Gratitude Journal #27

After getting the post up on Sunday evening two weeks in a row, I skipped a week entirely. But here I am, back on Sunday evening. Go me. I accept that I skipped last week. I had a medical procedure done two Fridays ago, and while it was a very minor and common procedure, my particular medical history meant it was more painful for me than it is for a lot of people. I basically did nothing other than read from late Friday afternoon through last Monday. And even with that, by the end of my work day on Tuesday, I was pretty exhausted. So that is my excuse for not posting last week. I will make up for it with four gratitude entries this week, and all will be good.

Gratitude Entry #61 – A view of Lake Washington
Most days I take the bus to and from work. The bus I take goes over the 520 floating bridge. This means that two times a day, I get a view of Lake Washington that I can just enjoy. Views from the bridge are gorgeous, and, since I am not driving, I can just stare at the water. Many mornings, that means I catch a glimpse of rowing practice as we near the University. But it really is a lovely way to start my mornings and end my work days, just taking a moment to appreciate the beauty.

Gratitude Entry #62 – Heating pads
After my procedure on Friday, I spent the rest of the evening with a heating pad on my sore muscles. I have often slept with a heating pad on my pillow, as well (since my heating pad has an auto shut-off). When you have muscle aches and pains, there is really nothing better than a nice, soft heating pad to convince those muscles that they should just relax. It will all be okay.

Gratitude Entry #63 – Elevated pet bath
In the new house, we only have one tub. That tub is a jetted tub. I do not want to clog it up with pet hair. Plus, even with really nicely padded bath mats, getting down on my knees to bathe the dogs is killer. My knees and back both hate me afterwards. And the dogs are not super happy, either. So we started talking about buying a grooming table or something elevated that would allow us to bathe the dogs while standing. Last week, we pulled the trigger and bought a Booster Bath. Today, the dogs got bathed.
The dogs still are not super happy with it. In fact, when we first got Larry in it and turned on the water, we were not prepared for his reaction, and he managed to jump right out of the tub. This brings me to a secondary, but equally important bit of gratitude – a break away collar. The booster bath has a harness thing to hold the dog in. The collar it comes with is luckily break away, because we did not have the harness as tight as we should have, and Larry managed to jump out of the tub. Without the breakaway collar, he would have hung himself. (We were right there, not likely serious damage would have been done, but still.)
But in the end, both dogs got baths, and neither my knees nor my back hated me at the end of it.

Gratitude Entry #64 – My normal stamina
On a day when I take the bus to work, I normally get in around 12,000 steps. This is normal for me, and it does not leave my tired or drained. Sometimes during the summer, I will take the dogs on walks that are 12,000 steps all at once. If I stay on fairly level ground, I do not even notice.
This last week, on Tuesday, after three days of doing nothing and just letting my body recover, I still was not fully recovered from my medical procedure. As I was getting ready to leave work, I was a little over 10,000 steps. And I called C. I told him I was not doing the full walk home, and, in fact, did not even want to have to stand and wait for my second bus. I made him come pick me up at the park and ride where I normally switch busses. I was just too exhausted. So I made myself take it a little easier on Wednesday. Thursday ended up being an 18,000 step day. It just worked out that way. But by Thursday, my normal stamina had returned, and I did not feel any more tired at the end of the day than I normally do. And on Saturday, I got up and took the dogs on a 10,000 step walk.
I really enjoy these walks. I would actually be really miserable if I could not do them anymore. So yeah, I am out of shape, and I could stand to lose 75-100lbs. But I can walk, and I can walk for a good long while. And I am super grateful for that.