Cure for Cabin Fever

First of all, I’d like to thank everyone who took the time to send along their suggestions for my mom’s birthday. I ended up getting her an edible arrangement. I ordered the one with pineapple, oranges, grapes, cantaloupe, honeydew and strawberries. I’m not sure what makes it so good, maybe it’s all the fruit mixing together, but whatever it is…..yum! Mom didn’t even mind picking it up for herself.

Later in the afternoon, Mom drove me to my friend Heather’s house. I stayed with her for a couple of days. We hadn’t seen each other for such a long time, we both stay so busy, and I was really beginning to get cabin fever. It was quite an enlightening visit.

Heather has recently become a vegetarian, and wants everyone else to become one too. At her insistence, I tried a bit of tofu; I have to say it is the nastiest thing in existence, so nasty in fact that it made me physically ill.  I really don’t think vegetarianism is going to be my particular thing.

Heather’s sister and her husband were there too. They just moved here and are staying with them until they find a place. Sis and I had some in depth conversations and she had some interesting suggestions for living independently.

One of the things that had been troubling me about independent living was mopping.  I’m sure that I’ll have to use my walker to mop, just as I’ll have to use my walker to vacuum.  Luckily, since you are walking backwards with a mop, I won’t be trying to move my walker across a wet floor during the actual procedure.  Unfortunately, after mopping the floor, it stays wet for twenty to thirty minutes.  That means I would have to stay out of that particular room for even longer, because even the smallest wet patch could make me fall, and have a serious injury. But she came up with an excellent solution; a steam cleaner. Steam cleaners are becoming much smaller and more compact, meaning that they are much easier to handle using a walker than they were five or ten years ago. With a steam cleaner, the floor becomes dry in about five minutes, instead of twenty or thirty. This means that I would only have to stay out of the room for about ten to be safe.

I also found that one of my friend’s new obsessions, which I do share, is Celtic music. There were a couple of bands she shared with me: Silly Wizard, which she particularly liked but I was not so keen on. However, Dulahan, which is her least favorite, was the one I enjoyed the most. I guess that goes to show just how varied taste can be, even among friends. I can’t wait to get a CD of Dulahan’s latest music, I confess that I’m anxious to get it.

I enjoyed being with Heather and catching up. Even though I am an only child, I have never been lonely, but my friend is a great deal of the time. So, the visit kind of ‘killed two birds with one stone’ by giving her the company she so clearly needed and getting me out of the house at the same time.

I came home just in time to spend the Fourth of July with Mom. We ate hot dogs and watched a movie, even though we could hardly hear it for the fireworks going off in our neighborhood. It’s supposed to be against the law in the city limits, but nobody ever reports it.

Overall, it was a very good week for me. Hope it was for you as well. I’m looking forward to the next time we meet. Until then, try to stay safe, healthy and, of course, HAPPY!