Rainy Days . . .

It was rainy and a little chilly here yesterday.  I got a walk in around the pond, but kept it to a single lap.  

Saturday was cloudy.

It was peaceful at the same time.

Thursday, I had to go downtown . . . Me and Mrs. O'Leary's cow, on Washington Street.  I'm headed East.  You're looking West into an empty downtown Chicago . . . 

 It's not really Mrs. O'Leary's Cow.  It's called The Bronze Cow, and it's in memory of a massive display of painted cows that were all over Chicago in 1999. 

I love a rainy day.  I really do.  But like the song at the end of this post, I had the blues yesterday.  Today is better, but November has been filled with health weirdness.  Thankfully not kidney-related - but bothersome just the same.  Early in the month I started bleeding from an orifice that no post-menopausal woman should bleed from.  If you're not to that life stage yet, for future reference: any post-menopausal bleeding must be checked out right away by your OB/GYN.  It started on a Thursday, I rang the doc on Friday, and by Monday I was in for an ultrasound and uterine biopsies.  If you've never had those, they hurt.  Thankfully, the doc chalked it up to a hormonal imbalance and the biopsies came back benign.  Still, I spent a tense few days waiting on results.  

And now, I'm having a tooth issue.  Last December I had to have a root canal for a badly abscessed tooth.  I'm sorry to say that tooth pain in the same location flared up about a week ago.  I initially thought I had a popcorn hull stuck in my teeth.  Nope.  I'd had the follow up x-ray in July, but my dentist didn't tell me that the endodontist said the results were "guarded," which in endodontist-speak means iffy.  I got in on Thursday to see the endontist and another x-ray showed that not only was the infection not gone, it looked worse.  That means that I've had an infection in my jaw for a year . . . 

He asked me to have my nighttime dental device checked, which I was able to do on Friday at the special sleep dentist who adjusted it and made more space over the affected tooth.  But the long story short is that the endodontist thinks that the tooth has to come out.  I asked if there was something we could try before yanking it, and he agreed to another round of antibiotics.  I'll speak to him on Wednesday for a follow up.  I've got an appointment with another endodontist out near where I live for a second opinion, but I can't get in until December 16th.  For now, the antibiotic and some Tylenol at night are keeping me sane.  I didn't understand how pulling the tooth could stop the infection in my jaw, and the sleep dentist explained that the tooth was likely causing the infection.  He also said that sometimes root canals just fail.  

I realize these things could have happened at any time, but I'm like, "why is this happening in the middle of a pandemic?!"  I don't like going out and the endodontists in my area who were recommended to me - well, one is on a medical leave and the other now only practices in their Indiana office, and we're not supposed to be going to Indiana right now.  I don't know why I feel like I need a second opinion.  I probably don't.  This tooth probably just needs to come out.  I am not keen on this.  And I'll need to find an oral surgeon.  My cousin recommended one, but they are also in Indiana . . .

This morning's walk was sunny!  The willows are the last to shed their leaves.

 

 

I've started to add work with a resistance band to some of my walks.  

 

This is something that I had been doing with my trainer outdoors, and I found a way to do it myself with one of the poles at the parking lot near the pond where I walk.  I'm also weight training at home with the free weights that I have, and three sets of 10 squats is beginning to get easy . . .  I've seen that American Cancer Society fundraiser where you do 50 squats/day for a month.  I have considered joining in. 

I'm not seeing my trainer any longer.  I missed a few weeks, this week is Thanksgiving and then it will be December and who knows how long the weather will hold.  So, I'll do what I can do myself and once I have a vaccine, I'll feel better about going back to the club and being indoors there.  

My tree went up the first week in October along with all the other other holiday decorations - Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  And if I had a menorah, I would have put that up, as well!  This has been such a crazy year that I think anything that makes us happy and isn't hurting anyone is something we should do!  So I did.  I realized that I hadn't put the big tree up in a couple of years - I was too stressed from work to do it, so I'm extra happy for the additional time to enjoy it.  

It only has Belleek bells on it.  I got in at the beginning of an ornament collection 30-odd years ago.  My mom bought my bell for me every year.  I've been buying them for myself for 16 years now.  I should have moved the vacuum before taking that photo  :-D  

Even with the blues I have so much to be thankful for - every day I wake up I still consider it a gift.