Tired of being tired?

Five Simple Things (May 22)

Hello.

Hope you are well. We've had quite a time here lately with things. I had my three month checkup last week and since then I've had a lot of random pain. Starting to feel myself again and slowly coming off pain medication. I was on pain medication throughout the day, then went to having it just at night to sleep, and now I'm able to sit up without excruciating pain, and not needing as much pain medication. I am happy about that, because it's made me a little sick after eating. I finished my antibiotic and my other medications I was on, so that's a plus, too. I'm not on a multivitamin with extra iron. I've been getting up more and moving around and actually sitting on a stole in the bathtub and bathing the lower parts of my body and slowly washing the upper parts. Jeff and Skylar actually helped me wash my hair this week, too, so that felt great. I'm slowly getting back to normal and it feels wonderful. Oh, another thing, I was able to sit up long enough to be able to wash my bedding, too. Things are looking up, as far as this house goes, but with the rest of the state, and world, it looks very sad. As of right now, there's been over 95,000 deaths in the state of Oregon. That is just incredible to me. Of course, people die every day, but that amount of people in that short of time is sad. Slowly counties are able to enter a Phase 1 and reopen things slowly. Hopefully, people will still abide by the mask mandate and keep distance. Jeff and Skylar are still being cautious with coming and going from our own house. I am still very vulnerable and they are doing a great job at keeping me safe. Here are five things from this week.

1. This Basin.

Being able to sit on a small stool in the bathtub and wash as best I can, it still doesn't happen every day, or even every other day. This week was the first time I was able to do that, so Jeff found this wash basin for me to be able to wash myself a bit better without leaving the bed. Metal wash basins are hard to find, especially ones in good condition. It's nice to be able to wash my face every day before going to bed, and even waking up for the day. 

2. This Sunshine.

Still enjoying seeing the sun peek through the window of my room every morning. It's just nice to be able to see outside, too. Skylar opened the curtains and cracked the window a few times this week, and it was nice. Helped with my mood immensely. If you've ever spent weeks at a time recovering from surgery, or an injury, not being able to move much, you know how important positive things are. They really do help with the healing process.

3. This Regrowing Process.

This regrow option for your kitchen scraps is a wonderful idea for teaching where food comes from, as well as actually being able to use the food once it has grown again and again. Carrots, onions, lettuce, beets, garlic, onions, and even celery can be regrown from the scraps of the previously used vegetable tops, or bottoms. This tray idea is a wonderful way to help that process, too, or you can just add a few of them to a glass and refresh the water when needed. Be sure to plant some of your regrows in dirt to be able to take advantage of them all year long. Some of these are cold weather tolerant: Carrots, lettuce, beets, etc. (Source)

4. Enneagram Personality.

Well, that seems about right. I don't normally take personality quizzes, but this one was quite interesting. Seems to have a few good points with it, but overall, individuality, creativity, and independent is definitely a hit. A few points are a miss, but overall, I will agree with these results. For the curious, you can take the quiz here for yourself. 

5. Skylar's Blog.

Skylar is looking to get more into his blog, but he isn't sure what exactly he wants to do yet. Hopefully, he comes up with a good plan and layout, so we can work on it together. He may just do a Friday post each week, or every other week. You can check out his blog here and keep up with what he plans to do with it soon.

Positive affirmations this week: "If you’re feeling down, how do you cheer yourself up?"
I'll be honest, I feel down quite often, especially since addressing my past physical and mental child abuse issues in the last few years. Sleep is the best thing that's helped me and talking with people that love and support me. Building up my self confidence, and feeling like my life is okay and not a failure. Therapy has helped because they've given me different way to help silence the abusive comments made to me throughout my childhood. Reversing the tape that plays the negative comments has helped, too. Instead of, "you're a failure, you were never wanted, or you were a mistake" I change it to, "I am as successful as I can be right now, I am very much wanted, and I am not a mistake. The good I've done in my life has helped a lot of people and will change the world." Mental, emotional, and physical abuse is never okay, no matter what your abuser(s) tell you. These affirmations aren't just for me, they are for you, the reader, too. If they help you, that is amazing and makes me feel so great at sharing my struggles. You aren't alone. Get help. Reach out. You are important and deserve a happy and good life.

Have a nice weekend.

Five Simple Things (May 15)

 Hello.

Hope you are staying safe, wearing masks, social distancing, and respecting others around you. Whether you feel, believe, or even want to wear a face mask, you should. There's been protests here for the lockdown and the face mask requirements. I just find all of that ridiculous. The protestors are literally protesting protection. Makes zero sense, but everyone has their opinion, even me with this post. But, the numbers just keep going up and a lot of them are able to recover. I am glad to see a lot of them are recovering to almost 100%. I just hope there aren't any long-term affects of this years from now with the people that have gotten the virus. Another reason I am glad that I am recovering from my surgery during this time. I am considered a person of vulnerable health, so I do not want to take any chances. Jeff has been adamant about coming in the side gate, through the garage, and leaving his things in the garage. Showering, and handwashing has been a huge plus, too. If Skylar goes with Jeff to the store, or to get supplies, they shower immediately upon returning, and everything is left in the garage for at least 24 hours and then sanitized before being brought inside. My room is another very sanitary area, so I am not worried about germs coming inside. I hope over time everything gets better for everyone. If you're someone that has been affected, physically, medically, or even mentally, during this time, I am sending as many positive vibes as I can. You can do this! Stay strong. Here are five things from this week.

1. This Sunshine.

Morning sunshine through the windows helps with my mental health during this time. I want to get up, but the pain is rough some days. I am glad to be able to sit up and eat on certain days. This week was hard on me and the pain I feel in my chest bothers me a lot. Again, I will speak more on this and do an entire post on what kind of surgery I had, and the extent of what was done. It's something I should have done in my 20s, but was too scared. I am not sure how I feel right now about it; whether, I am glad I had it done, or not. Hopefully, that mindset will change as I heal up more and can do more with my body. But, back to the sunshine, this week it came through the curtains and passed through the school bell we have in the front yard. The silhouette on the curtain made me smile. 

2. This Labyrinth.

I've been drawing up plans for a Labyrinth of our own, either here were we currently live, or on the land we are looking at buying. I would love to have something like this at both locations, but we are limited on space here. I want to design one that's at least a five mile walk around, but being here, I may be able to make it at least a mile and a half. I love some of the great layouts that you can find online. Here are a few of my favorites.
(Source)                                              (Source)

3. This Recipe.


A lot of quarantine cooking has been happening with many people, and we are no different. We followed a recipe online and made these roasted red potatoes and onions with rosemary, similar to the Olive Garden's version. They were delicious and soft enough for me to eat, too. This will definitely be a recipe I will post on the blog later. In the meantime, you can find a similar one here.

4. This Road Sign.

During my last checkup for my surgery, this road sign across I5 was present. And, of course, it was raining. This sign was the first time I actually got to see anything related to the Coronavirus pandemic. It was quite strange to me. It was nice to see that the Oregon Department of Transportation and Governor Brown were putting forth some efforts to make people aware of the seriousness of the virus. Hopefully, people took it seriously enough that were traveling through the state.

5. This Meal.
 
I've been able to eat a bit more solid foods the last few days and this meal was amazing. Jeff brought it to me on Mother's Day this week (May 10) and even though I didn't eat all of it, it was still nice to be able to have something more than just mashed potatoes and other soft foods. I eat all of my meals in the bed right now, but this nice setup made me feel special. 

Positive affirmations this week: "What adventure would completely excite you right now?"
Purchasing a Sprinter Van and traveling across the United States and take pictures of all the sights that bring me joy. Although, this plan is not completely out of reach, it is something I would love to be doing right now. Here's to future planning!

Have a nice weekend.

Golf Game

When the golf courses were opened back up, we took the opportunity to take advantage and work on our long and short games. I was only an observer, of course, but I still had fun hanging out with Skylar and Jeff.

My bumblebee putter Skylar and Jeff got me. Although I couldn't use it then, I do love it and I think it will be a lot of fun to use when I can play golf again.




Road Trip to Chemult, Oregon, Amtrak station

Yesterday we decided to get out of the house again, but this time we drove to Chemult, Oregon, and check out their Amtrak station that's literally in the middle of nowhere. It's somewhere that Skylar found online and with everything going on, we figured it would be a lowkey road trip just to explore. And, we were right, there was no one around and it was almost eerie. 





Raising Snails

 




Our snails got a new habitat this week and they are loving it do far. As we were preparing the dirt to add to the new habitat we found hundreds of babies in the soil. We ended up putting them in the front flowerbed away from the ducks, and we wished them well. 



There's a great unit study at Woodlark about snails. We have enjoyed keeping ours and following the progress of Woodlark's snails, too. There's a lot of great things that snails and slugs can go and a lot of them meet their end here in the Willamette Valley because they are seen as a nuisance. They may eat vegetable leaves and some fruits, but overall, they are just trying to survive. 




Five Simple Things (May 8)

 Hello.

Looks like the Coronavirus pandemic is going to affect us clear into the summer months. Our governor here in Oregon announced that nonessential businesses need to close. This includes gyms, restaurants, bars, public buildings-libraries, sports centers, hair salons, etc. Our local municipalities are closing now, city buildings, courts, and even all government buildings. The schools have been closed to in person learning since April, but now with all of these closures, it's almost like an apocalyptic-type world. Of course, I've only been out of the house twice, to get medication, and to go to my two month checkup. But, seeing images, and reading stories online of what it's affecting people, is surreal. We did get a chance to see some F15s flying over. They did a flyover to say thank you to the frontline workers and healthcare workers that are put in the face of the pandemic. 

I was able to get outside last week for enjoy a bit of sunshine, but I was hurting badly from standing and had to lay back down. Jeff said, it's best that I say laying as much as possible, and he set up my bed to where I can sit up a bit and not be uncomfortable. Wedge pillows, body pillows, and memory foam pillows have been a life saver for me during this time. I've actually started being able to eat more than just soft foods this week, too. Which, is a good thing, because the apple sauce, jello, pudding, mashed potatoes, peaches, and pears where great, but I'm ready for some more variety. I was able to eat half a sandwich this week, but that's about it. Jeff is going to make a dinner for me tonight that will include some other recommended foods for after surgery, so that I don't shock my body, and end up getting sick. I am looking forward to that. Here are five things this week.

1.  This Sign.

Headed to my two-month checkup, there are digital signs like this over Interstate 5 to give warning of wrecks, debris, or even travel times, and Amber Alerts. This is the the first time that I've seen anything on these signs other than public alerts. It's a good thing, I think, that the highway department here, ODOT, put these messages up, but it's still extremely odd, to me.

2. This Picture.

Jeff and Skylar went to get some extra supplies this week and were going to get me some face tissue, but the shelves were pretty bare of anything like that. They got lucky and found some travel sized Kleenex near the pharmacy, but they sent me this picture and I was shocked. When I think of the needing essentials, I guess I never thought that toilet paper and paper towels would be part of that. Guess we need to revamp our "just in case" supplies for the future.

3. This Moment.



Skylar loves trains. He has loved them since I introduced him to Thomas the Train when he was two. He has enjoyed learning about trains and how trains work, since that time. With that, he can tell you what most trains are, where they came from, where they are going, and what company owns them. As Jeff and him were out getting things this week, he got a great moment of being able to travel along side one of his favorite trains, and he video taped it to show me. 

4. This Paint.

Before my surgery I had started repainting and repairing some issues with this house we live in. It's pretty upsetting that we pay rent and have to do the repairs, too. But, overall, we are looking for land options out of the Willamette Valley, so I'd really like to leave the house better than when we moved in. We had started with the bathroom and have been working our way around the house slowly. This paint is great. It's a primer and paint in one and since all of the walls in this house are white, it works great to use as a coverup, even years of the landlord allowing renters before us to smoke in the house. It also has zero VOCs and is certified by GreenGuard. Since I've been laid up recovering, Jeff and Skylar have pretty much painted a lot of the areas I missed before. Looking forward to getting 100% and being able to finish what I started. 

5. This Little Village.


I had ordered this little "f-it" village around February before I had my surgery, and at the time, the lady behind The Little Red Door had backorders, so they came in this week. They are funny to me and the f-it is hidden behind the little houses. I just love them and she did a custom order for me by putting little windows on the houses and posted it on her Instagram page when it shipped out. She's a small business owner and a very talented one, at that. She has so many cute ceramics that she makes.

Positive affirmations this week: "What do you need to forgive yourself for?"
For blaming myself for other people's issues. Also, I am working on forgiving myself for not sticking up for myself during those times, too. I also want to forgive myself for trying to live up to other people's expectation of me and not going for what made me happy. I also would like to forgive myself for trying to find validation in other people. What a waste of time. I would also like to be able to forgive my younger self for all of the abuse I went through growing up. It wasn't my fault and it has taken me this long in my life to be able to finally work through those issues. I would like to say to myself, "Shelly, I forgive you. You did the best your could at the time, and you're amazing for what you went through. I love you."

Have a nice weekend.