Sunday Update

One of the side effects of one of my prescription medications for the sciatica is "difficulty sleeping".  It's not one the more adverse side effects or one of the more common side effects, but, I remember experiencing it when I took it before, too (during chemo treatments).  Considering the fact that I already have difficulty falling asleep even on regular nights, this particular side effect really took hold of me, on Saturday night!  I was wide awake all through the night and couldn't fall asleep, no matter what I tried!

It was already 3:00 a.m.  I recited my prayers, again.  I meditated.  I tried visualizing that I was relaxing and sleeping.  I looked at the clock.  It was 4:00 a.m.  I went to the bathroom.  I drank some water.  Then, I was hungry.  I went through the contents of the fridge, mentally, and then, I ate some crackers with peanut butter.  I heard the birds singing.  It was 5:00 a.m. and quite light.  I walked around the house and turned off the porch lights.  I went back to bed, but, couldn't fall asleep.  Dancer came for a cuddle, but, he went away, again.

The alarm went off at 5:15 a.m. for my next dose of medication.  I ate another cracker with peanut butter because I needed to eat something before I took my pill to prevent an upset stomach, and took my pill.  I tried to sleep.  Eventually, at 6:45 a.m., I decided to give up trying to sleep and got up, brushed my teeth, washed my face, and made myself a cup of tea.  By which time, my daughter also woke up!  So much for her plans for sleeping in on Sunday!   She brought me breakfast in bed by 8:00 a.m., as I was hungry, again (another side effect of the medication): the last frozen burrito, warmed up with a drizzle of hot sauce!  It was delicious!

Dancer had left a deposit on one of the bath mats, so, after breakfast, I put the bath mats and kitchen rugs in the washer, with a little bleach, to wash.  Daughter put them in the dryer for me, afterwards.

Later, when I opened the drapes, I realized that it was drizzling very lightly!  We received all of 0.009 inches of rain from today's drizzle, but, it was enough to dampen the ground a bit:

The cement is a darker grey from the drizzle

I hadn't been watching the weather reports, so the rain was unexpected, but, very exciting and welcome!

Guess what, Dancer?  It's raining!

"What?  Rain?  Really?"

The drizzle didn't last long, but, the day remained cloudy, overcast, and cool.  I tried to capture the atmosphere without a lot of success, I'm afraid (taken with my cell phone camera through the front window):  

Grey Skies

Drizzly

Wet Euphorbia and Spider Web

I spent the rest of the morning reading news articles and blogs.  Then, eventually, around 10:30 a.m., I began to feel sleepy and slept for about four hours, waking up at 2:30 p.m.  My daughter, too,  took a nap (after she had taken out the kitchen trash, put away her laundry, washed the dishes, etc.)

In the afternoon, I was allowed to cut up a cantaloupe melon while seated at the table in the family room (I don't have a kitchen table as there is no room for one in my kitchen).  We had some of the cantaloupe as a snack and the rest is in the fridge for another day.  Lunch was leftover rice, chicken, and green beans that daughter had cooked, earlier in the week.

I also washed a very few dishes and wiped down the kitchen counters, rather stealthily!  Shh!  Don't tell my daughter!

The neighbor's rabbit has been coming over to my yard and today, I took another picture of it:

"Bun-bun" (at least, that's what I call it)

I spent most of the rest of the day doing some knitting (didn't take a picture of that, though!).  I also cut up the ingredients to make a stir fry (smoked sausage, carrots, snow peas, some broccoli florets from the garden) to which daughter also added the rest of the can of garbanzo beans she had opened, last week.  Daughter made the stir fry, but, we didn't eat it tonight and kept it in the fridge for later in the week.

Because, later in the evening, neighbor S sent us dinner: roast chicken, rice cooked with vegetables, and a salad, and we opted to eat that, instead:

Dinner (roast chicken, vegetable rice, and salad) compliments of S

There's enough roast chicken left for at least another couple of meals!  Have I mentioned that I have some lovely, caring neighbors?  They are such a blessing to me!

Today, I am grateful for:

- Some of the best neighbors (and friends) that one could ask for
- The little bit of rain we had (we'll take every single drop of it that we can get!)
- Washing machines
- Daughter being home and taking over the reins of running the household as needed
- Feeling better

Today's joyful activity was spending most of the day in the family room, instead of in bed!

Plans for tomorrow include more knitting for me.  Daughter has work, followed by an online exercise class, and her piano lesson with S (also online).  I will ask her to take the trash cans out to the curb as we couldn't do that last week, either!  

How was your Sunday?  What are your plans for Monday and the rest of the week?