a beautiful thing

My car is loaded yet again. I am picking my son up from school tomorrow. We both can not wait to get there. I need to paint until I cry. He will play with his new friends until he is starving. As soon as the car gets unloaded, we are heading out to get more primer, then groceries. I need to eat super healthy. My blood pressure was high today. I am not sure if it was because I felt sick to my stomach. It might have been the other way around. Either way, I am always scared to sleep while it is high. My stroke started while I was sleeping.

I took a short walk around a few blocks. I know my workout the next few days involves climbing up and down a ladder. My calves can feel the future charlie horses already. I plan on breaking up the monotony with garden work. I am getting a few perennials and lilac bushes from my mother. I plan on starting my veggie garden, even though it will be neglected when I am not there next week. I have a few plates my mom did not want for garden edging, an idea I saw on pinterest. Mom does not think it is a good idea, rocks will break the plates. I can not wait to prove otherwise.

hanging out

It rained all day. If the garden was already in, it would have been divine.

I did not walk today. I was so hungry after dinner I ate a peanut butter sandwich.

I went to bed early two nights in a row. I still had to take my morning nap. Tomorrow I hope to dig up a few lilac bushes to transplant to the new place.

fly away

Dandelions are a tenacious flower that most people consider a “pest”. I love dandelion wine. I like the cheery yellow blooms. The best part is when they fluff to seed and fly away. They make a cool design up close too. My 12 year old son took all the photos last weekend. Until the music changed to party music at the wedding we attended, he said he was bored too many times. I gave him my camera and told him  to shoot away.

Today he missed school, he was sick again with a stomach bug. I once again admonished him on the importance of keeping his hands clean. His nails were once again too long and filthy. I am trying to make him independent, but I end up having to tell him what to do.

Today was unpack the car and do laundry day. I also managed to pick up a sofa and folding table at the thrift store. I actually did not get the sofa yet. They are holding it until my sister picks it up with her truck. I took a walk after dinner, around the blocks. My knees have a lot of heeling to do. Three more days until I will be painting my fingers off again.

taken by my 12 year old son

I have been fighting allergies all weekend. I don’t know what I am allergic to, since I have never had this happen to me. I am not sure if it is a result of the stroke. Maybe it is just old age. I do know that when I am inside with the windows shut I am fine. When I went outside or opened the windows, my eyes itched and my nose dripped. I attended my second cousin’s wedding, so I took an allergy pill. I was fine after taking the med.

I finished painting my son’s new room dark green. He loves it. I am glad it is done. It took much longer than I expected. It also took almost the whole gallon for a tiny room. The textured upper walls and lower paneling were torture. My right hand is sore. My toes are sore from climbing the ladder. During the actual painting my back was aching. Only a few more rooms to go.

After next weekend, the long holiday weekend, I will be finished with trying to get anything done until I move in. My son should have some baseball games, and I can not spend all my money on gas. My garden will be started so late, and I won’t be able to attend and water it. I will be doing the Ruth Stout thing. I will throw the seeds and mulch the hell out of it and hope for the best.

My blood pressure was up slightly tonight. I am not surprised. I took a walk around a few blocks, and my knees barely made it.

I got my haircut again, super short. It is so hard to wash it with one hand when it grows longer. With the loss of sensation on the left side and top of my head, it never feels clean enough.

I found out that there might be a stroke support group sorta close to my new home. I will have to investigate further. I need to find new doctors as well.

I am not prepping for the end of the world. I am prepping for the beginning of my new life. I bought my own blood pressure monitor today. It was long overdue. I will need one at my new place. My mom has been having issues with her heart rate lately. I thought if I stopped using her monitor her doctor could read hers better.

My sister came up and stuffed my car full for my next trip. I then walked down to her house to borrow a pair of her sandals to wear to the wedding. They are not exactly dress sandals (she uses them for working outside), but I think they are a step up from wearing sneakers with a dress.

I also bought two batteries for the smoke detectors at my new place. I have one electric heater packed. We all froze beyond comfort last time. The weather is supposed to be nice, but there are no guarantees with mother nature.

Tomorrow I get my hair cut, and hopefully all my ducks in a row.

painted by my son

I feel like I am still recovering from last weekend. It is almost time to pack the car again for next weekend. Since it rained cats and dogs all day, I did not get out to take a walk. I tried to work my left shoulder, it is feeling a bit droopy lately. I am also bummed the pair of sandals I bought to wear with my dress to a wedding this weekend will not work out. I bought them online. They are slightly too big, I stepped out of the left one after three steps. That is dangerous in my world. My ankle could easily get twisted on the shoe. My foot drag could also take my shoe off. I don’t really have time to stop at a real shoe store and try on sandals. If I take the time out Friday night to shoe shop, I have less time to paint. I don’t know if anything except sneakers will be suitable again this year. I can’t wear heels, clogs, flip flops or any backless slip on. I guess I will get over it eventually.

preserved in a rock

I had to deal with an unnatural amount of spiders while cleaning the house all weekend. Today karma got back at me for killing all those spiders. I opened the front door to go out to my car and saw a HUGE brown spider walking towards me. I shut the screen door, then opened it to see if that killed it. I could not step on it with confidence. It was a short step down, if my ankle had twisted and I fell near the spider, I don’t know what horrendous sounds I would have screamed. I slammed the screen door shut and decided I would go out the other door. After I told my mother the story she got out the can of raid. She sprayed enough to kill everything on the block and ensure anything that lived would have messed up offspring. It did not crawl back out of its hiding spot while we watched. It did appear all curled up dead a short while later. Then I had two small ones hopping around the trunk of my car. I left them alone, I really don’t like killing them. They have a purpose. I think the spider gods are still angry with me.

I walked around the block tonight. I could tell how weak my knees are getting since stopping therapy. I would go back if I had unlimited visits covered by insurance. I need to build up my walking again. I have spiders to outrun. I also took my mom along, she is further out of shape too. She might have a pacemaker put in. I wish she would try eating an all fruit and veggie diet for awhile. She has her own ideas and plans. I can only worry since the family history of stroke comes from her mother.

clean windows, grubby siding

I spent the whole weekend cleaning, mostly inside, with my hands in COLD bleach water. It wrecked havoc on my back. My helpers did a majority of the work. I am so thankful for that. My house interior is now ready to be painted. My son’s room is already primed. I have a shiny new lock installed, so I might skip to painting my front door next. Most likely, I will stick to the plan of getting the bedrooms painted before the furniture gets moved in. I think my dog enjoyed her weekend too. We took a few minutes to take her to the park, so she could run free. She loved it, and was tired from that quickly. She also gave us a good laugh after she mysteriously appeared with white eyebrows. I thought she had aged since a few weeks ago when I saw her. It turned  out to be paint. She had sneakily went down the hall to check out the painted room. Her eyebrows must have brushed against the paint can while she was sniffing.

point the way

I have a thing for numbers. I have not studied numerology, or even read much about it. I do believe in the power of three. I have three children. I like the power of three in interior and landscape design.

Have a safe and happy Mother’s Day Weekend. I am honoring mine by not being around to bother her this weekend! I love you Mom.