paved the way for her for several years. She started crying. She was 4 years sober. As they called me back, she wouldn’t stop talking. I basically had to walk away as she was mid sentence. I felt bad, but then told myself she was not picking up the social cues that it was time to stop talking.

My appointment with the surgeon went well. Basically no lifting, bending or twisting for 6 weeks (I have been avoiding this already). I have to start physical therapy and already called for an appointment but the office was closed by 3 pm. I am being sent for an MRI which I am thankful for. It is nice to have a picture of what is going on.

If things have not improved over the next 4 weeks, they likely won’t without surgical intervention. It’s basically a crap shoot. So I will continue to stand or lay and avoid sitting. I will continue sleeping with my ice pack belt, which actually feels nice but is a little chilly.

I do like all the hand sanitizer dispensers all around. I shook at least 3 hands. Covid really left a mark on me touching things and people and what could be on my hands.

We had another monarch hatch out and we released it. It was a male. We have one in a chrysalis, and two more caterpillars that we get milkweed leaves for daily. It’s so fun to watch. Science is cool.

Our driveway is finished and looks great. It is wider and we have a little turn around now. We can’t drive on it for a week. We have cones out at the end of the driveway. They are cardboard cones with rocks in the bottom so they don’t move or blow away. They sit about 4 feet off the road.

I watched some guy hit one with his truck yesterday. I heard the rocks kick up and hit his vehicle. Are you kidding me? It appeared he wasn’t paying attention and drifted onto our driveway. This is why I never let the kids ride their bikes on the road. Yikes. Plus, we randomly find the tall beer cans and little shot bottles in our ditch. Stay safe.

I took the dogs for a walk in the field as the sun was setting and it was really pretty. That was a gift from nature.