I’m finally getting some relief from the pain in my muscles and joints and that means I am sleeping better. Hyperparathyroidism. Big word for a very tiny little gland that has decided to go haywire. It takes an average of eight years to be diagnosed with it. Eight years. It’s taken me three years to get an answer and I feel like that’s forever. Hyperparathyroidism causes an elevation in calcium which takes calcium out of your bones where you need it and they get more brittle and ache. It also causes muscle aches, insomnia, hair loss, depression and irritability. Like…grumpy on steroids.

I kind of accidentally discovered something that really helps. I had a bottle of a mild muscle relaxant left over from my car accident. I’ve tried everything else for the muscle aches. I won’t take prescription pain meds, but a muscle relaxant acts differently without the abuse potential. I took what I had last month and after the first three days, I couldn’t believe how much better I felt. Then I ran out and didn’t have them for a week and wow…could I tell the difference. I saw the Nurse Practitioner this week and she gave me a prescription and already I’m feeling so much better. I was able to work for several hours standing on my feet and climbing up and down a ladder yesterday and it felt great!

We finished our first big project of the Pandemic Era yesterday. Last summer we purchased a pergola for the deck around our pool. It is way too hot in the summer to sit out there and we were hoping this would offer enough shade to at least have coffee and meals. This week we decided it was the perfect time to put it together. Mr. FixIt and I are a good team and we had that thing up in a couple of afternoons. Now we just need to figure out how to keep the cat off of it. She was SO excited to see it. She thinks we have erected her very own pedestal and I’ve chased her down several times. We are going to have to come up with something to keep her from trying to jump up from the railing in the back. If you have any ideas, let me know.

After the pergola was finished, we went for a drive. It was 4:30 when we arrived at the nursery about ten miles from our house. It is out in the country and there were only six people there in all, spread out over three greenhouses. We quickly picked out fourteen tomato plants, a small bag of onion sets, and a couple of fresh heads of butter-crunch lettuce for salads. We were in and out of there in less than ten minutes and wiped everything down before we put it in the truck. 

We called ahead for a pizza and the owner brought it out to us wearing gloves. It was hot and fresh from the oven so no contamination there. We wiped down the box with disinfectant wipes then cleaned our hands. Then we drove over to the park, turned the truck so the bed was facing the river, and sat on the tailgate for a picnic. There was no one near us at all and it was such a treat. We came home and cleaned up again and placed the tomato plants on the windowsill in the family room.

It was a little taste of normalcy. We had a huge dose of Vitamin D from working outside in the fresh air and sunshine. And we avoided the news all day till 6:30 when we watched Lester Holt. We are finding a better rhythm…a better balance. We are picking ourselves up a little and adjusting more. We are remembering how blessed we are to have each other’s support and love. And, how much fun we have together. 

Thing only thing I’m noticing is, I have no idea what day it is. All day yesterday I thought it was Saturday. I told Mr. FixIt…every day is Saturday now. Of course, don’t say that to the people working from home. A lot of places are saying there won’t be school the rest of the year and this is something teachers and children will have to adjust to. There will be no closure, no sense of an ending or a moving on. This will take some time for them to process how to best serve their students and their own children. 

This is just another layer to the onion…another way this pandemic will affect us and future generations. There will be ripple effects that reach far beyond today. Of course, being safe…keeping our children and everyone else safe…that is of primary importance. Still…it’s just one more thing. Another loss.

The weather is supposed to be beautiful again so today will be spent emptying out the truck so it can go in the body shop on Monday for a couple of weeks. I also want to get the camper cleaned out so we can go “camping”. After all…we have our own little five acre campground here. We might as well take advantage of it!

❤️

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.””

John 13:34-35 ESV