Good morning; how is every one doing this morning? I hope you're having a wonderful, safe Memorial weekend. It looks like it's going to be a beautiful day, here. It was supposed to cool down a bit over the weekend but not sure that's going to happen, though it did get cooler overnight than it has been. I guess we'll take what we get.
We did get some rain a couple of days this week, which was badly needed and very much appreciated. We'll take more, whenever Mother Nature chooses to give it to us!!
My week has been pretty good. Busy, some days and kind of draggy, other days. We did, finally, have to mow the yard, but it was hard to see where we'd mowed in some places - other places it was real obvious.. :-)
On Thursday, we had a fun Study Group with the calligraphy guild... we learned how to do a process called cyanotype. A very simplified description is that you paint chemicals on paper (or other medium), place something over the top (like leaves, flowers, etc) and "expose" it in the sun. The chemicals are then removed in a bath of water. When it's done the shape of whatever you placed on top of the paper will be "printed" on the paper. It's a fun thing to do and the results can be used to make cards, wall hangings, signs or almost anything you want and can be combined with calligraphy, painting or other forms of art.
I'm still trying to watch what I eat and move around more. I've been having horrible muscle cramps in my feet/legs at night, so I'm only sleeping in 1-2 hr increments as it seems that every time I get comfy and into a deep sleep, the cramps hit and wake me up. Typically, I have to get out of bed and walk around for several minutes (sometimes up to 30 minutes) before the cramps will ease. I'm getting them in both feet/legs, but the right one seems to be the worst. The cramps are excruciating and leave the muscles in my feet/legs very weak and sore. I've tried several things to remedy the cramps, including adding extra magnesium, thiamine and calcium to supplement regime, putting on ice, rubbing down with Voltaren pain cream, drinking dill pickle juice and eating mustard, along with multiple other things. Although some things have worked temporarily, nothing has been a permanent "fix". My doctors all say they have no idea what's causing the cramps, although the doctor who did the EMG to test for the problems in my hands, said it was most likely caused by neuropathy, which I have in, both, my hands and feet. She said a muscle would probably help to ease the cramps, but I haven't had a chance to ask my doctor about it. Anyway, because my muscles hurt so badly, it's difficult to do a lot of extra moving around/exercise, though I know I need to and lack of exercise (using the muscles) could be part of the reason for the cramps... catch 22, there.
All that was a round about way of saying that I'd dropped 3 pounds over the past couple of weeks, but this week, I've picked one of them, back up, so overall, I'm down 2 lbs.
I think I mentioned a couple of months ago that I was planning to increase my thyroid medication by one pill/week and I've been doing that for several weeks. My resting heart rate has increased from around 52-53 to a little over 60. I do feel a little more energetic and I think I can credit that (and the extra Vitamin D) for the weight loss.
I'll be leaving on Wednesday to go up north. My family are having a "sibling reunion". My oldest siblings are 89 and 87, both with multiple health issues and the other 3 of us are in our 70's (I'm the youngest). It's important that we take every opportunity to see each other whenever we can. Anyway, my next couple of days will be spent clearing up things at home, so husband doesn't have to worry about bills, banking, etc and getting things ready to go.
So that's my story. I hope you've had a good week and were able to meet your goals. I look forward to hearing about it.
~~Wishing everyone a safe Holiday weekend and a wonderful, successful week~~