DiTL of ToMT- Volume 2

I am doing an abbreviated version of a day in the life (ditl) post. This one chronicles my new normal (hopefully of a very short duration!) of only having mobility in one leg while my Achilles tendon heals and I put no weight on the foot/ leg of the injured tendon. I cannot drive due to the injury being on my driving foot and I am pretty much staying put inside the house so as to decrease the chance that I have an accident and fall and set my recovery back. (Of course something bad could happen inside the confines of my home but I feel like there is less risk here at home.)

ToMT is an acronym for “time on my tuchus” because I am pretty much perma stuck to the couch while that lil’ tendon is (goodness, hopefully) healing. When both feet of mine are firmly planted on the ground and life has returned to normalcy I wonder how I will look back on this time period. Will I remember the details clearly or will these days seem hazy until they give way to a sense of, “Did I really not walk for a period of x weeks?” In case it is the latter, not to mention the fact that I enjoy writing and have a goal to write something that is not as boring as watching paint dry, I am going to document a day in the life along with some commentary. (It would be a very boring ditl post if I all I said that did was sit on the couch; I will try to liven it up (as much as that is possible!) with some commentary). Here goes:

The day is Friday, April 12th

I woke up to the sound of Donnie’s alarm clock. I slept through the night. Yah! Donnie hauled himself out of bed to begin his ablution/shaving since he will be heading into the office soon. 

I remained in bed but reached for my electronics. I checked my phone and saw that Abby texted me yesterday after I went to bed. I didn’t text her right away first thing Friday morning as she was likely still sleeping and I didn’t want a text ding to wake her up (the children have all inherited my light sleepness and not Donnie’s five second pillow to deep slumber that not much other than a loud noise disturbs). Donnie finished showering and then he got dressed while we chatted.

We both tend to check news headlines on our phones at this time as well (at a minimum we check the weather for the day) and remark on some of the absurd/ unjust/ untrue statements by people who’ve made the news. That reminds me, I always generally pray the very first thing in the morning after I wake up. I was reminded of prayer because thinking about some of the foolish (at best) to nefarious (at worst) people in leadership and legacy media roles can fill me with a sense of dread and despair. I am so thankful for a hope and belief in a life better than this one- where justice, truth and a worship of God will prevail for eternity.

When it was time to go downstairs, Donnie took the items that I needed for downstairs (my phone, kindle, etc.) and walked with me as I used a walker and hopped on one foot (steadying myself with the walker) to the stairs. Then, he took the walker and my items  downstairs. I sat down at the top of the stairs and made my way down. I went down each step on my bottom where at the bottom of the stairs, my knee scooter was waiting for me. 

That’s one small scoot for mankind; one giant scoot... sorry, I couldn’t do a corny analogy. (Not because I was unwilling to; rather, I could not think of a good ending to it!)

Ah, my easy ride awaited me at the bottom of the stairs (so much better than the walker or crutches!). I wheeled myself to the bathroom (yes, I wait until I am downstairs since it’s much easier for me to get around downstairs), got some water and then headed over to the couch. Donnie and Alyssa both left around the same time- he to work and Alyssa to school. Before he left for work, Donnie asked me if I had everything I needed. 

The couch is where I sat most of the day... I like the view from my perch and I love having the things that I need nearby to me. Before Alyssa came home from school, I had my “silent”  social time as well as reading time. My silent social time consists of texting people- friends/ family check up on me and vice versa. In betwixt texts, I finished the book that I had been readying- The Appeal by Janice Hallett which was a really enjoyable read.

I also read in the Bible during this time. My Bible reading plan has me reading Job right now. Job is most known as a man in the Bible who possessed great wealth and was faithful to God. God allows Satan to take away Job’s health, wealth, and his children to ascertain whether Job is faithful to God solely because he has a life full of abundance. I hesitate to call Job an odd book of the Bible because that sounds vaguely sacrilegious but the part where God and Satan are talking together in Chapter 1 seems pretty strange to me. Obviously we don’t know God´s ways; Job is a fascinating reminder that there is so much we don’t know or comprehend about God. We just need faith. Faith, fortunately, I have!

Alyssa arrived home around lunch time. She didn’t have much time before she had to go into work. She asked if I needed help with lunch but I was able to do most of it on my own. I was able to hop a little bit and stand stationary against the counter to get everything that I needed. Nothing fancy but I did it on my own!

Ever since being home from the hospital after surgery, I have been waiting to break my fast each day until lunch time. If I ate earlier, I would not be remotely hungry at lunch. I find that waiting to eat until lunchtime ensures that I am good and hungry by lunch and look forward to it. 

Afternoon snack! (It’s hallow!!)

Friday was an uncharacteristically cool day. It was cloudy and rainy which had been the norm of the week. Baring Monday (thankfully, since that was the day of the eclipse!), the entire week had been nothing but cloudy and rain. However, Friday was definitely the coolest day we’d had in some time. 

Here is where the day got interesting (VERY relatively speaking, lol)

The weather factored into how the rest of day played out. Alyssa was scheduled to work but her work is done partly outside and oftentimes she gets called off in poor weather. However, Alyssa didn’t get called off. So she went to work shortly after she arrived home from school. Friday was only the second week day that she had worked since my Achilles injury and surgery so it was unusual for her to leave so soon after arriving home from school. Normally, in the afternoons, we watch a couple of episodes of Melrose Place. 

After she left for work, I missed having her around but thankfully had a new book to start that seemed good so I settled in (oh wait, I was already settled in!) for a quiet afternoon of reading. I talked to my brother John on the phone. I also started this blog post. It was weird to write about a day as it was happening...

Alyssa came home after only about two hours. That is not a normal shift- the inclement weather resulted in her shift being called shortened. Yah! Alyssa was happy to come home and I was happy she was home! We watched one episode of Melrose Place. Alyssa had some homework she wanted to get done so she sat on the couch near me and did that and good news- the book I was reading was good so I didn’t mind reading more one bit...

We went to the kitchen later in the afternoon to start the crust for pizza for dinner. Alyssa gathered all of the ingredients and then we mixed the dough, kneaded it and Alyssa set it out to rise. We also chopped veggies for the pizza. Donnie left his office around 5:00 but traffic disruptions delayed his trip and he didn’t arrive home until close to 6:00 pm (it normally takes him about 1/2 hour to get from his office to home). We ate dinner when Donnie arrived home. The pizza was so good- we hadn’t had homemade in a while and I’d forgotten how the mixture of ingredients combined with some good old fashioned work and waiting results in a delectable and enjoyable meal. I forgot to take a picture but the pizza was as pretty as it was good tasting. It had onions, green peppers, pepperoni and bacon bits on it. We ate every last bit of it. (Some weeks when we make homemade pizza, we have enough leftovers for at least one person to have pizza as lunch the next day. But not this week :))

After dinner, Donnie and I watched a movie on Netflix. It was not a very good movie (and the name escapes me). Fortunately, it was less than two hours. I am not sure the time, but at some point just before bed, I made the trek upstairs (I tend to only go upstairs once a day and that is at bedtime). It is trickier going upstairs than down with one addled foot but I do eventually make it up!