Happenings - April 23

Just an updating post... today we head to the city in which our daughter lived and attended university this past year. Her father had retrieved her a few days ago with a vehicle full of boxes, bags, clothes on hangers, pillows... Today, however is the cube van day in which we bring home a single bed frame, a mattress, a desk, a kitchen table and four (although not all are completely intact anymore) chairs, a small coffee table, boxes of kitchen items, her remaining food, and whatever else is still at the little house she shared with three other girls. In addition, the cube van will make an extra stop to pick up some of my husband's aging mother's furniture. We will "keep" it for her due to her living with his sister and eventually requiring further care as her dementia progresses.

Now people, we live in a relatively big, old century plus home, but we have managed to fill it (overfill it) just fine on our own. I have NO IDEA where to put all of this extra furniture. Our daughter will not be needing any of it this coming school year, as she will be a Don at university and will have furniture already in her dorm room. As to how long we will be required to keep and honour my mother-in-law's items, I don't know the time frame on that one.

I am not the neatest human around. Nor will I win any "House Beautiful" awards any time soon, but clutter and having things where they shouldn't be drives me bonkers, so this will be a test of strength.

Last night I had my second massage therapy appointment with a fantastic young lady who is also a champion martial arts competitor. I have been having excrutiating lower back pain which radiates into my hips making consistent sleep a thing of the past for months now. I've tried chiropractor, stretching, increased movement, saw my dr. and had half my weight in blood drawn, as well as a pelvic ultrasound to eliminate scary possibilities. I was on my way to finding out who had placed the pins in a voodoo doll bearing my resemblance, when I decided to try massage. I used to have massage for back pain when the kids were little and lifting them in and out of car seats did me in.

Please do not imagine dim lights, soft music and a sense of euphoria. This is massage which involves stripping the fascia and working on months old pressure points. At times I am doing my "having a baby breathing" or gripping onto the edge of the massage table. Last night was an a-ha moment when she pinpointed very thick and tight i. t. bands (iliotibia -  no doubt I have bastardized that spelling) which run from the side of knee up the side of your leg to your hip. She figures my muscles in my lower back have been compensating. Now that we know, I can do foam rollering at home as well as continuing with the massage. I am looking forward to sleeping on my back, something I haven't done for so long I can't remember. This young lady is fantastic, and so passionate and knowledgeable about her work.

Scooter, the crazy loud fluffy cat, is coming along well. The two cats get on in the sense that Scooter LOVES Sampson and desperately wants him to play and be his best friend. Sammy tolerates him and has only given an exasperated hiss a couple of times. There have yet to be any curl up together and groom each other moments, but that would involve Scooter actually slowing down. He loves to play and has numerous toys, his favourite still being a long shoe lace which he carries in his mouth, trailing it around the house.

He still hasn't got the whole litter box thing figured out, but at least he goes in the same spot everyday and uses newspaper as his landing pad. My husband is trying a method much like you would use to train a puppy, where the area of newspaper gets diminished over time and eventually the newspaper will end up in a litter box (minus any litter), then slowly litter will be introduced. This is one thing that is really bugging me because I have never had a cat that doesn't use litter without a problem. Silly little boy!

My husband and I are both five years away from retirement and we have begun to attend retirement workshops so we know how to prepare our insurance, money, and most importantly, dental work!! Yup, get all your dental work done before you retire because it is crazy expensive when you don't have your usual coverage and it costs a lot more to have a new plan.

Lastly, I LOVED Prince. I had the Purple Rain album and played certain songs over and over and over. The odd time I get on the treadmill, I still find that Kiss is one of the best songs to move to . I know it is none of our business how he died, just as it wasn't any of our business how Michael Jackson died, but when someone is a part of one's life and their songs define certain moments and memories, it is difficult not to be curious.

That has been my week. I will post again from underneath a pile of mismatched things later.