COVID VACCINE #5

This morning I went to my physical therapy appointment and I had coordinated it very carefully so that I could leave 5 minutes early and go to my covid vaccine appointment. Course I got to my covid vaccine appointment and ended up standing around for almost half an hour waiting for them to get their act together. This annoyed me a little bit because I could have finished up my physical therapy appointment and still would have been on time for the vaccine appointment. But I got my covid vaccine number five.

While I was gone I had a delivery of my end table. If you remember last week on my vacation I sent the broken end table back. At midnight last night I got a notification from the end table company stating that the delivery was going to happen today. When I woke up this morning I quickly texted my neighbor to ask if I could put a note on my door asking UPS to deliver it to his house instead of my house during the two hours I was going to be gone. Luckily my neighbor was agreeable because the box was delivered 45 minutes after I left for my physical therapy appointment.

I am now in bed resting as I have been all afternoon and about to go to sleep. I have already had chills I have a sore arm and I've taken a nap. I'm sure I'll feel much better tomorrow.

Until tomorrow...

NO-BAKE CHOCOLATE SALTED CARAMEL COOKIE DOUGH

I hadn't heard from the end table company after returning the broken end table so today I contacted them and found out that they were sending the replacement end table and it's going to arrive tomorrow. Since I will be in physical therapy and getting my covid shot I'm going to have to see if one of my neighbors can accept the package if it comes while I am at these activities. But I am excited to get a replacement table since I've been missing it so much.

Today I took Lucky vet's office for some lab work. She was so excited to get in the car and then we went to the vet's office. I'll have to treat her this weekend. The vet wanted to check her labs to see how she's doing on this new medicine. Of course today she seems much better than she was 3 days ago. Doesn't that always happen? We get the results in a couple of days.

I made a fun quick little dessert when we got home. It is a no-bake chocolate salted caramel cookie dough. It is really delicious. I ate a two big chunk. I'll have to eat smaller pieces in the future.

Until tomorrow...

FOOT DOCTOR

Yes, I know it is a podiatrist but foot doctor sounds so much better. I went to the foot doctor today and he was so nice and funny. I really liked him a lot. I wish he was a primary doctor since mine is retiring. He was a great listener and he had more than one solution. He understood that I am not always easy to diagnose or solve. I could tell he was a bit surprised how bad my situation got. 

The diagnosis is that I injured my left Achilles and to try to make it better I stretched it incorrectly which made it worse. Then when it got worse, I began resting it. Then it tightened up which made it worse again. Then because I spent months resting it, my other Achilles got tight and it started to hurt. Now I have two feet that I can't walk on too much. 

He gave me a quick solution right away that involves a towel and stretching first thing in the morning. It is specific stretching.  Then I have to go to more physical therapy. It is complicated (as usual) because I have Raynaud's and I can't ice. Hopefully the therapy will help. I don't think this will be an easy fix for two reasons. 1. The PT is open ended. 2. He wants me to come back in six weeks. 

While waiting for the doctor, I got a text from the landscaper asking if his worker guy ever called me back. I told him no. He asked me if I was still interested and I said yes. He is going to organize a meeting. I think there may have been a phone issue. 

I also called the vet. This morning Lucky was very lethargic for the fourth day in a row. She didn't want to eat yesterday and this morning I made her favorite food, rice and chicken, and she didn't want to eat it. I finally coaxed her to eat some so I could give her the medicine. On top of that she has been sneak peeing. This can be a sign of a urinary tract infection. The vet is going to run the labs again to check and make sure she has not had anything go wrong. It may have been the pain meds I was giving her that made her feel bad so I stopped them. 

Until tomorrow...

MADE MY COVID VACCINE APPOINTMENT

I finally got an appointment on the day that I wanted to get my covid vaccine. It's been a little difficult to some of the places will only roll out covid vaccine dates one day at a time so you have to log in multiple times a day to see if the day you want has opened up any times. Today I looked at other locations and found one at the same location where I get my physical therapy and they had a time that's right at the same time that my physical therapy ends. So I'm going to ask my physical therapist if I can end 5 minutes early so I can run over and get my covid vaccine. Two birds one stone so they say. I'm pretty much expecting that this weekend I will be bedridden. I originally wanted to get the covid vaccine next weekend so I could have the long weekend to recover but beggars can't be choosers at this point.

Today was another day where I was on zoom meetings for about 4 hours straight. It is a little exhausting to be on zoom meetings for that many hours in a row. I did have a break after the first 2 hours and ran Lucky around the block. Then it was back to two more hours on zoom.

I made zucchini and chickpea Curry for dinner along with white rice. it ended up having a spicy as I like but it was very tasty. I made extra rice because look he's having a little bit of a tummy issue and she just loves rice especially when I put chicken baby food on it.

Until tomorrow...

BACK TO WORK

Today was my first day back at work after a week off. It was a jammed pack day of zoom meeting after meeting. I barely got up from my desk all day. It started at 8:30 am. Not my favorite time of the day. 

I did not have time to do much else except make a doctor's appointment. I have a foot doctor appointment this week since they had a cancellation. I can't wait. 

I made a fun dinner: Tofu and veggie Dumplings with fried rice.  It was so delicious. The dumplings were from the store but I cooked them. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY 9 OF STAYCATION

Today is the final day of my staycation. It went by too fast. I really tried to not work or do work things. I made a decision to take vacation days on the next month of Fridays. I think this is what is best for me. 

Today I finished watching the movie I started watching last night while cutting out the items for my vision board. Then I took Lucky for a walk. It is a sunny breezy day. There is a big festival going on so the neighborhood is empty. 

When I got home I decided this was a good time to move my office furniture. I really wanted to move my desk either in front of the window or away from the wall. Well, after moving the desk and other furniture around, it became clear it was not going to be an easy task. If I want to move my desk, I would have to reorganize everything due to modems and electric outlets and other things. It will be a much more time consuming task. I put my desk back to it's original spot.

I started working on pasting the items on my vision board. This task too a couple of hours but the board looks great. I have a section for travel, cooking/baking, photography, dogs, and misc. 

I photographed the Parmesan cheese that I made for the vegan cheese chapter. 

That's been my day! 

Until tomorrow...

DAY 8 OF STAYCATION

Today was a lovely day. The sun was shining and it was about 80° outside. Lucky and I took a walk and spoke to a neighbor. I brought that neighbor some of my homemade cheese to try with a warning that if you didn't like it it was okay to dump it in the trash. I would not take offense.

Then I started working on my vision board. This is the project I wanted to do for a long time and I'm finally getting around to working on it. I had a stack of magazines as high as my knee and I went through all of them to cut out pictures, sayings, etc. to put on the vision board. There were a few things I had a hard time finding that I wanted to put on the vision board. One was a picture of an airplane. Another was a picture of a camera. I find it interesting that magazines really don't have pictures of airplanes or cameras but I remembered I had this old catalog of expeditions that I looked at a long time ago and that has pictures of an airplane and a camera and some wonderful things for travel that I can cut out and use. 

Then I decided to set up the old outdoor furniture. It is going to be nice probably for the next week or so and instead of having just two chairs, I decided that it'd be smart to set up the table and chairs and my little coffee table. That way I can sit outside and enjoy myself. 

I've also decided I'm definitely going to take at least the next month of Fridays off to continue relaxing since I couldn't take a full 2 weeks for my staycation. A few three and four day weekends will be good. Then I can work a 5 day week and then I have another 3-day weekend because it is a holiday weekend. 

I ordered Thai food for dinner. Tofu with peanut sauce. So yummy! 

Now I am watching Jurassic Park World Domination. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY 7 OF STAYCATION

Today was a beautiful sunny day. It got up to 80° today. I decided today was the day that I was going to work on my vision board. This is a project I've been wanting to work on for almost the entire pandemic. I had to wait until I had enough magazines stacked up to cut out items to put on my vision board. For those of you that don't know what a vision board is a piece of cardboard in my case that you put on pictures, sayings, words that you want to project out into the future, world of things that you want to happen. An example would be for me that I want to continue baking and cooking vegan food so I would put on maybe pictures of food, the words vegan food, and maybe a saying about cooking or baking. The reason the people make a vision board is to have something visual to help them to remember what they're working towards.

So I spent part of the day cutting out items for my vision board and then trimming those pictures and words. Then I had to go to my physical therapy appointment.

When I left for my physical therapy appointment I knew that the dog may come back before I did so I went and checked the entrance where the dog walker comes in and I couldn't get the door open. Since the cab was already here I had to tell the dog walker to delay bring the dog back until I returned from physical therapy. I ended up returning from physical therapy before the dog walker, tried the door a different way and it opened right up for me. I think somebody tried to jimmy the door again. I think I may have to get some sort of camera on that door because this is now the second time the door has been messed with. 

I ate leftover pizza for dinner. But I wanted to show you the cheese that I made the other day it is vegan smoked paprika cheese.

Until tomorrow...

DAY 6 OF STAYCATION

This morning I woke up to sunshine and zero rain. I had a list of things to accomplish today. The first thing on my list was to box up the end table from the living room. I haven't really talked much about this but I love the end table. It's exactly what I wanted. Unfortunately it was not exactly level and I asked my handyman to look at it. When he looked at it he pointed out that one of the legs was cracked. I contacted the manufacturer and they were going to send me a replacement piece but I couldn't figure out what was making the table not level so the company said just send the whole table back and I will send you a new one. Yesterday I took the table apart and thought it would fit in a box that I've been keeping from somebody else I bought because of course I got rid of the box for this end table a while ago. Well it didn't fit in the box that I had been keeping and I started to get frustrated. This morning I looked around my garage and I realized that I had not unboxed yet my power washer and thought maybe it would fit in that box. Sure enough it fit not perfectly but good enough to send a broken table back. So I boxed it all up with plenty of padding and took it down to the UPS pick up place. So it is on its way and I should be getting a new table in about a week.

I then put together a picnic lunch for both Lucky and myself. We got in the car and went to the park where we walked and had our picnic lunch. The park was not as populated as it was on Tuesday but it was much better weather.

When we got back we were both exhausted and we sat down and watched TV.

At around 6:00 I had my arthritis group meeting and I also ordered my dinner to be delivered. It wasn't supposed to come until 7:00 but it arrived at 6:30. I ordered a vegan pizza from a pizza place I had never ordered pizza from before. The pizza was delicious. I have plenty of leftover because I had to get a larger pizza that I wanted in order to get it delivered. But that's okay it won't go to waste in this house. 

Now I'm watching the new shows for the fall downstairs where it's cooler since it's pretty warm evening. I'm finally getting my nice warm weather.

Until tomorrow...

DAY 5 OF STAYCATION

We woke up to more rain. I know I am supposed to be super happy it is raining since we have been in a drought but did it have to pick this week to start raining? It stopped mid-morning and the sun came out after lunch. 

I guess it really didn't matter because I ended up working most of the morning. I attended a pre-planned webinar (okay, I was in the bathtub while I listened) and then I had to do some work for a client. I plan on taking another vacation day next week to make up for the two half days I ended up working. 

After working, I laid down and watched a movie, Luck. It was very cute and had a good message. 

I decided not to cook today and ordered food for dinner. I got fancy vegan Mexican food. I got a BLTA Wrap with a Cesar salad. That is coconut bacon, avocado, lettuce and pico de Gallo with aioli. It was good but too spicy for me. I ate half and saved the other half. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY 4 OF STAYCATION

Today was another day with a surprise first thing in the morning. If you remember from yesterday's post I had a potential client that called yesterday to hire me for work. Well one of the things that she told me was that she had gone on to my company website and filled out the contact me form on the website. I did not get contacted but she had filled out the contact me form. I did a little bit of investigation and realized that I had not been getting the contact me forms for a couple of weeks. So I had to call the website company and I ended up being on the phone with them for almost an hour. 

For many years I have been told that my website was outdated and that I needed to update it. I would always ask will it still work even if it's not updated and they always told me yes it would still work, so I ignored them. Fast forward to today and the contact me form did not work. 

After being passed from person to person at the website company, I finally ended up with a very nice helpful woman who explained that I would need to update my website but at the same time she would try and fix the current problem. Well I was on hold for words to 40 minutes I began updating the website and by the time she came back to tell me that she could not fix the current problem I had already completed 2/3 of updating my website. Now it may not be perfect but it's good enough for right now and there is one part that has an "under construction" notice on it. But the good news is that a nagging task of updating my website has been completed and in a lot less time than I thought it would take because I had a very nice woman on the phone answering the few questions that I had and my contact us page now works again.

After that phone call and task sucked up a much of the morning, I quickly took a shower, threw a few things in a bag, grabbed the Lucky and jumped in the car. Lucky and I went to a park to walk around and sit and have some snacks. Our plan was to stay there a little bit longer but after walking, sitting and watching some people dance while we had our snacks, and walking some more it started to rain. At that point we turned around and started walking back to the car. Luckily it did not rain hard so we didn't get very wet even under the trees.

Once we got home I fed Lucky and then I began making the next vegan cheese recipe. This time it was mozzarella cheese. Since I have to leave it overnight I'll let you know how it tastes tomorrow.

Here is the picture of the vegan cheddar cheese balls rolled in roasted sesame seeds.

Now I am watching The Handmaid's Tale season 5. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY 3 OF STAYCATION

Today started out slow. It felt like a normal Monday. It was overcast and not rainy but looked like it was going to rain. I woke up early enough to catch the end of the British Queens funeral. Then after letting Lucky outside to pee I fed her and the bird. After Lucky ate I let her out again. That's when I saw it. There were white-winged insects coming out of the ground in between the pieces of slate in my backyard and they were also ants. It was very disgusting but I knew it wasn't good so I ran upstairs and got insect repellent and immediately sprayed them. I did not let Lucky go outside. Later that day I took some all natural cleaning fluid and washed it down to get rid of that insecticide.

So after that fun start of the day and calling a pest control company to have them come out and do an assessment, I decided to relax for a bit. After Lucky went off to her day with the dog walker I then took a bath. 

In the afternoon I finished up my cheddar cheese balls and started on the smoked paprika cheese. This is my third cheese and I think I like this one so far the best. We'll see when it's finished.

After finishing up the cheese I relaxed until dinner and I decided to order in vegan fried rice and vegan fresh spring rolls. The fried rice was amazing I haven't had fried rice in many many years because most places put things in fried rice that I can't eat. I had fried rice once without the stuff I can't eat and the person made it so bland it was like eating plain rice with vegetables in it not very tasty. 

Now I'm settling down for the first night of the new season of TV.

Oh wait I forgot to mention that I was sitting here with Lucky and I heard my work phone ring and it turns out that I got a new client while I was here on my staycation so that was quite fortuitous. We have an appointment set up for next week when I get back from my staycation.

Until tomorrow...

DAY 2 OF STAYCATION

I woke up to rain. At points lots of rain. My friend did not come by due to the rain. No one wants to stand outside in pouring rain. I am sure I'll see him on his next trip or if I go to Hawaii. 

Here is a photo of Lucky getting tired of waiting. 

While waiting to see if he was coming or not, I finished watching last night's movie Minions: The Rise of Gru. I fell asleep watching it last night. It was pretty good. 

Then I wanted to get going on my cheese making. Last night I soaked my nuts so I was ready. First I made cashew milk for tomorrow. Then I made the first step for Cheddar Cheese Balls. I have to finish them tomorrow. I organized my cheese schedule for the week. There is prep that has to be done each night for the next day. 

Since it was raining I watched a series that I have been watching. Then it was time to order dinner. I wanted some comfort food so I got vegan Pho delivered to my door. It was so good! Just what I needed on a cold and rainy day. 

I am watching a show on PBS before I go to bed. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY 1 OF STAYCATION (OR HOMECATION)

Today was the first day of my staycation. Or homecation as somebody in my family called it. The weather turned out to be reasonably okay although the impending rain is definitely on its way. The rain is supposed to start tonight and it's pretty clear that it is going to happen. But I did not let it deter me today.

The day started out with the first activity being clearing up the kitchen a little bit so that I could make my first recipe from the vegan cooking course cheese chapter. I made vegan Parmesan cheese. It is currently in the refrigerator fermenting and will be ready tomorrow for a trial tasting. Once the cheese was completed I took a shower and then Lucky and I went for a walk.

When Lucky and I got back from a walk I decided it was warm enough and sunny enough to sit in the backyard and read my book. I read the last couple of chapters of my current book and then started a new book that I want to finish in the next 3 weeks. I wanted to join a book club at my local library right before the covid lockdown but but that never happened and then the book club went into hiatus. The book club is now back and I am interested in the book that they are reading this month. So I thought I would try the book club out for a book club meeting in October. After about 25 minutes outside it got a little too for me so I came inside where I started my next activity.

I took out my VR (virtual reality) glasses I guess they're called and began taking virtual tours. The first couple of tours I took were through nature I went through a cave and I saw a waterfall. I can't remember where any of these places were but they were very beautiful. Then I went to another section and I did tour of some planets and the solar system it was very very cool to do virtual reality of the Milky Way. Then I looked up another site and I saw a virtual reality movie which I thought was very cool.

After playing with my glasses/goggles I'm not really sure what they're called, I got my delivery from Amazon and I had enough time to make chocolates. I made vegan dark chocolates with salted caramel inside and vegan milk chocolate with regular caramels inside. The caramels are also vegan made with coconut milk. They came out delicious although watch your teeth they will definitely pull out any fillings or crowns. I've been sucking on mine so as to not lose any teeth. 

After making dinner, I played with Lucky and now I'm settling down to watch a movie. Since the weather forecast is for rain all day tomorrow I have indoor plans all day. Although a friend contacted me today telling me that he is in town. He lives in Hawaii but he's passing through on his way back home. We are scheduled to do an outdoor visit at 11:30 a.m. pending the weather. If it's just drizzling we could stand outside but if it's downpouring but probably going to have to skip this visit. I'll be sad but there's not much I can do about it.

On day one I feel pretty relaxed and I'm happy that I thought in advance of things to do that bring me joy.

Until tomorrow...

MY NAME DAY

Today is my Name Day. This is a European tradition. Each name has a day. When your name day comes up it is like your birthday. I celebrated by it being the first day of my vacation at 5pm! 

Today was a day of tying up loose ends before I shut down. Of course one client decided to schedule three meetings at the beginning of the week that I need to be at. I plan on continuing my vacation into the next week to compensate myself by taking another day off. 

I am just excited to start my time off. I think I might finally start the first vegan cheese chapter from my cooking course. I can probably complete a number of the recipes this week. It will be something interesting to do. 

Until tomorrow...

A LATE POSTING

This is a very late posting because I had a big project that I worked on today for work. I worked on it all afternoon into the evening to get it done. But I got it done!

I had good news today I called the vet to let him know that Lucky was doing good. She even jumped up on the couch and wanted to play a lot yesterday so that was very exciting. The vet was very excited to hear that she was doing well.

I made an appointment with a new rheumatoid arthritis doctor. I have a virtual consultation in a few weeks. Fingers crossed that this works out.

Until tomorrow...

TALKED TO A FRIEND

 I talked to my friend who lives in Europe today. It is interesting to hear other people's experiences over the last almost three years. She and I have written and sent cards but this is the first time we have spoken. I admit I got a little choked up. I miss talking to people who I haven't talked to in a while. I wish I could have stayed on the phone longer but I had a work phone call. 

I had an exciting surprise tonight. Lucky jumped up on the couch! Okay, you are not impressed but Lucky has not jumped up on the couch in months. This was one of the reasons why I originally took her to the doctor. One day she stopped jumping on the couch and I thought it was her legs or hips. It turns out it was an inflamed tummy and protein in her urine. Just two weeks on the medicine and she is playing with toys, eating more, running around the house, and jumping again. Tonight she wanted to play a favorite game "catch me" where she runs around and I chase her. I was sweating and she was happy. Two months ago I couldn't get her to play this, her favorite game, at all. This makes me so happy. 

I need to check the moon but weird things have been happening. Three earthquakes, a three car accident tonight down the road, I don't know. I wonder if it is a full moon. 

I just checked the weather and it is a 60% chance of rain for one day of my staycation. I am glad I am making a Plan B of things to do if I have to stay inside. Today I set my work email response for my staycation. Don't bother me! LOL. 

Until tomorrow...

COOL DAY

 Today was cool. Not like "cool man". Cool like breezy but not breezy. Just cool. It is funny to think that it was 100 degrees last week and now it is around 60 degrees. Temperature whiplash! 

I am feeling SO much better today. I ate more real food and it is fine so far. My voice is still raspy but the pain in my chest is much better. 

I got a lot of work done today. I took Lucky for a walk. I got a load of laundry done. I felt like I got a lot accomplished. 

I started planning my staycation. I have a list of things to do for the Plan A (good weather) and Plan B (crappy weather). I am starting to get excited.

Oh, there have been two earthquakes. They are little earthquakes but they are the first earthquakes I have felt in years. The first was last night. I didn't feel it but Sunny felt it and went crazy. Birds feel earthquakes before humans. The second was around dinner time today and I definitely felt that one. It was little but I felt it. They both were little but sometimes when they are close by you can feel them.  Hopefully that will be the end but the natives call this earthquake season. 

Update on Lucky: she is feeling SO much better. She wanted to walk more than we could today. She wanted to play this evening. She ate more than I gave her for dinner. These are good signs.

Until tomorrow...

4th DAY AFTER ENDOSCOPY RESULTS

Today it's been a better day. I went to physical therapy and the physical therapist says I'm making such good progress that I may graduate physical therapy early. But we'll have to see next week or the week after how things go. It is amazing how quickly I'm feeling better in the past week and a half.

I did bring up my theory of Sjogren's and how that might be the cause of both of my medical problems. The physical therapist said that I should get a new RA doctor and try and figure it out. She says that it is a plausible theory but one that needs to be based in science.

I worked on a big project with work and was very happy to get this project done today. I took the plunge and announced that next week I will be on vacation. I didn't tell anyone that I am staying home for a staycation or as somebody I know calls it a homecation but that's none of their business. Yesterday Lucky and I were supposed to figure a Plan A and a Plan B of things that we were going to do on the staycation. Plan A is if the weather is really nice and Plan B is if the weather is not so nice or if it gets smokey. Obviously Plan B will include more indoor activities.

I cooked for the first time today and made roasted vegetables. I included red potatoes cauliflower and celiac. Came out very tasty.

Lucky went with the dog walker today and he took her for a very long walk and said she did excellent. She came home very enthusiastic and is now sound asleep and snoring.

Until tomorrow...

3RD DAY AFTER ENDOSCOPY RESULTS

 Today I felt better. I took Lucky for a walk. I met up with some neighbors on the walk and talked some. I met a new neighbor and gave their daughter $2 for her orange juice stand. I don't drink orange juice, especially now. 

Then I buckled down and did some invoicing. I got one client completed for three months. I am sure they will be thrilled. 

I had phone calls from various family members. 

I decided to try real food. I have been taking both my medications so it should be fine. Well, it has been two hours since I ate the food and I am beginning to regret it. I had a vegan chick'n sandwich with tomato, lettuce and vegan mayo. Maybe I should have stuck to the rice. My chest is not feeling too good again. 

It is time to go lay down and watch some TV. 

Until tomorrow...

2ND DAY AFTER ENDOSCOPY RESULTS

The oppressive heat finally broke. It was 75 degrees today. That is wonderful and the perfect temperature. I am feeling a bit better. The house is still so hot inside. There is a joke going around that the heat outside has broken but it will now take three days for our houses to cool down. 

I am trying to take it slow and sleeping a lot. 

The most I did today was use my replacement electric (battery charged) bathroom cleaner. I had one but I lost a vital piece. Then I bought one and charged it but it charged for 12 hours and the light never turned green. I had to return it and get a replacement. The replacement works great. Not as good as my original one but good enough. I am still hoping I find the missing piece. If you are a long time reader, I do find missing things years later. (iPods, remote control pieces) 

I am hoping to eat real food tomorrow. I am tired of apple sauce, yogurt, rice, bananas, etc. soft food. I shall see how real food works out. 

Until tomorrow...

AFTER THE ENDOSCOPY RESULTS

 Getting good news about my endoscopy has been great but it doesn't decrease the pain. My voice isn't any better. The medicine I need showed up today and I hope that will be a help. It is a coating medicine that should coat my throat. 

I am still on soft food to keep it from scraping my esophagus. I am tired and still in pain. 

I can't wait to feel better. I am so happy to hear I do not have anything really horrible. 

Until tomorrow...

GOOD NEWS ABOUT THE ENDOSCOPY

Okay, first off I have found that almost every website I went to today had some sort of crazy problem. I don't know if it's a full moon situation or the fact that the weather is over 100° for the 8th day in a row or their floods everywhere or what it is but The Internet's been having problems all day.  I went to do this post and blogger was down so I am doing this on my phone and I will apologize for any typos.

This evening I got good news about my endoscopy. The doctor called and said that the biopsy showed nothing bad. The only thing it showed is that I have reflux in my esophagus which is a little bad but very manageable. So I have to start medication tomorrow for months and months and months. Hopefully this will solve the immediate problem quickly and the long-term problem over the next few months. So good news overall. I did eat some rice tonight which is basically the first solid food I've eaten since before the endoscopy. It's been a little bit tough considering it's been a hundred degrees every day. I have gotten a little light-headed.

So yes on the weather front it was another lovely day where the temperature in the house was in the 90s upstairs and on the side of my house it did hit 113 once again. So lucky and I spent some of the day downstairs where it's cooler. And today I even brought Sunday the bird downstairs because he was squawking and very unhappy at how hot it was. I didn't know he's bring him downstairs on the other days because he is a tropical bird and where he is didn't get very hot but today it did get very hot.

They claim that the hot weather is going to break tomorrow I personally will believe it when I see it because they've said that the last two days and it hasn't happened so I hope it does soon because this is a little bit annoying having these completely almost 100° days in houses that are made for this kind of heat. I would be happy with a nice 75 to 80° day.

Until tomorrow...

PAIN IN MY ESOPHAGUS

 The pain in my esophagus is like drinking glass. Not that I know what drinking glass feels like but I am imagining it. I found the Gaviscon that the doctor told me to buy and had it delivered. I am not sure it was the Gaviscon or the propofol or something else but my stomach got upset this afternoon. The doctor called in another medication but the pharmacy had to wait for a delivery before they could send it to me. 

I tried eating a muffin for breakfast and that was horrible. The rest of the day I stuck to soft food: vegan jello, bananas, ice cream. I sucked on a few cookies. Not too nutritious but what am I to do. Everything hurts to eat or drink. 

I got nauseous again in the afternoon and had to take a nap. I don't know if I am nauseous because of the heat, the pain, not eating, or the medicine I took. I don't know.

I am hoping it gets better so I can eat again. 

It was in the 90's again today. It is hot. Not as hot as yesterday but still hot. 

Lucky went on her first walk with the dog walker in two weeks. She seemed excited to see him but she ran back inside the house. I had to take her outside but then she went with him. He sent me a video of her and she was walking along fine. He said she was walking fine and keeping up. Much better than three weeks ago when she was dragging during the walk. I think she is feeling better. 

We woke up early and went to the veterinarian's office and picked up Lucky's new medicine. Lucky was excited to get in the car. I definitely see a difference in her attitude. 

Until tomorrow...

ENDOSCOPY COMPLETED

 I woke up at 5:29 am and took a gulp of water. I had to beat my 5:30 am deadline of  "No drinking".  I got myself together and took care of the pets. I had already booked my taxi to get to the center. I decided to walk my mail to the postbox with Lucky when the taxi arrived 12 minutes early. I rushed back to put Lucky in her cage and get myself together. 

I got the place and checked in. It was surprisingly crowded. Well, more crowded than last time I was there for my colonoscopy. I only had to wait 35 minutes before I was taken back. They put in my IV and it immediately hurt. A lot. I told the nurse and she said "yes, it is on your wrist. It will hurt when you bend your wrist." I waited a few minutes and told another nurse "It really hurts." This nurse called the anesthesiologist over to look at it. The first nurse seemed annoyed. It turns out the IV had infiltrated the vein. Good thing I pointed it out before they put the propofol in!  They got what I call the "OG" nurse who has been working there for years and you can tell is the "go to" nurse to find hard to find veins. I have great veins but I was so dehydrated because it is 100 degrees outside and I was not allowed to drink anything! My veins had dried up. This OG nurse found a vein first try and got my set up. I had a huge bump where the vein infiltrated. 

The procedure went fine. I was asleep so I really can't give it a review. I woke up and my chest and throat were killing me. Reasonable since I had a tube down there. I was told that the Dr. didn't see anything concerning but she took biopsies. Five biopsies. She is testing all sorts of things. 

She did see inflammation. My esophagus is irritated. Well, the biopsies did not help this situation. It made it so much worse. 

My neighbor came to pick me up and took me home. I let the dog out and fed her. Then I got into bed. I dozed and watched TV all day. I tried to eat and drink but it was like eating glass. It hurt so much I was almost in tears. I feel nauseous. In the afternoon I finally called the doctor. This can't be alright. She said she felt awful that the biopsies irritated me so much. She called in some meds. 

I just tried to rest and not think about food or drink in the heat. Oh, did I forget to mention that it is in the high 90's today. It is SO hot again. The inside of the house is 87 degrees at 8pm. UGH! These temperatures are fun when you have air conditioning but are not too fun when you have no where to go. I took the bird downstairs again tonight. I worry that a tropical bird might overheat. 

It is time to get more sleep. 

Until tomorrow...

COULD IT GET HOTTER. YES!!!

 Well, it is hotter. At one point I looked and it was 93 degrees in my kitchen and 113 degrees on the side of my house. Ugh! We started out the day upstairs in the front of the house since the sun is in the back of the house. Then we went downstairs where it is 20 degrees cooler because we are subterranean. We spent most of the day downstairs. It is cooler but dark. 

I was so excited to use my new electric bathroom cleaner but after being plugged in overnight, it still was not charged. It was a dud. I contacted Amazon and they are sending me a new one. 

That was about the only thing I did all day. It was that hot. No walks. No cooking. 

I finally barbecued dinner. 

I have to be ready early tomorrow for my endoscopy. 

Until tomorrow...

IT IS HOT!

 IT IS HOT! It is somewhere in the 90s today and it is hot. I finished up the Vegan Chocolate Oreo Cheesecake today. I needed to add the chocolate top with the crushed Oreos. 

These are so chocolatey and smooth and delicious. 

I continued doing household tasks. I did the rest of the laundry. I washed my comforter. Very hot days are good for something and that is washing your comforter. I walked Lucky. I put all my chocolate stash in the coolest place in the house. 

I also took Sunny the bird to get his wings, nails and beak clipped. I am glad I did because he had broken two feathers and the base of the feather was still in his body. This is very uncomfortable for birds and they will pluck their feathers to try to get it out so I am glad I brought him today. He will be so happy now. I stayed outside the store for about 40 minutes while I waited for Sunny's turn. It was super hot and there was no shade or anywhere to sit. The store owner knows me and was very understanding that 1) I don't want to stay inside a busy store and 2) I just had my Covid PCR test and I have my procedure on Tuesday so I don't want to be in a busy location. 

I decided to barbecue for dinner. I made vegan barbecue hot dogs, grilled broccoli and cauliflower and baked beans. I ate outside to try and keep cool. 

Until tomorrow...

COVID PCR TEST TODAY

 I woke up early and went to get my Covid PCR test. I decided to get the quick test. It isn't so quick. It took about 2 hours. I went to a place that is one of these new "do everything online" places. Make your appointment online, register online, upload everything online. You show up and you go into a room and they checked my vitals. Then they did the PCR test. I was surprised. The last time I did a Covid test at a place it was in March 2020 and they did the up the nose test that went all the way to my brain. This test today was just in my nostril. Then a doctor came in and asked me how I was feeling. I said I was feeling like I just wanted a Covid test so I can get my procedure on Tuesday.  I felt like they were looking to charge my insurance company more money. I didn't need to see a doctor. 

My test was negative. 

I got home and decided to sweep up the backyard. There was a bunch of stuff left from the guys putting up the fence. I collected three bags of stuff for compost. It looks so neat now. 

I started laundry and washed dishes and took Lucky for a walk. 

Then I decided to make these vegan chocolate Oreo cheesecakes. I could do the first part and then they needed to sit for hours in the freezer to stiffen. I will finish them tomorrow.

Until tomorrow...

I HAVE A FENCE!

 The fence was installed!! After weeks (and months) of trying to get my Trex fence installed, I have a fence! Two days ago I got a call saying they wanted to install the fence today and they would arrive between 8-10am. I felt like they were going to cancel at the last minute once they realized it was Labor Day Weekend. They had to come from a distance and the traffic going back was probably horrendous. 

They arrived at 7:20 am and I was in the shower. When I got out of the shower I saw they were outside. I called them and said I would be out in a few minutes. They said my jerk neighbor was yelling at them. Telling them they had to move the truck. He didn't ask them nicely instead he came out yelling. I got dressed and came outside just in time for the company boss to call me and tell me that they were going to cancel the job if the neighbor was going to verbally assault the men. I said I would handle it and I called another neighbor to ask his tenant to move his car. (of course it was the guy I gave a ticket to a few weeks ago when he parked in my driveway). The tenant came out and moved his car and I apologized for the ticket telling him I didn't know it was his car (it had out-of-state plates). The truck moved and everyone calmed down. 

The fence was installed. I bought the guys some lunch which made them happy. They were done by 2:30pm and got on the road. The fence looks so great. 

It was such an exhausting day that started with such trauma. 

Why do people have to be so abusive? Those workers did nothing to him. That neighbor is nothing but a bully who thinks he can get everything his way. 

I bought myself dinner because I wanted to celebrate. Black bean plantain burritos. 

 

Until tomorrow...

LUCKY MEDICAL CONCLUSION

This morning we woke up bright and early to take Lucky in for her ultrasound. She was a little difficult to get out of bed at such a bright and early hour but I finally got her in the car and she spent the morning at the vet's office. I finally got a call from the vet and it was a mostly good report. The vet said that ultrasound showed that her intestinal tract was horribly inflamed. That's what was probably causing her so much pain. I've been instructed to restart her steroids, flagyl and use the painkiller as needed. Then I should check in with him in a week. 

He also said that I need to stop the doggie diet that lucky has been on. He thinks she is out of fine weight and that the diet may have complicated the whole intestinal tract situation. I need to keep feeding her the carrots because they are obviously giving her needed fiber and I can go back to giving her doggie treats. He did say to continue to give her the different dog food and see how that works for her. He said that I can wait for the radiologist to read the x-rays but in his opinion there's no need to wait because he thinks the x-rays are fine and that that is not the main cause of Lucky's pain. Lucky's hips do have small amount of arthritis but not enough to be causing her the kind of pain she was in.

So as you can see dealing with the dog was basically my full day. But this evening she picked up a toy and wanted to play so that's progress. Then she ate all the food in her bowl and wanted more. So she's obviously feeling much better. I will send her with the dog walker starting next week.

Until tomorrow...