getting closer

Hello friends, and happy Friday. We've had a couple of beautiful "teaser" days here in northern Illinois where the sun is shining and it's warm enough to open the windows. It actually got up to 63 degrees yesterday. I had every window open in the house and the cats went crazy, not knowing what to do. They didn't nap the entire morning - they were too busy running from window to window, sniffing the fresh air and lunging at the birds and squirrels. Good thing we have new, strong screens! I can't tell you how wonderful it is to not only feel the fresh air in the house again, but to hear birdsong all day long. The extended forecast shows much cooler weather and lots of rain, maybe even a little s*** mixed in, so I'm enjoying every moment of this beautiful weather while I can.

And my lilac bush is starting to bloom! Another sure sign of good things to come.

Back at the Big Box Store again - this time looking for a large houseplant to go in a corner (I didn't find what I was looking for). I was so excited to see the pansies are here! Granted, they're inside for now because our weather is still too iffy, but next time I'm in that area, I think I'll get a pot of flowers for my porch and then put them in the garage at night.

The painting of Tim's room and the hall bath is done. You can see what a small bedroom this is. We're making this room into an office (for Brian)/guest bedroom/lounging spot. I wanted a day bed for this room but discovered they are bigger than I thought. So now I'm looking for either a love seat that pulls out into a bed or more of a twin platform bed: Something that doesn't have a headboard. It will go on that wall to the left, towards the window. Which also needs curtains.

This is the only spot that worked for this big desk. I wanted the desk in front of the window, but it blocked the vent. And if I moved the desk over to the right where the vent would be under the opening in the desk, it was too close to the closet door. Why do builders put vents right underneath windows?! I could never figure that one out. We also need to find a desk chair that "goes" with this desk. I've been looking on Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp almost every day. I know eventually it will come to us!

Here's the other side of the room between the closet and the door.

The bathroom color isn't much different than the previous color, though this gray is pretty much a true gray and a little darker. The previous color had slight blue undertones. We also had the painter paint the wood trim at the ceiling white. All I need to do in this room now is decide on shelving for above the toilet and then on the wall to the left, decide whether we want to re-hang the towel bar or find a decorative board with two hooks. I might even look for a new shower curtain.

Bathroom After:

Bathroom Before:

Speaking of painting, I'm working on chalk painting the old window that I've had on my buffet for years. It was getting way too worn and chippy.

See the worn part? That's how it was all over. I didn't sand the window - I was kind of afraid to since it's most likely lead paint. The chalk paint has worked just fine going over all the chipped parts anyway.

An update on my back issues: the x-ray showed I had height loss in L4-5 which basically means disc degenerative disease and then arthritis in L5-S1 (lumbo sacral area). Like I said in my last post, one really needs a MRI to see what's truly going on. When I questioned the nurse who called with the results, she said insurance dictates that you do x-rays first, then physical therapy, then have a MRI if needed. Ah yes, the good old health insurance protocols in the US. In the meantime, a friend of mine gave me a recommendation for a good physical therapist. I called to set up the appointments but can't get in with her until April 23rd. In the meantime, it's all about self-care and doing what I have to do to keep the pain at bay. I can't sit too long and I've also discovered that our living room couch is mostly off-limits for me. It's too soft and doesn't give any support. If I sit on it for longer than just a few minutes or dare to lie down on it to read, my back yells at me when I get up. So I'm staying active, taking walks either around the neighborhood or walking on the treadmill, doing yoga stretches twice a day, using a heating pad first thing in the morning when my back is especially stiff, spraying Bio-Freeze on my back several times a day, and taking CBD oil to take the edge off the pain.

Hope you have a great weekend with some fun plans!

lymphedema ~ and painting

 Back in November 2014, I was diagnosed with primary lymphedema in my left arm. Most people - including doctors - aren't familiar with lymphedema. The reason most doctors don't know about this condition is because it usually happens after cancer surgery. So the doctors that are most familiar with lymphedema are oncologists. According to my lymphedema therapist, they talk about lymphedema in medical school maybe for an hour. I'm the one who familiarizes my primary care physician about lymphedema! As you might have guessed, lymphedema has to do with your lymphatic system. It's an abnormal buildup of protein-rich fluid that causes swelling, most often in the legs and arms, although it can happen in the chest, buttocks and groin. The most common type of lymphedema is secondary - which "can develop from an infection, malignancy, surgery, scar tissue formation, trauma, radiation, or other cancer treatment." (From Cleveland Clinic.)

I have the rare kind - primary. It can be hereditary, though I don't know of anyone on either side of my family who had this. Or, it can be an abnormality of the lymph vessels or missing lymph vessels. It can show up right after birth or be late-onset, such as in my case. Back on November 24, 2014, I wrote a little bit about it in this post. I had just gone through five straight days of manual lymph drainage (which is done by a certified lymphedema therapist) and bandaging. Well, here I am seven months later and going through it again. Though the good news is - my arm is doing better (measurements are down), so I only have to deal with everything for three days in a row this time. You see, there is no cure for lymphedema. It can only be managed. And that management is very important, because if you don't take care of it, it will get worse. I am only in stage 1, which can actually be reversible. So anyhoo...this is what my arm currently looks like with the five layers of bandaging. NOT fun. I don't let it stop me from doing most things around the house. Except I won't go out in public. I can't stand the stares and people asking me what happened to my arm. It's not something that can be explained in a few words.

As long as I have lymphedema, I will also have to wear compression garments every day and night. This is the Caresia sleeve that I have to wear at night. I call it my oven mitt. Sexy. (Photo from the November 24, 2014 blog post.) During the day, I wear a beige compression stocking for 6-8 hours/day. 

 On to better things...I last left you with my chalk-painted nightstand and said that I was painting the three drawers in an ombre fashion.

 I decided to go with shades of blue. Looks pretty good, right?

Well, I went to put the drawers back in the nightstand and they didn't fit in the order I had intended them to! I swear that these drawers are all the same size. I even had Brian try to fit them in from lightest to darkest, but no go. We don't know if it has something to do with the paint or what. This was the only way they fit. I am not painting them again! Now all I need to do is to find some drawer pulls. I'm going to look for silver curved ones. 

I also spray-painted a little table for the master bathroom. 

 

 It tucks in perfectly next to the sink. We lack counter space in this bathroom, so it'll give me room for things such as a bottle of lotion, a box of Kleenex and maybe a pretty decorative item.

 Bandages off for good tomorrow ~ which means I can spend all day running errands!

;-)

around here

I'm writing this post at 10:00 PM on Thursday night - thankfully, upstairs and safe -  after being in the basement family room for a couple of hours due to tornado warnings. We had thunderstorms all day with brief pauses where during one of them, I went outside to take some photos. I love spring and finding the promise of new growth after a long winter.

Sedum in the butterfly garden...

 

Chives in the herb garden ~ and, of course, the lemon balm is already popping up too, as you can see in the background...

 

The tiger lilies in the backyard around the composting bin are loving the rain. I swear they grow at least an inch a day!

 

Lilac buds...

 

Since I can't play in the dirt outside yet, I bought some succulents and planted them in teacups, two new mini vintage planters (the deer and the chick), and a milk glass container. How do you like that gorgeous teapot? I recently found it - plus matching teacups, saucers, little plates and a creamer - at Goodwill. The milk glass container was also a Goodwill find. More on all that in another post.

I did some painting today, too. My aunt had given me a painting last fall when she was packing her house to move out-of-state. I loved the painting itself, but not the frame. Auntie had painted the frame red, which - to me - clashed with the painting. I got a small jar of Americana Decor chalk paint (the color is Serene) at Hobby Lobby and gave it a whirl. I'm not much of a crafty person, nor am I a DIYer, so I was a little nervous at first.

Here's the painting after the first coat. Much better, don't you think? I just now noticed after uploading this picture to my blog that Clementine is photobombing this photo. I shouldn't be surprised - usually one of the cats is doing so. Anyway, I have to give a thumbs up for this paint. It went on very smoothly, gave great coverage without having to use a primer, dried quickly, and had no odor at all. Now I just have to wax the frame and then decide where to hang this painting. At first I thought it could go in the living room, but the light blue frame clashed with the aqua accents in the room. Blue overload! I think I'll wait and hang it in our bedroom after we paint and re-do that room. (And that's another huge, looming project.)

I'm turning the laptop off now and reading for awhile before I go to bed. I'm in the middle of "The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy" by Rachel Joyce. She's the author of, "The Pilgrimage of Harold Fry." Are you familiar with that book? Brian and I read it last year and we both loved it. So when the author came out with this sequel, we couldn't wait to read it. I've had the book on my amazon wish list since it came out, but the price has been too high to buy the book. I kept checking my library's web site and was thrilled to see last week that they got the book! Brian read it first - in two days - and he said it was excellent. I'm halfway through and loving this book. One of those that's hard to put down and has you reading way past your bedtime.