flying bbq

I was just barely awake when the first woof popped my eyes open. Spike. Then Bella joined in. What on earth were they barking at? Carm was with them in the living room getting ready to let them outside when the ruckus started so I figured he had it in hand, then, from the living room I heard Carm shout out “the wind knocked the bbq over, and blew a barrel out from the barn.” Gosh, I knew it had been windy, not to mention that there had been driving rain, but to blow something that big and heavy over!

A look out the window confirmed the amount of rain we’d received: the creek and river were in full flood. The rain had lessened, but the wind still wailed.

We huddled inside for much of the day, except for a few walks with the dogs for me, and pool management for Carm. And of course there was that bbq to un-topple. I was happy with our well-made house and a warm pinkish sweater to keep me warm.  I was pretty lazy for much of the day, but did get onto the treadmill for 27 minutes today (5 more than yesterday and for 1 ½ miles).

“A wind has blown the rain away and blown the sky away and all the leaves away, and the trees stand. I think, I too, have known autumn too long.”
~e. e. cummings

I believe in pink

It’s raining, and with 50-100mm in the forecast for the next 24 hours it will be raining a lot. That’s okay though. I have a roof over my head and the furnace works. The dogs may have something else to say though - they don’t like the rain so trips out are cut short with no long walks into the field. All three are cuddled on the futon, asleep for the most part, but looking out the window the rest of the time.

Last night we had a great time at the Acapulco’s Halloween party. I dyed my hair pink and wore some black see-through clothes and went as a hooker, Carm went as himself as he refuses to dress up. Honestly though, our dress-up clothes went to the thrift store last spring when I did a big cleanup of the closet, so there wasn’t much for him to chose from.

My pink hair came out okay. I used a semi-permanent dye which in the past has only lasted a week in my hair but with my luck I’ll probably be a pinkie for a month.

Today I did 22 minutes on the treadmill (1.25 miles), made a double batch of hummus, did a quick re-arrange of the freezer, and still had energy leftover. I thought of getting on the treadmill again but decided not to overdo it. Especially with my change in drugs I have to guard against hypo-mania and giving into these rushes of energy can be troublesome.

“I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles. “
~Audrey Hepburn

I saw a bee

I saw a bee today. And Carm is out golfing. Is it really the end of October, or perhaps time stopped a few weeks ago and we are fresh out of September. The trees with naked branches reaching for the sky tell me no.

We’ve been doing the long field walk the last few days. I finally have enough energy/strength to get all the way around. For several months my limbs have been like rubber and I haven’t had the energy to do much more than exist. Something was wrong but I didn’t know what. A few visits to both my doctors showed that my thyroid levels were low and my lithium high. Since the two are known to operate hand in hand we tried the easy change first, so I lowered my lithium dose last Thursday. It wasn’t an immediate change, but over the last week I’ve gotten stronger every day. I’m glad to be feeling so much better, but a little bit peeved with myself for not pursuing it earlier - I more or less spent my summer on the sofa and often didn’t even have the energy to get to the swing.

Of course the question of why my lithium was so high is a big unknown. Hopefully it won’t shift again and leave me manic or depressed and without a doctor to fix me…

Back to the field! The dogs are doing so much better as well - were they mirroring my energy or is the cooler weather energizing them? Maybe they are in better shape since our trip to the bird sanctuary (where I did do some walking but at a snail's pace - I’ve always been a speed walker but couldn’t keep up with Carm). Regardless, they are running around and having fun in the field again. I bring lots of treats to reward good recalls and Spike has restarted his thing where he waits while I walk ahead and when I turn around and give him the signal to come he runs as fast as he can to me. I sometimes get pretty far from him too. It always makes me laugh and of course he gets a tiny treat.

Yesterday Carm helped me get both instant pots fired up with pumpkin soup. I made enough for 7 suppers for two of us, so there are 6 in the freezer - that’s six nights that I don’t have to cook :-)  We had roasted brussels sprouts on the side last night but a kale salad would work too.

“It's difficult. I take a low dose of lithium nightly. I take an antidepressant for my darkness because prayer isn't enough. My therapist hears confession twice a month, my shrink delivers the host, and I can stand in the woods and see the world spark.”
~David Lovelace