Skip to main content

Breathing

I did a bunch of things today, most of them away from the computer, but a few of them with the new screen that I’d gotten for Christmas, with a 32-inch diagonal. I watched Moana on it, and really enjoyed it. I don’t get to see Disney movies when they first come out the way I did when my son was a lot younger, but this one was well worth watching. They did a good job respecting the Polynesian cultures being portrayed, including hiring a native for the lead role.

That was nice, but it really was the story that did it for me. No romance at all involved, which was cool to see, but just friendship and working together at things, which was all good.

I cried through a lot of it. That’s okay. It’s good to have good stories.

When it was done, I worked on a calligraphy lesson for people that wanted an hour and a half class in the afternoon. I then ran out to get some supplies, return some library books and the movie. Yes, our local library has a bunch of the newest DVD’s available for checkout for a week, for free. It’s a wonderful way to get caught up on movies I missed.

Then I had some lunch, chicken soup and crackers. My cold seems to only be worse these last two days, my sinuses ache, my nose is running, and my asthma has really started acting up badly. I had a horrible time trying to sleep last night from the coughing, and even with an extra shot of Advair, and my emergency albuterol, I had a really rough night. I finally dried up enough, I guess, to sleep and didn’t want to wake up so long as I could breathe.

I had some trouble with it during my calligraphy class, which happened at 2pm; but I was able to be quiet long enough to calm some of it down now and again. The good thing was that I gave my four students some really basic, good stuff to work with to just learn how to control the pen; and they were very happy about practicing with the guide and some of the source materials I’d come up with on Uncial and Gothic Textura scripts. The historic aspect has been fascinating for me, and learning that the uncial scripts were based on making each letter the most beautiful it could be and that the textura forms were created so that the letters would interweave to make beautiful words was really cool.

Different reasons for each of the forms, and that helped make them easier to understand as to why they were shaped the way they were. So there was an hour and a half spent practicing and learning what it was each of the ladies liked. Next month we’ll do bookmarks. That should be fun.

When I got home, I was congested, unhappy, and so I did something insane, I got on the exercise bike and rode for thirty minutes. More truthfully, I used the emergency inhaler, first, and then got on the bike; and for the first time in two days, I was breathing clearly. It was amazingly good as a remedy for the asthma. John also made a lovely dinner of tilapia, garlic Alfredo spaghetti, and steamed artichokes! I thanked him very much for the dinner and did all the dishes.

Jet had a friend over to do physics and calculus with, and then the friend got to play Gunpoint, which is one of the most snarky games I’ve ever had the pleasure to play. The dialog between the PI and his client is amazing; and the puzzle-solving adventure is sneaky, smart, and pretty difficult; and you get to make moral choices that change how the situation plays out and affects everyone involved. I really enjoyed it, and it was fun to watch someone discover it for the first time.

Sadly, my asthma got kind of bad after that, and I had a hard time reading to Jet when he was going to bed. Finally, he said, “Mom. Just stop and breathe for a while... just breathe.”

So I did, and I finally could go on. I will probably use the inhaler before going to bed, I’m tired enough to ignore the shaking, and at least I may be able to breathe well enough to sleep.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Everything Is A Lot

My mother took my hand, as we were going to leave tonight, and she very deliberately, gently, and slowly pressed a kiss on the back of my hand. And at the look on her face, I clasped her hand back just as gently, but firmly, and I kissed her on her forehead. She smiled and let me go.  Words are failing her. I find it ironic that the only way that I can process her now word-muddled existence is through my long practice with words.  On November 13th, my sister and father did a video doctor's check with my mother. Their GP was so alarmed at her inability to truly respond to their questions made their primary doctor tell them that they had to go to the ER. That there was something seriously wrong with her and they had to get her looked at as quickly as possible. The three of them spend two horrific days in the over crowded ER at UCSD, in order to get the CAT scans and MRI that showed a very large shadow in her brain.  This was while John and I were in Kauai. We heard the begi...

Hard Things

I'm getting asked a lot these days about how my mother is doing. It's never easy to answer, because she's dying. She's pretty comfortable for all that, all of her needs are being taken care of. She has hospice checking on her every time she needs anything. She's being made as comfortable as possible with modern medicine and care.  Most people end up saying, "That's so hard."  And the only thing I can really do is nod. There's something in my head that always says, "It's not hard the way you think it's hard." It doesn't detract from the fact that everything is pretty difficult right now. I've always hated my emotions. They're always pretty difficult for me to access, except when I have the opportunity to process them with someone else, extroverted emotional expression seems to be one of the few ways I can deal with them. Grief always eats all my energy.  When I first came home from San Diego after the Thanksgiving perio...

Thankful

Tuesday was absolutely insane. We had two appointments for the radiation oncologist and then the lung cancer specialist.  And while we were talking with the lung cancer specialist, he heard that John and I were here from Colorado and were going to fly back, again, for the brain cancer specialist next week. He said, "I think I can find an opening for you with him. Let me go talk to him."  He talked with the brain cancer specialist, and lo and behold, we got the 1pm appointment we couldn't get through the regular channels, and while we decided to have lunch in the cafe in the cancer center, Kathy and John got texts about the new appointment.  This whole trip has been blessed with so many bits of luck. John and I got two of the last four seats on the non-stop that was most convenient for our flight in. This Friday's flight was half the price of all the other flights around this crazy travel holiday. Our room at our hotel was the very last room left at this Homewood Suite...