The first step is admitting we have a problem.

Wow.

Life can change in an instant.

VeggieGirl moved back home.  Things just didn't work out with her man.  They are on good terms, though, and I am grateful for that.  I still miss my former SIL, and, well, all the young fellows that used to hang around here.  Guess they are all just surrogate sons to me.

So now we are a much busier household.  TWO dogs and FOUR cats.  Photos here.  VG's dog Frankie is a rescue, and we can see why.  A barker.  It's taken me a week to teach him to stop when I command it.  That means there are two dogs (HuggaMutt is also now full time)  that must be calmed and commanded.  We live on a street with a lot of foot traffic:  mostly dog walkers.  I do an awful lot of commanding.

And, yes, I understand that enough exercise will calm them down.  Unfortunately, that is the very thing I cannot offer.  Last year's back injury was caused by dog-walking on ice.  The snow has arrived and the best I can do is to push them out to the back yard.

Thank heavens they have each other for exericse.  I let them romp and tussle;  that sort of noise has never bothered me.  After all, I was raised with five brothers; scuffles were the rule, not the exception.

The cats are pretty much taking care of themselves.  We have a kitty room with two twin beds thrown together and covered in comforters, pillows, throws, and a huge, bean-bag style turtle to use as a bed on the beds.  All behind the security of a baby gate:  it is their haven away from boisterous dogs.

As for me, VG is a cook at the local Soup's On!  This ensures a steady stream of good,  often vegetarian, fare.  We also cook together and for each other.

The only problem now is that I have no time to clean my house.  It will be months before I can get it back to my usual uncluttered, low-allergen norm.  By that time, VG will probably have found a new appartment.

And I will miss her.

pb

Little Pond

Strange feelings

If Husband RJ didn't work, I wouldn't even know that today was Veteran's Day.  My cutter made the appointment for today, and there was another patron there when I arrived.

This is a huge day in my family.  My Grampa John Irving was a veteran of two wars, with two purple hearts.  His best friend, my Grammy's Brother Henry Lamb went missing in action, presumably dead, the day before.

But today is like any other, except for the blues that Armistice Day always gives me.  Oh yes, the flag is hanging alongside our porch.  The paper is full of sales flyers.

My Grammy's poem graces Pat's Pond.

A special post on the Civil War Prison Camp is quite a change for River Visits.

My love and prayers go out today to all of you who lost a relative in any of our many wars, conflicts and police actions.  Special shout out to my ancestors and cousin Joel Baker, recently departed and a veteran of Korea.

If my heart keeps hurting, I will head out to the Chemung: bundled against the cold and using a cane to maintain balance.  My sight is failing slightly now, with a cataract and plain old age.  My hearing is a mess and the visit will be short.  Still grateful that I can walk, and see, and hear, such as it is.  The river will even out my spirits and tire me just enough for a midday nap.

You understand.

Better now.

If I had to guess why I feel rotten, I would probably pin it on the late pollen season.  Yes, the wet summer has indeed given way to a warm, wet fall.  Still not a lot of pretty leaf-peeping, and it's almost impossible to find my favorite allergy pills.  Soon I will be paying a premium for Chlor-Trimetron; one of the few relatively inexpensive remedies that doesn't raise my blood pressure.  I also have to take a Zyrtec (its generic equivalent) every day.  It's a very rare summer that requires the extra boost, and this summer has been a real b!+c#.

One very bright spot:  I got my knees back!

Must have been about 45 years old when I noticed that I no longer had visible knees.  Just a fatty pack of skin where they used to be.  I was exercising and dieting and walking, and nothing worked.

I gave up, resigned to lack of knees as being part of the whole middle-age thing, along with lack of waist-line.

This summer filled the air with so much pollen, so much rain, and so much suffocating humid heat, that I spent extra time indoors, playing my beloved Final Fantasy video games.  In order to not pile on the weight, I sit on a recumbent stationary bicycle, and pedal during gaming.  The resistence is set very low, because I tend to get leg cramps at night, and overworking those muscles worsens them.

The bad pollen season actually started in the early spring, with "tree season."  Most hay-fever sufferers know nothing about tree season, because most trees are non-allergenic.  Supposedly.   My older daughter also suffers from tree season, even though she doesn't get hay-fever.  My younger daughter gets neither:  lucky her.  I am allergic to just about any pollen anyone can name, and I bet would even show allergies if I moved to Arizona, with my Blog Sister, Karen.

So I've been stuck indoors, pedalling away in front of my games.  I started with Final Fantasy, the original and am all the way up to Final Fantasy 6, one of my favorites.  When I tire of TV, I go to my games; when I tire of my games, I go to TV.  I also walk five days a week with my younger daughter, right after she gets out of work at Barb's Soup's On.

And I also now must do yoga, since I sprained my back falling on ice last winter.

I found out about the knees when I sat down on a low seat and had to struggle to stand.  I finally grabbed my knees and rocked my way up.  In doing so, I felt...

Knee caps!!!  I am so amped! 

Maybe I will even get my waistline back.

Well, I still have to weather the eating season:  Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Maybe next year.

pb
Little Pond

What the hell happened?

For crying out loud, I began the month on such a high note.  Honestly thought that the post summer exacerbation would not hit me.
Now here I am, gasping for breath, exhausted by an hour and a half of grocery shopping.  My legs feel like they were lent to me without the users' manual, and I somehow forgot some step or other in their maintenance.  I have to keep dropping my hands down into my lap for a rest between sentences.

The ringing in my ears is drowning out the sounds coming from the laundry room downstairs.  Last night was one anxiety dream after another, each followed by a trip to the bathroom, often with no success.

And I still feel like I could have some sort of potty accident at any minute.  The cats need flea medicine and I don't dare drive up to the Tractor Supply.

I blame it all on Wednesday, when I pulled out the hose to clean and tie up the awnings.  Wednesday was cold and foggy, so after about an hour of being soaked from head to foot, I stopped everything and took a warm shower.  Then I dropped into bed for a two-hour nap.  When I woke, the sun was out and the porch was sparkling.

Is it possible to trigger and exacerbation in one short morning?  Wednesday afternoon I felt sick to my stomach and very iffy, in need of staying close to the bathroom, for both ends.  My lungs are clogged, my head and neck hurt like the dickens, and even my eyesight sucks.

Good Lord.  What the hell happened?

If this doesn't clear up by Monday, the neuro is getting a call.

pb
Little Pond

Hurray for the cool days!

Finally.  Weather I can live with.  I must be made for the Equinox.  I've always said that I want to retire to Bermuda.  The temps rarely go out of the 70's F (low 20's C).

This summer played havoc with the immune system:  I'm taking two different allergy medicines.  Generic Zyrtec and generic chlor-trimetron.  Nose still runs like a leaky faucet; coughing up lung "biscuits" galore.  A low-intensity headache is the norm and being asleep is my favorite state.

At present I get most of my exercise in the basement, riding a recumbent stationary bike.  While playing my favorite RPGs, of course.  My younger daughter walks with me after work on weekdays.  And I still wander the riverfront with Ellie on weekends.

One more week to go carrying Ellie around to avoid steps.  Then we can return to the lower portion of the Chemung, just downstream of the city.

Don't expect any pretty foliage shots this fall.  There aren't any.  I even go out without my camera.

Hope everyone is recovering from all these natural disasters.  We are still waiting to get a contractor for roof work.  Same as everyone else in the neighborhood.  Wind and rain make for leaking houses here, and complete flooding for my unfortunate neighbors along the Susquehanna.

pb
Little Pond

Ahh, the Information Age!

My last "conversation" on the phone:

texter: Hey

pb: Hey yourself

texter: Whats up?

pb: Ok. Who's this?

texter: This is joel.  Is this john?

pb: Nope. Wrong number.

texter: Ok lol.  Im sorry to bug ya.

pb: No problem

texter: K. Unless your a girl and want to chat.  Haha jk

pb: Female.  Wanna talk about SocSecurity or AARP?

texter: Ha ha sure :-)

pb: No. Seriously. 57 years old.  Have a nice day.

texter: K.  Have a good one.