Mark Twain

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do ...
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Showing posts with label socks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label socks. Show all posts

Monday, January 31, 2011

"Great" is a great word!!

Some days are destined to be good ... sometimes great. Today felt like one of those days.

It started out a bit shaky. I was worried about my knee from yesterday's fall. As I rolled over in bed this morning and decided to get up, I braced myself for knee pain. I fretted that this injured knee would set me back on walking, again!!

Shock!

Almost no pain ... in my knee. But my neck ... now that was another matter. My neck was just fine if my head remained upright, balanced on my shoulders, but when I bent over (like to get out of bed), a muscle in my neck tightened up in a serious way. Darn! I popped 600 mg of Advil with my morning coffee and that controlled the pain in my neck. The knee and the neck wouldn't get in the way of my walking. Great! I can live with that.

Lunch was shared with an old friend from a previous neighborhood. Thirty years ago we lived several doors down from each other. Our children played and walked to school together, and we became friends. We both moved away from that old neighborhood, but over the years our paths crossed several times, and we would catch up on our lives and that of our families. Some friendships seem to stand the test of time. They don't require lots of tending, they allow each person to change and evolve without judgement, and they respect each other's differences as well as being joyful in the similarities. That is what I have with this friend. And that was what I needed on this day. We laughed and enjoyed each other's company as if nothing has changed over the 30+ years. Lots of things have changed, but basically we haven't.

It was really great.

Coming home I was glad to find mom was doing well. She sometimes gets anxious when I have been gone, for no real reason other than I am not in the house. She is a worrier, always has been. It isn't something you can talk her out of after 84 years of worry. But today she seemed good. No negative reactions to my absence.

I was batting a 1000 in the "great day department"!

And to top off this great day, I finished a pair of knitted socks I started in January 2009. I consider that a very good sign. All of last year I dabbled around doing bits and pieces of my hobbies, but I focused on nothing and finished little. It wasn't so great. My hobbies have always been an important element in my happiness. Finishing these socks really felt great.

Really, really great. And they will look just great on my daughter's feet!

Last day of January 2011. The month started out very badly, but I am glad to see it is ending with a bang! A great bang!

Now to get more Advil!



Monday, November 29, 2010

Wonder Socks and a fabulous daughter


Yes, these are wonder socks! Although a picture can't do them credit, they gave me comfort over this difficult weekend.

You see, Friday night a 24-hour stomach virus hit me hard (this one should have been called a "48-hour and counting virus" 'cause the impacts are still being felt - that is why I am still wearing these socks.) You know the kind of virus I am talking about - you and your toilet bowl get to know each other real well, you promise the toilet bowl that you will keep it cleaner in the future, you keep your family up all night long with gagging and toilet flushing sounds, and days later the smell of food still turns your stomach a bit. That's the one!

Somewhere around 3:30 am on Saturday morning, on one of my many trips past my dresser after leaving the bathroom, I realized that my feet were cold (I hadn't been thinking much about my feet, you understand). Previously I got back into bed feeling sorry for myself and hoping desperately this trip to the bathroom was my last trip ... and then my feet would finally get warm in bed and ... zammo ... off to the bathroom again I went. On that trip at 3:30 am, I decided to put on a pair of my hand-made wool socks ... I just slipped my hand into the drawer and picked a pair in the dark (I wasn't much interested in being color coordinated at that point). There was an "ahhh" sensation as I slipped the socks onto my feet. Finally there was one part of my body that was being taken care of - my feet. They were comfortable and warm. The rest of me wanted to die, but my feet were "golden". And every trip after that (yes, it went on and on *sigh*), I would get back into bed and think, "oh my feet are so warm and comfortable" ... it was a small comfort in light of all the other busy things that were going on with the rest of my body - but you take what you can get when you are thinking of just dying!!

So here I am on Monday - still eating almost nothing, weak as a piece of limp asparagus, but feeling a bit better, and I am still wearing my same socks. Now before any of you can make any nasty comments about "dirty socks," let me tell you ... these little gems are broken in just right, my feet have never been cold since I put them on, they are my lucky charm for getting better and they still make me feel good.

They are staying!!

And, my daughter is even better than these socks. She stayed a day later than she intended in a germy house to take care of things. She ran to the store for me, got dinner on the table for my husband and mom when I could barely lift my head, she did my laundry (checked for spots, checked labels, checked pockets, folded clothes, didn't felt my other hand made socks waiting to be washed ... all done without me giving one instruction! Wow.) Thank you, baby!

Now, it would be all worthwhile, if tomorrow I got on the scale and found I had lost 40 lbs!! Ok, that might be a bit excessive.

I'll settle for 35!