Warming Up - Feeling Stronger - Staying Home For Now

We are finally out of the Sub-Zero Deep Freeze thing here in Wisconsin! We have some nice sunshine, but literally no snow. That stuff back there is frozen ice over some of the accumulated water from the snow melt. But no snow to be seen.  We will get up into the high 40s or even hit 50 today. Wow! 

As for me, just went through another round of tests and going to rule out some other things with a few more tests next week. Things are looking okay and we are adjusting meds up and down. Mostly, I notice slightly diminished sensations and nerve response on the left side, mainly in my fingertips and hand. Also the hearing on my left side seems to be affected. But mostly I think I'm ahead of the game here, and doing all right!

So on we go to planning our summer trip to Alaska. I've started marking lots and lots of interesting spots as favorite places on the maps.  We have been watching YouTubes of other people traveling around in Canada and Alaska, and marking down all of their "hidden spots".

We are thinking about remaining home for the rest of the winter. That's a sad thought, because we had wanted to sneak out to maybe central Texas or New Mexico for Feb-April. But instead --- we will stay home. 

A nice little delightful thing about being home was to watch my amaryllis bloom! I managed to have this pot of amaryllis plants foisted upon me. It happened when I went to pick up a weaving loom for my sister a couple years ago. The woman was emptying her brother's house and insisted I had to take it. So much so, she actually opened the back door of our vehicle and put it right on the floor mat by the back seat!

I am glad she did. It's bloomed 2 times a year, every year, since I got it. 

Steve has been trying to keep himself busy, besides taking care of me. He decided to replace all of the incandescent spotlights and circular lights in his garage with LED strip lights. They went on sale for $4.99 at our local Menards so he bought six new fixtures to replace the ones in the garage. These are the plug-in type so it was just so easy to buy the little adapter to screw right into the ceramic outlet base and plug them in.

He will neatly tack up the cords later with little electrical clips, he didn't have enough on hand right now.

It really brightened up the garage, and made him a happy man. Can't ask for more than that can you? 

We have also been doing some preventative "old timer" safety measures around the house. On the advice of the physical and occupational therapists that I saw... Things like fastening carpet treads on slippery stairs, double checking handrails for sturdiness, and considering good locations on studded walls for grab bars in showers and near toilets. All good things to think about.  Steve fastened these down with 3 steps of double sided carpet tape. Much better than the slippery painted surface of wood.

My sweet neighbor lady brought over a spaghetti casserole with garlic bread the other day. Before we returned her pan, I made up some cute little hot pads as a thank you. She has a rustic themed decor, so I hope the hot pads made a good match. They matched her dish too!

I am trying to do little projects, one thing at a time. That way I don't feel like I'm just doing nothing. I noticed my African violets were absolutely overflowing in this little planter. They needed to be split up and given more room to spread their roots.

This is so much better now. My grandmother used to grow beautiful African violets. She always put them in a north window to blossom. She told me to never water them where the water lands on the leaves. It should only get water on the soil itself. I guess it's working. 

I've been trying to be good, and try to lay around and take it easy. Sometimes I feel like a slug. But I'm getting used to different medications, and some changes of dosages on others. Yesterday the doctor ran some more tests and went over medications. Next week we are going to rule out any heart damage by scheduling me for a stress test. So it's best to just lay around and call it a "jammie day".

I did get a YouTube done about our little ride we took in the RV during the week before. It was up the road a few miles to our small county campground. It has been devastated by the emerald ash borer beetle. 

Our city campground (called Holtwood) has also been devastated with the same horrible fate. It's a shame to see all these trees have to get cut down, but it's better than having them crash down on people's RVs during a wind storm.

This is what it used to look like:

Sadly, this is now all gone.

Well, I think it's time to finish up this blog. I can't think of really too much else I want to write about. I think we're just going to have to look forward to the next few months of staying home and staying warm in Wisconsin. 

Nick has the right idea....

We will see 

 what tomorrow 

will bring.