>I have to go see about which Medicare plan will work for me. There’s always something. Sign up for this, fill out that, choose this or that. The older or sicker you are, the more they want from you. Does that make sense? I think not. Brain fog makes decisions harder, thinking take longer, understanding virtually impossible on some days, and yet they want you to decide, think, understand more all the time. They ought to make you decide these things when you’re 25 or 30, when you’re brain is actually working. Assuming you haven’t already contracted one of the brain fog illnesses. I just want to be left alone, but life doesn’t work that way. Good thing I have a sense of humor.
Author Archives: excentric
>Wellsphere
>Here are sources I based my warning on. The last one has their TOS. I know my blog is nothing special, so I was really pleased when I got the initial email, thinking “Gee, someone must see something of value here, that I’m not aware of.” But I always research anything that comes along, and I’m glad I did. I don’t think more than four people–two of them my children–actually read my blog anyway. How valuable a resource can it be? You decide, dear readers.
http://distractible.org/2009/01/28/all-is-not-wellsphere/
http://e-patients.net/archives/2009/01/the-wellsphere-blogging-controversy.html
http://www.nurseratchedsplace.com/2009/02/liars-go-to-hell-im-talking-to-you-wellsphere/
http://trishatorrey.com/2009/01/29/a-different-perspective-on-the-sale-of-wellsphere/
http://www.getbetterhealth.com/how-the-health-blogosphere-was-scammed/2009.01.28
>Beware of Wellsphere
>I’m getting seriously unhappy with Blogger.com. It won’t even let me reply to a comment on my own blog. I wanted to post in response to the lovely post from Hua@wellspring. You’ll have to read it here instead:
After Googling wellsphere, it seems it is a scam to get the copyright to your blog. So any bloggers, beware. Always check before signing up for anything. excentric
>YESTERDAY
>Yesterday was a wash. I could not stay awake and slept all afternoon. Of course, I was then up til after 4am, but got up at 12:30 today. Still tired but awake. Sorting books by category on the new shelves, and hoping to make more room for small kitchen appliances. It’s a beautiful warm and sunny day. Breezy, too. Breezy is good. This background is called ‘Strawberry Mint Delight, and it’s June tomorrow. That’s strawberry season in New England. *big smile* That’s all.
>Was up late, but woke up at eight again. Up, showered, coffeed, sitting here. I need to eat something. It’s another wet gray day, which is infinitely better than hot and sticky. As I backed up this blog, I read the posts and it seemed like a lot of moaning and groaning, but then I remembered. It’s a blog about living with fibro/chronic fatigue, and I describe how I feel and what I do. So it’s not moaning and groaning, it’s imparting information. LOL Still no A/C guy, so I am giving up and putting stuff back in the closet. It’s been ten days. Slept in the bedroom last night, and slept well. I like that I have choices now. I can sleep on the couch or the futon, depending on my mood. Gertrude still sits on the crossword book, no matter where I sleep. She is a funny kitty. I ordered some herbs very late last night. Staying up late seems to kick in my shopping gene. Not a good thing. That’s when I bouoght the couch and the futon. Late at night. Oh, I’m tired, it seems. Better eat before I find myself back in bed.
>I was so tired today. Got up at eight as usual (yay, me) showered, ate, coffeed, etc. Sat here for awhile zoning out and finally lay down on the couch thinking to watch tv. Slept all afternoon. So here I am up late. I am backing up this blog to Evernote, since I lost my other backup on Scrapbook. Reading as I go, I see that 2007 was a really tough year. I am so much better now, even though I am having a lot of pain and fatigue and problems with walking. My mood is better, my house is better. I love my new couch. I have done a lot of organizing and decluttering and things are getting in order finally. I had forgotten how hard that year had been. I’m glad it’s now, now. *smile*
>
It’s a gray, rainy day here. I do like rain. I may have mentioned that before. LOL Still waiting for the A/C guy to come and change the filter. It’s been a week today since he started, and usually he gets to me the first or second day. So everything has been out of the closet just waiting, cause that’s where he needs to get to change the filter. I finally got the laundry done yesterday. It’s been sitting in the washer since Friday, but fortunately, no water ever got into the washer so the clothes weren’t wet. Never buy a German washing machine. The two newer ones are Frigidare, and so far they work just fine. But that’s the second time my clothes have gotten trapped in the old washer. Note to self: remind homemakers NOT to use middle washer.
Slept on the couch again last night. I’ve realized I don’t really like sleeping in the bedroom. Not sure why. The living room is much nicer to wake up in. I guess I could try decorating the bedroom ala the living room, but I’m way too tired to do that. I’ve been tired for several days, and every afternoon the stiffness and pain levels go way up. Not sure why that is, either. Not sure of much, am I? LOL Oh, well.
>It was a good day
>Yesterday. My friend Tess called me in the morning to see if I was up for going to the park with her to walk the dog. Was I!!! LOL Mostly I sat and watched birds and people while she and the dog walked, but I did get to hold the leash while we walked back to the car. Misty (the dog) sniffed everything. I mean everything. She is the cutest dog that ever was. We took Misty home, then went out to lunch. Was going to call my friend Beth to see if she wanted to get together with us Thursday, but we decided to see if she wanted visitors and went to her house for a bit. Played with her granddaughter, who thinks I am very funny. Off to the liquor store for some Mayflower Porter, the best beer I’ve ever had. It’s from a micro-brewery in Plymouth, MA. Stop and Shop for a few groceries, back here to play Big Kahuna and then she went home. It was a fun day. I did a lot, but didn’t get over-tired and wasn’t really too much in pain later. It was a good day.
>Well, I have gotten a lot done in the apartment. The living room is set up the way I like. Only one thing left to do, and I’m not sure when/if I’m going to do it. It’s putting together the computer table thingy I bought forever ago which is in it’s unopened box in the closet. If I ever get to it, I plan to put the desk in the bedroom. The desk is really too small and too high to be a good place for the desktop pc. The bedroom still needs some decluttering, but is so much nicer without the bed in it. I still need to put some more cushioning on the futon before it’s sleep on worthy, but meanwhile, the couch is very comfy.
On the other hand, I’ve been very tired lately, and having a lot of pain. My legs especially are very painful when walking or anything. They seem to be getting stiffer, too. Like bending my knees to put my socks on is hard and hurts a lot. Not sure what to do about all this. I’m sorry to say that doctors aren’t really much help with the day-to-day living issues. But I’m in good spirits and enjoying my new couch and neat (er) living room. It’s a beautiful day, too, so that’s always nice. Yesterday it was very cold. I almost put the heat on, but used my little heater fan instead.
>Gertrude
>
Turns out, after talking to DD who gave her to me, that I’ve had Gertrude for eight years. She was invisible for so long, it doesn’t seem like I’ve had her that length of time. She was greatly overshadowed by Simon. He’s been gone a year next month, so she is slowly, snail-slow, getting her mojo on. She’s a sweetie, and she talks to me. We have conversations, but she is the only one who knows what we’re saying. LOL
>It was a very good day
>
My friends came over and put together the futon frame, then John and I watched ‘Twilight’ which he brought with him, also the ‘making of’ DVD. He had given me the book to read and I liked it, so he wanted me to see the movie, which I also liked. I would never have read or watched this cause it looked lame in the ads, but I did enjoy both. I couldn’t help thinking ‘I want to drink your blood’ all through the reading and the watching, but that didn’t spoil it for me. Beth played Mahjong Quest the whole time. We ordered pizza and salad, they had brought beer and wine, and we had a really nice evening. John is fun to watch movies with. We kept pausing and rewinding to discuss this or that happening in the film. It was pretty funny, and fun.
To cap it off, as I was sitting here a few minutes ago, Gertrude the Invisible Cat jumped up on the desk and sat down between me and the keyboard. A lifetime first for her. The girl is coming out of her shell. It’s about time. In cat years, she is 61, almost as old as I am. I was quite surprised, but really glad she finally feels comfortable enough with me to do that. I’ve only had her for five or maybe six years, I forget. *smile*
>It was a good week.
>I had some good days and some not-so-good, but I’ve got the living room pretty much the way I want it, and my friends are coming this afternoon to put together the futon and then I can finish up in the bedroom. I cleaned out and rearranged all my dresser drawers yesterday, I organized my cubbies and shelves by the pc, I put away all the laundry. My friend came over last evening to have pizza and chat and play pc games. She commented on how good it’s looking. I feel like for the first time since I moved in here, I don’t have to be embarrassed or ashamed about the state of things. It never looked or felt like a real home before. It’s the couch that made the difference. The loveseat I had before just looked like another piece of Salvation Army decor, even though it wasn’t from there. *smile* It’s a beautiful, overcast but bright day. Windows all open. It’s all good.
>Rain
>It’s pouring rain. I do love rain. All the blossoms are gone from the flowering pears across the street. They were lovely for a bit more than a week, and now it’s all green. I guess that means it’s almost summer. I was very tired and achy every day since my last post, and didn’t do much of anything. Feeling better today, but a little achy still. I think I’m going to get the futon put together this weekend, but meanwhile, I have been liking sleeping on the new couch. It’s very comfortable. I tried the futon mattress again, with some big pillows under it to cushion, but it still wasn’t very comfortable. I also ordered two wrought iron bookcases, which are cheaper than wood and hold more books. Finally going to get rid of the last of those awful plastic ones. They are just a wee bit warped after twenty some years of holding books. I’d already gotten rid of most of them, but needed someplace to keep my books. Looking forward to tossing them. I feel very rambling-ish, so that’s all for now.
>Having trouble getting started today. After several nights of great sleep on the new couch, I jinxed myself yesterday by talking about it, and could not get to sleep last night. I finally got about three hours worth, I think. So here I sit, waiting for something to kick in.
It was 90 yesterday. 90 degrees farenheit. Went to bed with windows wide open, wind blowing in, lovely. Woke up frozen. Frost tonight says the weather. I love New England.
I finally got the living room sorted out. Looks like a real living room now. Very nice. I even got some of the bedroom in better shape. The rest of the futon is due tomorrow, so I’m soon to be back sleeping in the bedroom.
I’m still to tired to think. Later
>Templates
>I’ve been having problems replying to a comment on the blog, and it seems I had to revert to the original template for that feature to work. Too bad. I like the templates from here: http://thecutestblogontheblock.com/, but the last one seems to mess things up. Oh, well.
>Sleep
>
Well, it turns out people with fibro should not attempt to sleep on a futon mattress on the floor. Ouch! So I transferred my not-so-little self to the new sofa. After unsuccessfully arranging myself and pillows and blankets one way, got up and tried a different way. Relative success, although I did wake up with my neck in an awkward position. I’ll feel that later. Oh, and did I mention that the entire night Gertrude was talking to me? “Meow?” in your ear all night is not conducive to sleep, either. I did finally zonk out, only to wake up right before the 8 o’clock horn blasts from the firehouse to the sound of Gertrude making strange noises in her sleep. I think she has bad dreams, poor baby. Then the cell went off. Since it was across the room and I was tired, I opted not to get up and turn off the alarm. Turns out the cell alarm beeps every five minutes for half an hour. So then I gave up and got up. Tonight should be interesting.
>The Futon Frame
>is lovely, but it arrived with one pull-up shelf on the arm broken, no directions, and most of the hardware missing. So putting it together is on hold, but the old bed is GONE HOORAY and I will be sleeping on the futon on the floor til the bits and pieces arrive. My friends spent the entire day clearing out the bedroom and the packing for the futon and the sofa, and rearranging my computer/office setup. Then we went to dinner. A good day over all. I have really, really good friends.
>The futon frame
>
So today my new futon frame arrived. Just the frame, I have a mattress. My friends are still coming tomorrow, so they will put it together for me. I just have to figure out how to get rid of the bed. I am on a roll decluttering in the bedroom. It’s actually fun. Might as well get all this done while the fibro allows. It’s a beautiful day, too, so that’s even better.
>Woo Hoo
>
It came. My new couch. My friend was here and we put it together ourselves. It was easy. I still need my other friends to come Thursday to take away the two huge boxes and lay the area rug, if it’s not too done in by Gertrude’s little claws. I heard from both DDs and played pc games with my friend before she left to cook dinner for her DH. It was a very good birthday.
>Caturday
>
I love that word. I had a good one. Saturday, that is. I was invited to a friend’s for a birthday dinner. First we spent the afternoon in the yard as they cleaned out the flower beds and such. I helped plant some tulips from a pot of them that was going past it’s prime. It spattered rain here and there, birds sung, breeze blew, dirt smelled wonderful, grass was spongy. Then we played a computer game, had my favorite dinner ever, steak on the grill cooked by John, had a lovely chat, played another game, and home. It was a lovely, lovely day.
Today is my actual birthday, and my present from me to me is the couch that is scheduled to be delivered today. It’s from my favorite store, Overstock.com. I’ve got the living room all ready for it, and my friends offered to come over Thursday and put it together if need be. It comes in three boxes so it will fit through doors. I am excited. I haven’t had a sofa in ten or eleven years. I will be able to lie down in the living room and watch tv instead of having to go into the bedroom when I am too fatigued to sit up. Yay, and hooray.
Gertrude doesn’t know what to think. The living room doesn’t look at all like she’s used to it looking, and the bedroom is overrun with clutter at the moment. She’s very, very cautious when she comes out from under the bed where she lives. Poor girl. She’ll get over it, without shredding the couch, I hope.
