Julie Andrews eat your heart out.
Yes indeed, I love raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens, daisies with
dew drops and most of all my very kind and wonderful spouse. He has
had to adjust to my way of a disabled life and done it with grace. Now,
let me list a few things which make this way of life better. I know we
each have our favorites. Here are some of mine which include medical
care, home life, cleaning, exercise, and cooking: I hope you enjoy my
list.
MEDICAL CARE
A compassionate doctor who has good hearing as well as a smart mind.
A doctor who looks into my eyes instead of the screen of a computer.
A gynecologist with small hands; preferably attached to a female doctor.
A kind receptionist at any kind of office. Don’t make me bring out the
ugly attitude; it upsets me to be rude and aggressive.
Doctors who call when they say they will.
Doctor’s offices that don’t keep me waiting all day on my sore tush and
back.
Reports, written or called to me, on lab work or x-rays which I have paid
for and endured.
Lab technicians who didn’t attend the Marque de Sade school of
bloodletting.
A clean office, hospital or other medical facility. I don’t want to know
what went on in there before I arrived. I definitely don’t want to see
blood on the floor or on the doctor’s shoes.
I love watching a doctor or nurse wash their hands. I feel more
confidence in them.
New magazines in a waiting room, anywhere, except during flu season.
Pharmacies that are accurate, clean and courteous.
When all the pill bottles look alike, I like to write the initial of the
medication on the top of the cap in large letters; this is because I keep
my prn meds in a large open container by my bedside.
I like to prepare my daily meds a month ahead of time in those weekly
plastic containers. It makes for less errors when one is fumbling around
in the AM.
The same for daily vitamins. I like capsules more than pills which stick
in the throat and adore chewable anything, especially antacids and
calcium.
L-lysine capsules and L-lysine lip cream for fever blisters which I get
often from the sun due to my severe photosensitivity.
Aloe vera gel for any rash. Yes, you can mix it with other things, like
cortisone cream. Both are inexpensive.
I adore hemp oil, strictly CBD oils mixed with other organic oils rubbed
into the skin over painful anything. Add the heating pad for more
effectiveness.
OUR HOME
I don’t know what I would do without my dear spouse who is now left
with most of the housework.
I like all the Swiffer products.
I love Preparation H wipes for the tushie in the bathroom.
Cleaning house, I prefer spray bottles over wipes. They’re easier on the
shoulders.
I like to alternate my arms when scrubbing…can’t let “leftie” get any
more flabby or weak than it already is.
I love all movies except the ghoulish ones or ones that have no story
line. It freaks me out enough that my husband reads Stephen King.
I prefer biographies, classic British dramas, and war stories. I like to
read anything inspirational by another fellow human who has
overcome…anything. I especially like Word War Two novels based on
factual events.
I love the many pots on my old front porch and back one; also I love
digging in the dirt, usually potting a flower or trailing plant. Always end
up taking off my gardening gloves. There is just something about the
feel of good soil between the fingers. I rarely get to dig in the dirt much
these days and miss it.
I always end up buying colorful flowers so am making an effort to insert
more lavender and yellow into the mix this year. I love the way yellow
and white jump out at you in a plant, a pot or as color accent inside.
I can’t imagine not growing a few of my own herbs, although our
weather isn’t always amicable to the idea. I tie them with a string and
dry them on the indoor porch or kitchen.
I love little pottery and china animals and collectibles throughout the
house; especially if they make me laugh.
I’m nuts for crazy signs like the one I bought my husband a few years
ago. “IF A MAN IS ALONE IN THE WOODS AND SPEAKS AND
THERE IS NO WIFE TO HEAR HIM; IS HE STILL WRONG?” He
loves it.
I am obsessed with family pictures, especially the old ones of relatives
or of my kids and grandkids. I think they keep me grounded. I have a
stairwell full of them which are never straight because our funny old
house goes downhill about 2 inches.
I love lace, soft cushy blankets, flannel sheets and all heating pads. Well,
it is the Northwest and some part of me always hurts and the weather is
cold and damp.
I consider feather pillows a must for sleeping, relaxing and under the
tush. Don’t have to be the expensive goose down ones, although they are
a wonderful luxury. I know the goose sacrificed a lot but I simply can’t
worry about her.
I love the riot of wallpaper. Our home is very “loud” but it speaks to me
and makes me happy. I like the company all the past offers in an old
home like ours.
I love to write. Words can be so wonderful, painful and paint pictures for
the mind and soul. Don’t you think?
I like to find the cheapest way to do something and always buy clothes
for myself when they’re on sale, all on line these days.
If I find something that’s comfortable, I’ll wear it until it’s in rags.
Comfortable shoes are a must, duh?? Goes without saying but I just did.
Due to pain in my toes, I wear comfortable sandals all year long with
wool socks.
I appreciate compromise in regards to housework. Can’t do everything
anymore. Martha Stewart, don’t come to my house; you’d stroke out.
My home is my castle, my infirmary, my cloud, my hell and my solace.
It depends on the day you ask me.
I like my pets more than most humans I know. No hypocrisy with them.
I love that someone greets me with such overwhelming enthusiasm
when I’ve only been out to pick up the mail, kisses and tail wagging as
well as purring are all such graphic signs of affection.
EXERCISE
I like that the word “exercise” has become my friend, in moderation.
I like it mild, often and friendly. How many things can you say that
about?
I love all the stretchy bands; they’re a must when used discreetly.
I love my notebook I’ve kept over the years of all my physical therapy
stretches and exercises. Helps me remember what I both paid for and
need to do. They are also a painful reminder of many I can no longer
perform. I thank God for handicap parking.
I like the cloth shopping bags because they’re eco-friendly, feel better on
the hands and keep me from chasing canned foods that fall out of plastic
bags and roll down the hill where we live while unloading.
I like all healthy products for cleaning and eating, like Shaklee, Avalon
Organics, Tom’s of Maine, EO products and bathe the dogs in Buddy
Wash by Cloud Star or Earth Bath pet shampoo, especially the one with
Tea Tree Oil. Thanks, Australia. I prefer CBD rubbing oil or lotions for
painful joints and the spinal pain.
It’s so much easier to grab a hat and a jacket and walk by the river than
to walk on a treadmill. Finally gave mine away. I am not able to get
down by the river much anymore. It makes me sad.
I like to count when I do leg lifts, modified sit-ups etc. because I feel the
progress when my count is higher than it was last week. I confess as my
diseases progress, I have had to modify many of these.
I like doing neck stretches with the hot shower pouring down on me. It’s
heavenly on a bad cervical spine.
I always keep ice packs in the freezer. You never know. In a pinch a bag
of frozen vegies is also good. Don’t open them. Although if they defrost;
you’ve got dinner.
COOKING
I figured out some time ago that we still have to eat, whether I feel like it
or not.
My husband cooks scrambled eggs and toast. That’s it unless it involves
something in the microwave; he’s getting better at that. Actually, all of
his cooking skills are improving.
I love my guy for never wavering if I tell him I just don’t feel well
enough to cook. He always replies, “Whatta’ ya want me to pick up?”
I like the volume shopping at a store like Costco but only if it’s
something I know we’ll eat within a few months, like those great Sirloin
hamburgers all ready with cheese and bun. I also like the frozen tamales,
burritos, etc. I do not, however, enjoy hiking around large warehouses
and usually leave it to my dear man and a list.
I love our organic community store where the produce is fresh and
grown in the states.
I try to never fry anything but if I have to brown something, I use olive
oil only. I like the lighter versions. I do use Crisco oils for tacos and
chicken.
I bake a lot of meat these days. If we want it crispy, I soak it in
buttermilk (you know you can make soured milk by adding a tsp. of
lemon juice or vinegar to a cup of regular milk?) if I have it on hand.
Then I roll the meat in breadcrumbs and love the Japanese ones the best,
like Panko. Cornflakes are good, too. This is especially wonderful for
chicken.
I love oven roasted vegetables, particularly sliced potatoes instead of
fries, asparagus, different kinds of squashes mixed with baby pearl
onions and baked Brussels sprouts, etc.
Balsamic vinegar on salad, in potato salad, as a marinade. It has a
sweetness and aroma that’s fabulous and interesting. It will make your
potato salad beige, however
I love the silicone baking sheets on the cookie sheets. They make cleanup a breeze.
I love real butter. They always find some carcinogen in the latest fad of
margarine and it usually tastes terrible. The low cal ones don’t melt well
because they’re half water. No, I’ll take the cow.
The best cheese sauce I ever found is the easiest. Melt any grated cheese
you like in a cup or two of sour cream over a low burner. Stir and enjoy
over potatoes, cauliflower, etc.
I usually cook with leftovers in mind. Why cook again tomorrow?
Doesn’t make sense to me. Many foods such as spaghetti, casseroles and
potato salad are better the next day anyway.
Did you know French or sourdough bread stays fresher in a clean
kitchen trash bag; you know, the white ones?
I love fresh herb butter made with herbs from the pots on the back porch.
Basil butter is my favorite. Just mix chopped herb of your choice with
butter and a dash or olive oil and cover it and you’ll eat it until it’s gone.
Get the grandkids or your own children to eat vegies by cutting up
colored bell peppers, carrots, etc. and serving them with a small amount
of Ranch dressing.
I love one of our local pizza places because they sell more interesting
varieties of pizza as well as salads and will deliver anything. You can be
sure they know just where we live.
In our area, I love the fish and chips, especially the beer battered ones.
Yum.
Did you know you can put just about anything in a rolled-up tortilla,
preferably flour for flexibility and call it a burrito? This works with any
vegie, meats or cheese. Grilled cheese sandwichs are wonderful when
you use corn tortillas.
I like golden or yellow potatoes because I have a sensitive pallet and the
others, like Russets, taste like dirt sometimes.
I love the produce guys who put out small paper bags for mushrooms
because they get slimy much faster in a plastic one which holds too
much moisture.
Did you know if you shove an old can of root beer far back in your
refrigerator and ignore it for too long it will explode with this sticky,
syrupy mess? Just learned that one myself.
Love keeping a small glass bowl of Kosher or Sea Salt by the stove.
Makes me feel like a TV chef I guess; a pinch here, a pinch there.
I don’t like paper plates of any kind. My husband will use them. I won’t.
We have a dishwasher for goodness sakes!
We have a small refrigerator upstairs. Didn’t cost much and it’s great in
the middle of the night for juice, yogurt, Ensure, etc. Also good in the
AM when the stairs are just too much before the daily pills kick in. Beats
tumbling down the stairs. I keep my little refrigerator off our bedroom
stocked with fruits and Ensure, as well cold seltzer drinks.
I adore my seltzer machine because you can change flavors, it’s
convenient and cost effective. You also don’t have bottles to recycle.
Julia Childs was right. If you dry off any meat first it browns better.
I find if we’re dieting, it’s best to cheat once a week. Then we’re back to
it. Hey, I can’t give up fried onion rings altogether.
You can’t diet for another person. They have to be motivated within
themselves. You can, however, sew their pants a bit tighter around the
waist to inspire them.
Well, I’ve rambled on quite long enough. Those were a few of my
favorite things. Most importantly, I love knowing I am loved by my
friends, family and a loving God who knows all, sees all and always
guides my life each day, even when my faith wavers; His faithfulness
does not.