Archives for September 2025

Hey Darlin',
Sorry to report that despite feeling much better after my massage and shower, I was only in bed about half an hour when some of the pain returned. Now it's like a stitch in my side, more than in my hip, so I supposed that might be an improvement. I took some aspirin, which didn't help a bit, then an hour later took three extra strength acetaminophen, then after doing several hours of heat, decided to change to ice for awhile. It was nearly 3:00 when I finally fell asleep, though the good news is that I ended up sleeping until after 9:00 a.m., which is by far the longest stretch of sleep I've managed in a long time. I was determined to stay in my recliner as long as possible today, so other than a few loads of laundry, that's exactly what I did. I continue to have residual pain, and I expect it to get worse once I go to bed, but I don't know what else to do. I made a chiropractic appointment for tomorrow, that's the last thing I can try before I'll have to go to full-on medical care, which won't happen until I get to Florida in November. I'm icing it before I go to bed, that seemed to help the most so far. Anyway, watched some movies and a few more Havens, and just had a lazy day. Lola's face is almost back to normal, though her lymph nodes are still swollen, though less so than yesterday. At least she's on the mend! Wish I could say the same! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Sorry to say I was still in pain last night. I took an acetamine PM pill, which is usually more than enough to knock me out, but I still couldn't sleep, so I took a second one, which is usually enough to knock me on my butt for the night and half the next day, but it still didn't put me into a decent sleep. Grrrr! I'm getting really sick of this! I ended up getting out my heating pad, and that eventually helped enough for me to get more intermittent sleep. Lola's swelling has gone down remarkably, and she seems a lot more chipper this morning. Last night she barely moved, but today she seemed a lot happier. Fed the horses (Meg gave them a second round bale of hay a couple of days ago, the pigs!), and then took Lola to the vet where Amanda works. She's lost some weight since the last time I weighed her, back down to 61.5 pounds, and she did look a bit skinnier. I guess she hasn't eaten much in the last couple of days. Speaking of weight, I was down nearly three pounds this morning! That makes nearly 15 pounds in the last month or so. Can't complain about that! Anyway, we determined a course of action for Lola, and she continued to improve throughout the day. Once we got back home, I did actually get to sit in my recliner for a few hours in between loads of laundry, then headed out to a 6:00 appointment with a massage therapist. I figured that would do me some good, and hopefully it will allow me to have a full night sleep. She spent a lot of time and really worked the layers of knots that I had, so fingers crossed, I'll get more than a couple of hours of sleep tonight. Hot shower, here I come! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hi Sweetie!
Sorry to say, after two hours of sleep, I once again woke up every hour in pain. Grrr! Can't WAIT to get back and sit in my recliner for a couple of days to recover! Got up about an hour before my alarm, just because it was more comfortable to be moving, and was ready to go in plenty of time. With the airport only five minutes away, I arrived by 7:00, quickly turned in my rental, made my way through a very thorough screening, managed to get carry-on tags for both my bags which I had consolidated, and was soon boarding on time. Arrived in Denver on time, collected my bags and made my way to the American terminal, arriving at my gate with eight minutes until boarding. By the time I checked my bags and filled up my water bottle, it was down to two minutes. Thank goodness everything went smoothly, I had been worried about the short turnaround, but was grateful it all worked out, and I didn't have to sit in the waiting area for long. The flight was uneventful, lunch was okay (note to self, salmon with quinoa is served cold! Does anyone really eat quinoa?), but my back still ached the entire trip, despite taking seven ibuprofen since I'd gotten up this morning. We arrived nearly half an hour early, and my ride got stuck in traffic so it was after 6:00 by the time we left the airport, but I was grateful I wasn't driving, I was so exhausted. Amanda had told me that Lola had suddenly developed some swelling in her lymph nodes, and I was shocked when I saw her face, it was practically round! We made an appointment for her vet the next day (so much for me sitting in my recliner for a few days!), and I gave her an allergy pill, hopefully that will help if it's a bee-sting or spider bite. Heading to bed right after my shower, can't wait to fall back into my own bed! Good night, darlin'! Love you!

Hey Darlin'!
SO HAPPY to report that I FINALLY got a good night sleep last night! It's amazing what a little back support can do! I did still take a few Tylenol during the day, but I literally spent almost the entire day in bed, though I did get up and stretch a bit this morning, which helped loosen me up. I spent the entire day reading and uploading my pix to my Diary, occasionally nodding off, and getting as much packing done as I could. I went out once to fill up the rental car with fuel, and the gas station is literally across the street, so I was back in no time. I'm ready to get back to my own bed! I finished the evening with a hot bath (this room actually had a stopper in the tub!), and finishing off my ice cream. I'm feeling so much more relaxed, I hope I can get through the night without pills. Early morning tomorrow, then home by dinnertime! Can't wait! Good night, babe! Love you!

Hi Babe,
Well, last night was another unqualified disaster. Despite all of my preparation, I was still crippled by midnight. I did fall asleep for nearly two blissful hours, then woke up in sheer agony again. I tried every conceivable position, including sitting up in bed, and nothing helped. I took way too much Tylenol, and even dragged all the bedclothes off and tried to sleep on the floor, but to no avail. I couldn't wait to get up, and did so by 5:30, just try to alleviate some of the pain. The car is more comfortable, and if it wasn't so cold outside, I would probably have slept out there. Grrr! Anyway, I finally did start moving, and was on the road at the crack of dawn. Today I drove the Chief Joseph Highway to the northeast entrance to the park, where I had to take a little nap because I could feel myself ready to doze while driving, and after a 30 minute power nap, made stops at Roosevelt Lodge, Tower Falls, Mammoth Springs, where I had a bison sausage and some coffee, Sheepeater Cliff, Obsidian Cliff, Roaroing Mountain, the Norris Geyser Basin, then over to Canyon Village were I went to all the Upper and Lower Falls lookouts (I was way too tired to try to get down the trails to the falls, so the overlooks would have to do and finished off with the Mud Volcano. Saw lots of cows on the CJH, and a lot of bison in the Hayden valley, as well as the occasional elk and deer. Again, it would have been a lot more enjoyable if I hadn't been so dang tired! When I got back into town, I stopped at Walmart for a couple of things, then back to the hotel. I had made arrangements to change rooms (I was originally going to change hotels, but they showed me that the other section of the hotel had beds with more support, so I'm taking a chance in another room tonight, we'll see how it goes. I've seen all of Yellowstone that I want to at this point, so tomorrow, I'm going to get caught up on my blog, uploading pix and videos while I have a good wifi at the hotel, and maybe even explore a little around town, like the Buffalo Bill museum. We'll see how I feel in the morning. Meanwhile, I'm headed to bed! Good night, my sweet! Love you!