Ah yes,
A time to sit still and reflect on everything and absolutely nothing. 
Peace and quiet, light and darkness, a time to meditate for a while. I can’t afford it yet, but after I have finished some of my projects, I will create that time in my day. Right now, I am taking time for daily exercises to promote knee health and back strength, together with some yoga poses. And it works, early in the morning, thanks to the caregivers I have during the week.
Time out this week came as a wonderful break. Two of my friends from Waltonwood, where we used to live, invited me for breakfast yesterday. It was so enjoyable to see them again and to have pancakes with blueberries and coffee in a Cary coffeeshop and talk. Afterwards I made a stop at Trader Joe’s, always for fresh flowers and groceries, and I made it home before the caregiver left for the day.
Wednesday ruckus
Wednesday is gardener day. They come around for about two hours with mowers and blowers and make a lot of noise. Lani goes crazy and can’t stop barking, and Mike goes crazy and can’t stop yelling. I attended a zoom meeting with the dog training company I subscribe to, and they sent an article on how to stop your dog from barking at noise, at strangers passing the window and ringing the bell. Train her with special treats and the word “quiet”. Well, I got special treats, freeze-dried raw chicken breast, and went to work at her first barking session. Lani devoured the treats, which I started to throw on the floor after she almost bit in my fingers. She loved the treats, but got right back to her barking, then back again to the treats. The result was that she did not eat breakfast or dinner. I still have the treats in a jar close to me, but I don’t go to her when she barks, I call “quiet ” and throw her a treat when she comes.
I decided to send her to a day care place and found a very nice lady with a large fenced yard, living in the next neighborhood, willing to take her on “gardener day”. Lani and I met with her and I hope this will be an arrangement for a while that we both like. I found her through a company named Rover, through which I also found our dog walker. Monica still walks Lani in the early mornings for half an hour, and I have taken over the evening walks. I love being outside again and my knee is doing well.
Next for me are another blood draw and doctor’s visit for my six month checkup. I need more protein and eat fewer bananas; not hard to do with links to Amazon protein foods that our daughter-in-law sent me. Can’t wait to try some. It is not easy to get on a “safe, healthy diet” since I don’t cook dinner anymore but am depending on restaurants and our local chef. Mike is lucky in that he can eat anything and does not gain weight. I must admit that he does not like snacks; except for an occasional stroopwafel and the krupuk (shrimp snacks) that I serve when I cook nasi goreng occasionally. I can’t resist that, especially because there are no Indonesian restaurants anywhere in this area.
At this time I looked at the clock and decided it was time to go to the kitchen, so Time out!
Until next time,
Ronny