Day 11 -- And all is well

Well, it's mostly "well."  I'll be so glad when our world gets back to healthy again. Surely we will sooner or later.  It's been a busy period for me since my move-in day of March 7.  I'm all settled although I'm sure I'll be rearranging things at some point. Not furniture, though; just various nooks and crannies that hold this and that.  As much as I got rid of starting last summer, I'm surprised I still have quite a bit inside this apartment.  Except for  a few on top of the kitchen cabinets and the area outside my door, I've pretty much got all my knickknacks thinned down and situated on three shelves of my bookcase.

  

The ones that made the cut are especially dear to me. A couple were bought at Disneyland, several were gifts, and some just plain remind me of things in my life. I get pleasure looking at my bric-a-brac.

Mary and Jake are arriving later this morning and I'm looking forward to the visit. Mary is taking him to the bunkers at Fort Worden and is bringing me under-the-bed bins and the cord to my little tv for my bedroom. She's also taking back several empty bins I have stored in my car for now.

Dana and Lill stopped in yesterday so he could fix my leaky kitchen faucet. I had bought a special nozzle but misplaced the washers for it but all is well now.  They were nice enough to take a package to the post office for me too. I wasn't looking forward to that climb up the steps. We used to have a substation but none are available now. There are a couple of UPS type stores though.

Yesterday they established a new dining room rule here.  Originally there was no restriction up to 50 people but then Trump changed it to 10.  Most of the time the diners at breakfast and dinner only averaged around 12 to 20 as not everyone pays for the meals and many prefer to eat in their rooms.
Anyhow, the manager changed the routine to breakfast times at 8:45 or  9:30 a.m. and dinner times to 3:45 or 4:30.  I chose the later times for both meals. You could also opt to have all meals taken to your room and that sounded like a winner to me as then I can reheat in the microwave later if I'm not hungry at dinner time.  As it was, the dining room was pretty much an isolating experience as there wasn't any interaction among tables or sometimes the people sitting at their own tables.  Many already got in the line to get their tray and take it to their room and that seemed like something I'd prefer too.

The food has been great.  This morning breakfast was a piece of french toast using blueberry bread, scrambled eggs, 2 bacon, and mixed fruit. You can also have your choice of juices and/or coffee. St. Patrick's Day dinner yesterday was corned beef and cabbage, boiled potatoes, carrots, a tossed green salad, and a green cupcake.  The cupcake had a gold-wrapped choc. coin stuck in the top.  I like touches like that.

Unfortunately, I've been dealing with a very bad hip pain in the mornings. It generally eases up after 20 minutes of movement but this morning it was taking its sweet time and I found myself using my old walker just to navigate from bed to bathroom.  It was alarming to me how incapacitated I became and I fretted over how I was going to get to the elevator, pick up my tray, and get back to my room.
I took a couple of arthritis pills and tried to do some stretches.  Thankfully, it improved within the hour.  I decided right then and there, however, that I had to do something about the morning it didn't improve. 

I drove over to the Presby.  Church rectory where Eccho is housed and was able to pick up a free walker with a seat and carrying pouch below the seat. I was thrilled as I found my walk from the car to my room was much easier using the walker.  I also knew I was definitely going to be able to get outside and do more walking as the walker gives you more confidence.

A lot of people use these and I was eyeing them wondering how much it would cost to buy one for myself.  Funny how I have been kind of embarrassed at using my cane now and then but all of a sudden, I'm damn happy to have this walker at my disposal.  It's kind of like I've been given more freedom.

I'm betting this hip issue might be a hip replacement at some point because it hurts both on the outside of my hip and in the groin area.  I was told once that those inside pains are usually an indication that a hip replacement is in order.  But I'm not going to worry about that now. Especially since I saw on tv how they're asking doctors to postpone surgeries to free up the services to accommodate new virus patients.

They're encouraging people here to not go out if they don't have to and to stay in their rooms whenever possible. That's fine with me. Everything I like to do is in my apartment already and I know I can easily stay happy and busy here what with cable tv, my computer, jigsaw puzzles, crosswords, sewing, reading, and even cooking if I so desire. A couple nights ago I got my counted cross stitch basket out and am working on a design while watching tv.

I do worry about getting sick but then the whole country has that worry right now.  If my hip gets worse and stays bad, I may end up driving to Sequim to see my regular Physicians Assistant who has recently set up her practice there, moving from her old office in Port Angeles.  It's not ideal but getting in to see someone here is next to impossible.  I do have an appt with a nurses' assistant that I have papers to fill out for but even she's not available until the end of September.

Yesterday was my first time using the laundry room. Cost me $1.50 to wash and $1.50 dry. I don't usually have that much laundry so I figure I can get by on one load a week making my laundry expenses about $12 a month.  Since all the utilities and cable tv is paid, all I'm having to dish out for is Internet. That was running me over $60 a month in PA but it's only $34 here. Yay!

I sent in an order for address labels this morning from the Current Catalog. I ordered ones with a Xmas theme as they were only $2.69 vrs $8.99 and up for the others.  Course their stupid shipping costs almost made me cancel. $8 and I know damn well, those address labels should only cost around $2 or $3 at the most --or less!  The post office even charged me $1.05 to change my address online.

Well, I guess I'll take my vitamins now and await the arrival of the grandson.