I slept well. Fortunately, I don't experience pain when I sleep. I walked Elsa briefly. My back and leg made some complaints but were not crippling. But I had already decided not to go to Bikram because I was afraid that I would work too hard and reactivate the pain. I washed the dishes and sat down to drink my two cups of water. When I stood up, oh, boy! Yvette called. I exclaimed, "I'm in agony." She said she would be up in a few minutes. I decided that doing nothing for the day was my best option.
Yvette came up with two insulated food bags filled with ice packs. She said it should be ten minutes of cold followed by ten minutes of heat. While Yvette was attending, Judy came over with Vicodin with codeine. She and Yvette discussed the dosage. I am very reactive to medication and generally have to take a lower dose than the usual. We decided on a quarter of a pill. She left for a tea date and to do some chores for me.
Judy helped me move from the bedroom to the love seat/antigravity chair on the lanai. I could do more out there; I could read, write, and make phone calls. I got myself out there, with difficulty. Judy carried everything else I needed out: my computer, books, and my phone. She made my morning soup. Then, she had to leave. She had to find a way to store the food she had made for 60 people until November 25.
Judy and Paulette make dinner for the homeless once a month. As they were preparing the meal yesterday, they received a call saying the dinner was canceled because their water had been shut off at the homeless center due to construction on a neighboring property. Judy and Paulette had already started preparing the meal; the only thing to do was finish it and figure out how to put it in the freezer. While Judy was here, she checked to see if there was any room in my freezer. Could she fit the rolls in there?
Yvette had a tea date and was going to run some chores for me. She planned to stop by Safeway to buy bread and eggs for me, and, of course, bars of Hershey's Milk Chocolate with Almonds. I had forgotten to tell her to get them before she left. Thank God for texting. She also stopped off to get me the muscle relaxant the doctor prescribed for me yesterday at Kaiser. She couldn't drop off the carpet sample book that I had taken home at the carpet store because she was running late for an appointment. I had called them to tell them that she would be bringing it back today. I called them back to tell them it would have to be the next day.
Kathrin and Mike came by to drop off their stuff. The two of them are moving in. They had been staying where Mike was living. He was serving as a long-term house sitter, doing some extra work around the house and garden. Unfortunately, the owners are not welcoming Kathrin's presence, and they have to move. They were looking but couldn't find another place to stay.
Here's the problem with my house. Kathrin was staying in the large guest bedroom. Unfortunately, that floor creaks something horrid. I was having the flooring redone, but it's not okay now. Mike and Kathrin will have to make themselves comfortable in the small bedroom, which served as my study and storage room for my materials. They just came in, said hello, and dropped off their stuff while I stayed on the sofa. A friend of theirs dropped them off at the airport to catch a plane to Oahu. Kathrin had an appointment with the immigration office the next day. She said they need to take her biometrics. Mike went with her.
Sometime after they left, Victor, the carpet installer, came by to measure the room. He would give Dan the numbers from Flooring Coverings Hawaii, from which I am ordering my carpet. Very interesting. He walked on the floor and told me why it creaks so badly. It was incorrectly installed. You are supposed to leave ¾ of an inch between the edge of the laminate flooring and the wall. The person who installed it didn't do that. At most, they left 1/8 of an inch, and where the laminate meets the tile, zero inches. As the laminate expanded and contracted, the attachments broke down. Therefore, everything is moving around and creaking.
I will let Ken know. I don't remember if he installed it or if someone else did, but I have to tell you it is the only mistake he made out of over $60,000 in renovations. It was the only mistake, but all the things he did benefited us; they more than make up for any errors. The man is a wonder. If there were such a thing as a Contractor's Hall of Fame, I would nominate him for the honor.
I have been spending most of the afternoon working on the blog. I still haven't gone back to working on the book. I need to do that for my sake.
Judy called and asked what I was planning to do for dinner. My back was better, but standing and walking still challenge the muscles. She said she would bring dinner over to me. Earlier today, as she attended to me, I felt overwhelmed with gratitude for my great fortune in having her in my life. I expressed it. She said, "No, no. I don't deserve it." I told her she had the wrong response. The correct response is, "I'm so jealous." Mike taught me that.
Sometime in the first few years we were together, before 1978 when we moved out of the commune, I declared one day that I was filled with love for him. He said he didn't feel the same, and he was so jealous. I thought, yes, that's the right response. The person who is overflowing with love is the lucky one. Gratitude is a similar delicious feeling.
_____-_____-_____
Musings:
Is my inclination to express gratitude freely inconsiderate of others? If it makes someone uncomfortable, shouldn't I tone it down? I show it because it feels so good to feel gratitude and express it. It's like a sneeze. Some repress it; me, my sneeze can be heard around the world. Love to sneeze. But, yes, I do try to control it under certain circumstances.
Maybe that's one of a godhead's functions, to receive our feelings of gratitude, someone, or something that has an endless tolerance for our positive emotions.
I don't know if there's a right or wrong way, but I do believe I'll have to respect someone's feelings when they say they're uncomfortable with my effusiveness — fair's fair.
No comments:
Post a Comment