Archive for knee
>Trying to go to sleep…
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I’ve been on my way to bed now for a while, but I’m unsuccessful in getting there. I think I must not be properly sleepy yet, so I am foiled in my attempts. I even took my sleep medication, but it hasn’t worked one bit. I am wide awake. I am going to try again as soon as I’ve written this post because I do want to stick to some kind of normal schedule. I don’t want to upset the applecart.
I slept late this morning and had a heck of a time getting out of bed. I finally got up because my knee was hurting me. I had to straighten out my leg and that was enough motivation to get up. It took me several cups of coffee to become lucid. All I did was sit in my armchair and drink coffee and smoke cigarettes while I waited to become a functioning human being.
Actually, it didn’t take all that long. I was one within half an hour, but I like to exaggerate. I also like to drag out the waking up moment as long as I can. I’d rather not do anything right away if I can help it.
There does come a time when I can’t postpone it and I have to get dressed and walk the dog. I found some appropriate clothes to wear and set out with him in the noontime clouded sunshine. The clothes I wore were warm enough for the stiff wind that was blowing gray clouds across the sky and it looked like it was going to rain, but then it actually never did all day.
The wind blew so hard that it almost ruined my hairdo, even though I had hair sprayed it. Later on in the afternoon, when I rode my bike to my sister’s house, I got very much out of breath from pedaling into it and even worse so on the way home. It felt like I was at the sea with a good storm blowing in my face.
Luckily, in my sister’s garden we were somewhat sheltered, though it wasn’t as warm as it usually is and we couldn’t really sit out there with bare arms. We certainly didn’t get a tan because there were too many clouds covering the sun all the time. It would have been good if it had at least rained because the garden needed it, but not a drop fell from the heavens.
I had two cappuccinos and a cold beer and a piece of chocolate with nuts in it. That’s about as decadent as I could get and it did fill me up. The beer was very refreshing and I drank it with a lot of taste. It always takes a while before I can eat dinner after that and I ended up eating my soup late and sharing it with the dog. I haven’t even had dessert yet, but I figured that I didn’t need it after that piece of chocolate.
This morning I went on the bathroom scale and much to my surprise, I had lost another kilo. I wasn’t really expecting that and was thrilled about it. It motivates me to keep trying and to not grab something extra to eat when it’s not necessary. I don’t need to eat snacks really. I haven’t gotten more of those cheese crackers either and now just have the plain crackers again. They’re a lot healthier and less addictive. The cheese crackers were loaded with salt.
Well, it’s time for me to try and go to sleep now. I will start the ritual all over again. I think I’m sleepy enough this time. I’m longing for bed anyway.
I hope you’ll all have a good night or that you’re still having a good Sunday. Mine was good enough. I’m not ready for it to be Monday. Blagh!
Ciao,
Nora
>Keeping up the happy patter…
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It is with some amount of satisfaction that I sit here, because I’ve had my outing for today. It doesn’t happen very often that I go somewhere out of the ordinary, because I usually don’t have the desire to. Today I took the opportunity to go buy fake plants, because the Exfactor came by to drink coffee and I talked him into walking to that discount store with me.
It wasn’t difficult really to talk him into it, because he likes going there for all the good buys you can get there. Everybody else in the neighborhood likes going there too, as is evident by the long lines at the cash registers and the very full parking lot. We didn’t let that bother us and shopped to our hearts content.
I finally bought a set of tall drinking glasses that I had needed for the longest time. There are six of them and I will have to make room in the kitchen cupboard for them somehow. I haven’t got around to doing that yet. I have to sit and think about it first.
I also bought Tyke two big rawhide bones and he is very happily chewing on one of them right now. Actually, he thought everything in the bags was for him like he usually does. He thinks I go shopping just for him.
Of course, I hung out in the perfume section, where they sell the best ones at discount prices, and I tried out a couple of them on various parts of my body until I found the one I liked best. It was very inexpensive and I got a big bottle of it. When I got home, I spritzed myself liberally and I’m completely swooning over the smell of me. It’s so delicious. It’s too bad that you get used to it after a while.
I’ve got the fake plants and they are of a decent enough quality for me to be happy with. There wasn’t that much choice, because some of them were just plain ugly, but I picked out the best ones. I put them in their pots and they look good and the most important thing is that I won’t be able to kill them. At most they will get dusty and then I will rinse them off under the kitchen faucet.
We went to the tobacco shop after we were done shopping and I was greeted with a lot of compliments by the owner’s wife about how I looked. She had not seen me in a while and was pleasantly surprised. I had not realized what a difference there was between me now and a few months ago. I guess it is really obvious. I certainly was pleased about that. It seems that reducing my medication is very good for me.
So, now I’m sitting here with a tall glass of milk resting my legs. The exercise has actually been good for my knee, which was bothering me a lot earlier. I must walk over to that store more often. There are enough reasons to go there. Anywhere there are that many discounts is a good place to go.
I hope you’re all having a good day.
Ciao,
Nora
>As you were…
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It’s late at night and I’m sitting here slightly drowsy, but not enough to go to sleep. Actually, I may be too agitated to go to sleep and I may want to enjoy the quiet hours of the night more than lying in bed. I have also been known to have a stubborn streak, because I did lie in bed for about an hour and decided to get up again because I was bored and not patient enough to wait for sleep.
There’s nothing worse than lying in bed and staring at the ceiling while you can’t fall asleep. I was not serene enough to keep lying there. I petted Tyke to pass the time, but that was boring after a while too. There’s only so much attention you can give to a dog before you grow tired of it and want to do something else. I decided to get up and pass the time behind the computer until I was good and tired.
I watched some entertaining television and went to bed late thinking that would do the job of putting me to sleep soon. Apparently this did not work. I had my head full of impressions and it would have been better if I had sat quietly in my armchair and had read my book. I must remember that for the next time. Television can be a great agitator and it takes a while to get over it. You really need some peace and quiet after you’ve watched it.
I passed the time very quietly today and did nothing out of the ordinary. I walked Tyke three times and would have walked him more often, but we ran out of time and daylight. I did walk him after dinner when it was already dark, but that’s the latest I take him out and I stick to the most familiar streets. I’m not very brave at night. The later it gets, the less brave I am.
I hardly had any chores to do today and I didn’t really go looking for them. I figured that it was Sunday and that I didn’t really need to do any. I did the little bit that was necessary and called it quits. I spent some time taking a nap that I had not planned on. It took me by surprise as I thought I had gotten enough sleep the night before. I never know when my unpredictable mind needs more of it.
I was supposed to have gone to see my sister today, but I never did get around to that, so I had to call and cancel. That’s the first time I’ve done that. I wasn’t really looking forward to riding my bike over there with my bum knee and the nap got in the way. I think I was forgiven. There will be another day to go over there. I was feeling very much like hibernating today and not coming out of my cave too much. That’s typical for a Sunday, especially if it’s a dreary one like it was today.
I do feel like I wasted a large portion of the day doing nothing much of anything, but I’m not going to feel bad about it. I did watch one political program and I do feel that I got better informed because of it, so my mind was fed a little bit. I would watch more of them, but on Sundays it’s mostly sports that are on during the day. I am getting quite informed about them. I can even stand the post-discussions about the various football games, as long as they have intelligent people doing them. I don’t like a lot of hype and excitement.
For a single, middle aged woman, I watch a lot of football. I don’t know if I would watch as much football if I were attached to a man person. I enjoy watching it on my own and providing my own commentary about the different plays and penalties and discussions about schwalbes. I haven’t picked a team that I’m especially a fan of, though I seem to root for the underdog a lot. I also don’t have a favorite player yet. I will be following what the national team is doing closely.
I have to mentally prepare myself for tomorrow when the personal helper and the domestic help will be here. They will help me pass the time of day, so that will be good. They’re good for a diversion. My personal helper is good to talk to and we usually find some subjects to discuss. I do lose a bit of my privacy, but that’s a small price to pay for the company and a clean apartment. The domestic help always stays and talks too. She tells me about her boys and I always have tears of laughter when she tells me about their shenanigans. They are quite a handful.
I will end this post because it’s gotten quite long enough. I can sit here and ramble on all night long, but there comes a time to stop. I’m not quite sleepy enough yet to go to bed, so I’ll have to amuse myself a while longer. No doubt I’ll find a way.
Sleep tight and have a good morning.
Ciao,
Nora
>On the wrong side of the bed…
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I started out feeling very grumpy when I got up and decided that wouldn’t do at all. I’ve been trying very hard to get into a better mood ever since and it’s slowly working. I do despise grumpy moods that are there for no reason at all. You just wake up with them because you got up at the wrong side of the bed. They’re nobody’s fault and they serve no purpose whatsoever other than to make you feel bad.
You could proceed to attach a cause to them, but I’m not that dedicated and would rather get over them instead of becoming a crusader. I’m not a good Samaritan of lost causes. I’d hate to get all heated up and bothered over some issue that’s unjust and unfair somewhere in the world when I know it’s not within my ability to do anything about it. Those days are far behind me. I only care on the sidelines now.
I know a cup of coffee helps when I’m grumpy and I’ve had two of them now. I am starting to feel better. The caffeine has nearly straightened me out. Maybe it’s because I’m reducing my sleep medication that I found myself in this mood. It may be possible. If it is, I’m not going to worry about it, because it’s a minor obstacle and it’s something I can easily get over. It’s a question of mind over matter and I am capable of that.
I’m going to very pleasantly sit here until the morning arrives and not worry about a thing. That’s the nice thing about the hours of the middle of the night. There’s nothing you can do about anything at all, even if you wished it. All I have to do is sit behind my computer in the light of my desk lamp and pass the hours in the best possible way. For a while, I am oblivious of the world around me.
That will change in the morning when I turn on the television and watch the news and am bombarded with all the issues that happen around the world. The Netherlands are not an insulated country that is unaware of what happens outside itself. We hear of news around the world and sometimes it overwhelms you. You wonder how you can absorb so much.
My knee has been bothering me very much and seems to be getting worse instead of better. There’s not much I can do without having pain, except for standing up and leaning on my left leg. I made an appointment to see the doctor on Friday. That’s the soonest I could get in.
I think I’ll go back to bed for a few hours more sleep. It’s still very early. Both the animals are sound asleep. It’s not nearly time to start the day.
I hope you’ll all have a good morning.
Ciao,
Nora
>Not so eager now…
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Yesterday I was eager to get dressed and take Tyke out for a long walk, even though it was drizzling. Today I am not so eager and I’m still sitting here in my bathrobe. It is a different day with different ambitions, or should I say, it is a day with no ambitions at all? I did have some earlier this morning, but since then I have been back to bed and slept a few hours and now that I’m up again, I don’t feel like doing anything special at all.
I do have to say that my knee is bothering me and that is just from lying in bed with it. I must have overdone it yesterday and am paying the price for it now. It is a good excuse not to overdo it today.
It’s the same kind of gray and dreary day it was yesterday and it looks like it’s going to rain any minute. Maybe this won’t bother me after I’ve had some more coffee. That can make a difference in my attitude. Coffee as a rule does perk me up. However, I do think I’m ready for some sunshine now. That would motivate me to go outside and enjoy the fresh air. I still remember what it felt like to get wet yesterday and it took Tyke a long time to get dry.
There will be speed skating on television again this afternoon and I will probably watch that. I will also change my bed and wash the dirty sheets. Clean sheets will make it extra special to go to bed tonight. As if I need an excuse for that, right? I always like going to bed at night. That’s one of my pleasures. I do have a guilty few.
Tyke’s trying to get my attention and I can’t ignore him, so I’m simultaneously petting him and typing this. It is tough to do. As a matter of fact, it is impossible. I’ll have to get dressed and take him for a short outing. I think that will satisfy him. We’ll go around the sopping wet fields.
I hope you all have a great day!
Ciao,
Nora
Another Splendid Day 