This blog post brings everyone who reads it my very best wishes for whichever holiday you and/or your family celebrate or celebrated as well as for 2022. May Covid stop learning the Greek alphabet, at least at such a fast pace (to steal a quote from a Christmas card I received). Of course, what we’d all like to see is for it to completely disappear or have us all develop a complete immunity as we did to smallpox and polio. And, yes, if wishes were horses (or electric cars) beggars would all ride.
In my last post in early October, I mentioned my carpel tunnel problem. Well, once they did the nerve conduction study, the pain in my fingers (especially the fuck-you one) became almost unbearable. Some nights I went through two ice packs just to be able to drift off to sleep for a couple of hours. But, that’s all behind me now because I had surgery on 12/23, and it was the best Christmas present I could have received. The pain in my fingers has gone although some numbness remains and there was very little pain involved with the surgery. I get the stiches out on 1/3/22, and will proceed with therapy to strengthen not only my left, but my right hand as well.
I’ve also decided that 2022 will be (knock wood) illness and physical problem free. I’m thinking positively about not seeing my doctor, not developing any new challenges, and staying as healthy as possible. To do that, I’m going to continue my fitness classes three times a week as well as my daily physical therapy exercises and stretches as well as walking with my neighbor as often as possible. If being positive about how my body feels and works and treating it as well as possible is what is needed, you can bet I’ll be just fine in 2022.
October, November and December were fairly boring months. I didn’t do anything exciting enough to type about, and typing was a challenge after the nerve conduction test because I couldn’t feel my fingers at all. It’s still a bit of a challenge and I’ll be writing this over a few days because typing causes a bit of pain in my left hand.
As most of you know, I had
to have Kaizer euthanized in October. I still miss him every single day…his
dancing on his hind legs as I carry his breakfast/dinner to where he ate, the
silly smile he was able to give me because his lower chin stuck out, his
enthusiasm when it was time to go outside, the way he’d nestle between my
thighs, heave a big sigh and look at me with a smile as if to say, “It sure
don’t get much better than this.”
I do have to admit it is much easier and less expensive with just one doggie. I’ve also come to the realization that some of the “accidents” I blamed on Karma were most likely made by Kaizer. There’s also so much less dog hair, and other detritus that comes in on their paws. Still, I miss my little snuggle bug Kaizer.
Speaking of bedrooms, I am finally almost finished with what was the marital bedroom. Going forward, it’s going to be known as my Revitalization Room and I absolutely love it. I painted the ceiling and walls a silvery gray and one wall is purple as is the blind and valance. It was the first time I’ve ever painted a room, so it’s not the great job a professional would do, but I’m happy with it, plus it’s not like I’m going to have visitors come share the space with me. Not only that, it is the last time I’ll do any painting…professional painter is the only way to go in my opinion.
The furniture finally arrived the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, and the mattress on Wednesday. Then, it was time to wash all the linen and place it on the bed. I think it was another 10 days or so before I actually slept on my new mattress, surrounded by the treasures, pictures and shadow box displays I imported from my old bedroom or other parts of the house. I love, love, love my new bed and its linen, comforter, duvet and new pillows feel thick, comfy and wonderful. I also really enjoy raising and lowering the head so I can read or watch TV.
Somehow or another, my name has been noticed by whoever or whatever in the ether. First, my bank account was hacked, but not by a lot, so the card wasn’t cancelled. Then, a few weeks later, it was hacked again, this time by crypto.com for quite a bit of money. This time, my card was cancelled while the fraudulent changes were cancelled. When I reported this to AJ and his wife, you would have thought I’d completely lost all my brains. They didn’t even wait to hear my story before chastising me about how I handled everything. They finally listened to what I did and agreed I did the right thing, but now I’m supposed to have a family conference if something like this happens again.
I switched to another bank account while the first was cancelled and a new card issued, but then I got a message about that one. This bank immediately cancelled the card, subtracted the fraudulent charge and issued a new card. Not long after I got the new card for the first bank, I got another email about a fraudulent change, but checked and it was just plain bullshit. I seriously hope 2022 doesn’t bring me any further difficulties with the various cards I have.
Finally, I decided to give up Facebook for a while, and wouldn’t you know that the first time I went back on, I was hacked and new friend requests were sent out. I immediately changed my password and notified FB friends that I’d been hacked. Again, I hope that’s it with FB, but I’m not spending any time there, so it doesn’t really matter. And, it’s not that I don’t miss some of the friends I have on FB, it’s more I just can’t stand the bullshit that keeps on coming whether I want it or not.
I haven’t seen my Snohomish son and his family since the end of August. Only his wife is immunized and with three auto-immune diseases under my belt, I haven’t had the courage to just go there and take my chances. However, with people getting the delta or omicron variant even when fully immunized, perhaps I just need to take a chance and figure if I get it, I get it and it won’t be too bad. This damn Covid has certainly fucked up my life for the last almost two years…yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, you’re all thinking, “So, what’s so special about you??? ALL our lives were/are fucked up. Get over yourself.”
AJ and his family are all totally vaccinated, so I do see them and am so grateful to both AJ and Angie and Haley for their assistance with various things. I sometimes think maybe Thor and his family aren’t vaccinated so they don’t have to deal with me. Anyway, AJ has spent many hours here working on the various “honey-dew” lists I email him. I try very hard not to be too demanding or ask for too much. I’m always surprised that what I think is a huge list only takes him an hour or two to complete.
Angie, of course, was of great assistance when it came time for surgery on my wrist. I’d originally told Thor it was his turn, but since he’s not vaccinated, he couldn’t accompany me. She did a swell job of taking me and returning me home with my meds and fresh pizza. It’s very comforting to know I can call on her when needed.
For the last couple of years, I’ve had someone who came to mow and edge my yard. This also included cleaning up the tons of leaves that fell in the fall. I don’t know what happened to him, but I finally called someone else who came and did the last mow, rake and put my garden in winter mode. It was way more expensive than the original person, but it’s done and looks great when not covered by snow. I’ll have to figure out what I’m going to do come spring and investigate hiring another firm to mow and edge every other week or so.
A new erotic fiction book was begun and so far, four chapters are complete. Once my wrist heals and I can type again, I plan on working on Merciless Madeleine. I also researched agents and publishers of erotic fiction and will be emailing off submissions by the end of January. I seriously hope there is an agent or publisher who’d love to read my work and publish it as well. If that doesn’t work, I’m going to investigate self-publishing, first through Amazon, but there are other ways that will need some research as well.
So, that pretty much
brings y’all up to date for the rest of 2021. As I said in the beginning of
this blog post, I wish you all the best 2022 has to offer. I also wish myself
the best for 2022 as well with the goal of getting published and planning a
river trip from Budapest to Amsterdam in 2023.