Friday, June 17, 2011

Ring Solution

    I have been going to Oregon Shakespeare Festival for 35 years, because I am a big fan.  When Carol and I got together, she saw the charm of the trip.  While we were there, this year, she bought me a band that fits my left ring finger and has the quote “to be or not to be”on it.  She reassured me I don’t look too femmy wearing both rings.
    Carol joked that her daughter Lena, whose birthday was last week, wasn’t going to get a present because Carol spent that money on me.  I reminded her the ring was on my birthday list.  She said, “Your birthday isn’t until the end of August.”
   I said “I will remember.”  And I will, even thought my memory is crappy.
   I had trouble with the brakes on my walker getting loose.  I was going to call my PT to find out who I could ask to fix them.  Carol figured it out.  She is what my friend Mel calls a can-do femme.
    I asked Carol whether she thought I should stop cleaning my glasses, since that is how I broke the last pair.  She agreed.  I asked her whether she would like me to ask my friend Dick to make cleaning my glasses part  of our standing date, so it all doesn’t fall to her.  She said she doesn’t mind doing it.
    I had been doing reading a page of Spanish as not a daily practice, but a regular one.  It became irregular when I didn’t bring those books to Ashland with me.  I’m winding up agreeing with my friend Kit that it is too slow to keep momentum.  Fortunately, Carol also has Dreaming in Spanish in English.
    My vocabulary in Italian is much better.  I’ve switched to a page at a time from Corriere Della Sera, a newspaper in Turin, where I have friends.  That went much more smoothly.  It prepares me for the trip I’d like to make back there with Carol.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Feeling Dopey

    Mondays I usually go to the gym.  I decided to take a holiday, Memorial Day, even though the gym was open.
    My alarm goes off at 9:00 so I will remember to take my medicine.  Wednesday, for some reason, I felt like going back to bed, so I did, after eating a croissant, so I wouldn’t lose weight.  I have a standing date with my friend Dick for lunch Wednesday, so I got out of bed in time to make the bus to meet him. I told him I had been back to bed, and that I was feeling like it might be hard to get to the gym on Thursday, because of that dopiness.  He usually sees me at the gym. Dick had noticed I wasn’t there Monday.  He said it is all right to take a break, but important to get back to my exercise routine.
    Dick also asked me if I was feeling depressed.  I thought I might be and remembered it is a side effect of the tetrabenazine I am taking.  I thought I could ask to increase my antidepressant.  I mentioned the issue to Carol.  She didn’t feel I was depressed.
   On further thought I realized I had skipped my morning dose of creatine Wednesday, because it has a stimulant effect.  I wanted to sleep in.  I also missed my meditation to make it to lunch.  The combination was why I had felt off my game.
    Sure enough, Thursday, when I did both of those things, I only felt my usual resistance to going to the gym. Dick waved to me, through the window,  as I was on the stationary bicycle.  Our friend John stood beside him and applauded me.
    Last night, I had quite a bit of trouble getting to sleep.  I take a bunch of  sleeping medications.  It felt like I had forgotten one.  So, I am sleepy again.  I canceled Interplay, this morning, and a concert I was supposed to go to  with Carol, tonight.  Oh well.
    The present moment is dozey.