Arriving home is a great feeling; traveling can sometimes feels like you’re in a state of limbo. It didn’t take us long to settle into our place and appreciate being home in our apartment. I had missed our adjustable bed, our dishwasher, great TV, private internet and it is definitely nice having more space - I won’t lie! Shortly after we got home, Charlie was out to his shed; I won’t see him until next fall now ( LOL)!
It is also wonderful being with the family and being able to pop up to see them. The kids come down often to show us things they’ve learned or toys they received. We’ve had family dinner together, babysat the kids for a parents’ date night and looked forward to celebrating Mother’s Day with our 4th annual mother-daughter tea!
Getting back to our activities, we attended Tuesday Bingo at the Stoughton Senior Center and were so pleasantly surprised by the greeting we received! They actually announced “welcome back to the snowbirds”!! I was also asked to lead another craft group by popular demand; I have now scheduled a day in June. I signed myself up for a forthcoming writing workshop, art education talk and therapy garden class over the next few weeks! I’m going to be busy!
Since being home, I’ve experienced increased pain and stiffness in my left knee; stairs were difficult. Luckily, I was able to get a quick appointment with my primary care doctor and went directly to have an X-ray on my knee(s). My right knee has very minimal arthritis but my left is full blown with tricompartment bone spurs. I have an appointment with an orthopedist in a few weeks. As I am not keen on injections or surgery if needed - I decided to research and start a regimen of arthritis exercise and strengthening my legs, plus using topical glucosamine and a friend recommended I try Aleve to reduce inflammation and pain. After just a couple of days, I have been much, much better! I actually took a short walk yesterday and stairs are not a problem now. I actually feel almost normal - with an occasional twinge. So I will keep at it. If I could actually lose a few pounds, my body would probably appreciate that too. Charlie and I exercised at the “Y”on Wednesday ( it is free that day to seniors) and will try to add that to our weekly routine. He needs to work on shoulder pain.
I purchased new tires for my car, met up with my friend Robin for coffee, participated in Thursday Scrabble at the library, zoomed an exercise group with my instructor Judy who had retired during the winter (but is still offering classes for free), visited IKEA with Charlie for lunch and a few small items and did a lot of gardening and yard cleanup when it wasn’t raining. All this busyness puts me in a positive frame of mind and keeps negative thoughts and things I have no control of at bay. We are making plans to meet up with lots of friends we haven’t seen since before we left. Our summer looks exciting!
Hope everyone has a great summer - full of adventure and good times. Signing off for a bit!
