Allergies + Cold = No Voice

From here

For the past several months, I have been beset by allergies, worse than anytime since I was a child. Visiting my new doctor, I started taking a second antihistamine. Taking two under her guidance seemed to help me a lot until I caught a cold.

This past weekend we took care of granddaughters Emma and Avery. Emma seemed to have a light cold, which I may have caught from her or out in the air of stores and other places.

Besides a stuffed head, I have lost my voice. Looking up "laryngitis" on the internet brought forth the information that caffeine and antihistamines tend to dry out the throat and mouth, which could contribute to inflammation of the larynx.

My self-diagnosis indicates rest with lots of fluids, plus cessation of antihistamines for a few days. (The latter effects have not worn off yet, because I took a pill this morning.) So we will see. . . .

It is always annoying that I feel so badly with a COLD!

Health Insurance

Chuck retired about ten years ago and his company has been partially supporting our health care, but this year the company decided that they would stop paying insurance for its retirees at the end of 2014. Meetings were held in January for hundreds of people in our area (and in other parts of the country). We were told that we could choose the end of March or the end of December.

We decided on the end of the March, which may be the first mistake made.

I am lucky to have smart and financially knowledgeable Chuck here to investigate our options, even navigating the Obama care website to see what we qualify for--as I am the one with pre-existing conditions of both depression and rheumatoid arthritis. He says no other insurance company would take us (or me) because of those diseases already present within me.

So no more Aetna, and only Humana and Blue Cross are offered here in TX. Chuck found that our doctors were accepting Blue Cross, so that was our choice.

We thought all was well until I had my 2-month appointment with my rheumatologist yesterday. Telling the staff about the upcoming change, they told me that the Blue Cross panel had been closed and so I could not be a patient anymore. I was quite upset when I had my appointment, but my excellent rheumatologist said that that only applied to NEW patients, not existing ones. Then he went on a diatribe about the difficulties they had had with being paid by Blue Cross, which is why that decision had been made.

I thought all was well, but as I left, I talked with the staff. They said the doctor didn't understand, and I wouldn't be accepted under Blue Cross. The doctor overheard and said he would need to talk with the Blue Cross agent.

That sounded somewhat optimistic, but the office staff did not return my calls yesterday or today, Now it is the weekend. I have probably been forgotten.

But we don't know what to do. Only two rheumatologists in Corpus Christi, and I need prescriptions for the Humira injections I take every two weeks. If he is not included in the plan, the insurance will not pay for those extremely expensive shots even if I am a cash-paying patient and continue to see him.

What to do?

Try to remember Julian of Norwich's words: "All will be well, all will be well, all manner of things will be well."

Friday Five: Turn the Page!

3DogMom brings today's Friday Five to RevGalBlogPals:

Whether or not we make resolutions with the new year, we all transition to a new, physical calendar. In recent years my favorite wall calendar is called Pooped Puppies, a monthly collection of sleepy, or sleeping, pups that can’t help but evoke an “awwwww.” for many years my godmother gave me a flat, weekly desk calendar that featured National Geographic photos. One of the great things about calendars is that for each of us they fulfill the “form and function” requirement–a place to indulge an interest while serving a purpose.
 For today’s FF, tell us about five calendar themes that you like to see hanging on your walls or going with you to appointments, or that you WISH existed to adorn and accompany your life.



I have not been blogging much lately, but this Friday Five clicks with me because I love calendars and always write friends' birthdays on my new calendar on New Year's Day. I have done that since I was in college, which was more than four decades ago.

1. Kitchen calendar: I take time on my trips to look for calendars and tend to choose ones that are of nature, especially trees. This is the one that has everyone's birthday listed.


2. Birthday calendar: When I was younger, I had a book calendar that listed everybody's birthdays, but that was always mislaid. I just got a birthday calendar for the wall from Etsy.com. It also had pictures of trees, but are the creator's renditions. It may be a more permanent choice in the future, though the tradition of writing on the calendar on New Year's Day may be one I am not ready to surrender. I still need to record the birthdays on this one though.
 
3. Google calendar: This online calendar on both my iphone and ipad helps me to keep track of regular commitments, especially my RA medications--once weekly of Methotextrate pills and bi-weekly injections of Humira. The latter one can be confusing in the rush of life (holidays most recently).

4. Check-off calendar: For the new year, I resurrected a form I created about five years ago with weekly check-off squares for daily disciplines of meditation, piano practice, walking, etc. Some habits are in place, but not all of them. Physically marking off a box and seeing the monthly results on the bathroom wall will (hopefully) give me positive reinforcement to continue.

5. Mental calendar: This may not be as dependable as it has been in past years--remembering appointments, regular events. I've missed the last TWO Thursdays for posting prayers at RevGalBlogPals, and so I need to depend less on my brain's remembering and write more things down! My awareness of this not working as well as it used to makes me realize that I need to put more reminders somewhere.

Waiting for a Sign

In so many ways in our lives, we wait for "a sign" for action or even non-action. Guidance! Where is it?

I have RA, and my two medicines are controlling it so well that I only see my rheumatologist every two months for a check-up. The last time I saw him, I had delayed my Humira injection by three days because of a late return from a vacation.

He suggested that I might want to continue to try a longer time period in between the shots, even up to three weeks (instead of every two). For the last two injections, I have waited 2 1/2 weeks, with no ill effects.

This week I decided to try waiting for 3 weeks, which will be on Friday. I am taking it a day at a time. Four more days to see if there is a sign of swelling or pain in any of my joints.

If not, I will keep trying to go for three weeks in between shots. I like the idea of taking the least amount of medicine needed, especially with such an expensive one. It is much easier to schedule the injections with complete week intervals, rather than half-weeks--3 1/2 days added on makes it too difficult for me to keep track of!

With my doctor's guidance, I reduced the weekly intake of methotextrate in the past year from the maximum to half of that. However, after a few weeks, I discovered that I needed one more pill than that. By jockeying the dosage, I learned what works best for me. (The reduction also stopped my hair from curling which you can see here.)

I am hopeful that my physical signs/symptoms (pain-free or not) will indicate the path to follow. It worked before, so I am confident that this will happen again.

As Julian of Norwich said, "All shall be well; all shall be well; all manner of things shall be well."

Tuesday Trivia

I haven't done a silly post about what's going on in my very ordinary life for a long time, so I'll do it tonight:

• The Wisdom Class finally finished discussing The Immortal Diamond by Richard Rohr today. One long-time member said she would like to go on retreat and read the entire book over again, without interruptions. That is a great compliment.

• A few months ago a former member of the Wisdom Class sent me an email about a short conversation she had had with Fr. Richard Rohr. After attending a church in Albuquerque where he preached, she told him her church group in Corpus Christi, TX was reading his newest book. His humble response was, "I am honored." I am still touched by his answer.

• Our next Wisdom Class book is one that will be a change of pace: The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg. Duhigg is a New York Times investigative reporter, which shows in his well-researched stories in this book.

• One new habit that I am trying to institute is walking at the mall five mornings a week. I didn't manage to have a regular schedule of walking outside while the weather was more pleasant here in south Texas. So now with daily temperatures in the 90s F. I find the air-conditioned areas of the mall more pleasant, even though the scenery is not. Plus, I get less sun exposure! Tomorrow will be the second time I walk and then go to the YWCA  for my deep water exercise class, having to change there before the class.

• Since my piano recital, I have suddenly reached a point of enjoying my time at the piano. And at today's piano lesson, my teacher told me I was having a "growth spurt" with my playing,which pleased me. I am trying to learn to play "Brahm's Lullaby," which I love.

•  Over the past six months, I have been slowly reducing one of the RA meds from 8 pills to 4 once a week, while still giving myself a bi-weekly shot. This was to determine the minimum amount of medication my body needs. Now I seem to have reached the stopping point, with a blip of RA returning in my hands and in fatigue. So I have gone back to 5 pills, which I am returning to this week. I hope that's that.

• This weekend youngest daughter MJ is flying to San Antonio from Salt Lake City where she is going to grad school. She is going to attend a friend's wedding near there. In between all the friends she wants to see, Chuck and I will take MJ to Austin on Saturday to see Avery and her parents. Just a quick trip for all of us.

Hair Changes

Well, about a year ago I had to accept the fact that I had curly hair because of the chemo drug methotextrate taken for rheumatoid arthritis. I wrote about that and put a picture of me with curlier hair here.

I liked the fullness in that earlier picture.

As my RA symptoms lessened towards the end of the last year, my doctor and I decided to find the least amount of medicine I needed to maintain my bodily comfort. As the methotextrate was reduced, my hair gradually lost its curl, as you can see from this picture taken by my friend Margie with her new Iphone at a friend's 70th birthday party last week. I now have straighter and flatter hair again.

I was excited about my good health, even though my rheumatologist cautioned me that I probably would never be able to discontinue the meds entirely. With my 2-month checkup today, I realize that I need to discern what level of methotextrate is best as some pains in my hand joints have returned. The doctor told me that I could decide within the next two months about taking 4 or 5 tablets weekly. I've been on a regimen of 4 pills weekly for the past period, so I will see day by day, week by week.

Friday Five: Good Things

Deb brings today's Friday Five for RevGalBlogPals:


In these last few weeks there's been all kinds of bad news. Tornadoes and a blizzard. Gun violence and a legislative body squabbling like toddlers over budgets, health care and who knows what else. For those of us in the US, it's tax season. Yuck.

We're only in the second week of Lent. Easter's a long way off. And here in the Mid-Atlantic region, the weather can't seem to make up its mind. Is it winter? Is it spring? Will it snow? Will it rain? Are my daffodils doomed if they actually BLOOM next week like they are threatening to?

So this week's Friday Five is courtesy of my good friends Frodo and Sam. Tell me 5 things that are good in our world. Or your world. Photos are a bonus.

1. Better Health:  The past two years have been a struggle with adjusting to the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis and the medicines for that, along with shoulder surgery in January 2012. I am relieved that the pain and fatigue of RA is rarely present so that my rheumatologist and I are in the process of reducing my meds to determine the lowest amount I need to stay comfortable. This is a very slow process--in two month increments as that is when my scheduled check-ups occur. Thus far, my weekly dose of methotextrate has been reduced by three pills from the maximum amount of eight.

I am feeling much better and oddly my hair seems to be reflecting it: It's not curly anymore and is back to the way it used to look!

2. My Family: I could have filled the rest of the four categories by designating (2) My Husband; (3) My Children; (4) My Children's Spouses; and (5) My Grandchild, but I am lumping them all together to stretch my gratitude reflection to further reaches.

Avery

I am fortunate to be married to Chuck since 1971. He is a good man, who knows how to do almost anything, especially around our house. He works harder than anyone I know and always has. I think his family ethic of work has transferred to our children.

I am lucky to have four children between the ages of 32 and 22, who are good people with interesting jobs. Two are married to two nice people who add much to our family. AND we all love our amazing 2 year old Avery!

3. Chuck's Parents: Although an end of one form of life has come for Chuck's parents since they are leaving their only home, they are starting a new chapter in their lives in an assisted living residence. It is a relief to their children that they will be in a smaller place with care available when needed. They are moving into an apartment with potential for more care. They are social people who will find new friends in close proximity.

I am really grateful that daughters in Seattle (AE and KA) brought daughter MJ from Seattle to Bellingham to visit Grandma and Grandpa last weekend. They picked MJ up at Sea-Tac airport and drove up there for a visit, which was so nice of all of them.

Grandma, Grandpa, and MJ last weekend

 4. Trip to WA and UT: During Chuck's spring break from teaching at the local community college, he and I will travel to cold, rainy Washington to visit Chuck's parents and his family and help with the move as we can.We'll be there for one week and then on the way back, I'll get to spend a weekend in Salt Lake City with MJ, who is going to school there.

5. Friends: I am rich in friends. I'll be able to see long-time friends when I am in Seattle. Three of them were bridesmaids in Chuck's and my wedding way back in 1971. But I knew them before that in high school and college. I talk every Sunday with a friend I met in junior high in Japan and with whom I have made some wonderful trips--Nancy. And I have friends through parents of my children and through both churches I have belonged to in Corpus Christi, plus blogging friends!

Here is a small group of spiritual friends from both churches and also a glimpse of when I had curly white hair (back in September 2012):

Pam, Katherine, Jan, Mary Tom, Paige, Louise, Joan

Buggy

Today has been a lost day even though it was beautifully sunny--I've been in bed most of the day with a stomach bug. Blah!

Don't EXCUSE-erize!

My friend Joan nudged me back to a Weight Watchers meeting this morning; I am grateful she accompanied me and got me there! (Unfortunately, she left her car parked in front of my house, and got a parking ticket for it pointing in the wrong directions. UH-OH)

Today's meeting subject was entitled "ON YOUR FEET"--about getting up and sitting less. The observation that we often assume that one period of exercise a day means the rest of the time can be spent sitting at a computer, at a desk, in front of a tv set, reading a book. . . . .hit me squarely, as I think that way.

A young man who had lost 83 pounds in the past year shared how he tells himself not to excuse-erize about exercise!

I was struck by the statistics that Weight Watchers compiled in their little handout:

• "Women who sit for six or more hourse a day have a 37% higher risk for early death (men have a 20% higher risk) than those who sit less, regardless of how often they exercise, according to a study from the American Cancer Society.
  

• "Here's what happens when you hit the seat: Electrical activity in the legs slows; calorie burn drops to one per minute; and enzymes that help dissolve fat drop by 90%.

• "After two hours: Good cholesterol (HDL) drops 20%; insulin resistance drops 24%, and risk of diabetes rises."

For a long time, I mistakenly assumed that I was in better health than my husband, just because I am a woman. Now I see that it is MUCH worse for me to be sitting around than it is for him! What a wake up call!

And from here is more to spur me on to move more than my YWCA swim classes, which I do at least four times a week:

"Exercise is the only real fountain of youth that exists," says Jay Olshansky, a professor of medicine and aging researcher at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "It's like the oil and lube job for your car. You don't have to do it, but your car will definitely run better." Study after study has documented the benefits of exercise to improve your mood, mental acuity, balance, muscle mass, and bones. "And the benefits kick in immediately after your first workout," Olshansky adds. Don't worry if you're not a gym rat. Those who see the biggest payoffs are the ones who go from doing nothing to simply walking around the neighborhood or local mall for about 30 minutes a day.

Friday Five: More Randomness!

 Revkjarla brings today's Friday Five for RevGalBlogPals:


Our FF today is in honor of spontaneous thinking!
So... See what blows in!

1.  What religion/faith besides yours captures your curiousity and why?
It is hard to isolate, because mysticism in all religions interests me. A fun book that nudged me back into active reading and seeking is the mystery entitled The Breath of God: A Novel of Suspense
by Jeffrey Small. It's a good one to read this summer!

2.  What is the first or most memorable pop song you ever learned as a kid? 
The first song I vividly remember is "The Purple People Eater," because the young Marine who drove the bus liked to sing it while he was driving us elementary kids to a base school at Quantico, VA Marine Base in 1958! I was in second grade and loved that. Here, you can read all the lyrics and read about the song's popularity back then: In 1958 "Purple People Eater" was the #1 song in the USA for six weeks!

3.  If God were a color.....(finish this sentence creatively)
If God were a color, he/she would be all colors but seen as a brilliant and shimmering white encompassing all.

4.  If you were going to make a sandwich right now for lunch, and you magically had all the items you need for it, what would that sandwich be?
Homemade bread with fresh tomatoes and lettuce, avocado spread, and sharp cheddar cheese.

5.  How are you doing?  Really, how are you?
I am on a seesaw, trying to remember "all is well," while buffeted by competing voices about the church library--evidently, being in the conundrum that all libraries (and even book stores) are in right now, complicated by the esthetics of the room and what it should/could be. God keeps reminding me to stay in present moment, always as a beginner.

Bonus:  What are you enjoying/loving right now? 
I am enjoying feeling better, even with a dear friend telling me that I am moving like I used to in conversations--so my shoulder is comfortable again. Having rotator cuff surgery at the beginning of January took more of a toll than I realized until now. Also, meds are keeping RA symptoms at bay.

Good Things (and a new book!)

• Tonight my daughter AE sent me this lovely spring picture from Seattle and said she thought of me on her walk. I love daffodils and, even more, love that my eldest daughter thought of me and told me about it!

• The RA pain that surprised me this week depressed me at its return. I took this as a lesson from God to see how easily I can fall into either/or (good/bad) thinking--as I succumbed to imagining I'd be saddled with RA pain and would not be able to do my shoulder exercises and thus would get more disabled. Fortuitously, the bi-weekly Humira shot did its magic a few days after its intake. I am lucky that the medicine is still working in my body, which gave me the relief to realize that I tend to fall into disaster-thinking and should instead appreciate the day at hand.

• The worst day of pain was re-aligned in my mind by a phone call from eldest son DC. He called to tell me that his daughter Avery had seen my picture on my blog and said "Nana" for the first time (for me)! He kept asking her who the picture was, and she continued to repeat "Nana" much to my joy.

• I just read a really good book that I consider to be better than The Hunger Games. It is The Passage by Justin Cronin, who is an English professor at Rice University in Houston, TX. He is going to be the speaker at the Corpus Christi Literary Reading Series next weekend, which is why I purchased the book in the first place. A friend told me it was about "vampires," which made it sound like sensationalism. That could be a description of the evil forces that come about through a South American virus, but it is more a tale of redemption. It is 700+ pages long and is the first in a planned trilogy in a dystopian USA. I liked it even better when I read the interview with the author at the end of the book.

STOP, Look and Listen!

 

My physical therapist told me I had a "stop sign" placed in my life to pay attention to when I hurriedly and obliviously tried to walk through the kitchen door last week holding stuff along with my exercise stick (a former broom stick!) sideways--couldn't get through and was jolted to stop. (Duh!) I had been feeling so almost-normal that day, getting back into the busy routine of washing clothes and even trying to clean. I was more busy than paying attention.

That was a mistake, because I hurt some muscles in my shoulder, so much so that that night I had to keep putting ice on it. Luckily, I saw my physical therapist the next day (last Friday) and she carefully and minutely checked the various muscles to see what I'd hurt, while also seeing if I'd damaged my healing shoulder. Luckily, I hurt other muscles than the one that was re-attached to the bone in the surgery .

However, the muscles have remained sore and are hindering my progress in recovery and in my participating in all the PT exercises needed to strengthen all those muscles for moving my arm up, down, and around. If I can ever move my right arm behind me up beyond my butt, I will be greatly pleased. 

Pam, my physical therapist, told me that I need to remember I am fragile and am still healing. I guess this mishap reinforced that image, especially with me getting to see my 15 month old granddaughter this weekend--I canNOT lift Avery or carry her with my right arm, my usual method of holding her.

This was definitely a reminder to be more mindful of my activities. Pay attention! So I was really helped by the meditation I am copying below.



Ellie at Does Not Wisdom Call had this pertinent post about hurrying:

Artist: Margret Hofheinz-Döring

Image from Wikimedia Commons

Hmmm. Has anybody ever thought of giving up hurry for Lent?

"To be impatient is to be hooked on the future."

— Gerald Jampolsky

All of the great spiritual teachers I've ever studied have emphasized the importance and, indeed, the holiness of the present moment. May I suggest that we use whatever Lenten discipline we may have chosen as a way of helping us be truly mindful of the here and now.

Always a Beginner

By Paul Bommer

I am reminded that many spiritual masters, including Thomas Merton, remind us that we are always beginners. That helped me to make my commitment for Lent--to meditate for 20 minutes upon rising each morning.

That had been a regular discipline for the past few years, even while I visited my daughter MJ in Spain. However, the trip to Russia in November where I injured my right shoulder brought forth a disruption from that schedule that seemed difficult for me to circumvent. During all that time of pain, I would have assumed that I would pray more than usual, but did not do so. There were times of pleas for aid and thanksgiving, but little time was spent in silent prayer.

Our priest reminded us on Ash Wednesday that our Lenten discipline is to pray Psalm 51:10:

Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me.

These 40 days are to commit that prayer into our lives. One step for me is to sit in silence with God every morning on awaking.

Today was the third day of doing this. I found that I awoke, yearning to pray. Remember the old adage? The more one prays, the more one will want to!

Shoulder Stuff

Most of my time these days seems to be spent going to physical therapy three times a week and doing homework of exercises for my shoulder 3-4 times each day. It is surprising to me that the sideways "walking up the wall" with my fingers is the hardest for my arm/shoulder right now.

I am lucky that I ended up with the physical therapist I did because she explains very thoroughly about my body, showing me the different views/layers of muscles around my right arm and shoulder. This gives me understanding of what happened in my injury, but also what is happening in my recovery. It makes me want to work on it, too.

It is interesting to observe how I automatically judge that I should be doing better in the different positions--until I realize that it has only been five days since I got out of the sling. Considering that, I am making progress. A minor but noticeable effect is that the day my sling got off, it hurt to try to pull the sleeve of my sweater down using my right hand behind my back. Now that does not seem difficult, even though I cannot lift the right arm up past my waist in the back. Still, that's better than it was.

As the doctor told me, "slow and steady." That's a description for any type of discipline, including prayer.

I can hardly wait!!

I can hardly wait until Valentine's Day--when I will see my orthopedic surgeon and hopefully get permission to stop using the "shoulder immobilizing sling" and to move my right arm! I may not have full mobility yet, but it will come.

Since January 4, the day of my shoulder surgery, my husband has had to help me daily with my shower and to dress myself. He'll be glad (and I'll be even more glad) when I can do it all by myself!

Counting Down!

Only two more weeks until I can stop wearing the sling that has been my constant companion since Jan. 4. Counting down from two weeks feels so much more positive than from 6, 5, and 4 weeks!

Soon this black accessory will not be part of my wardrobe. Yay!

My Sling and Me

I am living with this shoulder immobilizing sling almost 24 hours a day for six weeks, ever since my shoulder surgery on Jan. 4. This weekend we got the bill for the sling, and it cost $190!! So it costs about $4.50 per day of wearing it. (Thankfully, our insurance paid for most of it.)

My friend Nancy wondered what it was like, so tonight husband CB took pictures:




The whole point is to keep my elbow close to my body, which that does. On Valentine's Day, I'll be able to stop wearing it!

Friday Five: Odds and Ends

Sally brings today's Friday Five for RevGalBlogPals:

I have had a ridiculously busy week so apologies for the fact that this is rushed and even a bit late, but here goes, even in the busyness of the week what has

1. Inspired you
In our Lectio Divina group, a member shared about teaching a yoga class for disabled adults. One man can rarely do the poses and so lies flat on his back. At her last yoga class, the teacher said she looked at this man and felt overwhelming love for him, the same love that God has for each of us.

2. Challenged you
I was challenged this past Sunday to attend a meeting of Christ Centered Prayer facilitators at my church and admit to them that I do not believe that the books that go along with this way of prayer are the highest authority. I am not very good at confrontations and usually avoid them at all costs. By only talking about my own feelings, the meeting went well and I left early with the agreement that I would no longer lead a Christ Centered Prayer Group. I feel very peaceful about this and know that it was the right thing to do at this time.

3. Made you smile
Pictures of my granddaughter looking at dogs at PetSmart:


4. Made you cross/ made you want to weep
A few days ago I started having an RA flare, with the joints of both hands swelling and reddening, plus exhaustion returning. This was three weeks after my shoulder surgery, when I had to stop taking the RA medicine for several weeks. I had not had a flare since I started the combination of Humira shots and methotextrate pills in October, so it was both painful and disappointing to have RA symptoms return. It is understandable though, after the stress of surgery and the disruption in my meds. My rheumatologist advised me to take prednisone (a steroid) until the pain subsides, which is starting to happen.

5.Kept you going?
Friends and family and seeing my physical therapist three times a week. Yesterday I saw the orthopedic surgeon, who told me that on Valentine's Day I can stop wearing the sling!! I am definitely encouraged and am on the downhill count to that day (with less than three weeks to go).

Dear Friends

Fan and Joe, dear friends who now live in Colorado, sent me these beautiful tulips this week. They arrived on Wednesday, the second day of my "pitiful me" time, a perfect gift at the time I needed it most. They still look bright and cheery on our kitchen table.

I am lucky to have such dear friends like Joe and Fan, who continue to send me cards and emails, give me rides, and even bring me food. Just today my longest-enduring-friend of Corpus Christi, Lisa, brought us dinner and stayed and visited awhile. Bringing along memories with her, she made us a pasta casserole from the old La Leche League cookbook that was published in 1982.

Another friend stopped by my house on her way to get her hair cut. Since she comes a long distance, I appreciate her taking the time so that we could sit together outside for a short chat.

And always on call is my dear husband, without whom I would not get dressed every day!

I am rich in friends and loved ones. How can I feel sorry for myself when I am so fortunate? (Plus, I am feeling better!)

Moving Slowly, even with Friday Five

Since the shoulder surgery, I've felt sluggish (snail-ish?) as I am not moving quickly while keeping my right arm and shoulder still. This continues even with the TRIUMPH of driving again--it is a slow process, especially getting in and out of the car, starting and stopping, etc.

This is a lesson in attentiveness: Having the sling always on to keep my right elbow next to my body, I must reach over with my left hand to put the key in the ignition and turn it on, then put my seat belt on, and finally move the center gear shift. This is a seemingly long process, as well as driving without making left turns (if possible)! Yesterday I drove to the library and today I drove to physical therapy. Yay! It is more stressful than I'd anticipated, but a good step forward.

Just like typing on the computer, my arm is in the sling. It is helpful that the keyboard is on a ledge below the desktop or it would be more difficult to type with both hands. But my computer has been exceedingly slow since the installation of the latest update of Norton, which keeps scanning my computer throughout the day, no matter how its controls are set.

Thus I was late setting up the RevGalBlogPals Friday Five today--it was a hurried job, because I always forget how long it takes me to get dressed and showered these days--with my husband's help, which I greatly appreciate but the time is surely doubled. Then I only had ten minutes to write the Friday Five for day, which extended into the Renovare Meeting that meets every Friday at my house at 8 am. . . .because the computer kept going so s l o w l y.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So here's my belated FRIDAY FIVE, which is about MOVIES:

Thinking of movie-watching, what do you prefer?

1. At home or at a theater?
I see more movies at home, because my husband would rather not go out to the theater. I love to see movies at a theater, which happens more frequently when one of my kids are home and they'll go with me.

2. With whom?
In recent years, I've gone to movies more often with my youngest daughter MJ, but this year she will graduate from college and won't be home for as many vacations as previously. A few days before my shoulder surgery, my husband surprised me by taking me to see "The Descendents."

3. Movie you look forward to seeing?
Over Christmas (when I was sick with the flu), the kids went to see the second Sherlock Holmes movie, which I would still like to see. I would like to see "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo", and maybe "Haywire." The previews for "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" make me want to see it, but I haven't read any reviews of it and Rotten Tomatoes only rates it at 50%, which isn't so good.

4. Movie you like to see repeatedly?
Husband CB likes to watch movies that are recurring on the various cable channels, so it seems like some are seen frequently, like the Bourne movies. Last night I watched the last half of "The King's Speech," which I enjoyed. Some movies I don't want to see a second time, such as "The Descendents." Oddly, I like watching the "Kill Bill" movies, which is probably why I want to see "Haywire."

5. Food with a movie?
Popcorn with no butter.

Bonus: Recommendations for home/theater viewing.
If you haven't seen "Kinky Boots," you should rent it! It's a funny British comedy.