Friday at Last!

It was gray and overcast Friday morning and had rained overnight. It was still in the mid-fifties, though the temps were supposed to be falling all day.

I took my usual walk at 10:00 AM. Back inside, Michelle told me she had gotten a response from Amy (at Building 73 – where I used to work). I was telling her earlier how they had a sign-up sheet for Friday treats that two people each week would bring in (even Andy, the CFO, would sign up). I said I would usually buy bagels or donuts, but other people would bring in homemade stuff. Amy made the best, some sort of egg bake, that was delicious. So, Michelle had emailed her, asking for the recipe. Amy sent it and Michelle made me a copy. Since I have all the stuff on hand, (except for the optional green or red pepper) I thought I’d try and make it Saturday morning. Michelle, who is doing Weight Watcher’s, wondered if there was a less fatty alternative to pork sausage. I told her I thought there was turkey breakfast sausage, but even if there wasn’t she could make it herself. I mean, it’s just spices and herbs. I believe Jake and Carla have made homemade breakfast sausage from ground pork.

I went to therapy at noon, and this time had a woman (which I’ve always had in the past) instead of my usual chatty guy. I worked out on the NuStep for my eight minutes while she reviewed my file. She said, “I see here that we’ve been working on building up your core muscles and that’s coming along well. But, has anyone even looked at your back yet?” I said, “No.”

She said she was a medical massage therapist and, if I didn’t mind, would like to try a light massage to see how my muscles and scar tissue were. I agreed as long as it didn’t hurt (nobody’s rubbed my back since this all began and I wasn’t too sure on how it would feel). First I laid on the hot pads for 10 minutes to loosen my muscles.

Then, I took off my shirt and t-shirt, and laid face down on the bed. She was very gentle and used some kind of cream out of a jar (like cold cream). Her diagnosis was that the muscles on my left side were much tighter than on my right (and my left back is what usually hurts more, so that made some sense.) She said that my insurance wouldn’t cover it, but suggested I go to a clinic nearby after I’m done with therapy and get a massage on a regular basis for a while, anyway.

Now, that may sound weird, but the same thing happened to me back in the day after I was treated for my prostrate cancer. The doctor recommended massages and I did get several of them from a woman in town (St. Clair) who co-owned a bed & breakfast with her life partner. However, those were done in a room with scented candles, warm oil, soft music and a massage table. I don’t know what or if they helped, but they didn’t hurt.

We did some of my regular exercises then and as I was leaving, she gave me the card for the clinic.

I stopped at Westborn this time and got some lobster bisque and grabbed a green pepper on the way out. I ate the soup when I got back and it was fantastic. I only wished I’d thought to bring in some crackers. Note to self: Bring in a sleeve of saltine crackers to work!

When I took my afternoon walk, I noticed the temperature had significantly dropped from the morning. It was funny, as, when I made the first turn in the parking lot, I was greeted by James, the LAN/WAN administrator. They are in the upstairs of building Four and he walking towards my building, Three. He said hello and then asked which door I was going in. I said, “I’m not, I have to walk this parking lot three more times because of my spinal fusion.” He said, “Well, I could use the exercise and fresh air”. So he walked with me!

I felt pretty stupid wearing my rain jacket all day until it was time to go home and, you guessed it, it was raining. I took the expressway, anyway, driving fast, so I could get home before the 5:15 PM Channel 4 News complete weather forecast. Guess what? According to them, it was raining! And, the forecast hasn’t changed: colder, with periods of rain and freezing temps on Sunday night.

I started the first load of the weekend wash and then took a break, with a cup of coffee and the rest of the evening news. But, after I hung up my shirts and the next load was already washing, I got bored. So, I went back to my project of putting new shelf liner in all the upper cupboards.

When we remodeled the kitchen I put in that mesh stuff in the cabinets where the dishes are and the one right next to it. It looked and felt nice, but the downside was you couldn’t wash it. And, once I put in the Tupperware containers of flour, sugar, etc., it became a real problem. Because then you had to pick up the containers (they wouldn’t slide on the mesh) and, at that height and weight, it was a challenge for me.

So, I replace them a while back (I probably mentioned that) with thick plastic shelf liners made for wire shelves. They work okay, except they have these stupid cut-out tabs (to attach them to the wire shelves). So, I got some other stuff that’s got a non-slip bottom and a solid, washable top and have been slowly swapping out the mesh stuff on the other shelves. Tonight, I got out my step, took everything out and lined the top shelves in both cabinets. I put everything back in place and quit for the night, after I hung up my pants and put away the folded clothes.

I used the oven to cook some Ore-Ida crinkle-cut fries and some Tyson chicken nuggets on a foil-lined half-sheet tray. Different cooking temps and times, but I worked it out. I ate them with two dipping bowls (ketchup for the fries and Ranch Dressing for the chicken), watching TV. It had been a long day and I went to bed by 10:00 PM.