Appreciation in Day by Day

I’m busy, busy, busy with the non-profit. Next week is a fundraising workshop to learn how to qualify for extra prizes during the matching grant funds. End of year bookkeeping details are still being dealt with and will be on-going for the next two months (poor me). No, not poor me. I paid my bills and ate food this week while a woman in Bangladesh sits in her tent and wonders if she’ll eat today.

Not all is drudgery, of course. I saw a comedy show at the theater with a girlfriend last Tuesday. We stopped for dinner at Chili’s. I had the Caribbean salad with shrimp and avocado add-ons. It was delicious and much like the salads I make, but was missing croutons. And we are going to dinner (Asian this time) with friends next Tuesday.

Medical news is mixed. MRI reveals extensive arthritis in the spine: discs rub against each other. So now I’m on Naproxen (anti-inflammatory) and a pill similar to Nexium. Relief was immediate. I researched the medicine and it is not addictive. Hard on the blood pressure and on the stomach, though. I’m trying it for 30 days and I meet with the doctor to assess in February. If I still want a kidney scan, she’ll order one up. She says it’s arthritis, not kidneys. When she presses on my hip bones, it hurts a LOT, so she might be right.

Medical news on the husband is great. He’ll outlive us all, I tell him. I hope so. I need his Social Security check, too. Joking! I’m joking! Sorta. As we move into retirement, what once seemed ample is now reviewed with skepticism, especially as prices skyrocket. My husband’s thyroid medicine is going up in price. Its manufactured in Puerto Rico and now there’s a shortage.

I received an incredibly kind letter from a friend of my niece’s, in which she listed why she admired and liked me. I had no idea I had influenced her to such a degree, but my heart was warmed knowing that fact. I laughed at one line, in which she said she loved that I spoke plainly and directly and did not hesitate to call BS, yet was compassionate to those who were dealing with BS in their life. Well, she said it better than that, but I can’t find the letter and that’s the best I can remember it. Anyway, it warmed my heart and I thought, gee, we should all do that more often!

So let me tell you all how very much I enjoy our community here. The OD drama is gone and its just a bunch of ordinary old us, living our lives and sharing our thoughts. Through your eyes, I see your world. Through your words, I live in your world for a few minutes. I might not always agree with you and don’t expect that you’ll always agree with me, but I do enjoy our conversations and thank you for it. In many ways, my life is isolated, in that I work from home and don’t have people dropping in unexpectedly. I have no daughters or sisters. Most of my work is on the phone or computer. Much of it is emotionally or intellectually draining. I DO have a social life and am not agoraphobic, but I can be reclusive by choice, mostly to recharge my batteries. You folks keep me company during the week. The social interaction is a delicious treat. Thank you!