Meanderings…

This week of healing up from last Monday’s surgery/procedure has been fairly positive. Wednesday was a cluster-fuck that had me tossing certain meds in the trash which are meant to handle symptoms that make you feel like you have a UTI… These meds slow down the digestive tract, among other things. My digestive system is uber sensitive. I’d rather deal with UTI symptoms than digestive symptoms… I’m down to staggering Advil and Tylenol, and tapering off of Uristat (a bladder calmer). Today I popped up to the hospital for a post-op x-ray, and tomorrow the stent gets removed at the doc’s office (Glory Hallelujah!!!!!!). Then the sand they turned the kidney stone into starts passing… Hopefully, peeing sand will be a non-issue! 😜

We attended a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream that our son-in-law is in yesterday. It was a modern interpretation, and was exceptional. My DH’s first degree is in theater, and he soaked it up! Afterward we went to dinner at a fav local restaurant. It was a really nice way to emerge from a week at home, not having left the property since Monday at 5:30AM.

This morning I taught an Eldergrow class at Jane’s community. In this class we used flowers petals and greenery we pressed from both the community and my garden, two weeks ago, with an antique flower press of my parents, to make greeting cards for the residents to give to friends and/or loved ones. It was such a success! The ‘instant gratification’ of the project (the cards were beautiful no matter how they were constructed) helped make it accessible to each resident. I could have spent the entire day making dragonflies out of pressed sunflower petals.

Teaching these classes is SO wonderful! I receive so much more than, I know, I give… I am able to be in the moment with my residents, ebb and flow, relate to where they are, and have zero expectations.

This experience helps me relate better to my own mom. It’s like the interaction with non-family members (which is way easier) guides/councils/tempers your communication with your loved one. You suddenly have permission to shoot the shit about nothing! To agree to ‘we need to find a better place for me to live,’ and not feel guilty or stressed knowing that you’re engaging in a fantasy conversation.