April 5, 2026 Sunday

Greetings!

What a week!  I shall take you on the roller coaster ride it was.  If you are tired of bad news just take a pass or come back and read it later.  I wished I could do that myself with some of it.  There was good and bad, of course...as there always is.  The journey started on Monday with some good news.  A young man came to work on the water softener and fixed it!  Allie hid down in the bottom cubby of the cat tree the whole time.

The repairman also came for the washing machine up on the top floor.  He said it needed a part and they are coming to try to fix it on Tuesday this coming week.  Hopefully that person will be as successful.

I switched the chairs for Allie.  Moved the little hardback chairs to the new table...

...and pushed the two rollie chairs into the studio.  

Allie is happy!  I keep one pulled out so she can get up and down on to the table...but she still seems to occasionally like the thrill of leaping across from the top of the back of my chair for some reason.  She gets on that little ledge back there and takes a long time to get up her courage.  I tell her she can come back down and I won't think any less of her...but she eventually takes that leap!  Even when there was stuff on the table in her way?  (I moved that laptop.)  This was her fourth flying leap, I think.  I never knew she had this daredevil side!  Learning about steps and cat trees has gone to her head! 

She just wanted to take the thrilling route to get back on the old towel on the table--lol!

Towel and such are supplies for Leah to cut my hair later tonight.  :)

Tuesday.  The boys were down here and I told Ian that someone had asked me to get videos of them playing their new Christmas instruments.  I took videos.  Uploaded them to YouTube, as usual, but went to put them in the blog and there is no way I am allowed to do it.  So sad about that.  This post needed some more happy stuff.  :(  Basically Google demanded many years ago that we have a YouTube account with a Google address.  I remember they just made me one and said I had to use it.  But I never could combine my old yahoo account with the new one.  Tried and tried but couldn't figure it out.  (Dagan and Leah know nothing about YouTube.)  Somehow now I can only upload onto the old account no matter which account it looks like I have chosen, but it doesn't recognize the old account.  In other words.  I have no useable account anymore somehow.  *sigh*  Way over my head.  If I can ever figure it out, I will let you know and show you the videos.  I may need to start a brand new YT account!  Awk!

Wednesday.  

Okay.  Strap yourself in.  Leah and I went to the eye appointment with Dr. Anderson.  This ordeal started at 1:15pm and we were hustling out the door at closing time at 5pm.  A very long day.  I was wiped out and in pain.  So much happened.  Not good news.

After 2 1/2 weeks of dilation and steroid drops they could finally see well enough into the back of my eye to probably get pictures.  So pictures I did have.  Both the machines I failed on that previous visit worked well enough, I guess.  I still do have inflammation within my eyeball, though, so it was a long process.  Leah would wait in my room while I went for picture sessions in different rooms.  I had another ultrasound session done in my room.  There was a lot of testing...bright lights, look this way and that way...eye numbing so they could press on my eye...different bright lights...and many consultations between Dr. Anderson and the nurse or tech whoever he was (same two guys I had before that time) over the pictures and various results.  Then sent off for special pictures done with an IV dye.  I got a student nurse for the first hand fail and then the regular nurse had to try twice to get it--once in my arm and then my hand.  No, I refused to let her try my bad hand, thank you very much. (Does this remind you of anyone?  LOL!)

There were lots of questions about my autoimmune history (specifically inflammations).  My eye history (cataracts and macular puckers.)  Recounting how this has all gone down since Christmas.  None of this has gone normally.  (We know.)  Every doctor (have had four now) has mentioned how unusual this has all been...and how resistant the inflammation has been to treatment.  Discussed cancer and Keytruda and fibro and arthritis...lots of subjects over the 3 hours and 45 minutes.

Here and there we were told what they could now see inside my eye.  Are you ready?

I wasn't.

Besides the unending inflammation, I have a detached retina that also has some kind of fold in it that would have to be flattened out before it could be reattached.  (But then I also have macular puckers on the back of my eye which would have to be flattened out before it could be reattached--Leah had already googled while she sat alone in the room waiting for me so many times.)  PLUS...I have a tear in the retina in my good eye.  He said laser surgery would go around the tear to try to prevent it from getting worse.  (He didn't say that they also need to seal the tear so there isn't leakage that could cause that retina to detach--I googled--been busy since I got the online scan results.)  He had mentioned he was concerned about leakage, but never explained why. They've been testing my eye pressures all along every time I have been in.  This time two nurses had a heck of a time getting it on my bad eye (or should I now say worse eye).  Had to try several times and then go get a larger contraption to press on my whole eye.  Pressure of 2!  No pressure in that eye to speak of.  (Googled that--supposed to be 10-20--too low and can cause permanent damage--didn't bother to look up causes because by that time I was just overwhelmed and guessed it was due to leakage or just crappy eye--take your guess, toss the dice--lol!) 

It was obvious Dr. Anderson was a bit overwhelmed, too.  He didn't know exactly what to say and nothing could be done with my eye still being inflamed.  Was very interested in my referral to the rheumatologist on the 14th.  Had seen my hand and even took pictures of my hands to be able to compare if there was improvement or not in a week. 

Can't schedule surgery until the eye has gotten even better apparently.  (Leah and I had both separately decided that we want a consultation and second opinion from Dr. Ridgeley before I agree to any surgery.)  I was sent home with the steroid drops, another kind of dilation drops, and oral steroids (which give me diarrhea--lol!)  Going back to se Anderson this coming Wednesday.  No real idea what the plan is.  Sounds like Dr. Ridgeley may only be there part time or be on vacation or something when we saw him last.  (I don't hear very well.)

Was feeling awful and mentally numb (headache, eyes sore from everything done to them, body pain from all the sitting in hard chairs, weak, exhausted)...couldn't even tackle the stairs for a good while.  Leah had to go back to work even that late.  I sat upstairs with the boys and Dagan for a good while before I could work up to going down the stairs.  The day has quite annoyed my left hip--lol!  Dagan went down with me and made sure I was settled in my chair and made something for me to eat.  What a day!

What kept going through my mind is I had kept telling Leah that I was having this feeling the past few weeks that my bad eye was just giving up.  When Anderson came at me for the last test he did with this super bright light that he was apologizing for before he started...well, I just sat there.  Leah was in the room and watched it all.  I did look right, left, and up and down over and over.  Then he went to my good eye!!!  OMG!!  It was sooo bright it hurt and I think I said OMG!!  Turned my head away and said, is that the same light?!  That can't be the same light!!  Was such a shock.  It was right then I knew that there isn't likely a good chance of saving that other eye, to be honest.  It has given up.  I think I said...Well, that one obviously isn't working anymore.

I slept 9 hours that night.

Thursday.  A day of adjustment.  Silence.  It had snowed a bit during the night.

I did have to deal with a mix-up with the three prescription orders--pharmacy said they didn't get the order and the clinic said they sent the order.  I let them fight it out after three phone calls.  Dagan could finally pick up two of the prescriptions after Ian was done at Haley's Hope (dyslexia) in the evening.  Had to wait another day for the pharmacy to order the new dilation drops but he said to keep using the old ones until I got the new ones.  I slept almost 10 hours.  Took two collapse days to get my bearings.

Friday.  Managed to do laundry, but got nothing hung or folded and put away.  Scan results came in online and doctor's summary of my visit.  Did a lot of googling medical terms with my eye patch on.  Decided it was time to invest in some bigger domed eye patches--LOL!  Snowed 7 inches.  Wind wasn't going my window wells way, but I could see there was quite a bit. 

I couldn't catch the flakes well to show you them drifting down most of the day, but Allie loved watching them float past. 

I had been gone a long time. Allie seemed to know something was off with me and spent more time on the chair with me than she usually does.  Definitely still a day in a lounger with my flower-power slippers.

In the evening Dagan and Leah surprised me!  Brought down my new laptop when they kind of made it sound like they hadn't decided on one for sure...just were texting me questions while they were shopping.  But it was also because they wanted me to try it out before I decided if I liked it enough to keep it.  Leah took it upstairs to work on switching everything over for me.  She has done this for me so many times she knows all my Gramma things I need tweaked--like not to have a fast cursor-mouse-thingie and I have to use clicking on the mouse box or I am constantly double/triple clicking everything because I learned how to type on an old manual Underwood and still pound too hard on the keys--lol! 

Saturday.  Two more inches of snow.  But I never knew how deep it was out there from my living room window or...

...even from the north window in the studio.  But you can see closer to the 9 inches we got in two days from there.  It was heavy, wet snow so it sinks quite a bit.  Took the better part of Saturday for them to get half the snow blown and shoveled from the driveway and steps.  Battery died on the blower.  They will finish today.

They thought it was funny how little snow I had in my window well.  Glad they didn't have to shovel it out for me.  That's when I realized how much snow we had actually gotten--lol! 

They brought down my new Dell laptop.  I am getting used to it.  It is a bit larger.  Bigger keyboard and print for me to read.  I can do voice to text!!  (That lady is a DIY YouTube lady, BTW.)  

Got all my laundry put away over the course of the day.  Found the supplies for Leah to cut my hair, as I mentioned...and that Allie found as soon as she discovered she could get up on to the table via the little chair--lol!

What?  I thought you put this here for me.

Sunday.  How am I feeling about all of this?  Well, those of you who have been around for a while know I go through worst case scenarios to absorb and face and then go up I from there.  I had already pretty much had gone through worst case with the bad eye the past 2 1/2 weeks between appointments.  Have already dealt with having one non-functional eye for 3 1/2 months.  It is now looking pretty normal and feels pretty normal.  Not all red, swollen, watering down my face, and painful to the lightest touch anymore.  Just can't see out of it.  But I can wear an eye patch so that it doesn't interfere with my good eye for reading and typing and writing.  That's a huge improvement right there.

My hand.  Well, the swelling and sharp constant pain has been gradually going down for several weeks.  The better it has been getting the easier it is to function...to write and type and deal with laundry and all the rest.  Now, because of the hand inflammation, after I saw Dr. Ridgeley I went on a really strict minimal diet where you only add one new food once every 5-7 days to see how your body reacts.  Nothing to lose, right?  Basically consuming beef, eggs, butter, water, salt, and black coffee.  Leah has done this carnivore detoxing before and I have come close but not for any length of time because I just couldn't give up my dairy--lol!  Desperate times call for desperate measures, right.  I wanted to try it this time and have been doing this for three weeks.  Added brussels sprouts on week two and hollandaise sauce (which is really only eggs and butter) week three.  No dairy.  No processed foods.  My hand has been slowly improving.  No bad reactions to those additions--gut or inflammation.  Had planned to add something new this last week.  But I forgot and drank some Zevia (carbonated drink in a can) one day and had an immediate gut reaction--lol!  So Zevia is off my list of what I can consume.  Is a processed food with chemicals in it--so I guess I deserved it.  ;)

Anyways, now I can't tell anything because of the oral steroids I gut-react to...and have...but not to as bad a degree as I have in the past.  So far.   Knock on wood.  My hand hasn't gotten any worse and is continuing to get a little better and better day by day.  But is it the super limited diet, no dairy and no processed foods or is it the steroid tablets?  Or a combination?  Who knows.  I guess I will know eventually.

Anyways, all of that to say that I could live with one good eye and a mostly or completely functional hand.  It would be better than what I have lived through so far since Christmas.  I am rejoicing in the improvements.  Another crazy silver lining was the hand took the focus off my eye--ROFL! ;)

But losing the other eye???  Now that would be really, really hard. So very difficult to do worst case scenario with that one.  But I have a little.  Touched upon it and packed it away to the back of my mind.  To go from there?  To find the positives?  My focus is saving the "good" eye.  When Leah and I go back I informed Dagan and Leah last night that I want that laser surgery on my good eye first.  Saving my good eye should be the top priority, as far as I'm concerned.  If I am basically blind for a while after surgery while I heal...so be it.  We'd get through it somehow.  They agreed.  

Anderson is guessing as to when I got the tear in the good eye.  They haven't been able to see inside my bad eye (and nobody was paying close attention to the good eye).  It could have torn up to six months ago, like he said--or more recently.  They haven't seen it so they don't know if it has been growing.  But if it is torn it could detach.  I do not want to be blind in both eyes.  Good eye first.  That's my strong feeling and what I plan to tell Anderson on Wednesday.  Maybe they will have logical reasons to deal with the bad eye first, but they will need to convince me.  And we still want to know Dr. Ridgeley's opinion before any decisions are made.  Leah and I trusted him more, you know?  Gut feeling with him, too--lol!  So that has been what I have been absorbing and adjusting to.  Not good news.  It wasn't just the crazy inflammation.

Funny!  Look at the card I drew for today!    

I see my dad who could hardly walk anymore at 89 but was determined not to die in a wheelchair (and already knew my mother was not a caregiver type).  He insisted he wanted to have the hip replacement he needed in order to hopefully be able to walk again.  All the doctors deemed him too old for that type of surgery.  He hunted till he found a surgeon who would do it.  Had to sign his life away to get the hip replacement at 90 but he was walking again.  Slowly, but he was walking without even using a walker (though maybe he should have been--lol!).  I miss that stubborn old Swede.  He was a perfectionist with a great sense of humor with a bit of the child in him, yet was always waiting for the other shoe to drop. He was the one who insisted on watching the Vietnam War over dinner every night because he wanted to know what was happening in the world.  My mother would mentally wear earplugs and not look or let him talk about it.  He'd mutter to himself...but I heard him.

I see my mother who always tried to look at the positive side.  Even if her way was to never take a close look at any negative possibilities or discuss anything whatsoever that she deemed as negative or bad or just didn't want to hear about.  She lived as happy a surface life as a person could live.  A collector of things she wanted to learn to do--did learn--but then lost lost interest.  Hated to clean or deal with children.  She was the absolute center of her life.  Fell apart if she couldn't have her way, escape all things in life that brought her down or made her face facts, and live the happy, unfettered life she deserved...as narcissists will do.  I learned not to bother her with real life as a young child taking care of her other two children (starting at about five when we moved to Fridley, Minnesota and they were both in diapers).

I would like to say I have a combination of both their better sides, but I know I have some of their bad sides, too.  I know I was a better parent than my mother, though--lol!  But I see parts of those two people in me, yes.  For sure!

What about you and your parents?  

And what would you want to do in your situation if you had both these eyes of mine?  At least from what I do know so far?

Confession.  There was so much to cover (and with a new computer besides) that I actually started this post on Saturday because I knew it would take me such a long time.  Plus only three hours of sleep (imagine me having trouble sleeping over this--lol!) and I am done earlier than I expected.

Oh and the voice to text has no spell check and is as weird and humorous as the voice to text on my phone--lol!  But it is better than nothing.  I used it half the time and am glad to have it.  Two new (better?) domed eye patches are supposed to arrive today.  The driveway is half cleared and hopefully the streets are, too. 

Well, life is like a box of chocolates, eh?  I can hardly wait for your comments.  You guys keep me going.  Honestly.  I appreciate you so much.  Even my lurkers--lol!  I can feel you there.  I do hope I have more actual knowledge next time and maybe some better news.  Regardless...I shall be back next Sunday.  Happy Easter to all those who celebrate this day.  

*love and hugs from Fargo*

March 29, 2026 Sunday

Greetings!

I had an exciting birthday yesterday!  But first the week began with me being determined to start working on letters owed.  I can wear the eye patch now without adding pain since my eyelid isn't painful to the touch anymore.  So I could get the eyepatch on and see how long my swollen hand would last.  I often wrote letters in segments, anyways, so now I just had more than before and took more breaks.  Regardless, I started.  I used to be able to write several letters in a day.  Out of the seventeen letters I want to write I finished three this week.  Not as long as usual, but...whoohoo!!  I do so love a nice paper-chat!  My hand is hindering me more than my eye anymore, but I am finally writing letters again.  I am very slow, but thanks to all of you who have been so patient.  Some of you have mailed me cards and letters more than once even!  Thank you so much.

But since I am working at handwriting letters that means I am using up good hand-time doing that and haven't been able to type comments.  Still reading all your blogs, though.  Like today is blogging and that will take hours and not much hand time left over after that--even with an ice pack--lol!  I am so used to having to prioritize my physical time for anything and everything the past couple of decades with fibro that this is just another area added, I guess.

BUT--Dr. Kessler did refer me to a rheumatologist so we'll see what she has to say.  I went to one for years, but that was over 20 years ago now.  They may have other meds or methods to help with pain and inflammation now.  Who knows?  I had tried almost everything available 20 years ago.  The only thing I could use for pain was Darvocet just to take the sharp edge off on bad days but they quit making it.  Nothing had any effect on my inflammation back then...but it also wasn't as bad as it is now.  I can't take Ibuprofen anymore because of my hand/wrist injury back in the 90s.  The doctor prescribed mega doses of it for so long I think it was eating out my stomach--lol!  If I take it for very long at all I get bad heartburn from it--and similar meds.  Anyways, wish me luck.  I actually got an appointment for April 14th--shock!  It can take months to get an appointment.

I finally took down the few Christmas decorations I had up--lol!  I had a small tree on either side of the TV up on the taller dressers...and a winter garland across the dresser under the TV.

Okay--I was going to show you why I can't do anything about the studio on my own and what is left to do to finish up around here.  The Billy bookcases aren't finished.

See these pegs on the top...there's another level to be added on top...and they need to be attached to the walls.

There are sections around here and there...

...that will make up the top level on the bookcases.

There is also other furniture across the hall in the storage room.  

Drawer units--I can see two of them to thr right...and that brown big set of wall shelves off to the left.  There's a second set of those brown and black wall shelves somewhere to be assembled and hung, too.

There are also additional regular shelves to be hung and additional shelves to be ordered for the kitchen cabinets (they were made locally).  After all the boxes are out of the storage room (all my supplies for the studio are in there still packed away in there)...then there are shelves to be brought in from the garage so we can actually use that as a storage room again.  There are things like vent covers that need to be attached (holes in the ceiling), hooks to be put up...all kinds of little things...before we can get to my peel and stick wallpaper for the kitchen and pretty knobs for the hutches and artificial plants in pots and the like.  So there you have it.  

Anyways, I got a beautiful azalea plant for my birthday from Janie!  (Yes, I took the stick out--lol!)  I had attempted to set it up by the window and Allie went for it right away to eat a flower!  So I moved it up next to my only other live plant--the Christmas cactus.

Allie was not happy!  LOL!  But she's not agile enough to leap up an across to get over there.

I watched three Oscar winner movies: One Battle After Another, Sinners, and Weapons.  All I could think was--what in the world!!  How did these movies win Oscars?  Maybe you really liked them...or one or two?  I was so disappointed.  Dark, violent, depressing with no redeeming qualities to me.  I went in pretty cold, not knowing there were horror movies with vampires and an evil witch...or an ongoing, hopeless, endless political situation where even the supposedly "good" guys were definitely not good people and were just as violent.  I was not in the mood to try any more Oscar winners on streaming for a while--lol! 

I am definitely not against violence in the movies, but I like to see some morality of some kind, I guess.  Like I watched Dead of Winter with Emma Thompson and I really liked it!  Have any of you ever seen any of those movies and what did you think of them?

My Alexa is several years old (probably 90 in tec-time) and bit the dust.  At least she showed me by going red.  Even Leah couldn't fix her.

While I worked on letters...

...Allie watched CatTV on YouTube quite a bit.

Friday morning the repairman came to check out the water softener.  Allie was a bit freaked out.  She is not like so many of my cats who ran to the door to greet visitors.  She's like several of mine who have been afraid of new people.

The repairman thinks with a new part it can be fixed.  Coming back Monday.  Hoping so...because their washer quit also upstairs.  Dagan and Leah have been down using mine for the past week or so.  A repairman is also coming to try to fix their washing machine on Monday.  Hoping that can also be repaired and doesn't need to be replaced.

Yesterday--on my birthday--Dagan and Leah came down and said they were going to put my new kitchen/dining room table together for me!  Moved things out of the way.  They found the three IKEA boxes that table came in...

...and worked away all afternoon.  The table is heavier and more substantial than expected.  The legs are meatal even!

Leah has always said she didn't think this table would fit.  I told her I only would probably use one of the two leaves but I was sure it could be opened all the way if I needed it for a sewing project or a larger art project.  Well, here it is with both the leaves in it!

Can still get around it okay.  (Leah was filling my ink cartridges for my printer.)  You can see the one leaf is a bit lighter than the other one...

So we put that lighter one underneath the table where it is stored.

Perfect!  And not too big!  :)

Still need room behind it to let the lounger/lift chairs lean back.  Plenty of room!

They stuck the two little rollie chairs at the ends of the table.  (Which will probably be living in the studio one day.)

A bit more tweaking.  I did put Allie's big memory foam cushion behind the red chair.

Moved her carrier--one of her favorite hiding places at the old apartment--over next to her cat tree.

Everybody left.  Allie desperately needed to try to catch up on her missed all-afternoon naptime.

In the middle of the night last night Miss Allie woke me by using my chair as a way to get up and over on to the new table!  And she did it again this morning!  With me sitting right there with the chair upright!  Leapt over from the high back of my chair and then clumsily also managed to leap back!  Goodness!  Crazy cat!  I hope she gives up on that route!  I guess I should maybe leave a rollie chair pulled back for her when I go to bed--LOL!  She doesn't like that rollie chairs move, but she also seemed quite genuinely shocked the back of my chair wasn't where it had been during the night.  Took her a long time to make the decision to jump from that height, but cats don't like to appear foolish in their decisions--ROFL!

Well, that was my exciting birthday.  I am sooo happy to have my new table!  I have always been one who needs to spread out.  Whenever I am writing, making crafts. or creating art I have stuff spread all around me.  I remember when I was writing papers in college as an old lady of 48 going to Concordia college up here...had a big L-shaped desk with an additional double wide file cabinet and I still often had a couple of TV trays set up beside me, too!  Books, papers, post it notes all over the place.  That's when I am happiest.  When I have space around me to put everything I need or might need--lol! 

Thank you for each card, ecard, email, and good thought this past week.  Greatly appreciated!  I do love my blog family...my correspondence family in all forms!  You all have kept me going all these years.  How surprising to be 75!  LOL!  Till next week.

Note: I was going to do a wild card every week, but sometimes my hand can't take any more.  I'll try to do one next week.  :)

March 22, 2026 Sunday

Greetings!

After blogging last Sunday I started on a project that took me till Thursday to finish.  Was sooooo sick of nothing to do.  If I could do laundry I could move some things, right?  Warning--more pictures again this time.  :)

But first, Leah was with me to see Dr. Kessler on Wednesday.  She ordered more bloodwork and x-rays of my hands.  So happy we could have both done right in the same building.  Dr. Kessler was also concerned there might be some other underlying reason for all the inflammation.  Don't have rheumatoid arthritis.  Have regular inflammatory arthritis.  She suggested I try giving up dairy.  This has been a challenge for me, but I am trying it.  Aso trying--limited diet and only adding any new food once every week or so to see if anything obviously adds to my flares.  No real results yet, but it's an ongoing process.  :)

Okay--the project for last week.  Only have a lot of pictures because I do everything in baby steps a little at a time...and then I get so excited about any progress I am snapping pictures as I go--lol!  I did forget to get a before picture, but the two folding tables were piled high and were also packed full underneath all this time.  I was thinking Dagan and Leah were going to be working on the studio and wanted to keep as much stuff out of their way in there as I could.  Been seven months.  Things keep delaying finishing down here.  Like where they work has decided that the people who work from home (like Dagan) have to come in to the office Tuesday through Thursday now.  This has thrown their routine totally off the rails.  Dagan and some other people have put in requests to be excluded from this new rule and are waiting to hear...but if they won't make exceptions to the new rule (a new hire's new rule) Leah may have to look for another job where she can work from home.  School is going to be out soon.  Always something, right?

Sadly, I am not currently in healthy enough shape to watch the boys all day...which makes me feel terrible, to be honest.  They never expected me to...but still.  I really wish I could.  Makes me have to face the truth of how frail and weak I have become.  It is more obvious since the move.

Anyways, living in chaos and clutter drives me nuts, as you know.  Therefore, I decided that since there is no endgame yet on the studio and all the rest...I am not going to worry about clutter in the unfinished studio.  I just started moving something off the tables every time I was up. 

Just piling stuff on the floor in the studio.

Took four days to empty those two folding tables.

And underneath, too!

One of the things that was underneath was a big donation box.  I drug it outside the door and Leah took care of it.

All those empty pots are for a bunch of fake plants for my bookcases or wherever that were purchased from IKEA years ago.  Not a lot of light down here for plants but I do love some greenery around.  :)

Eventually I moved the tables end to end and cleared off the glass table with the red legs and folded up the small glass table I had been using, too.   
Looks funny because I pulled the tables forward really far.  The old desk chair I have won't roll over the rug.  Plus the new kitchen table I got is large and will probably be that far forward anyways.  :)

Allie was following me about when I was moving things.  I had to reassure her we were not moving again--lol!

More things got put in the studio over the week...paint brushes shoved on a shelf...

...and piles on the floor.

Was getting clearer and clearer in my main room!  Felt wonderful!  Not so much body-wise, but lifted my spirits considerably.

My hand hurt too much to unscrew the red legs off so I drug that table into the studio.

So much space back there now.  I did later decide to move Allie's big orange pillow under the far table again.

Even moved the two rust-colored rolly carts... 

...that were in front of the hutches into the studio where they will end up anyways once it is done in there.

Keeping them close to the door because they hold the art supplies I do have available.

My birthday present to myself came, too!  Funny how the front pen looks so much bigger but they are the same size--lol!  The bottles have ultramarine, turquoise, brown, and pine green.  The pens are navy and turquoise with a matt finish.  

I am just now trying to get back to actually jounaling daily again.  I can finally wear the eye patch without pain.  Even touching my eyelid was too panful to keep it on before.  I still get eye pain from eye strain, but the worst hurdle to writing and typing is my swollen hand.

It is still funny that I regularly miss when I try to cap a pen and get ink on my left hand.  My depth perception hasn't improved.  Still miss my cup when pouring coffee sometimes.  Shouldn't that have improved over these months my eye hasn't worked?  lol!

The water softener has quit working.  So I also wanted all the stuff on the floor in there moved for when a repair person comes.

Bad enough there's a wall of bins they would have to contend with back there.

I was WAY too sore to deal with that, so the boys came down and moved everything off the floor for me.  Took them like 20 minutes.  [Yes, I could have asked them to help me with emptying the folding tables but I was feeling rather useless and my stubborn-Swede side wanted to do it on my own so I wouldn't feel that way.]

The studio is a mighty mess...but now the laundry/maintenance room feels better, too. 

Then things settled down.  Allie was glad, I think.

When I can get to where I can write more than one paragraph in my journal without setting my hand off...I have so many letters I owe that I am chomping at the bit to finally get to!  Haven't sent a letter since Christmas!!!  I do have ice packs Leah brought down for me back when my hand first swelled up and I do try Aleve every now and then, but nothing seems to make much of a dent, you know?  Maybe giving up dairy completely will do something?  Never know.  It's something I have never tried.  

How's my eye?  Well, the film is less foggy-gray and maybe more foggy-clear than it was, but I still can't actually see through it.  Might be progress.  I don't like to guess anymore.  When I thought it was getting better they found it to be worse--so, unless I can actually suddenly see through it, I will wait and hear what they say on the first. 

Excuse blogger for messing with my picture and paragraph--lol!  Too sore to try to fix it. Time to close and get the ice pack--lol!  Till next week.  And I will be a year older (28th).  75 years!  Man!  That happened quickly!  :)

P.S.

I just saw the next No Kings Rally is on my birthday on the 28th!  Nice!!!