A Short Term Cool Down

I can't keep up with the changes in the weather. After months of it being so hot, we've had a few days where it been more comfortable days and cooler nights. The breeze coming in my window was so cool, my feet were frozen and I had to get socks.

Apparently next week it will be hot again, but it won't last for long, fall is inevitable, you know, because of the earth turning on its axis and all.

My place is not very big, so it seems to hold the heat. I've made do with fans, as I hate air conditioning, but fans don't help when you need to use the stove. My oven hasn't been on since June, and I've made do with the stove top or the microwave.

My neighbor has air conditioning, and I've been treated to muffins when she's baked. There is a plus, I guess, but I like my windows open, to see the breeze flutter the drapes, hear the noises of summer.

I hope to make a few day trips, when the leaves change color. I missed most of it last year, so have some routes planned already.

My friend was quite happy to go with me, said we could take our cameras and pack a lunch. I just looked at her and shook my head. We'll take the cameras, I told her, but we'll go out for lunch. We're old, I reminded her, with old bladders, so we'll need a bathroom. She laughed and agreed.

We'll see what we can manage.

A Case of Disorientation

After a busy day at home on Sunday, shredding a year's worth of files, crocheting and cleaning up for garbage day Monday, I was tired, but still willing to go shopping Monday.

My friend and I drove the 50 KM into the city, had lunch (sitting on hard wooden benches) and shopped at Costco. Needless to say, I paid the price. By the time I was in the checkout line I needed the cart to lean on as my back was sore.

Gluttons for punishment, we hit two more shops on our drive home. I was hot, tired and in pain, figured a nap was in my immediate future.

Silly me, I fought through it, though at times it was a struggle. I ended up in bed to watch the Blue Jays game, and do remember that they won the game, but nothing much after that.

When I woke up, stiff and a little dazed, I looked at the clock. Eleven thirty. Eleven thirty! My immediate thought was morning, and I couldn't believe I had slept for the night and most of the morning. I felt like I was pulling myself out of a dungeon, I had slept so deep and sound.

Then I realized it was night, and I had slept, like the dead, for less than two hours. All this confusion and I couldn't go back to sleep, as tired as I was. So I played a few games of solitaire on the computer, read some of my bedside book and watched some television.

I finally settled to sleep, somewhere close to five A.M. and am now up, still feeling dazed.

Today, when the fatigue hits, I'm going to be smart and take a short nap and hope for a better night's sleep.

Good Neighbors

I'm sitting here listening to the spray and spatter of my neighbor's hose. She's watering my garden, which would otherwise be sadly neglected.

It's been too hot for me to think, let alone go out to weed and water.

My neighbor is in her eighties, and I see her walking about, with a cane though she doesn't use it in a real supportive way. The watering she does is from a distance, with her hose, and though the plants are doing well, the pots I have in the garden are not. That long distance watering is not enough, and even if we got a rain, the overhang would protect.

It's a little disconcerting that my two neighbors, both in their late eighties, are much more spry and mobile than I am. The one walks from here, four blocks through downtown to the drugstore. Some days it's a challenge for me to get up, or get to my car, let alone do a long walk.

I'm up, showered, dressed, and already worn out. I have two hours before a friend picks me up to go to lunch. I'll tire quickly as I had a busy day yesterday, by my standards.

I finished some crochet projects, cleaned out my files and did some shredding. Ok, a lot of shredding. I have some to finish this morning before I set the bag out for the garbage. I'm sure my shared wall neighbor will be glad, though if he complained, and he's the sort who would, I can remind him of the sound of his blender. Smoothies are so popular.

Tomorrow will be another do nothing day.

Off Balance

I figure it's this continued hot weather, but my balance is really off. I seem to be doing this solo dance routine, you know, one step forward, to the side and back. Lucky for me, I'm not moving very fast so I can recover.

It's the backward sway that gets me. For example, I stand up from leaning over the sink and sway back, my sense of vertical off kilter.

I've slammed back into the bookcase, or the door a few times, but no fall.

This backward sway also happens when I close my eyes. I can't maintain the vertical if I can't see the horizon, so to speak, to know where I am.

In the shower, when I have to close my eyes, I keep my elbow touching the wall, so I can keep my balance.

Just as I keep a light on, in case I have to get up in the night. I'm tired and don't need the extra challenge to stand, and stay standing.

The least little activity, and I'm overheated, which means brain fog, muscle weakness and more fatigue.

Needless to say, I anxiously await the end of summer.

Dredging Up the Energy

I've just had my shower and am resting, in my chair, answering E Mails and checking out my blog sites, Facebook, you know the usual. My bed is calling me but I have to resist.

I need to pick up my prescription, and though I don't want to go out, I must. I'm seriously giving thought to changing pharmacies, especially with winter looming in the not so distant future.

I chose the Walmart Pharmacy because I could get my meds, my groceries and my craft supplies all in one stop shopping. It seemed more efficient than having to visit multiple stores.

But, Shoppers Drug Mart has a delivery service, and that might be more convenient. I can still get out for groceries, or have one of the kids pick me up the essentials if need be.

Best get it done today, as the Humidex is slated to be 38 degrees C. tomorrow, and that is too hot for me to be walking about.

I had hoped the cooler weather would stay a bit longer, I was just getting a bit of my energy back, had actually accomplished a few lingering chores.

The hot spell better not last long, my one fan has refused to turn on, and I was just getting used to the silence. Oh well, the end is in sight.

Crash, Crash and More Crash

After a very busy start to the week, I fully expected to have a crash day. Thursday was a blur, as I slept most of the day, and when awake, felt like I was in a daze.

One day, and I should have felt rested. Had an errand to run on Friday, and found one day was not enough. I felt lightheaded in the store, my knees weak, and I knew my crash was not done. As I was to drive my granddaughter to work, we went for lunch first, as I hoped food would revive me.

By the time I was home, I was terribly overheated, still sweating, which was a good thing, as you sweat in heat exhaustion, no sweat in heat stroke. But my face was hot and dry, so I put a cold cloth across the back of my neck and sat in front of the fan until I cooled off.

Since then, I have done nothing but sleep.

Bad combination for me, activity and the heat. This is the third year that we have had extended periods of hot weather, the third summer I've felt like a prisoner in my own home.

My garden, which looked so pretty in the spring, looks horrible. My neighbor has been watering, but not enough to give the pots a soak, and let's be honest, the sun and heat have done the damage, just as the lawns are burnt and brown.

If we have an Indian Summer, will it be comfortable 'normal' summer temperatures. I hope I can make the most of it before the winter comes.

Give Me a Day...and I'll Remember

Give me a day and I'll remember. Sounds funny, but it's true. Twice this week, in conversation, I was stuck trying to remember a name, of a person and a then a place.

Don't you hate when that happens?

My brain frequently seems to be on a 24 hour delay. After talking to my son on Wednesday, and unable to remember this woman's name, it came to me, out of the blue, while I was playing a computer game the next day. Brain delay.

Yesterday, out for lunch with a friend and my granddaughter, we got to talking burgers. I said the best burgers were from a place in TO called Magoo's. The name of the restaurant came to me, but not the name of the grocery store in the same plaza where my daughter worked as a teen.

This morning, lying in bed, contemplating getting up, it came to me...Bruno's.

Bruno's was the name of the store where she worked.

This happens to me frequently, these ha ha moments, where my brain finally kicks in and completes a thought. Oh well, at least I finally remembered.

A day late, and a dollar short. Isn't that some old saying? Seemed appropriate.