Hope you all have the best year yet.

Less than a week ago, it was nearly 70 degrees out.  Today it is 25.  Twenty-five degrees.  Ice is out there.  It was just summery weather and now ice.  Freezing am I.  Weather is getting weirder and weirder.  At least we are not having tornadoes and floods and all, like some of the planet.  But is is cold.  You need to work up to cold.  This is like suddenly having a 25 degree day in the middle of summer.

I’m watching Martha make smashed potatoes.  They look really good.  Think she’ll come and cook some for me?  No, I didn’t either.  How cool would it be for someone like me, who has difficulty with cooking and managing food, to have someone who cooked for you.  You have to be rich for that, and I am definitely not rich.

I have to wait til next week to make sure the cortisone shot did not work for my knee.  If not, MRI and referral.  Meanwhile, hobbling around when I am forced to, otherwise it’s me and the couch.  Boring.  I try to keep my spirits up, but sometimes it is difficult.  I always say I was born with the ‘happy’ gene, and it’s a good thing, because otherwise, I would be in the depths of despair a lot of the time.  Fortunately, I think a lot of things are funny, and that helps.  Laughing is good.

may be happening.
I love that dip. It makes me think of Idaho, for some reason. Red is temp. Green is dew point.

Went to Longhorn Steak House yesterday with my daughter. I love Longhorn. Or I did. The menu has completely changed, and everything is so pricey. Fourteen dollars for a burger and fries. Fancy fries, granted, but still fries. And the burger was not half as good as Papa Gino’s Mushroom Swiss Burger, which is half the price, but with no fries. Who needs fries? Anyway, DD and I each had an appetizer, three drinks between us (I had a beer), my burger, her something on rice dish, and it was 75 dollars. 90 dollars with tip. I had a burger and fries. Sheesh! Won’t be going back there anytime soon.

Have to wait til after the first to see if cortisone shot really doesn’t help, if not, MRI then possible referral to surgeon. Torn cartilage hurts, if that’s what it is. If that’s not what it is, something else hurts. Really a lot. Fun times, people. Fun times. Hobbling around R Us.

and it’s 65 degrees where I am. 65 degrees Fahrenheit. I spelled Fahrenheit correct on the first try. Yay, me. Anyway, I hope all of my readers and their friends and families have the best Christmas yet, or holiday season, or whatever thing you celebrate at this time of year. The solstice is big for me. Yay, longer days. Happy, happy, merry, merry. It’s 65 degrees. Oi!

I think they may have finally done themselves in as far as I am concerned. New update yesterday, laptop has slowed to ‘molasses in January’ velocity. Switched to Chrome and zip-a-dee-doo-dah, so to speak. My extensions. My closing the last open tab without closing the browser. Not existant on Chrome, but not waiting one minute for an email to load, assuming gmail actually loaded in the first place…

The more they mess with Firefox, the worse it gets. Are they TRYING to drive users away?

My Traci (my homemaker) gave me presents today, since she won’t be back til next week. Only she would give me the things she does, because she gets that I am crazy, and they delight me.

A bottle of wine in a santa bag, complete with hat. Sorry, took the bottle out, so no photo. Will put it back when it’s empty, and take a picture then, cause it’s really cute.

The light makes him swing.

Penguins

A bag of sweeties. Yes, I’ve been reading too much Torchwood fanfiction. Or Doctor Who. Sweeties is a very English thing, I think.

For Gertrude. A laser pointer, too, but not taking a photo of that. LOL

My knee is a bit better. I am resting it as much as possible, and very, very careful and slow when I move, and it’s even better with ibuprofen. I hope it heals on it’s own, but Prednisone can inhibit healing, it seems, and I need the Prednisone to not be miserable all the time. Oh, well.

It’s almost Christmas. I will be here alone with Gertrude and no Christmas tree or dinner or presents, and yet I am still excited. 🙂

Got in to see rheumatologist’s assistant today. Seems I may have torn my meniscus. Hopefully it will heal on its own. Got a cortisone shot, ultrasound, and x-rays. Was really painful to start out today, and by the time I was getting the x-rays done, I was standing there thinking ‘I’m not going to be able to walk out of here I am in so much pain. They’re going to have to give me some serious pain meds or a wheelchair or something.’ On a scale of 1 to 10, it was 25. I thought I might pass out. OMG did it hurt, then all of a sudden it got better. Fast acting cortisone, I guess. Still hurt a lot, but I could walk and made it to the car and then into the house.

My friend Tess, who drove me there, suggested stopping off for Chinese take-out on the way home, so ready-made dinner. She helped me get set up on the couch before she left. She is a very, very good friend. Always willing to help. Now I am just icing the knee 20 minutes out of every hour or so. I am so over pain. SO over pain. Hoping to better by tomorrow, so I can actual function more than hobbling to the freezer or the bathroom as necessary.

This morning, there was a spider in the bathroom, and I was concerned it could get on Gertrude and bite her, so scooped it up to flush it. I hate killing things, and even flushing is uncomfortable, but self-defense, right? Instead, spider fell into the bucket I keep the toilet brush, etc. in, so tossed all that into the tub so I could dump spider into toilet. Then I dropped some coins out of my pocket. For both things, I decided to wait for my homemaker to come and get the stuff out of the tub and pick up the coins, because pain. She laughed when I told her.

So here I am, still alone, still in pain, but getting by okay tonight. Whew!

The Rollie…can’t stop laughing.

Had a doctor appointment to see what can be done about my screwed-up knee, but they cancelled. My friend Tess came over anyway and we went for coffee and did a bit of grocery shopping, where I bought vegetables. Ready-to-eat vegetables and hummus for dipping. Yay, me. Cedar’s makes avocado hummus. Can’t wait to try it.

It was a gorgeous day. In the fifties, breezy, with clouds zipping across the blue sky. It is kind of windy now. There is an advisory out. I like wind. We had big old cotton trees where I lived as a child, and the wind blowing through them made the best sound. Wind blowing through the pines at my Uncle’s father’s cabin in the mountains made a different, but equally wonderful, sound. I like wind.

It’s hard to walk with a painful knee, but it was so worth the pain. It is Stick Season in New England, a term I stole from a photographer I follow on Tumblr whose name escapes me at the moment. It’s the time after the leaves fall and before it snows. I love the term, and the season. Looked it up. Here

And here are my two new favorite quotes, both from Douglas Adams:

“He leant tensely against the corridor wall and frowned like a man trying to unbend a corkscrew by telekinesis.”

“The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don’t.”

Isn’t language beautiful?

My friend Tess came over and we went out. Getting out is crucial for mental health. Feeling much better, physically as well as mentally. Pain seems to be finally easing off. Yay. Didn’t buy anything, either. Yay, me.

Being alone so much is hard, and it keeps getting harder, and the more alone I am, the less motivated I am to try to do anything about it. When there’s lots of pain and fatigue, doing anything about it is pretty much a wash anyway.

I do try to stay positive and keep my own spirits up, but obviously I do fall down on the job now and then. It’s life, right?

Okay, so I had a really, really bad day yesterday. So exhausted when I showered I was nauseous, got dizzy every time I stood up, felt like a train wreck, walking is painful, standing is worse. House is getting completely out-of-hand, I bought groceries, but am I going to be able to actually cook them? I even picked really easy things to make. I was doing very well, then the whole cut-down-the-Prednisone thing, and even though I’ve gone back to five, I am not getting much better. It gets harder and harder to cope every time I get worse again, whatever the reason, and sometimes I just feel like giving up. I am alone. Three hours a week my homemaker comes and shops and does laundry across the street and vacuums and cleans the bathroom. I get next to no phone calls or emails from actual people I know. It’s because I have no life, and can’t get out and be the fun person, or entertain, or whatever it is people to do maintain connections. So I am just here with the cat. It gets hard. I do try. Sometimes, I just quit caring. That’s where I am right now. Can’t do anything about anything, so not caring is all that’s left. Well, I’m marginally better today. Yay, me.

I think I’m dying. Very, very slowly. But then, aren’t we all?

We used to get quite a bit of fog here, then not, now it’s back. I love fog. Can’t see the trees or buildings behind Tedeschi’s at all. Neat. They show up more in the photo than can be seen with the naked eye. Naked eyes. For shame. LOL Yes, I am loopy today. What else is new? I seem to have snow falling on my blog, too. Not sure why, but it’s cool. I love snow.

I am stalling from calling to cancel the surgeon appointment, cause I don’t want them to try to talk me into having it. Cause I’m not. Having it.

FOG:

More FOG:

NO FOG:

I love New England.