AuburnChick's Adventures

Happy Thursday, y’all!

Is the weather still hot as Hades where you are?

It sure is here in Alabama. I cannot even walk outside without feeling like I need oxygen. Sheesh Louise!

Today I’m seven weeks post shoulder surgery!

It has been another week fraught with a lot of pain, unfortunately – all due to how crazy-busy it is at work right now.

Same song, new week. I am starting to sound like a broken record, and for that, I apologize.

I pray that anyone going through this and looking for solace takes some sort of strange comfort that this is actually normal for this kind of injury.

But it stinks, I’m not gonna lie.

I talked to my physical therapist about it yesterday during my PT session, and he told me that there’s nothing much I can do beyond placing my keyboard and mouse in a way that suits me ergonomically.

I know he’s frustrated that he cannot provide anything more tangible than that.

So I take my ibuprofen, and I ice, and I’ll start applying heat first thing in the morning to help warm my muscles up. I had been using an iced gel pack, but D, my therapist, told me ice is better for recovery. Oops. Guess I’ve considered myself recovering from each night of sleeping in the recliner. Ha!

I’m still making progress, which relieves my mind. My PT told me that this shoulder is progressing better than the left one did, so that was good news.

I did inclined slides yesterday at physical therapy. That was a new exercise for this shoulder.

The TENS unit and heating pad (D knows I prefer the heat after each session) felt so good.

My scar looks a little better each week.

I’m also sleeping better now that I moved myself back into the recliner, unless I drink Chick-fil-A lemonade right before turning out the light.

True story.

Oh, I almost forgot my milestone, which I alluded to in the title of this post.

I took my first shower alone Tuesday evening!!!

I haven’t done that since the morning of my surgery.

Don’t ask me how clean my back and left arm are. We won’t speak of such things.

I even managed to wash my hair all by myself, and I wasn’t even tempted to try to use my bad arm.

This milestone is a biggie for me because it means I’m starting to regain some of my independence.

I’m able to get myself dressed completely on my own most days. I make sure that I select items that are easy to put on and take off since I don’t have much range of motion yet.

I just bought these blue yoga pants from Amazon, and I am loving them!

This is the same style as the khaki pair you see me wearing in the first photo in this post.

They are lightweight, which is perfect for warmer months, and they are easy to pull up. I’m only allowed to use my good arm for tasks like pulling, so ease of use is vital.

The blue looks super professional too, which is great for work. We have a mini retreat today, so the pants arrived just in time!

There are still a lot of things I can’t do on my own, but I’m getting there.

For instance, I’m not driving yet. Bummer. That means I have no unsupervised visits to Ulta. My emails from them are titled, “We miss you.”

True story.

One day though. One day.

I sure appreciate your prayers as I begin another week of this recovery.

It’s hard, y’all.

I’m tired of hurting constantly.

I know it will get better, but the day-to-day stuff is r-o-u-g-h.

Looking ahead to six or seven months down the road feels like f-o-r-e-v-e-r.

What else can I do but push ahead, pray, and trust God for the healing that’s coming.

Filed under: This-n-That | 6 Comments »

Happy Wednesday and thanks for visiting today!

Here are my answers to the question Joyce posted this week. I look forward to visiting as many of y’all as I can!

1. On July 29th 1957 The Tonite Show premiered with Jack Parr as its host. This marked the beginning of the modern day talk show. Do you watch any daytime or late night talk shows today? Do you have any thoughts on the hubbub surrounding the cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, or are you more in the camp of ‘who is Stephen Colbert? 

I do not watch talk shows regularly. The endless chatter gets on my nerves. The Mr. watches all of the business talk shows, and it drives me crazy when I happen to have the day off and have to listen to them. When I retire one day, we are going to rethink what’s on the TV in the mornings.

I have only heard about the Colbert show being canceled, but I don’t know why. I feel ignorantly blissful in saying this too.

2. What’s the best part of your day? 

The best part of my day is when I’ve taken my bath after I get home from work, I’m in my pajamas, and I am sitting in my recliner with my sweet fur baby, Gambit. He’s 14 1/2 now. He is a mama’s boy, and I’m not mad about it.

3. What’s something your generation does that you actually dislike? 

This was a tough question and took me a hot minute to answer.

Something my generation does that I don’t like is that we go into work when we are sick.

Do we have a great work ethic? Absolutely.

Do we spread germs unnecessarily by going into work with a bad cold or some other form of ickiness?

Yep, and we are proud of ourselves for doing so.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’ve seen many members of the younger generations who take off a day or two or three for a mere sniffle, which is a bit of silliness to me.

There’s got to be a happy medium, but my generation doesn’t do the best job with that.

4. When you cook do you clean as you go, or clean it all up once you’re finished cooking? What’s the last thing you cooked/baked in your own kitchen? 

I’m a clean-as-I-go kind of gal. I cannot stand the thought of facing a huge disaster when all is said and done.

The last thing I cooked was this One-Pot Vegan Lasagna Soup. I wrote more details about it on the weekend recap post from Monday.

By the way, did you know that there’s a free website where you can save your recipes?

If you add cooked.wiki/ at the beginning of a recipe’s website, the system will import that recipe to Cooked (make sure you’ve created your Cooked account first). It’s magical!

Here’s what the recipe looks like when it’s been imported into Cooked. You can log a recipe as cooked, upload a photo, and add notes.

I like this recipe site because I find most of the recipes I use on various parts of the internet. I sometimes want to remake a dish but, if I can’t remember exactly where I originally got it from, I’m out of luck. This are helps me keep things in one place.

5. Sum up your July in ten words or less. 

Busy July healing from surgery, visiting family, and working hard.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

My daughter posted this picture on Instagram last week, and I had to screenshot it.

That’s my sweet J with his daddy, and my heart melts every time I look at it.

My son-in-law is everything I prayed for when imploring the Lord for a helpmeet for my daughter.

B is gentle, patient, and kind. He puts others first in every situation.

This picture epitomizes his soul – one that is passionately dedicated to serving God with every fiber of his being.

Filed under: This-n-That | 15 Comments »

Happy Monday, y’all!

I wonder if the weekends will fly by one day when I’m retired. Probably not. I’m looking forward to that season of my life.

Fortunately, I enjoy my job, so all is well.

Let’s recap the weekend, shall we?

Mine kicked off an hour early because I’d accidentally worked through too many lunches to make up the time I’d taken for my doctor’s appointment and my physical therapy. So, I got to leave an hour early Friday.

I felt like I was skipping school, truth be told – although I don’t know what that feels like since I toed the line when I was growing up.

It was a nice change of pace to avoid the extra traffic of everyone leaving campus at once.

I was out of my work clothes and into sweats, with an ice pack on my bicep, within an hour of getting home. Gambit quickly snuggled up beside me in my chair.

We watched Captain Phillips Friday evening. Have you seen it yet?

It’s based on a true story; my nerves were on edge the entire time, and I cried during the last scene. What this man went through was terrifying.

After the movie ended, I did a bit of reading.

I haven’t had much time to spare for my beloved Kindle; I’m averaging a mere chapter or two each day. So far, I am enjoying this book.

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Saturday

I woke up before 5am Saturday despite wanting to sleep in. My body is accustomed to rising early during the week; it makes no distinction between a Friday and Saturday morning.

I enjoyed a couple cups of tea while Gambit and I watched the sunrise.

I stayed right there in my chair all day and took it easy.

Late afternoon’ish, I exchanged my pajamas for getting-out-in-public clothes. Super Sis and her hubby (who is the Mr.’s brother) picked us up.

We dropped the guys off at one of their friend’s houses for a bourbon tasting.

She and I headed to Hamilton’s, a local restaurant (and a favorite of mine) and enjoyed a lovely dinner.

Then, we walked across the street snd popped into a bookstore; however, they were closing for the day, so we didn’t get to browse at all.

I did run into a former colleague I taught with when we first moved here. She retired the year I stopped teaching; she got a job at the bookstore to help pass the time.

We drove over to Well Red, which is a lovely local coffee shop/bookstore.

I hadn’t been there in awhile, and since the students aren’t back in town yet, it was quiet.

I ordered something new to me, the Peach Paradise, which I got with a couple packs of sugar and on ice.

Sis treated me since I’d paid for dinner. She picked out this adorable sticker for me.

The tea was fabulous! It was a combination of peach, hibiscus, and rose hips.

Sis and I had the best time catching up. We are so fortunate to live in the same town. Although our lives are pretty busy, knowing that she’s close by brings so much joy to my heart.

We played a bit of battleship at one point. We play it through Game Pigeon, which we access through our texting app.

Sis always beats me at this game. Always.

I saw the following book on display and had to take a picture and send it to my coworker, J – especially after my “small eyes” comment at work last week (I posted about this on Friday).

The guys texted us around 9. They were ready to be picked up.

The friend who was hosting invited us in and had us play the most fun game.

It’s called Phrase Frenzy.

Have you played this before? If not, you must the next time you have a gathering.

We had the best time, and I laughed so hard that my arm started hurting. We stayed out way past our bedtime!

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Sunday

Sunday, I slept in until my alarm went off at 7:00 – a rare event for me!

I discovered that I was able to put on a blouse I’d recently purchased from Amazon. I like the yoke across the front. It makes for a roomy shoulder area.

The embroidered flowers on the puffy sleeves are bright and fun. I may need to order another one of these – in a different color.

Our sermon was so good. Charlotte Gambill, one of our pastors, brought us a passionate lesson about being in agreement in our values and volume.

One key takeaway for me was when she said that the enemy cannot read our minds; he can only hear our voices.

This was a good reminder that when I struggle with anxious thoughts, not giving voice to them aloud takes away some of the power of the enemy.

How many times have I spiraled after vocalizing my fears? Rather, I can allow the Holy Spirit to help me filter through what’s on my mind so I can speak life over myself and others.

The Mr. and I stopped by Sam’s Club on the way home from church to pick up dog food and honey.

Here’s what our buggy looked like five minutes after entering the store. We decided to wait a bit longer on the dog food given that we were spending extra dollars on splurge items.

The pillow is for me to use at work. The plates are for football season, and the rug replacedthe one we’ve had at our front door for five years.

Look how much better the new one looks.

When we got home, we started our Sunday chores.

The Mr. helped me food prep this One-Pot Vegan Lasagna Soup.

I got everything else measured out.

I was going to use green lentils suggested in the recipe, but I decided to swap them out for vegan ground beef, which I had in the freezer.

I cooked the lasagna noodles separately as suggested by the recipe creator since I’ll be eating leftovers all week. I didn’t want the lasagna to absorb all of the liquid from the soup.

I listened to Rob Has a Podcast’s Sunday Big Brother update while I cooked.

The recipe made a huge pot of soup.

I made the vegan ricotta cheese recipe that’s linked in the soup recipe. I added 1/2 cup of fresh basil and five minced garlic cloves to make it more savory.

I couldn’t resist having a bowl. I added shredded vegan mozzarella cheese after I took the picture. The flavor is so good, and I love the texture provided by the chopped veggies.

After cleaning the kitchen, I took it easy the rest of the day.

While I waited for the Sunday episode of Big Brother to begin, I caught the tail end of Footloose.

This has always been one of my favorites.

The music is timeless.

The dancing is memorable.

After Big Brother was over, I called it an early night.

Have a great week, y’all!

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Happy Friday, y’all!

I don’t know about you, but it has been a week.

Wowsa!

I thought I’d share a quick little story.

As I’ve mentioned a time or two recently, my job has gotten very busy as we approach the start of a new Fall semester.

I enter numbers on the computer all day long while answering phone calls and attending to visitors’ needs.

I have a call log where I record information about a caller if I’m transferring that caller to an advisor in my office. One of the pieces of info I grab is the person’s phone number.

Usually, I snag it from the caller ID while the person is describing the reason for their call.

During such a call Monday morning, I got lazy and asked the student I was speaking with for his number in case the call dropped. He said, “Oh, a different number from what I’m calling from?”

My standard mantra is, “I have old eyes. Can you confirm the number I’m seeing on my phone?”

For whatever reason, unknown to me, what I actually said was, “I have small eyes. Can you give me your number?”

SMALL?????

What the heck?

I immediately started laughing.

A lot.

He started laughing.

Our student worker started laughing.

Y’all, Sometimes I just cannot with myself.

I got through the call, a bit mortified, transferred him, and went to the back to tell my boss about it.

She started laughing and asked if I’d told him I’d transfer him to someone with big eyes.

It’s safe to say that when you start off the week like that, you give Friday a big old hug and make a dash for the weekend.

Oh, and just so you know, I ended the week by being over by one hour on my time clock because me and time clock math do not get along.

I didn’t correctly add up the number of hours I needed to make up for the doctor’s appointment and PT session I had this week, so I’d worked through lunch one too many days. There’s a strict adherence to 40-hour weeks because we do not get overtime pay.

Needless to say, my boss called an audible; I’m getting off of work early today.

That’s probably a good thing at the rate I’m going.

Have a wonderful weekend, y’all!

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Today marks SIX weeks since I had surgery on my right shoulder. I’m in awe of how quickly time is flying by.

Notice anything different?

Yep. No sling.

I had my six-week appointment with my surgeon Tuesday morning, and the first thing he asked was, “How has the pain been compared with the first shoulder surgery?”

What a loaded question.

I’m not one of those people you hear about who doesn’t have any pain after shoulder surgery. Nope. I’ve felt every single thing – every nerve waking up – every sudden flex of my bicep muscle.

All. Of. The. Things.

I told him that the pain has been different.

I mentioned the pain in the back of my shoulder this go-round, and he asked if it was my joint or my scapula.

Heck, I don’t know. It just hurts. 😭

He suspects it’s from my scapula, which we will address in physical therapy.

Then it was time for my questions. 🤣

I asked him about the burning pain near the top of my tenodesis incision. He said that’s most likely from scar tissue that’s built up since the surgery, during which he used his fingers to manipulate things around during surgery.

I sure am glad I was knocked out good for that.

He told me to, once I’m able, massage the area good to break up the scar tissue.

Sounds like more fun is ahead. 😭

I asked if I can sit in my neighborhood’s zero-entry pool – not to swim – just to sit, and he gave me the green light.

Maybe I’ll be able to get in a tiny bit of summer fun after all.

I asked if I had any limitations, and if I can pull up a pair of pants. He chuckled and mentioned that I wanted all of the rules.

Yep. I don’t want to tear up the work he’s just repaired.

He told me not to pull up a pair of fresh-from-the-dryer blue jeans – that sort of thing.

I guess my attire will remain as it is for the time being.

I’m still healing and have very little range of motion, so pulling and pushing motions are not actions I’m ready for yet.

My surgeon was pleased to see me reach out with my left arm to save my wallet, which was about to fall off of the examination table. He commented on how mindful I’ve become. I’m a tad petrified of hurting myself again. A little healthy fear is a good thing, right?

I’m allowed to stop wearing the sling, but he told me that I can wear it if I need it. He even suggested removing the pillow that’s attached with Velcro.

He said that the sling will be a visible reminder to people around me if I wear it while in larger crowds. Church immediately came to mind – so if you happen to see me sporting it there the next couple of weeks, you’ll know why.

I’m most likely going to put on the sling when my shoulder’s had enough of life’ing each day, so it’s going in my work bag. One thing I remember from the other shoulder surgery was the pain in the first couple of weeks post-sling. He never mentioned transitioning slowly back then, so I had stopped wearing it cold turkey. If only I had known, but I’m a rule follower, so there’s that.

Tuesday night was my first time going to bed without the sling, and it was bad y’all. So bad. I woke up in the middle of the night with pain that equalled what I felt in my left shoulder before that surgery. I was awake for hours before I finally figured out that I needed to put a pillow under my right elbow to support that arm. I’d started the night that way, but somehow the pillow arrangement had shifted, putting more pressure on my shoulder.

I return to the recliner and surrounded myself with pillows last night so I couldn’t rearrange myself in my sleep, and although I didn’t sleep through the night, exactly, when I did kind of wake up, I wasn’t uncomfortable. I will take this as a small win.

I felt like a train had hit me when my alarm went off Wednesday morning.

I didn’t let that slow me down though. I managed to put on a new tank top for work. I’d purchased a couple of them during Prime Days but hadn’t been able to try them on yet.

I put it around my bad arm first, stretched it over my head, and then pulled my “good” arm into its respective arm hole. It felt good to wear something besides a button -down.

Here’s how my scar is looking. Can you see which one is the newest one?

Work is absolutely crazy this week; I’m spending hours in front of a keyboard inputting all of the things. Needless to say, my shoulder is very angry.

On the plus side, I’m getting better at typing again, and I even started using my mouse with my right hand Tuesday.

I’m icing my shoulder a lot. It’s not unusual to see me at my desk with an ice pack on.

I’ve also started taking ibuprofen again. My doctor sent in another prescription for the higher dosage of ibuprofen because of the discomfort I’m in.

I had a productive PT session yesterday after work.

I’m going to be honest. I was dreading it because of how sore I’ve been. The thought of being stretched out made me anxious.

The stretching was rough, and I gritted my teeth A LOT. At one point, D told me to breathe.

I got through it, though, and afterward, I felt a lot better. God certainly knew what I needed.

D, my therapist, asked how my doctor’s appointment went. Since the two practices are connected, he can see all of my appointments.

I mentioned what the surgeon had said about the burning pain, and D said that burning usually indicates nerve pain.

Lovely. I’m not surprised though. With everything I’ve been doing at work, all of my nerves are literally firing up. 🔥

D and I discussed the game plan going forward since we’d originally started off with once a week sessions. He told me that I’m making good progress with the way things are set up, so I’ll continue in the same pattern. This will also help me stretch out my insurance-allotted visits so I’ll have some left when I’m ready for more advanced therapy.

D also added a couple of exercises to my home regimen: table slides with a towel and isometric wall pushes. He said that next week, he may start me out on lat work with the bands. I’m excited because doing big girl exercises will make me feel a little more normal again.

Despite the ups and downs, I have a positive attitude. I’m confident that when I visit my surgeon again in six weeks, I’ll be singing a more pain-free tune.

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Good Wednesday to all of you!

I’m here, doing my thing, posting my answers the fun questions Joyce selected for us.

I look forward to visiting your little corner of the internet world and reading your thoughts as well!

1. When does time pass slowly for you? When does time past quickly for you? 

During the work week, time passes slowly if there’s not much going on. My office’s responsibilities are cyclical; the tasks that one gal and I are responsible for increase exponentially from June through September and then pick up again from January through February. The busy days absolutely fly by.

Another instance when time passes slowly for me is at night when my shoulder is aching. Nights are the worst with a shoulder injury, surgery, and recovery. If I wake up in pain, my night is usually over, and waiting out the hours until sunrise is excruciatingly slow.

Time also passes slowly when I’m anticipating a visit from my kids and their sweet babies. I like to track their flights and always have it down to the minute how long their drive will be from the airport to my home.

The flip side is that time passes quickly while I’m visiting with them. It doesn’t matter if it’s two days or a week. I feel as though I blink, and my time with them is over. Awww. It makes me so sad thinking of that.

2. Do you have a favorite beach? What’s your favorite ‘beach’ activity? Tell us what we’d find in your beach bag.

I grew up in south Alabama. The beach we always visited during Spring Break and summer was Panama City Beach. The white sand was (and continues to be) pristine white and soft. It’s beautiful.

We lived in Miami and Coral Springs after the Mr.’s job transferred him south Florida (quite the culture shock for this south Alabama girl), and I’ve gotta say that the beaches on the eastern side of Florida leave much to be desired. The sand is filled with junk, and it’s brown. No thanks.

I was happy when we moved back to the Panhandle in 2003 and were fifteen minutes from PCB. It was like going home. The first thing I did when my kids had their first early release day from school was take them to the beach I’d grown up with so they could see what a real beach looked and felt like.

My favorite beach activity is people watching. People are interesting, and we saw quite a few characters when we lived in PCB.

My beach bag is always loaded with towels, lots and lots of sunscreen, an umbrella (it fits in the wagon, actually), a book, snacks, sunglasses, and a change of clothes. We also carry a cooler laden down with lots of water and, before I stopped drinking alcohol last summer (personal decision – I didn’t have a drinking problem 😉), adult beverages.

3. Your favorite book or movie with a beach setting? 

I always loved the beach volleyball scene from Top Gun. The movie came out in the 80’s. I was in high school, and once it came on VHS, my best friend and I watched that scene repeatedly.

4. What’s a food you love, but find it’s a pain to eat? Is it worth it? 

We have a ramen place called Mizu Ramen. I usually meal prep and take my lunch to work, but occasionally, my prepped food runs out, so I order delivery. Mizu Ramen is a favorite. They have a vegan bowl that is amazing, but the ramen noodles are a pain to maneuver. I’m forever splashing myself when the noodles hit the soup. I usually get a throw blanket I keep in my desk and wrap it around my neck and torso – much like a large bib. It’s quite comical and worth the effort.

5.  Do you like roller coasters? What’s the best (or worst) roller coaster you’ve been on? 

When I was growing up, I did not like roller coasters. I had a very scary experience when I was little. During one of the few trips to see my dad (my parents were divorced, and it was ugly so I didn’t get to see him much), he took me and my sister on a roller coaster.

What he should have done was put himself in the middle so her could put an arm around both of us.

What he did was put himself on one end, my younger sister in the middle, and me on the other end. I was very small for my age and almost came out of the seat. He reached out and grabbed me. I still remember that.

It wasn’t until our kids were teenagers that my fear went away. I didn’t want to miss out on anything fun when we were at theme parks, so I pulled up my big girl pants and rode the rides.

Nowadays, my vertigo makes it difficult to ride things like roller coasters; however, I didn’t let that stop me when we went to Disney World with our children and grand babies in May. The Mr. and I went on Expedition Everest, which is at the Animal Kingdom. My vertigo did great, and we had a lot of fun.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I pulled out an old watch this week to give myself a break from my smart watch.

I’m on the hunt for the extra links I’ve kept in a small plastic jewelry bag forever (the watch has to be over 15 years old).

I’ve always had tiny wrists, but with my recent surgeries, my inability to work out, and the fun of aging, I’m sure I’ve gained a few pounds, so the watch is snug.

My husband took the watch to a repair shop and got a new battery for it. He also asked about getting more links, but the watch has been discontinued, so that option is off of the table.

Needless to say, we will be tearing the house apart this weekend looking for those links. I’ve already offered up prayers. God has helped me find things before.

Filed under: This-n-That | 10 Comments »

Sunday, the Mr. helped me prep a couple of dishes for the week.

First up was pasta with a creamy vegan Alfredo. I used this recipe for the sauce, and wow! It is delicious! The only things I didn’t include were the hemp hearts.

It doesn’t look like much, but the flavor is on point.

The second dish I prepared was this Easy Lemon Cucumber Salad with a Lemon Vinaigrette.

One of my colleagues is known for her green thumb, and she likes to experiment with growing different produce.

This year, she planted lemon cucumbers. She took a bunch to work to share with us, and I grabbed a few.

I had to google what to make with them and found the recipe I linked above.

I liked that it called for only a few ingredients (the vinaigrette items aren’t pictured).

The Mr. did the chopping. We didn’t peel the cucumbers per what I’d read online.

Thank heavens for the Mr.’s willingness to help!

It made for an easy and delicious little salad.

I’ll eat a bowl of this along with my Alfredo this week for lunch!

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Happy Monday, friends!

How was your weekend?

Mine started off with rain, which I was so glad to see, although my coworkers were not as we headed to our cars after we clocked out Friday afternoon.

Fortunately, I’m not driving yet, so my walk was a short one because the Mr. was waiting for me in the parking lot adjacent to my building.

My shoulder and bicep were a hot mess when I got home. The week had been incredibly busy, so my first priority was a hot bath and pajamas.

Then, after a bit of back and forth about what to watch on TV, we landed on Black Bag, a Prime movie.

Gosh, but this movie was strange. It had that British tongue-in-cheek feel; the verbal sparring was quick, so we had to listen carefully to catch everything.

In the end, I’d rate it ⭐️⭐️⭐️. It wasn’t exactly my cup of tea (see what I did there).

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Saturday

Gambit let me sleep in until 6:15 Saturday before asking to potty.

This little guy means the world to me. Watching my son and his wife grieve the loss of their precious fur baby has been a reminder to cherish every single second I have with my own pup.

I did a morning check in with my daughter. She’s not a gal who is super communicative, so I’m purposeful about touching base with her regularly.

By the way, her sweet little E girl just started crawling!!!

I didn’t try to go back to sleep because my arm was hurting since I am still required to sleep with my sling on.

I’ve just started taking off the sling at home for small bits of time (doctor-approved). The pain was due to the stiffness of not being able to move my arm.

One thing about shoulder surgery is that your elbow and wrist hurt a lot from being in one position for weeks.

I decided to start playing the word games I complete on a daily basis. The Apple News app just added an emoji game.

Y’all, it is so much fun and challenging! I love puzzles, so this game is right up my alley!

I enjoyed a cup of tea because tea is life first thing in the morning.

Excuse my messy house, but this is my life right now.

Mid-morning, I texted my friend, Barb, who’d lost her husband not too long ago.

We spent almost two hours talking about all of the things. She’s a gem of a human being, let me tell you. The grief in her voice was heavy; I could hear the fatigue coming through as she shared about her tough week. She’s back at work, which helps pass the daytime hours. She told me that the nights are quiet – too quiet.

My heart, y’all. It just hurts to watch someone walk this path. 😔

After making a batch of almond milk and eating lunch, I sat down and did some reading, finishing up this book.

Thank heavens it was a free selection from Prime’s First Reads. I did not enjoy it much.

Here’s my Goodreads review:

This book should not have taken me so long to finish, but it did because it was poorly written, so it was something I didn’t feel led to drop everything for.

I am very disappointed. My favorite genre is historical fiction, and I wanted to learn more about a topic I want familiar with. The writing style was very superficial and felt like something a ninth grade English student would submit.

Catherine was immature. Her relationship woes were the stuff of middle school. Cecil and Meredith were the only redeeming characters.

⭐️⭐️

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Sunday

Once again, my eyes popped open at 6:15. Sheesh. My alarm is set for 7:00 on Sundays, so I went ahead and got up and made my matcha.

Then, I got dressed for church.

I am hopeful this was the last Sunday I have to attend church in a sling. It’s very uncomfortable to sit in an armless chair for that long, and the hubby is always a little embarrassed to see me carrying in a lap blanket to tuck under my arm for support.

The sermon was so good. It was about asking God to open our eyes to really see people – where they are, who they are, what they need.

I had to dab my eyes a few times.

We went home and got started on our Sunday to-do list.

First up was making more ginger-tumeric juice.

Then, we started meal prepping. The hubby is beyond ready for my shoulder to be healed. Being my sous chef for weeks on end has been draining on him.

Any time Gambit hears chopping, he hides out in the bedroom.

While the hubby chopped veggies and peeled fruit, I descaled the Keurig. It’s a process, but I’m faithful in the maintenance because I don’t want to spend more money to replace it.

I buy the generic brand of descaling solution from Amazon.

Cleaning and refilling Gambit’s water tank is one of our least favorite weekly tasks.

Gambit drinks a tank of water every week – even during the cooler months. I make it a priority to clean everything with soap and water each week too. We are doing everything we can to keep this little guy alive as long as possible.

The aftermath in the kitchen was, as usual, brutal. Yes, I washed those dishes. The Mr. will put them away while I’m at work today.

I finally finished my chores around 2:00. I was beyond ready to sit down, play my games, and read.

I wound up having to DNF the book I was reading because of the topic. I won’t go into details, but a few chapters in, I knew I couldn’t continue.

I spent part of my afternoon on the hunt for links to an old Seiko watch that has sat in my jewelry box for years. I think the silicone band on my Apple Watch is either too tight or there’s something in it I’m allergic to, so I’m going to give myself a little break and return to a regular watch.

I have very small wrists, but with all of the surgeries I’ve had recently, they are a little swollen, so the wristband on my watch is a little snug – hence the reason why I bagel the hunt for those links. With a move to Alabama five years ago, it’s no wonder I cannot find them. I despise not being able to put my hands on something that I know I’ve seen recently.

The Mr. is going to get the watch battery replaced while I’m at work today.

After finally throwing in the towel on my search, we started a new TV series.

We are only one episode in and am hooked. I’m not going to bother googling the inaccuracies. Ha!

So, that was my weekend.

I took special care not do overdo it, and my shoulder thanked me by not being very sore yesterday.

With a new week ahead of me, I’m sure that will change, but I’m grateful for the rest and look forward to whatever comes my way.

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Part 2

Sunday, I got a second box of goodies from my Amazon Prime Days Sale splurge.

This order was all about Jouer.

I usually order directly from the company itself, but after receiving (but barely glancing at) a couple of emails from them about sales, I realized that they were telling me that their products were 30% off on Amazon last week.

Eye Patches

Dark circles are my life these days. Maybe I’ve had them awhile and didn’t notice them, but now that I do, I’m trying to figure out how to remedy them.

I’ve still got the other box I purchased recently, but since I know I like Jouer products, I thought I’d give these a whirl.

They are super sparkly.

They are super flimsy (is that how all of these things are?).

They are super thin.

I actually like them, but I wish more came to a box!

Setting Powder

I’d been less than enamored with the last powder I’d bought. I only use the his powder under my eyes, on top of whatever concealer I’ve applied.

I had chosen a darker color when I ordered my last compact, and it just didn’t brighten up my under eyes.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison. The new one is on the left.

I bought a new applicator brush for the new powder. This brush collapses, which makes it perfect for traveling.

Concealer

I’ve been looking for a corrector/concealer but landing on the perfect color has been something out of my wheelhouse.

Y’all, I don’t really know what color my undertones are. A girl at Ulta once told me I have neutral tones, but who knows.

This one reminds me of the Tarte tube I’ve been using for the last two months, except the Jouer version isn’t quite as thick.

I think it looks good!

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Part 3

Monday, when the Mr. picked me up from work, he had one of my latest Amazon packages with him. I’d ordered this shirt, which I already had in blue. It’s so comfortable that I wanted another color.

I had one more small package and a big one waiting for me on the kitchen counter when I got home.

The little one contained this concealer pen because I’m testing out all of the things to see what works best.

The packaging gave me all the heart eyes – marketing at its best.

I’m going to feel so fancy when I use this.

It’s a pump up, like a pen, which will be interesting. My fingers are crossed that this works well.

Here’s what was in the big box . . .

I’d been looking for a makeup mirror that plugged in because the one I already had ran on batteries that frequently had to be replaced.

The new mirror is rechargeable. I’m super excited about it!

I’m gonna have to slow my roll on the shopping bit. We have new air conditioner parts to pay for and upcoming trips to save for.

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Usually, I like a good countdown.

In fact, I spend a lot of time counting down to things . . . Fridays, visits to see grand babies, retirement.

In the case of post-surgery time, I’m enjoying counting up.

Today marks 5 weeks since my last surgery.

Overall, it’s been a better week than the previous one (if you don’t factor in the long weeding session I had over the weekend in my attempt to clean out my flower bed).

My only bad day was Tuesday. I process all of the mail for my office, and we get a lot from July through September. It seems like Tuesday is the busiest day of the week when the pile of mail is huge.

That makes for a lot of data entry, which, if you’ve had shoulder surgery, results in a lot of post-typing pain.

I ran out of ibuprofen 800, and rather than ask for another round, I decided to give my innards a break by not taking any more.

That worked until Tuesday afternoon. We had purchased over the counter ibuprofen, and I took a couple of them to ease the pain. I took a couple more doses Wednesday since I had PT after work. By then, the anger in my shoulder was down from a screaming banshee to a simmering fire.

We started with one of my favorite exercises – rolling a ball forward, backward, and in small circles – assisted by my “good” arm.

Even though I couldn’t move it far, it was so much easier than having to prop my hand on a table and step backward.

In the middle of my therapy session, a nurse walked through. I didn’t pay much attention until she spoke to me. That’s when I recognized her as my surgeon’s nurse – the one who gave me pre-op instructions for both of my surgeries, returned all of my phone calls before and after surgery, and spent time with me before one of my post-op appointments (after my left shoulder surgery) and encouraged me by telling me that one day, I’d wake up and realize that all of a sudden, things had gotten a lot better.

She is a gem, and it did my heart good to see that she recognized me. This practice sees a lot of patients.

That’s what happens when you have back-to-back surgeries. I’m so thankful for such caring medical professionals. ❤️

After I spoke with the nurse, I continued with my therapy exercises. I got to start a couple of new exercises.

First, I did unassisted bicep curls – without weights (of course). Y’all, I could have sung the entire alphabet song in the time it took me to complete one rep.

Slow and steady wins the race.

My other not-really-new-but-new-since-my-surgery exercise was the pulley station, which I hadn’t visited since May, when I was still rehabbing my left shoulder.

Once again, I was humbled. I could barely move my right arm. I love the pulley, so it was a little frustrating, but I recognize that I’m in a marathon, not a sprint.

I did my other regular exercises, and D, my therapist, stretched out my arm. He commented on how tight my shoulder was. Yep. No surprise there.

You’ve probably seen athletes getting stretched out on the football field, right?

Yep, picture that, but it’s me, inside on a table, with my shoulder being moved this way and that.

The simple act of laying on the table on my back is still extremely uncomfortable. Even with a rolled up towel underneath my right elbow, it hurts.

The back of my right shoulder was the part that had the most damage, which is why laying down hurts so much.

My favorite stretch, after D had warmed up my arm, was when he gently stretched my arm straight down, toward my feet.

Being in the sling almost 24/7 makes my elbow stiff, so my bicep hollered pretty loudly when it’s lengthened out. It’s a bad, yet good feeling, if that makes sense.

Thank goodness for the stem treatment and heating pad that are always waiting for me at the end of these sessions. They are my reward for doing all of the hard work.

I always leave PT feeling better though – both physically and mentally.

Physical therapists are medically trained cheerleaders – always encouraging, building confidence, and listening.

I’ve got my six week follow-up appointment with my surgeon next week. I’m pretty sure he’ll give me the green light to come out of the sling.

It’s something I’m looking forward to with a little bit of trepidation. I remember how sore I was for the first few weeks after I ditched the sling with my left shoulder.

But it will be tangible progress, and for that, I’m so excited.

One of the other physical therapists in the office asked if I was going to have a burn party after I’m out of it. Hmmm. Now there’s an idea. 💡 🤣

It won’t be long before my selfies will be missing one large, bulky accessory.

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