Fogbow

Quick update:

I'm done with physical therapy for now. My back hurts less now that I'm not trying new exercises each week to see what works, but it remains incredibly easy to upset the apple cart. One of the last new exercises we tried was a side plank that instantly felt like I got stabbed. We figure that was the mess at L4-L5 and we won't be doing those again. Ever. My daily pain levels have dropped a bit but not a lot. I do recover a little faster when things really go south. Still doing the exercises and stretches that help so we'll see what time brings. The things that cause me trouble are strange. I can haul bags of mulch around but not spread it. I can mow the lawn but trimming causes all sorts of issues. Standing on concrete for any length of time is absolute torture. I constantly get in trouble for lifting heavy things but that's almost never a major problem.

My depression is improving ever so slowly. My next appointment with my PA is in early August and if it doesn't get significantly better before then I'll have a talk with her.

I haven't been able to get Trulicity for my diabetes for the last three weeks so I'm living on two metformin and less than 20 grams of carbs per day. My blood sugar is averaging 120-ish over the course of the day which is in range but higher than I like it. I'm usually somewhere around 100 for my daily average. I'm told the shortages could last through the end of the year and is because of doctors switching people over from Ozempic due to massive shortages for that medication from widespread off-label usage for weight loss. Fun times.

Right now, my wife, youngest daughter and her youngest daughter are in my Outback somewhere in Texas on their way to our youngest daughter's, oldest daughter's high school graduation (follow that?). It was decided that since it takes me 3 or 4 days to recover from the 500 mile round trip to see my dad that the 2,000 mile round trip to Houston was out of the question. I wasn't really given a lot of say in the matter but I didn't fight it either. My wife got Covid the last time she was on an airplane and refuses to fly right now. So, I'm at home with our Schnauzer and Yorkie as well as my granddaughter's 8 month old Bernedoodle. My dogs are neither one at all happy sharing the bedroom with the puppy. It's going to be an interesting week. I'll sleep next week.

My dad has finally thrown in the towel and is moving into assisted living sometime next month. Shortly after my wife gets back from Texas we're going over to figure out what's moving with him and what isn't, stage the house and get it on the market. I'm not exactly happy about him going into assisted living because I think it'll make him a little crazy but I'm thoroughly relieved. There was some debate on whether or not he should come over here where we could keep a better eye on things but he decided he wanted to go to a place there in my hometown. The upside is that he'll know about half the place the moment he walks through the door. He's lived in that town since 1964, was the junior high principal for 12 years and then the district superintendent for about 20 years. After he retired he volunteered in a number of capacities around town. You can't go anywhere in town without running into somebody he knows. It would have been nice having him five minutes up the road at a place where I know a couple of people (one of their physical therapists is a neighbor and friend who lives right across the street) but I understand why he wants to stay there.

We're starting to think about selling this house and getting into something a little smaller and with fewer stairs. We sadly don't have a lot of years left with my dad and it was our parent's health that brought us back to the MidWaste to begin with. We've lost my mom and both of my wife's parents in the last six years so it's only my dad now. We miss the hell out of Seattle but we've never regretted the decision. We both got to spend a lot of time with our parents that we wouldn't have if we'd stayed. But now we can't go back. The house we paid $500K for 16 years ago is now worth $1.4M. What we'll get out of our current house won't buy a gut rehab in a not so great neighborhood in the Seattle area, or most of western Washington or Oregon for that matter. We have no interest in living the in eastern part of either state. There are some liberal areas within Indiana that might be an option but this state is trying so hard to become Florida that I'd rather just get out. I've been hearing us referenced as "the middle finger of the south" lately and they're not wrong. We won't go south as neither one of use could stand the heat or the politics. We've done a little looking at northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin but we're really not set on any area yet.

Anyway, I feel like I'm starting to ramble on so I'll leave it at that.

Take care.

Life happens.

Excelsior

We're all still on the the right side of the dirt. Let's keep it up!

The struggle is real, and we all know that. Especially here.

The trick is not just dealing with the discomfort. The trick is to continue aging, and then continue aging some more.

Rambling man Ramble on!